Podcasts about development conference

Over the summer, some friends and I who are involved in the IFA Marketing & Innovation Committee were kicking around some new ideas. How could we get today's top franchise leaders to give valuable advice in-between IFA events? What's the best way for them to share best practices on topics that IFA members want to hear?   So, on a monthly basis, The Social Geek Podcast will present The Marketing & Innovation Update featuring leaders doing truly innovative new things in the areas of franchising, marketing, and more.  Today we will hear from Joe Sieve, Chief Restaurant and Global Development Officer at Papa John's, as well as the Chair of The 2024 Franchise Leadership and Development Conference. Joe shares a preview of FLDC, the opening session, and his panel about Leading Through Challenging Times. Joining Joe on stage will be franchisor CEOs Paul Macaluso, Heather Neary, and Scott Williams. Next, Lou Gammal joins us to talk SWAG! As the CEO of Promotex, Lou has the latest trends on merch and promotional items that make franchisors and supplier stand out at franchise trade shows and events. We're all looking forward to FLDC next week! Thanks International Franchise Association and Franchise Update Media for always putting together the best show of the year.    And thanks for your support Northeast Color, Hughes, Citrin Cooperman, and Tsource!  

In this special episode from the Marine Construction and Engineering Deepwater Development conference in Amsterdam, we dive into discussions about market trends, cutting-edge technologies and the importance of collaboration in the deepwater development sector. Listen as industry leaders share their insights on new technological advancements aimed at reducing offshore emissions, optimizing subsea infrastructure and transforming the economics of smaller developments. The episode also explores the significance of transparent communication between operators and contractors to drive the industry forward.

Send us a Text Message.2.5 Years Ago I met my friend Brandon He invited me to the first A to B Con and I decided not to goI didn't see the vision at the timeI was skeptical at first because it was being hosted 5 minutes away from my houseI ended up seeing all the photos and had FOMO or RTIMO (Regret That I Missed Out)Next time around I made sure not to miss out.Support the Show.HOW TO SUPPORT THE WALK 2 WEALTH PODCAST: 1. Subscribe, Rate, & Review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. 2. Share Episodes with your family, friends, and co-workers.3. LEARN HOW TO CREATE A YEAR'S WORTH OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR WITH CHATGPT: HTTPS://WWW.STOPANDSTARE.MEDIA/CHATGPT

It's been a week since the 2024 Player Development Conference and it is time to recap the SUCCESSFUL event. Get the recorded sessions here: https://buy.stripe.com/fZe8wX0Ts0I23NS6or 2024 Player Development Conference Newsletter Recap: https://open.substack.com/pub/beyondthefield/p/2024-player-development-conference?r=35b7n2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web - NEWSLETTER The Player Development Newsletter: https://beyondthefield.substack.com COURSES Player Development Courses: https://btfplayerdevelopmentcourses.thinkific.com/collections BOOKS Player Development Guide eBook: https://www.btfprogram.com/btf-program-resources/btf-ebook Head Coaches Guide to Player Development eBook: https://www.btfprogram.com/btf-program-resources/hc-guide-to-player-development 100 PLAYER DEVELOPMENT TIPS: https://www.btfprogram.com/btf-program-resources/p/100-player-development-tips - Let's Talk Player Development. Email me here: info@btfprogram.com Visit: https://www.btfprogram.com/ Follow: Twitter - https://twitter.com/BTF_Program Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/btf_program/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BTFProgram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/playerdevelopmentpodcast/message

Thank you so much for joining the 2024 Player Development Conference Mailing List. The following are discussed in the video: - Pillars of PD Conference - Recap of 2023 PD Conference - New Conference Structure - Sponsorship Opportunities Questions, comments, or concerns - email us at info@btfprgram.com Want to SPONSOR?: https://forms.gle/pGMvPKpTf1SaijRd9 Interested in Speaking at the Conference: https://forms.gle/HYjNnMWnXkG9z72ZA - NEWSLETTER The Player Development Newsletter: https://beyondthefield.substack.com COURSES Player Development Courses: https://btfplayerdevelopmentcourses.thinkific.com/ BOOKS Player Development Guide eBook: https://www.btfprogram.com/btf-program-resources/btf-ebook Head Coaches Guide to Player Development eBook: https://www.btfprogram.com/btf-program-resources/hc-guide-to-player-development 100 PLAYER DEVELOPMENT TIPS: https://www.btfprogram.com/btf-program-resources/p/100-player-development-tips - Player Development Conference: Conference Mailing List: https://forms.gle/rc9rKEnsFeYqmpKU6 - Let's Talk Player Development. Email me here: info@btfprogram.com Visit: https://www.btfprogram.com/ Follow: Twitter - https://twitter.com/BTF_Program Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/btf_program/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BTFProgram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/playerdevelopmentpodcast/message

A Wendy's franchisee declares bankruptcy. Consumers are getting tired of tipping. And the big theme at this week's Restaurant Finance and Development Conference? Uncertainty.

The Franchise News Podcast with Jack Monson for November 15, 2023 Live from the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference in Vegas!   Thanks to Text Request  https://www.textrequest.com/ and Adplorer http://www.adplorer.com/  

Tamar Gutner, associate professor of international affairs at American University's School of International Service, leads the conversation on the international financial architecture. FASKIANOS: Thank you. Welcome to today's discussion of the Fall 2023 CFR Academic Webinar Series. I'm Irina Faskianos, vice president of the National Program and Outreach at CFR. Thank you for joining us. Today's discussion is on the record and the video and transcript will be available on our website, CFR.org/academic if you would like to share them with your colleagues or classmates. As always, CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy. We are delighted to have Tamar Gutner with us to discuss the international financial architecture. Dr. Gutner is an associate professor at American University's School of International Service, and expert on the performance of international organizations and their roles in global governance. In 2019, she held a CFR Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at the International Monetary Fund's Independent Evaluation Office. She is the author of International Organizations in World Politics, published by CQ Press; and Banking on the Environment: Multilateral Development Banks and Their Environmental Performance in Central and Eastern Europe, published by MIT Press. And she recently completed a book manuscript on the birth and design of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and its role in the landscape of development banks. So, Dr. Gutner, thank you very much for being with us today. I thought we could begin by having you outline for us the various change-related proposals and activities facing the World Bank, other multilateral development banks, and the International Monetary Fund. Just a small question, but—(laughter)—over to you. GUTNER: Thank you. Thank you, Irina, for introducing me, and thank you for having me as part of this seminar. I think these seminars are just a fantastic way for scholars, professors, students, and others to engage with these important issues, and I'm really excited to see so many people from around the world and professors and students and I see some colleagues in the audience. So I'm really looking forward to engaging with all of you. Right, so this is a critical time for the IMF and the World Bank and other development banks because their importance has been heightened by the need for them to respond to the various crises and challenges that we're facing now. Many of these, as you know, are quite difficult to solve, like climate change. And the world is also dealing with the ongoing economic and social and health repercussions from the pandemic, the repercussions of Russia's invasion of Ukraine including food insecurity. And we're also living in a time when a lot more countries are at high risk of debt distress, and it's a time when it's becoming clear that progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals are stalling. We also have major geopolitical tensions, which is an issue as well. So the IMF and the World Bank are leading international organizations in this scenario today. The IMF has been called the center of the global financial safety net. And the World Bank, meanwhile, is the leading multilateral source of climate finance, and is also playing a huge role in responding to various development challenges that impact its borrowing countries. And also, the regional development banks are addressing these issues as well. So for people who support multilateralism, there's widespread agreement that no one state or actor can solve any of these cross-border issues on their own. And that means we're living in a time when cooperation and multilateral action is absolutely essential, and these people agree we need more to be done to address these issues. But we're also living in a time when many states have inward-looking politics, where there's rising nationalism and populism. And this has produced people and leaders who either don't see the value of international organizations (IOs) like the World Bank and IMF or they see them as contrary to national interests. The IOs themselves—the international organizations themselves—also struggle with relevance sometimes and mixed performance sometimes. And the IMF and World Bank constantly face criticism. They're always being criticized. But I think one important thing to remember is that there's no consensus among the critics. There are always people who want them to do more. There are people who want them to be abolished. So when you're exploring the kind of critiques of these organizations it's important to keep that in mind, just they're coming from different actors and they have different thoughts. And, meanwhile, these institutions themselves, they have—it's tricky for them because they have a tough job. They have to be responsive to their member-state shareholders, who don't always agree with each other. They have to try to be responsive to other stakeholders, for example civil society actors; they don't always agree with each other or with their member states. And so these institutions are constantly being pulled in different directions and they have to navigate that. To their credit, they do try to adapt and adjust, not always effectively. And there's also variation in what they've done well and haven't done well. But it's precisely at this time today with these international crises that the Bank and the Fund and the other MDBs—multilateral development banks—have to try to do better. And what I want to do is offer you a brief overview of some of their efforts to do so and some of the challenges that face these efforts. So I'll begin with the World Bank, which is in the midst of a process to figure out how to update its mission, its vision, its strategy, and its operating model. And this is a process that has been driven by shareholders, including the G20 members, and lots of other consultations. Last fall—well, first of all, I want to say there are a number of proposals on the table on how to reform the World Bank and other MDBs, and they have in common calling for these institutions to do a lot more to address climate change and other global public goods. And some of them call for more effort to better engage with private capital and to rethink how these institutions, which are in part banking institutions, how they can maximize the impact of their capital. So last fall the World Bank embarked on what's been called an evolution roadmap to think through ideas for what should be done. This came out late last year amid calls for the Bank to be bigger and better. And this initiative was launched by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen a year ago, and she led an effort with other non-borrowing and borrowing countries to call for the whole multilateral development bank system to evolve. As she put it, the world has changed and we need these vital institutions to change along with it. So the idea underlying all of these proposals is for MDBs to be more innovative and efficient. India made MDB evolution a priority in its presidency of the G20 this year, and there have been different expert panels that have also called for radically reformed and strengthened multilateral development banks. So what's interesting for this audience is this evolution roadmap process will eventually turn into the World Bank's strategy, its corporate strategy, and the latest version of it will be discussed next week at the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Marrakesh. So if you're interested in following that, keep your eyes on the news. And the latest version is seeking approval for measures that will allow the World Bank to boost its lending by $100 billion. So this—the document circulating now for the development—the Joint Ministerial Committee of the World Bank and IMF—and we'll see what happens with it. And I'm happy to talk more about the document itself in the Q&A. These efforts to reform the World Bank are also impacting other regional development banks. So, for example, the Asian Development Bank recently announced it, too, will lend an additional $100 billion over the next ten years by relaxing some of its risk rules for its banking, how it manages its assets, without jeopardizing its triple-A credit rating. The IMF also has been trying to change and adapt in recent years. It's not directly part of this evolution framework that's focusing on MDBs, but the IMF has really turned attention to climate change and also to gender and inequality. And it's essentially pushing forward a kind of a slow change in thinking where economists, and finance ministers, and central bank leaders have realized that these issues are essential to macroeconomic stability. So climate change has become a more visible focus of the IMF's work, its work in surveillance, its capacity development activities, and its general work with countries. Its first strategy for mainstreaming gender was adopted in July 2022. And, like the World Bank, it has also created a number of mechanisms to respond to the pandemic. So it has a new resilience and sustainability trust. And the goal of it is to help low-income member states to address climate change and issues like pandemic preparedness. And it also has a new food shock window to offer emergency financing for countries facing food insecurity as a result of everything going on today. So this is—it's interesting to watch both of these institutions. The IMF typically has a harder time changing because it's a more rigid, set in its ways organization. But it, too—it's not your grandmother's IMF anymore. But all of these efforts are going to face their own sets of challenges. And I want to briefly highlight a few of them before we have our Q&A. So in the World Bank's roadmap, which is also being called a new playbook, the question is: Is it a zero-sum game to balance more focus on global public goods like climate change with individual countries' own development priorities? And there are many people who say, no problem. Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF, when talking about this balancing issue, she said: Well, we can chew gum and walk at the same time. But these goals may have areas of overlap, where a country's own development issues do coincide with these global public goods, but there may be areas where they do not. And that's something that has to be worked out. There's also some criticism in civil society and other actors about asking the multilateral banks to do much more to engage with the private sector. First of all, this idea has been around for a while, this idea of turning billions and trillions, for example, was part of the 2015 UN Financing for Development Conference. And it hasn't really come through. So it's a difficult issue to do. There's going to be more work on it. But some organizations actually are concerned about potential negative effects of prioritizing incentives for private finance to provide co-financing to development efforts, because private sector goals are not always the same as public goals, right? So there's some areas of tension. And finally, I just want to flag that all of these organizations are calling for more collaboration. Collaboration is almost the magic wand that will help all these efforts to work out better. And, in fact, if you look at the IMF's new annual report, which was just published, it lists on its front page “committed to collaboration.” But, in fact, it's not that easy for these organizations to collaborate. And I'm happy to break that down a little bit more. And so this great emphasis on something that can be difficult will be something that these organizations have to grapple with. I'm happy to talk about more of the issues in our Q&A, but I think I should stop here and open it up to questions or comments. FASKIANOS: Thank you, Tammi. That was fantastic. So we're going to go to all of you for your questions. (Gives queuing instructions.) OK, so I'm going to take the first question from Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome. Q: Thank you. Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome. I'm a professor of political science at Brooklyn College. And I'm just wondering about this financial architecture that is much criticized, as you said. And I'm wondering the extent to which the criticism informs new decisions that are taken. So the criticisms about people who say the organization should be abolished is coming from the Global South, where there's been feeling since the 1970s that these organizations are not sufficiently sympathetic or understanding of the challenges faced by the countries that had unsustainable debt, and are still in a deeper state of unsustainable debt today. So how is the global architecture on these—in these organizations dealing with these challenges? I heard for the first time, like, in the last five years—Lagarde, I think it was—that said, oh, we made mistakes in some of the advice that we were giving. So who pays for those mistakes? People's lives are damaged, economies are wrecked. And you know, so what are the—what's the good of these changes, really? GUTNER: Yeah, thank you so much for that question, because that's a really good reflection on some of the harsh criticism that these institutions face. And I also would not be someone who says they do everything right, because they don't. But it has been interesting to watch some of the ways that they've evolved. So, for example, they do interact much more with civil society than they used to. I mean, it used to be in the old days when the IMF and World Bank had their annual meetings, civil society actors would protest outside on the street in Washington, DC. And I would tell my students, feel free to go down there but please maybe try not to get arrested, you know? So there were—there were very large protests. Now, when they have the annual meeting, civil society actors are in—are part of it. They're engaged in seminars. They're engaged in discussion. The institutions have strengthened some of their accountability measures, although I could argue some of them are also still weak. But there have been changes. So for example, the IMF now addresses and thinks about social protection, which it didn't used to do, and social safety nets, which it didn't used to do in the past. So you can argue that these changes aren't enough, and they're too late, and it's still harmful. But I think there is evidence that they do try to evolve and adapt, maybe not perfectly. And also, it's really difficult to change a huge institution. It's like turning a large ship. You know, it doesn't happen quickly. But the narrative today is different from the past. I mean, there is—there is more focus on climate change, for example. Which you can argue some countries, it's not really their priority. But even that's changing. More countries, more developing countries, are realizing that issues of climate change are related to them, whether it's through natural disasters, you know, hurricanes, floods, mud—you know, all of this. So I think it's—I think this criticism is still out there. And it exists. The institutions are imperfect. But they do—they do slowly try to adjust and adapt. And if you dig into it, if you go into detail, you'll find that they do a better job in some issues than others, in some countries than others, in some periods of time than others. So as a scholar I would argue that you—it's hard to make a blanket statement about them without kind of unpacking, you know, specific cases and over time. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the next written question from Jon-Paul Maddaloni, a military professor at the U.S. Naval War College: For the World Bank, what is the definition of creditworthy? Is this a debt-to-GDP ratio? Is there a standard here that may be part of the developing world grievance against the World Bank? GUTNER: So there are complex ways of assessing that. But basically, one of the major ones is to decide if a country is eligible for IBRD loans, which are International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the main part of the World Bank, which are loans that have to be repaid. And if a country is relatively less creditworthy or poor countries can access grants, or no-interest loans, or concessional funding from the World Bank's arm that's called IDA, the International Development Association—or, Agency. (Laughs.) I just—I just call it IDA. So if you're—if you're able to access IDA funding, you're relatively less creditworthy. The World Bank also has other facilities to offer—both the bank and also the IMF—capacity development, which is just money given for technical assistance. And those are the different categories for the World Bank. So countries can change category. So if a country becomes more economically stronger, it can graduate from IDA concessional financing. If it becomes weaker, it can access that financing. And there are some countries which can get a blend. In other words, they're creditworthy enough to be able to take some amount of loans, but not enough so that all of their financing can be a loan form. So these are some of the ways that the World Bank responds to different categories of creditworthiness. FASKIANOS: Fantastic. I'm going to take the next question from Fordham's International Political Economy and Development Program. They have a raised hand. If you can just say who you are. (Laughter.) Q: Thank you for being with us today. I'm Genevieve, part of the Fordham IPED Program. My question is, what are some specific examples of how a country's national political landscape and private interests cause these setbacks for cross-sectoral collaboration in these development banking efforts? And how do these large banking institutions work around corruption, for example? GUTNER: I'm sorry. Can you repeat the first part about collaboration—cross-sectoral collaboration? Q: Yeah. What are some specific examples of how a country's national political landscape and private interests cause setbacks for cross-sectoral collaboration for these development banks? And then we could take corruption as an example. GUTNER: So I'm not 100 percent sure what you mean by the—by the cross-sectoral collaboration. When I'm focusing on collaboration, or when the narrative is focusing on collaboration, it's really focusing more on collaboration between, for example, the World Bank and IMF. How do they collaborate? And the answer to that is, they haven't collaborated well for almost eighty years. But that's not—what I think you're asking is, what happens between these institutions and the national level? Well, one issue—the issue of corruption has become much more widely discussed in both the World Bank and the IMF. In the past, it was seen as a domestic political issue, which is really outside their articles of agreement. They're not supposed to get involved in these domestic political issues. But there's much more awareness today that corruption—for example, in the IMF—corruption impacts a government's health—the fiscal health, their ability to have money to spend on development. And the same is true for the World Bank. So there's much more attention on these issues. The institutions still have to navigate carefully so that they don't look like they're getting involved in politics, even though they can't really avoid it. But so corruption is much higher on the priority list. And it can impact a country's ability to get funding from either institutions. So from the World Bank, and they have—they have lists of companies they won't work with in procurement, for example, who are barred from engaging in procurement. And it's part of discussions. It shows up in the partnership—the framework documents that both countries produce for individual countries. So a kind of a—this is a long way to say, it's on the radar and it matters. But a lot of the collaboration issues are related to how the institutions work with each other. But also in country, I should add, that in some countries the donors collaborate on the ground. So they meet together and they try to make sure they're not overlapping. There's—it doesn't always work very well. You know, in some cases it works better than others. But for the institutions to collaborate more with each other, they have faced many challenges in doing that. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the next question from Joshua McKeown, associate provost and director of the international education at State University of New York at Oswego: For context, how much lending does the World Bank do in comparison with regional development banks? GUTNER: Well, I guess it depends. I don't have all that data at my fingertips, but the World Bank in the last—in—let's see, I do have the World Bank data at my fingertips. Let me just pull it up. See where I had it. The World Bank in its current annual report, the IBRD committed $38 and a half billion in 2023. IDA committed $34 billion. The regional banks are much smaller, so the World Bank tends to be the largest. But there's also a lot of variation across the regional banks as well. Now it's important to say that they will often cofinance projects with each other. So the regional banks will engage with the World Bank, and they'll have shared projects, and they'll work together. There are times where they also will compete with each other on occasion. They might both be interested in funding an airport—building an airport somewhere. And one of them may offer more attractive terms than the other. But the competition is not kind of a serious problem, because basically wherever you look in the world, there's almost an infinite demand for infrastructure finance. You know, show me a city that doesn't need a new metro, or the roads repaired, right? So there's a lot of demand out there for these banks to be able to do what they do. And but that has to be tempered with the, on the other side, how much debt can an individual country take on? And that's where we're seeing more serious problems today. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the next question from Samia Abdulle from Professor Fazal's class. And she is at the University of Minnesota: How has COVID-19 renewed the debate about the World Bank's role in international development? GUTNER: That's a great question, because when it comes to crisis, member states turn to these institutions right away. And this is a little separate from your question, but before the global financial crisis, for example, the IMF and the World Bank had seen their demand for their services drop dramatically. There were questions about the legitimacy of the IMF. Then the global financial crisis hit and, boom, they were kind of the go-to organizations to help respond to these issues. So the World Bank and the IMF both responded pretty rapidly to the pandemic. And they each came up with new facilities, they got money out the door quickly, they relaxed some of their conditions. So they both had a kind of a robust response. Now, there are people who are saying, well, it was not enough. It should have been more. But, you know, they did a lot. And in an emergency situation, also, you have to remember, they all had to work at home as well. So everybody was working at home. Nobody could travel, but yet they got a lot of money out the door quickly, in different kinds of ways. And I think what we're going to have to revisit down the road is, did any of that money disappear? You know, where—was there accountability for all this money, because it was moved out the door so quickly. And the head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, would say: Just save your receipts. (Laughs.) Just save your receipts. But that's going to be something to see, what happened with this money, where did it actually go, how did accountability work? But the World Bank alone got $30 billion—it dispersed $30 billion in fifteen months at the beginning of the pandemic in emergency support. So they really did step up. And whether it was enough or not is a matter of opinion. But they moved—they did move quickly. And I should just add, since you asked about—I just want to add one thing. The World Bank was involved in getting people access to vaccines, helping weak health infrastructures in countries, and all kinds of issues related to the pandemic. FASKIANOS: Fantastic. So I'm going to take the next written question from Yiagadeesen Samy, who's the director of the School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Canada: You already covered the AIIB in your opening remarks, and we will be circulating this transcript in the video later, but let's look at the second part of the question. Can you comment a little bit on whether the proposed changes to MDBs are a reaction to China's growing influence? And if so, what your views are about the changing geopolitical economic dynamics? GUTNER: It's so great people are asking these simple questions. (Laughs.) FASKIANOS: I know! GUTNER: Yes. FASKIANOS: Keeping you on your toes! (Laughs.) GUTNER: Yes. So let me preface by saying this: China has different strategies in development banking. On one side, you have the AIIB, for example. On the other side, the Belt and Road Initiative. The AIIB is not—in my research, it's cut from the same cloth as other development banks. It's not a threat. It's a part of the landscape of development banks. It's part of the community. It was designed by an international group of experts. In fact, the person who wrote the AIIB's articles of agreement was an American. And the person who designed the AIIB's environmental and social framework was an American. So it was a—it was a real international effort. And in fact, the World Bank helped the AIIB get set up. So the World Bank volunteered staff and gave the AIIB advice on things like vacation policy and office furniture. This is the Beijing office of the World Bank. And the World Bank even ran the AIIB treasury at the beginning, and it cofinanced projects. So the AIIB is cut from the same cloth as development banks. Now, it does have some differences. It's has—it's much smaller. It has a staff under four hundred. The World Bank is ten thousand, for example. And so there are some people who think it might have spurred the World Bank to pay more attention to doing more on infrastructure, which it had moved away from a little bit because that's the AIIB's focus. But the Belt and Road is something different. It's a bilateral initiative. It's an umbrella for Chinese financial institutions to lend money for infrastructure. It's not actually an organization. It's just an umbrella term. And there are differences, because the banks lending under the Belt and Road, Chinese institutions, they don't follow global norms on environmental and social framework, on safeguards. They're not transparent. We can't—we don't know how the loan is structured. They don't report the lending numbers to the Paris Club, for example. So there's a real difference between China's strategy in the AIIB and China's strategy in the Belt and Road, which reflects the different natures. There's not one Chinese strategy. So I think, in a way, the existing development banks help the AIIB more, and their staff help the AIIB more. The Belt and Road is a separate thing. But what I think is going to be interesting is to see if the borders, the boundaries between what is done following global norms, and rules, and procedures, if there's any kind of crossover with what's inside those borders and what's outside those borders. So for example, the AIIB is hosting a facility to help countries better design infrastructure projects that might be undertaken under Belt and Road. And so we just have to keep an eye on that. But it's not—it's not a bleak or black and white picture, the way some people describe it. FASKIANOS: Fantastic. A good follow up question from Steven Shinkel, who's the military professor of national security affairs at U.S. Naval War College: Can you compare the relative use of concessional loans between the World Bank and China? What about loan forgiveness, especially in regions such as Africa and South America? GUTNER: Right. So most of the Chinese lending under Belt and Road is not concessional. Most of it is not concessional. And often interest rates are higher than a comparative loan, even from the IBRD, even non-concessional lending. So they will often charge higher interest rates, but they will have less conditionality. So a country trying to decide who to take a loan from will have to weigh that. Do we want a lower interest rate loan from the World Bank that might have more policy conditionality, we might have to adjust our policy, we might have to think about environmental impacts more? Or do we want a slightly more expensive loan from a Chinese lending institution, but it doesn't have any strings attached? So that's kind of the part of the decision-making that borrowers have to go through. On debt—the second part was on, I'm sorry, the question disappeared. On debt? FASKIANOS: Oh, sorry. Yes, the second question is: What about loan forgiveness, especially in regions such as Africa and South America? GUTNER: Well, that's something that's being widely discussed right now, because Chinese institutions haven't been as comfortable about that, or as used to that. And they're—you know, they're being pushed by other institutions. Hey, you have to take a haircut too. We all have to—we all have to do that. There is a little bit of that going on. But it's something—I mean, if you read the article suggested in the email about this talk by Deborah Brautigam, she really unpacks that in great detail. And she makes an argument that there's some kind of learning and give and take that's happening and we need to see more of it. FASKIANOS: Fantastic. Next question from Lindsey McCormack, who's a graduate student at CUNY Baruch College: There's a lot of activity in the U.S. and Europe with new disclosure standards on climate and social impacts of corporations. How do the multilateral development banks relate to this activity? Are they seeing more pressure to discuss—oh, sorry—disclose climate and social impacts of their lending? GUTNER: Yes. (Laughs.) Yes. Now, they already do a lot. They already have environmental and social safeguards. And they've all moved away from funding oil and gas, or mostly oil and some gas. So they're moving away from that. And they're all working together, actually—I mean, I think it's an important example of networking—of the network of MDBs—that they're all moving toward meeting—complying with the Paris Agreement and showing how they're doing that. Now, some of this is how they measure things, and how they label things, and how they account for things. So there's still some debate on whether they're doing enough. But there's, for sure, pressure from NGOs and others. And the banks are moving in that direction. And they're—they're proudly touting how their projects comply. A high percentage of their projects are complying with the Paris Agreement. But there's still some interesting criticism coming out. So, for example, there was a recent report by a German NGO that said the World Bank's private sector lending arm, the IFC—that the IFC was making loans for trade support where that money might go into oil and gas. But you can't tell, right? So they were calling for more transparency on how the IMF is—how the IFC is doing trade credits. So that's something that's very recent. You can look that up and read more about it. FASKIANOS: Just to follow on, how are the multilateral development banks structured? And how effective do you think they are? GUTNER: Structured in terms of what? I mean, I can talk generally in case—so they— FASKIANOS: Yeah, I think corporate structure. GUTNER: So they have—they all have board of governors, which are all the top relevant officials of their member states, typically the finance minister or the central bank head. And they meet once or twice a year. And they make the big decisions. So one thing that's important to realize is a lot of these countries are members of a lot of development bank—there's a lot of overlap in membership. And that's also a way to cross-fertilize ideas, and policies, and things like that. They all have boards of directors, which are more engaged with the day-to-day business. And the—voting is based on your shareholding in the development bank. And that is based broadly on your economic strength. So the economically stronger companies have—stronger countries have a larger share and more voting power. And then you have the presidents of these organizations that have an important leadership role. And then you have the staff. So that's basically the structure of these development banks. And meeting next week are the board of governors and the directors in Marrakech for the World Bank and IMF. And you can see how they engage with staff and how they help set the strategic tone for the institutions. FASKIANOS: Fantastic. And I just want to remind everybody to raise your hand if you want to ask a question. Everybody's a little bit shy today, or else Tammi's been so thorough that you have no questions. (Laughter.) But I have more questions. But first, I'm going to go to Don Habibi, who is a professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington: With yesterday's stock market plunge and political instability in the U.S., how much concern should we have over the multitrillion-dollar national debt? GUTNER: So that's not an issue that directly impacts the international financial institutions, the IMF, and the World Bank, right now. I mean, the U.S. is the largest shareholder of both, and they both—or, the World Bank has a AAA credit rating. So it's not really—we might be concerned over national debt, but so far it's not having a big impact on the dollar. So far, it's not having a big impact on investment. So there's always kind of some concern, but it's not—it's not translating into anything that's making people nervous about how these organizations operate. But, you know, one place to look for an answer, I'll tell you this, is when the IMF does surveillance, it does—which are its reports on the economic health of individual member states. It does these surveillance reports even on the rich countries. It does them for everyone. So I would suggest you look for the latest article for surveillance report that the IMF has done on the United States, and see what it has to say about concerns about debt. FASKIANOS: Fantastic. You recently completed a book manuscript on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Some policymakers and scholars have argued it is a threat to the World Bank. Can you talk about if you agree with that or disagree? GUTNER: Oh, right. So I answered a little bit of that earlier, actually, which is: I don't think it's a threat because I think it's cut from the same cloth as these other development banks in terms of it has similar policies, it has similar governance rules. The World Bank—it's signed MOUs, memoranda of understanding, with all these other development banks. It cooperates with them. It cofinances projects with them. So I think the narrative of the AIIB being a threat is not correct. Could something change in the future? Who knows. But there has been a recent scandal at the AIIB. And we don't know how that will yet be resolved, where this past summer the Canadian director of communications resigned dramatically, suddenly, arguing that Communist Party committees were somehow involved in the work of the bank. And we—so, Canada froze its membership. So that's a bit of a scandal and a crisis at the AIIB. And Canada is doing its own report on what happened. So I kind of think we have to see what comes out of that report. If Canada decided to leave the AIIB, would it impact any other members? Too early to say. But so far, there's nothing directly threatening about its work. It's walked and talked and behaved like other development banks. It does have some differences. It has a nonresident board, which was seen as a cost-saving measure. You know, why have all these people sit around and cost a lot of money? But there are some civil society actors who think that that could produce less accountability. If the board is not there, you know, the bank has more kind of autonomy to do—more independence. So there are some differences. But so far, it's been just another member of the multilateral development bank system. FASKIANOS: Thank you. All right. We have more hands raised, which I'm very excited about. Tanisha Fazal, who is the Weinstein chair of international studies at University of Richmond: You mentioned the difficulties of collaboration between IMF and the World Bank. Can you please elaborate on what you see as the primary obstacles to collaboration between MDBs? GUTNER: Yes. I'm happy to talk about that. So that was the topic of my year—my Council on Foreign Relations fellowship at the International Monetary Fund's Independent Evaluation Office. And we were evaluating Bank-Fund collaboration. And I was part of the overall evaluation, which you can find online. And I also wrote a separate paper on the history of Bank-Fund collaboration. And I found it to be absolutely fascinating, because these two institutions were created together at the Bretton Woods Conference. And they're called the Bretton Woods twins. They're literally across the street from each other. There's an underground passage that connects the two. They interact all the time. They have a joint orchestra. I don't know if anybody knew that. (Laughs.) They used to share a library. So there's a lot of—if any two organizations should be able to work closely together, it's these two, right? This should be your best case, and yet they've struggled for their entire existence. And I think one of the obstacles is that over time their issues have overlapped. So an example of that is today, when the IMF is doing more on climate change, gender, and inequality, which traditionally is the work of the Bank. So their work has kind of—over time, given the issues facing the world, it's kind of naturally overlapped. And what I found that was very interesting is in over twenty-five different formal attempts the two institutions produced to collaborate with each other—memos and announcements by the heads of the institutions—for decades, what they meant by collaboration was turf delineation. Collaboration meant you stay out of my territory. (Laughs.) I don't think of that as collaboration. It's working together on a common objective, right? So that was what they meant by it, and for many years what they—what the solution was, that the institution that's not in charge of this issue should yield to the judgment of the other one—the yield to the judgment one. So I think turf overlap has been a problem. But even when they make an effort, often they have different incentives, they have different budget cycles, they have different—you know, it's just not that easy. And the IMF's latest strategy for collaboration has been when IMF staff encounter an issue that they don't have expertise in, they should leverage the expertise of the World Bank and other partners. Well, that, to me, sounds like one-way collaboration, which is an oxymoron, right? That if the IMF needs help, it should call the IMF and get help—I mean, call the World Bank and get help. But for the World Bank, they might be busy. (Laughs.) So those kinds of challenges persist. There have been times where they do create a truly collaborative effort, like the HIPC Initiative, or the FSAPs, or the PRSP—sorry for all the acronyms—but where they—where they have a shared work program and shared guidance and shared expectations. Those have tended to work better than big umbrella exhortations by the leaders saying: Collaborate! You know, do more collaboration. Those have tended to work better, but they also run into individual problems. So really, the upshot is, even though you would expect collaboration to be the easiest and make most sense between these two institutions, in fact, it's often been a struggle. And some people found, when I mentioned the IMF's resilience trust, that's something that would normally have been undertaken by the World Bank. So they have not—they have had challenges collaborating, and those continue. FASKIANOS: Thank you. And I need to correct the record, my apologies. So that question was from Tanisha Fazal, who is an associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota. So the next question is from Sandra Joireman, who is the Weinstein chair of international studies at University of Richmond. So my apologies. So this this question is from Sandra: Some of the previous efforts to address the environmental impacts of certain projects were ineffective. Do you think new efforts to address the environment and climate challenge change will be better? If so, why? GUTNER: So I'm guessing you're referring to the World Bank? And, yes, there's a whole long history of the Bank addressing environmental issues. And it really started in the 1980s, when NGOs identified projects that had gone horribly wrong and caused enormous environmental degradation. Like the Polonoroeste highway in Brazil. It was a famous—infamous example. And the Narmada dam in India. These are infamous examples. But when you look over the years, there have been improvements to what kinds of things the Bank can lend money to, how strong the environmental and social safeguards are. So when I look at the whole history of the World Bank and environment, I basically see it is not a one-way trajectory, and as forward or backward. I see it as more zigzag steps, some forward steps, some backward steps, some forward steps, some backward steps. So overall, because climate change is becoming one—it's about to become a major part of the Bank's mission and vision. So before it was shared prosperity and poverty reduction, and now it's going to—if it's all approved next week—it will be shared prosperity, poverty reduction, and a livable planet. So climate change is kind of moving the front row and center. And that will make it harder for the Bank to fund projects that can be criticized. It will make it much more important that it follows these solid environmental and social framework rules. So I think it's a move in the right direction. But as I mentioned earlier, we're still seeing criticism from NGO about things slipping through the cracks, like trade finance, right? Or another area that's weak is the World Bank—the IFC and the World Bank will sometimes lend money to financial intermediaries. So it's like—it's like lending money to a local bank that then lends it out for something else. And there's been less oversight about how that money is on lent, and whether that can go for something that's damaging to climate change or the environment. So they're moving in the right direction. I think there's been progress. I think there's been backward steps and forward steps over the whole arc of the World Bank's efforts in this area. And I think there's still going to be some criticism as they address some of these areas where there's slippage. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the next question, a raised hand from Sheri Fink. So, Sheri, if you can say who you are and accept the unmute prompt. Q: Oh, I'm sorry. I think I pressed the wrong button. I didn't mean to raise my hand. Sorry about that. FASKIANOS: OK. No problem. All right. I will take the next question from Eric Muddiman, master's student at Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, Canada: In terms of mobilizing more private capital and development, there has been discussion on MDBs' role in mitigating risk. Private sector are not allowed to invest in BB/BBB ZIP code investments from a regulatory perspective. Are there concrete proposals advancements in these discussions? GUTNER: Yes. Do I know what they all are? No. It's kind of a live discussion. And I know, in the new World Bank—the latest version of the evolution roadmap, there's talk about creating, like, a lab—an innovation lab, or a private sector lab, to try to do more. Some of the banks have hubs in some areas where they—areas in the developing world where they might have better access to private sector actors. And they're trying to engage with private sector actors in conferences and find ways of discussing project ideas. So that's not as concrete as you like, perhaps, but there are efforts to think about this. And there was a seminar at the spring meetings with private sector actors who are also saying that they felt they could do more to engage colleagues and find ways to bring the private sector and public sector together. So there are initiatives, seminars, hubs, labs. You know, all of this stuff is kind of lively and happening right now. And I do think it will be interesting to see what, if anything, catches on. Because, as I mentioned earlier, this discussion has been going on even before 2015, but the turning billions into trillions discussion. And it just hasn't worked out that well, because of these issues like risk, right? Private sector actors may not want to involve in countries where the risk is too great and where countries don't have capacity, where they have weaker capacity. So there are many challenges in this area. And just a variety of activities and ideas being put forward to try to respond. FASKIANOS: Thank you. Next, a raised hand for Walton Brown. You can accept the unmute. There you go, Walton. Q: So I too—I didn't intend to hit anything. I'm so sorry. FASKIANOS: OK. That's OK. GUTNER: You can still ask a question. (Laughter.) FASKIANOS: That's OK! You can still ask a—exactly, Tammi. We can—we can still—we love hearing from you all. So, all right. Well, we will continue on— Q: And my phone is troubled. FASKIANOS: Phone is troubled. (Laughs.) No problem. That's just fine. OK, so I'm going to go next to—let's see, we've got several who don't have affiliations, but let me go to Holley Hansen: A lot of previous questions have focused on the World Bank or IMF operations. But going back to your original remarks, there also been discussion on how internal rules and procedures, such as voting, leave stakeholders out of the decision-making process. What major suggested reforms to internal decision-making do you think are viable? And what are the pros and cons of changing those rules? GUTNER: Well, the voting is part of internal decision-making. So the voting is part of that. And the real issue has been, how can—well, one of the real issues is shouldn't China have a greater stake? Shouldn't China have a higher stake? Because China is now the number-three largest stakeholder in the World Bank and the IMF, after the U.S., number one, and Japan, number two. But its stake, at around 6 percent, is really less than it should be if you follow the kind of formula they use to calculate a state's economic strength. It's been calculated that really it should be more like 12 percent, right? So part of the discussion is how to give developing countries, and especially China, more weight in governance through the—through the voting share. And that's an ongoing discussion. Right now, in today's kind of more tense political—global political environment, it's hard to imagine the U.S. supporting something like that at this juncture of time, although there have been reports that the managing director of the IMF is open to it. So I think this is going to be one of the issues that is discussed in Marrakesh next week, what to do with these voting shares? But they do adjust them every so often. So China did move up from having a lower ranking to now being number three in the IMF and World Bank. So it does happen over time. Internal decision-making is a whole complicated other kind of issue. And these development banks, you know, they all face internal decision-making challenges. They all face kind of common tensions. So one of them is how you balance authority between the country—people who work in the country and people who work on sectoral issues. So how do you—who should—who should have more decision-making authority, the country level or the sector level? There are decision-making issues and tensions between the public sector lending arms of these development banks and the private sector lending arms, because they have different incentives and different goals. So there have been challenges inside these development banks with kind of internal silos and where power and authority should be held. And it's hard to come up with what the right answer is. You know, there are pros and cons to giving more power to the country or more power to the sector. And in fact, these banks restructure from time to time. And if you look at kind of the history of the restructuring of some of the major development banks, they sort of move back and forth between where they think authority should be located. So these issue—it's a whole other can of worms than voting power on the board of directors. But it's important, because it can affect their performance. It can affect their performance and their ability to function effectively. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the last question. We have several quick questions from Fordham again. Let's see. There you go. Q: OK, thank you. So in the worst case scenario that the U.S. and China engage in conflict in Taiwan, how would the World Bank respond to the economic shocks of this in geographically vulnerable neighboring countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines? GUTNER: That's a tough question. Thank you for ending this with a really tough question. We're not supposed to say I don't know. (Laughs.) We're supposed to have—that's a tough one, because, again, China is number three at the World Bank. So if China—couldn't—most of the time voting doesn't happen. Most of the time, it's consensus. So it's hard to predict. I mean, you'd have to unpack a lot of different things there. You'd have to unpack what kind of—what would the World Bank normally do? Would it normally—would it affect development lending to neighboring countries? I mean, it's interesting to look at the case of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and how—what the response to that has been, because Russia's a member of all these institutions too. But the development banks mostly froze lending to Russia. Also, the AIIB did, because it had to comply—to comply with these sanctions. So Russia lending has been frozen. And these institutions are all giving money to Ukraine to help Ukraine rebuild. So there is kind of a situation that can be—that can be used to compare, to kind of get ideas about what might happen, right? And even at the AIIB, Russia is number three largest shareholder in the AIIB. It's China, India, and Russia. And the AIIB immediately froze lending to Russia. So we could—we could kind of play out different scenarios, but there's a lot of unknowns in that case. And I do think looking at the response of MDBs to Russia's invasion of Ukraine could provide some useful lessons. FASKIANOS: Tammi, we are at the end of our time. And I apologize that we couldn't get to all the questions. I wonder if you could just take a minute. You were awarded a CFR Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars, which allowed you to work—be placed in a government office. So if you could just take a minute to talk about that experience and encourage other professors to apply. The deadline's coming up. It's the end of October. So it just would be great for you to just give us your— GUTNER: Absolutely, yes. All the professors in the audience, please apply for this, because it's a special, invaluable experience. When you're—when you're studying something, and you have the opportunity to be an insider for a year, I can't even tell you how much you learn. I learned being—and it's a two-way street. They benefit from the expertise of the scholars who are coming in because we bring a different perspective. We bring different analytical and methodological tools. And I just can't tell you how much I learned that I could never find out as an outsider, including the IMF-World Bank orchestra, or the—(laughs)—yeah, actually, maybe some outsiders know that. But really, to open up the black box of an organization and see firsthand about how things work internally, what the culture's like, how things get done, what happens in the hallways. I mean, all that stuff, all of those kinds of details really enhanced my scholarship and shaped my research direction, working on these issues of collaboration, for example. So if any of you are considering applying, please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions about the fellowship. I'd be happy to discuss it with you. FASKIANOS: Thank you. Thank you for that, and for your amazing insights into these issues. And to all of you for your great questions. You can follow Dr. Gutner on X, the app formerly known as Twitter, at @TGutner. And for the students on this call, CFR has paid internships. So to learn more about the internships you can go to—and also the fellowships—you can go to CFR.org/careers. Follow us at @CFR_Academic, and visit CFR.org, ForeignAffairs.com, and ThinkGlobalHealth.org for research and analysis on global issues. And the next Academic Webinar will take place on Wednesday, October 11, at 1:00 p.m. (EDT). Landry Signé, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, will talk about Africa on the global stage. So, again, thank you to Tamar Gutner. And to all of you, have a great rest of your day. GUTNER: Thanks for having me. And thanks to everyone for attending. (END)

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension faculty recently traveled to Darwin, Australia, to attend the World Community Development Conference and share their expertise while learning new approaches. Marilyn Schlake, an extension educator with Rural Prosperity Nebraska, and Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel, a professor and Rural Prosperity Nebraska extension specialist, made the trip in June 2023 for the global conference. They reached out to make new international collaborations for potential research opportunities and to share what Nebraska is doing in community economic development.

NZ's international development conference begins this week.

The Player Development Conference was a HUGE success! A major proponent of this success was the event operations and event management by Next Level Branding. Their Founder and CEO Evin Norman visits The Player Development Pod to discuss the conference, her business and so much more. Follow Evin Norman here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evinnorman/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlevelbranding/ Website: https://www.nxtlevelbranding.com/ Evin Norman Bio: A native of Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb outside Birmingham, Evin naturally gravitated toward sports at an early age. Evin attended Auburn University, where she competed as a hurdler on the Women's Track and Field Team and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Marketing. After years of working in the banking and insurance industries, she returned to her passion for sports by obtaining a Master of Science in Sport Management from Jacksonville State University. Evin has spent the last five years working in College Football Recruiting for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Kansas, and the University of Missouri football programs. Some of her responsibilities in previous roles have included planning and overseeing recruiting visits and events, assisting with the initial eligibility for high school recruits, working with Creatives for social media and recruiting campaigns, and organizing community service activities. She was a founding member of the University of Missouri's of Female Athletes Minorities at Mizzou (FAMM), a student organization created in 2020 to provide female minority student-athletes with a safe space during a critical time. She was selected as a participant in the 2021 NFL Women's Careers in Football Forum, the 2021-2022 Tampa Bay Women's Summit for Careers in Sports, and the 2022 GALvanize Atlanta Falcons Camp. Website: https://www.nxtlevelbranding.com/ - Interested in the Player Development Guide Course, click here: ⁠https://forms.gle/5KgcujWqPgq8eNYq6⁠ Listen to The Player Development Pod here: ⁠https://linktr.ee/btf_program⁠ Visit: ⁠https://www.btfprogram.com/⁠ Follow: Twitter - ⁠https://twitter.com/BTF_Program⁠ Instagram - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/btf_program/⁠ Facebook - ⁠https://www.facebook.com/BTFProgram⁠ Tag on Social: #ThePDPod #BeyondTheField --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/playerdevelopmentpodcast/message

Special guest Alan Lightman takes us through a fascinating discussion of consciousness, and tells us how he reconciles spirituality with his materialist views.Todays episode is sponsored by the International Space Station. Join the ISS National Laboratory this August in Seattle at the 12th annual ISS Research and Development Conference. Visit ISSconference.org to register now.Support the show

Enjoy this bonus content recorded live during session #511 at the National Career Development Association's 2023 Global Career Development Conference in Chicago!Thanks to NCDA Past President Dr. Sharon Givens for guiding the discussion of current trends in career development work, and for the participation of the conference attendees listed below.Rebecca Harrington - Career Specialist, College of DuPage, Ilinois LinkedIn: in/rebecca-a-harringtonYou can also find Rebecca on The Career Ready Podcast from College of DuPage Career Services, and her own show, the Ghostly Podcast.Cheryl Love - Career Counselor, University of California - Riverside, CaliforniaNCDA Committees: Diversity Initiatives and Cultural InclusionSocial Justice ResourcesBrian Malott - Indigenous Career Consultant, Fanshawe College, Ontario, CanadaLinkedIn: /in/brianmalottMarie Nicks - Career Coach Navigator and Instructor, Navigator Career Solutions, LLCCOVID Left Us Languishing. Here's Why We Should Care - Psychology Today

Shortly after the Big Bang, space was densely packed with enough stuff for sound to travel through it. What was producing sound in this era, and how can we hear it today?Todays episode is sponsored by the International Space Station. Join the ISS National Laboratory this August in Seattle at the 12th annual ISS Research and Development Conference. Visit ISSconference.org to register now.Support the show

Jennifer reports back from the recent World Community Development Conference in Darwin (on Larrakia country), and Jacques and Jennifer discuss some of the conference themes about ways of doing community work. Drawing from the conference, they also talk about what community work can and should be aimed at. Examples are given of different community projects, including indigenous-led and rural-based ones.

WOW! It really happened. We did it y'all! THE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE WAS A MAJOR SUCCESS! “Everything from the panels to the networking and the words of encouragement were much needed as I start my career in the field. It helped me grow and think about takeaways that I can use to provide value.” – Attendee After taking time to rest in the success and reflect on his thoughts Ed Jones II, wanted to share his reflections from the conference. This episode covers: - What Led to the Conference - The Path to the Conference - Panels and Panelists - The Player Development Conference Review - What's Next for Beyond the Field? Player Development Conference Blog: https://www.btfprogram.com/playerdevelopment-blog/thank-you-the-player-development-conference-was-a-success THANK YOU TO EVERY PERSON WHO MADE THIS CONFERENCE A SUCCESS! Interested in The Player Development Guide Course? Click the link: https://forms.gle/tqTpGhShufwcwwAS8 In this four-to-five-week live course we will: - Create a player development plan - Create player development messaging - Create a first 90 days gameplan - Create an integrated yearly programming calendar - Quantify player development achievements - Provide interview preparation - Create an external relationship gameplan - And so much more Follow Ed Jones II here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ed_Jones2 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edjonesii/ - Thank you for taking time to listen to today's episode. PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE THE CONTENT. Visit: https://www.btfprogram.com/ Follow: Twitter - https://twitter.com/BTF_Program Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/btf_program/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BTFProgram Tag on Social: #ThePDPod #BeyondTheField --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/playerdevelopmentpodcast/message

Are you feeling stuck or stagnant in your personal or professional life? Do you want to become more successful? This is the episode for you! A few weeks ago, my husband James Williams (Certified High-Performance Coach) attended Brendon Burchard's Growth Day Conference here in Austin. Every day, for four days, James came home and shared his biggest takeaways with me. Even though I wasn't there in the room, I was transformed just by him sharing the info with me! For that reason, I wanted to ensure that you heard from him as well. So, if you're feeling stuck or stagnant, I highly recommend listening to this episode. James provides HIGHLY valuable insights on personal growth and development from the world's best teachers so that can help you move forward and achieve your goals. In This Episode: [00:35] Why Attend Personal Development Events. James shares his experience attending Growth Day in Austin, Texas, and discusses the importance of being open to growth and learning. [03:42] Adding Comfort to Suffering. James reflects on a concept discussed by Ed Mylett at the event, which is the tendency to add comfort to suffering rather than honoring the struggle and seeing the opportunity for growth. [08:16] Being Open to Opportunity. James talks about the importance of being open and aware to notice opportunities in life, and how luck is simply being open and aware enough to notice them. [09:11] The Importance of Taking Responsibility. James discusses the importance of taking responsibility for our experiences and not blaming others for negative experiences. [11:01] Ed Mylett's Inspiring Story. James shares his admiration for Ed Mylett's story and how he overcame struggles to achieve success. [12:00] Connecting Through Imperfections. James talks about the importance of revealing imperfections and struggles to connect with others and remove pedestals. [18:43] Connecting with loved ones. James encourages listeners to reach out to someone they care about and tell them they are thinking of them. [20:19] The importance of tolerating reps. James discusses the importance of putting in the effort and tolerating the lack of progress at the beginning of any new journey, whether personal or professional. [26:44] Honoring the struggle. James talks about the importance of identifying and addressing the struggles that are holding us back, rather than adding comfort to them. [27:38] Recognizing Discomfort. James discusses the importance of recognizing discomfort and how mindfulness practices can help release negative emotions. [30:52] Surviving the Rollercoaster. James talks about the importance of being present and taking responsibility for how you respond to life, especially during moments of struggle. [34:50] Being a Good Guy. James reflects on the difference between being a nice guy and being a good guy, and the importance of standing up for your values and integrity. [36:58] The Importance of Integrity. James discusses the importance of integrity in personal growth and development, and how it impacts his role as a father. [40:23] Understanding Motivations for Growth. James reflects on a podcast he listened to about narcissistic behavior and shares insights on understanding personal motivations for growth. [45:17] The Power of Purposeful Motivation. James emphasizes the importance of purposeful motivation in achieving success, and encourages listeners to align their businesses and decision-making with their personal purpose. [46:00] What would you be doing if it was impossible to disappoint someone? James discusses the importance of taking action despite judgment and shares a purposeful question to ask yourself. [48:08] Responsibility and Personal Development. James emphasizes the importance of personal development and taking responsibility for showing up at your best. [50:15] Meeting the Best Version of Yourself. James shares a reflection from a speaker at Growth Day about meeting the best version of yourself after death and the importance of striving to be that person. Links & Resources: Ready to Uplevel Your Life? Join here https://www.iheartmylife.com/membership Follow the I Heart My Life Show on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-heart-my-life-show/id1569047758 Subscribe to the I Heart My Life Show on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zw6fI37FrfVjZMXlMiZZ6 Connect with Emily: Emily Williams Website https://emilywilliams.com/ Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilywilliams/ I Heart My Life Website https://www.iheartmylife.com/ I Heart My Life on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/iheartmylife/ I Heart My Life on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/iheartmylifenow I Heart My Life on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/i-heart-my-life/ Join the IHML community to receive exclusive announcements and tips. https://www.iheartmylife.com/newsletter Email: info@iheartmylife.com Connect with James: James Williams Website https://www.thegrowthedge.com James on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jamesrswilliams

We bring you six interviews with leaders in the psychedelics industry who will be presenting at the Psychedelic Therapeutics & Drug Development Conference taking place in San Francisco on May 15 & 16, 2023. The episode spans a variety of topics, each crucial to the development of psychedelic medicines. We begin with government funded drug discovery research, followed by a look at the clinical research landscape both in academia and industry settings. Next our interviewees discuss legal considerations in the field of psychedelic drug development, from both regulatory and intellectual property lenses. To close the episode out we discuss trends in the current investment landscape. Be sure to check out the full conference agenda at psychedelics-conference.com and join us in person at the event as we continue these discussions! ModeratorsNigam B. Arora, PhD (moderator)Jahan Marcu, PhD (moderator) GuestsRyan Gumpper, PhD - Roth lab at UNC Chapel Hill and DARPA's Focused Pharma Initiative Joshua D. Woolley, MD, PhD - UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences & Translational Psychedelic Research ProgramSabrina Ramkellawan & Jaspreet K. Grewal, MBA - AxialBridgeKimberely Chew, JD - Husch BlackwellGraham Pechenik, JD - Calyx LawTim Schlidt - Palo Santo Credits: Podcast audio engineering by Joe Leonardo. Intro music by Buddha by Kontekst. Transition music by K. LOUK. Outro music by Bensounds.More at:howtolaunchanindustry.com

The Player Development Conference is less than TWO MONTHS AWAY. In this episode of The Player Development Pod, Ed Jones II discusses the mission, vision, and goals of the conference. He also provides multiple updates about the Player Development Conference as well. If you're interested in attending, take the time to listen to this episode. PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE REGISTER TODAY: https://www.btfprogram.com/pd-conference MAILING LIST: https://forms.gle/QdZjtcFc5gmh1c7G9 SPONSORSHIP: https://forms.gle/2yJPx3ixhma1xDww9 Follow Ed Jones II here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ed_Jones2 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edjonesii/ Athlete Transition Services Information ATS Website: http://www.atscorp.org FREE Next Season Programming: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VWS5ZVZ ATS Brochure: https://mcusercontent.com/9317df6f7028dc89f151e44e3/files/1c3c9658-05be-04cc-607a-778366aa4371/ATS_2022_23_Brochure_Compressed.pdf - Thank you for taking time to listen to today's episode. PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE THE CONTENT. Visit: https://www.btfprogram.com/ SUPPORT THE PODCAST: Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BTFProgram Follow: Twitter - https://twitter.com/BTF_Program Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/btf_program/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BTFProgram Tag on Social: #ThePDPod #BeyondTheField --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/playerdevelopmentpodcast/message

Dr. Lalia Rach, who has served as dean at several top hospitality and tourism programs. Ever the entrepreneur, Dr. Rach provides a glimpse into her new book, Managing the Book On You - Rewriting Your Leadership Story. Dr. Rach is now at Associate Luxury Hotels International as Executive Managing Director, is a classic story teller who will keep your attention with her honest and engaging perspective and advice. Enjoy!At New York University, Dr. Rach "Lalia" created one of the world's most innovative graduate and undergraduate programs in the business of hospitality, sports, and tourism. In her eighteen-year tenure there, she was responsible for creating the first graduate concentration in hospitality revenue management and for increasing the stature and attendance at the industry's premier conference (NYU Hospitality Investment and Development Conference) where for more than a decade she opened the event by interviewing CEO's from the global hotel industry.Cary Broussard worked together with Lalia Rach as an adjunct professor at NYU Hotel School and whilie Cary was head of the Women On Their Way program at Wyndham Hotels where she and Lalia and others at Wyndham launched the first business travelers survey, where more women were interviewed than men.

When it comes to the utter fabulousness that is Dan Skermer, listening is definitely believing!  Jack and Karen were mainly speechless when talking to Dan… his career to date has included everything from a yellow banana outfit (made of sponge) to the events entrepreneur that he is today.Dan has worked in hospitality and events all his life, and nothing makes him happier than bringing people together.  His enthusiasm, drive and determination for the events industry is contagious.  He is the proud founding member of PA Forum, a community group of over 1200 Executive & Business Support Professionals based in the Midlands. Established 7 years ago the community organises a wide variety of events across the region including the annual West Midlands PA Awards, East Midlands PA Awards and PA Forum Learning & Development Conference.Get ready for a fantastic podcast episode … and maybe even some singing!Keep a track of all that's going on with the Podcast via; www.theeventsinsight.com/www.linkedin.com/company/the-events-insight-podcast/www.instagram.com/the_eventsin/See more about our Season Sponsor Encore Global via; https://www.encoreglobal.com/ Find out more about our Shoutout Sponsor JCFX Media via; https://jcfxmedia.co.uk/ This weeks quickfire round sponsor was a charity focus with Cynthia Spencer;https://www.cynthiaspencer.org.uk/Our partnership with Standout Magazine is also worth following; https://standoutmagazine.co.uk/

From December 6th-8th, 2022, Allied Command Transformation hosted the Alliance Warfare Development Conference (AWDC) for more than 150 guests from 34 Allied and partner nations, including senior leadership from NATO commands. Today, Head of Strategic Issues and Engagements in the Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate at ACT, Dr. Vlasta Zekulic, joins us to discuss AWDC and its role in advancing the conversation regarding key trends and topics vital to NATO transformation.

WE ARE HOSTING A PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE!!!!!!! Join The Player Development Mailing List HERE: https://forms.gle/QdZjtcFc5gmh1c7G9 Follow Ed Jones II here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ed_Jones2 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edjonesii/ Thank you for taking time to listen to today's episode. PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW THE CONTENT. Visit: https://www.btfprogram.com/ SUPPORT THE PODCAST: Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BTFProgram Subscription: https://anchor.fm/playerdevelopmentpodcast Follow: Twitter - https://twitter.com/BTF_Program Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/btf_program/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BTFProgram Tag on Social: #ThePDPod #BeyondTheField --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/playerdevelopmentpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/playerdevelopmentpodcast/support

This month on the podcast, we're going to be finding out about the upcoming Herbicide Discovery and Development Conference, which is happening from January 18 to 20, 2023 at Curtin University. Due to genetic resistance to many of the most used herbicides, the need for new ones is greater than ever. This conference invites you to be part of the solution!University of Mississippi Adjunct Research Professor, Steve Duke, will be the keynote speaker on Thursday January 19. He'll be talking on “Molecular targets of herbicides and insecticides – are there overlaps that can be useful?” He joins us on this podcast to discuss what he'll be presenting on and gives an overview on what to expect from the conference. You can get your tickets for the conference here. You can follow AHRI on Twitter here. To learn more about AHRI's research and team, check out the website here.

I hope you had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving week last week. Hopefully you were able to get some extra time off to spend with your friends and family. I know that in our industries, that may have been your busiest time and that may not have been possible. For those of you lucky ones that DID have time off, now it is “go-time” to prepare for Christmas and the holidays next month. Since we last spoke I attended the Digital Signage Experience along with the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference. RFDC was probably one of the best showing of operators, at any one event, in a very long time. Lots of takeaways from that event and excellent networking in the beautiful Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. While I was there, I was able to sit down with a good friend of mind and talk about what it looks like to run a restaurant chain that is heavily franchised. The do's and don'ts of a successful tech stack and how to properly get the buy-in for procuring and deploying new technology.Today, I am honored to have Zerrick Pearson, the Chief Information Officer for Five Guys Enterprises, L.L.C., a global company that operates more than 1750 franchise and company-operated restaurants domestically and internationally. Zerrick is responsible for developing and implementing information technology initiatives across the Enterprise. Having been born into the restaurant industry, Zerrick has been involved in restaurant operations for almost 25 years. Prior to his time with Five Guys, Zerrick held the position of Vice President of Information Technology with a publicly traded Washington, DC based Company. While there Zerrick managed all IT initiatives, bridging the gap between IT, Finance and Operations.Zerrick is a board member of the IFBTA, RTN and various other industry specific IT organizations. How To Contact MeWebsite: https://SkipKimpel.com (all archived shows and show notes will be posted here)Website: https://ConStrata.ioInstagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpelTwitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/skipkimpel1/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skipkimpelLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipkimpelLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/constrata-consultingYou can also hear all these new episodes on the ConStrata website at ConStrata.ioEmail me at skip.kimpel@constrata.ioNext Week's ShowI am traveling the majority of this week and I have yet to bring you the interview that I promised you, Leigh Gower, CTO at

Managing Director Rick Ormsby gives an update on the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference he recently returned from in Las Vegas. While at RFDC, Rick was a panelist and discussed the inflationary environment and its impact on valuations. In this episode, he also discusses some of his responses from the panel.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road at the Restaurant, Finance and Development Conference in Las Vegas with guests Andrew Smith, Managing Director of Savory Fund, Andy Wiederhorn, Chief Executive Officer of Fat Brands and Tim McLaughlin, Chief Executive Officer of GoTab. Smith is Managing Partner of Savory Management, a Mercato Partners value-add management company, that focuses on delivering outsized returns through strategic growth and replication strategies. They partner with high-potential restaurant concepts to deliver necessary capital, industry knowledge, and operational prowess to facilitate growth into multi-unit brands and they specialize in taking fast casual and polished casual food and beverage concepts with between 2 and 8 locations and scales them into 30 plus units. Smith talks about growth, brands and shares breaking news with the guys. Wiederhorn has served as a director and Chief Executive Officer of FAT Brands Inc. since its formation. It is a global franchising company that acquires, markets, and develops fast-casual, quick-service, casual dining, and polished casual dining concepts around the world. They own seventeen restaurant brands including Round Table Pizza, Fatburger, Marble Slab Creamery, Johnny Rockets, Fazoli's, Twin Peaks and more. Wiederhorn talks about growth and acquisitions and buying 9 new brands. They talk about Fat Brands looking at new acquisitions and having a one thousand store pipeline of stores to be built. The idea of GoTab was started when co-founder McLaughlin started his first restaurant and brewery in 2015. GoTab, Inc., is a Restaurant Commerce Platform helping large and mid-sized restaurants, breweries, bars, hotels and other venues run lean, profitable operations while making guests even more satisfied. Recently the brand made Inc. Power Partner Awards. McLaughlin talks about the importance of integrations and what is next for GoTab. To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at RFDC and Branded Quickfire, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road at the Restaurant, Finance and Development Conference in Las Vegas with guests Andrew Smith, Managing Director of Savory Fund, Andy Wiederhorn, Chief Executive Officer of Fat Brands and Tim McLaughlin, Chief Executive Officer of GoTab. Smith is Managing Partner of Savory Management, a Mercato Partners value-add management company, that focuses on delivering outsized returns through strategic growth and replication strategies. They partner with high-potential restaurant concepts to deliver necessary capital, industry knowledge, and operational prowess to facilitate growth into multi-unit brands and they specialize in taking fast casual and polished casual food and beverage concepts with between 2 and 8 locations and scales them into 30 plus units. Smith talks about growth, brands and shares breaking news with the guys. Wiederhorn has served as a director and Chief Executive Officer of FAT Brands Inc. since its formation. It is a global franchising company that acquires, markets, and develops fast-casual, quick-service, casual dining, and polished casual dining concepts around the world. They own seventeen restaurant brands including Round Table Pizza, Fatburger, Marble Slab Creamery, Johnny Rockets, Fazoli's, Twin Peaks and more. Wiederhorn talks about growth and acquisitions and buying 9 new brands. They talk about Fat Brands looking at new acquisitions and having a one thousand store pipeline of stores to be built. The idea of GoTab was started when co-founder McLaughlin started his first restaurant and brewery in 2015. GoTab, Inc., is a Restaurant Commerce Platform helping large and mid-sized restaurants, breweries, bars, hotels and other venues run lean, profitable operations while making guests even more satisfied. Recently the brand made Inc. Power Partner Awards. McLaughlin talks about the importance of integrations and what is next for GoTab. To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at RFDC and Branded Quickfire, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

Geoffrey Kasselman, the keynote speaker at the 2022 BizTimes Commercial Real Estate and Development Conference, joins BizTimes editor Andrew Weiland to answer audience questions from the event. Whether you attended or not, the episode is full of insights into how technology will shape commercial real estate going forward.Kasselman and Weiland discuss how AI, new forms of transportation and microgrids could alter both buildings and consumer expectations. They discuss how blockchain could impact offices like the Register of Deeds and title companies. And they address how the Upper Midwest is positioned to navigate climate change.To see more from the event, visit biztimes.com/creconference

Zhangjiajie, China--(Newsfile Corp. - November 18, 2022) - On November 19th and 20th, the first Hunan Tourism Development Conference will be held in Zhangjiajie, the famed tourist city for uniquely wonderful landscapes. The event is inaugurated to shine the spotlight on Hunan Province, China with international attention.The First Hunan Tourism Development Conference Ready to Start on Nov. 19To "set examples to follow" and "boost development through event organization", Hunan has planned to integrate resources to facilitate the "four aspects of achieving faster development", i.e. infrastructure construction, overall environmental improvement, integrated growth of industries, as well as economic and social progress in cities, prefectures, counties, and districts in the province with whose efforts the conference is going to be successfully launched, and it is expected to advance, economically and socially, the high-quality development of the whole province, according to the Organizing Committee of Hunan Tourism Development Conference.By holding the conference, Hunan will be in full swing to seize the opportunities to bring in investment via the platform which the event will provide. In the whole province, 302 key investment promotion projects that have been selected will ask for a total investment of 529.6 billion yuan. In early July this year, the Xiangxi prefecture has taken the lead in holding a tourism development conference, during which 54 project contracts were signed, attracting 74.303 billion yuan of investment.The First Hunan Tourism Development Conference Ready to Start on Nov. 19To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7829/144777_92281a34a481cb38_002full.jpgThe projects are anticipated to drive tourist industrial updates and service enhancement in main areas such as folk-custom, camping, road trips, wellness retreats, sports, and leisure. Through the demonstration of a pattern of "+tourism", a synergy for innovative development will be created between multiple fields, to better satisfy the needs of tourists and accelerate the recovery of the market.With the goal of "thriving a place with an event", Hunan has launched a series of activities, for example, culture and tourism promotions, project observation programs, and tourism industry development promotions, showing ambition and abilities to the country and even the globe to make itself a world-level tourist destination, which also displays the province's positive response to the Global Development Initiative in the current stage of pursuing high-quality development in China.Contact:Company Name: The Organizing Committee of The First Tourism Development Conference of Hunan ProvinceContact Person: Jason ZouP

This week I am here at the Restaurant Finance & Development Conference and the Digital Signage Expo, here in Las Vegas. If you are at RFDC and are listening to this show, tomorrow, Wednesday, make sure you stick around and sign up and join the Technology Boot Camp where Zerrick Pearson, Galen Collins and myself will be teaching on various areas of technology in the restaurant industry. Get your certification while you are there… for free! Also, later in the day tomorrow, I will be speaking at the University of Las Vegas Hospitality College speaking with students there on “Restaurant and Hotel Technology.” That is going to be a blast and am really looking forward to that!I know this show was supposed to go live last week but we had to jump on the recap of MURTEC and, I promise you, this week's show was worth the wait. As previously mentioned, living on the operator side for most of my life, I had a very defined methodology for maintaining vendor relationships. I would say they were more partnerships than anything. When you engage with a vendor you need to have buy-in from both sides and you have to willing to work together to make it a fruitful and long-lasting relationship. But what does that really mean? What do vendor's think about us?My guest, for today's conversation, is none other than Bob Gibson who is a seasoned veteran supporting Global Enterprise customers with complex Franchisor/Franchisee models, building out GTM strategies to support these relationships with his Hospitality, Retail, and Technology experience.With over thirty plus years Bob is a SAAS veteran who understands how to build systems to reduce churn while helping overall revenue growth and increasing net revenue retention. His areas of expertise include but are not limited to Strategic Selling models, Go to Market Strategies and execution, Customer Service team builds and execution, Support Desk build and execution and Thought Leadership. He has over 20 years of experience in point of sale and served in leadership roles at Micros, Oracle and JOLT. Bob now serves as President and Chief Operating Office at the ConStrata group that continues to shape the technology industry in the hospitality, food and beverage space.How To Contact MeWebsite: https://SkipKimpel.com (all archived shows and show notes will be posted here)Website: https://ConStrata.ioInstagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpelTwitter:

Last week's Florida Restaurant and Lodging Associations Show was a huge success. I you didn't get to hear me speak on web3, don't fret, you will have many more opportunities in the near future and into 2023! From what I hear, the reports are in and it sounds like the MURTEC Executive Summit was a big hit as well! I wish I could have replicated myself and been at both places at once. I am sure you all missed “The Mayor of MURTEC!” Next big show for me is the Restaurant Finance & Development Conference and the Digital Signage Expo, both in Las Vegas in less than a week. If you are going to attend RFDC, make sure you stick around Wednesday morning and join the Technology Boot Camp where Zerrick Pearson, Galen Collins and myself will be teaching on various areas of technology in the restaurant industry. You can even get your certification at the end of the session. I hope that is reason enough to see you there!Today, we are going to switch things up a little bit as I had promised you a show with Bob Gibson, previously from Jolt and Oracle where we have a VERY interesting conversation on vendor / client relationships. However, given the fact that my colleague, Toby Malbec just attended the MURTEC Executive Summit, I thought I needed to jump on the opportunity to get a recap from him so he could fill us in on all the amazing things that I missed. I am sure not all of you were able to attend either so this will be very informative for all of usAs you know, I work side by side with Toby at ConStrata and why I love having him on the show is that we don't always agree on things, which makes for a healthy conversation. Hey, if everybody thought the same, we would just be robots…. Hmmmm… that might actually be one of the subjects for the day. Regardless, those that know Toby, knows that this will be an engaging conversation with lots of good insight.How To Contact MeWebsite: https://SkipKimpel.com (all archived shows and show notes will be posted here)Website: https://ConStrata.ioInstagram: https://instagram.com/skipkimpelTwitter: https://twitter.com/skipkimpelFacebook:

WHAT WILL THE AUDIENCE LEARN?They will learn more about the Nonprofit Resource Hub, how the association provides education, resources, support and services to nonprofit organizations. The audience will also learn about the Hub's first half day professional board development conference taking place on November 15th in NYC.EPISODE SUMMARY:Alison La Ferlita serves as the Executive Director for the Nonprofit Resource Hub. She is widely recognized as a strong and committed advocate of business and community development. She is the CEO of Plum+ Copper, LLC, an executive management consulting firm supporting nonprofit organizations and trade associations and an active community volunteer, having served on the boards of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Association for Professional Fundraisers, Long Island (AFPLI), and participates in the Long Beach Community Collaborative(LBCC). In addition, she serves as a Parent Advocate for parents of children with special needs and has served as a foster mom to rescue dogs. In 2021, Alison was recognized for her work and honored with a Women of Distinction Award, presented by Assemblywoman, Melissa Miller. She and her husband of 19 years reside in Long Beach and is the proud mom to two great boys, Shane and Reilly and dog mom to Bear and Maisy.Name of your organization: Nonprofit Resource HubWebsite: nonprofitresourcehub.orgLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaferlita/ Tune in for this sensible conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

We're welcoming Sherry Larjani to the podcast at the Land & Development Conference. She is the President of Spotlight Development, and just finished a panel at the conference regarding affordable housing and inclusionary zoning before recording. Sherry tells us about what it's like to be a woman in real estate, and if her experience is... The post Solving the Affordability Riddle with Sherry Larjani of Spotlight Development appeared first on Commercial Real Estate Podcast.

Michael Iannuzzi is the co-leader of the franchise practice at Citrin-Cooperman. Michael discusses the ongoing explosion of private equity activity in franchising. Is the growth slowing or shifting to a new focus? And how can franchisors adopt technology and automation to tell a more compelling story to potential partners? We'll also chat about some of biggest networking events for this fall including next week's IFA Franchise Action Network Annual Meeting in DC and The Franchise Leadership and Development Conference in October. Social Geek is proud supporter of IFA's VetFran. Learn more at vetfran.org.

At the 2022 Land & Development Conference, Aaron and Adam are speaking with Tsering Yangki. She is Head of Real Estate Finance & Development, Dream Unlimited. After moving to Canada as a refugee whose parents are from Tibet, Tsering realized she wanted to be a part of the decision people make to buy their first... The post Impact Investing with Tsering Yangki of Dream Unlimited appeared first on Commercial Real Estate Podcast.

Jeremiah Shamess, joining us at the Land & Development Conference, is making his second appearance on the podcast. He is Senior Vice President, Private Capital Investment Group at Colliers. It's been a long six years since Jeremiah was first on the podcast, and there's been a huge amount of progression in real estate since then.... The post Private Capital with Jeremiah Shamess of Colliers International appeared first on Commercial Real Estate Podcast.

Oklahoma State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister joins the KRMG Morning News with Dan Potter to discuss today's Engage Oklahoma On the Road development conference in Jenks. She also discusses her switch from Republican to Democrat and her race against Governor Kevin Stitt. Hofmeister makes comments on the latest Uvalde shooting report and what her office is doing in reaction. Resident band geek Dan Potter had to ask about music education for children in schools as well.

Recording at the Land & Development Conference, Aaron and Adam are welcoming Benjamin Tal in this episode. He is the is the Deputy Chief Economist of CIBC World Markets Inc., and a staple at the forums. Fresh off of his market outlook session at the conference, Benjamin talks to us about all things inflation. We... The post Inflation vs Real Estate with Benjamin Tal of CIBC World Markets appeared first on Commercial Real Estate Podcast.

This past weekend Colton embarked on a quick journey to the great state of Utah for a personal development conference. We discussed his biggest takeaways and what he got out of it. Check it out. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kevinhandcoltonr/support

Jeffrey Mosher welcomes Mollie Waller, Executive Director, Youth Solutions, Benton Harbor, MI. Mollie's topics for discussion; Career Development Conference (CDC). In the interview, Jeffrey looked to find out about the Career Development Conference, what is it about? How many students participated in the event? What was unique about the conference this year? Tell us about some of the competitions and events youth participated in. What impact do the conference's events have on youth? » Visit MBN website: www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com/ » Subscribe to MBN's YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCqNX… » Like MBN: www.facebook.com/mibiznetwork » Follow MBN: twitter.com/MIBizNetwork/

Note: this was recorded on Instagram live so the audio quality is not up to the usual standard. FILMMAKERS AND MOVIE FANS! Don't miss the Film Development Conference, April 29 & 30th in Bentonville, AR, hosted by the Arkansas Cinema Society. Rachel Norris-Wilson, ACS Director of Education, stopped by to tell us all about it. This exciting new event is a weekend full of pre-production resources for filmmakers plus film screenings and Q&As. There will be a number of established filmmakers in attendance, many of whom will be available for small group discussion. Get all the details at arkansascinemasociety.org

Note: this was recorded on Instagram live so the audio quality is not up to the usual standard. FILMMAKERS AND MOVIE FANS! Don't miss the Film Development Conference, April 29 & 30th in Bentonville, AR, hosted by the Arkansas Cinema Society. Rachel Norris-Wilson, ACS Director of Education, stopped by to tell us all about it. This exciting new event is a weekend full of pre-production resources for filmmakers plus film screenings and Q&As. There will be a number of established filmmakers in attendance, many of whom will be available for small group discussion. Get all the details at arkansascinemasociety.org

Zach talks economic development and checks in with the Arizona Association for Economic Development Conference to talk with Tucson Dept of Economic Development Initiatives Director Amanda Bruno. In the fourth segment Zach talks economic development with Greater Tucson Leadership CEO Justin Lukasewicz.

Minal Bopaiah, Founder and Principal Consultant, Brevity & Wit (Silver Spring, MD) Minal Bopaiah is Founder and Principal Consultant at Brevity & Wit, a strategy and design firm dedicated to “designing a more equitable world.” The original focus of Minal's agency was on graphic design. Today, the agency provides full-scale, full-service, human-centered graphic design; strategic marketing and communications; and the application of behavioral change science and organizational development to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Typical clients are mid-size companies of 200 to 3,000 employees, but Brevity & Wit has also engaged with public media work, non-profits, and tech and government agencies. At South by Southwest 2022, Minal presented “All About Equity: Future-Proof Your Organization” with the intention of moving people to ask for observable behaviors that support diversity, equity, and inclusion (which Minal refers to as “DEI work”). Accessibility is another issue, addressed as needed. Minal is the author of Equity: How to Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives, which, as of the date of this publication, has excellent reviews and 100% FIVE STAR RATINGS on Amazon. In this interview, Minal explores equity issues. She says, “Time is our most finite resource. We all only get 24 hours in a day, 168 in a week.” The system is designed for people who “don't have any caretaking responsibilities.” Most women have about 20 hours of unpaid labor at home,” and a “culture of overwork” is the reason women are less frequently in leadership positions.  When Minal recruits consultants, she strives to disrupt this system by making it “possible for them to earn what they need to live in 20 billable hours a week.” Instead of paying 30% of billable hours to consultants, the agency pays from 60% to 80%. Minal says, “The margins are small,” but, “the point of Brevity & Wit is to get money in the pockets of people of color and people from marginalized identity.” She believes this model is more trust-based, transparent, and partnership-focused than the traditional employment model, where employers “own” employees. Transforming organizations starts with a “power analysis” and an assessment of leadership engagement. Understanding how organizations work, how power works in organizations, and organizational life cycles is critical to restructuring workplaces to be more inclusive and equitable.  Minal is available on her agency's website at brevityandwit.com and as Minal Bopaiah on internet platforms. Her book, Equity: How to Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives can be found in major bookstores, at theequitybook.com, and on Amazon.  Transcript Follows: ROB: Welcome to the Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Kischuk, and I am live at South by Southwest 2022 – yes, conferences are a thing again – and I am joined today by Minal Bopaiah, Founder and Principal Consultant at Brevity & Wit based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Welcome to the podcast, Minal. MINAL: Thank you, Rob. Thank you for having me. ROB: It's a pleasure to meet you here. We are live in the middle of the Four Seasons in Austin, so we have a lively crowd around us. But that kind of adds to the festivity; we can prove we're actually somewhere in person. Minal, you are here speaking this week, which is extra exciting, but why don't you start off and give us the picture of Brevity & Wit? What is the organization, what is your calling card?  MINAL: Sure, I'd be happy to. Brevity & Wit is a strategy and design firm dedicated to designing a more equitable world. We do that through a number of services, from full-scale, full-service graphic design to strategic marketing and communications to organization design. That's the more intensive DEI work – DEI meaning diversity, equity, and inclusion. We also add accessibility at points. We have a really unique approach that combines human-centered design, behavior change science, and organizational development. So really understanding how organizations work, how power works in organizations, the life cycle of an organization, and then working to make sure that we can transform those organizations into more equitable and inclusive workplaces. ROB: If there's a typical client, is there a typical size, scale, industry? Who knocks on your door? MINAL: Right now our typical client is medium-sized companies, so about 200 to maybe 3,000 employees. We do a lot of work in public media, but we also work with nonprofits. We've worked with tech agencies. We're starting to work with some government agencies. It can really vary in terms of the industry. ROB: Some of the organizations this size are going to be growing, but a lot of them seem like they might be a little bit more mature and established, at which point, if there's work to do, there's probably a lot of work to do. And whereas they might have come to you at one point just to say “Help us with this messaging we're trying to get out in a certain area,” when you really get to organizational design, you're saying “How do you be the message you're trying to put out there and not just buy it sometimes?” What does that look like when you're coming into an established organization? MINAL: The first thing if we're really talking about organization design is being able to identify power, like do a power analysis. What we find is in organizations you really have to start with leadership. If leadership is not engaged and fully bought in, it doesn't work. What often happens – in the post-George Floyd world, a lot of people started doing all-staff trainings. Those are usually counterproductive because it's very easy for staff to get on board with the principles of DEI, but leadership needs a hot minute. They're like, “Wait a minute, if this is how we're supposed to be, how do we do accountability? How do we do performance management? You're saying that everything I've been taught is not right; how do I unlearn that and learn new behaviors?” So, they need a minute to catch up. If you don't do that, what happens is staff is fully on board with an all-staff, and then you find out that they feel that the leadership is not living up to their end, and they think it's a bait and switch. So, we want to really start with leadership, especially when we're working with seasoned organizations that have an established culture. ROB: Sure. Especially because even if someone's onboard, when you talk about accountability, when you talk about performance management, your low and middle managers are taking their cues from the organization as a whole anyhow. If they need to do something different, they don't have the tools to do it. What needs to change? What are people not aware of when it comes to those topics – accountability, performance management, and so on? MINAL: There's a whole thing. There's everything from how to run an inclusive meeting – which is not that hard; it just means you need to spend 10 minutes prepping, understand what the purpose of the meeting is, make room for everybody to look at the agenda, make room for everybody to talk and reflect and contribute, and then be clear about action items. ROB: That just sounds like a good meeting. MINAL: Yeah, right? If everybody just did that, workplaces would improve. So, it can be something as basic as that to understanding how we embed this in performance management and tie salary and bonuses to it. And it depends where we're working. Really, the first part is to understand the problem we're solving for. There are a lot of initials in DEI. Diversity, equity, and inclusion. Do you have a diversity problem where you need to recruit more diverse talent? Do you have an inclusion problem where you're able to get people with different backgrounds through the door, but they don't stick because they don't feel included or feel they don't belong? Or do you have an equity problem where maybe you're able to get a lot of diverse talent and they stick, but you look at your proper management and it all looks the same? So, there's no real pathway for promotion for people who have different strengths. ROB: Right. Even to break that down, I feel like we might need to start every conversation there because people don't know the problem they're trying to solve, and they think they're trying to solve a problem that starts with appointing a person to watch over it. And maybe it's good to have someone who thinks more deeply about it. I guess that's an interesting question. Are organizations better served having an officer who is looking at DEI, or is that a copout sometimes? MINAL: It depends how you're doing it. One, it's always great to have somebody held accountable for a business function. But if you don't give that person a budget or the power to do what they need to do, then it's – sorry, I'm not supposed to curse. I'm going to stop. This is hard for a New Yorker like me to not swear. [laughs] But it's not a real job, then, right? If you don't have any resources behind it. It's fine if you want to have somebody who is manning the shop, so to speak, but you really want some heft behind it, and that heft is going to come from the CEO. ROB: Absolutely. This kind of thing has to start there. I had a little debate – we had a little book club and we were reading this book about engineering leadership. Someone made the assumption that the author was a guy, and it was not. I joked with our COO – I'm kind of telling on my team, and I probably shouldn't do that on a podcast. MINAL: No. [laughs] ROB: But these folks mean well; we didn't bash anybody over the head about it, but I kind of riffed with her. I joked and I said, “Camille? Is that a guy?” [laughs] We kind of laughed about it, and I think the point was made. I asked our COO, “Would you rather I said it or you said it?” She's like, “I saw your eyes light up, so I knew you were going to talk about.” I just felt like it helps to come from the top, and maybe even to not put – I mean, anybody can say it, but to not put her in the position of having to be the one that said it felt helpful, is all I can say. MINAL: Yeah. Really, when we say it needs to start with the top, what we mean is that the CEO or the head of the company has to be fully bought-in. But the skills to do the work should be distributed across the company. Because we're on a podcast, just looking at you, when a white guy says something like that, the messenger matters in these messages. It means a lot. That's like an act of true allyship, when somebody who doesn't have any skin in the game is willing to say, “No, I'm going to put some skin in the game for this because it matters.” As opposed to if I were to say that, it might look like I'm taking it personally. ROB: Right. MINAL: Which doesn't mean that I shouldn't be able to, but… ROB: Yeah, the inference from that is a topic all unto itself, but you have to deal with that any time you're making a comment, so it's a big deal. MINAL: That's sort of the politics of work, right? The messenger matters. And this is why we say that talking about identity matters, because if I'm in a leadership position, how people perceive me affects how I lead. So, if I'm not aware of my identity and not aware of the unconscious biases people might have based on my identity, I won't be able to subvert those unconscious biases. I don't talk about it because I think we should reinforce biases; I talk about it because the more you're aware of how people may be perceiving you, the more power you have and the more choice you have in how to play that situation to be effective. ROB: That makes sense. Let's look back at Brevity & Wit. Where did this firm come from? What made you decide that this needed to exist, that you were going to start it? How did it come to pass? MINAL: I had the name for many, many years, and I think I always wanted to start it. I think I'm naturally – my father really encouraged me to have an original mind. That makes me a bad employee, I think, in a lot of ways. [laughs] It's good to be a founder if you have an original mind, and you are a bad entry-level employee if you have an original mind. ROB: The unemployable factor, yes. MINAL: Yeah. So, I think that was part of it. But honestly, I couldn't start it for a number of years because I was single. I was living in New York and then Boston and D.C., because if you're single, first of all, living in a city helps. Secondly, if you're a person of color, being able to get access to the sort of foods or culture that I would feel are home for me only happens in cities. Being single in those environments, the cost of living really impeded my ability to start it. We don't have any VC funding. It was totally scrappy and just me starting it. But what changed is that I got married, and when I got married, I was able to get on my husband's health insurance, and there was a second income. It wasn't much – my husband's a firefighter and paramedic; he's never made that much money. He's not independently wealthy or anything. But it was the three-month buffer I needed to go from zero to being in the black and being able to support myself. That was impossible when I was single. ROB: Wow. So that became that moment. Was the focus always in this direction from the start? What was the founding thesis of the firm, and what were some evolution steps along the way? MINAL: The focus originally was on graphic design and communications, but then my last job before I started it was doing marketing for a DEI firm called Cook Ross, which is a pretty big firm. That's where I met my mentor, Johnnetta Cole, who wrote the foreword for my book. Dr. Cole is just a luminary in the DEI space. She and I have been working on a book. Basically, I just sat at her feet for like a year and a half and wrote everything she told me to write and asked every question I had and learned everything I could about DEI. She was really eager for me to move into the field more intentionally and more directly. I was already sort of doing it in the design and marketing and comms arena, like how you do those jobs with a DEI lens, but through that apprenticeship underneath her, I was able to move into this more directly. ROB: That's excellent. You've been able to grow it, build it. Have you found it natural to recruit additional people into the firm? The right people know your focus when you meet them? Is it pretty natural?  MINAL: Yes and no. It's really interesting because what I think I'm good at is I can spot talent. But we are very scrappy. We have a very interesting structure. Everybody's a 1099 right now because I didn't know how to make it work. But the point of Brevity & Wit is to get money in the pockets of people of color and people from marginalized identity. While most firms might give 30% of the billable rate to the consultant, we give anywhere from 60% to 80%, so our margins are small. Our ability to salary is poor. But what that means is that people who might already be seasoned and be able to consult will get a lot more, and I'm handling marketing and business development. But what that also means is that I have a high tolerance for risk in entrepreneurship; a lot of other people who I think are exceptional talent do not. The diversity angle for me is having those conversations to help them understand a different model, understanding they'll never be as comfortable as I am in terms of risk, but I can get them to a point that there's so much trust that they can enter into this. But it has been sometimes a long courtship to get people to join us who I know would be good, and I know they would love it, if they could just allow themselves to imagine a world where they're not relying on a salary and then getting squeezed out in terms of productivity. One of the problems right now in our world is that – I'm going to say something heavy. Just stick with me. ROB: I'm here. MINAL: The legacy of slavery in our workplaces is this idea that companies think that if they pay somebody a salary, they own them. ROB: Right. MINAL: A more integrity-filled way of looking at it would be to say if you pay somebody a salary, you are renting their time and talent for 40 hours a week, no more, no less. I don't care what level they are, whether they're exempt or non-exempt. The reason I say that is because time is our most finite resource. We all only get 24 hours in a day, 168 in a week. Most women have about 20 hours of unpaid labor at home that they don't get paid for. There's a Harvard Business Review study of why women aren't in leadership, and the reason is the culture of overwork. Because only men who either don't have any caretaking responsibilities or have wives who take care of that – or if they're gay and they have a partner that takes care of it – can overwork. The whole system is designed for them. So. when I'm recruiting people, I'm trying to say, “Listen, that's the system we're trying to disrupt.” So not only do we give our people 60% to 80%, we also try to make it possible for them to earn what they need to live in 20 billable hours a week. ROB: Wow. Do some people just choose 20 with you? MINAL: Yeah. ROB: Does anybody choose more than 40? Is that something somebody can choose with you? MINAL: They could. They might be working with other agencies as well, so they might be doing that. I don't encourage that, and that's also why we pay a higher rate. I was like, if we're going to cap this at 20, then you need to make 60% to 80% in order to make what you live. Then the assumption is that there's maybe 5 to 10 hours a week of stuff you can't charge clients for, and then if you decide to be a community member, you're also going to give back to the Brevity & Wit community a ratio of like 1:5. So for every 5 billable hours, you would give an hour back to the community or something like that. That's like a 35-hour week right there. There's a substantial amount of work, but that was the equation that needed to shift in my head if we really wanted to run an equitable startup. ROB: Right. In that case, there's no ownership vibe when everybody's on that – it's freely engaged on both sides. MINAL: Yeah, it's a partnership model. It's very transparent, it's very trust-based. It is very much like “You win when I win, I win when you win.” ROB: You mentioned the book; I do want to go there. A book is a labor and a labor of love, and your book is Equity: How to Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives. I'm sure the book is aligned to who you are and what we're talking about in a large way, but tell us about the book and the path of that story. MINAL: The book started actually because of my husband. This guy that I married to start my business is a firefighter and paramedic, which we joke is the opposite of what I do. If you could imagine the opposite. [laughs] ROB: You're both helping people. Just the skillset is very different. MINAL: Yeah. I come home with my ideas for DEI and he's like, “That won't work with my people.” He told me this story once of a conference where these three firefighter captains went to a diversity conference out of state, and the facilitator used the word “LGBTQ.” One of the captains was like, “What does ‘Q' stand for?” The facilitator said, “Queer.” The captain was like, “Are you kidding me? I literally got called onto the carpet at the firehouse for using that word with somebody.” I'm sure the facilitator explained how queer had been reclaimed by the LGBTQ community. Fell on deaf ears. This captain returned from a three-day conference on diversity and inclusion and his takeaway to the firehouse was “Guys, we can say ‘queer' again.” [laughs] ROB: Oh no. [laughs] MINAL: Like, no! I always laugh at that story because, one, I can empathize with the firefighter captain because the world is shifting goalposts while he's literally putting out fires. [laughs] He's like, “What are you talking about?” And then I also laugh because I fear for DEI professionals like myself because I'm like, is this what people are taking away from our three-hour workshops? That's their takeaway? So, I was like, how do we make this more pragmatic and practical? The book was really born of that. How do we take this out of academic jargon? How do we take this out of theory and operationalize it and make it as pragmatic and practical as possible? ROB: I would imagine, then, there's layers to it. You could probably iterate through this topic five different times with an organization and get a little bit better each time. MINAL: Yeah. ROB: And then you're here; you're speaking at South by Southwest. You've spoken today. You're on a panel discussion, is that right? MINAL: No, it was just me. Solo. ROB: You mentioned a panel earlier, so I thought that was the deal. All you. So, the session: “All About Equity: Future-Proof Your Organization.” What do you hope people took away from that other than words they can use in their workplace or not? MINAL: I hope that people took away that we really need to move to asking for observable behaviors. This cannot stay in the realm of theory and trying to motivate people to just do better. We need to get clear about what our asks are in companies, and in doing that we create a new culture. We've got to be willing to question everything we've been taught and then be like, how would we do this in a way that actually is fair to everyone? ROB: What does that look like in practice? Is this going to a KPI process? Are we measuring these things? What does it look like? MINAL: I have a consultant who loves KPIs. You would love her. She loves KPIs. I think eventually it becomes measurable, but I think it's very, very concrete. If we were to go back to that firefighter example, the ask is not “Let's sit and have a one-hour conversation about gender fluidity.” I mean, I'm down for that. I'll do that right now over wine. My husband will not, even though he did all the housework and ran all the errands while I wrote the book. So, what am I arguing with him, right? But if you say to a bunch of firefighters, “Listen, the standard of professionalism is that when you're out treating a patient, you need to ask what their pronouns are and you need to use whatever they say” – that's an inarguable, observable behavior that you can see and track, and because you've made it departmental policy, you get social reinforcement. That's what I'm saying. It's got to move away from “Do you understand all these terms?” to “What is it you want me to do?” The reason I say that is because right now, DEI is a little bit, in my opinion, of implying that you almost have to be a medical doctor in order to be a healthy individual. The level of knowledge that's needed is at an academic level that doesn't include everybody. So how do we make this a healthy behavior that people can engage in, even if they haven't gone to graduate school? ROB: Right, and you're equipping people with clarity of expectation. People need that in a job anyhow. You can't say “Do better,” but you can coach, counsel, and hold accountable on “Did you or did you not do this?” There's eventual conversations. You can get the conversations around organizational fit around those expectations, and that rolls right back into what we were talking about with the meeting structure. It's setting a standard, holding it. That is effective management, and the organization chooses what those behaviors are. You're giving people some ideas of what those can actually be that are the next step. MINAL: Exactly. See, you get it. ROB: I get it. I need to get more. This is, of course, the Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast. A lot of our listeners, a lot of our guests are people who run creative organizations. Something I would observe from where I sit is that there are let's say stereotypes within different roles. An organization might achieve some overall appearance of diversity while each department – let's say the account team, a bunch of guys are developers, a bunch of account people are women, a lot of the people who actually handle doing what they say they're going to do can be women. How should an organization think about not just being inclusive as a whole and equitable and diverse as a whole, but within those little sub-areas where it's easy to be very homogeneous, how do people think about behaviors and actions they could do in those areas to get to a better place? MINAL: One, it's important to be mindful of your size. The very big organizations – DEI started in the Fortune 500s. When you have 50,000 employees, you can make the case that every department should be diverse amongst all of these lines because they're big enough departments. If you're a company of 200 and you have a team of five developers, this becomes a more difficult equation. Then it may not be about getting the exact percentages right, but it is looking at the process to get in the door, first of all. Is that even equitable? There's lots of research that shows that having an ethnic-sounding name like mine doesn't lead to a callback. But if I were to change my name and have exactly the same résumé, I would get more callbacks. There's those things. Then it's also looking at the culture and training the team in terms of “Do you know how to be inclusive of people who are different? Do you know what that means? It might take more time to build trust, and you might have to do it more intentionally.” And then it's also looking at doing very targeted recruitment, because often in a lot of these fields that you mention, like web development, accounting, so on and so forth, there are groups that are trying to get people who have historically been left out of these professions in the door. If a company forms partnerships with those groups, then when they have a job posting, they can reach out with those groups. But it needs to be not just transactional, where you're trying to get something; you've got to give, too. ROB: It sounds like the organizations that are the best at that are also going to be holding a high trust with who they're presenting as a candidate. Not just can they be recruited – can they be retained, can they grow in their role and within the organization? They're going to want to know the receipts on that, not just “Will you hire this person because you need somebody right now?” MINAL: The thing that people from marginalized identities hate being is a token, or your PR cover. And don't think we can't sniff that out within five seconds. It amazes me how much people try. I was like, we have this figured out. [laughs]  ROB: “This is awkward. I'll tell you what I see here.” MINAL: Yeah. ROB: Makes sense. [laughs] Well, what's coming up? You mentioned another book. MINAL: Yes, I'm working on a book with my mentor, Johnnetta Cole, that is still in development. And then Brevity & Wit is doing some amazing, amazing things. We are working with public media. We're going to be at the Public Media Marketing and Development Conference in Chicago in July. And our team – we have such phenomenal people. We are doing an online workshop on April 14th, and you can go to bitly.com/brevityandwit if you want to sign up. It is on digital blackface and racism in emojis. ROB: Okay. MINAL: So, if you're a marketer and you're using emojis or you're a social media marketer and you're responding with – is it “JIFs” or “GIFs”? I never know. ROB: Depends on who you ask. MINAL: If you're using that stuff, there is a digital blackface that is emerging in our culture that people need to be made aware of and be able to observe and be able to make different choices. Our creative director is leading a workshop on that. ROB: You're going to help people read the room on their emojis. There's probably 10 different ways to do that wrong. I'm glad we don't do this, because thinking about how to do that right is kind of terrifying to me. Whether you're using the Simpsons yellow emoji or whether you're very pale or very not pale. MINAL: That is one of the slides, the Simpson yellow. [laughs] ROB: It's funny we started there; it's funny that it's still there. MINAL: Yeah, because everybody's like, “Oh, it's neutral.” I was like, then why is a poo brown? It's not neutral. It's code for white. ROB: I think about it even when I'm choosing my Slack emoji and my default skin tone. I'm like, am I choosing the right one? Can I just get a camera to color match me so I can not . . . MINAL: And Acacia is going to lead people through that, like how do you become more observant of that? And we're not saying you can't use something like an emoji that's a different color, or more accurately a JIF/GIF or whatever we call it. But it's being more mindful of “What is the context in which I'm using this?” Is it in any way mimicking the blackface minstrelsy that we used to see? ROB: If it's here to entertain us, it's not respectful.  MINAL: Yeah, if it's dehumanizing in any way. ROB: Absolutely. Wow. Minal, it's a lot of think about. Is there anything you wish I would've asked you that I didn't get to in this conversation? MINAL: Oh wow. I could talk about this stuff all day. I can't think of anything off the top of my head. It's a pleasure to talk to somebody who has such a genuine and authentic interest in this work. ROB: Yeah. Hopefully someone can ask some more questions from this. In the show notes, we'll get that bitly link to what you've got coming up. I think we can get that out in time. That'll be an exciting next step for people. I would encourage folks to check out the book and check out Brevity & Wit. Where should people find you when they want to connect with you? MINAL: Brevity & Wit is brevityandwit.com. The book is available in all major bookstores. You can also go to theequitybook.com. And I am the only Minal Bopaiah on the internet. [laughs] ROB: That's wonderful. MINAL: Take a gander at spelling my name and you'll probably land up on me. [laughs] ROB: That's good. I can't even claim to be the only Rob Kischuk on the internet. You've got the Google result of one? MINAL: Yeah. ROB: That is excellent. Grateful you could join us. Minal Bopaiah, Brevity & Wit, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I hope people continue to check you out and learn and engage and get better, but in measurable and specific and direct ways, and not this idealism. It's both. MINAL: Practical idealism. ROB: Appreciate it. Thank you so much. MINAL: Thank you, Rob. Thank you so much. ROB: Be well. Thank you for listening. The Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast is presented by Converge. Converge helps digital marketing agencies and brands automate their reporting so they can be more profitable, accurate, and responsive. To learn more about how Converge can automate your marketing reporting, email info@convergehq.com, or visit us on the web at convergehq.com.

In this episode, Andrew shares with us what the experience is like at a Petrus Development Conference.In June of 2021, we hosted the Petrus Leadership Conference in beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado with one hundred development and ministry leaders from around the country. Over the three day conference, we had more than 20 presenters talking about the techniques and mechanics of fundraising as well as inspirational topics such as eulogy virtues and telling a compelling story. In this episode, we will share three brief clips from the conference just to give you an example of the content and quality of speakers.On June 12-15, 2022, we will be hosting the Petrus Development Conference in another beautiful location, the Naples Grande Beach Resort in Naples, Florida. To learn more or to register today, go to petrusdevelopment.com/pdc22.

Cass Green of New Kensington CDC and Somaly Osteen of SEAMAAC are joining Leon and De'Wayne for a very frank conversation on race and community organizing. This conversation took place as part of PACDC's Forward Equitable Development Conference. Cass Green is currently Project Manager for New Kensington CDC, HACE and Impact Services' DOJ-Community-Based Crime Reduction Grant (CBCR) in the Kensington and Fairhill neighborhoods. She previously served as People's Emergency Center CDC's Director of Community Engagement & Partnerships. Cass's career includes 27 years at the University of Pennsylvania, including serving as the Senior Business and Building Administrator for the Institute of Contemporary Art-ICA for 17 years. She is a multi-disciplinary artist, curator, and producer of the “Mill Creek Past, Present and Future” documentary. Cass co-founded the Mill Creek Community Partnership (MCCP) in 2004 and serves as its president along with having established the Fine Arts Through Our Eyes Community Arts Initiative in 2005. Somaly Osteen graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business and Tourism Management. She has more than ten years of experience working for multiple local and international non-profit organizations. Somaly's career started in the country of Cambodia while taking part as a community advocate, community engagement, and development. Somaly currently serves as a Community Development Specialist/Corridor Manager with SEAMAAC, Inc. She works with a diverse community filled with immigrants and refugees located in South Philadelphia to build a strong local economy while helping community to be a better place for everyone. The focus with the community has been to partner with different resources to strategically cater to the community's needs and issues. Somaly believes that sustainable development starts with each individual while sustainable change comes through unity. Episode Transcript Available Here: https://pacdc.org/2017/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Cass-Green-and-Somaly-Osteen.pdf Producer: Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, Sound Editor: Andrew Heppard, Cover Art: Jennifer Selpa, Music: Needed You by Will Ellsworth

Take an inside look at 2021's READY, SET, GROW! Entrepreneur & Business Development Conference! Get a crash course from a few of the panelists on how to take over the second half of the year with confidence.

Our next guest is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She holds bachelor of social work degree from Lock Haven Univrsity of Pennsylvania and a masters of social work from Howard University School of Social Work. Recently, she presented her work on military families at the Annual Congress: Child, Care, Mental Health, Psychology and Development Conference in Toronto, Canada. She is a member of several professional organizations including National Association of Social Worker, Academy of Clinical Social Workers, International Association of Trauma (IAPT) and the Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Workers (PSCW). She is currently working on building her own telemental health private practice and first book called “Hidden Wounds: My Break-Through To Healing” a memoir focused on her experiences of struggling with her own mental health, juggling motherhood, while working on her own journey to happiness and stability. Please Welcome to the All Things Gratitude Podcast, Shara Ruffin --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nick-dorsey/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nick-dorsey/support