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☆ This former tech worker is helping change laws for people who get laid off
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Ifeoma Ozoma’s path as an advocate for tech workers started with a series of tweets one morning in June 2020. She emerged as a passionate advocate for tech workers by seeking legal protections for whistleblowers. “So many people reached out when I told my story, and most of them were tech workers or workers within the tech industry,” she said. The 30-year-old mentors activists and other people fighting all over the world against workplace discrimination. After leaving Pinterest, Ozoma moved to a farm near Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she grows her own vegetables and raises a flock of chickens nicknamed the Golden Girls.

☆ Ifeoma Ozoma is a passionate advocate for tech whistleblowers. It all started with tweets
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

☆ On World AIDS Day, Biden administration releases new global strategy to end HIV/AIDS by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Jamie Gumbrecht | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —On World AIDS Day, the Biden administration renewed its focus on ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030, releasing a new five-year strategy for the United States’ global response. HIV remains a serious threat to global health security and economic development,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in the new strategy. Globally, progress toward ending HIV and AIDS has been uneven. In the United States, there are wide disparities in access to treatment, and Black and Hispanic Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV. More than 1.1 million people in the United States had HIV at the end of 2019, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When you hear "trust" you may think of a "trust fund baby" whose family money keeps them afloat. You don't need to be wealthy to protect and direct your assets — anyone can use a trust. We definitely don't need a trust," my husband said, looking at me like I had mentioned a private plane or five-star holiday. So, I reached out to Jala Eaton, an estate planning lawyer and founder of On My Own Financial. You've probably heard of "trust-fund babies" — those lucky, independently wealthy folks who live off the family trust.

Military veteran Richard Fierro's selfless response when a gunman opened fire in a Colorado gay club is being lauded by the nation's oldest Latino civil rights organization. He said he did what he was trained to do as a 15-year Army veteran who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fierro and Jessica, who live in Colorado Springs, own a brewery called Atrevida, which in Spanish means brazen. 'Leaped into the breach'The nation's string of mass shootings in recent years have claimed the lives of many Latino victims. He said LULAC invited Fierro and his family to Washington, D.C., to receive the award or it would give it to him in a ceremony in Colorado Springs.

☆ 'It killed my spirit': How 3 teachers are navigating the burnout crisis in education
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

After two years of weathering pandemic disruptions, safety concerns and tense public scrutiny, burned-out teachers have quit the profession in droves. At least 300,000 public-school teachers and other staff left the field between February 2020 and May 2022, The Wall Street Journal reports. Some teachers quit because of the challenges of teaching during a global pandemic, while others, taking note of the Great Resignation, found higher-paid opportunities in other industries. "He began the conversation about how education is full of inequity, and how teachers can help resolve some of the inequity that exists." When her school re-opened for the 2021-2022 school year, Paulino felt even more lost.

☆ Bill Gates has 5 new book recommendations for your holiday reading list
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"Stranger in a Strange Land" — Gates' favorite sci-fi book from his youth, he noted — is the story of a human who was raised on Mars, by Martians. This holiday season, billionaire Bill Gates is gifting you a list of five books to read while you're hopefully enjoying some much-deserved downtime. We need to learn to learn from our mistakes without obsessing over them," Gates wrote. The name comes from Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleyev, who formulated the first version of the periodic table in 1869. It's "the best book I've ever read on the periodic table," Gates wrote.

☆ Bill Gates says he's done some 'weird crap' in his life, such as drinking 'water from fecal sludge', to mark World Toilet Day
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said in a LinkedIn post on Saturday that he's done some "weird crap" in his life. In 2015, he also convinced TV host Jimmy Fallon to drink water made from "fecal sludge." In 2015, he convinced TV host Jimmy Fallon to drink water from "fecal sludge" after Gates examined the Omniprocessor, a machine that turns feces into water and electricity. "A few minutes later I took a long taste of the end result: a glass of delicious drinking water." Watch a clip of Bill Gates and Jimmy Fallon here:

☆ Covid vaccine trials didn't monitor menstrual changes. Researchers say it's part of a bigger problem.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Aria-Bendix-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Aria Bendix | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Although they made up around half the participants in Covid vaccine trials, women were not asked about any menstrual changes as part of that process. Since then, several studies have revealed that Covid vaccines can indeed induce short-term changes in menstrual cycles. A 2021 study found that just eight out of 45 clinical trials that tested Covid vaccines and therapies separated results based on sex. In the past, menstrual changes have also been reported among those who received vaccines for typhoid, hepatitis B and influenza. Researchers don't know why post-vaccine menstrual changes occur.

☆ Real-estate bigwigs harshly punished for illegally discriminating against low-income renters could be a turning point in fair-housing law enforcement
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Washington, DC, real-estate firms who discriminated against low-income renters face a record fine. The historic settlement in DC could trigger harsher penalties for unfair landlords across the country, two housing experts said. The Section 8 program offers qualifying low-income households vouchers to subsidized rents in buildings not designated as affordable housing. Sedgwick Gardens is an apartment complex that DARO Management used to manage. The same study found that only 15% of DC landlords refused to accept vouchers.

☆ Behind the vocal Asian American minority railing against affirmative action
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

As the Supreme Court weighs two high-profile cases challenging affirmative action, a vocal minority of Asian Americans continues to impact public debate. Among Chinese Americans, support for affirmative action is at 59%, the lowest within the Asian American community. This also means that they themselves haven’t experienced the benefits of affirmative action or education equity policies, Niu said. Top American universities, however, use a “holistic” admissions process in which affirmative action policies allow them to take race into account. Asian Americans do face discrimination in our society, in our education systems, but they’re not the result of race-conscious policies like affirmative action,” Chen said.

The court confronts this divisive issue four months after its major rulings curtailing abortion rights and widening gun rights. The court's 6-3 conservative majority is expected to be sympathetic toward the challenges to Harvard and UNC. The cases give the court an opportunity to overturn its prior rulings allowing race-conscious admissions policies. Blum's group said UNC discriminates against white and Asian American applicants and Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants. UNC said there is a difference between a racist policy like segregation that separates people based on race and race-conscious policies that bring students together.

According to Harvard, around 40% of U.S. colleges and universities consider race in some fashion in admissions. The Supreme Court has been upheld such policies, most recently in a 2016 ruling involving a white woman who sued after the University of Texas rejected her. Ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could require the court to overturn its 2016 ruling and earlier decisions. 'DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION'The lawsuits accused UNC of discriminating against white and Asian American applicants and Harvard of discriminating against Asian American applicants. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Harvard's use of race was "meaningful" and not "impermissibly extensive" because it prevented diversity from plummeting.

☆ Kanye West's antisemitic rants are the tip of a much longer spear
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Tal Lavin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Recent comments by Kanye West, now known as Ye, echo ancient antisemitic tropes, writes Tal Lavin. Over on Instagram, where I'd posted a picture of me cuddling a goat, someone commented: "Kanye West was right about you people." But these sentiments are just the tip of a much longer spear. Ye's comments in particular echo a very long history of antisemitic tropes — tropes that have left a trail of blood in their wake. On "Drink Champs" Ye spit into the mic about the evils of the "Jewish media."

CNN —There’s growing evidence that Black heart failure patients are less likely to get advanced therapies than White patients. A study published Wednesday in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure finds that among a group of adults with heart failure, White people were twice as likely as Black people to receive a heart transplant or a ventricular assist device, a mechanical heart pump often used for patients with end-stage heart failure. The data showed that a heart transplantation or a ventricular assist device was performed in 11% of the Black patients compared with 22% of the White patients, although death rates were similar in both: 18% in Black patients and 13% in White patients. The researchers noted that patients’ preferences for ventricular assist devices, heart transplantation or other therapies did not affect the results. These data refute the idea that disparate heart failure outcomes have to do with things like the personal preferences of the patient,” he said.

☆ Factbox: Ethnic groups swept up in Iran's nationwide protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Critics say these accusations aim to present the protests as ethnic unrest rather than a country-wide uprising, and to justify a crackdown. Rights group Hengaw says it has recorded the deaths of at least 32 civilians killed by government forces during protests. Estimated to number some 10 million, Iranian Kurds are also Sunnis and mostly live in northwestern regions bordering Turkey and Iraq - which also have large Kurdish minorities. Kurdish human rights organisation Hengaw has identified 23 Kurdish people killed in the latest protests. The Revolutionary Guards, which have put down unrest in the Kurdish region for decades, have accused armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of involvement in the protests.

☆ CVS drops prices on its tampons and will pay the ‘pink tax’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —CVS will reduce prices on its store-branded menstrual products nationwide and pay the sales taxes on those products in a dozen states. Starting Thursday, CVS (CVS) will drop prices by 25% on CVS (CVS) Health and Live Better tampons, menstrual pads, liners and cups. The chain last week also began paying sales taxes for customers on period products in 12 states — Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia. CVS said it cannot cover the taxes in other states that levy them due to laws preventing third parties from paying taxes on a customer’s behalf. “Too often period products are taxed as luxury items and not recognized as basic necessities,” the organization said.

☆ 30 million US workers think their workplace is toxic. Here are the 3 main factors causing toxic work cultures, according to research.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bad leadership, toxic social norms, and unclear job roles are driving toxic work cultures, per the research. According to his research, three main factors can create these toxic cultures within organizations — bad leadership, toxic social norms, and poorly designed job roles. Workplace social norms are often established and maintained by leaders or managers. "Social norms can persist even if the leaders who originally started them are long gone," he said. Poorly designed jobsWhen an employee's job role is badly designed it can lead to excessive workloads.

☆ More states are requiring employers to disclose how much they pay in job listings — here's why some companies still don't want to
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Starting Nov. 1, New York City companies will have to include a 'good faith salary range' in job listings. An expert told Insider companies may not disclose salary to use it as a 'negotiation point' during the interview process. "If they don't disclose (salary) up front, they have more wiggle room on the back end," Lim said. If they're just sharing (pay) without much context, it can be divisive," Lim told Insider. Starting November 1, employers will have to include a "good faith salary range" for jobs, promotions, and transfer opportunities.

☆ NAACP says Jackson’s water problems are civil rights issue
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Brad Vest / Getty Images fileThe U.S. Justice Department is working to improve Jackson’s water system. There were warnings the Jackson water system was struggling before it failed. Tate Reeves, a Republican, has blamed Jackson’s water problems on mismanagement by city leaders. Reeves declared an emergency for the water system in late August and brought in out-of-state crews to help make repairs. Before the city’s latest water crisis, though, Reeves expressed his own opposition to state funding for Jackson water improvements, saying he wants to hold down Mississippi’s overall debt level.

☆ Check out the exclusive pitch deck that live-learning startup Hone used to raise $30 million for online career training and upskilling
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hone landed clients like Aramark and Indeed and raised a $30 million Series B that 3L Capital led. Unlike large, asynchronous online courses like those LinkedIn Learning and Coursera host, live, vetted, and professional teachers lead Hone's courses. Hone said it was ahead of the curve on this trend, offering online trainings since its founding in 2017. The Hone team hopes to use the new funding to expand their course catalog and offer more hybrid and in-person learning opportunities. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck that Hone used to raise its $30 million Series B round:

☆ How Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey's Bitcoin Academy provides financial inclusion and breaks down barriers of inequity
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-07 | by ( John Lynch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Insider profiled Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey's Bitcoin Academy at the conclusion of its program for Marcy Houses in Brooklyn. For Marcy resident Mariela Regalado, The Bitcoin Academy represented a continuation of an altruism she had seen from Jay-Z firsthand. Lamar Wilson teaching at The Bitcoin Academy. Following the conclusion of its summer courses at Marcy Houses, The Bitcoin Academy is "looking to expand to other neighborhoods soon," the program said. The over 350 people who attended The Bitcoin Academy classes let us know that this education is important to them - and that it matters.

They strategized on what they want to do next: elect their own candidates to school boards, pass state legislation and diminish the influence of teachers unions. “It’s been said we’re some political powerhouse,” said Tiffany Justice, who co-founded Moms for Liberty in January 2021 with Tina Descovich. Moms for Liberty founders Tiffany Justice, left, and Tina Descovich present the Liberty Sword to Gov. “When I’m going up there by myself, the school board overlooks you,” said Ken Davenport, a father from a chapter in Orange County, Florida, who is running for state representative. Ron DeSantis, is joined by her 5-year-old daughter, Madison, after a question and answer session at the Moms for Liberty Summit.

☆ Why impact investing needs to be 'decolonized' to help the people most affected by climate change and inequity
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-30 | by ( Durreen Shahnaz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Kazi Awal/InsiderImpact investing doesn't always help the people impacted most by inequity and climate change, according to Durreen Shahnaz, founder and CEO of Impact Investment Exchange. As the founder and CEO of Impact Investment Exchange, I've seen how much actual impact impact investing can have — and how it can reinforce old, problematic norms. McGlashen's involvement in both the scandal and the world of impact investing is not merely a coincidence. This means that impact investing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America is coming from the Global North and with it, the power of how impact investing should go. While companies like IIX are all about the Global South investing in each other, we are the minority.

☆ I had a difficult pregnancy and complications afterward — and my options for maternity leave made everything far worse
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-18 | by ( Jacquelynn Kerubo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

She had to agree to return to work for at least six months after her leave was up. It provides six weeks of fully paid leave and up to 12 weeks total when combined with sick and annual leave. I had eight weeks of combined annual and sick leave, which meant I could take the full 12 weeks off. A coworker told me she took six weeks of paid leave and eight weeks of unpaid leave. 6 weeks of paid leave isn't enough for anyone.

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