Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

NOBODY in the Sudanese refugee camp told Wedan Hamad about periods.

When Hamad first soaked through her underwear, she was frustrated and confused. She figured shed have to hide the blood, until her aunt stepped in and helped.

"My mom never talked with me," Hamad said. "Our culture, sometimes, is very tough."

Decades later, Hamad is working in the basement of First Lutheran Church in Winnipegs West End to ensure hundreds of girls across the globe have access to menstrual products.

She and four other immigrant women have sewn 600 reusable pads and holding bags. The women regularly attend sewing sessions, English classes and child-care drop-offs through the Excel Empowerment Centre, which is stationed in the church.

The centre partnered with Mennonite Central Committee four months ago. On Wednesday, MCC representatives collected the volunteer-made goods, which will be shipped to school-age girls and incarcerated women in Ukraine next month, as part of the charitys dignity kits.

"They learn (about personal hygiene) at the school, they talk to them openly its not like us. Im happy to hear (that)," Hamad said, getting emotional.

Achol Majer marvelled at the snap buttons shed helped to sew into the pads. Shed received pads when she was in a South Sudanese refugee camp, but there was no way to fasten them theyd fall out often.

GABRIELLE PICHE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Help for Ukraine - Immigrant women band together in the basement of First Lutheran Church to sew menstrual products for vulnerable girls.

"Some girls, if you have your period, and you dont have money to buy the... pads, you refuse to go to school," she said. "(You) have a shame in front of your (peers), and people will laugh at you. The best way is to stay home."

Destigmatizing periods boosts confidence, Majer said. "Some years later, you will be somebody. You will see yourself in a different angle."

The volunteers some of whom have sewing certificates can finish a product in five minutes. They take two strips of pre-cut cloth (provided by MCC) and sew them together, adding elastics and buttons after.

"The idea of this program is to empower immigrant women to do the work (with the knowledge) that they came with," said Rebecca Deng, centre executive director.

Right now, the women are volunteers. Hopefully soon, theyll be paid for their skills, Deng said.

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"Finding a job is one of the challenges in Canada... because of the language barrier."

The women sew tote bags, masks and cultural garb. The pads have been their latest challenge; those will be shipped in buckets with underwear, towels, soap and other hygiene items. MCC has sent such kits to other countries, including South Sudan.

"Its a lot of people power here," said Sophia Bezoplenko, material resources co-ordinator for MCC Manitoba. "Im so grateful that these women have volunteered... to do this."

She called the kits life-changing for recipients and said MCC hopes to continue its partnership with the Excel Empowerment Centre.

The public can support the centre by sending monetary donations to First Lutheran Church or giving online at canadahelps.org. Information on making dignity kits is available at mcccanada.ca/kits.

gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca

Gabrielle PichReporter

Gabby is a big fan of people, writing and learning. She graduated from Red River Colleges Creative Communications program in the spring of 2020.

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Sewing empowerment: Winnipeg partnership sends needed menstruation products overseas - Winnipeg Free Press

Alex Coffey| Special for USA TODAY

Why Serena Williams' legacy is cemented, regardless of getting No. 24

Mackenzie Salmon and Analis Bailey look at Serena Williams' lasting legacy on tennis and the sports world.

Sports Seriously, USA TODAY

NEW YORK Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor made an appearance at the U.S. Open on Thursday afternoon, a few hours before his game against the Miami Marlins. It did not go unnoticed.

The U.S. Open tweeted about it from their official account. The ESPN broadcast shared a video of Lindor throwing a tennis ball back and forth with his new pal, Alexander Zverev, who recently advanced to the third round. Its safe to say that fans knew he was there.

Few people noticed Marlins general manager Kim Ng, who braved biblical flooding the night before to watch Sloane Stephens take on Coco Gauff from the Arthur Ashe Stadium presidents suite. Ng, who is close friends with a member of the USTAs board of directors, Kathleen Francis, was sitting next to Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of "Vogue", who inspired the movie "The Devil Wears Prada." A photo of Wintour began to circulate on Twitter. Ng is pictured right next to the fashion icon albeit, out of focus and people still didnt recognize her.

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Ng wasnt complaining. The GM isnt one to thrust herself into the spotlight (which has become a bit of an issue since she was hired by the Marlins last year, the first woman to become a general manager of a mens team in the history of major North American sports). She was perfectly content to blend into a crowd, particularly at an event that carries such personal significance for her.

Long before baseball, tennis was the first sport that Ng loved. Her parents played it, her grandparents played it, so she started playing it, when she was four, and continued throughout high school. The sport filled her with a sense of empowerment and in some ways, brought out the doggedness shes become known for as an executive but it also connected her to two role models that had a profound effect on a young woman looking to chart a path that was largely uncharted.

"I was a little bit young to follow Billie Jean King, but by the time I got to high school, I really started to understand what she had done for the sport and for women, in general," Ng said. "Martina (Navratilova) was much more my sweet spot, age-wise 10-years-old through college. Amazing athlete. The thing that always really grabbed me about Martina was that she took the sport to another level, for women. She redefined what many people thought of as a female athlete. She just raised the bar. Her physique, the way she trained.

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"It was also the idea that she was not afraid to be different. She was her own person, and she told it like it was and didnt take anything from anybody. I think that really helped me in terms of thinking about how I should be growing up. And things that I should be thinking about. And that it was okay to be different. I got a lot of that from my family, but I think externally, it was important for me to see somebody else living that credo."

On the day she accepted the job as Marlins GM, Ng listed Navratilova and King as mentors. Standing outside the visitors dugout at Citi Field on Thursday, she clarified that in reality, they meant much more.

"Idols,"she said. "Those two speaking out and being as vocal as they were, allowed a little kid like me to become aware of what I was capable of. ... It helped me fight those preconceived notions of what I could be, and what I should be, and really just going after what I want."

The examples that King and Navratilova set only drew Ng to the sport more. By the time shed graduated from the University of Chicago, she was seriously considering a career in tennis simply because that was where shed seen the most women in positions of power.

"When I was thinking of getting into sports… what you see is what you think is available to you," she said. "I was thinking about tennis, maybe working in sports marketing or operations. It was a sport that had more women in it."

Obviously, Ng went a different route one that is arguably more emblematic of the impact that King and Navratilova had in the tennis world but remained drawn to the sport. In her mind, she sees tennis as a vehicle for womens empowerment, and makes an effort to support it in person when she can, often by attending the Open. Shes made trips to Flushing Meadows while working in the Los Angeles Dodgers front office, the New York Yankees front office, and in the MLB Commissioners office, so, when the Mets-Marlins game was rained out Wednesday night, she couldnt pass up a chance to see two female athletes gutting it out, just a few feet from the court.

"Those two are off the charts,"she said of Gauff and Stephens. "Ive seen Venus (Williams) at the Open there as well. Thats who Coco reminds me of, is Venus her build, her aggressiveness, her poise.

"It was tremendous to see that type of athleticism up close. Just incredible talent. I figured the stars were aligned; I love tennis and I love baseball. It would have been a great day if we had been able to see both, but it was still a great day, because I got to spend most of it watching those two play."

Follow Alex Coffey on Twitter @byalexcoffey.

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Miami Marlins' GM Kim Ng takes break from baseball to attend US Open, where her idols played - USA TODAY

Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce (GHWCC) will host The Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women on November 18, 2021 at The Woodlands Resort.

Hello Woodlands interviewed SuzanDeison, CEO/President/Founder of Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce, Shayla White, Executive Director GHWCC Womens Business Center, and Natalie Saikowski Goertz, co-chair of the Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women and Senior Vice President at Guaranty Bank & Trust.

What is the Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce?

The Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce (GHWCC) is a nonprofit business organization of highly influential and diverse women and men dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of women through avenues of leadership, education, advocacy and mentoring.

We are the place where women do business in Houston. We provide women with a platform to make your voices heard and to build valuable business relationships. We provide opportunities to enhance your leadership skills. We advocate for your business with our legislators on the local, state and federal levels. We host educational workshops to help you expand or start your business. We educate our membership on the benefits of preventive healthcare. We engage dynamic executive women to build relationships, generate provocative ideas, thoughts and solutions to impact the future of healthcare. We provide unlimited opportunities for women and girls to develop and enhance their leadership skills with a strong focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM). We provide scholarships for our next generation of women leaders. Read more about GHWCC on their website at ghwcc.org.

How can members of the community become a member?

SuzanDeison, CEO, President, and Founder of Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce, shared, The GHWCC membership levels are based upon a business number of employees.The Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce (GHWCC) is the fastest growing womens chamber in the US. We represent over 1200 member businesses, from Fortune 500 companies to small women led businesses. Men are also welcomed to join to not only support women, but to do business with women.

Tell us about the GHWCC SBA WBC.

Shayla White, Executive Director GHWCC Womens Business Center, responded, The GHWCC SBA Womens Business Center serves as a catalyst to enable women entrepreneurs and their leadership teams to start or take their business to the next level through organization, innovation, and engagement. The GHWCC SBA WBC empowers women-led organizations by introducing resources that provide tools, access to capital, and valuable business relationships.

GHWCC WBC is dedicated to enhancing opportunities for potential entrepreneurs and small business owners to become self-sustaining and successful contributors to their communities, with special assistance for women, low-income, minority, veterans, and non-profit businesses in Montgomery County, East Harris County and Chambers County.We have a diverse Advisory Board of 18 that represents the chambers geographic service area who assist and support the WBC activities including business consulting and hosting workshops.The GHWCC SBA WBC Advisory Board members serve as advisors for the WBC team, sharing insights and strategies to help women entrepreneurs succeed.

The GHWCC SBA WBC provides educational workshops and events to build capacity, make connections and overall elevate entrepreneurs business acumen to remain competitive in the marketplace. For a comprehensive understanding of our offerings, visitwww.ghwcc.org, emailinfo@ghwcc.org, or call 713-782-3777.

How can members get involved?

SuzanDeison said, GHWCC Members have many opportunities for leadership and engagement!

GHWCC Programs include: The SBA Womens Business Center and LAUNCH, helping women-led businesses start or expand their business by providing valuable education, tools and resources including access to capital, Women On Board Institute, an initiative to increase the number of women serving on corporate boards by helping them become board-ready, and STEAM Town USA, an initiative to increase at-risk third grade girls interest in math and science through STEAM concepts, and encourage them to pursue STEAM careers.

GHWCC committees include Governmental Affairs, Womens Health Network of the Texas Medical Center, Education, Marketing, 40 Under 40, Ambassadors, and HR Roundtable. We also have regional chapters; Central Houston/Energy Corridor, Southwest Houston/Fort Bend County, Baytown, Bay Area and The Woodlands North Houston.

Tell us about the Volunteer of the Year, Chapter Chair of the Year, and other annual awards.

The GHWCC hosts five signature events each year that recognize women who are leading in their respective fields, who support gender diversity and who are making a positive difference in our community. They are the GHWCC Annual Meeting and Awards, The Greater Houston Conference for Women, Women in the Fast Lane of STEAM Luncheon and Style Show, The Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women and the Greater Houston Hall of Fame Gala, said SuzanDeison.

What and when is theGHWCC Conference in The Woodlands area? What can attendees expect and how can people register?

SuzanDeison responded, The Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women will be held November 18, 2021 at the Woodlands Resort.

The Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce (GHWCC) is excited to host The Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women on November 18, 2021 at The Woodlands Resort, 10:30 am to 2:00 pm. Demonstrating to our business community that women truly have no limits, and highlighting your support of gender diversity, we want you to be a part of it. We encourage you to seize this opportunity to influence over 400 members of our business community at our Conference. Sponsors will earn recognition through a variety of media from videos to pre-event PR, e-blast and advertising.

The GHWCC is the fastest growing womens chamber in the country, and The Woodlands North Houston Chapter continues to have tremendous support. Our events host nationally and internationally recognized speakers, from First Ladies Laura and Barbara Bush, to the first Asian woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize, Sheryl WuDunn, to Tiffany Pham, of Mogul and Amy Lacy of CaliFlour Foods. Our panel of CEOs and C-suite executives will share invaluable business insights that members can take back to the office and use for creating real change. We will honor twelve Trailblazers at the Conference, outstanding leaders who are recognized for being trailblazers in their industries and in their career, thus opening doors for our and the next generation of women.

We are excited to have the leadership of Natalie Saikowski Goertz as a co-chair of the Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women. Natalie also dynamically serves as a co-chair of The Woodlands North Houston Chapter and the GHWCC Board of Directors.

Natalie Saikowski Goertz, Co-Chair of the Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women, shared, I got involved in the Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce because I wanted to cultivate new relationships with other business women in our community. I continuously to seek opportunities to lock arms with other women and have everyone rise to the occasion together. Serving others is something I have always been passionate about, so I jumped right in to getting involved with the Chamber. One of the characteristics of this Chamber that was attractive to me is the diversity of the members, which has been beneficial to my personal and professional growth.

For more information about the Greater Houston Womens Chamber of Commerce and to register for The Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women on November 18, 2021 at The Woodlands Resort, visitwww.ghwcc.org.

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GHWCC to host The Woodlands North Houston Conference for Women - hellowoodlands.com

With American troops hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden finally admitted what millions of Americans have known for years: there would be no triumphant fanfare to mark the end of the War on Terror that is finally, mercifully, ending on his watch.

But who will lead the charge to wind down Americas domestic national security panopticon that, after decades of taxpayer funding and expansions of its opaque surveillance powers, still failed to anticipate critical developments like the rise of ISIS or Afghanistans swift collapse to the Taliban?

Over the past 20 years, our failures in Afghanistan have become synonymous with the overreach and blind arrogance of the War on Terror. But that didnt just unfold on some distant desert battlefield. An equally treacherous surveillance state was built by American lawmakers right here at home.

Just three weeks after President George W. Bush launched the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, a Senate supermajority voted 98-1 to enact a bundle of emergency counterterrorism measures known as the USA PATRIOT Act. Among a slew of authoritarian nightmares, the Patriot Act vastly expanded the federal governments authority to spy on its own citizens without oversight, indefinitely detain immigrants even vaguely suspected of terrorism, wiretap Americans without probable cause and compile incomparably massive databases of Americans internet activities and cell-phone metadata.

The Act answered many Americans post-9/11 desire for ever increasing layers of domestic security theater. It also paved the way for the paranoia and authoritarianism that gradually consumed the Republican Party.

The Patriot Act helped Republicans cloak their growing antidemocratic tendencies in the language of urgent national security imperatives, a trend that continues unbroken in Donald Trumps migrant caravan fearmongering and the FBIs Trump-era efforts to treat Black Lives Matter activists as a national security threat.

By 2002, driven by the Bush administrations dire warnings of future attacks, Republicans had already constructed most of what we now consider Americas post-9/11 national security apparatus. The new focus on domestic and foreign surveillance was given physical form by the creation of an imposing new Department of Homeland Security. 18 years later, DHS is now the third-largest Cabinet department behind Defense and Veterans Affairs. Homelands sway over Washington remains so powerful that Bidens recent proposal togaspstop increasing the DHS budget led to heated bipartisan outcry on Capitol Hill.

For many of the lawmakers compromised by an influx of surveillance industry lobbying cash, Americas future is one where you are always being watched.

Anyone who lived through the early years of surveillance gone wild remembers the emergence of a new popular vocabulary designed to mask our new realities: torture became enhanced interrogation, government disappearings extraordinary rendition and torture facilities black sites. Guantanamo Bay, a strip of land on the Cuban coast, became both a prison into which Muslims disappeared and an international symbol of Americas abandonment of the rule of law.

As a senator, Biden enthusiastically supported the construction and gluttonous overfeeding of our domestic surveillance state. At $1.25 trillion, building the American surveillance state was roughly equivalent to funding more than a decade of war in Afghanistan. As president, the task of deconstructing the leviathan now falls in Bidens lap. Its a topic he and his administration have been conspicuously silent about even as they tout the end of the war in Afghanistan. Theres no end to Americas forever wars without dismantling the surveillance state here.

The Patriot Act expired in bits and pieces over the past 20 years, but key provisions still remainand stripping them away must be a priority as Biden seeks to wind down the War on Terror. Any effort to end the federal governments cataloging of its citizens will face opposition: just last year, lawmakers fought a pitched battle to extend key surveillance provisions.

Far from winding down along with the War on Terror, the surveillance state is expanding like never before.

When PATRIOTs controversial Section 215 governing bulk collection of telephone metadata from U.S. citizens expired in 2015, Senate Republicans quickly passed nearly identical provisions with a fresh new facethis time called the USA FREEDOM Act. That the metadata-tracking program harms civil liberties, cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and provided practically no useful information didnt seem to matter to lawmakers. And while USA Freedom includes several important limits on domestic spying not included in Patriot, it represents nothing less than Patriots survival into its fourth presidential administration.

Far from winding down along with the War on Terror, the surveillance state is expanding like never before. Private companies like Palantir now pledge to empower organizations to effectively integrate their data, decisions, and operations. If youre a state or federal law enforcement agency, that empowerment means utilizing powerful new facial recognition and crowd surveillance technologies to track nonviolent protesters and other troublesome Americans.

The technologies supposedly created to track a vague, undefined foreign threat have been turned against Americans with startling effectiveness.

If that seems like a far cry from monitoring the foreign-based communications of possible terrorists, thats because it is. The technologies supposedly created to track a vague, undefined foreign threat have been turned against Americans with startling effectiveness. Atlantas Flock Safety recently raised a $150 million investment round on the promise that it could capture and analyze vehicles and license plates better than anyone else. For many of the lawmakers compromised by an influx of surveillance industry lobbying cash, Americas future is one where you are always being watched.

It might be a different story if this eye-wateringly expensive, rights-eroding proto-Skynet actually improved American safety. In fact, its actively jeopardizing national security. Take Palantir, the private surveillance technology firm that last year wrapped up a high-profile $500 million funding round. According to new reports first published in the New York Post, a massive glitch in Palantirs confidential systems allowed unauthorized individuals to access sensitive FBI employee data for more than a year. But the FBI is small potatoes: the vast trove of private information Palantir helps the government scoop up is only as secure as Palantirs least-interested programmer.

But Americas surveillance hell isnt all high-minded data-mining by the boys at Langley and hunkered down in Silicon Valley. As citizens, weve been conditioned over the course of two decades to accept ever-greater incursions into our privacy. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the pernicious security theater produced and directed by the Transportation Security Administration.

A Congress eager to show Americans it would do anything necessary to protect them foisted the TSA on travelers in November 2001. Since then, airport security has become one of the nations greatest running jokes: according to research by Voxs Dylan Matthews, there isnt any solid evidence that TSA has made air travelor Americansany safer. But it has accustomed citizens to accept gradually more intrusive government requests on our freedoms.

As a frequent (until recent global health events) air traveler, I can barely imagine a world before TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, Clear, and a host of other services designed to ease the all-consuming inconvenience of War on Terror airport security measures. And thats whats so wrong. By placing theatrical but ineffective security roadblocks in front of Americans and then introducing a program like PreCheck, which required me to provide TSA with scans of my retinas, a full set of my fingerprints, and enough information to conduct a deep background check, TSA effectively inconvenienced me and most Americans into filling a database with our most personal data. And they charge 85 bucks for the privilege.

Sure, PreCheck is a choice you are free to declinebut by treating our privacy as a negotiable token to be traded off for a little convenience, we forfeit the chance to decide whether our government should even have the terrifying power to warehouse our eyes in the first place. Its past time our elected officials had that conversation and accounted for the failure of our intrusive security apparatus to actually deliver better intelligence outcomes and a safer country for Americans. Its time to restore our civil liberties to a pre-PreCheck world.

Only congressional Democrats and the Biden administration have the power to fully dismantle 20 years of deeply entrenched intrusion by the federal government into our private data and personal lives. That will be more difficult than withdrawing from Afghanistan, but inaction will do further damage to the already frayed relationship between our government and its people.

Democrats can begin our great national de-spyification process by revoking the sweeping surveillance powers successive Congresses have bestowed on organizations like the NSA and FBI. The past 20 years have demonstrated that our surveillance state is woefully ineffective at improving American national security.

Democrats can lead an overdue rethinking of the entire operational theory behind Americas use of surveillance. We must apply what weve learned from the past two decades of surveillance overreach to build a system that respects our most cherished rights.

A generation later, the War on Terror is drawing to an ignominious close. Americas surveillance state must not outlive it.

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Forever Wars Won't End if the Surveillance State's Still Here - Daily Beast

Women represent a massive pool of untapped human capital in South Africa. With 38% of all households in the country headed by women rising to over 45% in some rural areas they face the double burden of raising children and securing an income to provide for their families. To successfully accomplish this, women require access to affordable childcare that allows them to go out and find jobs. The early learning sector could hold the key to providing both to the benefit of women, children, and the countrys economy.

Without easy access to affordable childcare, women are more likely to have to stay at home. This means that they are unable to present themselves for interviews or engage in meaningful employment opportunities. The result is that a significant part of the existing workforce is constrained which has a knock-on effect in terms of being able to build a better life for themselves, and access to opportunities for their children, says Samantha Maasdorp, Network Strategist at early learning social franchise SmartStart.

By creating childcare venues for women who want to go out and work, early learning programmes help to stimulate the economy by giving agency back to mothers and caregivers. These programmes also have the potential to provide direct employment and social enterprise opportunities, while setting children up for future personal and economic success.

Through the SmartStart programme, I have seen my life change and become so much more than I had planned. I believe in myself more now and know the power that I have inside me. I know that I am making a difference in my community, and I make sure that I teach this to my children. Our community has a lot of opportunities, and all we have to do is find how we fit into the solution, says Thobisa Gatu, one of SmartStarts practitioners, who has been providing early learning in her community since 2017.

Using a social franchise model, SmartStart taps into the experience of existing civil society organisations who recruit, train, and license women to launch and run early learning social enterprises, for children aged three to five. To date, SmartStart has trained over 8 800 people to fill the gap in early learning service provision to the benefit of over 98 000 children across the country.

Childcare and early learning is frequently deemed to be the work that a mother should be doing within the home. It would be a huge step forward, both socially and economically, for South Africa to recognise the importance of this professional career pathway. Through the setup of these social enterprises, we are supporting women to become early learning professionals and for the caregivers in their community to see them in this way as well, says Maasdorp.

SmartStart operates in all nine provinces and has built a network of over 90 000 parents and caregivers, whose children are enrolled and active in one of SmartStarts programme formats. By 2030, SmartStart aims to reach 750 000 children between the ages of three and five annually. For more information, visit http://www.smartstart.org.za.

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Women find economic empowerment in early learning - Yiba

Little Simz has previously objected to being described as the best female rapper in Britain. And quite rightly too. Her magnificent fourth album demonstrates that she is one of the best rappers in the world, period.

Its title, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, is a phrase formed from the letters in Simbi, the family nickname of Simbiata Ajikawo. A British woman of Nigerian heritage, Simz has established herself over 10 years as both an actress (with roles in BBC series Spirit Warriors and Netflix drama Top Boy) and hip-hop artist, whose 2019 album Grey Area was nominated for a Mercury Prize.

Her new albums opening track, Introvert, sees the bravura lyricist come riding in on a six-minute cinematic orchestral funk epic that sounds like Wagner doing battle with Isaac Hayes. A massed choir towers above strings and horns amid percussive timpani booms, while the 27-year-old Londoner wrestles with her inner demons and sharply articulates her personal, social and political imperatives, the track reaching a pitch of excitement as she declares Im a black woman and Im a proud one. It is a position she reasserts from a different angle as the groove shifts seamlessly into the sweet soul of the sisterhood anthem Woman, on which she mischievously declares When you have beauty and brains, they find it astounding.

To be fair, this album is kind of astounding. Regular collaborator Inflo (Dean Josiah Cover) is the producer behind elusive collective SAULT, who have won praise for a powerful series of albums addressing black British identity (to which Little Simz contributed). Many of the same pliant funk, soul, jazz and gospel elements manifest here (the dazzling use of choral voices evoking such greats as Sly Stone and Curtis Mayfield), fused with atmospheric trip hop, grime-flecked electro and a joyously percussive twist of Afrobeat, all set to monumental orchestrations and given dramatic focus by the fierce intent of Simz herself.

Although she puts herself across with armour-plated confidence, Introvert wrestles with private feelings of insecurity: I bottle it up and spill it in verses / One day Im wordless next day Im a wordsmith. Admired by such leading rap exponents as Stormzy and Kendrick Lamar, her skills are fantastic, essaying a rat-a-tat-tat delivery that enables her to fire off lines of different lengths and locate the rhythm in anything (All we see is broken homes here and poverty / Corrupt government officials, lies and atrocities you try saying that quickly).

She rarely resorts to profanity or obscures her meaning with inscrutable slang, enunciating every phrase with clarity and purpose whilst conjuring up constantly interesting rhymes (one sequence in the soulful Two Worlds rhymes drama / marijuana / Bahamas / karma / calmer / charters / koalas and, stretching it a little, gives a little nod back to Kendrick Lamar).

An overarching narrative entangles her family background and artistic struggles with issues of political and personal empowerment. Lending a touch of fantasy, actress Emma Corrin (who played Diana in The Crown) appears amid rippling harps to offer encouragement like an aristocratic fairy godmother. Its a gift and a curse to be this pretty and blessed, Little Simz mischievously declares on the storming black pride anthem Standing Ovation. This is an album that deserves one.

Out now on AWAL

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Little Simz, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, review: an album that deserves a standing ovation - Telegraph.co.uk

Gohar Petrosyan, mother of two young children-Vahe, 7 and Hayk, 5-had a problem that is not unfamiliar to most parents. How could she and her husband manage their jobs and get their young children to kindergarten or school safely at the same time? In Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, parents or grandparents usually take children to school themselves. That's because the transport on offer is unreliable and-with children packed into vans and buses with just a driver and nobody to look after them-can even be dangerous.

In Petrosyan's case, she hired a babysitter and arranged for taxis to send her children safely to school. But there had to be a better way. She looked around for an alternative solution, but there was none. So, she came up with her own. 'It occurred to me that if someone could provide safe and reliable child transportation and combine it with babysitting care, hundreds of working parents with very young children would go for it,' she says.

She imagined it as a specialized ride-aggregator service that includes a babysitter in the car or van, in addition to the driver. The babysitter accompanies the child, and, at the end of the ride, hands over the child to a designated person inside the school. The ride between home and destination is streamed live for parents to monitor if they wish.

The production of the film was initiated and implemented under the leadership of the World Bank Yerevan office, Chair of the Women Economic Empowerment multi-stakeholder platform in Armenia.' The name of the film is: 'Dare to Succeed: Women in Small Business.

Petrosyan worked out the details. The transport would have appropriate child seats; it would have activities to keep the child occupied for longer rides; and the accompanying nanny could also feed or change the child's diapers or clothes if required. The service could be accessed through an app; parents could book rides in advance, choose their driver and nanny, and indicate all the services they would need from the latter. She came up with a name for her idea: HogaTAR, which loosely translates into 'Taking Care When Taking by Car'.

Then she hit a roadblock.

Petrosyan had no idea if this was a business that could work, or how it could work, and, more importantly, what she would need to start a company, run it, and grow it. She lacked business skills and had almost no access to finance. These are all problems that aspiring Armenian women entrepreneurs typically face. Due to various reasons, women have long been underrepresented in the Armenia's economy. A 2018 report found that only 53 percent of women were in the labor market, significantly lower than men at 71 percent. Their average wages were lower by 33 percent, and they were woefully behind in leadership positions. When the pandemic set in, women-owned businesses were being disrupted far more than male-owned firms.

This is why in 2020, IFC's Armenian Women's Entrepreneurship Project-in partnership with the UK's Good Governance Fund-launched its Empowering Females through Capacity Building program to promote business and tech skills among Armenian women entrepreneurs. The program included a series of bootcamp and accelerator trainings to help them identify their strengths, overcome weaknesses, and develop into successful businesswomen.

When Petrosyan heard about the program, she decided to join. She explains, 'I signed up, both because I was not sure that my idea was good and because I had no skills to start a business.' As it turned out, her idea caught the attention of her bootcamp trainers and she became one of 200 women selected for the more advanced accelerator program that followed. Along with other new women entrepreneurs, she received personal initiative training to help her develop a business mindset. She also learned about idea validation, marketing and sales, finance, pitching to investors, scaling of products, identifying markets, and incorporating technology into operations.

Her experience was quite transformational. 'It was an eye-opener for me,' she says. 'I gained confidence that my idea was worth turning into reality. I was able to build up a network; I met people who helped me believe in my own strength and overcome the fear of starting a business. And I acquired invaluable knowledge to help bring my idea to life.'

She noticed that other women too-who, like her, had ideas but did not know how to implement them-gained knowledge, experience, and connections that would be useful to them in the future. 'This shared journey with these women, who were all in the same boat as me, was very helpful,' she recalls.

'Personally, the training I received helped me plan better,' says Petrosyan. For instance, she has worked out several tariff plans-one-time, multiple, individual and group rides. Since attending the program, Petrosyan registered her business, created around eight jobs, has won prizes for her idea, and is about to sign a contract to receive money from a donor agency. She has already signed up a number of drivers and launched operations. She expects business to pick up as more children start going back to school.

Petrosyan already has ideas for the next phase of her new business: 'We aim to bring mother-drivers on board-mothers who take their children to school/kindergarten or any other group every day; they can become our drivers and earn extra money. Later, I plan to expand the service to include disabled children and the elderly.'

'Gohar's case is one of many,' says Gayane Mkrtchyan, Operations Officer at IFC and team leader for the Armenian Women's Entrepreneurship Project. In all, the Project-from July 2020 to June 2021-helped over 500 women acquire business skills and access networks that will empower them far into the future.

Many of the participating women already registered their firms, thus entering the formal economy, vital to access finance and government services. Some received funding from investors and many increased revenues and created new jobs. Mkrtchyan says, 'Entrepreneurs like Gohar-who entered the project with just an idea and turned into a potential success story-is what this is all about.'

Published in September 2021

Disclaimer

IFC - International Finance Corporation published this content on 03 September 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 September 2021 18:21:08 UTC.

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The Road to Better Childcare in Armenia - Marketscreener.com

I once joined a webinar at which a marketer for a popular fashion brand was in attendance. The topic was purpose and this particular marketer was proud about their brands purpose: to empower women. How are they empowering women, you might ask? When women wear our clothes, they feel good and confident, this marketer said, prompting aggressive nodding and approval from other CMOs.

Going by this marketers logic, isnt that the case with every other fashion brand? After the webinar, I sniffed around the brands social media and website but failed to find any information on how it was empowering women across its entire supply chain. The language used across its platforms, however, was assertively uplifting, encouraging shoppers to become the woman they want to be. Whether cloaked in blazers (for the boardroom!) or flowy pastel dresses (for brunch!), these homogenously fair-skinned, thin women could have it all.

The etymology of empowerment is rooted in ability, strength and might, powerful attributes that peopleespecially those that are marginalisedshould be aided to gain. When I think of what the word empower means to me, I think about having faith in my sense of self, my personal freedoms, and the ability to stand up for my principles and safety.

Somewhere down the road, brands began to own the narrative of empowerment as they used its political gleam to sell products and services. It is perceived that brands can provide their consumers with the spirit of empowerment if the product in question can improve their consumers lives in some way.

Fitness gyms, FMCG, and insurance brands are just some categories that appear to leverage this narrative as a purposeful brand strategy. Whether or not they are majorly supported by questionable labour practices or the trappings of patriarchy is not the question; it matters more that all external PR points towards their altruism.

Shifting the blame

One issue with regards to brands using this narrative is brands shifting the sole task of empowerment to the consumer. For example, if an apparel brand says it is empowering me to be confident by selling me clothing, I am inclined to think that the responsibility of empowering myself falls squarely on my shoulders.

The brand is essentially telling me: The choice of being empowered is yours to make! Simply buy our clothing and we can guarantee that you will be empowered!

Author Sarah Banet-Weiser, who wrote a book called Empower: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny, draws parallels between neo-liberal, capitalist-friendly feminism to misogyny itself. In an interview with Vox, she said:

The biggest problem with popular feminism is that were dealing with sexist and patriarchal structureswe still dont make as much money as men, there still is this discrimination in jobs, rape culture is rampant. My problem with much of popular feminism is that instead of challenging that, it says basically, Look, this is the situation. Its up to you to just be confident. You can practice your power poses in front of a mirror and then go into a job interview."

This notion that women and marginalised communities are entirely responsible for their own empowerment is frankly damaging. To echo Banet-Weisers point, this mindset allows brands to shift the blame to the consumer as an individual rather than social inequity as a collective ideological issue.

This narrative completely ignores systemic obstacles that might make women feel disempowered in the first place, such as the patriarchy. And the irony is that large brands are benefiting from the patriarchy to support their capitalist means, even if their empowering marketing spiel indicates the opposite.

I am not disputing the fact that many people may need products and services to help with their personal sense of empowerment. I can also see the value in raising awareness about an issue through marketing, such as encouraging conversations about periods. But the worry is that brands are conflating awareness and representation with empowerment, and thus over-exhausting the empowerment muscle for profit.

The eternal argument around purpose applies here: If purpose-driven messaging drives profit, should brands leverage purpose-driven messaging to drive profit?

In the name of self-care

The problem with femvertising is that campaigns are often built around catchy phrases that showcase brands takedown of sexism rather than brands vowing to tidy up their own affairs.

In the case of a luxury hotel, for instance, an extravagant nights stay in a suite may be marketed to me as a treat that I deserve. But at the same time, overworked and underpaid hotel workers might be rallying against labour cuts in the hotels industry. Therefore, the hotel is telling a customer like me that my wellbeing matters more than that of their workers. My sense of empowerment is all that matters.

This is exactly why I remain dubious about the capitalistic nature of the self-care and wellness movement. What is essentially marketed as a lifestyle to empower the middle class is completely silent on the wealth gap and inequity it simultaneously supports.

Lets take a look at sportswear brand Lululemon, which has managed to develop a highly successful cult-like following using aspirational marketing to target women who care about quality and sustainability. Despite pushing out inclusive marketing materials and narratives of empowerment, brand founder Chip Wilson was once quoted as saying: Frankly, some women's bodies just don't actually work [for the yoga pants].

And in 2019, reports found that the same brand that charges up to US$100 on a pair of leggings pay women workers in Bangladesh as little as US$120 a month. Some women claimed they were beaten and physically assaulted. In this case, voiceless and powerless women are left in the lurch at the expense of self-care.

Another great example of this are Girl Scout Cookies, which have long symbolised the empowerment of young girls in America. In fact, an entire play was written about how Girl Scouts are not, in fact, selling cookies. They are indeed selling the glorious struggle to overcome your simple origins and empower yourself to conquer the world. A new cookie flavour released last year was sold with empowering messages stamped on each cookie.

But the cookies are made with palm oil, which utilises the labour of tens of thousands of young girls in Indonesia and Malaysia. According to an expos by Associated Press, many of these children earn little or no pay and are routinely exposed to toxic chemicals. Yet, the demand for palm oil to produce Western foods and cosmetics is too high to ignore. This shows that brands are okay with one persons emancipation being anothers oppression.

Moving forward, I would urge brands to be more mindful about using empowerment as a theme in their purpose-driven messaging. Instead of overselling a bloated, utopian concept, maybe they should first evaluate if its something they are willing to work for.

Surekha Ragavan is Asia editor of PRWeek.

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How brands are diluting the meaning of empowerment - PR Week

Special to The Alliance Review

ALLIANCE An exhibit featuring women artists will kick off University of Mount Unions season.

The show, Women of Resilience, will be on display through Sept. 29 in the Sally Otto Art Gallery. An artists reception is planned from 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 2.

Women of Resilience features the work of 25 female artists who were asked to explore a variety of topics in traditional and nontraditional media. Topics include personal empowerment, overcoming barriers, recovery, strength, resistance and healing. The artwork reflects a variety of media such as painting, clay, jewelry, fabric and mixed media.

Exhibition artists include Clare Murray Adams, Ruthie Akuchie, Kathleen Browne, Heather Bullach, Sarah Curry, Annette Yoho Feltes, J. Leigh Garcia, Laura Kolinski-Schultz, Charmaine Lurch, Sarah McMahon, Michelle Mulligan, Mary Kaye ONeill, Cynthia Petry, Gail Trunick, Michele Waalkes, Gwen Waight, Jo Westfall, Gail Wetherell Sack, Laurel Winters and Kiana Zigler.

Priscilla Roggenkamp, Judith Sterling and Patricia ONeill Sacha have served as curators for the event.

The exhibit and reception are both free and open to the public. For more information about this and other upcoming exhibits, contact Gallery Coordinator Mike Schmidt at schmidmi@mountunion.edu.

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Sally Otto gallery showcasing women's art - The-review

Over the last five years, London has emerged as one of the worlds leading hubs for impact tech, and ... [+] VC investment into Londons purpose-driven companies has been growing rapidly.

Londons Social Entrepreneurs are blazing a path with innovative new impact tech. For Part One of this interview click here.

Another social entrepreneur, Alex Stephany from Beam agrees with the thesis of community self-empowerment. Beamis the world's first crowdfunding platform for homeless people a truly innovative solution.

I started Beam because I feltpowerless: how could I make areal difference to people affected by homelessness? With Beam, I and over ten thousand other peopleare able to virtually 'meet' people affected by homelessness on our websitebeam.organd can fund the specific financial barriers they face.We're trying to create an amazing donor experience interms of transparency and efficiency: you can see exactly where your donation goes via transparent budgets, share the journey of each person you support through email updates, and have the peace of mind thatevery single penny goes towards lifting someone out of homelessness for good.

Alex Stephany, Founder of Beam

Another terrific new technology platform that is helping Londoners feel safe and supported is Safe and the City, a personal safety navigation app.

Jillian Kowalchuk, the Founder shared more. Safe & the City is a free mobile application available in all UK cities and Berlin, Germany. The app looks and feels similar to other navigation apps, but there are a few distinct features. Straight away, youll see your position on the map, a red SOS button to reach Emergency services and a Report button. You can enter your destination and youll receive walking or public transit directions.

As you take the journey, Safe & the City scans millions of data sources to inform you on whether youre heading into a dangerous situation or a crime hotspot. We provide in-app notifications along your journey with safety tips to keep you aware and how to protect yourself. When you finish your journey, you can score it to help improve the safety of these spaces, such as street lighting. When you Reportan incident, like catcalling/commenting, it stays anonymous unless you choose to share it with friends. We keep the app free for people by working with organisations, such as the police, mobility operators, technology companies, local businesses and cities, to improve the safety of the people in their spaces.

Jillian Kowalchuk, the Founder of Safe & the City

Its a brilliant idea and one that should be available in all cities worldwide. I asked her about the response to the app so far. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. People generally are surprised an app like this hasnt existed until now, especially focusing on addressing normalized forms of abuse in public spaces, such as street harassment. Were constantly getting requests for our app to expand to more cities worldwide.

Safe & The City Map

Finally, I caught up with May Al-Karooni, Founder and CEO of Globechain which is leading anew market in reuse for enterprises in retail, construction, and hospitality, to reduce global waste and generate social, economic and environmental data on the impact. She shared how her journey started.

I was working for an investment bank and we moved offices across the road. I found out we were disposing of perfectly usable furniture and office equipment, costing 50 000 per person for the move! I was shocked and began wondering why no one had digitised waste and connected enterprises to non profits and businesses to reuse and redistribute unneeded items measuring the ESG data impact. From there I set up Globechain with 800.

May Al-Karooni, Founder and CEO of Globechain

Since then, the business has expanded at a staggering rate. Over the past six years, Globechain has grown a network of over 10 000 members, redistributed 472 000+ items and diverted more than 7 750 000 kgs of waste from landfills with savings of over 4.1m to non profits. We provide internal reuse and loaning globally, with our external reuse solution in the UK, New York and Spain.

She reflected on the journey, We have so many incredible success stories, from medical equipment being used in hospitals and emergency relief camps in Africa, to furniture and kitchen equipment helping local charities set up community cafes and food banks to mannequin parts used in art projects to bring awareness to social causes. I am always amazed at how quickly the items are requested on our site (average 20 minutes in the UK) and what they are used for. Globechain is now expanding internationally and is looking for purpose-driven partners to collaborate with.

Globechain is a data-centric reuse solution making waste a resource for everyone

For the final word, I turned back to Natalie Campbell from Belu. There are so many systems shifts going on that I believe we'll see even more purpose-driven businesses that look at growth with fresh eyes because we're all entering a world we've never lived in before. Businesses are also providing a moral compass, more so than any time I remember before, not just in what they say but what and how they sell. We'll be rethinking business solutions for many years to come, and the climate emergency and powering an equitable world will be at the forefront, I hope and believe.

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How Londons Social Entrepreneurs Are Leading The World, With Impact Tech And Innovative Purpose-Driven Companies (Part 2) - Forbes