Perhaps the seed for Lisa Ann Pinkerton’s career as founder and chair of Women In Cleantech & Sustainability has something to do with the fact that she was born in Hyden, Kentucky near the Daniel Boone National Forest.
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Issue 170 — June 28, 2021
My weekly zoom with women friends who have been staying in touch through the pandemic recently focused on how hard it is to get old ideas and solutions out of their heads when a new and better one has been proven more effective.
The examples mostly came from the world of science and medicine, starting with Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis who was hounded out of the medical profession in the 19th century. Dr. Semmelweis observed that simply washing hands after treating other patients could significantly reduce maternal mortality. Despite a growing body of scientific papers that backed up his theory, most physicians refused to change their traditional practices, and eventually had Semmelweis committed to an institution where he died.
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Seven is considered a universal lucky number for those who believe in numerology.
Seven is an essential number in designing business strategy for Pamela Ayuso, CEO of Celaque, and author of Heptagram: the 7-Pillar Business Design System for the 21st Century.
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June 18, 2021
Growing up deep in the heart of Texas, I learned in (segregated) school that Juneteenth was a big celebration day for Black people because it marked the date on which the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, finally reached Texas on June 19th, 1865.
This date, when federal troops arrived in Galveston to take control of the state after the Civil War, at last ended the egregious practice of legal human slavery in the United States.
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June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month and while the rainbows seem to be everywhere—even in the new 346-piece “Everyone Is Awesome,” rainbow-colored Lego set—the workplace is not often a safe, welcome and fair place for LGBTQ+ employees.
It’s called “rainbow-washing.”
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Her mother would most definitely be proud.
Susan McPherson, founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, and author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships, has spent more than 33 years since her mother’s death building a successful career built on authenticity, integrity and clear communication.
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Issue 169 — June 6, 2021
As a girl, I loved tennis. I was never destined to be a Naomi Osaka, but I played regularly until I was 13 years old. Then my family moved to a small town where the only public tennis court was at the local high school. Soon after arriving in town, I went there with a girlfriend.
The court bordered on the street. A few minutes into our game, a carload of teenage boys parked in front of the court and shouted remarks about our physical appearance. We ignored the boys till they left, then packed up our racquets and went home. I never played tennis again.
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It was easier perhaps to compartmentalize the effects your mean boss had on you when you were in your remote home office and only had to interact visually a few hours a day.
You could press “leave meeting.” You could delay opening an email you were dreading. You could relish the fact you were in slippers and yoga pants and any moment you could rush into the kitchen at whim, or even text a co-worker while a boss tantrum was in full bloom.
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Issue 168 — May 31, 2021
It’s graduation season. A time of traditions.
Last year, graduation traditions, or rather the lack of them were a shock to the system. Regardless of which of the three available responses schools chose — cancel, postpone, or scramble to go virtual —there was much hand-wringing and mourning about what the students would miss.
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Melissa Rodriguez, CEO of Mel Rodriguez & Co. and also Social Media Relations, was born and raised in the “witch city where everyone goes for Halloween.” That’s Salem, Mass., of course, where the history includes powerful and magical women.
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Calling someone strong is supposed to be a compliment. For generations of Black women, expecting and demanding they always be strong—and silent—no matter what, is cause for concern.
Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler, licensed clinical psychologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, is out to change all of the stigmas, misconceptions and invisibility of Black women and redefine what it means to be a strong Black woman.
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