Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

The Philadelphia 76ers (29-13) embarked on a six-game road trip with a stop in New York on Sunday night to face the Knicks (21-21). The Sixers were looking to establish a winning streak after disposing of the Kings on Saturday night in Philly. The Knicks had similar plans in mind after outlasting the Orlando Magic on Thursday. The Sixers, despite some awful execution, were able to outlast the Knicks in overtime, 101-100, after Julius Randles game-winning shot spun out of the basket as time expired.

Before we get to the action, some notes.

Ben Simmons returned to the lineup after missing Saturdays game with a sore left knee. Seth Curry remained sidelined through the weekend after spraining his left ankle on Wednesday against the Bucks. Joel Embiid remained out with a bone bruise on his left knee, although, according to Shams Charania, he is recovering quicker than anticipated. Doc Rivers started Simmons, Furkan Korkmaz, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, and Tony Bradley.

Mitchell Robinson was available for the Knicks after recovering from surgery on his right hand. Austin Rivers (personal) and Derrick Rose (health and safety protocols) were not available for the Knicks. Tom Thibodeau started Immanuel Quickley, Reggie Bullock, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Nerlens Noel.

The Sixers did a superb job of identifying problem areas on the offensive end early in the game and adjusting their strategy to counter what the Knicks were showing on defense. Early, the offense was flowing through Simmons in the post. Once it became clear that Simmons wrestling with Randle in the post was not going to be conducive to efficient offense, the Sixers started to play a bit differently. Recognizing that the Knicks were doing a great job of denying the first option, they countered by making first and second passes. The Knicks were not ready for that, and the lag time on adjusting allowed Korkmaz to contribute three unguarded triples as part of a 15-0 run in the first quarter.

Tyrese Maxey was the beneficiary of first quarter minutes for the first time in quite a while. After Saturdays victory, Rivers described the rookies play as up-and-down. It would hardly have been predictable that Maxey would register minutes in the first quarter of a non-blowout. Seeing as the trade deadline is just four days away, one wonders whether the playing time was intended to serve as a showcase for teams with which the Sixers are trying to construct deals. There very well may have been a matchup that Rivers liked for Maxey, but suddenly rewarding a rookie guard with real minutes the week of the trade deadline lends itself to speculation.

I didnt touch on this nearly enough last night, but Shake Milton seems to be rediscovering the confidence that he had last season and earlier this season. The three-point shot is still flat, but hes been very effective around the rim and from the midrange over the last game-and-a-half. Obviously, thats a laughable sample size. But, hes been much more decisive in that sample size. Even if shots arent falling, the Sixers desperately need an aggressive shot-hunter off the bench. Aside from lob passes to Dwight Howard or another big diving to the rim, hes not nearly crafty or polished enough as a passer to have an impact by just facilitating for teammates. Miltons greatest service is surveying the best opportunity to score the ball whenever he has it in his hands, at least for the current iteration of the Sixers.

After the game, Milton touched upon his mentality. I feel like I can score. But, talking to coach and listening to the coaches, its all about making the right play. So, it doesnt matter whos shooting the ball or whos scoring the ball as long as were putting points on the board and then getting stops on the defensive end. So, I try to carry it that way.

Danny Green couldnt get much of anything going on the offensive end, but he was critical to the Sixers leading for the vast majority of the first half. Green recorded three steals and three blocks in fifteen minutes before intermission. While he did not score a singular point, he was active in generating run-outs for the Sixers and altering attempts from the Knicks. He had a hand in generating a number of the open looks the Sixers got. While Greens ability to get shots isnt consistently there, hes far more impactful than given credit for and would be a significant subtraction if included in a deal as Thursday approaches.

Harris praised Greens stability after the victory. We look at Danny like a stable individual that just comes to play night after night, Harris said. Gives us great effort. As you saw tonight just made some big plays and that has a domino effect for the other guys to see on the team.

I am very fascinated by Dwight Howards sudden self-empowerment in attempting long jumpers. I generally have no qualms with Howard taking long twos as long as theyre within the rhythm of the offense. Obviously, you dont want him trying to do too much or forcing such shots. But, if hes catching them in space, its ridiculous of anyone to denounce such shots if theyre something hes practicing. For now, hes cashing them in. Let it fly.

Regardless of who Maxey plays for after the deadline, one of the things that has continuously impressed me about him is that he has never avoided the rim despite rarely ever getting foul calls. There will be times when he fades a bit as he goes up for finishes. But, hes prolific in applying downhill pressure on the rim with bursts towards the rim. Even if he makes a play for someone else or doesnt get his own shot to go down, hes not dribbling aimlessly. He has never been fearful of the basket and forces defenses to either block his shots or give up points at the rim. As he gets older, hell grow adept at drawing fouls and earn those calls. At this point, however, hes not getting the benefit of any whistles, and its not inhibiting his mindset at all.

With Simmons and Harris on the bench, Mike Scott stepped up when the Sixers desperately needed a bigger body to apply weight against Randle in the post. Scott isnt exactly nimble on his feet and is quite prone to defending with his arms instead of keeping his body in front of offensive players. Nonetheless, he was effective in making things difficult for Randle. He stopped him from taking over the game at a time when he easily couldve with both Simmons and Harris resting.

Harris post-ups became the vehicle to closing the game out for the Sixers. Some nights, its quite effective. This was not one of those nights. A key cog in that success is who else is on the court with Harris. Its not necessarily the binary of whether or not the shot goes in. In this particular circumstance, Rivers elected to close regulation with both Simmons and Thybulle. That makes sense on the defensive end. But, featuring those two in the closing unit and then running offense through Harris post-ups makes little sense.

The Knicks are a very good defensive team. They were happy to gamble on Harris making crafty passes to the abandoned man in an effort to double Harris in the post. Harris is not accustomed to being doubled as a member of the Sixers. The lack of exposure to that pressure showed mightily in the closing stages of the game. The Harris post-ups are fine and even encouraged under other circumstances. But, utilizing those touches as a hub with two non-shooters is inviting problems.

Rivers favored the defensive prowess that that lineup presented. Its not football, so we obviously didnt have a chance to sub back and forth, Rivers said. I thought our defense was more important at that point. We had to leave to get stops and, honestly, our rotations in those traps were horrendous, like they really were. No one moved, no one cut. So, I told our guys they were very lucky that I got to go see Austin [Rivers] and my new grandbaby. I was in a very zen mood today. Because this is one of those games that you dont know how many mistakes we made in the last five minutes of the game.

Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap to the opposition. Harris botched a pair of free throws that wouldve iced the victory. But, he defended Randle beautifully on the final play of regulation. Again, give Randle credit. He got an impossible bounce on a corner triple to tie the game and send the affair into overtime.

Theres not always a reasonable explanation for the outcomes of these games. Sometimes, the outcome hangs on the spin of the ball as it kisses the rim. Sometimes basketball is poetic. Tobias Harris was the subject of much dismay after the fashion in which regulation concluded. But, he sunk two free throws to put the Sixers up by one point with five seconds left in overtime. It has felt like the basketball gods, for the most part, have been on the Sixers side this season. They answered another prayer for Philadelphia. Randles game-winning shot kissed the inside of the rim before spinning out, sealing the Sixers thirtieth victory of the season.

The Sixers (30-13) will head out West for the last five games of their road trip. The first stop is in Golden State. They will tip off with the Warriors at 10 PM EST (perfect!). You can catch the action on TNT.

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Sixers Outlast Knicks In Ugly Game: What We Saw - thepaintedlines.com

The Centre for Handicapped, an organization the Embassy has partnered with before on micro projects, received a grant of over LKR 2 million this year again as a part of the Micro Project scheme of the German Embassy in Colombo. In 2017, the Centre for Handicapped in Kundasale received funds which were utilized to provide prosthetic limbs for women in need all across the Island. The project came to a successful conclusion and many physiotherapy sessions and workshops were also conducted. The proposed project of this year has a similar objective but is more inclusive in terms of disadvantaged and vulnerbale groups as the beneficiaries include not only amputee girls and women but also sexually abused females in the Central Province of the country. Recent surveys have found out that 1 in 3 women have experienced either physical or sexual violence and the need to address and support the victims increases by the day. Therefore, this project intends to empower 10 sexually abused girls and women who are currently under the protection of the Womens Development Center (WDC) by providing them training for possible livelihood methods. Apart from that, the funds will also be used to provide good quality prosthetic limbs to 30 amputee girls and women and train such amputees to walk well with their artificial devices as well as empower them by vocational training and personal development through numerous workshops.

The agreement for this project was signed on 05th of March at the German Embassy between German Ambassador Holger Seubert, General Manager of Centre for Handicapped Mr B.M.Rejendram and Operations Manager Mr G.J.S.Gunasena.

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German Embassy provides financial assistance for economic empowerment of abused and amputee girls and women of Central Province in Sri Lanka - Colombo...

Zoom Rooms Head Jeffrey Smith shared his thoughts on remote work, and why we're not going back to our offices the way we did before, even after the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us. That question pits the cost-effective convenience of working from virtually any place with a stable internet connection against the merits of working side-by-side with your colleagues in a dedicated physical space. For employers, it all comes down to choosing the model that maximises the productivity of their employees. This is where Zoom sees an opportunity.

Zoom has gone from being one of the many video conferencing solution providers roughly a year ago to becoming synonymous with remote working today. Its revenue grew 369 percent year-on-year in the quarter that ended January 31 to $882.5 million (roughly Rs. 6,400 crores), according to a company statement, despite slowing user adoption.

It now sees a rapidly approaching future filled with hybrid workplaces. Zoom believes that while modern organisations will continue to invest in a physical office space, remote work that translates into reduced infrastructure costs and a wider availability of talent, won't be abandoned. And it's pitching Zoom Rooms, its software-based conference room service that brings smartphones, computers, and video conferencing rooms onto a single, collaborative interface, as a key ingredient for modern workplaces to fully embrace the hybrid model. Unlike the Zoom app, it's a paid service starting at Rs. 4,300 per month for every room, over and above the cost of video-conferencing hardware.

Jeffrey Smith, Head of Zoom Rooms

Gadgets 360 spoke to Jeffrey Smith, Head of Zoom Rooms, to understand what Zoom's cloud-based solution when paired with recommended hardware offers over traditional video-conferencing systems. We discuss how employees stand to benefit from its collaborative tools such as whiteboarding and co-annotation, and how the company plans to tackle user data privacy concerns. Smith also talks about some new features introduced by Zoom Rooms recently, which includes a virtual receptionist for offices, automatic headcount of participants on a conference call, and real-time air-quality monitoring in a room.

Edited excerpts below:

Gadgets 360: Give us an overview of what's new about Zoom Rooms that support a hybrid workplace model?

Jeffrey Smith: Our focus was on how we can help customers return to offices in a secure way. Some of the top concerns were around touching of shared surfaces in conference rooms, whether there would be adequate ventilation, and will people be in close proximity with other people. Very obvious concerns that one might have when getting back into an office.

First off, we introduced the ability to pair a personal mobile device with a Zoom Room to avoid touching shared surfaces as much as possible and still have control of the room equipment. In addition, we launched the ability to, in real-time, count the number of people that are in a conference room and then publish that data to the Zoom Rooms scheduling device that is mounted outside the (video conferencing) room. We can also put that data on the dashboard for the IT administrator.

For the end-user, it gives real-time information to know things like am I going to enter a crowded space?' It helps the IT group to understand are my communications policies effective in telling people that this 10-feet conference room should only be used by two or three people?' In addition, we can monitor, in real-time, the air quality a couple of different metrics like temperature, humidity, CO2 levels in a room, specifically powered by Neat Bars from one of our hardware partners. And this data can again be viewed in the Zoom Rooms dashboard as well as the scheduling display. It gives feedback to the end-user about how adequate the ventilation system is, and to the IT group about their facilities planning.

Another cool feature that we have is a virtual receptionist and this is for a Zoom Rooms for Touch (large interactive displays with video conferencing) device. It also has a programmable action button that can either call an actual receptionist or help someone join a meeting. This is to enable companies to limit the amount of contact their lobby personnel has with guests as they enter a building. A productivity feature that we recently introduced is the ability to control your desktop device from a Zoom Rooms for Touch. So now I can open a presentation and control my desktop from the large touchscreen.

Gadgets 360: How do you see office spaces shaping in the near future? Do you see more face-to-face meetings happening whenever things go back to normal or more efficient remote work?

Jeffrey Smith: I can tell you that, from the perspective of customers that I interact with, there's a huge spectrum where there are some companies that look at it as we are 100 percent remote and we are going to stay that way and never see an office again'. But there are also companies that can't wait to get to office exactly as it was. And then there are companies in between. I do believe that we have shifted the midpoint further towards work from home more than it ever has been in the past. Rich tools like Zoom that enable productivity wherever you are have really empowered the workforce to be more distributed than it ever has been.

Gadgets 360: Have the hiring patterns also evolved in favour of a remote workforce?

Jeffrey Smith: Free and open communication empowers the workforce to be wherever they want to be. And so, that opens up all kinds of opportunities for companies to search for talent from wherever. The employee can then do their most productive work from wherever they want to live. It absolutely is a new era of individual empowerment that we are starting on.

Gadgets 360: Have Indian companies responded any differently to the pandemic in your experience?

Jeffrey Smith: I haven't observed uniqueness in terms of where Indian companies stand on the hybrid workplace spectrum. It's pretty consistent with the global response.

Gadgets 360: What's your plan for the India market in the near future?

Jeffrey Smith: Our focus is to deliver a consistent experience across globally distributed companies. So, we are definitely looking at delivering a high-quality experience in the India market that is consistent with other regions. Some of the things that we specialise in, like being robust to network degradations, has greater applicability in some areas of the Indian market. But outside of that, we are focused on consistency across regions.

Gadgets 360: Do you think internet bandwidth is still a challenge in India? Anything we can do as a workaround at the product level?

Jeffrey Smith: It's constantly a concern in a number of areas. And from a Zoom perspective, we try to be as automatic as possible so that the user or the enterprise doesn't need to concern themselves with network as such. The challenge is that there is always a floor (with bad connectivity) where it's not possible to have a (video conferencing) interaction at all, but that's always the case. We do as much as we can to make it as automatic as possible. But with the Zoom Rooms client and the interface, the IT team doesn't have to do anything differently to get the best possible experience out of what you are capable of (in terms of network speeds).

Gadgets 360: A lot of people are on Zoom because, up to a level, it's a free-to-use service. What makes the transition from a free to a paid user easy in terms of value additions?

Jeffrey Smith: In general, the value of all of those free customers to Zoom is huge. (It's about) the familiarity that they have with the platform when they come into the enterprise. And becomes the best training tool in the world for people who have already used the tool. So, the onboarding that customers have when they are bringing their workforce to Zoom becomes so much straightforward. We look at this as a great differentiator for Zoom has a platform that we have so many users that are familiar with it.

Obviously, the 40-minute (meeting) limit is a challenge. Some companies have come to say, well, we are going to just have 40-minute meetings'. But you know that's not feasible for a lot of organisations. So, as they come on (to the platform), they have greater needs that make the transition worth it.

Gadgets 360: Against the audio-video conferencing solutions that have been around for decades, how does Zoom Rooms differentiate itself? I know the key is the software, but what's more or better in terms of differentiation?

Jeffrey Smith: Looking at Zoom Rooms as a competitive offering, we approach that not as a software company but as an experience. From the procurement of the hardware to the installing and managing of the hardware and software system to the whole lifecycle, become an experience that the company needs to provide to the end-user. So, we look at the IT experience, the installing and managing experience, as well as the end-user experience, and that's where we differentiate. From the user perspective, it's a substantially lower cost than competitive video-conferencing solutions, and from the IT perspective it's the simplicity and ease of use.

Gadgets 360: Does Zoom Rooms work seamlessly with any video conferencing solution that is already in place at an organisation, or is the recommended hardware the best way to go about it?

Jeffrey Smith: There are advantages from that coherent, cohesive user experience. When we partner with a hardware company from Zoom Rooms appliances, it's all about tightly integrated hardware-software. When we look at customers who need the flexibility to build that hardware system that fits into their physical environments, like a big training room or an auditorium, those are the times when we build a flexible software platform that can leverage third-party hardware to solve any problem.

Traditional video conferencing (equipment) using standards like SIP and H.323 we can bring to the platform. So irrespective of the hardware that a company has, they can use Zoom, and we can elevate that experience when they go for the full Zoom Rooms applications.

Gadgets 360: Zoom is responsible for managing such large amounts of user data. Users rightfully want to know how their data is being managed. Can you tell me what Zoom is doing from a data security perspective?

Jeffrey Smith: Absolutely. Data security, privacy is built into the DNA of the way that we operate, both from product inception; looking at how we develop features, how we implement them, and how data moves, where it's stored, and who has access to it is absolutely a concern for us. We have to serve some of the largest and the most security-conscious companies in the world. So, for us, it's imperative that we take that responsibility seriously in everything that we do.

Gadgets 360: Do you think end-and-end encryption will become a standard to ensure data privacy for users?

Jeffrey Smith: It has some advantages in some use cases and some disadvantages in some other use cases. There are features we are not able to enable with end-to-end encryption. Sometimes the more security we layer on to a particular session the less we can be free and open in communications. I am not predicting that all meetings will go one way or another, it's an evolution as we go on guided by our customers.

Gadgets 360: Let's assume a future where the pandemic has ended. How does Zoom plan to stay relevant when meeting face-to-face is not a challenge anymore?

Jeffrey Smith: I think our world has changed. About the idea that all of my meetings are going to be in-person, there will be much fewer organisations that choose to work that way. This (pandemic) has opened the eyes of a lot of organisations to the ability to be productive when we are distributed. I don't know if there will ever be a return to 2019. However, when we are thinking from a Zoom Rooms perspective about how we can be relevant even when all of us are working in the same room and we do think about that quite deeply and so, when you're in a Zoom Room and you need to present material on a large screen, the wireless screen-sharing, the one-touch sharing, the proximity detection, and whiteboarding all of these are extremely powerful tools. And bringing them into the (office) spaces is quite important for us.

Are AmazonBasics TVs Good Enough to Beat Mi TVs in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

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Zoom Rooms Head Jeffrey Smith on Why Hybrid Workplaces Are Here to Stay - Gadgets 360

New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI/NewsVoir): India-UK Business Council of Womens India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI), announced its formal launch with a team of 20 motivated members. India-UK Business Council of WICCI, comprising women leaders from India and the UK, seeks to encourage and empower women in business, industry and commerce across all sectors in India and the UK.The virtual launch witnessed participation from the individuals of impact and influence from India and the UK, dignitaries and representatives of large corporates and women in business, government officials, the WICCI family, influencers and changemakers. The Councils mission is to robustly encourage and empower women in business, industry and commerce across all sectors and fields in both countries.The launch was unfolded over a panel discussion by industry experts from India and the UK on the topic Leading Businesses Into the Future: Opportunities and Trends for Women@Work. The esteemed repertoire of panellists included Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Aarin Capital and Manipal Global Education; Richard Hawkes OBE, Chief Executive at The British Asian Trust; Anshu Bhartia, CEO at UnLtd India and Anisha Motwani, Founder of Storm the norm Ventures and Board Director at Abbott and L&T.As per, Dr Harbeen Arora, Founder President of WICCI, WICCI boosts and builds empowering ecosystems for womens entrepreneurship, businesses and leadership to thrive. With a robust representation of women as office bearers across 150 sectors and close to 500 councils at National, Bilateral, State, City levels, WICCI councils are fostering womens greater engagement with government, institutions, think tanks, media, civil society, corporates, thought leaders, and womens business networks globally. To realise the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, and for India to have a USD 5 trillion economy, the equal and empowered participation of women in the economy and society is essential. I congratulate the WICCI India-UK Business Council on their launch with 22 stellar women leaders, role models and change-makers, who are paving the way for more joint ventures and collaborations between women in India and the UK, contributing to greater self-reliance for all.Devapriya Khanna, President, WICCI India-UK Business Council commented, At the India-UK Business Council of WICCI, our fundamental objective is to bring together women from India and the UK together to support their professional growth, market expansion and professional development and to strengthen bilateral conversation and the business corridor between the two countries.The launch of India-UK Business Council will accelerate the growth of India-UK women-led businesses in the new economic landscape. The Council will launch a business accelerator program where women entrepreneurs will get access to the vast network of WICCI, and mentorship in scaling up their businesses to the next level.Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Aarin Capital and Manipal Global Education said, I am confident that Indian women will lead India forward and take the rightful role. Women in India are becoming empowered and are getting their rightful role in the country. India has more girls than boys in schools and we are seeing women in business who are doing well. There are women coming from traditional families who are donning the role of ceos. Unfortunately, the start-up segment is just dominated by 13 per cent of women. The number can be increased if we show more women as role models and mentors so that young women are encouraged to take up space. The government also needs to give access to capital to them so that we see more female entrepreneurs in the future to come.Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive at The British Asian Trust commented, It has been a privilege for me to work with women in India. Overall, we need to make legislative and constitutional changes and implement rules related to maternity leaves, gender pay gaps, flexible working environment and empower every single person by focusing on skilling women.India-UK Business Council comprises senior women professionals, women achievers and entrepreneurs across the industry with experience in the corporate domain and in entrepreneurship.Devapriya Khanna (Founder and CEO 212 Degrees Brand Lab) is the Council President, Farah Ismail (Founder & Principal Consultant @ Interact Consulting) is the Council Vice President, Anna De (Founder and Director Healthcare Policy Consultancy), Andrea Stone (Founder Stone Leadership), Angela B. Spragg (International Coach-Publisher Women Empowerment & Toxicity Coach @ Advantage Women Network Ltd.), Aditi Banerjee (Co-founder and CEO Magic Billion), Frances Sinha (Director, M-CRIL), Kamalini Roy (Growth Acceleration Entrepreneur Coach), Kirubai Kohout (Personal Transformational Coach at SMILE Leadership Academy), Menaca Pothalingam (Leadership Consultant SMILE Leadership Academy), Punita Chandra (Company Director and Founder at Atelier Kabana), Shilpi Singh (Co-founder Studio4), Shilpa Ajwani (Founder & CEO unomantra), Shelley Hutchinson (Business Success Coach Client Nectar), Shefali Prakash (Assistant Director, Treasury Advisory, Deloitte UK), Shalini Rao (Chief Marketing Officer at Bangalore International Airport Ltd.), Supriya Rai (Founder & CEO at Switcheroo Global | Founder of Future Fellow 2020), Suparna Ghose (Associate Lecturer Anglia Ruskin University), Tanmaya Goswami (Founder & CEO Fashion Business Consulting), Vani Gupta Dandia (Independent Business Consultant, CherryPeachPlum Growth Partners).The Womens Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI), established alongside ALL Ladies League (ALL), Women Economic Forum (WEF) and SHEconomy are an institutionalised National Business Chamber for women in India. The Chamber works closely with the government and key stakeholders across various countries to improve bilateral trade relations and facilitate ease of doing business and competitiveness for women-owned businesses.WICCI has manifold Sector Councils at National and State levels; Bilateral Business Councils in 90 countries internationally; Coordinating Councils at Regional and State levels; and cross-sectoral city councils, representing 150+ diverse sectors. The diverse councils develop different areas of focus to mainstream womens voice and uphold womens interest in policymaking: helping women better incentives, improved access to finance and other measures that empower the competitiveness of Businesswomen, Entrepreneurs and Professionals.This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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India-UK Business Council of Womens India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI) announced its launch - Zee Kannada

BALTIMORE, March 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As women across various arenas continue to make monumental strides and achieve recognition for their diverse strengths and capabilities, there is one organization that remains firm in its resistance to change: the Christian church. Evident in both the implicit biases that shape the perceived role of women in the church and the explicit refusal to allow women to advance into leadership roles, the church is steeped in a pervasive sexism that not only has negative implications for womens personal and spiritual identities but also stands in the way of Gods highest calling for them.

In her new book, Eve, Where Are You?: Confronting Toxic Practices Against the Advancement of Women, Nicole L. Davis, PhD, offers her powerful and thought-provoking analysis of the current status of gender equality within the Christian church and marketplace, particularly as it intersects with leadership. Davis, an ordained pastor, Navy veteran and professional conflict coach and resolutionist, pairs her personal experience as a woman leader in both secular and spiritual settings with the perspectives of other men and women involved in ministry to illustrate how regressive attitudes and practices belittle women, discouraging and inhibiting them from using their God-given talents within the church.

As a Christian woman in church, I have experienced the impact of gender bias and discrimination even though I possess spiritual gifts, leadership skills and ministry and work experience, said Davis. I remember how I was treated years ago by the first pastor who ordained me . . . he struggled with the proper title to give me. He felt the title of evangelist was more fitting for a woman, even though the title chosen was not predicated on my role and responsibilities. It was only related to my gender. Only after I challenged the decision and threatened to reject the position altogether that he ultimately relented and ordained me as a minister.

Davis also explores where the limiting beliefs about women originated, debunks scriptural myths that have been used to bar them from obtaining leadership roles in ministry and provides biblical evidence that men and women were created equally and share dominion over the earth. Drawing from her background in the social sciences, she also investigates the reluctancy to allow women into male-dominated spaces and the barriers around acquisitioning and transitioning power and changing the church environment.

Ultimately, Davis concludes that there is a pathway toward reconciling the bias toward women and welcoming their vast array of strengths and talents, however it requires women to be unyielding in their pursuit of Gods plan for their lives as well as a joint effort between both genders to shift the thinking within the church from a prejudicial perspective to a Christ-centered one. Through providing successful strategies and tools, including her tried-and-true R.E.F.R.E.S.H. Model, Davis also illuminates how church leaders can introduce successful organizational change by nurturing a focus that meets the needs of all members and implementing conflict resolution techniques that bridges the divide between the congregation. Additionally, she provides an excellent resource for academic discussion, fostering a space for university and seminary students to contemplate the roles of women, and compare and contrast the challenges women have in church organizations against those in other industries.

It is my mission to become a resource and an active contributor toward resolving this contentious topic to promote equality, unity, worth and hope for better church relationships between men and women, and to support women in leadership and those aspiring to be in leadership positions, whether in the church or in the marketplace, said Davis.

Daviss book should find a welcoming place on any thoughtful church-goers bookcase, wrote BlueInk Review.

Eve, Where Are You?: Confronting Toxic Practices Against the Advancement of WomenBy Nicole L. Davis, PhD ISBN: 9781664206366 (softcover); 9781664206380 (hardcover); 9781664206373 (electronic)Available from Amazon, Christianbook and WestBow Press

About the authorNicole L. Davis, PhD, is an ordained pastor, certified mediator, facilitator, conflict coach and Christian life coach, and a certified marriage trainer. As a social science researcher, her areas of interest include gender inequality, organizational leadership, womens empowerment and family dynamics. With her husband, Tony, she has coauthored multiple books, including the three-book Done Right series that brings a voice to what God is speaking regarding family dynamics and the conduct of individuals within them: Parenting Done Right Is Hard Work (But Its Worth It!); Marriage Done Right Is Hard Work (But Its Worth It!); and Leadership Done Right Is Hard Work (But Its Worth It!)." The couple also coauthored the anthology Speak to the Mountains!, and Davis went on to write for the anthology Junia Arise: Apostolic Women on the Frontlines. Davis is the cofounder of Empower to Engage, a coaching and consulting firm that focuses on enhancing marriages, families and organizations, and equips men, women, and leaders with tools and techniques essential for effective and righteous leadership in their spheres of societal influence. She also hosts the Eve, Where Are You? podcast. To learn more about Davis, please visit evewhereareyou.com, listen to her or connect with her on Facebook (@evewhereareyou), Twitter (@DrNicoleDavis1) and Instagram (@evewhereareyou).

WestBow Press is a strategic supported self-publishing alliance between HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Author Solutions, LLC the world leader in supported self-publishing. Titles published through WestBow Press are evaluated for sales potential and considered for publication through Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. For more information, visit http://www.westbowpress.com or call (866)-928-1240.

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'Eve, Where Are You?' Reflects on the Unequal Treatment and Status of Women in the Church and Urges Christians to Take Critical Action Toward Gender...

March 19, 2021

It's hard enough being a female business owner or employee in a world still very much dominated by men. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has intensified the challenges faced by women. Womenespecially women of colorare more likely to have been laid off or furloughed during the COVID-19 crisis, stalling their careers and jeopardizing their financial security.

A recent joint study from McKinsey and LeanIn found that one in four women have or are considering downshifting their career or leaving the workplace early, all because of the pandemic. The burden of supervising their children's virtual school instruction has fallen on women and many have left their jobs to better balance the needs of their children and families.

Since the topic has gained renewed attention, here are some books and ebooks on women and work, women as entrepreneurs, and issues affecting women in the workplace. Also included are titles giving advice for women as to how to succeed in their careers, and inspiring reads on women empowerment and self actualization.

Boss Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan to Take Charge of Your Career by Nicole Lapin

You don't need dozens of employees to be a boss, says financial expert and serial entrepreneur Nicole Lapin. Hell, you don't even need one. You just need to find your inner Boss Bitch your most confident, savvy, ambitious self and own it.

Double Down: Bet on Yourself and Succeed on Your Own Terms: A Remixed Rule Book for Badass Boss Ladies by Antoinette M. Clarke and Tricia Clarke-Stone

Media executives Antoinette and Tricia share their wisdom with the next generation of Boss Ladies looking to make their mark. They share tips, tricks and tactics to help women identify their goals, cultivate their confidence, and double down on their superpowers.

Female Firebrands: Stories and Techniques to Ignite Change, Take Control, and Succeed in the Workplace by Mikaela Kiner

Thirteen professional women recount the career challenges they've faced and how they have overcome bias, sexism, and the power imbalance.

The Fix: Overcome the Invisible BarriersThat Are Holding Women Back at Work by Michelle P. King

Discover how to thrive at work from the director of inclusion at Netflix with this passionate, practical roadmap for addressing inequality and finally making our workplaces work for women.

Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals by Rachel Hollis | ebook

Hollis knows that many women have been taught to define themselves in light of other peoplewhether as wife, mother, daughter, or employeeinstead of learning how to own who they are and what they want. With a challenge to women everywhere to stop talking themselves out of their dreams, Hollis identifies the excuses to let go of, the behaviors to adopt, and the skills to acquire on the path to growth, confidence, and believing in yourself.

Grow Your Value: Living and Working to Your Full Potential by Mika Brzezinski

Drawing on deeply revealing conversations with powerful and dynamic women, input from researchers and relationship experts, and her own wealth of experience, Mika helps women pinpoint their individual definition of success. She advises her readers to define the "professional value" that encompasses their worth in the workplace, and the "inner value" made up of their core beliefs and goals.

I Am My Brand: How to Build Your Brand Without Apology by Kubi Springer

Featuring dynamic female brand builders from around the world, the book is a tapestry of personal brand advice interwoven with storytelling and support that offers a practical guide for female entrepreneurs, freelancers and executives. It explores the techniques used by different women across cultures to build their personal brand, as well as the challenges they faced and their paths to overcoming them.

Ladies Get Paid: The Ultimate Guide to Breaking Barriers, Owning Your Worth, and Taking Command of Your Career by Claire Wasserman

From career coach and founder of the startup Ladies Get Paid-the eponymous organization leading the fight for equality in the workplace-comes an empowering guide to provide you with the tools to strategically navigate the workplace, achieve success, and become a true leader.

Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs by Nathalie Molina Nio

For women entrepreneurs (and anyone launching a startup from scratch), this smart, snappy guide presents 50 proven ways to leapfrog over roadblocks to growth and success. Based on the Athena Core 10, a unique set of leadership values Nathalie helped develop at Barnard, as well as anecdotes and advice from well-known trailblazers, this inspiring book lays out powerful strategies and shortcuts for business growth.

Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving by Caitlyn Collins

A cross-national account of working mothers' daily livesand the revolution in public policy and culture needed to improve them.

The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table by Minda Harts

A look at the odds stacked against women of color in professional settings, from the wage gap to biases and microaggressions, with actionable takeaways.

The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You: Command an Audience and Sell Your Way to Success by Lydia Fenet

Fenet takes you on her twenty-year journey from intern to managing director and global head of strategic partnerships at Christie's Auction House. Combining case studies and personal stories, Lydia also shares tips from some of the most powerful and successful women in business, fashion, journalism, sports, and the arts. This book will show you how to take your career to the next level, whether it's overcoming your fear of asking for something or bridging a wage gap.

Own It: The Power of Women at Work by Sallie Krawcheck

A new kind of career playbook for a new era of feminism, offering women a new set of rules for professional success: one that plays to their strengths and builds on the power they already have.

The Women's Small Business Start-up Kit: A Step-by-Step Legal Guide by Peri Pakroo

A guide for women interested in starting or running a small business. It covers how to: draft a business plan; raise start-up money, including through crowdfunding; choose a legal structure and hire employees; manage finances and taxes; qualify for special certification programs and contracts for women-owned businesses; and market and brand a business online and off. Also contains interviews with successful women business owners, and has tips for maintaining work-life balance.

Women's Work: A Reckoning with Work and Home by Megan K. Stack

A stunning memoir of raising her children abroad with the help of Chinese and Indian women who are also working mothers. It is also an electrifying meditation on the evasions of marriage, motherhood, feminism, and privilege.

Work Wife: The Power of Female Friendship to Drive Successful Businesses by Erica Cerulo & Claire Mazur

Cerulo and Mazur bring to light the unique power of female friendship to fuel successful businesses. Drawing on their own experiences, as well as the stories of other thriving "work wives," they highlight the ways in which vulnerability, openness, and compassionqualities central to so many women's relationshipslend themselves to professional accomplishment and innovation.

-Archana, Adult Services & Acquisitions Librarian

This press release was produced by the Livingston Public Library. The views expressed here are the author's own.

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Livingston Public Library: Women In Business And The Workplace - Patch.com

By Talal Abu-Ghazaleh

Dear Europeans, do not be fooled by your relief with the new administration in Washington. Your hope for the future of transatlantic cooperation is premature. To get the America you want will be more difficult for President Joe Biden to deliver than you realize. It will require tough love by Europeans. Just make sure your assertiveness is designed to bring the United States and Europe closer together, not drive a new wedge in the relationship.

Biden is committed to rebuilding transatlantic ties. But the recent insurrection in Washington is a sobering reminder of the divided America he inherits. Moreover, his electoral coattails were short. The Democrats barely gained control of the U.S. Senate and lost seats in the House of Representatives. Moderates, not progressives, will have the deciding votes on many issues of importance to Europeans. And the American public is deeply divided. Three-quarters of Trump voters incorrectly believe he won the election. And only 15% of Americans think that American democracy is working well.

This comes in the wake of an ambitious European Union agenda for transatlantic relations in the Biden tenure. And at a time when Europeans are engaged in a long-overdue internal debate about their own sovereignty and autonomy.

In pursuit of such ambitions, Europeans must realize that self-empowerment requires assuming the responsibility to prod or even pressure the United States to do what is in their mutual self-interest.

What European autonomy should not do is create trans-Atlantic divisions. Signing the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment in the waning days of 2020 was a dramatic assertion of European sovereignty, but it was an ill-timed first step.

It came at a moment when the incoming Biden administration had expressed a desire to work more closely with Europe in dealing with China. If Beijings concessions to Brussels temper European willingness to work with Washington on China, transatlantic cooperation will have gotten off on the wrong foot.

Going forward, European assertiveness should focus on initiatives such as leveraging U.S. climate action, taking on more responsibility for global economic recovery, and creation of a tax and regulatory framework for the digital economy. For all its good intentions, the Biden Administration will find it difficult to spearhead these initiatives. Europe will have to lead.

Biden will rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement on inauguration day. But the United States must also improve upon its commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Bidens campaign pledge of net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 requires big changes in the next decade. With Democratic Congressional majorities dependent on the votes of moderates from coal producing states, a meaningful tax on carbon emissions may be beyond reach.

Biden has also promised executive orders to impose higher fuel efficiency standards, to control methane emissions from fracking and to launch other regulatory initiatives to slow global warming. But, as President Trump learned, courts can block executive orders and the conservative Supreme Court seems poised to curtail the executive branchs regulatory discretion.

Europe has no choice but to force Washingtons hand. It should impose a carbon emissions border adjustment price on products from the United States. This would give the Biden administration some much-needed leverage with its domestic climate change deniers who will then have to choose between paying a domestic tax on carbon emissions or see taxes on American exports fill European government coffers.

Biden has also promised major new spending to revive the economy to avoid a desultory economic recovery. In the wake of the 2009-2010 Financial Crisis, the United States experienced its slowest rebound in modern times, thanks to inadequate pump priming. Europe and the rest of the world suffered as a result.

IMF leader Kristalina Georgieva has called for more U.S. fiscal stimulus. But any Biden spending program will require higher taxes and more debt. His promise to raise revenue by increasing corporate levies and higher income taxes on the rich will face stiff opposition on Capitol Hill. Expect Republicans to rediscover their orthodox aversion to debt. And moderate Democrats up for reelection in 2022 may have qualms about more deficit spending.

This means the burden of global economic revival will rest more on European shoulders. Approval of the 750 billion European Union recovery fund was a good first step. But additional spending will be needed, especially by Germany. Germany is in theenviable position of having ample fiscal space, Shekhar Aiyar, the IMFs mission chief for Germany, commented late last year.

Finally, the digital economy is the circulatory system of the future transatlantic marketplace. The European Court of Justice invalidated the U.S.-EU privacy shield agreement, which permitted companies to transfer commercially relevant personal data from Europe to the United States. Without such a deal, the transatlantic digital economy could be crippled. The European Union should propose immediate negotiations on a new transatlantic privacy accord.

The Biden administration is expected to take a hard look at the anti-competitive practices of Facebook and other platform companies. More than half the U.S. states have already sued Google for alleged discriminatory conduct on its search results page.

The EU has proposed tougher new oversight of the technology industry. And, in the wake of Twitter banning Trump, Chancellor Angela Merkel asserted that regulation of speech on these platforms should be done by law, not by private companies. Brussels should push for a U.S.-EU review of platform companies, with a focus on competition policy and free speech. Closer coordination is needed before Washington and Brussels go down separate regulatory paths.

And, most immediately, the U.S. and European governments need to resolve their differences on digital taxation. The digital economy is woefully undertaxed at a time when governments on both sides of the Atlantic are desperate for revenue. If Washington continues to drag its feet in the ongoing OECD negotiations on this issue, European governments should impose their own digital taxes. This may be the only way to force an American debate about digital companies paying their fair share.

Leading European politicians from various parties acknowledge that there is no return to some pre-Trump time when America led, Europe begrudgingly followed, and all was right with the world. Trump is gone. But the United States is still a much-needed European partner. Yet, in the Biden era, Europe should practice smart tough love on a distracted Washington to get it to move on issues of mutual interest. Europe must have the courage of its convictions and play the unaccustomed role of big brother. This will not be comfortable for either Europe or America. But this is what Europeans longed-for sovereignty means in practice.

Bruce Stokes is the executive director of the German Marshall Funds transatlantic taskforce Together or Alone? Choices and Strategies for Transatlantic Relations for 2021 and Beyond

* Bruce Stokes is the executive director of the Transatlantic Task Force and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund. He was the director of Global Economic Attitudes at the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC, and is a former international economics columnist for the National Journal, a Washington-based public policy magazine. He is also a former senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Originally posted here:

Abu-Ghazaleh Shares Insights with Bruce Stokes on US Europe: Together or Alone (3) - Ammon News

When a man calling himself Gavin Ambani contacted Pl Hansen out of the blue one day in 2018, the highly regarded portrait photographer wasnt sure what to make of him. Hansen has built his reputation on photographing the likes of Nicole Kidman, Tilda Swinton and Sir Lewis Hamilton, as well as some of the worlds best known chefs for Observer Food Monthly. But Ambani, a loquacious character with a high-pitched voice, wanted him to do some work for his Instagram account.

I said it doesnt sound like something Im interested in, recalls Hansen.

But Ambani was nothing if not persistent. He told Hansen that Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, the chef-owners of the restaurant Honey & Co, had personally recommended the photographer. Theyre amazing chefs, says Hansen of the Israeli couple. Very well known and lovely people.

This is the process by which Ambani, who is awaiting an extradition hearing relating to fraud charges in the United States, gained peoples attention: affecting friendships with influential people.

He was just a regular customer, says Srulovich. We knew him for coming once or twice a week. He was always name-dropping, not celebrities but people in the food world. We got to talking about Karam Sethi I love his work. And he said: Oh yeah, hes a good friend. Ill introduce you.

Sethi is one of the people behind the Michelin-starred Gymkhana in Mayfair, part of the JKS group of restaurants, which he set up with his brother Jyotin and sister Sunaina.

Ive probably met [Ambani] four or five times in our restaurants, he says. He was a regular at Trishna. One day emails started arriving because a staff member didnt give him the attention he desired. He threatened to call Michelin, and threatened us with attorneys. I called him and said if there was an issue he should come to me. He then completely flipped and became a superfan of our group, and the threats stopped. That was it.

Hansen didnt know any of that. So he agreed to meet Ambani for a coffee, during which, Hansen says, the aspiring influencer informed him that he was from an extremely wealthy Indian family and worked for Netflix in the UK. He said he wanted to become a major player in the food world and to develop the TV side of Instagram with a kind of gastronomy channel. He wanted promotional shots of himself taken in restaurant settings and asked Hansen to name his price. The photographer did just that and Ambani readily agreed.

Meanwhile, according to numerous American media reports, private investigators K2 Intelligence and the FBI, 6,000 miles away in Hollywood a con artist was busy luring behind-the-scenes workers makeup artists, personal trainers, stuntmen to Indonesia with promises of wealth and stardom, largely made through phone calls. Impersonating female film executives such as Amy Pascal, the former head of Sony Pictures, the producer Wendi Deng Murdoch, and Sherry Lansing, the former CEO of Paramount Pictures, the grifter allegedly managed to persuade hundreds of workers to fly to Indonesia on their own expense, where they were then charged excessive daily costs for driving fees or photo permits, all the while being told by Pascal or some other fake female executive that a major project was just about to begin. The whole thing, according to the Americans, was a scam, estimated to have realised $1.5-2m over several years.

Listeners to last years podcast serial Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen, presented by investigative journalists Josh Dean and Vanessa Grigoriadis, heard that the main suspect in the case was someone who had used a falsified passport under the name of Gobind Lal Tahil. Further digging suggested this persons real name is Hargobind Punjabi Tahilramani, a 41-year-old Indonesian from a privileged background who had served time for fraud back home. He had also been a student in America, where under the name of Harvey he had taken part in competitive debating, specialising in persuasive speaking, until he was accused of using another competitors speech. Dean and Grigoriadis also discovered that Tahilramani was living in England, in Manchester.

Hansen did two photo shoots, the first at the Xu Teahouse in Chinatown, run by Erchen Chang and sister and brother Wai Ting Chung and Shing Tat Chung. Ambani arranged the location, claiming the owners were close friends (the owners say this was not the case and the shoot was arranged with their marketing department). The second was at Honey & Smoke, another Packer and Srulovich restaurant.

The photographs were done in Hansens signature style, filled with grandeur and drama but also intimately conveying the personality of their subject. So in one shot, for example, the waiters framed Ambani as they poured out a rainbow spectrum of colours from teapots to represent the fact that Ambani was gay. At Honey & Smoke he sat breaking bread between Packer and Srulovich, whom he saw as breaking down social barriers with their Israeli-Middle Eastern cooking. Thats what he stood for, he said, breaking down barriers.

The shoots went very well. Everyone had fun and the photographs were bold and striking. The only problem came with the payment, which was more than 4,000. A trail of emails and texts Hansen has shown Observer Food Monthly tells the story. There was some kind of technical hitch, Ambani explained after several weeks, with transferring the money from his aunts account in America, where his cash was tied up. It would soon be sorted out, he said.

Hansen wasnt too concerned. There was something a little odd about Ambani, that was true, but he didnt expect any trouble.

If someone is a fraudster, he reasoned, the last thing they want is to be recognised and seen in a physical document that proves who they are. So you think, he cant be a fraud.

Nonetheless, Hansen says, and the email exchange supports him, the payment continued not to arrive and in its place was a stream of ever more implausible excuses. Sometimes Ambani would say he would deliver the money by hand later that day, and then not show up. Oh my God, he wrote to Hansen afterwards, you wrote 10pm tonight when I meant 10am in the morning. On other occasions he would ask for more time.

Finally Hansen got in touch with Srulovich and asked whether he could check his bank statement to see if this Ambani was who he said he was. Srulovich wasnt able to, but the next day Ambani sent a furious message to Hansen accusing him of a criminal act of defamation in contacting Srulovich.

He said Itamar had given him a hard time for not paying and he ended the text message saying that what I had done [by informing Srulovich] made him feel like he was going to commit suicide.

Its perhaps worth noting that when Harvey was caught allegedly using another students debating speech, he also threatened suicide.

In neither case was the threat carried out, but nor did Ambani pay Hansen. Not even the prospect of court action seems to have bothered him. In the emails he claims to have beaten cancer and, he told Hansen, he would prevail in court too. In the meantime he kept Hansens photographs up on his Pure Bytes Instagram account, taking them down only after repeated reminders that he had not paid for them.

While this conflict was unfolding, a man named Lal Gobind walked into a West End restaurant and, without a reservation, asked for a table. When he was told the restaurant was full, he accused the staff of racism. Oh my God, this was really serious, recalls Gemma Bell, of well-known food PR agency Gemma Bell & Co, who represented the restaurant in question.

She knew she would have to conduct an inquiry to establish exactly what happened. After interviewing all of the staff involved, she says she realised that there was no basis to the claim. She called Gobind to smooth things over and, she says, he was sweetness and light. He was no longer concerned about the accusation that he had made so vehemently. Instead Bell says he asked her to become his PR for some supper club events he said he wanted to set up.

The food influencer known as Clerkenwell Boy had hosted a series of successful supper clubs that highlighted well-known chefs. He would hold them at a private members club once a month and Ambani managed to get into one of them.

All the evidence suggests that Gavin Ambani is the same person as Lal Gobind, who is in turn the same person as Gobind Lal Tahil and Harvey. There are many other aliases, too, but all of them, it is alleged, belong to one Hargobind Punjabi Tahilramani.

Many people in Londons restaurant scene have speculated that Ambani was looking to model himself on Clerkenwell Boy but with one big difference. Whereas the food influencer with a quarter of a million followers on Instagram maintains his anonymity, Ambani aimed to put himself squarely in the picture.

He wanted adulation, says Frances Cottrell-Duffield, owner of the PR agency Tonic Communications. He just wanted people to think that he was wonderful.

Ambani also approached Cottrell-Duffield, in December 2019, to be his personal PR. She says he introduced himself by walking up to where she was dining in a restaurant. Aware of her professional profile, he immediately began fawning.

If you said something completely straightforward, recalls Cottrell-Duffield, he would say: That is the most brilliant thing Ive ever heard. You are the most brilliant woman. I cant believe Im in the same room as you. I thought, youre weird, actually.

He told her, among other things, that he had suffered a difficult childhood and that he was best friends with Karam Sethi. She says that she has encountered name-dropping before in the restaurant world but his was on a scale Id never seen. Despite finding him unsettling, she was also rather fascinated, and agreed to a couple of meetings at her office.

It struck her that Ambani was preoccupied by the fact that she was a woman. He kept bringing attention to this fact. She wonders now if he was perhaps studying her ways, mimicking women at work. She says that when he realised that she wasnt going to work for him, he stopped calling, but she still saw his movements on Instagram.

He put up a post when he moved to Manchester, she remembers, saying something like I had a great night of sex last night. I remember thinking that was the strangest thing. He was walking along the street filming himself, on his own, and it just felt like a complete lie.

Yet another PR whose path Ambani crossed is Dominique Fraser of Fraser Communications. He approached her because he wanted to be on the invitation list to restaurant openings. As Fraser explains, that list is made up of journalists from newspapers and magazines but also, increasingly, social media influencers. I think we always have to be aware of new talent coming through the ranks and new influencers appearing, says Fraser.

Fraser says Ambani gave her the familiar spiel about Netflix there does not appear to be any evidence of a working relationship between Ambani and the streaming giant and the new TV show he was busy creating. He also told her about his Instagram account Pure Bytes, which was the one established reality in his story. Unfortunately he appeared to have forgotten an earlier encounter with Fraser, when she was hosting a dinner and he took her for a minor functionary.

Frustrated that she wouldnt admit him into the event, he told her, she says: As soon as your boss finds out that youre not letting me into this dinner, your careers over. Youre ruined. Youre going to be sacked tomorrow.

Nevertheless she checked out his Pure Bytes account but came to a firm conclusion. I made the decision with Marcus my partner that he wasnt a press contact that we wanted to entertain. Our clients are of such calibre that we are looking for the very best press contacts. He just didnt really factor into that. It wasnt personal at all. We run a business.

That wasnt how Tahilramani saw things. Apparently infuriated by being excluded from a world he was desperate to enter, Fraser says, he continued to turn up at events and openings of restaurants that Fraser Communications represented, forcefully demanding entrance. According to Fraser, he took particular exception to one of her colleagues, whom he began threatening.

For a few months, he would call the office every day, Fraser recalls. Hed say to her: Youre a dirty slut. I know where you live. Things arent going to end well for you. Im going to end your career.

His target was sufficiently intimidated that the company arranged for her to go home by taxi until the threats stopped. Fraser says they considered reporting Ambani to the police but the woman did not want to inflame the situation. The company also instituted a policy in which all communications with Ambani had to be directed to Fraser or her husband, because he was so awful to the team. Yet, she says, when he wasnt being horrendously abusive, he was very charming.

In the early hours of 26 November last year, Tahilramani was arrested by Manchester police in relation to a US extradition request. The net had been tightening around him for some time. There was the podcast Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen, whose penultimate episode predicted his arrest. But more importantly the FBI were interested in Tahilramani, led there by private investigators at K2, a company hired by some of the senior film executives Tahilramani had allegedly impersonated.

Although his alleged marks in Los Angeles were the little people, and the sums of money extracted from them too individually small to trouble the FBI, Tahilramani seems to have made the mistake of upsetting the wrong people with his impersonations. There are many ironies in this story, one of them being that, even as his alleged activities were being exposed, Tahilramani apparently carried on pretending to be the blockbuster director and producer Doug Liman. The Chameleon podcast played a secretly recorded conversation in which an actor approached by the fake Liman questioned his identity. The fake Liman launched into a tirade of threats, saying that he would have the actor mutilated. In other words, he acted like an angry Hollywood big shot, yet it was the real angry Hollywood big shots who didnt just issue empty threats but set the law on him.

According to the podcast, while still pretending to be Liman, Tahilramani also accused the actor of racism. That didnt make any sense, whichever way you look at it, and probably showed that the stress he was under was beginning to tell.

But why the fascination with London restaurants? As every chef, restaurant owner and PR I spoke to was at pains to point out, its a tight-knit and mutually supportive scene, in which the margins are small and the work is hard. Its not an environment in which to make easy money. Whats more Srulovich and Sethi confirm that he always paid his bills, which makes it even more mystifying as to why he damaged his reputation by failing to pay Hansen in such a conspicuous manner.

In an Instagram interview, Tahilramani told his friend, the Indonesian lifestyle influencer Haseena Narains Bharata, that he was a survivor of conversion therapy, placed in a mental hospital to cure him of being gay. He also told her he was not gay, though he seems to have told pretty much everyone else he was. Embracing the language of self-empowerment, he declared in the interview that: Believing in yourself is first. Thats the hardest thing.

Bharata said that he was lucky to be living in London, a city where he could trust people. In fact he was living in Manchester, and the trust problems were all the other way round. Believing in him would prove to be the hardest thing for too many people.

It seems likely that Ambani or Tahilramani had no financial ploy to play on Londons restaurants. He just wanted to be part of a world that he found glamorous, and the only means of entry he knew were lying, manipulation, exaggeration and threats.

Its weird, says Sethi. I dont know what the end game was. He wasnt well informed about food at all. Digital is now the main way you promote a restaurant, mostly on social media channels. I guess it was an easy way for him to get attention?

According to the extradition request, Tahilramani is wanted on eight charges, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Observer Food Monthly put a whole range of questions to Tahilramani, via his lawyer, about his alleged behaviour in London and the accusations against him in America. His lawyer replied that Tahilramani had no comment to make, save a few lines from The Rape of Lucrece:Times glory is to calm contending kings,To unmask falsehood and bring truth to light

Shakespeares poem tells of a Roman soldier, Tarquin, who rapes Lucrece, the wife of a fellow soldier, threatening her with death and ignominy unless she complies. It ends with Tarquins banishment an odd literary choice for someone in prison awaiting extradition.

The word in Londons restaurant community is that there are plans to make a drama or documentary series out of the Hollywood Con Queen story. Perhaps the final irony is that its said that it will be screened on Netflix, the streaming service for which Tahilramani claimed to work. Extraditions are never foregone conclusions but what does seem certain is that he has at last found the fame or at least infamy that appears always to have been his dream.

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The wannabe food influencer who's wanted by the FBI - The Guardian

In everything, women must be included in decision-making. At home, in companies, in government, in education, etc. What it is about is that there is rectitude and equality.

The UN estimates that it will take at least 10 years to reverse the economic impact on women by Covid-19. To help address the ravages of the pandemic in the female sector, Entrepreneur and Mastercard do their bit by organizing the Women 4.0 webinar, forming alliances and leadership with a cause.

The event will take place on March 17 at 3:00 pm through the Entrepreneur networks in Spanish.

What is a world power like China or the United States doing in a world where the coronavirus has caused an economic and social crisis? They emphasize investing in technology. This is the keyword in times of pandemic. However, in the technology sector there are very few women working. The latest LinkedIn report indicates that only 27% are CTOs; and only 25% of the workforce is female.

One of the speakers of the Woman 4.0 webinar, forming alliances and leadership with a cause . She is Gabriela Lucke , passionate about the education sector. She is the director of the Center for Collaborative Leadership and Female Leadership at INCAE Business School, where she has excelled in creating and implementing a gender equality strategy.

She is a business administrator with a master's degree in Project Management. As a commercial specialist, he has advised more than 1,000 companies. She has led three editions of the LEADS Mujer by Mastercard and INCAE program . She mentors women both in the personal empowerment process and in the development of business growth plans.

She firmly believes that education is the best tool for people's social and economic mobility . With my international experience and my capacity for strategic thinking, I want to create an impact in the education sector and seek change in order to make a positive contribution to an organization and its mission, Gabriela Lucke shares on LinkedIn.

She recommends giving your mind and concentrating on acquiring a deep understanding of the market your company is in. Investigate, scrutinize, examine the whole world in which you are interested. The creation of a strategic network of contacts is also very important, from high-level government representatives to counselors of educational institutions in Gabriela's case.

Working at the United States Embassy allowed me to lead multicultural teams from different organizations both locally and internationally. I also have experience developing strategic alliances with chambers and associations in order to reach more potential clients .

Art: Entrepreneur

The director of INCAE's Center for Collaborative Leadership and Women's Leadership advises women entrepreneurs to think strategically with limited budgets . The key is in the execution of projects, maximizing the return on investment for your company and your clients. It is vital to maintain an excellent track record in service. That you have clients who can attest to your skills , he assures.

In the last seven years Gabriela Lucke has assisted more than 400 US clients from five industrial sectors to enter the Costa Rican market and has also advised more than 500 companies on opportunities in the Central American market.

Not only do you have to provide knowledge about the region in which you move, but also have experience in various sectors. Trust your abilities to increase revenue, adoption and market penetration in an organization , concludes a leader Gabriela Lucke, leader of the LEADS Mujer by Mastercard and INCAE program.

Join us for the Woman 4.0 webinar, forming alliances and leadership with a cause and get more advice from Gabriela's voice. The appointment is next March 17 at 3:00 pm

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This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com

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Strategic thinking to create an impact in your sector - San Antonio Express-News

LaceyC. Clark!, award-winning author, speaker, actress, thought leader, and empowerment personality is on a mission to achieve global self-love for women and girls through arts and education, edifying the term Innertainment. Clark! has made history as the first Black woman to live on five continents, put her story on stage and tour it internationally. Her journey began when she noticed an over saturation of influential negative media messages towards young women.

Laceys self-esteem boosting content can be experienced through her thriving brands Phenomenally U, Phenomenal Everywhere, and Sisters Sanctuary. Sisters Sanctuary uplifts self-esteem, self-worth, and self-image of women and girls in a disempowering media climate. Her three-in-one treasure: solo play, audiobook, and budding lifestyle brand, with the autobiographical coming of age story Phenomenal Everywhere, and is a thought leader, teaching self-love through education. Known as Ms. Phenomenal Everywhere, this multifaceted personification of expressive art, rich culture, soulful global travel, and fierce femininity is a strong voice to be reckoned with.

Laceysays, I want to inspire people to LIVE, take risks, create their own paths and be divinely guided into what is phenomenal for them. I want people to reach in and discover their phenomenality. I want them to know that it is possible to overcome and own who they are. Being Phenomenal Everywhere starts from within and having the courage to take that journey to tap into personal liberation.

http://www.peverwhere.com

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Instagram @laceycclark @phenomenal_Everywhere

This insecure little girl from inner city North Philly pushed past her constrictions, attending New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia for theater, vocal, and dance andattended the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. She graduated as a Founders Scholar from the world-renowned Tisch School of the Arts atNYU. From being Clear Channel Radios Unsung Shero to being awarded the State Representative V. Lowery Brown Image Award,LaceyC. Clark! has a rsum full ofnumerous awards and achievements.

Her work has been recognized by BET, Radio One, and Heart & Soul and Rolling OUT magazines. She has delivered hundreds of keynote speeches, workshops, Inner BeauTea Parties, and summits and partnered with organizations such as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, The American Cancer Society, and World Federation of Mental Health.

LaceyC. Clark! has spoken on platforms along with Les Brown, Hill Harper, and Dr. Robin Smith as well as joined forces with Jill Scotts Blues Babe Foundation to help raise self-esteem in young women. She is the author of Celebrate HER Now! and Phenomenally U and a former radio personality at WURD 900 FM with her segment Phenomenal Philly.Laceyhas worked with the likes of Dr. Maya Angelou, Spike Lee, and Dr. Sonia Sanchez.

Published March 20th, 2021

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First Black Woman to Live on 5 Continents, Who Put her Story on Stage - Influencive