Spring 2019

HEALTH CARE The disruptive role of new technologies

VACATION IN VIRGINIA Ceremonies mark the arrival of the first enslaved Africans 400 years ago

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INFLUENTIAL

BLACK WOMEN

IN BUSINESS

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Spring 2019 tnj.com

(L. to r.) Rebecca Powell (Morgan Stanley); Tatiana Roc (National Grid); Rosie Allen-Herring (United Way of the National Capital Area); (Seated) Rahquel Purcell (Loreal)

We’re proud to celebrate women who excel professionally and give back to the community.

Congratulations Tatiana Roc on being honored for the 25 Influential Black Women in Business Award.

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contents

DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Note 4 News Briefs 6 Headliner 8 The SME agenda in Congress

By Rosalind McLymont

14

Feature

Black women-owned businesses

By Salome Kilkenny

44

Africa Focus

AI, blockchain, drones

By Rosalind McLymont

46

Finance & Economy

16 Cover Story

Cryptocurrency

By Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz

Capital Markets 25 Influential Black Women In Business Predictions that 2018 would be “The Year Of The Black Woman” in the U.S. proved true, as 400 years after the arrival of enslaved Africans on these shores, over 20 women of African descent were elected to Congress in November, a first in U.S. history. The number of U.S. businesses owned by Black women numbered 2.4 million, or 20 percent of all women-owned businesses in the nation, growing annually at a rate of 9 percent over 2017, the highest rate of growth among all firms in the period. Long slighted by the venture capital industry, Black women entrepreneurs began to attract the attention of a new breed of funders. At The Network Journal, we make every year “The Year of the Black Woman” when we honor 25 Influential Black Women in Business during Women’s History Month. On March 22, we’ll continue this tradition for the 21st consecutive year.

Rosalind McLymont

47

Promising growth outlook

By George Orwel

50

Global Arena Translation apps

By Greg Sandler

51

Entrepreneurship Investing in O-Zones

By Sergie Willoughby

Career

52

Dow Chemical’s Karen S. Carter

By Sergie Willoughby

Technology

54

To fix or to nix

By Mary Hunt

People & Events TNJ Life 58

56

Schomburg Center: More than a library

By Nadine Matthews

Travel & Tourism

62

Get away to Virginia

By Salome Kilkenny

Health & Fitness

64

Dental care

By Mary Hunt

After Hours

65

Studio Museum in Harlem

By Levar Alonzo

10

INDUSTRY FOCUS: Health Care Chrissa McFarlane, CEO of Patientory Inc., discusses the use of blockchain technology in healthcare.

By Sergie Willoughby

40

FEATURE: Top Doctors A husband-and-wife team, specialists in traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and herbology in Brooklyn, N.Y.

By Nadine Matthews

2 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

42

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Debating Slavery in the U.S. Four hundred years after the first enslaved Africans landed in the U.S., young people ask whose history owns slavery.

By Donté Murdock

Book Review 66 Editor’s Picks 66 Calendar 67 Final Word 68 Invest in Black STEM grads

By Andre M. Perry, Ph.D. Cover design: Wayne McLean Cover photo: William Neumann Hair: Virginia Scarlett Makeup: Daurisa Tessler

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Between where we stand today and where we go from here, there’s a bridge.

As head of Inclusion and Collaboration, Shari Slate is helping Cisco build the bridge to possible for the people and communities it serves around the world.

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TEL: 212-962-3791 FAX: 212-962-3537 WEBSITE: www.tnj.com EMAIL: tnjeditors@tnj.com

VOLUME 26 • NUMBER 1

Publisher Aziz Gueye Adetimirin Executive Editor Rosalind McLymont Senior Editor Sergie Willoughby Copy Editor Janet L. Sachs Donté Murdock

Editorial Intern

Art Director Wayne McLean Programs & Marketing Sabrina Eady Director, Online Business Development Vernon Verdree Development Strategists McLymont, Kunda & Co. Director of Circulation John Blassingame Marketing Consultant Rogue Media Group Contributors Levar Alonzo, Salome Kilkenny, Nadine Matthews, George Orwel, Clarence V. Reynolds, Terri Schlichenmeyer The Network Journal (ISSN:1094-1908) is published four times a year by The Network Journal Communications Inc., 39 Broadway, Suite 2430, New York, NY 10006.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

When Disruptors Disrupt Vegan burgers, whiskey, Pinky and Fawn It was a finger-numbing cold, rainy November Saturday when I and my two grandchildren joined the line in an industrial park on the outskirts of Atlanta to buy hamburgers from a food truck named “Slutty Vegan.”

From Alpha Kappa Alpha pink-and-greens, Burberry plaids, and rampant corporate promos, to clear domes, mini totes, and skinny street hustles that die in one good gust of wind, umbrellas shielded roughly 500 men, women, and children against the downpour. Feet shuffled nonstop and hands dug deep into pockets to stay warm.

But spirits were high, buoyed by camaraderie and the savory aroma of good food.

The sky was pitch black by the time my grandchildren and I placed our orders: six Fussy Hussys, thirteen dollars a piece. The other delectable selections, The One Night Stand, Heaux Boy, Sloppy Toppy, Ménage à Trois, and Super Sluts were long gone. Oh, the taste of that giant, 100-percent-plant-based, secret-sauced burger, piled high on a Hawaiian bun with generous toppings of vegan cheddar cheese, red onion, lettuce, pickle, and vegan mayonnaise! The four-hour wait was worth every minute. Fussy Hussy was worth every dollar.

Launched just last summer, Slutty Vegan (sluttyveganatl.com) gives Atlanta's famed barbeque a run for its money, while dispelling the notions that vegans don’t do junk food, and that vegan fare is bland. Its founder is Delta Sigma Theta soror Pinky Cole, vegan daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Clark Atlanta University alum, and no stranger to the challenges of entrepreneurship. Her yellow truck, whose signage proclaims “Sorry I only date vegans,” “Powered by plants,” “Vegans taste better,” “The future is vegan,” and “Save the world; Save the animals,” and more, has no fixed home. Cole reveals its location on Instagram at 3:00 p.m. every Tuesday through Saturday, and the line of meat-eaters and non-meateaters alike forms within minutes. Celebrity patrons include Tyler Perry, Tiffany Haddish, and Snoop Dogg.

Why “slutty?” Cole explains in The Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Sex sells.

Healthier eating can sell as well. I want to meet people where they are and get them to look at food in a different way.” On Jan. 13, Atlanta awoke to the first Slutty Vegan brick-and-mortar location. Over 1,200 people waited in line to be “sluttified.” The Slutty Vegan truck came to Harlem in New York City on Feb. 18, the first stop on its six-city tour. I was there, delighting once more in Pinky Cole’s vegan disruption.

I don’t drink whiskey, but I enjoy Fawn Weaver’s disruptive “Uncle Nearest” whiskey brand. My pleasure lies in the discovery of the brand and the story behind it in my recent interview with Weaver. It’s the story of the former enslaved man, Nathan “Nearest” Green, the first African-American master distiller, who taught Jack Daniel’s all about the still. Green became one of the country’s wealthiest Black men after he gained his freedom at the end of the Civil War. Weaver is one of TNJ’s “25 Influential Black Women in Business” this year (See her brief profile on Page 36). Through her pioneering work, she has preserved the legacy of “Uncle Nearest,” disrupting a history of American whiskey, including that of the Jack Daniel’s brand, which failed to mention Green.

When disruptors disrupt, some people win, some lose, some are shamed, and some simply find pleasure in the reality of the disruptions.

4 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

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In its “2019 States with the Most Racial Progress” report, WalletHub found that, between whites and Blacks: the District of Columbia has the lowest gap in homeownership rates, at 13.41 percent, while Connecticut has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 8.25 percent; Hawaii has the lowest gap in median annual household incomes, at 7.74 percent, and has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1979, with a change of 33.19 percent; South Dakota has the lowest gap in unemployment rates, at 0.85 percent, while North Dakota has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 12.94 percent; Hawaii has the lowest gap in poverty rates, at 0.87 percent and Mississippi has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a 24.80 percent change; and New Mexico has the lowest gap in the share of adults 25 years and over with at least a bachelor’s degree, at 0.83 percent, and has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a 5.71 percent change.

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Standards and Technology, will make stops in Houston, San Francisco, New York City, and Miami. It will present opportunities for cooperative research and development agreements with university and federal researchers, and provide information on the funding, facilities, patents, and equipment that federal laboratories have available.

Two-thirds of the most influential technologies of the past 50 years, including smartphones, autonomous vehicles, personalized medicine, and GPS, were made possible through private sector use of federally funded research and development in national laboratories and universities.

Advancing AI technologies Estimating that over the next three years, more than 120 million employees will need retraining to operate and work with artificial intelligence, or AI, IBM launched IBM Talent & Transformation to help employees adopt AI technology throughout their organizations. This program will be integrated into a company’s HR department, and will help create a culture that is open to AI-driven functions. IBM hopes that this new business initiative will not only help train employees by helping them learn new skills and spotlight new opportunities, but also help companies find and attract new talent that is prepared for the AI era.

Financial literacy

Technology transfer The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is conducting a multicity tour to increase awareness among minority enterprises of opportunities to improve businesses and create jobs using technology invented in the federal government’s 300+ laboratories and research centers. The MBDA InVision Tour, a collaboration between MBDA and the National Institutes of

6 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

The American Bankers Association Foundation’s 2019 financial education registration campaign is calling for banker volunteers for industrywide programs designed to enhance financial education in their local communities. Under the foundation’s “Teach Children to Save” program, bankers visit schools and youth groups in their communities and present lessons on savings, teach students about the banking industry, how it supports local communities, and the skills needed to become a banker. The program is scheduled for April 12, but bankers can

hold sessions throughout the year. The foundation’s other 2019 financial education initiatives include “Get Smart About Credit,” scheduled for October, when bankers visit classrooms nationwide to help teens and young adults learn how to use credit wisely, protect their identity, manage their money, pay for college, and discuss the various careers available throughout the banking industry. The “Safe Banking for Seniors” program, held throughout the year, helps older customers and their financial caregivers recognize and lower the risks of fraud and financial abuse. To invite a banker to make a presentation on any of the above programs, submit a request to aba.com/FinEdLink.

WE Communications and TLF WE Communications, announced a five-year commitment to The LAGRANT Foundation (TLF) that includes $330,000 to fund nationwide programming and scholarships for ethnic minority students, as well as 20 internships. WE will provide over half a million dollars to support TLF over the course of the partnership. The new commitment extends WE’s involvement with TLF scholarship recipients. WE will now select four scholarship recipients each year to participate in its award-winning internship program that provides client-facing experience by working on technology sector account teams responsible for developing public relations and marketing communications plans. Under its five-year partnership with TLF, WE will also sponsor three annual Career Development & Professional Workshops at its offices in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle that will expose ethnic minority candidates to careers in the communications industry and feature the best and brightest agency leaders.

Latinx wealth gap The Center for American Progress reports that Latinx workers are more likely to hold full-time jobs than white

workers, but their median wealth is only 14.6 percent of the average white family’s wealth. The report, “Why a Job Is Not Enough,” attributes this disparity to Latinx workers holding jobs with lower hourly pay and less access to benefits; greater financial demands on their families; differences in home and business ownership; and that Latinx people tend to hold costlier debt. It says “protective factors” that increase economic mobility for populations, such as education, homeownership, income,

and age, have been insufficient in closing the wealth gap between the Latinx and white populations. The report calls for increased wages and benefits; support for union membership; improved access to health care; strong civil rights enforcement against employment and housing discrimination; access to affordable housing and higher education; removal of language barriers in employment, housing, and education; and support for comprehensive TNJ immigration reform.

Figuratively Speaking: The Role Of Social Media in Health Care An article at WEGO Health (www.wegohealth.com) titled, “50 Social Media Healthcare Statistics to Watch,” argues that every healthcare company should pay attention to social media trends because patients and caregivers alike frequently use social media channels. WEGO Health is a network of patient advocates, health activists, health community leaders, patient influencers, and patient experts. The social media healthcare statistics below are sourced from WEGO Health.

• Percent of individuals between the ages of 16 and 64 who logged on to at least one social media site in the past month: 97; • Number of health chatbots on Facebook: 150+; • On average, number of times patient communities' and group's social media exceeds that of health industry companies: 24; • Percent of caregivers who gather health information online: 72, versus 50 for non-caregivers; • Percent of participants in a WEGO Health behavioral intent study who say they share health information via Facebook posts: 87; • Percent of study participants who

say they share health information via Facebook message: 81; • Percent of participants who say online communities play a role in their health decisions: 91; • Percent of posts in the Alzheimer’s Reading Room on Facebook that had an engagement rate of 10+ percent before Facebook made changes to its newsfeed: 3; • Percent of posts that had an engagement rate of over 10 percent after the changes: 79; • Percent of caregivers who participated in an online social activity related to health in the past year: 52; • Percent of caregivers who were seeking out information and support online for their loved one: 70; • Percent of caregivers who consult online reviews of drugs: 24, versus 13 for non-caregivers; • Percent of caregivers who go online for a diagnosis: 46, versus 28 for noncaregivers; • Percent of caregivers who got information, care, or support online from others with the same condition: 30, versus 21 for non-caregivers.

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 7

HEADLINER Congressional Black Caucus members of the 116th Congress

The Small Business Agenda Advocates fear legislative inaction

By TNJ Staff

O

n Jan. 16, more than 250 top business leaders gathered in Kimmel Hall at New York University for the 4th Annual African-American, Asian-American & Hispanic Roundtable. “We’re taking stock of the emergence of new demographics that are transforming how businesses operate, sell, recruit and grow,” said summit host John Wang, founder and president of the Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC). At the one-day event, titled “Making Impact: Diversity and Inclusion IS a Business Strategy,” business luminaries including Skip Spriggs, CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, and Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette, emphasized the importance of diversity in the supply networks of major corporations in growing and developing minority-owned businesses.

Entrepreneurship long has been hailed as a driver of economic prosperity. But with Democrats controlling the U.S. House of Representatives and Republicans the U.S. Senate, small business fears there will be more gridlock in the current Congress than action on issues that promote entrepreneurship and small-business growth. These issues include access to startup and growth capital; reduced healthcare costs; a simplified tax code; how to fund infrastructure repair, which would ultimately create contract opportunities; a national standard for Internet privacy cybersecurity; and worker training to address the looming skills gap.

In its response to President Trump’s State of the Union address on Feb. 5, the Black Economic Alliance called on the president and Congress to act, particularly where Black-owned businesses are concerned. “The president should work with Congress to ensure that Black workers are adequately trained for the jobs of the future, that the critical infrastructure improvements in broadband and transportation are made, and that Black entrepreneurs have access to financing to grow their businesses and build wealth in our communities,” the Alliance said in an official statement.

Led by a board that includes executives from a range of industries including media, finance, pharmaceutical, nonprofit, and tech, the Alliance uses its collective power and business acumen to advance policies to improve work, wages, and wealth for Black Americans.

Supporting small business growth is high on the agenda of The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). “We must address the economic disparities that have plagued our communities for generations… that is why the CBC supports policies that strengthen protections for workers and expand Black entrepreneurship and business development. Investing in economic development benefits entrepreneurs and workers alike, as well as communities at large,” the CBC says. Its agenda calls for preserving programs that support minority businesses, such as the Community Development Block Grant Program and the Minority Business

8 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

Development Agency, and expanding access to capital by advancing FinTech initiatives, bolstering mission-driven lending options such as Community Development Financial Institutions, and providing regulatory relief for minority depository institutions.

Both the House and Senate took some action in January. The House passed four bills, now under consideration in the Senate, aimed at keeping the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs up to date; increasing the amount of capital that a bank or federal savings association may invest in one or more small business investment companies (SBICs) to 15 percent from 5 percent; providing crucial research assistance to small business participants in SBIR and STTR programs; and enhancing opportunities for small businesses to compete for federal contracting opportunities, ensuring that eligible small businesses are winning solesource awards. The SBIR and STTR programs promote small business innovation through access to federal agency research, technology, and funding.

A bill passed in the Senate clarifies that the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy has the authority to examine small business issues in international economies and not just the domestic economy; it also authorizes the office to represent small businesses before foreign governments and international entiTNJ ties in addition to federal entities.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS

Tech & Health Care Blockchain helps to harness data

By Sergie Willoughby

L

ast September, Bloomberg hosted a seminar titled “The Value of Data: How Emerging Technologies are Redefining our Future,” on how blockchain and artificial intelligence have significantly improved the auto, agriculture, and healthcare industries, in turn benefitting their customers. The health portion of the event highlighted Patientory Inc., which aggregates patients’ health data to help users lead healthier lifestyles. Putting aside the debate on the cost and coverage of health insurance, which has become a major part of American discourse since the passage of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, health data has become a sticking point for patients looking to access it and hospital administrators who are reticent to provide it.

The history In 1951, the story of Henrietta Lacks, the African-American woman whose cervical cancer cells were used for scientific research without her or her family’s consent, gained prominence because Lacks’ genes created the first immortal human cell line. Rebecca Skloot’s 2010 book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, revived the controversy. After public outcry over scientists’ “by-any-means-necessary” methods of using genetic data to further science, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, M.D., and NIH Deputy Director for Science, Outreach and Policy Kathy Hudson, M.D., devised a plan to protect family genetic information while allowing for the advancement of scientific experiments that cure diseases.

The story shed light on the wider issue of patient privacy and access to health data, both of which the Lacks family were denied. They’re not alone.

Digital age or not, medical records can be tricky in an industry that’s expected to value trillions of dollars by 2025.

Italo Brown, M.D. (l.), resident, Department of Emergency Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center; Chrissa McFarlane, CEO, Patientory Inc.

Legislation Judith Graham, a writer for Kaiser Health News, reports in a 2018 article that federal law guarantees people the right to obtain a copy of their medical records. However, researchers at Yale University recently revealed evidence of barriers to exercising this right. “Late last year, researchers collected forms that patients use to request records from each hospital. Then, researchers called the hospitals and asked how to get records, the cost of the process, how long it would take, the format in which information would be sent, and whether the entire record would be available,” Graham writes. “Researchers didn’t disclose that they were conducting an academic study; instead, they posed as a relative asking questions on behalf of a grandmother

who needed her records before seeking a second opinion. Hospitals’ answers were inconsistent: In many cases, the information on forms didn’t match what researchers were told on the phone.

Sometimes their answers violated federal or state legal requirements.”

Although Title 1 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requires medical providers to give individuals access to their protected health information, (PHI), Harlan Krumholz, M.D., coauthor of the study and professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health at the Yale University School of Medicine, admits that the system doesn’t give patients reliable or consistent responses. Moreover, he notes, “some people who work in medical records departments appear to be ignorant of the law and the rights that patients have.”

Some medical professionals do get it.

Italo Brown, M.D., a resident in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Jacobi Medical Center, told The Network Journal that doctors like him are excited when patients keep up with their health issues. They understand that access to those records is key, “as long as it can be done in a secure manner so patient privacy isn’t compromised,” he says.

Consumer Adoption of Digital Health In its fourth annual survey on consumer adoption of digital health technologies, Rock Health found that Americans increasingly use digital health to manage diagnoses, connect with providers, and make critical healthcare decisions. Each survey consists of 4,000 respondents of U.S. adults age 18 and over. The chart below shows digital health usage rates in 2015, when Rock Health first began the survey, and 2018.

DIGITAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES

% CONSUMER USAGE 2015

% CONSUMER USAGE 2018

Online health information

71

80

Online provider reviews Mobile tracking

50

64

18

28

Wearables

13

33

Live video telemedicine

7

34

10 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

Source: Rock Health Digital Consumer Adoption Survey 2018

INDUSTRY FOCUS

Healthcare Innovations for 2019 3D Printing. Healthcare providers are set to represent the second-largest industry sector in 3D manufacturing.

Technology New technologies are performing nothing short of miracles. Artificial intelligence helps farmers grow more food and the deaf to see sound; blockchain guards some of the many digital health startups that have sprouted over the past five years in the U.S. Take Patientory Inc., co-founded by Chrissa McFarlane, a medical company employee turned consultant to healthcare technology companies. Patientory’s product is powered by blockchain technology, which secures data in addition to granting access. It also acts as an enterprise solution for healthcare organizations to better streamline clinical and financial workflow, essentially benefitting patients and hospitals alike.

“Eight years ago, we saw Google and Microsoft try to create one-stop shops for health information, and they failed,” McFarlane told TNJ. “In the healthcare industry, we have all these participants, yet we have patients who are getting more ill, and don’t even have easy access to their patient information, which is housed by their clinician or at a hospital.”

Her platform integrates with hospital systems, allowing the Patientory team to distribute a hospital’s data through a storage system. “Health care has become huge in the U.S., and through our platform, we’re able to harness powerful data, whether criteria or improvements in top management, to provide real-time analytics of a particular healthcare organization,” she explains.

How it works Though still in the early beta stage, the Patientory app has been gaining traction because, users say, they can integrate it with their Apple Health Watch or their Fitbit. “They are excited to see what more data they can use and how our alerts help to them stay on track with their health regimens and goals— something consumers definitely want.

Artificial intelligence (AI). AI applications that target hospitals and medical institutions, including patient monitoring and transcribing notes for electronic health records (EHRs), provide significant financial savings.

Blockchain. By 2025, blockchain could save the healthcare industry up to $100$150 billion each year in data breach-related costs, IT costs, operations costs, support function costs and personnel costs, according to BIS Research.

Electronic health records tools. From 2018-2022, the electronic health records market is expected to grow at a compound average rate of 6 percent per year.

Genomics. Consumer genetics and research companies have grown in popularity and scale as consumers get more involved in the management of their health.

People want to further understand their genetic makeup.

Healthcare transportation. Twenty-five percent of lower-income patients have missed or rescheduled appointments due to lack of transportation, costing U.S. health systems up to $150 billion each year.

Vertical integrations. Last year saw a significant number of vertical integrations, including CVS Health’s takeover of health insurer Aetna, as healthcare providers aim to provide greater transparency, promote collaboration, and lower escalating patient costs.

Source: Global Healthcare

We do the heavy lifting, so they can focus on their goals,” McFarlane states.

“Taking better care of one’s health lies in one’s actual data and the ability to get a handle on that data, be it counting calories or taking medication,” she notes.

“There’s an impact on your overall health when you’re knowledgeable about it.”

For Brown, a platform such as Patientory could be an asset to the medical community, which tends to lag others in tech advancements.

“Some hospitals do have portals and platforms for patients to access their lab results and imaging tests. What makes it difficult is the question of security,” he remarks. “People don’t want their medical information floating around, and the idea of cloud software makes some people uncomfortable. Truth is, that’s the direction that health care is shifting. Data has to be available across multiple hospitals; that’s the true benefit.” If, for example, you get sick and end up at a hospital other than your primary home hospital, “this type of platform allows the provider at the other hospital to have the same records about your health that your primary doctors have. It adds to a level of continuity,” he notes.

A patient once showed Brown an app on her phone that displayed her medical details. “It becomes a hassle to call another hospital to verify something, so that made my life easier,” Brown affirms. “I was then able to make an informed decision about treatment that, ultimately, saved the patient from an unnecessary and costly procedure.”

Since blockchain is a nascent technology, Patientory’s app still faces challenges. “Two years ago, no one was talking about this,” McFarlane says.

“Our biggest challenge is definitely the education piece. We’re starting to see more organizations come together and compile the technology so that they all gain an understanding of the value in it.

At this point, adoption is where we’re really trying to get to.”

Brown asserts that the use of technology that gives a patient true access to their records eliminates some of the middlemen in the medical space. “I don’t know if that’s something the medical community is one hundred percent ready for,” he muses.

McFarlane is betting that blockchain technology can assist in a patient’s wellbeing through the Patientory app. “One TNJ can only hope,” she states.

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 11

FEATURE

Janeen Uzzell TNJ Honoree Alum Riding high in Silicon Valley

By Salome Kilkenny

T

he Wikimedia Foundation named Janeen T. Uzzell its chief operating officer, adding to the limited number of Black women in executive positions in Silicon Valley. The nonprofit organization that supports Wikipedia and other free-knowledge projects, Wikimedia is driven by its vision of a world in which every single person can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Uzzell will direct the operations of its critical programs, ensuring resources are utilized to best achieve its free-knowledge mission. She will partner with the executive leadership team in effective planning and execution against key strategic goals, and with the executive director to support Wikimedia’s global strategic plan, known as Wikimedia 2030.

“Janeen is a powerful leader with a drive to serve people and communities,” says Katherine Maher, chief executive officer and executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation. “She will play a vital role in positioning the organization for success as we continue to serve our global community into 2030 and beyond.”

In her new role, Uzzell joins an eclectic club that includes Aicha Evans, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Intel Corp.; Latasha Gillespie, head of global diversity and inclusion at Amazon Corporate; Valeisha Butterfield Jones, global head of Women and Black Community Engagement at Google; Wanji Walcott, senior vice president and general counsel at PayPal Holdings Inc.; Toni Townes-Whitley, president of U.S. Regulated Industries at Microsoft; and Maxine Williams, global chief diversity officer at Facebook.

Uzzell brings to the foundation 16 years of experience from executive lead-

ership at General Electric Co. (GE), most recently as GE’s head of Women in Technology, where she worked with the company’s global CEOs to increase the number of women in technical roles across the 300,000-person workforce.

At the same time, she led operations and business development at the company’s Global Research Center within the External Affairs & Technology Programs Organization. Prior to that, she spent five years as director of Healthcare Programs for GE Africa, based in Accra, Ghana. She also served as the director of Global Healthcare Programs, director of Healthcare Disparity Programs, and director of Service Operations for GE. “Being selected to build a strategy for GE’s healthcare solutions in emerging markets has been instrumental in my success. This is where I experienced what it feels like to be truly in the zone…the intersection of my education and training, and my true vocation,” Uzzell said in an interview with The Network Journal. “Each of my core strengths, and the areas that also needed development, were stretched as I learned to adapt to the cultures and business models of the global world.”

Throughout her career, Uzzell has worked to build transformative partnerships, collaborated with global movements, and cultivated networks of local, national, and global leaders. She has successfully helped individuals and

12 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

organizations transform ideas into practical, usable, and scalable solutions. She has been recognized numerous times for her work, including being named one of The Network Journal’s “40 Under Forty Achievers” in 2005, and one of its “25 Most Influential Black Women in Business” in 2016. She is the recipient of the United Nations Global Leadership Award, and the GE African-American Forum’s Icon Leadership Award.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Foundation to use my influence and voice to lead work that can change lives, communities, and the world,” Uzzell says. “Wikipedia is a perfect example of the potential that can be achieved when we pair technology with the challenges faced by a growing global society. I am excited to have the opportunity to support a community working to use technology to break down cultural divides and expose people from all backgrounds and locations to the power of instant access to the world’s collective knowledge.”

Uzzell has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and an M.B.A. in international business from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She serves on the board for the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute, and is an advisor to the InterVarsity National Believers in Business TNJ Collegiate Organization.

NYC Health+Hospitals/Harlem extends sincere congratulations to

EbonĂŠ M. Carrington, MPA, FAB

Chief Executive Officer and all of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deserving honorees You are examples of what is best in our community

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FEATURE

State of Black Women Entrepreneurs Solving the underfunded problem

By Salome Kilkenny 250

Amount Raised

By Black Women-Led Startups 2009-2017

200

U.S. dollars in millions

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ong slighted by the venture capital industry, Black women entrepreneurs are beginning to attract the attention of a new breed of funders.

The number of Black-owned small businesses in the U.S. increased by a staggering 400 percent in 2018 from 2017. This comes as Blacks, with a collective spending power of $1.2 trillion, increasingly are supporting those businesses. Researchers who deep-dive into U.S. Census Bureau data to report on the state of businesses owned by women of color, including outfits like American Express OPEN, digitalundivided, the Institute of Women Policy Research, Guidant Financial and LendingClub, found that U.S. businesses owned by Black women numbered 2.4 million in 2018, or 20 percent of all womenowned businesses in the country and grew at an annual rate of 9 percent for 2017 to 2018 — the highest rate of growth among all firms in the period and matching their annual growth rate between 2007 and 2018. They found that, with 541 net new businesses launched per day, the highest number after the 659 created by non-minority women, Black women are the fastestgrowing group of entrepreneurs in the country. Between 1997 and 2014 alone, the number of businesses created by Black women jumped 265 percent, outpacing growth among all women-owned firms. As entrepreneurs, 39 percent are millennials and younger.

Add to this the fact that Black women are the most educated group in the U.S., showing the highest percentage of any group enrolled in college.

None of all this seems to impress the overwhelmingly white, male-dominated venture capital industry. According to digitalundivided’s ProjectDiane, a meager 0.2 percent of all venture capital

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’11

’12

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’15

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Source: ProjectDiane 2018

funding went to startups founded by Black women in 2016; more than 50 percent of them received less than $100,000 in funding; and just 34 received more than a million dollars of funding in the last year.

ProjectDiane’s 2018 report — in collaboration with JPMorgan Chase, the Case Foundation, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation — puts the median funding raised by all Black women founders at $0. While a growing number of Black women are crossing the $1 million venture threshold, a majority of Black women-led startups do not raise any money, the report explains. Since 2009, it says, Black women-led startups have raised $289 million in venture/angel funding, with a significant portion of that raised in 2017.

However, this represents .0006 percent of the $424.7 billion in total tech venture funding raised since 2009.

Like their male counterparts, Black women entrepreneurs often turn to personal savings, credit cards, and loans from friends and family — some even raid their 401(k) plans — to finance their businesses.

ProjectDiane’s 2016 report was the first to shed light on the massive funding gap for Black women founders in

14 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

the U.S., sparking a national dialogue about inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship. In its wake, the total amount raised by Black women founders increased 500 percent to $250 million in 2017 from $50 million in 2016, with the number of Black women who raised up to $1 million from VC firms more than tripling to 34 from 11.

Thankfully, a new breed of Black, minority- and women-focused VCs is stepping in to close this funding gap.

They include Backstage Capital, launched by Arlan Hamilton to invest in under-invested companies founded by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community; Harlem Capital Partners; Intel Capital Diversity Fund; IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME Fund, Backstage Capital’s fund to invest exclusively in Black female founders; New Voices Fund (NVF), launched by Richlieu Dennis (Sundial Brands, SheaMoisture, Essence) to invest in women-of-color entrepreneurs from seed stage to Series C, concentrating on consumer, technology, and media/entertainment companies; Pivotal Ventures; and Rethink Impact, in which BET cofounder Sheila Johnson is an investor.

For its part, JPMorgan Chase has invested $500,000 in digitalundivided as part of the firm’s $150 million Small Business Forward initiative to invest in businesses owned by minorities, women, and veteran entrepreneurs.

“Women of color are the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs. While some progress has been made, ProjectDiane underscores the economic opportunity left on the table when good ideas and small businesses led by women of color do not get the resources they deserve,” says Janis Bowdler, president of the JPMorgan TNJ Chase Foundation.

Morgan Stanley is proud to sponsor the

The 21st Anniversary of The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business Awards Luncheon Congratulations to TNJ and all of this year’s honorees.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management www.morganstanley.com/wealth

© 2019 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC.

COVER STORY

25 Influential Black 21 years of celebrating Black women

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ision Strategy and Insights, a research and consulting firm that tracks Black and other minority consumers, predicted that 2018 would be the Year of the Black Woman. 2018 turned out to be just that, entrepreneurially, as Salome Kilkenny reports in The State Of Black WomenOwned Businesses on page 14, and, more importantly, politically.

At the beginning of 2018, Black women held just 3.7 percent of state legislative seats, 0.96 percent of statewide elected executive positions, and just five mayorships in the U.S.’ 100 largest cities.

They held fewer than 20 seats in the House of Representatives, and just one Black woman, Kamala Harris (DCA), served in the Senate. Collectively, Black women made up just 3.6 percent of Congress. But by the time the dust settled on last November’s midterm elections — 400 years after the arrival of enslaved Africans on these shores — over 20 women of African descent had been elected to Congress, a first in U.S. history. The sheer number of Black women running for office in 2018 alone was historic, when 468 Black women ran for office. According to the website, Black Women In Politics, that number included 58 federal seats, 180 state

16 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

Women in Business seats, 213 local seats, and 17 not specified. There were 178 in blue states, 290 in red states; 181 incumbents and 287 challengers. A record number were elected at the local and state levels. Fifty years after Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman to serve in Congress, 2018 also proved to be a banner year of firsts, especially for Black women actually elected to public office: The first Black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress; the first woman, and first African American, elected to the position of New York State Attorney General; the first Black District Attorney in Massachusetts; and the first group of Black women, dubbed the “Houston 19,” to win election to judgeships in Harris County, Texas; and the first Somali-American woman to represent Minnesota in Congress.

At The Network Journal, every year is the Year of the Black Woman, as we honor 25 Influential Black Women in Business during Women’s History Month in March. We also, have our very own “first” this year. At 36, honoree Eboné Carrington in 2016 became the youngest-ever CEO of Harlem Hospital in the New York City public health system, the largest hospital in Central Harlem. With great pride, we salute her and her sister honorees in the 2019 class of Influential Black TNJ Women in Business.

— Rosalind McLymont, executive editor, TNJ Profiles by Rosalind McLymont and Senior Editor Sergie Willoughby

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 17

COVER STORY ROSIE ALLEN-HERRING President, Chief Executive Officer United Way of the National Capital Area Washington, D.C. osie Allen-Herring aspires to be a philanthropist whose giving truly transforms the lives of others.

Once responsible for the investments and business resources of a trillion-dollar corporation, and now doing business on a donor level as president and CEO of United Way of the National Capital Area, Allen-Herring derives tremendous satisfaction from inspiring “the average everyday citizen” to feel that he, or she, can make society better. “There’s something transformational about that,” she insists. “When we think of philanthropy, we usually think of the very wealthy benefactor who controls whether someone gets an opportunity, and that shouldn’t be in the hands of a few wealthy donors. Care for this country shouldn’t be the responsibility of one group; it must come from a collective effort. We have an obligation to

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engage each other across the spectrum and affect change.”

Allen-Herring is a board member of MedStar Health Inc. and OldLine Bancshares. She is a graduate of Howard University (B.A., economics) and Strayer University (M.B.A., finance), and was an international fellow of the United States-Southern Africa Centers for Leadership and Public Values, a partnership between the University of Cape Town and Duke University. She learned from her mother’s example to her and her nine siblings that life is worth living only if you’re serving someone else. “It’s how I formed my servant-leader philosophy,” she recalls.

The opportunity to be a servant-leader came professionally when Allen-Herring joined Fannie Mae and eventually led corporate philanthropy nationwide.

Through her work, she was instrumental in helping others to buy a home, or become the first in their family to attend college. “My philosophy has always been to build others,” she states “People get management confused with leadership, but to lead, motivate, and influence others, you have to be willing to serve them.”

EBONÉ M. CARRINGTON Chief Executive Officer NYC Health & Hospitals/Harlem New York, N.Y. boné M. Carrington was chief quality officer at Interfaith Medical Center, a private hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., when a search firm came calling with the position of deputy chief operating officer at Harlem Hospital in New York City’s public health system. “Taking the job meant a significant salary reduction,” Carrington recalls, “and I agonized over the career implications.” Believing in her “gifts,” and that Harlem was “the safety net hospital” where she needed to be, she returned to “this great institution,” where she had interned 14 years earlier; where her father had chaired the Department of Dentistry and her mother had served as director of the Program for Women, Infants, and Children. “I stepped out on faith, and it turned out to be a wise choice,” she recounts.

At the age 36 in 2016, five years after she was recruit-

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ed, Carrington became Harlem Hospital’s youngest-ever CEO, managing more than 2,400 employees and a $440 million budget. “Sometimes following your instincts leads you to where you need to be, even when the entire outcome is unclear,” she states.

She also serves as the hospital’s chief operating officer.

Carrington holds a bachelor’s in business management from Stony Brook University and a master’s in public administration from New York University. She was an Executive Leadership Fellow at The Advisory Board Co., a healthcare best-practices firm. Married to a Stony Brook alum, she is the mother of a three-year-old son and organizes her workday to have dinner with him at home. “I have laser precision, our work must add value — no meeting for the sake of meeting. Our agendas are focused and deliverables clear,” she remarks.

She would love to set up the Black Leadership Academy to inspire children of color with lessons in leadership. She asserts, “Leadership is a modeled behavior. A mirror image speaks volumes.”

VIVIAN SCOTT CHEW Founder & Principal TimeZone International Closter, N.J.

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ivian Scott Chew, founder and principal of TimeZone International, has a reputation as a “pioneer risk-taker.” Launched more than two decades ago, TimeZone is the first and only U.S.-based AfricanAmerican company that provides recording artists with international marketing and promotion, touring, licensing, and distribution services. Its clients include emerging and Grammywinning artists, major corporations, and record labels. “I started a company that didn’t exist. Nobody in the U.S. was looking after artists’ interests abroad,” Chew states.

Chew was the first African-American female membership representative at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). She put that job on the line when she created the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards.

“They were giving awards for the top pop artists, country

KELLEY F. CORNISH Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion TD Bank Group Greenville, S.C. rofessionally, Kelley F. Cornish is the global head of diversity and inclusion (D&I) at TD Bank Group, responsible for leading a team focused on promoting D&I strategy across the organization’s U.S. and Canada offices. Privately, she sees herself as a philanthropist, committed to elevating women by giving her time, talent, and resources to causes devoted to single mothers and women living below their potential. Her inspiration? Her mother. “My father was present, but not part of my everyday growing up. The brunt of family leadership was on my mom, and she carried that torch effortlessly,” she explains. Cornish herself never wanted to be a single mother, but she ended up being as one for 10 years.

“Raising African-American boys in the suburbs wasn’t easy; there were a lot of tradeoffs. But instead of being a

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artists, and British artists, but not to ‘us.’

They told me I would lose my job if I went to the Board of Directors,” she recalls. “That year, Lionel Ritchie, Stevie Wonder, and Quincy Jones were the top-three pop songwriters and nobody was celebrating them.” Her case was irrefutable. This year, the awards will celebrate its 32nd anniversary.

Chew attended Georgetown University. Entertainment attorney Louise West helped to propel her career.

“She was my first employer in the music business and the first person to take a shot on me,” Chew remarks. “She’s still the person I call on when I need that support.” Chew and her husband, music director and producer Ray Chew, own Chew Entertainment, an event production company whose clients include Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater, Sony Music, The Jackie Robinson Foundation, BET Networks, and The National Urban League. The couple also established The Power2Inspire Foundation and RVMK recording studio to identify and nurture new talent.

Amazingly, she finds time for herself. “I go to the water.

I’m a global girl who loves a beach,” she says.

victim of that circumstance, I navigated through it,” she says.

She is involved with various organizations to help others, such as the United Negro College Fund, and is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the Woman of Excellence Award for Business & Industry from the Girl Scouts of Augusta, Ga. She is most proud, however, of her 2017 Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Award from Pierce College in Philadelphia. “This award was significant because it captured and culminated with the D&I work I tried so hard to integrate into the Philadelphia workplace and marketplace,” she notes.

Cornish graduated from the University of South Carolina-Aiken with a bachelor’s in business administration, and from Webster University with a master’s in human resource management. She did not set out to gain recognition for her work, she remarks, but only wanted to open doors for the next generation. “However,” she concedes, “it is heartfelt to be noticed in the community for being part of the change we all strive to see.” www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 19

COVER STORY of her career. “When we open ourselves to opportunities, we learn to not be afraid of taking risks. It doesn’t mean you’re not being thoughtful. It means you’re not letting fear dominate your career journey,” she asserts.

Steele Flippin took risks and applied her expertise in the nonprofit, consulting, and for-profit sectors. Today she is the executive vice president and chief communications officer at First Horizon National Corporation, one of the country’s oldest banks.

She holds a doctorate in management from Case Western Reserve University, an M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, a B.A. in art history from the University of Michigan, and accreditation in public relations. A research fellow at Case Western Reserve, she writes extensively on the different generations in the workplace because “every generation has something to offer.”

Steele Flippin is a member of the Arthur Page Society and The Links Inc., a board director for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Memphis River Parks Partnership, and aspires to travel the world with her family.

CANDACE STEELE FLIPPIN, D.M. Candace Steele Flippin, D.M. Executive Vice President, Chief Communications Officer First Horizon National Corporation Memphis, Tenn.

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n her 20s, Candace Steele Flippin was asked to represent her local American Red Cross at a shooting at a post office. “I remember thinking, ‘people are shooting and you want me to go there? I was taught to run away from shootings’,” she recounts. She showed up, terrified, but her fear quickly subsided as individuals approached her for solace. “The American Red Cross has excellent disaster training. I leaned into that. I just had to do what I was there to do,” she says. She returns to that experience when challenges arise today. “I stay calm, think about my purpose, and work to make difficult situations productive.”

She learned another valuable lesson later, when an event speaker counseled her to be “open to opportunities and see where life takes you,” rather than meticulously plan each step

engineering school questioned her plans to apply to “highly competitive” business schools. “These are a couple of examples in my early education where individuals in positions of power to encourage did just the opposite,” Lounds Foster says. “Those experiences have served as motivators to be my best self professionally and prove the naysayers wrong.”

Her parents, she says, are responsible for her drive to attain a solid education, practice patience, have faith in God, and recognize the importance of taking time to recharge.

Her father taught her and her brothers to work with their hands, and the family subsequently built their own home — on five acres, albeit over seven years. “We all had a hand in it,” Lounds Foster remembers.

While she hopes to one day create a foundation that supports aging populations, she currently finds fulfillment mentoring students and others, helping them to unlock their potential. “We all have experiences which shape who we are,” she states. “I am privileged to have an opportunity to counsel people as they make choices in life, education, and career.”

KIMBERLY LOUNDS FOSTER Corporate Vice President Global Supply Celgene Corporation Summit, N.J. ince earning a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. in marketing from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Kimberly Lounds Foster has enjoyed a career at top pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including Merck & Co. and Novartis. She currently is corporate vice president of global supply at Celgene Corp., a role in which she oversees the company’s global manufacturing and supply network that brings potentially life-prolonging therapies to cancer patients who had previously run out of options.

Many underestimated her resolve, which made her even more determined to succeed. Her high school counselor questioned her desire to attend Northwestern. “I doubt you’ll get in as it’s a highly selective school,” she recalls the counselor saying. Similarly, a professor at Northwestern’s

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20 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

The Urban League The National National Urban League Congratulates Congratulates

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COVER STORY minority business enterprise (MBE), one of very few MBE securities litigation firms at the time.

A staunch advocate of education, Grannum has built a reputation as an expert in FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) arbitrations, even lecturing and writing on the subject.

Despite the demands of her career, she helped establish The Buttermilk Club, a networking group for financial services attorneys and compliance officers of color with a mission to “mentor, sponsor, and advocate for the recruitment, retention, and advancement of people of color in the securities industry.” Over 15 years, the group’s membership grew to 160 professionals from its initial four.

Grannum is proud of her many achievements, but confesses that she is especially proud of her children, both of whom just obtained a master’s degree.

“Both are as generous as they are brilliant, supporting and participating in their father’s medical missions to Haiti in their free time, and concerned with the plight of their fellow man,” she says. “I would admire them even if they were not mine.”

SANDRA DAWN GRANNUM, ESQ. Managing Partner Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Florham Park, N.J. andra Dawn Grannum’s career came full circle this year when she received the Kay Crawford Murray Memorial award, which honors women with distinguished legal careers who, as rising stars in the profession, value diversity and mentor women attorneys.

Currently managing partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP, Grannum once joined a former supervisor from PaineWebber & Co. as a partner at a boutique firm he founded. “He believed adding my name to the shingle would increase our marketability,” she recalls.

The firm, Davidson & Grannum, remained in business for 12 years. There, Grannum learned how to run a business profitably, a skill she had not acquired while obtaining a law degree at Harvard Law School. She became the Davidson & Grannum managing partner/majority shareholder, and registered the firm as a

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RENAE GRIFFIN Executive Director, Strategy and Corporate Development GCM Grosvenor Chicago t just 13 years old, Renae Griffin followed in her parents’ footsteps and became a business owner. She began with custom jewelry and clothing, moved on to women’s designer fashions and accessories, and in 2001 founded RG + Associates, a consultancy she ran for 17 years. “Entrepreneurship was embedded in our family,” she says.

At RG+A, she developed one of the first educational and networking conferences to facilitate business relationships between institutional investors and minority and women asset managers. She sold the conference series to GCM Grosvenor last year, but stayed on to expand their emerging, diverse manager platform. “A dream realized,” she confesses. “My goal was always to build and sell my business to further leverage my network and work in the diverse manager space.”

Griffin’s work connecting investors with women- and

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minority-owned investment firms earned her the Pacesetter Award from the National Association of Investment Companies, and the Entrepreneur Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Oakland/Bay Area. A graduate of the University of San Francisco (B.Sc., economics), she holds Series 63 and Series 7 Securities licenses, and memberships in the National Association of Securities Professionals and the Real Estate Executive Council. As an executive director of corporate and strategic development teams at GCM, she is charged with leveraging the brand and maintaining a strong pipeline of minority management talent. Although Griffin does not own the company, she has a lead role in the consortium piece she founded years ago. She truly appreciates the “entrepreneurial environment” that GCM offers. “Currently, I’m helping to create an educational program that will better serve small and institutional investors,” she says.

When asked for success advice, the longtime business strategist suggests, “Build internal relationships rather than just focusing on external ones. It’s the best way to get the most from your teams.”

BARBARA KUSHNER President & CEO Armand Corporation New York, N.Y. arbara Kushner’s first day on a construction site was love at first sight. She was an intern at Bechtel Corporation, assigned to work on a three-unit nuclear power plant. “I was completely struck by everything, from the people to the equipment to the methods of construction to the logistics. It was a done deal,” she declares.

That day proved life changing indeed.

Today, Kushner is the founder, president, and CEO of award-winning Armand Corporation, a construction management and program management firm. “I enjoy making things easier for clients, and showing them that their project means everything to me and to my company,” she states. Those clients include some of the largest municipal agencies in the country, such as New York City’s Economic Development Corporation.

One particularly meaningful project required her to fin-

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ish the work on a school for it to open on time, even though she was hired in the middle of the project. “I had very few records from the original construction manager, and very little time to recreate systems and processes,” she recalls. She succeeded, however, and the school opened on schedule.

“Teachers, parents, politicians, and superintendents were so appreciative. I was there until midnight the night before, arranging and dusting off those little desks. It was stressful. I gained a few new gray hairs!” she recounts.

Another career highlight was Armand’s contract to provide services and design for a complex data acquisition system for the U.S. Navy and Marines.

Kushner, who holds a bachelor’s in mathematics from Thomas Edison State University, has guided the firm’s recent growth in the disaster recovery market. “Our work first minimizes and manages risk and then provides resiliency and reconstruction,” she explains.

Kushner advises others in construction to learn from the trades. “They are the experts. Make them your friends in knowledge,” she counsels.

and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey.

She explains, “When all the contestants came together, I would try to figure out who would be the winner. My goal was to be a better contestant than that individual. I implemented this process and was crowned Miss Black Teenage World of Connecticut.” At the nationals, the person she identified was named the fourth runner-up. “As the third runner-up I achieved my goal. However, the second and first runners-up and winner were not in my group when I implemented my success strategy.

Therefore, I learned to set my goal to be the best and then go for it! You will always succeed no matter who is or isn’t in the room,” she advises.

Monroe Harris obtained a bachelor’s in medical technology from Simmons College, working full time; an M.B.A. from Rutgers University; and a master’s of divinity and doctorate of ministry from New York Theological Seminary.

Her big dreams include helping to transform girls into articulate, powerful yet compassionate women, and visit the world’s exquisite beaches.

MARILYN MONROE HARRIS, D. MIN. Vice President, Community Relations Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey Newark, N.J. arilyn Monroe Harris grew up in a predominantly white Connecticut community, where people always compared her with the late white movie actress with the same name.

“Of course, I looked nothing like her,” Monroe Harris recalls. She developed a negative image of herself. As a result, her mother stepped in. “She instilled in me that I was beautiful and could and would do great things; that beauty is not how we look on the outside, but who we are in our soul,” Monroe Harris attests.

Monroe Harris subsequently competed in the Connecticut and national Miss Black Teenage World pageants, winning the state title. She applies the lesson she learned from those experiences to this day as vice president of community relations at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center

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COVER STORY LYNN K. LAW Vice President, Partnerships & Advancement National Urban League New York, N.Y.

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he biblical declaration, “To whom much is given, much is expected,” served Lynn K. Law well as she climbed the nonprofit ladder, becoming vice president of partnerships and advancement at the National Urban League today. The 30-year nonprofit veteran’s legendary money-raising savvy has helped such organizations as Girl Scouts of the U.S.A and the United Negro College Fund to meet, if not exceed, their annual fundraising goals.

Previously, as director of corporate relations at the New York Public Library, she secured $1.6 million annually for the institution. In 2013, she was acknowledged as a woman of industry, power and influence upon her induction into the YWCA’s Academy of Women Leaders.

At the Urban League, Law secures the engagement of Fortune 100 and 500 companies around the organization’s

ANGELA B. LEE Vice President Talent Development Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. Chicago, Ill. he opportunity to advance her career compelled Angela B. Lee to enter the human resources field more than 20 years ago. What she considers the most valuable part of any organization — its people — kept her there. “Really understanding what motivates individuals to go above and beyond is something that has always intrigued me,” she states. “And when you think about businesses that fail, it’s usually because they don’t know how to harness the talent most effectively.”

As vice president of talent development at Hill-Rom Holdings Inc., a global medical technology company, Lee makes sure to put the emphasis on the company’s employees.

She received Hill-Rom’s 2018 Innovation Award for that emphasis. With a team of just four people, she designed a “conscious inclusion” workshop, created in-house compli-

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programs and services, including diversity, corporate sponsorship and programmatic support. “Whenever I can find alignment between the National Urban League’s mission and the philanthropic goals, of the company, I seek to create a winning partnership.” she remarks. In the philanthropic aspect of her work, she most enjoys helping people in the community. “Whether helping someone buy a home, go to college, create a budget, or get health care, my work impacts lives,” she admits, “even though I will never meet all of the people I helped.”

Law remains grateful to the first executive director of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, who offered her that position during her senior year at the University of Vermont, where she earned a degree in education. It was her first experience in fundraising and interfacing with corporate executives. Law also has management certificates from Harvard University and Georgetown University. She is a member of the Greater New York Chapter of The Links, Inc. With the time and money, she confesses, she would live in South Africa, Italy, and Spain, 12 months at a time in each country.

ance training, and launched Hill-Rom’s first podcast that focuses on getting employees to appreciate the critical role they play in owning their own path within the organization. “That award is usually awarded to engineers and marketers but this year, my work in the talent development space was recognized,” Lee says.

Lee earned a bachelor of applied science degree in business management and economics from SUNY (State University of New York) Empire State College. Her innovative work dates back to her early days at medical device manufacturer Welch Allyn Inc., where she was a talent acquisition specialist. There, she launched Inside Track, an initiative for employees on the manufacturing floor who sought office-level positions.

“It was an opportunity for them to gain the practical experience while earning the education necessary for the positions they wanted. Inside Track became a part of the fabric at Welch Allyn, so it was pretty cool,” she notes with pride.

Lee confesses that the secret entrepreneur in her plans to encourage and support young, would-be entrepreneurs when she retires.

Congratulations Rosie Allen-Herring For being named as one of the 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal.

Rosie Allen-Herring, President & CEO of United Way of the National Capital Area is recognized as a thought leader who demonstrates the ability to convene public-private entities, to create collective impact in communities across the region and beyond.

From your colleagues at United Way of the National Capital Area WWW.UNITEDWAYNCA.ORG

www.tnj.com â&#x20AC;˘ Spring 2019 â&#x20AC;˘ The Network Journal 25

COVER STORY potential to be extraordinary.”

Lee was brought into FINRA to start the D&I program. “I’m the luckiest girl alive. To be able to make sure people of color and women and, frankly, everyone, has an equal opportunity to succeed has been the most amazing gift and an awesome responsibility,” she declares.

A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Lee has a B.A. from the University of South Carolina, an M.A. in organizational management from the University of Phoenix, and FINRA Excellence in Management certification from the Wharton Executive Education School at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds fast to her grandmother’s teaching that “you have to wake up every day and decide to be happy,” and to the advice of author Jennifer Lee: “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.”

“I do what I do because it sets my soul on fire,” Lee states. “Let your purpose help you to push through difficult moments so that you can achieve your goals, pursue what you’re most passionate about, and become a master of your craft.”

AUDRIA PENDERGRASS LEE Audria Pendergrass Lee Head of Diversity and Inclusion Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Rockville, Md.

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udria Pendergrass Lee is the daughter, granddaughter, sister, and wife of military service members. She, too, served, spending eight years in the U.S. Army Reserves as a paralegal. Now, as head of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Lee affirms the impact of her family’s military history, including her own service, on her life.

“There are so many ways the military has influenced my outlook, and my passion for the work I do in D&I,” she maintains. “The experience provided me with the framework for my disciplined approach to problem solving and exposure to people from all walks of life who, in spite of their circumstances, were given the opportunity to excel. This taught me that everyone has the

ANITRA C. MARSH Global Associate Director, Brand Communications and Sustainability, Skin and Personal Care Procter & Gamble Cincinnati, Ohio

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y the time Anitra C. Marsh entered Hampton University, she had decided on a career in communications. “I have loved the art and science of communications since I was 10 years old,” she admits. Through her grandfather’s friendship with the editor of the local newspaper, she had the opportunity to observe the news operation, including shadowing reporters and sitting in on editorial meetings. Others, especially some in her family, tried to dissuade her from a communications career. “I was told to get a ‘real’ major because communications jobs don’t make money,” she recalls. She graduated from Hampton, magna cum laude, with a bachelor’s in mass media arts. “I studied what I love, I now do what I love; and guess what? I make money doing what I love.”

26 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

Marsh is the global associate director of brand communications and sustainability for Procter & Gamble’s Skin and Personal Care business, which incudes such brands as Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, and Secret. She works with a team to improve the environmental and community impact of P&G brands, leads diversity efforts for communications, and participates in the leadership of the company’s African Ancestry affinity group. Hailed as a top woman in public relations, she serves on the board of The LAGRANT Foundation (TLF) to help increase the presence of multicultural talent in advertising, marketing, and PR. Marsh tries to make time for other passions. “I just started a foodie Instagram account, @anitras_kitchen, and am having a blast sharing my dishes with the masses,” she reveals. She wishes she had more time to devote to her “life mission to connect people, break down barriers, and bring happiness to the world,” and to publishing a book. “My day job keeps me busy right now so there is not much time for creative writing, but it is a passion of mine,” she confesses.

“Audria’s leadership in our diversity and inclusion efforts embodies our core values and commitment to helping our employees reach their highest potential—which, in turn, helps FINRA fulfill its mission of investor protection and market integrity.”

– Robert W. Cook President and CEO, FINRA

FINRA salutes the recipients of The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business Award and Audria Pendergrass Lee, FINRA’s Director of HR Diversity and Worklife.

www.finra.org © 2019. FINRA. All rights reserved.

COVER STORY ROBIN NUNN, ESQ. Partner; Chair, Consumer Financial Services Practice Dechert LLP Washington, D.C.

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obin Nunn never gave up on her dream of becoming a lawyer. Her work between college and law school invigorated her passion to practice law. “I went to law school after working in rural Tanzania and witnessing a developing nation for the first time.

This experience became a catalyst for me. Drawn by the extreme poverty of the region, I helped community leaders fight social injustice and promote rights, an experience that has greatly prepared me for legal practice,” she explains.

Now a partner at Dechert LLP, where she leads the consumer finance litigation practice, Nunn continues to place an emphasis on pro bono representation and mentoring lawyers.

She stays true to her family’s example by seeking opportunities to promote the social good, and to her parents’ advice that “people are the only thing that matters.”

KAREN L. PAVLIN Managing Director, Financial Services Accenture New York, N.Y. aren L. Pavlin is one of many who contends that sports does wonders for female athletes later in their life. “As a collegiate All-American and member of the USA Track & Field, I feel that being a female athlete competing at the highest level gave me six key instrumental dimensions: confidence, unwavering focus, passion, leadership, resilience, and team-building skills,” she says. These dimensions translated into a successful career in business that was best demonstrated during her 20-year tenure with Xerox Business Services at Xerox Corp., where she held several leadership positions in sales, corporate strategy, and global account management. Her exemplary work led to her being named a key global leader for Xerox’s World-wide Alliances and Women in Tech Initiative.

Pavlin later drew on her confidence dimension to shift her

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28 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

Nunn earned a B.A. at Dartmouth College, along with public service experience as community service chair of the school’s Afro-American Society and its Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority chapter.

She graduated from The University of Chicago Law School with both a Juris Doctor and a Public Interest Student of the Year Award, after which she clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for the Honorable Barrington Parker, Jr. Nunn has received numerous industry accolades for her work in diversity and pro bono representation. They include the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Rising Star award; placement on the D.C. Access to Justice Commission’s Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll; the National Bar Association’s Outstanding Partner in a Firm finalist award; and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellowship. As a result of her family’s advice, she devotes a huge amount of time to asking herself, “Am I doing enough?”

This drives not only how she thinks about and mentors people, but also how she forms business strategies and makes critical decisions.

career to Accenture, the global management consulting and professional services firm, where she now serves as managing director in financial services.

She was featured in the column, “How to Redraw the Boundaries of your Comfort Zone,” a Forbes magazine Q&A series with successful female executives and entrepreneurs. “I talked about how I was able to reinvent myself in the world of “New IT,” digital, innovation, and business transformation at Accenture,” she recalls Pavlin earned both a bachelor’s in marketing communications and a master’s in marketing and business management at the University of Virginia. She has added diversity and inclusion to her responsibilities at Accenture as a member of the firm’s Inclusion & Diversity Committee. Her personal commitment to improving lives in underserved communities led to a 15-year board membership at iMentor, a nonprofit devoted to helping first-generation college students to graduate and embrace their career aspirations. Her dream is to establish a nonprofit that offers scholarships to women and girls interested in pursuing careers in STEM.

the NYC Health + Hospital/Kings County Family joins

7KH 1HWZRUN -RXUQDO·V ,QIOXHQWLDO Black Women in Business Awards 2019 to Congratulate Our Illustrious Colleague

Eboné M. Carrington, 03$ Chief Executive Officer, NYC Health + Hospitals/ Harlem

In recognition of her outstanding contributions to healthcare in our community Our best wishes also to all honorees for their achievements and service

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www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 29

COVER STORY REBECCA E. POWELL Financial Advisor, Sr. Vice President, Wealth Management Morgan Stanley Florham Park, N.J. hen she obtained a bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University, Rebecca E. Powell became the first in her family to graduate from college and a role model for her six siblings, all of whom went on to graduate from college as well. For this, Powell credits her grandmother, who, despite a thirdgrade education, stressed the importance of education while tempering Powell’s “tumultuous” years as a new immigrant from Jamaica. “It’s important to have role models with strong values in the home. I would not be the person I am today had I not had that foundation,” Powell affirms. “When your confidence is built at a young age, it carries you through difficult times in your life.”

Powell is fortunate to have support from her managers, who pushed her out of her comfort zone and challenged her

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RAHQUEL PURCELL Rahquel Purcell SVP, Head of Supply Chain Americas L’Oréal Americas Clark N.J.

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ahquel Purcell joined L’Oréal to transform its $10 billion Americas supply chain operations, armed with more than two decades of executive experience in purchasing and supply chain operations at Procter & Gamble (P&G), and an abundance of passion. “To convince leadership that fundamental, disruptive changes to our business were necessary to drive a step change in results, you need to demonstrate equal parts passion and know-how,” she asserts.

As senior vice president, head of Supply Chain Americas at L’Oréal, Purcell draws heavily from her tenure at P&G, including her 3.5 years on assignment in Geneva, Switzerland, as the first African-American executive in Purchases to take an international assignment and lead a business unit outside of the U.S.

30 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

to stretch beyond her perceived capabilities; her husband, who encouraged her to take risks; and her circle of “life sisters” who supported her through triumph and tribulations. Today, she is a certified financial planner, senior vice president, and financial advisor at Morgan Stanley, where she provides tailored investment advice to corporate executives, high-net-worth families, and entrepreneurs so that they can face their financial future with anticipation rather than apprehension. “One of the things I love about what I do is working with clients and helping them find solutions that help them achieve their desired goals. It’s hugely rewarding.”

As someone who benefitted from mentors at different points in her career, Powell considers it her responsibility to educate and mentor young women. She serves on Morgan Stanley’s National Diversity & Inclusion Council and is a founding member of The Central New Jersey Complex Diversity and Inclusion Council, whose goal is to make a difference in the local markets by working with and supporting organizations advancing diverse talent.

“I had responsibility for Western and Eastern Europe, as well as the Middle East and Africa, stretching me to immerse in diverse cultures, languages, and business norms,” Purcell recounts.

Her love of sports taught her the value of teamwork and competition, which she applies to her work every day. “I am a strategist at heart, appreciating the importance of having a bold vision to take the right short-term steps and a nurturer of talent, working hard to help people achieve their personal best. I am a change agent by trade, in pursuit of innovative ideas and personal continuous improvement,” she states.

Purcell has a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and graduated from honorary business programs at MIT, Harvard, and the CEDEP Business School in Paris. A woman of faith and a proud mother of two children, she credits her husband of 22 years as her “secret weapon and in-house coach.” She adds, “I come from good stock. My father raised me to think, not act, like a man….

My mother is a quiet force.”

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COVER STORY TATIANA ROC Vice President, Supervisor Enablement National Grid Watham, Mass. atiana Roc’s high school dream of a stadium with her name may have yet to come true, but it launched her 20-year career in the construction and utility industry, where she builds homes and luxury apartments as a construction project manager in downtown Boston and works with such notable clients as EMC. “I don’t know where the dream came from, but I thought a stadium would be a cool thing to have,” she states. “I started in the business with that in mind and it morphed into my desire to learn everything I could about the industry.”

Today, as vice president of supervisor enablement at National Grid, Roc oversees a special project that grew out of the company’s realization that field supervisors were spending more time in the office than coaching and counseling

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PAULINE W. SAUNDERS Managing Director, Consumer & Community Banking; Business Control Manager, Consumer Banking JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Dallas, Texas

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auline W. Saunders began her career as a bank consultant, fresh out of Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s in business administration. Financial services was a natural fit: her mother was a banker; her father owned an insurance company.

“Finance was in my blood. I was always around it,” she says. Five years later, she was offered a position at JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., which had just merged with Bank One. “I knew the organization, I knew the institution, and I was passionate about financial services across the board,” recalls Saunders, now a managing director in Consumer & Community Banking and the business control manager of Consumer Banking.

Her passion for finance is personal. “Born in Kenya, I 32 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

workers in the field. With her keen understanding of a supervisor’s role, customer needs, and field logistics, she has helped to affect and expand the area of concern, from getting supervisors into the field to helping employees do a better job while changing the customers’ experience. “Supervisors are a primary touch point to all of our customers.

They are a critical component of our business,” she says.

A graduate of Wentworth Institute of Technology with a B.S., summa cum laude, in project management, Roc learned the essentials of process improvement under Villanova University’s Business Process Management Program, an online certificate-training course.

She almost did not complete college, leaving midway through her studies to work full-time. She credits her partner of many years with getting her back to college. “He set me on my path again,” she recalls. “I have not looked back since.”

Roc one day hopes to set others on their path, inner-city children in particular, by opening a dance school to expose them to the arts.

came to the U.S. for college. Financial literacy is something that goes back to watching my mom and dad and remembering how we all had to support each other. It was a huge thing,” she says. “I often lecture loved ones about their savings and their budgets! It’s really about awareness.”

Saunders prides herself in being intuitive about JPMorgan’s “blind spots.”

“We have a phenomenal management team that’s always doing the right thing, being strategic and thinking about the customer. In that regard, they hit the nail on the head every time. But I try to anticipate what we can’t see coming to avoid getting hit by something we weren’t aware of,” she explains.

Saunders has an M.B.A. from Franklin University. She is a member of several business resource groups, and is a mentor with The Fellowship Initiative (TFI). The mother of two boys, she advocates for the advancement of youth of color, especially males. “With TFI, we help young men navigate high school and gain admission to college,” she offers.

“A five-digit zip code should not determine whether someone gets an opportunity.”

MetroPlus salutes

our esteemed colleague, Ebone Carrington CEO of NYC Health + hospitals | Harlem

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www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 33

COVER STORY K. LYNN SCOTT President, Professional Employer Organization Aetna Inc., A CVS Health Company Tampa, Fla.

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sk K. Lynn Scott what she would most like people to know about her, and she would state that she strives to achieve her personal best every day; she is passionate about helping young women to achieve their personal best; and she is a firm believer in the therapeutic effects of pets on the physical and emotional well-being of humans. “I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to breed puppies used as service animals and to train a therapy dog, which has been extremely rewarding,” she says. “If time and money were no object, I would love to train therapy dogs for wounded veterans.”

Scott is president of Aetna’s Professional Employer Organization (PEO) business, which leverages its relationships with PEOs to deliver health benefit solutions for small employers. PEOs provide small businesses with such services

SHARI SLATE Vice President, Chief Inclusion and Collaboration Officer Cisco San Jose, Calif. here is no such thing as a typical day for Shari Slate, vice president and chief inclusion and collaboration officer at Cisco. She explains, “My days can range from responding to events unfolding in the communities we serve, such as social justice and human rights events and natural disasters, to working with our executive leadership team to ensure Cisco fosters a diverse workforce and inclusive environment, to mobilizing our employees to volunteer and give back to our communities, to thinking forward with our customers and my peers on the implications of emerging technologies and how they will affect fairness and equity in the workplace.”

Slate attributes her success to her family. “I am extremely fortunate that my family paved a path for me to leverage my

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34 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

as payroll processing and workplace insurance coverage. Scott joined Aetna in 2007 as head of marketing strategy in the Public and Labor Segment of the company’s National Businesses. She brought to this function her experience as director of strategy for a $2 billion print advertising and marketing services company, principal consultant for strategic change solutions for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the experience of various insurance-related roles at Marsh & McClennan Companies and the firm now known as The Travelers Companies.

Three men helped to shape her professional ethics, she says: her father, Leonard Scott; Charles A. Ferguson Jr., former vice president of Marsh & McClennan; and her late uncle, James P. Scott, one of the first Black police lieutenants in the City of East Orange, N.J. Scott has a bachelor’s in French/humanities from Providence College, R.I., and a master’s in business administration from Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

She has served on the Washington, D.C., Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and as a member of the Greater Hartford YWCA.

dimensions of diversity as strengths. I am the first generation on my father’s side born in the U.S. I am the fourth-generation African-American woman on my mother’s side to go to college. I have lived, worked, and studied internationally. My career has spanned four different industries. I am married with two children. The intersection of these dimensions has created enormous opportunity and possibility in my life.”

A graduate of Mills College, Slate is a respected and highly regarded leader in diversity and inclusion. She was honored with a Catalyst Award from the Information Technology Senior Management Forum earlier this year, was named a 2018 Top Executive in Corporate Diversity by Black Enterprise, and was named one of the 2016 Top Influential Women in Corporate America

by Savoy Magazine.

Slate said she wakes up every day in service of creating opportunity and possibility for people across the full spectrum of diversity. “The work I have the privilege of doing is about creating inclusive environments, where all people are welcome and can thrive.”

COVER STORY Cannes Lion stage to accept an award,” she acknowledges.

It all stemmed from a decision to embark on a journey to discover her true purpose when she was on a fast track up the corporate ladder at IBM, Jackson Warner recounts. Within three years of her decision, she realized that she based her career on outside variables, such as family and societal expectations and earning potential. “At IBM, I did not think about where I was gifted,” she states. “But after discovering my internal gifts of creativity, project management, and a love of multicultural consumers and communities, I launched EGAMI. It became a vehicle to express my passion points.”

A graduate of Alabama A&M University and the University of St. Thomas in Texas, Jackson Warner credits business mogul Russell Simmons for her first opportunity to work on a marketing campaign that would drive positive impact in multicultural communities. She is the author of Profit with Purpose: A Marketer’s Guide to Delivering Purpose-Driven Campaigns to Multicultural Audiences.

TENESHIA JACKSON WARNER CEO EGAMI Group New York, N.Y.

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2018 episode of ABC’s television hit series, “Black-ish,” was built around an award-winning advertising campaign called “The Talk,” which Teneshia Jackson Warner and her team at EGAMI Group worked on with Procter & Gamble. “It was a big campaign that shined a light on racial bias and how Black parents prepare their kids for their first encounter with racial discrimination, with the idea that we all need to talk about “the talk” to end “the talk,”” she says. EGAMI (“Image” spelled backwards) made history with its win of a Cannes Lions Grand Prix award — the equivalent of the Oscars for the advertising industry. “Not only did it win a ton of awards and become the most awarded campaign in P&G history, but I became the first African-American woman to walk across the

FAWN WEAVER Co-founder, CEO Uncle Nearest Inc. Nashville, Tenn.

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sk Fawn Weaver what she would like to do most if she had the time and money and she will answer, “I’m already doing it.”

Weaver is a co-founder and CEO of Uncle Nearest Inc., maker of an awardwinning premium whiskey named after Nathan “Nearest” Green, a former enslaved man on record as the first African-American master distiller. As the first master distiller for Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Uncle Nearest, as family members called him, used his own process to develop one of the country’s most recognizable whiskey brands, Weaver recounts. “We are the very first of any major spirits brand to commemorate an African-American in history,” she states.

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey now is one of the fastestgrowing independent brands in American history, with a pres36 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

ence across the U.S. and in the U.K., South Africa, and many other countries.

“We’re branching out quite a bit,” Weaver says.

She established the Nearest Green Foundation to honor Green. Of its current 12 projects, her favorite is the Nearest Green Legacy Scholarship awarded to all direct descendants of Green attending college. “The needs of others fuel me, not financial success,” Weaver asserts. “But I am able to use the latter to invest in the first.”

A serial entrepreneur, Weaver started her first business straight out of high school and never looked back, even for post-secondary education. She is a TED speaker; investor in real estate, tech, and lifestyle brands; and a USA Today and New York Times best-selling author. She is the first African-American to grace the cover of any Paragraph Publishing magazine, including Whisky Magazine and American Whiskey Magazine. “The most challenging thing about being an entrepreneur is the buck stops with you. You are the final line.

Every day has its highs and its lows. Keeping that balance can be interesting. But I love it.”

COVER STORY “I’ve been on every rung of the nursing hierarchy: as a staff nurse, head nurse, and nurse supervisor,” she notes. “I’ve also seen a lot, from discrepancies to discrimination, and I’ve always been determined to do it better.”

A registered nurse with bachelors’ in professional arts and nursing from Wilmington College and a master’s in healthcare administration from West Chester University, Winston is pursuing a doctorate in nursing practice at George Washington University. She participates in nursing-related organizations, such as the National Association of Health Services Executives, as well as nursingrelated committees and panel discussions.

She reflects on how far she has come since her junior high school guidance counselor told her that she would never get into college and suggested she take business courses and get a job. “I continued my education, became a nurse, raised my children and, years later, talked on a panel at the University of Delaware about what nurses need in the workforce,” she asserts. “I saw his comments as a challenge, and everything turned out okay.”

PATRICIA A. WINSTON, R.N. Senior Vice President, Managing Director University Hospital of Brooklyn

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rowing up, Patricia A. Winston found a role model in her mother, a nurse who cared for each of her three daughters “in the way that we each uniquely needed to be cared for,” and took the same caring to work. “My mother loved being a nurse. Even when she retired, she worked in a nursing home,” Winston remarks.

Recently named Senior Vice President, Managing Director at University Hospital of Brooklyn after serving as vice president, chief administrative officer and chief operating officer, Winston is certain that she, too, chose the right profession. “I got from my mother that taking care of others meant you cared,” she affirms.

“People trust nurses; it’s our responsibility to meet and exceed their expectations. It’s about having a kind spirit and connecting with patients.” Winston has much practice in this regard.

38 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

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FEATURE

Top Black Doctors Drs. Bishara Wilson and Danett Bean, acupuncturists

By Nadine Matthews

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ishara Wilson and Danett Bean met at Brooklyn’s Dance Africa festival on a spring day 15 years ago. “I just heard this voice saying, ‘We do acupuncture, we do massage!’ I looked around and there was Bishara,” Dr. Bean recalls. Dr. Wilson finishes, “Now here we are, married and with a child.”

The couple possesses the youthfulness, calm, and vitality of those strongly committed to ensuring their good health. In private practice since 2003, Drs. Wilson and Bean each carry a personality that is a fascinating combination of warmth, curiosity, and grit. One of the perks of working in such close proximity, they agree, is “being able to quickly bounce ideas off each other.”

Both practice Traditional East Asian Medicine, as the library of titles in Mandarin in Dr. Wilson’s welcoming Brooklyn, N.Y., off ice indicates. A doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine (DACM), New York State licensed acupuncturist (L.Ac.), and nationally board certified in oriental medicine and Chinese herbology (NCCAOM), Dr. Wilson runs New York Sports Acupuncture (www.newyorksportsacupuncture.com) in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, offering electrical stimulation, acupuncture, heat therapy, Tui Na massage, cupping, nutritional supplements, and lifestyle counseling.

Dr. Bean, a doctor of acupuncture and Asian medicine (DAAM) and New York State licensed acupuncturist, with certifications in Chinese herbology, Eastern nutrition and Earth Qi Gong for women, runs an eponymous practice (www.drdanettbean.com) a few miles away in Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant.

The author of A Taste of Our Own Medicine: 3 Vital Keys to Ending Postnatal Depletion, Nurturing Mothers, and Improving Our Communities, she specializes in obstet-

Drs. Danett Bean (l.) and Bishara Wilson (r.)

ric and gynecological issues, including those dealing with menstrual, menopause, and postnatal care. The focal point of her practice is acupuncture and herbs to help with women’s health. She also offers Qi Gong tailored for reproductive health, aromatherapy, and vaginal steaming.

Both she and Dr. Wilson also offer nutritional counseling. “I will also send women to someone who cooks nutritious meals if they don’t cook or purchase nutritious food,” she notes.

Dr. Wilson launched a Qi Gong meditation practice while earning a bachelor’s in African-American studies at Wesleyan University. He had an epiphany in his senior year about what

40 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

he wanted to do with his life. “I realized I wanted to be an herbalist. The program at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine was a master’s level program in traditional Chinese medicine,” says the Brooklyn-born-and-raised medical entrepreneur. He graduated from the master’s program and later earned his doctorate at the same school.

The term, “alternative medicine” has been abandoned in favor of “complementary and integrative medicine” as the descriptor for what the couple practices. “‘Alternative’ makes it sound like we’re against the system, when we’re really trying to work together to bring our patients the most benefit,” Dr. Bean remarks.

FEATURE

She got into the practice by accident, after a lifelong friend persuaded her to go to an acupuncturist for the health problems she was experiencing as a young adult. She was so enthusiastic about the efficacy of the treatment that she vowed to become a practitioner. “It helped me physically, but also helped my emotional well-being and brought me to a greater state of peace,” she recalls thinking excitedly. “It was helpful on so many levels, I felt I had to try to get this to other people.” She earned her doctorate at Oregon College of Oriental Medicine.

Drs. Bean and Wilson approach their work with precision and care. “We do a lot of of evaluation before we start treating,” Dr. Wilson emphasizes. “Doing so allows patients to get a comprehensive understanding of the various factors causing their current illness, or issues that might cause illness in the future,” he explains, adding, “If you have a lot of health imbalances, you’re not going to get better if we don’t address all these other things.”

The couple offers herbal prescriptions, working with specific herbal pharmacies and making their own blends, customizing their prescriptions according to the body constitution of the individual patient.

The public’s growing acceptance of traditional medicine over the past two decades is good news for practitioners in the field. According to federal researchers, Americans spent $30 billion out of pocket in 2012 alone on treaments by complementary practitioners such as acupuncturists. Today, many insurance companies will cover acupuncture treatments, particularly for pain-related matters, Dr. Bean says.

During travel to China, Tibet, Ghana, Senegal, and Gambia to study traditional medicine practices, Dr. Wilson came to appreciate how much those practices have in common across cultures. So did

“‘Alternative’ makes it sound like we’re against the system, when we’re really trying to work together to bring our patients the most benefit.”

— Danett Bean, doctor of acupuncture and Asian medicine (DAAM) and New York State licensed acupuncturist

Inside New York Sports Acupuncture

Dr. Bean in her own travels. “We’re divided culturally, but I’ve found there are connecting threads around the various forms of indigenous medicine,” she asserts. She describes a flash of insight while working with an African Shaman.

“He was teaching me about the various elements, like air, fire, etc., and I realized all the so-called elements correlated to what I had learned in acupuncture school. Also in acupuncture school, I learned about ash points and it eventually dawned on me, ‘Wow, this is Ashé!”

Ashé is a Yoruba term referring to divine life forces and is often used to convey, “And so it is.”

“There are a lot of similarities between West African culture and Chinese medicine,” Dr. Wilson elaborates. “The Chinese name for what Africans call “senna” translates to ‘the foreigner’s herb that cleans them out.’

In Yoruba, you have the Ifa divination system, which is similar to the I Ching divination system.” Much of this information was disseminated along the socalled Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that connected the East and West for centuries, he says. “A lot of knowledge was traded and integrated stretching from North Africa all the way to China. Frankincense and myrrh from the Fertile Crescent is used in Chinese medicine. Then there is Ayurveda from India.”

Asked to share simple steps to improve one’s health, Dr. Wilson recommends drinking “half our body weight in fluid ounces every 24 hours, [using] the highest-quality water that you can afford.”

Dr. Bean advises seven to eight hours of sleep each night. She emphasizes the importance of the time we go to sleep. “By ten o’clock ideally. It helps your health tremendously. If you go to sleep later, you’re still missing important time because we are connected with the sun, our environment, and nature. A lot of the healing in our bodies happens while we sleep.”

Don’t wait until you feel sick to go to the doctor, counsels Dr. Wilson. “People need to be really proactive because illness can begin years before symptoms TNJ appear,” he states.

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 41

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Slavery in America Whose history is it?

By Donté Murdock

I

n 1619, about 20 enslaved Africans arrived in the British colony of Jamestown, Va., on a Dutch ship named the White Lion. Thus began slavery in what today is known as the United States of America. Some six million Africans were brought as slaves to the British Colonies during the 18th century alone. Slavery in the colonies would last more than 240 years. Most people thought it ended with the Emancipation Proclamation, but it was not until after the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 that it was abolished in the U.S. Lives were snatched away; families were ripped apart. The horror slaves endured left mental and cultural scars that affect their descendants to this day.

Four hundred years after those 20 enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, a new debate has emerged: Is slavery more a part of African history or more American history? Some Black millennials have chosen to disassociate slavery from African-American history because of the deep negativity surrounding it.

Older-generation Blacks, however, say the culture of African people in the U.S., handed down from slavery, reflects African history.

“There are clear links between some of the languages, some of the food patterns, and religious practices that survived slavery, and those that Black people on this side of the Atlantic practice, which makes it a part of African history,” says George White, J.D., Ph.D., a professor of history, philosophy and anthropology at York College, City University of New York. “However, at the same time in the U.S., clearly so much culture in all the colonies and places slavery touched had an impact on the U.S. Basically, we would not have Wall Street, insurance companies, and banks. We would not have the roadways, the fertilized land, and developed cities

that we do without slavery. So it is very much American history, but it is also African history.”

Young college students argue that slavery is African history that transferred into American history. You cannot talk about slavery in America without harkening back to Africa, where the foundation of many African-American cultural practices and traditions was laid, they contend. They acknowledge that the long experience of slavery diluted those original practices and traditions and the pure African essence of Blacks in the U.S., which is why some of us cannot give any clear reason why slavery belongs to African history or to American history. Some base their decision on how White Americans treat and teach slavery. Whites either have altered or omitted crucial details about slavery, which affects the way Blacks view it. An article in Education Week cites a Southern Poverty Law Center report, which identifies slavery among core aspects of American history not being taught, at least correctly, in schools.

Whatever students learn is fragmentary, without context, sentimentalized, or sanitized, it says.

Whether young or old, Blacks generally believe that White Americans control the country’s education system and therefore will tell the story of slavery the way it best suits them. “White Americans, or Europeans, were the per-

42 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

Prof. George White, J.D., Ph.D., York College, CUNY

petrators while Africans were the victims. The perpetrators were in the position to tell the story the way they wanted because they were fully aware of the inhumane crimes they committed. Since some Black people choose to forget important parts of history, such as slavery, they open the door for historical facts to be changed,” observes Marvellous Ouche, an artist and song producer. That’s a problem for Black and White youth alike.

There is no easy answer to the question of whether slavery belongs primarily in African history or American history. We do know that it crosses the TNJ path of both.

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www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 43

AFRICA FOCUS

AI, Blockchain, Drones Health care is benefitting from disruptive technology

By Rosalind McLymont

N

ohemie Mawaka created Stats Congo to help reduce the high mortality rate among mothers and their newborns in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Stats Congo helps Congolese hospitals to digitally collect data to monitor medical indicators linked to that high mortality rate.

Eye surgeon Andrew Bastawrous developed Peek, an “eye-phone,” or smartphone app, for use in Kenya, which

Africa’s tech ecosystem continues to grow. According to Disrupt Africa, which tracks the continent’s tech startup activity, overall investment in local startups increased by 51 percent to more than $195 million in 2017 over 2016. In the first half of 2018, venture capitalists and angel investors funded 13 tech startups in health care, placing the sector second only to fintech, which attracted funding in 25 healthcare deals,

“Data, with strong privacy and security, will be the catalyst to anchor [a] future where healthcare delivery would not be fully tethered to humans across African villages and cities.”

— Ndubuisi Ekekwe, founder, African Institution of Technology and Medcera uses a low-cost, clip-on device to take images of the back of the eye to test sight.

Sierra Leonean roboticist David Sengeh is working with his team at IBM Africa on artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that can predict a cancer’s progression. AI software can be trained with a database of images to detect color changes inside the cervix that point to patients at high risk for cervical cancer, which can be treated if caught in time. Cervical cancer kills 60,000 women in Africa a year.

And in Rwanda, drones fly blood from a central distribution center to hospitals outside the capital, Kigali, dropping boxed packs of blood to the earth via a paper parachute. Tanzania, too, uses drones to deliver medical products from four distribution centers in what some estimate will be the world’s largest autonomous delivery system anywhere in the world.

Health care is a major beneficiary as

WeeTracker reports in its latest “African Startups & VC Ecosystem Report.”

The annual TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania in 2017 brought out a range of new technologies that could revolutionize health care for the poor. Infectious diseases are rapidly being overtaken by afflictions such as cancer as the biggest health problem in Africa, where some countries have only one pathologist per one million people, according to published reports. Oil-rich Nigeria, with a population of 180 million, has only four MRI machines per one million people.

In his Aug. 6, 2018, Harvard Business Review article, “How New Technologies Can Transform Africa’s Healthcare System,” Ndubuisi Ekekwe, a founder of the nonprofit African Institution of Technology, notes that many African entrepreneurs are working on how to handle the data challenge in the continent’s healthcare sector.

Ekekwe is also the founder of

44 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

Medcera, a cloud-based electronic health record platform that helps doctors to improve patient outcomes, supports patients to engage more efficiently with doctors, and facilitates integration with other health stakeholders such as labs, eye centers, and pharmacies. Ekwekwe says he makes Medcera’s software free to health institutions, from hospitals to labs, and from imaging centers to patients. Addressing the data challenge is going to be critical if AI systems are going to help improve lives, he contends.

“Data, with strong privacy and security, will be the catalyst to anchor this future where healthcare delivery would not be fully tethered to humans across African villages and cities.”

Disruptive technologies developed by local entrepreneurs for Africa’s healthcare ecosystem include: APMIS, All Purpose Medical Information System (Nigeria), which turns hard copies of medical data into electronic health records for improved communication and collaboration among stakeholders.

Medicine delivery service Cheefa (Egypt), a 2018 Demo Africa winner, which will participate with other African tech startups in the 2019 edition of the Lions@frica Innovation Tour in Silicon Valley.

LifeBank (Nigeria), which uses digital supply chain technology to deliver blood when and where it is needed in Lagos. mSCAN (Uganda), which develops portable mobile ultrasound devices (ultrasonic probes) that are compatible with laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. M-SCAN won the 2018 edition of TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield Africa in Lagos. mTrac (Uganda) an SMS-based technology that connects hospitals to the national drug chain to report on local medicine stocks using their TNJ mobile phones.

FINANCE & ECONOMY

Cryptocurrency How risky is it to buy

By Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz

C

ryptocurrency is a form of digital currency that lets you make online payments to other people or businesses without having to go through a third party, such as a bank. Records of these online transactions are logged on a public ledger called a blockchain, which is stored and duplicated on thousands of computers around the world. This is how the system remains relatively accountable and transparent.

There currently are about 1,500 types of cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Zcash. You can buy the “coins” in a variety of ways, including paying cash for them on an exchange like Coinbase; providing goods or services in exchange for the currency; or purchasing them from a Bitcoin ATM. After you’ve bought cryptocurrency, you store it in an “online wallet.”

You also may have heard of Initial Coin Offerings (or ICOs), which involve an investor purchasing cryptocurrency coins that aren’t part of a registered offering, but that promise a future stake in a startup venture. In these cases, the startups create their own “coins” to sell to investors.

Digital currency has actually been around for years in one form or another.

Loyalty programs like airline frequentflyer miles, as well as hotel and credit card rewards, are all forms of digital currency. The benefits you receive from these programs are not in dollars, but in each company’s self-created currency.

So this is something many of us are familiar with already, just in a slightly different form.

The risks are real I’ve heard about people making staggering sums off of cryptocurrency. Let’s

take Bitcoin as an example. When Bitcoin launched in 2010, the price of one coin was equal to 1 cent. In December 2017, that same coin was worth around $20,000. The value of Bitcoin rose more than 1,000 percent in 2017 alone. But by August 2018, a single Bitcoin’s worth was back down to $6,000. Which brings me to one of the things I want to stress most: Cryptocurrency has been extremely volatile.

Warren Buffet, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has said that he won’t touch it. He understands that its dramatic rise and fall has been driven mostly by supply and demand — the currency has no inherent value. In other words, he views cryptocurrency as speculation, not investment. The distinction is important to understand. Investing involves taking a calculated risk to achieve an expected return based on the price and quality of what something is worth today.

Speculating, on the other hand, means buying something regardless of its value to attempt to make a profit by later selling it to someone else for a higher price.

Trading in cryptocurrency is also largely unregulated. The coins are not backed by a government or a central

46 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

bank, like the U.S. dollar. And the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) doesn’t oversee the buying and selling of this kind of currency — yet.

That means that Bitcoin is a lot less stable and secure than what’s being issued

by Uncle Sam. In addition, even though cryptocurrencies have been designed to be theft-proof, there’s also a chance of fraud and cybercrime. In June 2011, for example, the Japan-based Mt. Gox (which was then the largest Bitcoin exchange) experienced a security breach in which $450 million worth of the currency was stolen. However, keep in mind that cryptocurrency exchanges based in the U.S. must register as a national securities exchange with the SEC, which has mandatory requirements regarding cybersecurity.

In the case of ICOs, there’s substantially less investor protection than in traditional securities markets, with more opportunities for fraud and manipulation and fewer protections for investors.

That may soon change, however, as a judge recently ruled that ICOs are considered securities. But you’re at risk in a much simpler way. You need a login ID and password to access cryptocurrency exchanges. If you forget those or they’re lost or stolen in a hacker or phishing scam, you can lose your access and your currency. With no issuing or regulating country or authority for cryptocurrencies, there’s very little recourse in cases of fraud or theft. And law enforcement often has limited ability to seize it.

Buying cryptocurrency is a serious gamble. It’s fine if you want to purchase some — speculating could be a lot of fun — but you should only do it with TNJ money you can afford to lose.

CAPITAL MARKETS

Outlook for 2019 Growth appears promising in Africa, Caribbean

By George Orwel

A

frica’s general economic performance continues to improve, with the African Development Bank (ADB) estimating that gross domestic product (GDP) growth will accelerate to 4.0 percent this year and 4.1 percent in 2020, up from 3.5 percent in 2018 and 2017. Economists agree, however, that a 4-percent level of growth, or thereabouts, still is not fast enough to address persistent fiscal and current account deficits and unsustainable debt.

In its report, “African Economic Outlook 2019,” the bank calls for improved regional trade to boost growth and job creation, insisting that these particular challenges can be overcome. “Africa has the means to overcome them by joining hands and removing barriers to integration and drivers of migration,” says ADB Senior Vice President Charles Boamah. The bank’s report, which was published mid-January, says greater integration can be achieved by synchronizing financial governance frameworks, opening regional aviation to competition, and facilitating the free movement of people, goods, and services through open borders.

Integration could boost manufacturing-driven growth, which Africa needs to promote to create about 12 million new jobs each year and keep unemployment from rising.

The bank’s report comes amid excitement of a Continental Free Trade Agreement, CFTA, whose implementation appears imminent. Several African leaders, including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the outgoing chairman of the Africa Union, have pushed the pact for some time. The agreement was signed in March 2018 by 44 African countries, but requires ratification only by 22 to take effect. Economists like Hanan Morsy, director of the ADB’s

African and Caribbean Bourses, 2018-2019 10

8

6

4

2

0

4Q17

1Q18

2Q18

3Q18

4Q18

1Q19

Jamaica

S. Africa

Egypt

Barbados

Nigeria

Kenya

Trinidad Source: TNJ with exchange data

macroeconomic policy department, say the pact could result in a net gain of US$2.8 billion in real income for Africans and bring total gains equal to 4.5 percent of Africa’s GDP, or U$134 billion, a year.

In the Caribbean, the regional Caribbean Development Bank projects areawide GDP at 2.0 percent for 2019, up from 1.9 percent for 2018 and 0.5 percent for 2017. Barbados and Jamaica already are seeing modest growth. Jamaica’s economy is expected to grow 1.9 percent this year and 1.8

percent in 2020, up from 1.2 percent in 2018, amid a tightening labor market and higher tourism earnings. Barbados is expected to grow 0.6 percent this year and 0.9 percent for 2020, after declining 0.5 percent in 2018.

Jamaica’s per capita rose from $4,800 in 2010 to $5,400 in 2018 and the country is running a fiscal surplus while paying down its debt. Trinidad and Tobago’s creditworthiness likely will be downgraded as authorities there look to approach the International TNJ Monetary Fund for help.

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 47

FINANCE & ECONOMY

Getting a Financial Start Is it an equal opportunity for young men and women?

By Carrie Schwab-Pomeranz

D

espite our beliefs and best intentions regarding equal financial opportunity for males and females, Schwab’s Financial Literacy survey on the money attitudes and experiences of a subset of millennials (people ages 21 to 25) and Gen Zers (people ages 16 to 20) reveals a disturbing gender divide: When it comes to getting a firm financial start on life, young women still have some catching up to do.

Analyzing the data further to focus on the differences in how young women and young men approach and treat money, some sharp distinctions warrant a closer look. According to the survey, young women express positive financial attitudes. In fact, they’re somewhat ahead of young men in some areas. For instance, 67 percent of females versus 58 percent of males don’t want to rely on others financially, with more females than males (51 percent versus 40 percent) wanting to live independently from their families. Young women also exhibited a greater understanding of daily financial concepts such as budgeting and spending. And 76 percent of them, compared with 64 percent of young men, understood the importance of putting together a financial plan to reach their goals.

Females also are ahead of males in terms of holding off on buying something or delaying a vacation to save money. They’re also more willing to take an extra job to make ends meet.

However, females lag behind males in saving and investing. While the survey statistics show that young women are saying and doing a lot of the right things, they still tend to face more financial hurdles. Here are a few revealing examples: Despite expressing a strong desire for financial independence, 50 percent of young women versus 35 percent of

young men have had to ask their parents for money for necessities like food, rent, and utilities.

Young women were more likely to say it’s important to pay off credit cards, yet young men were less likely to carry a credit card balance or miss a payment.

While young women generally spend about 30 percent less on a weekly basis than young men, women have, on average, far less savings than men — $1,267 versus $2,000.

Most worrisome, despite their financial aspirations, young women are less inclined to invest. Of the young people surveyed, almost twice as many males as females had investment accounts and would choose to invest any spare cash.

It would appear that while young women may be more practical when it comes to everyday things like spending, they’re falling short on the bigger financial goals such as saving and investing.

Most of us will say that we want to treat our girls and boys equally, but do we?

As recently reported in a New York Times article by Claire Cain Miller, recent studies show that certain cultural habits that put girls at a disadvantage still creep into our behavior. For instance, although we may espouse workplace equality, research shows that even with something as basic as family responsibilities, girls are still expected to do more household chores than boys are. An analysis by BusyKid, a mobile app and web platform designed to help children manage an allowance, determined that on average, boys earn twice as much for doing chores per week than girls do, suggesting that the gender pay gap starts at home.

Another study found that parents tend to talk to girls about everyday money matters such as spending, earning, and family finances and talk to boys about more sophisticated issues such as borrowing, saving, and investing, setting

48 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

up different financial expectations from an early age.

As parents, we can make certain that we have the same conversations about money with our daughters and with our sons, emphasizing for each the importance of spending, saving, and investing for the long term. We can make sure household responsibilities are shared equally and allowances and compensation for paid chores are fair and equitable.

Beyond that, we should also treat our children as individuals and be aware that even in the same household, different kids may need different guidance.

One important way to do this is to help our daughters understand the unique challenges they may face as women. For instance, even before your daughter enters the workforce, have an open and honest conversation about the wage gap and other potential inequalities. Help her become her own advocate and feel confident negotiating terms and salary.

Discuss the importance of women taking control of their finances, especially around retirement. With women living longer but generally earning less and being in the workforce for fewer years than men, this is an essential lesson.

Of course, young men have their challenges as well. The way to truly level the playing field is to do our best to teach, mentor, and guide all the young people in our lives to make the most of their financial capabilities.

Living below your means, being wise about credit and debt, getting started early on retirement savings with an IRA or 401(k) and realizing the power of long-term investing to grow wealth are the building blocks of a secure financial future for everyone.

One very positive finding from the survey is that young people want to be independent, and they want to learn.

They’re open to financial guidance, TNJ especially from their parents.

Well-deserved Congratulations to Lynn Scott for being named by The Network Journal as one of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 25 Influential Black Women in Business.

Lynn Scott

President of Professional Employer Organizations (PEO), Aetna

Š2019 Aetna Inc. 2019009

GLOBAL ARENA

Doing Business Overseas?

These translation apps will help

By Greg Sandler

B

usiness travelers can usually count on getting by with English as the lingua franca of the global marketplace. But to really connect with people in another country requires the ability to communicate in their native language. For business meetings and negotiations, it’s important to include a professional interpreter to ensure clear communication. Machine translation is fine for casual use, but for mission-critical documents, a professional translator is the way to go. For casual conversations, and for navigating off the beaten track, language translation apps are a useful tool.

Dozens of translation apps are available for Apple and Android devices.

These range from simple interfaces that require the user to type in a word or phrase to “smart” apps that can translate the spoken word on-the-fly. Among the key features desired by business travelers are translation accuracy and the ability to use an app without an Internet connection. The apps below include features that go beyond simple translation, including the ability to translate a twoway conversation in real time.

Google Translate. One of the most cutting-edge apps available is also one that has been around for more than a decade: Google Translate. This free app is now using artificial intelligence (AI) to help power its translation engine. It uses neural machine translation (NMT) in 96 languages in online mode, and offers NMT in 59 languages in offline mode. This AI technology also enables mobile users to use the app even when they are unable to connect to WiFi or cellular service. The app can also translate conversations using speech recognition technology. This feature, which is standard on the leading translation apps, can be very useful for business travelers. Google Translate also works

using voice dictation or by translating words contained in photographs.

Looking ahead, Google Translate will be accessible on all headphones that are optimized to work with Google Assistant on Android and Apple iOS devices. That means that bluetoothenabled headphones will facilitate on-the-fly translation when connected to a compatible device.

Microsoft Translator. Another translation app available for both Apple and Android devices is Microsoft Translator.

This free translation app covers more than 60 languages, and can handle translation of text, voice, and conversations. Phrasebooks and pronunciation guides are available, and the app supports both online and offline translation.

Other features include a split-screen mode for two participants having a bilingual conversation, and support for multilingual conversations between up to 100 users at a time.

TripLingo. TripLingo is another popular tool for international business travelers. The app offers a voice translator, a phrasebook, and learning tools. The phrasebook includes basics such as greetings, as well as 2,000 commonly used business phrases. There is a free version of the app for Android and Apple devices, but premium features require a subscription, which starts at $9.99. The app also has something called the Slang Slider. For each phrase, users get different options for saying it.

TripLingo's phrase options include formal, casual, slang, and crazy. For example, the formal French translation for “how are you” is “comment allezvous?” The “crazy" translation is “ça roule?” which literally means “things rolling for you?” Of course, in business situations it may be best to stay with more formal translation options.

50 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

While TripLingo is available for individual users, the company’s focus is on providing customized versions of its app for business travelers. The branded corporate version of the app includes extra features, such as access to travel agency and emergency contacts.

iTranslate and Speak & Translate.

The iTranslate Translator & Dictionary app includes the ability to translate text or start voice-to-voice conversations in more than 100 languages. A basic version of the app is free, while the voice and offline modes are available as part of a monthly subscription. The app, available for the Android and Apple platforms, is published by IAC Applications, which also owns the Speak & Translate app. The Speak & Translate app, available only for Apple devices, includes both free and premium versions. In-app purchase options range from $3.99 to $29.99. It can handle 117 languages for text translation, and 54 for voice. It integrates with Apple speech recognition technology, and supports voice commands. Most languages require an Internet connection, but the app does work in offline mode for 10 languages.

Choosing the right app is a personal decision that depends on what features are most important, what languages are available and, ultimately, on ease of use.

Business travelers planning to use a translation app on their next trip should test its functionality before leaving home — that’s sure to help make it easier for globetrotters to use a mobile device as TNJ their own personal translator.

Greg Sandler is an international trade and content development expert at ThinkGlobal Inc. The above article is an edited version of the original that first appeared at American Express OPEN Forum, Aug. 15, 2018.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Investing in Opportunity Zones Five tips from a venture capitalist

By Sergie Willoughby

P

assage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a bipartisan bill that created new tax incentives for investors looking to invest in underserved communities known as Opportunity Zones (O-Zones), is a boon for investors from a capital gains perspective, and for communities in need of economic relief and attention. To date, there are 8,700 such zones and many venture capital firms are said to be racing to develop multimillion-dollar O-Zone Funds.

Accounting Today reports that investors in O-Zones benefit from “deferral of capital gain; possible reduction of the amount of gain realized through a basis adjustment; and possible permanent exclusion of gain on the appreciation for the interest in a qualified O-Zone.” Moreover, there is no cap on the amount of money that can be invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund.

Marlon Nichols, co-founder of Cross Culture Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Los Angeles, Calif., says he has no immediate plans to invest in an O-Zone. His company already has a policy of investing in tech companies around the country that are creating solutions for undeserved communities. He cites as examples Ready Responders, a response team based in New Orleans that picks up medical emergency calls through the Cloud and dispatches them to off-duty doctors, nurses, and EMT workers; and Catalyte, a consultancy that uses artificial intelligence to leverage talent.

Marlon has ideas about investing in O-Zones the right way, however. In a recent interview with The Network Journal, he shared five tips that can help venture capital firms preparing to invest in O-Zones avoid mistakes that could harm, rather than help, their beneficiary communities.

Avoid gentrification and “the Bodega effect.” A startup named Bodega was called out last year for admittedly seeking to displace local workers at bodegas, who often are people of color and/or immigrants. The owners of the startup, who created vending machines to replace bodegas, failed to research and under-

Marlon Nichols, co-founder, Cross Culture Ventures

ing local residents who have certain talents. This is what Catalyte does. They don’t recruit from Ivy League schools; they advertise on Craigslist and at community colleges. Help develop the local business and tech ecosystem by partnering with the local government or organizations to create startup accelerators for local entrepreneurs.

“The best people to solve a challenge in any community are people who have lived there, because they understand what’s real in that community.”

stand what those stores meant to residents. No one bought into their idea. The lesson: Surround yourself with a diverse team and listen to them. And remember, the best people to solve a challenge in any community are people who have lived there, because they understand what’s real in that community.

Build and hire local. The new businesses, restaurants, and condos in Harlem, New York City, are great, but longtime residents can no longer afford the rent.

If you’re going to create businesses in an O-Zone, recruit from that neighborhood so residents can make the wages necessary to continue living there. By building local offices and hiring local talent, you will be injecting capital into the local economy, further revitalizing the area.

Accelerate entrepreneurs. Starting an accelerator in an O-Zone helps to build efficiencies. Advertise that you’re seek-

Create local wealth by addressing the skills gap. If you’re creating a company in an O-Zone, you don’t always have to bring in the talent. Startups are quick to say, “We want to hire the people that live there, but they’re not skilled.” Figure out what skills are missing for the kinds of companies you want to create and establish programs that can build those skills.

Invest in training programs, coding academies, or whatever will be the focus of your business. New industries won’t flourish if there’s no one to hire. Teaching local workers new skills through technology and business boot camps will revitalize an entire generation of workers and will help fill your jobs.

Have eyes and ears on the ground. Have “buy-in” in a community where you plan to build, by people who can give you the facts on the ground. Employ a dedicated team tasked with protecting the community — a queue of local employees on call to make sure the TNJ community is safe and happy.

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 51

CAREER

Leadership, Inclusion and Keeping Dow on a Global Scale A talk with Dow Chemical’s Karen S. Carter

By Sergie Willoughby

I

n a recent interview with TNJ Senior Editor Sergie Willoughby, Karen S. Carter, chief human resources and inclusion officer at The Dow Chemical Co., discussed leveraging sports partnerships, women and sports, and sustainability, topics she

covered at the Octagon Sports Marketing Symposium, titled “Breaking Barriers Through Sports Partnerships and Events.” In her TNJ interview, Carter, who was Dow Chemical’s firstever chief inclusion officer, also spoke about her work in fostering a more diverse environment in the workplace. An excerpt of her TNJ interview is below. The entire interview will be available at TNJ.com in April.

TNJ: What accounts for the newly created diversity and inclusion (D&I) positions that have been sprouting up at numerous companies?

Carter: Companies are realizing that the world they are doing business in has changed and is more diverse than ever. Their customer base is more

52 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

diverse. And in an ever-more global economy, their competitors are more diverse. Technology means you can enter new markets, but it also means your competitors can enter your markets!

Responding to these demographic and market shifts requires a diverse workforce and an inclusive environment that maximizes the employees’ talents and creates a rewarding professional experience for them. As I’m sure you know, poor employee retention is extremely costly and hurts the bottom line.

In a nutshell, business demands are highlighting the critical nature of making D&I intentional, actionable, and strategic in companies around the world. It is rewarding to see companies resourcing D&I like any other business imperative and allocating focused leadership to drive real, sustainable progress and results.

TNJ: What are some of the challenges that D&I practitioners face?

Carter: Let me first point out that at Dow we intentionally lead with inclusion. In other words, we speak of inclusion and diversity in that order. This is more than semantics. We lead with inclusion because the power of workplace diversity only comes to life through inclusion. Through inclusion, we attract and retain a talented, diverse workforce. Through inclusion, we fully engage this workforce and reap the full financial and human benefits.

In terms of challenges, one is having leaders behind their efforts 100 percent. For us, our leaders set forward an ambition for the company that we will be the most

innovative, inclusive, customer-centric and sustainable materials science company in the world. Inclusion is fully integrated into our corporate strategy, and viewed as a catalyst that drives innovation, customer-centricity and sustainability forward. Once you have leadership support, it’s critical that employees see leaders at every level — not only talking about inclusion, but also backing it up with action — closing what we call the “say-do gap.”

That is why it is so important that inclusion is viewed across the company as a business imperative instead of a nice-to-do activity. I am fortunate that at Dow, we see creating an inclusive culture as critically important to business success. However, I imagine, many inclusion and diversity practitioners at other companies may struggle with shifting the culture to a mindset that equates inclusion with achieving business goals.

A challenge particular to global companies is that inclusion issues may differ between regions and countries. In other words, the focus of creating an inclusive culture in Asia may differ from North America because the demographics, as well as the cultural fabric of each region and country, are different. This is why we have regional inclusion focal points in each of our four primary regions to ensure that we are leveraging a global strategy, but implementing and executing at a very local level.

building a collaborative culture in which people are comfortable in sharing their perspectives and even disagreeing with the status quo, when necessary. That is one of the reasons why we are elevating the role of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) as true resources for our businesses. We want to make it easier for businesses to tap into the wealth of knowledge and insights of our employees. And by

“Having a diverse workforce at the table for a wide range of business decisions makes good business sense.” using the ERGs as a resource, we are also making it easier for our employees to contribute to high-priority business activities like better understanding markets or recruiting top talent.

So, to answer your question, yes!

Having a diverse workforce at the table for a wide range of business decisions makes good business sense. But it isn’t enough to have a diverse workforce present; you also have to have an environment where everyone feels free to voice their opinions and perspectives.

Diversity plus inclusion.

TNJ: Talk about highlights from Dow’s very first D&I report, and the impact of

TNJ: Noted companies like Dove and the company’s 2017 efforts to further its H&M have gotten into trouble for launching marketing campaigns featuring insensitive ads. What do companies get wrong when it comes to D&I strategy?

Carter: I can’t speak to those specific instances. However, I can say that study after study has shown that diversity leads to more creative teams and positively affects a company’s bottom line.

In an increasingly global world, you need a workforce that reflects the markets you serve and understands those markets. More importantly, you need to make sure your employees feel valued and are being heard. This starts by

life were the many stories of what Dow people were doing around the world to advance inclusion — employees like Beata Kilos-Reaume, a research scientist who is working to expand the number of women in research and development roles at Dow; Chalothorn Soponvuttikul, a leader at Dow’s AsiaPacific Operations and a champion of, and mentor in, multiple ERGs; and Candace Johnson, who is a leader of

global community.

Carter: Our inclusion report was called “Shine,” because inclusion is all about enabling our employees and the company to shine through our inclusion efforts. In the report, I call 2017 the year of “All In,” where leadership and employees at every level jumped in to make Dow even more inclusive. The report highlighted everything from our inclusion and diversity strategy and governance structure, to the workforce composition and our inroads in supplier diversity, to our work with businesses and organizations outside of Dow. But what really brought the report to

the African-American Network that facilitates annual MLK Jr. and Juneteenth celebrations.

In 2017, Dow hosted an AfricanAmerican Leadership Conference that brought together hundreds of AfricanAmerican employees with our CEO and other senior executives. It was instrumental in taking our efforts to the next level, and led directly to the creation of my role as chief inclusion officer, as well as a renewed focus on expanding supplier diversity and investing more in historically black colleges and universities. This conference was so effective, that our leadership encouraged us to host something similar for all 10 ERGs. As a result, we are developing additional programs to improve opportunities for women and people of color at Dow and their professional development.

Dow’s African-American Network also hosted an event in Brazil, called “Talent Has All Colors” to promote a debate on racial diversity and foster effective actions for inclusion in the labor market. I’d also like to mention The BEST Symposium, which is intended to introduce African-American, Hispanic and Native-American U.S. doctoral and postdoctoral scientists to the wide range of rewarding careers in industrial research, and in particular, TNJ opportunities with Dow.

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 53

TECHNOLOGY

Home Appliances To fix or to nix when they decline

By Mary Hunt

A

word to the wise: Home appli- says Rob Scott, editorial director for the ances have built-in obsoles- CT (Consumer Technology) Lab at cence. By design, life expectan- information distributors NAPCO cy has gone down slowly over Media, posted at Dealerscope last April. the years. Refrigerators used to last for “Talking to your refrigerator may 30 years or longer by design. These become commonplace in the next few days, you’ll be lucky to get 10 years, years as more brands integrate Amazon and that’s with excellent maintenance Alexa or Google Assistant into their products — the kitchen is the “hub” of and timely repairs.

So you’re worried that the washing the home, so it only makes sense that machine is on its last spin cycle. It makes a horrible screeching sound and needs a lot of coaxing to make it all the way through a full cycle. It’s not like it’s still under warranty. You’ve had it for four years, and it wasn’t new when you got it. You got an estimate for repair and discovered it will cost $319 to get it back into tiptop shape. Should you give this old, inefficient machine the heave-ho in favor of a new model that will use less electricity and water? A new name-brand front-loader is on sale for $999 plus tax and delivery. Should you basically throw away $319 now for a temporary fix or bite the bullet and buy the LG's new Smart InstaView refrigerator with Alexa integration. new one?

One of the reasons for the declining arguably the most important appliance life expectancy of standard home appli- in that room should be utilized as a ances like refrigerators and washing smart home.”

Launched in 2014, Alexa already has machines may well be the “intelligent” technologies built into them. “In the last at least three generations of upgrades. three to five years we’ve seen tablets Here are some basic guidelines and sugmake their way onto our refrigerator gestions to help you decide whether to doors. Cameras let us see what’s inside fix or nix your “old” appliance, based those same refrigerators while we’re out on costs for replacement and repairs, shopping, and some will even scan best- and the advantages of new models. by dates and notify us when our milk is If you cannot pay cash for the new about to turn sour. Better yet, the fridge replacement. You should get it repaired might even add milk to our existing to buy yourself time to save up for the shopping list or order it automatically,” replacement. Even if the repairs will 54 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

only keep this appliance going for a year or two, you’re far better off repairing and then saving for a new machine than financing a new one then and paying double-digit interest for the next three to five years.

If the appliance is eight years or older.

Once an appliance becomes elderly, usually it makes sense to replace it with a newer model.

If repairs are really expensive. If the repair bill is more than half the price of a new product, you are probably better advised to buy a new one.

But again, the deciding factor will be whether you will have to go into debt to buy new.

If the appliance is under warranty. Even if repairs will be only partially covered by a warranty or service contract, repairing is the way you should go. If it’s under warranty, call a factory-authorized repair shop. If not, an independent contractor is likely to offer better service at a lower cost.

Convenience and “intelligence” of home appliances aside, the costs for diagnosing problems and making repairs on them have gone up considerably in recent years, which has made replacing with a new model more common.

Anticipate so you are not caught off guard. Setting aside a small amount of money every month to anticipate the cost of repairs and eventual replacement of major home appliances will give you cash options to TNJ make wise decisions.

TNJ Staff contributed to this article.

Leading the Way for Women in Industry

®™The DOW Diamond Logo is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company © 2019

PEOPLE & EVENTS Elizabeth Dooley was named provost in high school when he

Multicultural Initiatives; became one of the youngest and senior vice president, & Gifting recipients of an Associated Weddings Press award for a report on Strategies and Multicultural innovative teaching, Melvin Business Development. has covered a wide range of Before joining Macy’s, she events, including Election worked at retailer Lord & Night coverage for TV One Taylor for nine years. in partnership with NBC Outler earned a bachelor’s News; the Asiana Airlines in marketing and trans214 crash in July 2013; and portation/distribution from Shawn Outler a series on the future of Syracuse University’s Historically Black Colleges and Martin J. Whitman School of Universities. Melvin received a Management.

Bachelor’s in government from Wofford College in Spartanburg, Convention and visitors bureau (CVB) S.C., his home state. veteran Monica Smith was named president and CEO at Southeast Tourism Johnita Walker Society (STS). Smith, who has more than Mizelle was named head 26 years’ experience in the hospitality and of investor relations and tourism industry, most recently was vice ecosystem development president of sales and services for Visit at Anthemis Group, a ven- Jacksonville, the city’s tourism sales and ture investment and advi- marketing organization. She previously Paul Harrison was named sory firm. In this position, served as president and CEO of the senior business relationship she will play a key role in Macon-Bibb County CVB in Macon, manager at Wells Fargo. In capital raising, strength- Georgia and has worked at the Pasadena Paul Harrison this role, he is charged with ening the firm's strategic CVB; the Newport Beach CVB in building a banking portfolio of business and investor relationships, and engaging California; and for Destination Cleveland customers with revenues of $5 million to in business development activity across in Ohio. Smith, who has served on the $50 million, with a particular focus on North America. A 2013 Network STS board of directors through her posithe Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx and Staten Journal 40 Under Forty honoree, Walker tions in Jacksonville and Macon, is a Island markets in New York. Harrison’s Mizelle previously served as director of graduate of Cornell University’s School client industries include manufacturing business development of Lyxor Asset of Hotel Administration. and distribution, wholesale, medical/ Management. Before that, she was hired dental, construction, retail, and service- to open and run the Midwest office of Dennis Parker joined the National based. Prior to this role, he was senior The Williams Capital Group LP, an Center for Law and Economic Justice as relationship manager at Bank United, investment firm founded by African- executive director. He will lead the where his work included structured American investor Christopher J. advocacy organization, which works investment property mortgages, owner- Williams. Walker Mizelle earned a with low-income families, individuals, occupied real estate loans, the U.S. bachelor’s from Spelman College before communities and a wide range of organSmall Business Administration’s 504 earning an MBA from Harvard izations, to advance the cause of ecodeals, and working capital lines of Business School. nomic justice through groundbreaking, credit to New York City businesses and successful litigation, policy work and real estate owners. Harrison earned a Shawn Outler was named support of grassroots organbachelor’s in political science from executive vice president, izing around the country.

Binghamton University. chief diversity officer, at Prior to this appointment, Macy’s. During her nineParker served as director of Two-time Emmy Award-winning jour- year tenure with the retail the ACLU Racial Justice nalist Craig Melvin was named week- giant, Outler has held severProgram, and teaches law at day news anchor on NBC's “Today” al top positions such as New York Law School. A show. His previous roles include co- executive vice president, graduate of Middlebury anchor of the “Today” weekend show; Licensed Businesses, Food College with an AB in weekend anchor for WRC; and evening Services and Multicultural American Literature, Parker news anchor for WIS in Columbia, S.C. Initiatives; senior vice presearned a J.D. from Harvard Johnita Walker Mizelle TNJ During his career in news, which began ident, Lease, Pricing and Law School. at the University of Central Florida (UCF), after serving as interim provost since April 2018. The first AfricanAmerican woman to hold this title, Dooley joined UCF in 2015 as vice provost for teaching and learning, and dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies. Prior to that, she spent 25 years at West Virginia University, serving in several roles, including associate provost for undergraduate academic affairs, interim dean of the College of Education & Human Services, and as the founding dean of the University College. Dooley holds a doctorate in education and a master’s in special education from West Virginia University, as well as a bachelor’s in elementary education from Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, West Virginia.

56 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

Photo: Anita Sanikop/Moguldom

(L. to r.) Derick Pearson, Jamarlin Martin, Darlene Gillard, and Arlan Hamilton at Black Tech Week Miami 2018.

(L. to r.) Authors Rosalind McLymont, TNJ executive editor; Ingrid Griffith; and Natalie Hopkinson at “Brooklyn’s Guyana” event at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Photos: Lambert Parong

Record producer/rapper Swizz Beatz (l.) and singer/songwriter Alicia Keys at the 2018 edition of Amref Health Africa ArtBall fundraiser, Brooklyn, N.Y. Nigerian Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola, recipient, Amref ArtBall’s Rees Visionary Award.

(L. to r.) Bernard Hopkins, Taylor Rooks, Ana Julaton, and Gus Johnson at the 5th annual Shadow League Awards in New York City.

(L. to r.) Yussuf Khan, Bernard Hopkins, and Rod Strickland at the Shadow League Awards.

Janice Savin Williams of Williams Capital and actor Liev Schrieber at the Harlem School of the Arts (HSA) Masquerade Ball, held at The Plaza Hotel, N.Y.C. Christopher Williams (r.), chairman and CEO, Williams Capital Group; and Wé McDonald, musical artist at the HSA Masquerade Ball.

Photos: J.D. Rachid

Cosplay, New York Comic Con 2018: a Dora Milaje guard (r.) for Marvel Comics’ fictional nation, Wakanda.

“Lucas Bishop,” mutant cop member of Marvel Comics’ X-Men security force.

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 57

TNJ life Travel & Tourism p.42

Health & Fitness p.44

Credit: New York Public Library

Inside The Schomburg: Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division.

Bringing the Past Alive After Hours p.46

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

By Nadine Matthews

Books p.50

Calendar p.51 58 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

N

one other than Thelma Golden, the iconic director and chief curator at The Studio Museum, gave Novella Ford one of her most memorable moments so far at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. Ford has been the associate director for Public Programs and Exhibitions at the esteemed institution for the past three years. She explains, “One of my favorite events of all time was our all-day reads of James Baldwin last year. I was able to invite a diverse group of cultural producers, authors, and performers. One set of people read his essays, while others recited personal anecdotes about him.” Golden, who had James Baldwin as an instructor when she attended Smith College, recounted a touching memory of an interaction between her father and Baldwin. These are the type of experiences that are becoming more and more typical of the Schomburg.

Located in Harlem, one of New York City’s cultural touchstones for generations, the Schomburg is more than just a research institution. At the epicenter of a cluster of important Harlem destinations, it’s blocks away from historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Apollo Theater, chef Marcus Samuelsson’s renowned Red Rooster restaurant, Dance Theater of Harlem, and The Studio Museum. It is in the heart

TNJlife SECTION TITLE

— Novella Ford

of a Harlem that arguably is undergoing a second Renaissance. There is a crop of new art galleries, cultural spaces, and restaurants that are springing up daily. Emerging writers, artists, actors, and designers routinely plant their roots in this 3.4-square-mile section of Northern Manhattan.

The Schomburg is host to dozens of appearances and talks each year by scholars and public figures, such as New York City’s First Lady Chirlaine McCray, filmmakers Raoul Peck and Stanley Nelson, inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander, actor Lou Gossett Jr., and many more. You are also just as likely to see luminaries such as Spike Lee and actress Yara Shahidi in the audience or afterward, mingling with other attendees.

For Ford, who formerly worked as a fundraiser at Howard University School of Law and the Urban League, the overarching goal of her current work is to “make sure programs connect history and the contemporary moment. History and the contemporary moment are always in conversation. If it can be entertaining that’s always great as well.”

The Schomburg is one of the New York Public Library’s select research libraries and as such, it’s frequented by scholars. It’s a repository of the archives of such prominent historical figures as Charles White, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, and Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. The Schomburg, Ford explains, does more than many other research institutions. “At the Schomburg, we are a public archives. The person who lives around the corner and just has a question on Baldwin and wants to see an unreleased manuscript, can have access,” she says.

Though this is the first time that Ford has worked at a library, libraries have been important to her since childhood.

“When I was younger, around the corner from my grandmother’s church was a library. When she had choir practice or a trustees meeting, she would drop me off at the library and it became a place I could explore. It showed me who I was and what I wanted to be into,” she recalls.

The Schomburg, too, strives to welcome people of all ages.

There are annual programs such as its annual Comic Book Festival in the winter, featuring panels exhibits, workshops and more, all of which appeal to comic book fans young and old.

“The Black Comic Book Festival at the Schomburg is one of

William Farrington for The Schomburg Center

“History and the contemporary moment are always in conversation.

If it can be entertaining that’s always great as well.”

the few of its kind in the country and it happens annually on MLK Jr. weekend. It is a two-day festival where Black comic book creators and fans come out for panels, cosplay, and the vendor marketplace; picking up where old stories left off and the adding of new themes,” Ford says.

Periodic “Teen Nights” are held to encourage youth from ages 14 to 18 to come out and share their artistic endeavors.

They are encouraged to bring their poetry, essays, songs, etc. to perform spoken word, emcee, sing, and dance.

Dance lovers also have a place at the Schomburg. Monthly First Fridays events that are a mixture of food, fun, and dance, celebrate one or more genres of traditionally Black music.

This past October, for example, First Fridays honored two legendary Black artists who passed way too soon: Prince and Michael Jackson. Past First Fridays have featured House Music, created by working-class Blacks in Chicago and

Credit: New York Public Library

Poster for The Schomburg’s 2019 Black Comic Book Festival. www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 59

feature

TNJlife

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Photo: Marble Fairbanks

Detroit in the 1980s (many of whom were also LGBTQ), and “Carnival Edition,” which, of course, featured Caribbean flavors of reggae, calypso, soca, etc.

Ford and her team work enthusiastically and tirelessly to find ways to bring history alive for the public across the board. She explains, “We figure out different ways of entering a conversation. Sometimes a film will work better. Sometimes art will work better than a film. This book coming out called Committed To Memory: The Art of The Slave Ship Icon, by Dr. Cheryl Finley, will be co-presented by our Lapidus Center for the Study of The Atlantic Slave Trade in 2019. The program’s focus is on art and I’m excited about that because it’s another way for people to enter into conversation about slavery and enslaved people.”

When the archives of jazz musician Sonny Rollins were acquired in 2017, the Schomburg threw a party. In keeping with her mission to keep the present in conversation with the past, Ford took care to invite musicians who promise to be the world changers and influencers in the coming generations. “Serious jazz heads came out for our Sonny Rollins event and learned about artists even they didn’t know about. So we get a chance to provide a platform for those who are coming up.”

Recognizing that contributions of female jazz musicians are chronically under-recognized, the Schomburg strives to rectify that by making sure its programming increases the vis60 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

ibility of these musicians. “Every year we do a celebration of women in jazz because that’s a group that remains underserved. That will be every Monday in March,” she states.

Last year featured performances by the Harlem Chamber Players, a classical music group that performed music by a Black classical composer. In addition, through its partnership with Carnegie Hall, the Schomburg will have South African singer Lorraine Klaasen, who is considered entertainment royalty in her home country.

The Schomburg also recognizes Malcolm X, one of Harlem’s most famous residents, on an annual basis. The center recently acquired a lost chapter of Alex Haley’s manuscript to The Autobiography of Malcolm X, a book that has had at least 45 editions and has been translated into dozens of languages. The acquisition of the lost chapter of will figure prominently in some of its programming this year.

The Schomburg Reading Circle book club brings the public and literary influencers together to discuss books important to Black diasporic history. “Next year is the 60th anniversary of the publishing of the first biography of Martin Luther King Jr. and it’s being re-issued,” Ford notes. “That book was written by Lawrence D. Reddick, who was the second curator at the Schomburg when it was still called the 135th Street Library.”

In addition, programming in 2019 will include the commemoration the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first TNJ enslaved Africans in North America.

The Network Journal

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www.tnj.com â&#x20AC;¢ Spring 2019 â&#x20AC;¢ The Network Journal 61

travel & tourism Looking for a Vacation Getaway?

Virginia is especially exciting this year

By Salome Kilkenny

I

f you’re looking for a vacation getaway in the U.S. this year, consider Virginia. The travel industry has named Virginia one of the best places to go in 2019 because of the multitude of events, programs, performances, and exhibitions commemorating the 400th anniversary of the first documented arrival of enslaved Africans in colonial North America.

The state’s year-long 2019 Commemoration, branded American Evolution™, highlights events that occurred in Virginia in 1619, when, historians say, on Aug. 25 a ship called the White Lion “landed 20 and odd” individuals from the Kingdom of Ndonga (believed to be present-day Angola), at Point Comfort, Virginia, today’s Fort Monroe in Hampton.

Calvin Pearson, who founded a grassroots organization, Project 1619, in 1994 to “expose the true narrative” of that “fateful” landing day, urges Blacks to be in Virginia in August for his organization’s annual African Landing Day commemoration. “Project 1619 invites you to come to Hampton, Virginia, on August 23-25, 2019, to be a witness to the 400th Anniversary Commemoration,” he says. “Walk on the hallowed grounds of your ancestors.”

Here’s some of what you can look forward to under American Evolution™: History trails. A recently launched Virginia History Trails mobile app gives the locations and descriptions of more than 400 stories, and 200 historic sites, as well as 20 thematic trails across the Virginia Commonwealth. The featured stories and sites highlight important African-American history.

A digital storytelling platform. A platform that encourages Virginians and Americans as a whole to explore the many stories that are part of the country’s evolution and share their own. With an entire section dedicated to African-American history, this website collects and preserves untold or undertold stories from 1619 to today.

Faith Journeys in the Black Experience 1619-2019 Conference, March 19-21. Convened by the Virginia Council of Churches and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, “The Missiology of Jamestown 1619 and Its Implications,” focuses on religion in 1619 Jamestown, its impact on Native Americans and Africans, and the origins of a religious and culturally diverse 21st-century America.

62 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

TNJlife

Project 1619 Inc.'s August 2018 commemoration of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in English North America

Historic Jamestowne: Democracy & Diversity, April 1-Sept.

30. Jamestown Rediscovery and the National Park Service will focus on the establishment of representative government and rule of law, protections for private property, and sustained encounters among Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans, who first came together at Jamestown. This includes programs that exhibit the site where “Angela,” one of the first documented Africans in Virginia, lived in the mid-1620s.

Dance Theatre of Harlem World Premiere, May 3-5. The 2019 Commemoration and the Virginia Arts Festival commissioned Dance Theatre of Harlem to choreograph a new ballet around the original three cultures of Virginia—Native American, European, and African—and the ongoing impact of diversity in the U.S. today.

Souls Grown Deep. African-American Art at VMFA, June 8Nov. 17. This special exhibition at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) celebrates the contributions of AfricanAmerican artists to art and culture since 1619. The exhibition will include paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings and quilts from the VMFA’s permanent collection, and will feature recent acquisitions of works by contemporary AfricanAmerican artists from the Southern U.S. Determined: The 400-year Struggle for Black Equality, June 19-Jan. 5, 2020. This Virginia Museum of History & Culture exhibition will explore the African-American experience from the arrival of the first Africans in English North America in 1619 to today.

African Arrival: Fort Monroe Visitor and Education Center Dedication Ceremony, Aug. 23-25. Fort Monroe Authority and the National Park Service host the dedication ceremony marking the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in English North America. At the renovated former Coast Artillery School Library at Fort Monroe, stories will be told of Captain John Smith, the arrival of the first enslaved Africans, and the culmination of 242 years of slavery as the first contrabands came to Fort Monroe to receive their emancipation.

The full schedule of 2019 Commemoration events can be TNJ viewed at www.americanevolution2019.com/events.

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www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 63

health & fitness

TNJlife

Dental Care An ounce of prevention = money in the bank

By Mary Hunt

T

his issue’s topic is not pretty, but unless you have $8,000 earmarked for dental care, it could prevent a lot of pain both dental and financial.

Periodontal disease is an infection that destroys the attachment fibers and supporting bones that hold the teeth in the jawbone and the jawbone itself.

Bacteria get caught between the teeth and under the gum, forming a sticky substance called plaque that hardens to form tartar. This leads to infection known as gingivitis. As it spreads deeper into the bone, it begins to decay, and pus forms, which causes swelling, redness and bleeding. If not treated, the teeth will become loose and fall out.

Do I have your attention?

Great, because there are relatively inexpensive measures you can take to prevent this ugly situation and all of the very expensive treatments required to treat and (hopefully) reverse it. Here’s how to do that: Floss. It’s the cheapest thing you can do to improve and maintain your dental health. Floss between the teeth and the gum line. This is the only way to effectively remove plaque from between the teeth. If you have difficulty flossing, purchase a floss handle.

Water floss. Or use a water flosser.

If you hate to floss for any reason at all, you really need to think about investing in a Waterpik device. It is cool and fun to use, and it costs a fraction of a single professional cleaning.

Power brush. Use a power brush like an Oral-B Professional or a Phillips Sonicare to effectively scrub and

vibrate the soft plaque away. These devices are so amazing, it’s almost like getting a professional cleaning every time you brush. A power brush is well worth the investment.

Massage. Use a rubber tip stimulator to massage the gum between the teeth. This toughens the gum and makes it more impervious to bacterial infection. Follow up by using a quality tongue cleaner for extra fresh breath.

Mouthwash. Finish up your daily routine with a good fluoride mouthwash.

Professional cleaning. Have a good professional cleaning at least annually. You do need to keep this appointment. And get ready. If you are routinely performing the steps above, the hygienist will be doing the happy dance while reaching for the gold stars.

You’ll deserve one for doing such a great job.

Cost. So what will all of this prevention cost? Dental floss is cheap. You can get yards and yards of it at any drug or grocery store for a buck or two. Prerinse and gum stimulators are inexpen-

64 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

sive as well. Most rechargeable batterypowered toothbrushes sell for $60 to $100. A Waterpik comes in under $40.

A professional cleaning and exam varies across the country but runs from $50 to $140. If you absolutely cannot afford a powered brush, the best alternative is to brush with a soft-bristle nylon toothbrush. A systematic routine of flossing and brushing is the only way to prevent periodontal disease.

In terms of the cost of failing to prevent gum disease, allow me to scare you to death.

Gingivitis. If you have gum disease with no bone damage (called gingivitis), the cost of scaling and root planing with follow-up appointments may cost up to $1,800 or more.

Periodontitis. If there is bone damage (called periodontitis) that needs surgical intervention, the surgical fee could tack on another $4,000 to $5,000 — up to $10,000 depending on the severity of the disease. If bone needs to be regrown by various bone regenerating methods, the cost may be an additional $300 to $400 per tooth. Should you be fortunate to have all 32 of your pearly whites, well, you do the math.

Extraction. If you are unfortunate to have untreatable periodontal disease, extraction of hopelessly diseased teeth could cost $100 or more per tooth. And a really cheap full set of removable dentures will run $8,000 up to $18,000 depending on the kind you TNJ prefer to wear.

after hours

TNJlife

The Studio Museum in Harlem Reaching across generations and spaces

By Levar Alonzo

L

ast June, artist Maren Hassinger, in partnership with The Studio Museum in Harlem, unveiled “Monuments,” a series of eight site-specific sculptures that will be on display for one year — through June 10, 2019 — at New York City’s Marcus Garvey Park. The exhibition is part of The Studio Museum’s ongoing series of more off-site, tangible pieces of artwork in the neighborhood called inHarlem, with hopes of deepening its influence and provide more accessibility to art for the community.

“We’re reaching across the generations, and across both indoor and outdoor spaces, to present these projects,” says Hallie Ringle, assistant curator at The Studio Museum. “These new inHarlem exhibitions touch on themes of community, creative energy, respect for the earth, and histories both told and untold.”

The museum’s building at 144 West 125th Street is closed while construction of a new building on the site is under way. “As we move toward the start of construction on our new home, we’re very proud to be working with partners in our community to present new work by remarkable artists,” Thelma Golden, director and chief curator at The Studio Museum, told The Network Journal in a recent interview. “We are

grateful to the artists, our partner institutions, and our generous supporters for enabling us to engage our community with these exhibitions.”

The sculptures themselves take on Hassinger’s view of looking at humanity as organisms that are connected to each other and to nature. She used branches to create forms that respond to aspects of the park’s landscape, an outcropping of rock, a rectangle near flowerbeds, and an oval near the pool.

Each piece she designed came about by following the contours and respecting the place that the piece would occupy.

“Every piece fits, they embody the space where they are; you could miss them if you’re not paying attention, they aren’t gaudy, they just fit,” Hassinger says. “The pieces are all part of the environment, they are connected just like how we are all connected to each other and to our surroundings.”

She insists that the pieces do not take away from their locations. Rather, the plan was to strategically place the pieces to fit into their surroundings.

Two of the eight pieces that accurately demonstrate her vision are the chessboard and the mountain. The chessboard is cleverly placed next to the section on the park where visitors come to test their skills and wit in chess games.

The sculpture’s branches are intricately stacked vertically and horizontally to represent a three-dimensional chessboard. The mountain, meanwhile, takes on the shape of the rock formation in front of which it sits, mimicking the curves and dips of the rock face.

This exhibition is a partnership between the museum, the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, and New York City Parks Department. The branches used in the design of the sculptures were collected and donated from parks throughout the boroughs. Wood chips and chicken wire used to frame some of the sculptures were locally sourced as well. “Parks is pleased to partner with The Studio Museum in Harlem, bringing public art to Marcus Garvey Park,” says New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. “We look forward to presenting this profoundly meaningful group of works to the surrounding communities and visitors to the park.”

The museum’s inHarlem initiative presents exhibitions and events at various partner and satellite locations in Harlem. Other programs take place at additional partner locations throughout the city and beyond. For more information, go to the museum’s website at TNJ www.studiomuseum.org.

www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 65

book review Gigged: The End of the Job and The Future of Work Author: Sarah Kessler Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (June 12, 2018) Pages: 289 pages ISBN: 978-1250097897

Reviewed by Terri Schlichenmeyer

A

s a kid, your allowance bought you what you needed but what you wanted, well, you had to figure that out yourself. A dime here, a dollar there, little chores for pay, tasks for Grandma, and you made it work.

As you’ll see in “Gigged: The End of the Job and the Future of Work,” by Sarah Kessler, some things never change.

In 2011, when she was a reporter for a tech blog, Kessler became aware of a new start-up that used nontraditional workers in nontraditional ways. It was called Uber, and its business concept seemed unusual. Kessler paid it little heed.

Eventually, though, she began to see that the model Uber was using was being used for a lot of start-ups and could, potentially, benefit a lot of people. Was this gig economy really the way of the future? It had been around for a while. In the early 1970s, Kelly Girls were available for temp work; becoming a Kelly Girl was advertised as a way to pay for life’s extras. But research showed then, as it does now, that temp working and gig economy jobs are taken more as a way to make ends meet.

Intrigued, Kessler began to follow a few people who paid the bills with nontraditional jobs they took for a variety of reasons. She profiled people who were young and tech-savvy,

TNJlife

but not so mobile.

Their backgrounds varied, as did their ethnicity. In other words, they fit in with the average gig worker, whose numbers “grew 47-fold between 2012 and 2015.” While gig-working did, indeed, pay the bills for Kessler’s subjects, she also learned that it was not all good. Yes, there was “independence, flexibility, and freedom,” but it often offered low pay, few-to-no benefits, and no safety net. It saved employers money, but the hassles were daunting and “churn” could churn the stomach.

Kessler offers tantalizing clues and more than one caveat as to “what the future might look like.” For anyone who’s wondered if there’s real cash to be made gigging, this book sets it straight. Kessler’s subjects made money, but it was hard, hard work and none of them are still gig-economy workers. Recommendations are sparse. For business owners, temp workers and small tasks seem to go hand-in-hand, but Kessler outlines many laws and rules that might make your head spin.

And, it appears, further legislation is coming.

Readers would be correct in assuming that we haven’t heard the final word on this subject. In the meantime, “Gigged” is interesting, informative, and timely. Until the dust has settled, that’ll have to be enough. TNJ

Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist’s Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America

The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers

By Dorothy Butler Gilliam Center Street/Hachette Book Group, January 2019 $27, 368 pps.

In this memoir, Dorothy Butler Gilliam recounts her 60-year career as a distinguished journalist, beginning in 1961 when she became the first African-American woman reporter at The Washington Post. “I had come to the newspaper with the same credentials as its white journalists, and I did not want to be stereotyped as qualified to cover only black stories,” Gilliam writes.

Though she faced prejudice, Gilliam was determined to be successful during a time when attitudes toward racial equality were as challenging as ever. Gilliam shares personal and professional experiences to relate stories of her struggles and triumphs as a reporter working at the prestigious newspaper, recalling some of her assignments such as covering the integration of Central High School and the Civil Rights Movement. With a true reporter’s eye for detail, she chronicles her path in an industry she helped to change, from overcoming barriers to encouraging colleagues and generations that followed. Her life’s story of commitment and perseverance is truly inspirational.

By Bridgett M. Davis Little, Brown and Co., January 2019 $28, 308 pps.

How long are you supposed to hold on to a secret? Can you ever tell it? Ever? When revealing that secret becomes, in fact, an honest celebration of life, family, self-identity and empowerment then I believe it’s okay to spill the beans. Growing up in Detroit, in the 1960s and 1970s, author Bridgett Davis kept a secret: Her mother ran a successful business running the Numbers, an illegal, underground form of today’s popular lottery. In this affectionate portrayal, the author writes with stirring soulfulness, tenderness, and wit about how her mother’s fortitude, ingenuity, drive to survive, and unapologetic love for her children and family “gave her a shot at the American dream.” The book also shows how the Numbers afforded a means of economic uplift for many people in Black communities when opportunities were stacked against them.

Davis kept her secret until she could no longer keep from “running her mouth.” What luck for the readers of this well-told story that she decided to tell.

— Clarence V. Reynolds

66 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

calendar Information on events listed in this calendar may be subject to change.

Please confirm with the event sponsors, including any fees charged for attendance.

Cosmologies From The Tree Of Life: Art from the African American South. June 8-Nov. 17. Presented by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA).

Paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings and quilts from the VMFA’s permanent collection, and recent acquisitions of works by contemporary African-American artists from the Southern U.S. VMFA, 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond, Va., 23220. For more information, go to www.americanevolution2019.com.

TNJlife 2019 National Black Writers Conference Biennial Symposium.

March 23. Presented by Medgar Evers College under the theme, “Playwrights and Screenwriters at the Crossroads,” with a tribute to playwright and poet Ntozake Shange. Medgar Evers College, 1650 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y., 11225. To register and for more information, please visit www.centerforblackliterature.org.

5th Annual Content Marketing Conference. April 16-19. Presented by CMC. The Boston Westin Waterfront, 25 Summer Street, Boston, Mass., 02210. For more information and to register, go to www.contentmarketingconference.com.

Eric N. Mack: Lemme walk across the room. Through July 7. The

Network Journal. New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, Broadway Ballroom, 6th Floor, 1535 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10036. 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more information, contact Sergie Willoughby, (212) 962-3791, sergie@tnj.com, or go to www.tnj.com/25-influential-black-womenbusiness-awards-luncheon-information/

Presented by the DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown, 600 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, Penn., 15222. For more information and to register, call 571-297-4035, email infoDOE@aetherquest.com, or go to www.smallbusiness.energy.gov.

801 Mt. Vernon Place, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20001. 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, contact the Federal Business Council, 800-878-2940, email bj@fbcinc.com, or go to www.fbcinc.com/e/procurement.

Studio Museum In Harlem. Eight sculptures that address aspects of Marcus Garvey Park’s natural and built environment, using found twigs and branches.

Marcus Garvey Park, 6316 Mt. Morris Park West, New York, N.Y., 10027. For more information, call The Studio Museum in Harlem, 212-864-4500, or go to www.studiomuseum.org.

21st Annual 25 Influential Black Women in Business Awards Luncheon. March 22. Presented by The

18th Annual U.S. Department of Energy Small Business Forum & Expo (USDOE19). April 16–18.

29th Annual Federal Government Procurement Conference. April 18.

Maren Hassinger: Monuments.

Through June 10. Presented by The

Brooklyn Museum, with the support of Deutsche Bank, presents the first New York City solo exhibition by Eric N. Mack, emerging textile artist and painter. Curated

by Ashley James. Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, 11238.

For more information, go to www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/eric_mack.

Montgomery Road, Tuskegee, Ala., 36088.

For more information, call 202-358-2088, or email smallbusiness@nasa.gov.

New York City solo exhibition by Eric N. Mack

American Express Summit for Success: Atlanta. March 28. The Westin Peachtree Plaza, 210 Peachtree Street, N.W., Atlanta, Ga., 30303. 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information and to register, go to www.cvent.com/ events/american-express-summit-forsuccess-atlanta/custom-35949dbd70325942478f29054cfc5ef0f6.asp x?RefID=Atlanta?

NASA HBCU/MSI Technology Infusion Road Tour at Tuskegee University. April 9-10. Presented by NASA Office of Small Business Programs.

Tuskegee University, 1200 W.

Government Grants, Low Interest Loan Programs, and Tax Incentives Available to Small Businesses. May 14. Presented by Entrepreneurs’ Organization. A Morning MOJO event featuring Marsha Parris, New York Grant Company. Morning MOJO, Corporate Suites, 1180 Avenue of the Americas, 8th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10036. 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. For more information or to RSVP, contact Entrepreneurs’ Organization at https://eonyc.org.

Ninth Annual Veteran Entrepreneur Training Symposium (VETS19). May 29-31. Presented by the National Veteran Small Business Coalition. The San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter, 101 Bowie Street, San Antonio, Texas, 78205. For more information and to register, go to TNJ https://www.nvsbc.org.

LIST YOUR EVENT FOR FREE Send submissions to: The Network Journal, Calendar of Events, 39 Broadway, Suite 2430, New York, NY 10006, Fax: 212-962-3537 www.tnj.com • Spring 2019 • The Network Journal 67

FINAL WORD

Why Invest in Black STEM Graduates A strategy for future economic growth

By Andre M. Perry, Ph.D.

W

hen demographers and pundits talk about the U.S. transitioning in the future to a minority-white country, you get a sense they are almost threatening businesses to hire people of color with an “or else the entire house of cards will fall” argument. By not investing in diversity, and continuing to ask advocates of diversity to “make a business case” for it, companies are stifling innovation and growth.

The reality is, many people in power don’t really believe they need to hire

no one will put money into fixing problems or deficits.

More than anyone else, Black people need others to focus on their strengths. After all, begging to be let in the door hasn’t worked very well so far.

So the way forward is to highlight assets, like the high proportion of highly educated Black people in many cities throughout the country.

Urban leaders, whether of minoritywhite cities or not, must show the benefits of diversity to their constituents as well as business leaders looking for a

“The way forward is to highlight assets, like the high proportion of highly educated Black people in many cities throughout the country.”

Black people or women to be successful. After all, look how far they’ve come by hiring and promoting mostly white men! Plus, the argument for diversity and inclusion because the country is becoming majority non-white is essentially a call to change tech companies’ business models, the same business models that have bestowed on them massive wealth and privilege. White people aren’t just going to hand that — and the potential to earn wealth and political power — over.

We shouldn’t have to threaten recalcitrant business leaders with demographic reports; the white minority is already here. There are more than 1,200 majority-Black cities in the U.S. and many need concrete investments, thanks in no small part to the legacy of racism, but

new home to set up shop. In fact, cities that can show how they are freer of barriers such as discrimination, which stunts economic growth, will have an advantage over other cities.

Employers, particularly tech companies, are demanding workers with skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) at unprecedented levels. Even though the tech industry has been thoroughly criticized for its lack of diversity — it is overwhelmingly white and male—most Black people don’t expect companies to miraculously feel obligated to hire them to counter these criticisms.

Black workers, especially in majority-Black cities, want to leverage their assets like anyone else. Places with higher proportions of Black STEM

68 The Network Journal • Spring 2019 • www.tnj.com

graduates have assets that companies and other Black employees can build upon for future economic growth.

Investing in assets like a Black STEM workforce will create a virtuous cycle of economic development.

Companies with diverse staff will produce better products because they can draw on diverse perspectives to meet the demands of a diversifying marketplace.

The places where these companies are located will attract higher-quality, diverse talent that draws investment and accelerates business growth.

The reality alone of a majoritynonwhite future won’t miraculously expand inclusive economic opportunities and ensure continued growth and opportunity for our country’s increasingly diverse population.

Rather, smart and concerted investment is needed to build on our strengths to deliver those results.

Let’s focus on opportunities to build up Black organizations and social networks that thrive in spite of racist policies. Let’s look to invest in places where Black and brown people are given more opportunities and can have better outcomes. When these employers come out ahead, benefiting from valuable untapped Black assets, the rest of the world will have to sit TNJ up and take notice.

Andre M. Perry, Ph.D., is a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. His research focuses on race and structural inequality education, and economic inequality. The above article was first published online on Aug. 7, 2018, at “The Avenue,” a Metropolitan Policy Program news and analysis blog. It is reprinted here in its entirety with permission.

FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES WE HELPED POWER THE HUDSON VALLEY. And now, as part of an agreement with the State, Entergy is working toward an early and orderly shut down of Indian Point by 2021.

Our agreement with New York State will see Indian Point Unit 2 shut down by April 30, 2020, and Unit 3 by April 30, 2021. Until then, Indian Point will continue powering New York safely, securely and reliably with the facility’s full staff of nearly 1,000 nuclear industry professionals.

Entergy has owned the two nuclear plants at Indian Point for more than 15 years. Since purchasing the generating units, we’ve safely delivered hundreds of millions of megawatt hours of virtually emissions-free electricity to the Hudson Valley and New York City, while investing more than $1.3 billion in new equipment and safety improvements.

Currently, Indian Point provides about 25 percent of the electricity used in New York City and Westchester each year. Indian Point’s capacity factor, the ratio of a plant’s actual output compared to its potential, has increased under Entergy’s ownership from approximately 60 percent to more than 90 percent. The plants at Indian Point have proven to be one of the most reliable generating stations in New York State.

Key considerations in our decision to shut down Indian Point ahead of schedule include sustained low and projected wholesale energy prices, as well as increased operating costs and continuing costs for license renewal beyond the $200 million already spent. Record low natural gas prices have driven down electricity prices in this area

by about 55 percent over the last ten years, to a record low level. At this current and projected rate, Entergy simply couldn’t continue operating Indian Point in a manner that was economically viable.

We fully recognize that this planned shutdown is a significant event for the local economy and for our surrounding communities. Importantly, we will be here for the next four-plus years, producing electricity, providing jobs and wages, paying taxes and making local purchases. In addition, following shutdown Entergy will provide $15 million in funding as part of our continued commitment to community stakeholders and environmental stewardship. We believe this approach supports an orderly shutdown, and provides time and resources for the state and local communities to transition to new energy and economic opportunities.

As we work toward an orderly shutdown, safety is and will continue to be the top priority of everyone at Indian Point. Based on thousands of hours of inspections each year, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has placed both plants in its top regulatory column for safety. We fully intend to continue this exemplary safety record over the coming years.

We thank all our neighbors here in the Hudson Valley, and especially in the Village of Buchanan, for your support and friendship. It has been an honor to serve you for more than four decades.

NYPA Builds Powerful Relationships With MWBEs The New York Power Authority (NYPA), the largest state electric utility in the nation, values working with minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs).

NYPAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Supplier Diversity Program has done more than $900 million in business with MWBEs. We continually look for purchasing opportunities that will build relationships with companies providing new products and services in â&#x20AC;˘ Electric Utility Operations and Equipment â&#x20AC;˘ Sustainability and Energy Efficiency â&#x20AC;˘ Renewable Technologies To learn about NYPA Supplier Diversity www.nypa.gov/sdp/default.htm or contact 7JDUPSJB %BOJFMT .BOBHFS Supplier Diversity WJDUPSJB EBOJFMT!OZQB HPW