As a former banker, with grad studies in behavioral psychology, Pam Teagarden works from the intersection of business and behaviors. She developed AI models of ‘Inclusive Diversity’ using cutting-edge systems information to provide performance-based measures of effective inclusion, linking diverse workforces directly to increasing competitive advantage and to sustainable high levels of employee engagement.
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Leadership Planning Podcast Series – by Deborah Levine
Planning for Leaders
Welcome to the 4-part podcast series created to assist new and aspiring entrepreneurs and community activists in planning for the future. Originally created from entrepreneurs in Cameroon, this series demonstrates how to map your Vision & Mission, proceed to Goals & Objectives, map your tasks & budget, and create your success story.
PART 1: VISION & MISSION
PART 2: GOALS & OBJECTIVES
PART 3: TASKS & BUDGETS
PART 4: THE STORY
Dr. Val Margarit: Transformational Education
Dr. Val Margarit is an expert in Transformational Education, an award-winning educational leader, college professor, speaker, and the author of Why Not You? How to Become an Empowered Woman.
Val has a Doctorate in Education/ Educational Leadership and Masters & Bachelors degrees in Sociology and political science. She teaches, mentors, and advises future educational leaders. A passionate advocate, Val speaks on education equity, women empowerment, gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
Val grew up on a farm in a third world country, without money or indoor plumbing, and was determined to change her family’s legacy. Her mother’s lack of education set her on a transformational journey from working on a farm, working in a factory at 16 years old, moving across the globe, learning English, working multiple jobs, and becoming a transformational educator. Val believes that ”achieving one’s full potential has less to do with genetics and IQ and everything to do with opportunity, high quality education, and how you think about and live your life – the habits, self-discipline, resilience, hard work, and mindsets.”
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Our Fall Creek Falls Challenge – by Deborah Levine
Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
Your may think that the cost overrun for the Fall Creek inn is a TN state budget issue is just a dollars and cents issue. You’re probably annoyed that you’re paying for the extra $11 million with your tax dollars. Those overruns pushed the replacement cost from $29.4 to $40.4 million and pushed the completion date from 2020 to 2021. Was it an accident that increased the damage? Were mistakes made and now you’re stuck paying the bill to clean up the mess? The answer should get your attention, and keep it.
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Keith Weedman: Empowerment & Change
Keith Weedman is Principal/ Founder of Level 3 by Design, LLC. focusing on empowerment & change. He is also a member of the Strategic Diversity & Inclusion LinkedIn network. His background includes an advanced degree in Psychology and undergraduate degree in Industrial Management. Founder of a non-profit organization that empowers public assistance clients to become financially self-sufficient, he also boosts volunteers’ empowerment skills. Weedman’s expertise in socio-economic diversity is featured in a case study by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
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Call terrorism by its name – by Deborah Levine
It was painful waking up to the terrorism news that suicide bombers in Sri Lanka had targeted hotels and churches during Easter services. Hundreds of people were killed and hundreds more were injured. At first, officials pointed to the perpetrators as a local group of radical Islamists espousing a terrorist ideology. Then they announced that international connections had helped design the attacks. At this point, Sri Lanka shut down online social networks, a move that would limit conspiracy theories, copy cat attempts, and violent revenge attempts. Was the ban prompted by guilt that warnings had been ignored, or by the experience days before in Paris?Continue reading Call terrorism by its name – by Deborah Levine
Be Healthy! – Interview with Alicia Mitchell
Think Healthy. Live Healthy. Be Healthy.
Alicia Mitchell, owner of The Smoothie Patch in Oak Ridge, TN, is helping communities understand how eating real food can by healthy: restore and maintain health.
Over the last 5 decades, Americans have had ill-fated food options that have become sources for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and non-alcoholic Fatty Liver disease (NASH), to name a few.
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National Welding Month: Challenge & Opportunity – by Deborah Levine
In April, I joined the Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers Association (CRMA) Alliance in Manufacturing Excellence (AIME) as Editor-in-Chief of the American Diversity Report. I was invited to be the official communications person by Lulu Copeland, the facilitator and committee chair of CRMA AIME. Copeland is also the founding member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) for whom I facilitated an inaugural panel years ago. My assignment at this event marking National Welding Month was to interview women in the welding profession.
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Women, Guns, but No Roses – by Deborah Levine
(Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Years ago, I sat on a bench with a group of women in a neighborhood park watching my toddler play in the sandbox. A young woman sitting next to me and commented on how adorable my sweetie was. No better way to get a young mother talking than that. So after trading a few more comments on my two-year old, I asked her if she lived near the park like me. Her answer startled me, “I’m officially homeless as of 8 am this morning.”
I turned and stared at her. “I called the police to tell them that my boyfriend was threatening me with a gun. They came immediately, but instead of arresting him, they told me to leave the apartment because I was agitating him.” Smiling at my confusion, she showed me a black-and-blue mark on her arm and said, “How do you think I got this?” Then she said that the police advised her she to never go back because they couldn’t guarantee her safety. “It’s my apartment, under my name, I furnished it and pay the rent! I should at least be able to get my clothes. ” I couldn’t think of anything to say as she wandered off muttering, “I need to find a shelter somewhere.”
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Bermuda Jews Part 1: Returning for Passover – by Deborah Levine
(The Bermuda Jews History Series was originally published in The Bermudian Magazine. My family is the only Jewish family to have lived on the island for 4 generations and I am the sole remaining family member who grew up there. My grandfather is one of Bermuda’s Founding 400 and I want to ensure that the legacy of Jews is honored.)
In the 1990s, I made my first trip to Bermuda in fifteen years. My family, once the mainstay of Bermuda Jews, were long gone from the island. The first whiff of salty sea air hasn’t changed but the airport is a jumble of construction. A short jog across the tarmac should end in a hushed wait for the appearance of a customs agent, sitting patiently on the dark wood furniture of the terminal’s old-fashioned waiting room. Today, official greeters wave us through a temporary cordoned maze to a terminal with a second story, a food court, and customs agents encased in glass booths. An electronically-enhanced steel band strikes an earnest rendition of “Island in the Sun” where a portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth once hung.
Continue reading Bermuda Jews Part 1: Returning for Passover – by Deborah Levine