Eartha Terrell and Brittney Bradley have been hosting events for women and the community since March 2018

by: Jennifer Rodriguez

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Sunday, women of the community will be able to take part in the Graceful Grind conference.

Eartha Terrell and Brittney Bradley have been hosting events for women and the community since March 2018.

Their mission has been, To offer business and personal development opportunities to segmented youth and adult female groups in low-income communities.

This is their last event, and it is aimed toward women and success.

The conference will be held at the DoubleTree in downtown Youngstown. It begins at 11:30 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m.

There will be panelists who will talk to women and provide tips and advice.

Bradley and Terrell teamed up with Black Bold and Natural, a lifestyle company on a mission to shine light on the black culture.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit their website.

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Womens empowerment conference being held in downtown Youngstown - WKBN.com

Navigating pop culture with a pointed hat and a sharp cackle, the witch is an elusive figure of power and mystery. Portrayed as notorious child haters (see Roald Dahls The Witches) and for their love of evil (look no further than the Wayward Sisters in Shakespeares Macbeth), as much as for their knowledge and ability to create and heal (cue Harry Potter), witches have always reflected the zeitgeist. Whether that be societys feelings towards womenoften ill feeling, especially towards those with poweror the collectives relationship to ritual and magick. The modern witch, however, has emboldened herself with a fierce feminism that defies definition; she does not exist in the black or white spaces, but in the grey. Todays witch isnt good or bad, she just is.

Witchcraft exists in the liminal. Like the archetype of the witch, it is always shapeshifting, neither here nor there, never quite fitting in a box. Its best defined as an age-old spiritual path rooted in the cycles of the earth and the seasons, in the cycles of the cosmos and in the cycles of the self. Its entrenched in personal empowerment and impacted by the culture that each witch is surrounded by. The beauty of magick is that its most effective and potent when its deeply personal.

My journey with the craft indirectly began with my parents. My father, a reform rabbi, and my mother, from the Jewish community in Mexico City, both encouraged my obsession with the spiritual from a young age. My father has always fostered my curiosity of the unknown and religion, while my mother shared practices like yoga, crystal healing, mindfulness and meditation with me since I was a toddler. But, when I discovered witchcraft at the age of 11, they thought it was a phase; the stigma around what witchcraft meant was still heavy, many considered it evil, especially in the Bible Belt where I grew up. Thirteen years later and a lot has changed. Witchcraft and magick have once again entered the zeitgeist, with more and more people discovering the positives of the practice, based around ideas of connection, communion with nature and love.

My personal practice means being devoted to the Divine Feminine; working with sex magick by using orgasms to raise energy for a desired intention; working with the cycles of the moon and seasons; and using a daily meditation practice alongside tarot, breath-work, therapy, energy healing and ritual to find empowerment in the everyday. It also means seeing myselfand my power to healas part of the collective consciousness.

The nuances of witchcraft are different for every witch. So, for an insight into the craft the world over, three women from Mexico, Japan and Arizona share why its one of the most inclusive practices of our times.

Bere Parra is a freelance communication consultant helping clients with copywriting, social media and community management. Parras magick contains multitudes: her witchcraft is rooted in devotion to the self, in Satanism and in honouring the divine rebel. My personal brand of magick and witchcraft incorporates principles from LaVeyan Satanism, Luciferianism and some Wiccan traditions. I also often work with the powers of the moon and with the aid of [goddess] Lilith, depending on the matter at hand, explains Parra.

Parras magick stems from a matriarchal lineage of healers. Her great grandmother was a witch, a curandera (a traditional folk healer) from Oaxaca in southern Mexico, who people in the community would turn to when they needed healing in matters of the body and spirit. This passed down to Parra and her mother, who incorporate their own magical rituals and practices into their day-to-day lives. And while Mexico is steeped in Catholicism, magick is often a heavy part of the culture as well. Mexicans are open, unique and contradictory, Parra adds. We dont like to follow the rules too closely. Even if theyre Catholic, many follow astrology, or consult the tarot, or visit brujas [those who specialise in witchcraft] for limpias [cleansings].

Being a Satanist in Mexico, however, is still taboo, since many people around the world have misconceptions about what the practice entails. Satanism is about individuality, at its very core. Its about subversion and rebellion, about being bold and daring enough to be original and to walk to the beat of your own drum. We do not worship the devilits a lot more rich and complex than that, Parra explains. LaVeyan Satanists dont worship any deity, as they are atheists. Theistic Satanists, like myself, will engage in different rituals or practices that do involve worshipping, but not all of us adhere to a specific canon.

Madoka is a virtual and augmented-reality researcher, whose spiritual and personal artistic practice combine as she explores witchcraft, divination and shamanism. Based between Tokyo and Los Angeles, her work dissects the differences between the two cultures and the fusion of feminism and witchcraft in the US. Madokas experience with witchcraft began after a friend showed her Aleister Crowleys Thoth tarot cards. As an animator and artist, she became instantly hooked by the hallucinatory beauty and archetypes of the cards; a year later and she wears the title of witch with pride. Im very interested in the culture of the US west coast, and studied witchcraft with [California-based] feminist activist Starhawk in San Francisco in 2018, says Madoka. I practice a lot of ritual and spells, vision quests, invocations and I meditate every day. She also works with many kinds of eastern and western divination, including the I Ching (ancient Chinese text), tarot, feng shui and Four Pillars of Destiny (Chinese fortune telling).

While witchcraft is a predominant part of the culture of the US, and steeped into the energy of Mexico, it takes on a different tone in Japan where the majority of the population is polytheist. Witch culture in LA is very big compared to Japan, but the biggest difference is that witches are not counter-culture in Japan, since Christianity is not the majority [there]. Paganism and Buddhists are the majority, which is probably why its hard to find those who identify as a witch, Madoka explains. Japanese people believe that there are eight million deities in the world. Stone, wood, soil, seas, rivers everything is a deity. Its normal thinking for us.

Taylor Cordova spends her days immersed in magick. The artist and art historian moonlights as an art teacher for an elementary school, and runs an online shop called The Flowerchild Bruja. This is where she sells crystals and handmade herbal smoke sticks made with sacred plants such as rose, lavender and mugwort, used to energetically cleanse a space. My personal practice involves a lot of communion with the spirit of Gaia [the Mother Earth goddess]. Altar work and cultivation of sacred space is one way I love to connect with spirit and practice my devotion, Cordova explains. She also engages in other rituals rooted in the mysticism of the divine feminine. Sex magick and working with my menstrual blood are some of the more taboo practices I engage in, but honestly it all depends on what feels right at the time. Spirit communicates what kind of work is most beneficial in that moment, she adds.

Growing up in the desert has been an integral part of Cordovas journey with her craft. The mountains, specifically the South Mountain Park and Preserve, have initiated her deeper into this ancient wisdom. As an Afro-Latina witch, Cordovas culture intermingles with the wisdom of the desert in myriad ways. My culture dictates every step I take. Its in the way I use my hands, its in the way I cast spells with my hips, its in my voice and in the way I pray. Each of my cultures are present in the way I offer my devotion. The Sonoran Desert, the south Phoenix community I was born and raised in, and my African ancestry are super-relevant factors in my practice, but they happen to be very nuanced and so beautifully blended together, that its hard to dictate all the ways in which my practice is shaped by my culture.

Halloweenor Samhain for those who observe the Pagan Wheel of the Yearis the New Year for witches, and the perfect time to start exploring magick. However, one can walk this path whenever they feel ready, no matter where they are. Its always the season of the witch, and everyone is welcome.

Gabriela Herstik is a Los Angeles-based writer, witch and author of two books Craft: How to be a Modern Witch (2018) and the forthcoming Bewitching the Elements: Finding Empowerment through Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit (2020)

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What does it mean to be a modern witch? 3 real-life witches share their experiences - Vogue India

It is possible to sympathize with the players in the empowerment era and not love the ever-changing NBA landscape as a fan.

I have been wrestling with this notion for several years now, maybe ever sinceThe Decision, because people are passionate about the subject one way or another, and both sides have a point. I supported Kevin Durants right to leave Oklahoma City for the Bay Area despite the competitive imbalance it created, just as I support his right to join the Nets despite the sexier story arc across the Brooklyn Bridge. Who am I to dictate what makes him happy? But also: Who is he to dictate what makes me happy?

The relationship between players and fans is more complicated than ever, andDurant embodies that more than anyone, with the possible exception of LeBron James. Durant broke OKCs heart by enjoying a whirlwind affair with Golden State. He is bound by no fanbase, not in the way Stephen Curry and the Warriors faithful have embraced each other, and Durant may be at peace with that.

The recent retirements of Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce have left Curry as the exception rather than the rule. There is a reason Nowitzkis one championship means more to Dallas than the two Durant won in Golden State and LeBron won in Miami. Even LeBons return to Cleveland seems like a dalliance at the high school reunion. There is a love lost between player and fan for the next generation of Hall of Famers, and I have yet to find peace with that.

Kawhi Leonard navigated the new NBA normal better than anyone last season. Unlike Kyrie Irving in Boston, Leonard made no commitment to Toronto. The terms of engagement were clear. He gave a championship-starved Raptors fanbase everything he had while they were together and left everyone satisfied when he embarked on his next conquest. His signing with the Clippers has been billed as a homecoming, and he may well settle down there, but make no mistake: He can be a free agent in two years.

The clock is already ticking on the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era on the Clippers. (Getty Images)

Everyone is a free agent, it seems. At least, the trade that sent Paul George by Kawhis side made it seem that way. He too can leave on his own accord in 2021. And if the Anthony Davis saga taught us anything last season, it is that a star is also not bound by a signature that says there are two years remaining on his contract. In the NBA, it is not even until free agency do us part.

I grew up a Celtics fan, and I would like nothing more than to see Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown become to this generation what Pierce was to mine and Larry Bird was before him. But I am under no such illusion, even after Brown signeda lucrative four-year extension. If there is any romanticism left to my fandom, the Celtics treatment of Isaiah Thomas all but extinguished it.

In two short years, Thomas forged a bond with Boston unlike anything I have seen since I started covering the NBA. It culminated in the emotional night when he played before an adoring playoff crowd on the day his sister died. He laid his body and a $100 million contract on the line for the city, playing through severe injury, only to be traded months later for Irving, no less, a paragon whose eyes were wandering almost as soon as he pledged his loyalty to a horde of season-ticket holders.

This works both ways, you see. We are reminded more and more by everyone involved that the NBA is a business. The delicate dance the league just performed around the Hong Kong protests is the latest example. Nobody wants to root for a business. We would at least prefer the perception that a symbiosis between player, team and city is still possible. Giannis Antetokounmpo may be our last hope, and I grow increasingly skeptical about his commitment to Milwaukee with every star who changes his stripes.

I am convinced the day will come soon when someone demands a trade on his rookie contract and maybe even as a rookie. True or not, rumblings about Zion Williamsons desire to play in New Orleans poured water on the start of their relationship, as if Pelicans fans would have approached it any other way after being dumped by Davis and Chris Paul for the bright lights of L.A.

Maybe the generation of fans who devote themselves to players rather than teams has it right. Players can let you down, too, but at least then you are not putting your faith in the hands of some other billionaire heir you have no investment in. But there is a love lost there, too. Part of the fun of being a fan is sharing the experience across generations with your family, your friends, your city. A title for the Knicks would pull harder at your heartstrings because fathers and sons spent their lives waiting for it.

If anything, the empowerment era has taught us to live in the moment, to treat each season as if it were the last, because it may be for your favorite player on your favorite team. Hold on tight to Ben Simmons, Philadelphia. Appreciate Bradley Beal while you can, D.C. Embrace Russell Westbrook as if he were always there, Houston. Maybe we can all learn to love the NBA again.

Ben Rohrbachis a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him atrohrbach_ben@yahoo.comor follow him on Twitter!Follow @brohrbach

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How to be an NBA fan in the player empowerment era - Yahoo Lifestyle

In the face of things you cant control, you can control your attitude about them.

In 2010, Eric LeGrands life changed forever, when a player for Rutgers, Eric went for a tackle on special teams, hit with the crown of his head and collapsed to the ground.

Eric did not know the immediate ramifications until his mother revealed them to him several weeks later; he was paralyzed from the neck down.

Through the whole ordeal, no one did more for his family than former Rutgers coach, Greg Schiano. When I asked Eric about it, comparing it to my conversations with former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, Eric agreed, the best college coaches want to make stand up men, not just football players.

Eric made the decision to continue to be the positive guy in-spite of the grim outlook. That outlook has made an incredible impact, hes regained movement in his shoulders and continues to drive for more every day, as referenced by his frequent social media postings from Kessler Rehabilitation Center.

Ive always been that happy-go-lucky, life of the Party want to be around guy. My entire life, Ive always been like that. And when I got hurt, I said I wasnt going to let this injury define me. I was 20 years old, Im like God willing, I have many, many more years to live. I dont want to be miserable. I hate that feeling of being upset being mad or being disappointed a something. I hate that feeling so I said to myself.

Im not going to let this get to me, I know Im going to need a lot of help. This was a long road ahead of me. But its possible and then, I was overwhelmed by the support it took off it went, not just nationally, it was Internationally. It was all over the place. because I was getting letters from people in China, Australia, reaching out to me, sending me stuff. So Im like, you know it kind of turned into a responsibility and I cant give up now. All these people have eyes on me. Eric LeGrand

Its not just about him, but the people he can impact. Eric has started a foundation, created a clothing line, writer a book and speaks fo people all over the world.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed him to a contract as an undrafted free agent in May 2012. In 2017, LeGrand was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the third recipient of the Warrior Award.

He is the recipient of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2012 ESPYs. Eric is also the creator of the Roll Model clothing line.

Eric Le Grand sits down with me, Jeremy Ryan Slate, to talk about impact, big goals and being a Roll Model on the latest episode of the Create Your Own Life Show.

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Former Rutgers Football Star Eric LeGrand on How He Turned Personal Tragedy into Empowerment for Others - Grit Daily

Meghan Daums The Problem With Everything. Simon and Schuster

Ive never been more afraid of writing a book, essayist Meghan Daum says in the self-aggrandizing introduction to The Problem With Everything. Ive never been more certain I had to. Subtitled My Journey Through the New Culture Wars, the best that can be said about Daums meandering tract is that its breezy, conversational tone goes down quick and easy. The worst that can be said is that it reads like a late-in-life coming-of-age story in which this straight, cis-gendered, able-bodied, (mostly) heterenormative white chick giggles whilst unloading politically incorrect knowledge-bombs on her New York peers.

Its not as if I didnt find myself nodding in agreement here or there; Daums book of essays isnt as willfully stupid as Bret Easton Ellis latest, even if their fed-up, cranky politics do dovetail at points. There should be room for uncomfortable conversations about whether the #MeToo movement has overstepped itself, or whether we need to tap the brakes on certain aspects of woke culture. But Daum, despite her own confidence, never steps up and proves why the world so needed this bookrather than a simple list of hyperlinks to the more robust Salon and New Yorker articles that informed it.

SEE ALSO: A Few Good Reasons Not to Read Bret Easton Ellis New Book, White

The Problem With Everything is at its weakest when it gets personal, when Daum weaves memoir into her retread of the recent sagas of Brett Kavanaugh, Aziz Ansari, Title IX debates, the outrage over whether women boarding a United Airlines flight were allowed to wear leggings, the overuse of the word badass in empowerment literature, etc. She positions herself as a proud representative of Gen X who has little or no patience for a younger cohort of feminists, especially the sort who are very online.

Conveniently, her targets are all straw(wo)men and caricaturesloony Social Justice Warriors who wear I DRINK MALE TEARS t-shirts while slaying on Twitter. Daum is the Amy Klobuchar of cultural critics: sane defender of the proud center. And certainly she is entitled to her opinions on sexism, racism and whatever else, it would just be nice if they were more enlightening; I swear Ive heard more eye-opening takes on some of these issues on an episode of Law & Order: SVU, or over the course of any five minutes of Dear White People.

Meghan Daum. Simon and Schuster

Often, the anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book are intended to convey a specific message: Men have always been pigs, but women havent always been so wilted and wounded over it. In 1995, our mandate was to laugh it out of the room, she says, of chauvinism. Todays young feminists, Daum wants us to believe, are all snowflakes masquerading as badasses. (Speaking of Ellis, its surprising that Daum doesnt borrow his lame coinageGeneration Wussto describe the fragile millennials shes so bored of.) By Daums account, previous decades knew how to handle it if some middle-aged clown decided to whip his cock out by the Xerox machinea scenario she borrows from the political novel Primary Colors. Daum measures the youngs and finds them lacking, insufficiently awed by toughness, a generation of oversized kids who refuse to be shamed by vulnerability.

Maybe its my natural temperament (and maybe this is proof that my temperament is fundamentally narcissistic) but theres no one Id rather blame for my misfortunes than myself, she writes, as if stumping for a keynote gig with Turning Point USA. Personal responsibility trumps victim culture, because it makes you strong: Its almost as if blaming myself strips the men of their power by rendering them too insignificant to even gripe about. This is how Daums friend reacted, circa the mid-90s, when she was working on Wall Street and a male colleague masturbated on her desk in the middle of the night (or, in the authors oddly delighted rendering, liquidated his holdings all over it.) This friend didnt call the police, or HR; she felt bad for the creep, spoke of him almost with an air of pity.

So to recap: Millennials are doomed in their brittleness; identity politics will destroy the left; Pussy Hats were lame; feminists say fuck too much; and Meghan DaumIm just guessing hereis the type of liberal who would have voted for Obama a third time but maybe wants to hear what the Charles Murray crowd has to say about evolutionary psychology on some edgy podcast. The breakdown of Daums marriage, and her relocation to New York, forms the background to a now-familiar narrative arc: Self-proclaimed NPR liberal has her eyes opened by the intellectual dark web; spends a lot of time online, alone, streaming YouTube videos. Theres something low-level sad about the Come to Jesus moment she has when these new friends enter her life, ready to battle against what Daum smugly dubs the wokescenti: John McWhorter, Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, the shining stars of her beloved Free Speech YouTube.

Is Daum correct in asserting that liberals and leftists can be mired in a sticky groupthink in the age of Trump? Sure. But even when Daum makes a sensible point, she never justifies the apparent necessity of The Problem With Everything, which merely collects and annotates conversations that are still ongoing. She wants to cast herself as a minor martyr, daring to speak truth to powertruths like the fact that well-meaning white people, behind closed doors, dont always love Ta-Nehisi Coates as much as they claim to. Stop the presses! Her emphasis on the personal journey here is the real problem. Daums not an insightful guide, and her conversion story is a clich that shes mistaken for something singular. She calls this book an extended rumination, which is perhaps a fancy word for a self-righteous, 221-page Twitter thread. In which case: Unfollow.

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The Problem With Meghan Daums The Problem With Everything - Observer

At age six, after countless hours spent waiting for her dad in the airport, Jessica Reinschmidt decided to become a pilot. She would watch them walk through the terminal, uniforms crisp and luggage in hand. I can count on one hand the number of women I saw, she says. Forty years later, as a captain for a major airline, shes among the six per cent of commercial pilots who are women. From Seattle, where shed just landed a flight, Reinschmidt recalls some of the most hostile moments in her 14-year career: a colleague calling her a diversity hire; a captain mistaking her for a flight attendant; passengers who refused to board after seeing two women in the cockpit. Youre constantly proving that you know how to fly, she says.

Reinschmidt was one of more than a thousand women who participated in a National Geographic/Ipsos poll which set out to explore the perspectives of women across socio-economic, age, racial and political demographics, about their lives, the challenges they face at work and home, and the state of equality in the United States. What did we learn? In 2019, at a moment of global demand for female empowerment, and approaching the 100th anniversary of American women getting the right to vote, women are still grappling with whether its possible to lean in and have it all in life and work.

As National Geographic begins a year-long series of stories about the state of women, the National Geographic/Ipsos poll, conducted using Ipsos KnowledgePanel, found that women think prestigious jobs in once male-dominated professions such as medicine, finance, and academics offer as much opportunity for them as men. And while the majority of women feel they havent been discriminated against due to their gender, they overwhelmingly believe that sexual discrimination and harassment is a national problemas big as racial discrimination, many said. Though 69 per cent of the women surveyed dont consider themselves feminists, their answers describe many gender-related challenges. And slightly more than half say its easier to be a man in America today.

Among those polled, a stockbroker was kept from the big-money clients, a member of law enforcement with excellent performance reviews was never promoted, and a businesswoman was never invited to the golf game. The stories spilled out: of workplace solicitations, being ignored by doctors, left out of networking events, and barred from the basketball team. In America, how can you NOT be treated differently because of gender? one woman wrote. I've had to change the way I talk, dress, write, approach people, etc., so as not to offend male sensibilities.

Only 38 per cent of white women polled think its important to elect a woman president compared with 55 per cent of black and Latina women. And, slightly less than a third of all women polled self-identified as feminists. That stacks up globally, says Elisabeth Jay Friedman, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco, citing a recent Ipsos poll that found a similar figure across 27 countries. Yet, digging into both polls shows that most respondents also supported the type of equality that the feminist movement has advocated for during the past half century: fair pay, equal opportunity, shared family duties. In their lived experience, personal and professional, people are saying they believe in gender equality, says Friedmaneven if they reject the label.

So, what are the problems in the U.S. today, according to the women polled? The cost of health care, sexual harassment, violent crime, gun violence, terrorism, racial discrimination, climate change and affordable child care were the top issues. When asked if theyd personally experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly due to their gender, 60 per cent of the women polled said no. Older generations reported less discrimination than younger ones. That could be due to a lack of awareness, says Friedman.

If you grew up with certain expectations around whats appropriate for your gender, you may have taken a lot of what we think of today as unfair treatment, but said, Thats OK. It was appropriate for that guy to get a raise because he was head of the household and I was getting married, says Friedman.

In the past few years, accusations against powerful men such as Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer have dominated headlines and awareness of sexual harassment has surged to the national stage. This top-level reckoning may be why more than 80 per cent of the women surveyed identified sexual harassment as a problem in the country.

Those numbers are high, Jane Junn, a professor of political science and gender studies at the University of Southern California, says of the poll results. Issues highlighted by the Me Too movement has shifted public perception of a topic that had gone unspoken for decades, she adds. Thirty years ago, no one would have asked this question because sexual harassment was an everyday part of the job. Though these issues are under a global spotlight, tackling them on the personal level is still difficult for the average person. It happens to you and what are you going to do? You cant afford to lose your job. So you don't say anything about it, Junn says. But you watch other women say something about it. And powerful people are taken down. That allows you to say, yes, its a problem.

How does the job market in 2019 look for women? We proposed a list of jobs and asked about womens opportunities to advance in those fields. While a fewthe military, professional sports, and politicswere thought to be harder for women, the majority of professions listed were perceived to provide equal opportunities. Only one, nursing, was considered to give women a better shot.

Workplace inequality, says Junn, is most severe at the highest levelsCongress, top universities, the most profitable banks, or the most competitive Silicon Valley companies. Though Congress is still overwhelmingly male, a historic number of women were elected in 2018. Local- and state-level politics are increasingly equal. The student body in colleges across the country tilts female and so does the median voter, which makes Junn optimistic. Education and politicsyou have to have women in those places to change young minds and make better policies, she says. If youre in a position to understand what it means to be on the receiving end of the patriarchy, then you will vote to change it.

The women we polled found inspiration in famous women including Michelle Obama, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Condoleezza Rice, and Melania Trump. Some mentioned their own mothers, women in the military, working women and, of course, Oprah. They offered words of advice to the younger generations in America. Breaking the rules is a form of resistance and its your best bet to get to where you want to be, one wrote. Many promoted getting an education and working hard. One advised to stop saying the word like. Others were more blunt: Stop bitching. Make your own way and never ever depend on a man.

Junn had her own piece of adviceto keep fighting. It was only a hundred years ago that women gained the right to vote in the U.S., Junn says. We still have a big, big disadvantage. You have to be cautiously optimistic. Nothing worthwhile comes easy.

For Jessica Reinschmidt, things are different since she first climbed into the cockpit for a lesson 26 years ago. As were starting to retire more and more of the pilots that grew up in that era of man and wife rather than husband and wife, it is changing, she says. Just as were hiring more women, were hiring more men who grew up in households where mom worked and mom and dad were partners.

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The Results Are In: What Women Think About Harassment, The Job Market, And Feminism In 2019 - National Geographic Australia

Abhijit Banerjee, this years Indian-born Economics Nobel Laureate, met Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning. Soon after, Modi tweeted that it was an excellent meeting and that India is proud of his accomplishments. Banerjee shared the Nobel with co-researchers Esther Duflo, who hes married to, and Michael Kremer. Duflo, the youngest Economics Nobel winner, wasnt present at the meeting with the PM.

Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours, the PM wrote on his personal Twitter handle, @narendramodi.

Banerjee was prompt to thank the PM, though not on social media. Speaking to the media later, he said, Thank you, PM... that was a unique experience. Responding to how the conversation with Modi had gone, Banerjee laughingly quipped he wouldnt get into any controversial subject as he had been warned by the PM. But, the professor spilled the beans by saying the PM had started the conversation by cracking a joke on how the media was trying to trap him to say anti-Modi things. He went on to say, The PM has been watching TV and watching you guys. And he knows what you are trying to do.

On a more serious note, Banerjee described the meeting with Modi as cordial and good. The PM was kind enough to give me quite a lot of time and to talk a lot about his way of thinking about India, that was unique, he said. He added that while one hears about policies, one rarely hears about the thinking behind them.

The two also spoke about the various aspects of governance. The emphasis was on the structure of elite control over the process of governance, that runs the risk of making the government less responsive.

Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee with Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim

He (Modi) very nicely explained how hes trying to reform the bureaucracy to make it more responsive, the economist said, adding its important for India to have a bureaucracy that lives on the ground.

While claiming that he wouldnt get into controversial turf, Banerjee termed the banking crisis in the country as critical and frightening. While pointing out that theres need to worry, he said, We need some important and aggressive changes.

He argued for reducing the government stake in public sector banks to below 50 per cent, so that theres no interference from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Even as checks and balances are needed, CVC was allowing a rot in public sector banks, he said.

Banerjee and Duflo have been in India for the past few days to promote their book Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems. A professor at the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Banerjee has said in his recent interviews that a cut in corporation tax rate might not boost demand. He has been advocating increasing the tax on the rich and making cash available for the poor to improve consumption at the time of an economic slowdown.

Some politicians in the current dispensation have been critical of Banerjee. Recently, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said Banerjee had a Left-leaning mindset and that his views had already been rejected by India. Some others in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had made personal remarks on Banerjee. To that he had reacted saying he was upset with such personal comments. Against that backdrop, Banerjees meeting with the PM was seen as significant.

Even as he has opposed the corporation tax rate cut as a way to boost economy, Banerjee has said that many other things that the current government has done, including many of its welfare schemes for the poor, are in the right spirit. Banerjee and Duflo have been awarded Nobel for their work on randomised controlled trials, or RCTan experimental approach to alleviate global poverty.

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PM Narendra Modi joked that media trying to trap me: Abhijit Banerjee - Business Standard

Scorpio season will have you feeling CrazySexyCool as if you were a member of the Hip Hop trio, TLC. Expect a whole lot of drama, literal sex, and a newfound sense of identity come Oct 23 through Nov 22.

You dont have to be an actual Scorpio sun sign or have any Scorpio placements within your personal natal chart in order to be influenced by the water sign this Scorpio season. Everyone will be picking up on the emo vibes, which could potentially make you more self-aware of your personal needs. This is where your newfound sense of identity comes in!

Understand that this will be a time of heightened sensitivity, most especially through communication. Watch those risky emails and texts because you may feel the urge to say exactly what is on your mind without reconsidering the possible repercussions. Calm and collected is the motto to keep in mind when working with and not against this intense energy.

In Your Feelings

You might notice yourself becoming overly emotional during this time due to the heavy water influence from this astrological sign. Not sure if youre overreacting or just reconnecting with your emotions? Go deep this Scorpio season. This is a sign of radical transformation. Known for its ability to manifest deaths and rebirths in a metaphorical sense, you can expect some drastic changes to occur in your life. It is highly encouraged to explore the depths of all and any feelings that might arise for you during this time. Scorpios shadow energy will allow old wounds to re-submerge so that there can be an opportunity for healing to be expressed.

Being conscious of applying the practice of empathy towards others during this delicate astrological season will likely steer you clear of any potential situations that might result in dramatic encounters. Heres where the diplomacy from Libra season comes in if you can remember to think twice before snapping those fingers and letting any sharp words roll off your tongue. The cosmic task? Speaking your truth with grace.

Perception is Everything

Upheaval or transformation? Likely a bit of both. However, your perception will ultimately dictate how you view your circumstances this Scorpio season. There will be moments of what may seem like everything is crashing down on me. However, the experience can end up becoming your biggest catalyst towards empowerment.

Meanwhile, Neptune is hanging out lethargically in the sign of Pisces, which can add a sense of sadness and a pessimistic outlook. Working past low vibrating energies of anger, depressing and fear will test many. The key to easing the discomfort during a transformation this Scorpio season? Surrender. Surrender to the fact that through your darkest moments you can enhance your inner light. This could be a breakthrough for a new foundation in your life.

Self-Love, Sex, Intimacy and Everything in Between

Scorpio is the natural ruler of the eighth house, representative of the occult, taboo subjects, and sex. Its also noteworthy to mention its planetary rulers of Mars and Pluto, which add heavy passion and power struggles to the mix. On the other end of the spectrum, theres an added sense of charisma and magnetism that you can tap into during this time. Expect your aura to be naturally inclined towards exhibiting some confident and flirty tendencies. You could work up the courage to realize that you arent afraid to ask out that person youve been eyeing because rejection doesnt make you any less worthy. Better yet, you could realize youre completely content with filling up your own cup and dont need to rely on any codependency in order to practice self-love courtesy of Scorpios positive authoritative aspects.

If youre feeling extra seductive, dont be surprised. Responsible sensuality is encouraged, and this influence can lead to sexual liberation. Sex is normally a taboo subject, yet, expect much exploration in this area to come this Scorpio season. As a result, healthy discussions between you and your significant other around your deepest intimate desires can occur. This will be a time to try out new things and spice up your romantic life.

Career Changes and Your Life Mission

Expect career and finances to be a top priority during this time. There could be possibilities to transition into new fields of work due to sudden endings. This doesnt mean your employer is going to fire you come Monday. Instead, this is a cosmic gateway for you to do an internal checklist of whether you feel your current career is in alignment with your vision for the future. Therefore, you could find yourself finally deciding to leave your job and go back to school to study something completely different. Your hidden desires for fulfillment are going to be a top priority along with having the foresight to envision how that weaves into your current reality. Some changes in career can be as minor as moving departments or being promoted. Either way, success is yours.

May you manifest wisely this Scorpio season.

Original post:
Scorpio Season is Upon Us: Heres the Lowdown - BELatina

Sharing data altruistically on digital platforms in the health sector or in research-related environments is seen as contributing to the common good, according to a new report by theEsade Institute for Social InnovationentitledMy Data, My Rules: From data extractivism to digital empowerment. The study focuses on digital empowerment and forms part of the RecerCaixa programme, which is funded by la Caixa in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Public Universities. It analyses 13 case studies in which people have control over their personal data, with particular emphasis on the experiences ofDigital Estonia,Cozy CloudandMIDATA.coop.

The report which marks the seventh edition of the Esade Institute for Social Innovations Antenna for Social Innovation notes that in some cases, data sharing is encouraged under a monetisation scheme: individuals can share subsets of their data in exchange for money. However, other rewards were also observed, including data panels and access to new products and services, as well as altruism in health and research platforms.

Focus on citizens

The study shows that a large number of corporations and digital platforms collect personal data and store it in multiple locations across their own servers, without allowing the people in question to access the data. As a result of these practices, trust in large companies has been eroded and people are becoming more aware of what sorts of data they are willing to share, with whom and for what purposes.

The study also analyses various best practices, including thecreation of citizen-centred platformsthat aggregate individual data under the control of the corresponding owner. These platforms also emphasise the importance ofpeople being able to participate in the processing of their data through consentand the need for people to give their consent when third parties participate in the data processing. In particular, the report noted that initiatives that make it easy for people to exercise the right to delete their data help to empower digital citizens. Some initiatives have co-created privacy policies with their users and have even incorporated users into their ethics committees to discuss what rules should apply.

The report shows that citizen empowerment is a hot topic that sparks great interest in society as well as the business world, explainedLiliana Arroyo, researcher at the Esade Institute for Social Innovation and one of the authors of the study. Digital awareness is an inevitable debate nowadays. Arroyos co-authors areDavid Murillo, also a researcher at the Esade Institute for Social Innovation and a lecturer in the Department of Society, Politics, and Sustainability at Esade, andObaid Amjad, a PhD student at Esade.

Examples of digital empowerment

The three cases analysed in the greatest detail present, from different perspectives, the best practices for empowerment in their respective fields. Digital Estonia, an electronic administration initiative, represents the public sector. Cozy Cloud, a French start-up offering storage solutions with an interesting anti-GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook y Apple) proposal, is an example of a private initiative. And finally, MIDATA.coop is a cooperative platform from Switzerland that enables people to control the reuse of their health data.

In addition to these examples, the report also analyses ten other initiatives engaged in a variety of public, private and activist interests:Blue Button US,CitizenMe,Digi.me,Meeco,MyData Global Network,Mydex CIC,Savvy.Coop,Sesam Key,SOLIDandTactical Technology Collective.

This communicationwas first published17 October2019 by ESADE.

Originally posted here:
Money is not the only reward for sharing data online, according to Esade report - Science Business

SobelCo

Donna Miller, left, founder and president of C3Workplace, and Sally Glick, principal and chief growth strategist at SobelCo, speak at a recent SobelCo Executive Womens Leadership Breakfast.

At the recent SobelCo Executive Womens Leadership Breakfast in Livingston, Donna Miller, founder and president of C3Workplace in Montclair, and Sally Glick, principal and chief growth strategist at SobelCo, discussed the importance of scaling ones business, both as an entrepreneur and as an employee within a company.

I started my company with the intention of leaving my company and retiring at the age of 50, Miller said. I am now way north of that because I love what I do; however, I still set myself up for retirement with a company that can run without me, and I can now work how, when and where I want.

Since 1994, C3Workplace has helped thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs grow and improve their revenues with adaptable, affordable, coworking office spaces; likeminded business-oriented communities; business education and back office resources, including a telephone answering service; bookkeeping; marketing; sales and meeting support; database and contact management; project coordination; administrative tasks; and more.

Now, with two coworking facilities, in Montclair and Sparta, Miller is thinking about how she might begin to transition out of the company she has built.

Maybe Ill eventually sell, or maybe Ill make it an employee-owned company, but, having built a scalable company, I now have options, she said. And financial empowerment is all about having options.

Glick, who has worked with SobelCo for nearly 14 years, said that, as a key employee in the company, it also is her responsibility to begin thinking about a succession plan moving forward.

As much as my ego loves when people go out and ask, Are you going to Sallys program? the reality is that, while I love what I do, its not really about me at all, she said. Someday, I wont be here, and if all that loyalty, respect and interest were to go away without being translated and converted back to SobelCo, Ive not done my job and, you can really only do that when you leverage the right people.

Read on to learn more about what Glick and Miller had to say.

Sally Glick: It isnt that women are not opening businesses, and at a great rate, but often its about the type of business there is a difference between working as an individual and growing a scalable, sustainable organization. So many women build businesses around themselves and their own skills, because, at one point or another, people have said to them that they ought to go out on their own, but the words tangible asset are not always a part of those conversations. We often do not think strategically, whether we are building our own company or a niche within our company, but I think the most important thing is to be strategic in our decisions by having a vision of exactly where it is we want to be.

Donna Miller: Many times in my career, people have asked me why I dont franchise, but, for me, giant isnt what Im going for. What I want is to be able to live the life I want to live at the financial level I need while, at the same time, making sure I am building a business that has value and can run without me. The National Association of Women Business Owners says there are 11.5 million women-owned firms in the U.S., producing $1.7 trillion in sales thats a force to be reckoned with. However, 88% of those businesses generate less than $100,000 in revenue and only 1.7% generate $1 million or more. That may be by choice, and thats OK, but if youre looking to build wealth, you must build an asset that you can sell.

DM: When I opened my company, my goal was to get out of my company. With the end in mind, I followed the four Ps:

SG: One of the key things we have done at my firm is to create niche areas and unique processes for serving and growing our clients in those spaces. Forensics, nonprofits, small businesses, whichever group it is, the firm is not going to be thrilled about investing in just one person and their commitment to that space, knowing it could all disappear if and when that person retires, moves away, leaves the company or if their personal circumstances change and they must now work part-time. That is why, now, whenever I pitch my managing partner an idea, he will say, Is this a one-off or can this become a duplicatable process? If I cannot prove we can build a process around it and set in motion a plan for growth that will allow this idea to grow, renew and sustain itself to create a profitable legacy within the firm, hes no longer interested in hearing about it. We cannot invest ourselves in building around a unique individual rather than the firm itself.

SG: Because I started my career working with my father, I didnt fight many battles and I didnt have to fight for work-life balance, either. At 3:30 p.m., Id say, Dad, I have to go get the kids at school. Even as a single parent, I may have juggled less than someone else because of this extraordinary opportunity. But, what Ive come to learn in my career afterwards is that, some days you have more and some days you have less, but you do achieve a sort of equilibrium. If you are building a scalable business or a scalable career, you must learn to prioritize. Because many of us are Type A personalities, we tend to like to do a lot of things ourselves, but, at the same time, its important we find and surround ourselves with good people we can trust, people who will say no to us, people who can help us grow and flourish, because we cannot rely on one person to come up with all the answers. Everyone needs to rest and rejuvenate, but we cant do that unless we leverage.

DM: One of the challenges I had in scaling my business was that I began by sitting at the front desk and doing absolutely everything better than anyone could ever possibly do it. Then, when I started to bring people on because I wanted to scale my business, I had to evolve from doing everything and anything to understanding that if I didnt get off that hamster wheel, I was headed for a heart attack, never mind a scalable business. I now refer to myself as a recovering micromanager, because there was no situation I couldnt make 1,000 times worse by needing to have my hand in everything. We have to stop being mothers in the workplace. Our job is to teach and inspire our team, and, while empathy is something women are better at than men, we still have a job to get done. We also need to stop saying yes to everything. We must instead figure out what makes us uniquely good at driving our business or our career forward to assure we are driving our lives forward, too, because when you have a crystal clear idea of what it is that will drive your life forward, you wont want anything to take away from that and it becomes easier to say no.

Donna Miller, founder and president of C3Workplace in Montclair and Sparta, said she ran another coworking firm for seven years one she had always intended to buy.

The owner and I shook hands lesson learned and the deal was that I would eventually buy the business from him, Miller said. Then, when I offered him nearly 50% more than the business was worth, he turned around and did something truly devastating, but what turned out to be a huge blessing in my life he turned me down.

Miller said she then spent six months taking a course offered by the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners on how to write a business plan.

To tell you that it was painful would be an understatement; however, it was the foundation for my early success, and its been the foundation of my success ever since, she said. I was able to raise $100,000 through friends and family, opened C3Workplace just 1.2 miles from where his company used to be located, and never looked back.

My former employer did slap me with an injunctive order, which was kind of scary, seeing as I had just borrowed $100,000, but I made the business decision to settle. I simply decided to be happy and move on.

Conversation Starter

Learn more about Donna Miller at c3workplace.com. Reach Sally Glick at sally.glick@sobelcollc.com.

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No 'I' in team: Execs share ways they've scaled up their business and made sure it can go on without them - ROI-NJ.com