8 Ways to Be an Effective Leader for Change

Issue 132 — June 22, 2020

I first learned about the power of organizing to make change when I was about 15 years old. In the small town of Stamford, Texas, where I lived at the time, there were two short order restaurants in town. One was called Son’s City Pig and it had indoor tables with juke boxes where we kids could sit and kibitz, as teenagers do. And as teenagers were inclined to do, we created various fads. One was eating our French Fries with mustard. OK, I admit I started that one.

The owner of Son’s became annoyed that we were consuming so much mustard. He began charging us two cents for each little paper cup of mustard. We decided this was terrible injustice. Most of us just groused about it.

Nonprofits So White: New Report on Lack of Inclusion Offers Strategies

Nonprofits in this country are failing on their diversity and inclusion efforts, even as their missions address social justice and fairness issues, according to a new report of more than 5,000 workers in nonprofits.

“The sad — but unsurprising — truth is that people of color and whites have a different set of experiences in nonprofit organizations. This gap in how professionals experience their workplaces — whether they receive mentorship, are granted promotions, or face microaggressions — is partially reflected in what we call the ‘white advantage,’” write Frances Kunreuther and Sean Thomas-Breitfeld, Co-Directors of the Building Movement Project, and authors of the report, Race to Lead Revisited: Obstacles and Opportunities in Addressing the Nonprofit Racial Leadership Gap.

Dads In Lockdown: Research Shows Unequal Share Of Parenting

As Father’s Day approaches it is noteworthy that more fathers in the U.S. and globally are working from home and sharing in childcare duties, even homeschooling. More of them are sharing Zoom screens on business calls with their children at home in the background.

Yet an abundance of new research shows mothers are not faring as well as fathers in the lockdown days of COVID-19.

A May report from the National Women’s Law Center shows “women — and particularly women of color — hold the majority of health care, child care and other jobs now deemed both essential and dangerous amid a pandemic,” according to Benefits Pro.

The Power in Uncertainty: Women In Law Take The Lead For Change and Fairness

“Being uncertain doesn’t mean you are powerless,” said Jami McKeon, chair of Morgan Lewis, the largest law firm in the world led by a woman.

Speaking on the recent online panel, “Building a Better Legal Profession: Diversity, Inclusion, Technology, and the Teams of Tomorrow,” co-sponsored by Take The Lead and University of Texas’ Center For Women in Law, McKeon said COVID-19 and the most recent protests and developments highlighting injustice in the past few weeks have changed the legal profession and practices—especially for women, particularly women of color.

Beyond Optics: How To Create Allyship In An Anti-Racist Work Culture

It’s better to do good than to just look good. Non-optical allyship is the goal.

The protests, violence and disruptions of the past weeks after the murder of George Lloyd --whose name is added to the perpetual roster of Black men and women killed in this country as a result of racism-- are symptomatic of the larger systems and infrastructures that must change in business and far beyond.

The Future For Us: Sage Advice for Women Of Color Entrepreneurs During Crisis

This was not the original plan. The 2020 Future For Us second annual assembly for women of color was to be live, in person and in Seattle this spring.

“This pandemic has shown our fight or flight mode,” says Sage Ke’alohilani Quiamno, CEO and co-founder of Future For Us, a community platform of more than 10,000 women of color professionals based in Seattle. “Women of color, we know what to do,” she says.

Can The Post-COVID Workplace Be Better For Women?

Women have been hardest hit by the economic impact of COVID-19. It makes sense women will continue to be the most affected after the pandemic subsides as well. It also makes sense to address those possibilities head on so the future approaches gender equity across all platforms and disciplines.

Some new research says the new post-COVID workplace may indeed be more fair, but it will take intention and deliberate action.

Playbook For Later: Co-Founder, CEO Designs Digital Products For 45-60 Year-Olds

If only it were as simple as opening a playbook, reading the rules and mastering the prescribed strategies. It’s not.

Jeannette McClennan, co-founder and CEO of McClennan Masson, an innovation firm focused on human-centered digital products for women—and men—over 45, set out to solve that dilemma for what she says is an ignored market looking for help.

Back By Popular Demand: 50 Women Can Change The World in Journalism

Take The Lead is launching its second annual 50 Women Can Change the World in Journalism program, slated to kick off on June 16th. Applications for the digital training can be submitted here.

Watch highlights of the 2019 50 Women in Journalism program here

Sponsored in part by Democracy Fund and the Ford Foundation, the program comes at a point when women in the media are making progress but still struggling for parity amid broad layoffs and massive industry changes. For example, women have made up the majority of journalism and mass communication degree programs in the United States for more than three decades.

All You Need Is This Course: 9 Leadership Power Tools Go Virtual June 1

The world has changed drastically since February in every possible way across the world—for women especially. And while many are learning to adapt their professional and personal lives in what is the new mid-COVID-19 normal, adjusting to the status quo is not the only choice.

Transformation is another.

Vision, Focus, Transparency: CEO in Education Offers 6 Lessons on Leading Now

Growing up in Cincinnati, Kristyn Klei Borrero says the desegregation of local schools there gave her a view of K-12 education that “was not monolithic” and steeped in “white kids’ privilege.”

It would fuel her career as CEO and co-founder of CT3, a coaching services company dedicated to improving curriculum across the country by coaching and training educators creatively and serving more than 1 million students in the past 12 years.

If You Must Let Her Go: 8 Ways To Make Tough Choices and Lead Compassionately

“You’re fired” is not such a funny meme right now.

The economic realities of the recent months are driving up unemployment to more than 30 million individuals, with furloughs and diminishing project work for most every American who is a non-essential worker. Being on the receiving end of that news is devastating.

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