I often hear that leadership is greatly needed in these challenging times. But what does leadership mean? Is it a matter of personality? Is leadership defined by mission and goals? Are leaders inspirational figures who leave the nuts and bolts to others? The more we try to define leadership, the more the concept undefinable. “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept,” said Ralph Stogdill, a Professor of Management Science and Psychology known for his research and publications on the Personal Factors Associated with Leadership.
I just got a message from Yuri Bova, mayor of the Ukrainian city, Trostyanets. He wanted to catch me up on their wartime situation and get my support. Trostyanets is just 20 miles from the Russian border and was high on Putin’s list when Russia invaded Ukraine. The city was devastated by Russian troops that Putin intended to lead parades celebrating the Russian takeover of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. That didn’t happen. What did happen was the wrecking of schools, hospitals, roads, and stores along multiple murders and thefts of everything of value. Horrifying!
What to do? That’s what I asked myself when Mayor Yuri came to Chattanooga to visit Mayor Tim Kelly and Sister Cities. It was heartrending to hear about the destruction then, and still is. I was so moved that I wrote a column about Ukraine for the Times Free Press in March 2025. And I included stories about my friend Angelika Riano who had recently returned from Ukraine where she supported the International Ukrainian Crisis Fund. Her involvement in the Fund’s humanitarian aid was inspiring then, and remains so today.
A World War II Liberator’s daughter honors his legacy by battling disabilities, discrimination, and hate in her journey from being disabled and homeless, to repairing our broken world. 6-part TV Series
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On December 21, 2025, The Harvard Crimson published an article reporting that the Harvard Salient’s board of directors suspended the conservative student magazine in October 2025 due to racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. In addition, a Harvard Salient author claimed, “Germany belongs to the Germans, France to the French, Britain to the British, America to the Americans.” When confronted with evidence that this statement echoed Adolf Hitler’s 1939 speech, the author defended himself by citing ignorance. This incident showcases the use of patriotism as a veneer for alt-right nationalism, recalling Samuel Johnson’s 1775 assertion that “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” While this does not necessarily label the young writer as a scoundrel, the situation raises important questions about who defines national identity and underscores the need to differentiate nationalism from far-right or white nationalist movements.
During 2025 few trends, if any, received more attention than developments in artificial intelligence.You can hardly pick up a magazine or listen to a newscast without hearing something about AI.However, I have encountered relatively little addressing the intersection of AI and diversity.
What might AI mean for diversity?What can diversity advocates do to address the implications of AI?Questions range from the ethical to the practical.In this column I will focus on one question: what are some of the diversity implications arising from the creation of AI databases and the resulting “information” that they supply when prompted?
Polling, last election, and recent election in Miami forebode a promising 2026.
2026 will be a year of accountability and justice! The year blatant disregard this administration has shown for the law and the constitution will be called out and many will be held to account.
With Marjorie Taylor Green retiring in January and several (some say many) representatives to follow, the House Majority will turn back to the Democrats long before the elections in November.Imagine all of those special elections in the current political environment?
Artificial Intelligence is like the weeds growing in my backyard. The AI quickly takes over all the other plants and I often forget that there were actual flowers blooming by my back porch. The impact on our lives is spreading widely. It can be scary when emergency phone lines are now answered by AI. And I was not happy to hear that my son-in-law would lose his position in international banking to AI. So I didn’t know what to think when I was offered a job with an AI company.
A friend who runs local programs for seniors asked me about Hanukkah. She knew that the Jewish holiday was coming before Christmas, but wasn’t sure when. The first of 8 nights of Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, December 14. The date often differs according to our calendar, but remains constant on the Jewish calendar as the 25th of the month of Kislev.
Religious diversity and holidays are challenging regardless of the time of year with deeply held beliefs regarding food, sacred texts, and worship traditions. Yet, there is no season like the end of the year for demonstrating cultural differences linked to religion. The differences can be glaring, giving rise to culture clashes and political controversies. It’s astonishing that there was ever a planetary-wide agreement on a calendar that named the months, determined their length and decreed when one year ends and the next begins. How did that calendar happen and can we capture the global mindset that created it for today’s “Holiday Season”?
I’ve always been a bit perplexed when it comes to the intersection of economics and diversity.Maybe this is inevitable because of the sprawling, multifaceted, and contentious nature of the field of economics itself.As the old saying goes, “You can stack all of the world’s economists end to end and never reach a conclusion.”
So rather than belaboring you with false certainties and pat generalizations about the economics-diversity nexus, I’ll tell you a story.It’s a story about one acquaintance and two friends, each of whom contributed to my still-developing thinking about this topic.Here goes.
LOGLINE
