Category Archives: Advisors

Advisory Council

Advisors, Sports

The Deion Effect: Part One – by Terry Howard

Fine, go ahead. Write off football coach Deion Sanders as an aberration, the latest fad or distraction from stuff that really matters in the world today. 

And while you’re at it, for reasons of curiosity if nothing else, read about the “Deion effect” on the city of Boulder’s revenue bumps ($18 million from the team’s first home game) and sold-out games at home and away. And if you decide to replay recent games, good luck because your attention may get sidetracked by starstruck, sunglass wearing celebrities strutting up and down the sidelines snapping selfies while chortling …. “Primetime,” “Primetime,” “Primetime!”  

Love him or loath him, over a short period of time, Sanders has managed to jettison national disasters, an auto workers’ strike, political finger-pointing and the latest on an ex-president from front page news and dinnertime conversations.  

Continue reading The Deion Effect: Part One – by Terry Howard →

DL Opinion columns

Inter-generational education needed now – by  Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

All too often we look at the elderly as outliers to society, and the presidential election is embedding in our minds that being old is a non-starter. It’s getting harder to look at an elderly person and feel that you’re experiencing a great moment. Instead, they’re recipients of our sympathy, and objects of charity. That’s why funding Social Security is the only political issue focused on seniors. And that’s women who want to advertise products or be newscasters on TV face-lift themselves silly. The value of being a senior citizen is fading. 

Continue reading Inter-generational education needed now – by  Deborah Levine →

Levine articles, Social Issues, USA Culture

Tracking our Terrorist Destructors – by Deborah Levine

1 Comment

I used to write about terrorist destructors in the U.S. every spring. My articles began with the domestic terrorism of the Oklahoma City bombing more than thirty years ago on April 19.  That’s when I became the community/media liaison for Oklahoma’s Tulsa Jewish Federation. It was shortly after the bombing destroyed the Murrah Building and so many lives were affected. I felt compelled to investigate what led to the deadliest bombing, prior to 9/11, on our native soil.  The violent hatred that I saw has not only continued, but has expanded globally, and now, it  encompasses the entire year.

Continue reading Tracking our Terrorist Destructors – by Deborah Levine →

Advisors, Groundbreakers storytelling

Reflection on Women Groundbreakers Storytelling: Serving Diverse Communities – by Dr. Deborah Ashton

On March 7, 2024, women groundbreakers, who work locally and globally to serve diverse communities in their respective fields gathered in Chattanooga, Tennessee to share their stories with Deborah Levine, CEO of the American Diversity Report. The women groundbreakers were: 

  • LuLu Copeland – Director: Economic & Workforce Development Administration /Chattanooga State Community College, Exec. Director at TN-China Network, 
  • Dr. Gail Dawson – Associate Prof. of Management and Director of Diversity & Inclusion at the Rollins College of Business /U. of TN/ Chattanooga,
  • Vanessa Jackson – Program Specialist with the City of Chattanooga’s Office of Multicultural Affairs and one of Chattanooga’s first Neighborhood Relations Specialists,
  • Teletha McJunkin – For the past 8 years, she has led and coordinated international, multicultural, multi-lingual teams developing strategies in the areas of human and environmental rights.

Continue reading Reflection on Women Groundbreakers Storytelling: Serving Diverse Communities – by Dr. Deborah Ashton →

Advisors, Authors A-H

Again, cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face – by Terry Howard

I chuckled at the news a few years ago about farmers who whined and bellyached about those “illegals” flooding the borders – southern borders, of course. Well, those tax-paying “illegals” apparently got the message because over a relatively short period of time their numbers of crossings plummeted. 

Well, to the surprise of those forward-looking farmers, that summer much of their crops rotted in the sun because “illegals” were no longer available to pick them, and “real Americans” took a pass on those jobs.

Continue reading Again, cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face – by Terry Howard →

DL Opinion columns

International Women’s Day: Past and Present Converge – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Don’t be surprised that I love March, Women’s History Month. I was in the first Women’s Liberation March down Manhattan’s 5th Ave. in 1970. Betty Friedan led the march with NYC providing a permit for using just one lane of traffic. The 50,000 turnout was massive and Betty led us into the full width of 5th Avenue, startling law enforcement. I remember tripping over traffic cones meant as barricades. Unfortunately, some barricades seem to last forever. 

Continue reading International Women’s Day: Past and Present Converge – by Deborah Levine →

Advisors, Around the world, Books

Diversity and Speech Part 45: Writing about Someone Else’s Culture – by  Carlos E. Cortés and Ellen Estilai

2 Comments

Co-Authored Interview

Carlos:  Ellen, we’ve taken creative writing classes together for a number of years, so it’s nice to discuss your fascinating new book, Exit Prohibited (Inlandia Institute, 2023), about your family’s escape from revolutionary Iran.

Ellen: Yes, Carlos.  I love talking about memoir with another memoir writer.

Carlos: So, let’s start from the beginning.  How did you become part of Iran?

Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 45: Writing about Someone Else’s Culture – by  Carlos E. Cortés and Ellen Estilai →

Advisors, Sports

Black college athletes: Listen to the NAACP – by Terry Howard

That’s the headline of a column in a recent issue of USA Today. It was written in the form of an open letter to Black athletes and extensively quoted NAACP Board director and Chairman Leon Russell and President and CEO Derrick Johnson in their letter to Charlie Baker, head of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Now since it appeared just a few days after I’d started developing the piece you’re now reading, of course it got my immediate attention and, like a mosquito in a nudist colony, it provided me with lots and lots of stuff to cherry pick from. 

Continue reading Black college athletes: Listen to the NAACP – by Terry Howard →

Academic Articles, Advisors, Around the world, Authors A-H, Social Issues

Catalyzing Inclusive Urban Economies- by Ainesh Dey

The Dynamics of Urban Economies in India 

 In the rapidly changing landscape of urban economies in India, nuanced civic engagement, enhanced transparency, accountability, and representation have come to the forefront as significant issues. This piece seeks to investigate the shift in the public administration’s discourse from a traditional solution to a more collaborative one  with the aim of creating  inclusive and sustainable policy frameworks.

The prospect of nuanced civic engagement in democratic processes plays an important role in spearheading transparency, accountability and representation. It also strengthens  the overall socio-political and economic character of contemporary administrative discourse. At a time when we are experiencing a paradigm shift from traditional redressal of grievances to instances of collaborative solution building, considerable emphasis has been laid on the effective streamlining of policy frameworks, thereby making them more inclusive and sustainable.

Continue reading Catalyzing Inclusive Urban Economies- by Ainesh Dey →

DL Opinion columns

Finding the joy in a world gone to the dogs – by Deborah Levine

2 Comments

 ( originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press)  

With the news being so depressing and alarming these days, is there any relief? There’s Russia and the murder of Putin protester Alexei Navalney, and the Middle East mess. Then there’s the US with 2024 having the second-highest number on record of mass killings and deaths to this point in a single year. Last year ended with 42 mass killings and 217 deaths. I’m guessing that the final numbers for 2024 will be even worse. My brain hurts and I’m sure that I’m not alone in looking for a ray of sunshine. 

Continue reading Finding the joy in a world gone to the dogs – by Deborah Levine →