The impact of women-only networks across the world is a growing phenomenon. Women, having always been excluded from workplaces, social spaces, and business networks, have taken the initiative and started up on their own. The intrinsic gender prejudices in traditional networks have also nudged women towards building their own communities, be it for entrepreneurship and funding, moms, tech, or other facets of living.

There are few things as satisfying as being a part of a circle of women as small or large as it might be and knowing that you have an empowering, encouraging bunch who have your back.

These communities are instrumental in encouraging women to be their best selves and realising that we are stronger when we come together. We trust that women who are empowered have the power to bring about positive change in the world.

How women communities help raise their power:

In a world where women are disproportionately targeted by online bullying, they often end up reducing their online presence or alter it to avoid negative interactions.

The best guidance is more likely to come from someone who has experienced what you are going through. Most women admit they are emboldened by the knowledge that they are not alone in facing issues like workplace gender bias, domestic violence, reproductive health concerns etc, and that they are inspired to help other women in the community by sharing the knowledge they have gained through their experiences.

Women understand one anothers concerns, embarrassments,joys, and obstacles. Women communities foster empathy while also serving as a robust support system in more ways than one.

The importance of relationships should be valued in both personal and professional capacity.

As women are gradually, butcertainly trying to bridge the gapin the business industry, there are moreopportunitiesfor female entrepreneurs and professionals to climb the corporate ladder.

Today, women account for 40 percent of the global workforce and are at the helm of major establishments, yet there is no dearth of setbacks women face each day while pursuing their ambitions.

Online communities are committed to supporting women in global supply chains, and are set out to understand how to address the challenges holding back progress on womens economic empowerment.

From professional accomplishments and guidance, to mental health support and workplace obstacles women communities become spaces where women can share career advice and create opportunities for each other, together.

Women often end up getting trapped in unconscious patterns of behaviour, which are detrimental to their growth and success.

To put it across very simply, empowering women is about sharing your experiences with one another in hopes that your words and actions will inspire, and more importantly, uplift them. It is all about helping other women enhance and enrich themselves.

Media and culture lack authentic representations of women; from products we cannot use to stories we do not identify with.

From the classroom to the boardroom, women's opinions have been hushed, disregarded, interrupted, mocked, or mansplained. Women are schooled not only to ask permission, apologise, hedge and speak up, but also to self-doubt and self-censor. Women communities change this. They become stages whereupon women are handed the mic, and find the confidence to raise their voice and their power.

Contrary to popular sexist beliefs, women can be womens biggest supporters. Judgement and enmity come from centuries of being put in competition with one another.

But when women are put in the same team, they can push each other to be more successful just by encouraging and motivating them.

As women, we are multi-dimensional and we want to succeed in all aspects of our lives, including at home and in our careers. At work, we are often reticent to try things before we feel we are 100 percent ready or qualified.

If you are part of a women empowerment community, encourage your girls to get out of her comfort zone. Set expectations high because she is capable of achieving them. Create an environment for her to feel safe in her crucial decision making processes, and also hold her back up as she tries to rise from her falls and moves on.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

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The importance of women communities and how they help women become empowered - YourStory

There is a discernible silver lining in the otherwise ominously dark cloud of Covid-19: A whole new category of employment will emerge soon that will be both better for employees and employers.

I call it the interim economy.

The word "interim" literally translates from its Latin origins as "the time in between," and for businesses the next two years will be a time in which they either adapt or disappear.

First, let's lay our cards on the table: There's no guarantee that a vaccine will be created, ever; 40 years on, an AIDS vaccine has yet to be found. Likewise, the probability of the U.S. reaching so-called herd immunity in a country the expanse and size of ours seems unlikely.

With the sudden, massive shift to remote work to stop the spread of the pandemic over the past few months, companies have found that working from home actually works: A recent study concluded that up to 40% of all jobs can be performed at home, while before the pandemic, it's estimated that only 3% actually could be done remotely.

This trend was already afoot before the pandemic, but it was largely an opt-in lifestyle choice or confined mainly to the blue-collar service industry. When it came to white-collar and professional jobs, it was still the rare exception rather than the rule.

Now individuals and companies have found they no longer have to be held hostage by geography. Large but nimble tech companies, like Google, Twitter, Facebook and Square, have already announced that many of their employees will be allowed to work from home at least through the end of the year.

Some companies may even choose to continue remote work on a permanent basis: According to a March 30 survey conducted by Gartner Research of 317 CFOs and finance leaders, 74% say they will move at least 5% of their previously on-site workforce to permanently remote positions post-Covid-19. That synchronizes with a recent Gallup poll that found nearly 60% of employees would like to keep working remotely after access to businesses and schools have been restored.

This alignment between employee desire and employer needs is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the moribund employment landscape. The next step: transitioning these workers into independent contractors.

Of the 160 million people employed in the U.S. in February, 65% had a full-time job and 33% had a contract job with a predetermined end. The average length of stay for full-time employment was 3.5 years and decreasing. The average assignment length for the contract category was 2-plus years and increasing. The new economy already was in place, waiting in the wings.

The pandemic was just the tipping point.

Even after stay-at-home restrictions are eased, and even if somehow we dodge the second wave of the virus that is widely predicted to emerge this fall, there are so many people unemployed that a V or even a U bounce-back of the job market is nearly impossible.

According to Heidi Shierholz, the former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor and current director of policy at theEconomic Policy Institute, if we succeed in restoring "a million jobs a month which would be absolutely unheard of it would still take almost two years to get back to where we were."

Faced with bleak balance sheets, businesses will be forced to cut labor costs. But how? Now that the pandemic has shown that many companies can function pretty much as usual with remote employment, businesses will strike a deal with their full-time employees: Allow them the lifestyle of working from home in return for becoming a contract worker. Given that up to 25% of labor costs are besides earned wages paid personal time off, health-care benefits, retirement plans and other additional costs the potential savings are enormous.

Given that up to 25% of labor costs are besides earned wages paid personal time off, health-care benefits, retirement plans and other additional costs the potential savings are enormous.

Another huge cost savings potential is not having to pay for workers who are tied to a particular locale. If an employee can live in Flagstaff, Arizona, or Kennebunkport, Maine, a company would no longer need to pay for San Francisco or New York costs of living. If a person is able to work as an interim employee and perform remotely from essentially anywhere, the salary requirement may differ by as much as 30%. That could have a tremendous macroeconomic impact on business.

How exactly will the Brave New World of Work look like for the formerly full-time, salaried employee?

Employees will thrive as independent contractors. Think, for example, entertainment and sports. In the not too distant past, virtually all film actors were salaried employees of the major Hollywood studios. That changed dramatically with a 1949 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended the vertically integrated studio system of producing, distributing and exhibiting movies. A decade later the biggest and brightest stars were independent contractors, represented by talent agents. Similarly, most professional athletes in the U.S. before the 1990s didn't have agents.

Sought-after employees across many industries will have agents representing their careers. Newer players will be able to ride on the established stars' coattails, a process that will set industry-standard contract work fees and perks.

Contract workers with similar backgrounds will form trade organizations. This may be in the form of professional unions, if you will, to represent themselves collectively, much as film and TV actors have with the Screen Actors Guild, and professional athletes have with various players' unions. (Facebook employees' very public disagreement with Mark Zuckerberg over President Donald Trump's questionable messaging may be a sign of bigger things to come in terms of employee self-empowerment.)

Home will become a mini metropolis for each worker. Virtually any service will be efficiently delivered to an individual's home, including health care. In fact, health care will help drive the new interim economy as big tech streamlines the delivery of state-of-the-art medicine through telehealth and big data innovations.

Professional branding will make resumes obsolete. The No. 1 activity that every worker in the interim economy should get comfortable with is professional branding and reputation building in their respective areas of expertise. The days of sending out resumes, answering job postings and hoping to tap into analog networks of exclusively "people you know" will no longer create the best opportunities for employment. Actively networking, proper positioning of work experience and personal web pages for careers will all be critical assets for career building.

Each age group of current full-time employees will have their own advantages and disadvantages in the interim economy.

Workers ages 50 plus, who will represent 35% of the labor market in 2022 (a combination of late baby boomers and early Gen Xers), will be targeted first for dis-employment because they tend to have the highest salaries. On the other hand, they have the most experience and institutional knowledge, which will become critically important in a world of on-demand workers.

Millennials will have to compete both with younger and older workers for income but will have the advantages of enough experience and a generational tech savviness to make themselves unique assets. Gen Zers will be handicapped by their lack of experience but will succeed by their willingness to occupy initially the lower end of the pay scale and through their sheer toughness born out of experiencing the Great Recession as children and now the pandemic as young adults.

We're about to embark on a new employment revolution. Both companies and individuals who embrace the new interim economy will thrive. As humans, we tend to process changes through our existing reality or self-imposed limitation. This is one of those times when we really need to look at things as they are, not as we see them.

Joe Mullings is a career expert with 30 years advising companies and individuals. He is the founder and CEO of The Mullings Group, a firm specializing in medtech talent acquisition. Recently, he was appointed the chief visionary officer of MRI, the 3rd-ranked executive recruitment firm, with 400 offices worldwide.

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Op-ed: More companies will offer remote work at price of staff position. Take the deal - CNBC

Female peacekeepers are great assets to the UN. A Rwandan police officer is greeted warmly by women and children while on patrol in Gao, Mali.Photo: UN Photo/Marco Dormino

The vision and promise of the United Nations is that food, healthcare, water and sanitation, education, decent work and social security are not commodities for sale to those who can afford them, but basic human rights to which we are all entitled. Those were the poignant words of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in a hard hitting speech on 18 July 2020 to mark Mandela Day.

For every staff of the United Nations family the Mandela speech by Mr. Guterres was powerful and inspirational. Speaking about the scourge of inequality, he said, while we are all floating on the same sea, its clear that some are in superyachts while others are clinging to the drifting debris.

For me, the United Nations (UN) is personal. Coming from a family rendered refugees due to the partition of India in 1947, as a child I benefited from its immunization programmes- I actually survived polio. The UNs work with the Government of India helped to eradicate smallpox and polio in my home country, where these diseases used to take a huge toll on lives and livelihoods.

Although forged in the crucible of wars and crippling ideological rivalries between East and West, the United Nations has since managed to convince the world of the need to compromise and to take each others views into account and to listen to others while facing humanitys enduring challenges. That this has been achieved in just 75 years is remarkable.

In the narrative of the period when humanity made great social, cultural, and economic advances, the UN takes centre stage. For more than two decades during my service in the UN system, I have been part of this story and am convinced that the UN still matters, perhaps now more than ever.

While the calamitous cost of two World Wars and subsequent ideological fault-lines convinced humankind of the need for a body like the UN, the challenges facing us today remain just as formidable. As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, it does not take much to upend not only individual lives, but entire societies and economies. There are numerous reasons for people to feel insecure in todays world.

Among these are strong indications of resurgent nationalism and warning signs of ethnic and religious isolationism that not only threaten states, communities and individuals. Combined with humanitarian and climate disasters, these challenges have been articulated and framed for action as the Sustainable Development Goals that the UN is spearheading everywhere in the world.

Just as diplomacy was the basis for the establishment of the UN, my experience in the frontlines of combat operations when I served in the Indian Army convinced me that there is a better way to solve conflicts. My early career in the UN was spent in countries almost defined by war and instability, such as Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Somalia. The images of men, women, and children driven from their homes by murder, rape, and the burning down of schools and homes is seared in my mind.

I am proud to have been part of the United Nations response to complex humanitarian challenges. In Indonesia, for example, an innovation by the UN called a school-in-a-box helped children return to their regular school routine as quickly as possible during the conflict in Aceh when schools were being burned down. We helped maintain immunization, reproductive health services, education as well as nutrition services, working in difficult and life-threatening situations in Darfur, Somalia, and Iraq. We demobilized child soldiers in the midst of a conflict in South Sudan.

With the Coronavirus pandemic raging, UN country teams all over the world are working tirelessly with their respective host governments to flatten the curve.

In various countries today, internecine conflicts, hunger, and disease continue to take a tragic toll, especially among the worlds children. The malignant neglect of our global environment threatens all of us. The UN retains unprecedented respect, acceptance, and mobilizing capacity to rally member states to act together to solve these problems.

The nature of todays challenges compels us towards integration and collaboration. Humankind must find new ways to work together more effectively in pursuit of our collective interests and to think anew about how our institutions of international cooperation can be strengthened.

The UN has enabled many member states to embark on transformational journeys; life expectancy is rising, jobs being created, and people lifted out of poverty. Yet in many others, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, progress is fragile and unequal. The UN constantly seeking new models that are inclusive and sustainable, and is opening up new opportunities to harness big data, technology and innovation to leapfrog development, through ground breaking partnerships with the private sector.

Many factors have sometimes stymied the United Nations work. These range from reliability of funding to the difficulties of achieving consensus between diverse member states on complex topics. Such factors have sometimes made us slow and limited our impact.

Antonio Guterres has said that worldwide consultation process around the 75th anniversary of the United Nations has made clear that people want a global governance system that delivers for them. Therefore the bold reforms underway, led by Mr Guterres, will make the organization more nimble, better equipped and prepared to deal with contemporary challenges.

UN country teams are adapting to new realities in their programmes, reflecting the shifts (such as peacekeeping to peace-building) through social and economic development support and humanitarian relief.

In Kenya, the countrys President, Uhuru Kenyatta is spearheading the charge to eradicate female genital mutilation supported by the United Nations. I have seen firsthand the reduction in maternal and infant mortality due to complications at childbirth, universal access to primary education and better a collective push to achieve universal health coverage.

I continue to see the promise of peace and prosperity for the most vulnerable marginalized that comes with the UNs work, such as the Kenya Uganda cross border initiative to promote peace and development in the Karamoja area, mired in rivalry over scant resources and experiencing the debilitating impact of climate change. Amina Mohammed the UN Deputy Secretary General said, Its exciting to see the new ways in which governments, communities and partners are coming together with UN teams to mobilize across borders especially when it comes to taking climate action.

COVID-19 has confirmed that the era of national problems is receding fast, by revealing national and global fragilities to an invisible virus. The pandemic is a stark reminder of the need for cooperation across borders, sectors and generations.

Today we can see that most challenges are global and interconnected, and can only be tackled through global action coordinated through global institutions.

At the signing of the United Nations Charter, in San Francisco in 1945, the President of the United States of America, Harry Truman said, If we fail to use it, we shall betray all those who have died so that we might meet here in freedom and safety to create it. If we seek to use it selfishly for the advantage of any one nation or any small group of nations we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal.

Those farsighted leaders who founded the United Nations 75 years ago gave us the momentum to propel humanity to greater security and prosperity. Today, the UN continues to be a sound investment, a real beacon of hope.

Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya. He has served in various parts of the world with UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNOPS, UN Peacekeeping and the Red Cross Movement. A decorated Special Forces veteran, he is an alumnus of Princeton University. Follow him on twitter-@sidchat1

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Op-Ed: Women Empowerment During The Covid-19 Pandemic - Forbes Africa

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 22, 2020 / It's well known that branding is a major component of business success. The branding industry is full of talent and creatives, however, there are some coaches' whose skill sets are a cut above the rest. With world class talent everywhere, it can be overwhelming to know which coach is best aligned to you and your brand. Each with their own unique approach to their craft, here were present the 10 branding coaches leading the way in their industry:

1. Jacob Cass

@justcreative

Jacob Cass is a brand designer, strategist, educator and business coach for creatives. Jacob is the founder of JUST Creative, an award-winning branding and design firm, that is dedicated to helping brands grow.

Jacob coaches creatives in both a 1:1 and/or group setting, is his "Inner Triangle Group Coaching Mastermind", where he has been able to help scores of clients achieve branding & business success.

Having recently been involved with the rebranding of San Francisco, Puerto Rico and also New York's Digital District, his other clients have included the likes of Disney, Nintendo, and Jerry Seinfeld, to name a few.

As one of the leading professionals in the design industry, Jacob's also had speaking engagements at TEDx, features in Forbes and Entrepreneur, and even awarded LinkedIn's "Best of" for the Branding category.

Design is a lifelong journey for Jacob which has empowered him to continuously hone his craft and is part of what has helped him to attract and educate countless fellow designers.

Jacob consistently delivers high quality content and value to his audience through his Instagram, Web site and Podcast, The JUST Branding Podcast'. Jacob has an astonishing reputation in the industry, where he has built his large and loyal following - even amassing an enormous 60 million views on his website.

If you're wanting to build a thriving creative business, Jacob Cass, has the breadth of experience to get you there.

2. Suzanne Chadwick

@suzchadwick

Suzanne Suz' Chadwick is a bold business, branding, and speaker coach based in Melbourne, Australia. With over 9 years in the branding industry and another 10 years in sales and leadership, Suz has worked with large multi-national businesses across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Asia Pacific to support them to create stand out brands in their market. Now working with female entrepreneurs globally, her mission is to support them to become bold and powerful voices in their industry and establish their brands in a unique way.. Since starting "The Connection Exchange" in 2014, Suz has partnered with over 700 clients globally through coaching, courses and events. Having worked with both corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, Suz has seen both sides of the business landscape when it comes to what is working in the market today. Through her signature online course, Brand Builder's Academy and the other coaching and consulting services she offers, Suz's clients have come together to create a powerful community of women in business over the past five years. . Having also authored Play Big, Brand Bold', hosting a highly ranked podcast Brand Builder's Lab', Suz has established herself as an industry leader in the branding space, and teaches practical strategies for building a profitable business with a mix of fun and creativity.

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3. Travis John Brady

@coachtravisbrady

With the wisdom of over 17 years' experience, including multiple degrees and certifications, Travis Brady applies his knowledge of human physiology and psychology to create transformations within businesses' brands, marketing and culture of their organisations. Travis is the founder of Next Gen Coaching, which is where his passion comes to life, fulfilling his purpose of helping businesses bring out their creative, innovative and influential genius through their brands. Travis is a highly sought-after coach and mentor and with Next Gen Coaching, he's been able to help leaders and executive's brand themselves to become more influential and impactful. "Next Gen coaching helps businesses evolve their brand and implement that brand into their online presence, marketing, services, and sales process" Travis explained. With a collective 50 years of experience between their team, Next Gen Coaching is helping their clients produce and finish immaculate videos, logos, graphics, websites and social media banners - everything they need to create a professional uniform look. Having made philanthropy a part of his mission, Travis and his wife have created "The Next Generation Foundation" where they provide financial aid to adolescents who cannot afford to play sports. Travis also hosts the "Next Gen Coaching Chronicles" & "Next Gen Sports Podcast", interviewing some of the top leaders in the business and coaching industries - where he continues to have a huge impact.

4. Giselle Mascarenhas

@thebrandingprofessor

Born and raised on the border of South Texas, , Giselle Mascarenhas-Villarreal makes her living as an entrepreneur and personal branding coach. After making her debut as a public relations specialist in 2009, she spent many years perfecting her process, building brands for high and low profile clients alike. Founding Indigo PR firm in 2013, Giselle was looking for a more accessible, affordable, and effective way to help people brand themselves. Over the next 5 years, the vast boom of social media as well as her passion for small business inspired her to modernize her idea of what personal branding could be. With the immense untapped potential that social media presented, BOLD Insta-tute was born. Created for the everyday business person, the focus of BOLD is to teach them how to adapt to social media. With a specialty in helping people have the courage to show themselves, Giselle teaches her students that you cannot "corporate" your way into people's hearts. Her numerous tips and tools explain that relatability and vulnerability are essential to building a fruitful and engaged social media community. Giselle continues to pursue her life's passion of helping others succeed by extracting their magic and purpose, actively redefining what it means to be a branding coach.

5. Diya Asrani

@diya_asrani

Starting out from scratch and fashioning her own unique approach to personal branding, Diya Asrani is a personal branding coach and the Founder & CEO of Design Your Presence. With an experimental and research centric approach towards her craft, she is passionate and creative, and has been able to help a number of brands, entrepreneurs and coaches to design their own personal brand presence. With a decade of experience in the industry, Diya has had a stellar last year where she's built her brand presence and elevated her reputation through confident storytelling, reputation building and thoughtful marketing - much like she helps her clients. "Design Your Presence is a program and brand for entrepreneurs, coaches, and trainers to build their personal brand presence by helping them convert their passion into a business creation while activating the necessary skills that position them as a trusted expert in their industry. I believe in simplicity in strategy. Keeping that in mind, I have designed a 6-step strategy that helps them dive deep into building a meaningful brand presence - right from building a growth mindset of a creator, to storytelling, to managing their online presence and finally practicing hygienic marketing that helps them build a good reputation overall" Diya explained. Offering a range of services, from 1:1 coaching, online courses and group coaching, she is also a regular for speaking engagements on the topic of personal branding for various companies. Diya's 6 step strategy is useful for anyone trying to create their personal brand as she is a true personal branding expert, having helped countless people unleash their capabilities, building their personal brand presence as trusted experts in the industry.

6. Marina Simone

@marinaannsimone

Starting from scratch with no real direction, it was a while before Marina Simone found her feet making a living on social media, through network marketing. In her second company she built an organization of 25,000 customers and distributors in less than two years, using online strategies with social media, which made her in the top 12 income earners in that company. Now, Marina is a branding coach, who's been helping her clients generate more sales and leads through branding themselves like a professional and helping their light shine brightest to the world. Marina is wife and mom to a beautiful 10-year-old little girl Anaiyah and 1-year old Madelyn, she is known for keeping it real with her audience - she doesn't feel like she is better than anyone else and embraces women, taking them on the journey with her. Marina is the Founder and CEO of Moms And Heels where her mission is to teach busy moms how to slay online sales, by identifying their personal brand, story and mission on social media. Her unique persona and branding style make Marina a true standout - and if she can do it, so can you.

7. Tanvi Jain

@tanvijainofficial

Tanvi Jain believes that investment in our own self pays the best interest so that you show the world how you see yourself and want the world to treat you. Her Doctorate degree in Luxury Brand Management combined with her experience as a Chartered Manager in Leadership, Life Coach and Image Consultant has allowed Tanvi to establish her own business as a Personal Branding Coach. Her core values are centered around sophistication, integrity, confidence, and empowerment, which she uses to cater bespoke services to anyone who wants to become the best version of themselves and establish an authority in their line of business. Her program covers three milestones to achieve results. The first one involves life coaching where she helps her clients believe in themselves, empower their strengths as individuals, and guide them in the right direction. The second is the one where she polishes their presence through image development and masterclasses based upon elegance and international etiquette protocol. The third milestone involves branding where she helps her members effectively shape their ideas and knowledge and tailor their business communications to their target audience. Tanvi believes that branding is all about framing how people perceive you as an individual or as a business. This way, She prepares you to step into the world of social climbing where you build a strong networking to send out the message you want, taste and appreciate the finer things in life and develop that Mystique Aura, that alluring individuality leaving a long-lasting impression. Personal Branding is the incredible power to lead ourselves in all aspects of our lives because you need to embrace your personal brand if you want to exercise control over it.

8. Daria Parkinson

@discoveringdaria

Daria Parkinson is a rapidly emerging coach in the branding community. In just two months, Daria was able to help over 200 entrepreneurs create a unique branding strategy. Utilizing color psychology in her branding ideas to help her clients stand out for countless businesses online, Daria understands that colors affect perceptions and behaviors of people, so she uses it to her advantage - creating compelling marketing materials that make brands stand out. Daria has also been able to create various content materials; e-books, webinars, 90-minute intensive calls, and even built mini-courses, to extend her reach and help more clients. Remembering her first month, Daria couldn't believe how her passion for branding gave her the opportunity to make more money than she ever did in a year! "I never thought that by simply doing what I love, I'd be able to empower people to find their individuality through branding" Daria Explained. Daria is an expert at what she does, and she's been able to help countless brands stand out and flourish.

9. Azalee Maslow

@azaleemaslow

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Azalee Maslow has over 10 years of experience in digital media and has completed her Master's degree in Journalism and Media Studies. Working as a branding coach, Azalee has embodied her experience as a digital marketing strategist in establishing The Babble Boutique, a digital media agency focused on helping female entrepreneurs. Through a 12-week 1:1 coaching program, she helps her clients create their personal brands using The B.A.B "Branded Abundant Babe" Method. Her background in journalism helps them improve the storytelling strategies they need to execute as they leave their digital footprints online. From Day 1, she empowers her clients to make all the decisions on their own while guiding them at every step of the way. Azalee knows what it feels like to not feel in control, so she commits herself to give her clients the complete control they need to be successful in their lives. Aside from coaching, Azalee is also a lifestyle blogger, writing about beauty, wellness, travel, philanthropy, and anything that helps people live their best lives. On her blog and podcast PrettyAF', she also talks about branding and interviews other female entrepreneurs. Azalee's generosity extends well beyond her abilities to coach, as she also donates 20% of proceeds from PrettyAF to selected animal charities.

10. Jen Conrad

@jen_conrad

A passionate serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, Jen Conrad is a branding coach and strategist, who empowers women with her wisdom and wander-lust soul. Jen's motivational spirit and heart for service, her authentic approach to her craft allows her to connect with her audience, encouraging them to take massive action for their brands and lives. Her company, The Conrad Company, is a lifestyle brand that exists to equip women with the tools to make a positive and lasting change in their lives, through building an online community, personal mindset development, and brand development. Jen uses a heart centred approach to help the everyday women to uncover her personal brand and monetize it. Jen speaks to the multi-passionate soul and shows them how to create a seamless brand that attracts people to their product or service. Offering both monthly bootcamps and 1:1 coaching, Jen's 7 years of experience in branding coupled with her education as a therapist, help her clients brand themselves and put their best foot forward in the marketplace. Jen's mission is to create an impact through her work and through the scores of clients she's been able to help, she's doing just that.

Make sure to follow each of these incredible coaches, as they continue to help their clients design world-class brands. Each of their Instagram's have been directly linked here. Finally, we would like to thank Boost Media Agency for taking the time to put this article together.

CONTACT:

Contact: Lewis SchenkCompany: Boost Media AgencyAddress: New York, New YorkPhone: 3106001787Email: operations@boostmediaofficial.pageWebsite: http://www.boostmediaofficial.page

SOURCE: Boost Media Agency

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/598463/The-Top-10-Branding-Coaches-to-Follow-in-2020

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The Top 10 Branding Coaches to Follow in 2020 - Yahoo Finance

With the $600 weekly federal unemployment supplement ending this week, thousands of unemployed Tennesseans are likely to be scrambling to make ends meet.

The $600 weeklysupplement, used by so many whose employment was impacted by the pandemic to tide them over, ends with the week ending July 25.

Many are predicting increased bankruptcies and strains on social service agenciesas people struggle to afford basics like rent, food, medical care and utilities.

"We know families will be hurt the most, with parentsout of work and school going remote (hampering low-income families from receiving free or reduced-cost lunches for their children)," said Samantha Williams, director of the Nashville Financial Empowerment Center, which provides free one-on-one financial counseling to any Davidson County resident.

"We hope people are finding out about usand seeing that we can help them negotiate this," she said. "I think a lot of people have been holding off asking for help while they have been getting the checks, but now we hope they will seek usout."

We asked Williams and her staff tooffer some tips to help people who face looming financial challenges.

COVID-19: New Tennessee unemployment claims top 20,000 for fifth straight week

Don't be afraid to ask for help. Call 2-1-1 for information on food, shelter and basic needs. The counselors can also help connect people with other local resourcessuch as SNAP food nutrition or TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)if they have children. The center doesnot provide financial assistance but offers to help people negotiate the system to get help.

Work with a professional financial counselor.To make a virtual appointment with aNashville Financial Empowerment Center counselor,call 615-748-3620 or visit fec.nashville.gov. The service is free for Davidson County residents, and the wait time for an appointment is about a week.

UNEMPLOYMENT: The $600-per-week benefit has not been extended: Here's what to know

Prioritize expenses. Make a list of allthe things you spend money on. The counselors suggest that you break itinto three categories: essentials, debt payments and discretionary spending. Essentials include housing, utilities, transportation, medical needs, basic food/grocery, child care and cellphone.

Cut where you can.Eliminate as much discretionary spending as possibleand then start trying to trim the rest.

List your debts.The counselors suggest making a call list of everyone you owe money to, thencontact each company, explain your situation and ask what your options are.

Avoid overdraft charges. Cancel automatic debits to temporarily avoid overdraft.

Don't resort to credit cards orloans.The counselors say to "exhaust every possible option" before resorting to using credit cards, personal loans or cashing out retirement to pay for current expenses.

Track your progress.Look at income and expenses to determine realistic cash flow and figure out how much wiggle room you might have on groceries and other expenses.

Learn new skills while unemployed.TheAmerican Job Center and https://www.jobs4tn.gov/vosnet/Default.aspxare good resources for finding programs where you can learn new skills while unemployed.

The Financial Empowerment Center offersfree one-on-one financial advice services toany Davidson County resident, regardless of income.

The counseling sessions are done by phone or virtually. Most initial sessions last an hour or hour and a half. To make an appointment, call 615-748-3620 or go to fec.nashville.gov.

Since March 2013, the Financial Empowerment Center has helped more than 8,000 clientsand held more than 23,000 individual counseling sessions.

The program, which has counselors who speak Spanish as well as English, hashelped its clients reduce their debt by more than $15.3million. Counselors have backgrounds in various areas, including banking and social work.

The program started in Nashville in 2013, with initial funding from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, a Bloomberg Philanthropy. Now it is funded by the Mayor's Office and United Way.

Details: fec.nashville.gov andhttps://www.unitedwaynashville.org/programs/financial-empowerment-center

The extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits was passed as part of the federal CARES Act in March. It is notexpectedto be extended past theweek ending July 25.

Reach Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282 or mscheap@tennessean.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/mscheap, and at Tennessean.com/mscheap, and on Twitter @Ms_Cheap, and catch her every Thursday at 11 a.m. on WTVF-Channel 5s Talk of the Town.

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With $600 unemployment benefit ending, here's how to make your money last - Tennessean

Welcome to the real life of a woman in U.S. politics.

On Monday, Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) tore into freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on the steps of the Capitol, reportedly calling her a f---ing b---- as he walked away. On Tuesday, during a private meeting, conservative male lawmakers took turns unloading on Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for criticizing President Donald Trumps handling of the coronavirus and supporting Dr. Anthony Fauci.

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The twin outbursts sent shockwaves through Congress as both parties rushed to contain, or condemn, the behavior. Two POLITICO Congress reporters are here to tell us what they saw this week on the Hill:

The Republican Party still has a long way to go -- POLITICOs Melanie Zanona writes: The GOP has been desperately trying to shake its image as the party of old, white males a problem Republicans have long struggled with, even before President Trump was elected. And, to the GOPs credit, they have recruited a record-breaking number of Republican women to run for office this year.

But between the nasty confrontation with AOC and the Cheney pile-on, this was a bad week for that effort. If the GOP is targeting Cheney in particular, the highest-ranking female Republican and just one of 13 Republican women in the House, what does that signal about how they value the women in their party?

At a press conference, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) voiced support for Cheney and said Yoho made a mistake. But he also said Yoho should be forgiven because he apologized, and questioned whether Democrats should have used an hour of floor time to continue talking about the incident comments that came off as tone-deaf to many congressional Democrats.

When pressed on whether the GOP has a woman problem, McCarthy strongly pushed back, pointing to the partys progress in recruiting female candidates. But he also acknowledged they still have a ways to go when it comes to improving their standing with women. So do we have areas to improve? Yes. But are there improvements out there? I see it each and every day, he said.

Dems use the moment to unite -- POLITICOs Sarah Ferris was there to witness the scene on Thursday as more than a dozen Democrats, mostly women, came to the defense of Ocasio-Cortez in a series of floor speeches. She writes: The speeches were delivered to a mostly empty House chamber in a mostly deserted Capitol complex but the intended audience was far beyond the building.

For an hour on the floor, Democrats from senior progressive Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) to moderate freshman Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) called out Yoho for what they considered a non-apology. (He regretted his abrupt manner but denied using the vulgar insult that AOC and a reporter heard.) Many recounted their own experiences being accosted by men in their workplaces, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who was belittled by a senior Republican on the House floor just three years ago.

Im stunned, and yet, at the same time, I think its a pattern. Its an old pattern, Jayapal said.

AOC herself gave a forceful speech, condemning Yoho especially for referencing his wife and daughters when he denied leveling an explicative at her. In using that language in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community, and I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable, she said. I want to thank him for showing the world that you can be a powerful man and accost women. You can have daughters and accost women without remorse. You can be married and accost women. ... It happens every day in this country.

It was a powerful moment for the Democratic Caucus, which touts more women than ever in its ranks and for Ocasio-Cortez personally, who has been vilified by the GOP and is a lightning bolt even in her own party. But on Thursday, it was progressives and moderates of all ranks, from Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to freshman lawmakers, who joined the show of force on the floor.

We are all keenly aware that everyone across the country is watching, Rep. Katherine Clark, one of the most senior Democratic women in Congress, said in an interview after her floor speech. If we don't speak up, then it becomes something that women and girls just accept in our lives.

-- Dems rebuke culture of sexism in defense of Ocasio-Cortez, by Caitlin Oprysko and Sarah Ferris POLITICO

Happy Friday and welcome back to Women Rule. Its great to be back with you guys. In Hollywood news, Hulu has acquired the rights to Curtis Sittenfelds alternate history Rodham, which imagines HIllary Clintons story had she never married Bill.

Thanks to Maya Parthasarathy for doing such a stellar job filling in the past two weeks. Send your feedback to [emailprotected]. Subscribe here.

PANDEMIC AFTEREFFECTS - Crashing down: How the child care crisis is magnifying racial disparities, by Eleanor Mueller: The collapse of the child care industry is hitting women of color the hardest, threatening to stoke racial and gender inequities and putting pressure on Congress to address the crisis in its new round of coronavirus aid.

Black and Latina women are suffering a double-barreled blow as coronavirus-induced shutdowns batter the industry, since they dominate the ranks of child care providers and have long struggled to gain access to the services for their own kids.

The sector, which saw 60 percent of its programs close at the height of the pandemic before rebounding slightly, is still down some 237,000 workers from last year a number thats likely to grow as states shut down again, economists say. Some projections show the industry could permanently lose half its programs. Two in 5 child care providers this month said they will shut for good without an infusion of federal funding. POLITICO

-- How the Child Care Crisis Will Distort the Economy for a Generation -- POLITICO Magazines Zack Stanton interviews economist Betsey Stevenson, a former member of President Barack Obamas Council of Economic Advisers. POLITICO Magazine

-- An eviction apocalypse is coming, experts warn. Black women will bear the brunt, via The Lily

A BETTER POST-COVID WORLD -- Check out the International Rescue Committees report on how to build back better to ensure that the post-Covid world gives women and girls more opportunities to succeed. Read the report

2020 WATCH -- Joe Biden says four African American women are under consideration as his running mate, by Sean Sullivan: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden suggested Monday that four African American women are under consideration to be his running mate, but he stopped short of pledging to pick one of them. Although Biden did not name any of the four, the comments amounted to some of his most specific public remarks yet about a search that he has said he is aiming to conclude by early August. His words also reflected the growing pressure he is under to demonstrate that he is seriously considering adding a black woman to the ticket. WaPo

-- Georgia Democrats pick state party chair to replace Lewis on ballot, by Ally Mutnick: Nikema Williams, a state senator and chair of Georgia state Democratic Party, will replace the late Rep. John Lewis on the ballot in November. Facing a Monday afternoon deadline to select a new nominee, the state party executive committee chose Williams from a pool of 131 applicants. Lewis, a beloved icon of the Civil Rights Movement, died Friday at age 80, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. POLITICO

COVID SPOTLIGHT -- Covid Vaccine Front-Runner Is Months Ahead of Her Competition, by Stephanie Baker: [Oxford Universitys Sarah] Gilbert has been all over the British press, but she appears to regard public attention as a distraction. For more than two decades she worked anonymously, developing vaccines while also, of necessity, churning out endless grant applications. Her research was rarely discussed outside scientific circles. Now shes leading one of the most high-profile and advanced vaccine candidates against Covid-19, with Phase III, or final-stage, trials under way involving thousands of people in Brazil, South Africa, the U.K., and, soon, the U.S. Money is no longer a struggle. Bloomberg

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- State Department Insiders Ask: What Is Susan Pompeo Really Up To? by Daniel Lippman and Nahal Toosi: Mike Pompeo has risen to a series of increasingly influential posts in Washington: first as President Donald Trumps director of the CIA and now as secretary of State. He is widely considered a future Republican presidential candidate. In each of his recent positions, his wife has been a constant presence at his side, wielding her unofficial authority in ways that have carried through from the CIAs Langley, Va., headquarters all the way to Foggy Bottomwith fastidious attention to detail, demanding standards and a head-turning level of engagement for the spouse of a powerful political figure.

But in recent months, Susan Pompeos involvement in State Department business has drawn public attention in ways that have been uncomfortable for the Pompeos. In May, at Mike Pompeos behest, Trump fired the departments inspector general, who had been probing whether the Pompeos have improperly used office staff to perform personal and political errands. Democratic lawmakers are now investigating the circumstances of the inspector generals firing.

From speaking to roughly two dozen people and examining emails and audio recordings, a portrait emerges of a couple experiencing a rude introduction to the major leagues. In a vast Cabinet department with extensive resources, tightly bound by protocol and with close oversight, Mike and Susan Pompeo have imported a model more familiar to smaller, less scrutinized congressional offices on Capitol Hill: a blurry line between the appointed secretary and unappointed spouse, and among official, political and personal agendas. POLITICO Magazine

OP-ED WATCH -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer both published op eds in the New York Times this week. Warren wrote about her to-do list to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which includes the statement we cannot begin to have a recovery without affordable child care. Whitmer urged Trump to issue a federal mandate requiring people to wear face masks on public transport, indoors, or outdoors when a distance of six feet cannot be maintained.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks on the House floor, Thursday, July 23. This issue is not about one incident, she said. It is cultural. It is a culture of lack of impunity, of accepting violence and violent language against women and an entire structure of power that supports that. | House Television via AP

CLASS NOTES -- The Class of RBG, by Dahlia Lithwick and Molly Olmstead: Theres a scene in a recent movie about Ruth Bader Ginsburg that stuck in my head after I saw it. Its in the biopic On the Basis of Sex, when the future justice and some of her Harvard Law classmates are gathered at Dean Erwin Griswolds house for dinner. The year is 1956, just six years after the law school started admitting women. In that scene, the dean asks each of the women in the class nine of them, including Ginsburg to stand up and explain why shes at Harvard, taking the place of a man. ...

In the movie, of course, the spotlight is on Justice Ginsburg, as she drily replies that she is at Harvard because she wants to learn more about her husbands work.

But when I watched that scene, I thought: What about those other women, giggling in the background at Ruth Bader Ginsburgs response? Those women, pioneers all, are now just extras in movie scenes about their famous classmate. But who are they? What drew them to join a class of 500-plus men to study the law, and what did they hope to do with their degrees? Slate

-- Ruth Bader Ginsburg reflects on her female classmates: Its Amazing to Me How Distinctly I Remember Each of These Women, via Slate ...

AROUND THE WORLD -- For Women in Afghan Security Forces, a Daily Battle, by Mujib Mashal: Motivated, educated and fresh from finishing police academy in Turkey, Second Lt. Zala Zazai had stellar qualifications for the job she took in eastern Afghanistan in June. It all mattered little once she started. On social media, she was called a prostitute, and men wrote that her very presence on the force would corrupt Khost Province, where she was posted. Her colleagues at Police Headquarters where she was the only female officer on a staff of nearly 500 tried to intimidate her into wearing a conservative head scarf and traditional clothes instead of her uniform, and to hide in back corners of the office away from the public, she said. Shopkeepers arrived at the stations gates with no other business but to get a look at this novelty.

Even after more than a billion dollars spent on womens empowerment projects, the daily reality for women trying to break into public roles particularly with the government and the security forces remains bleak. Women are still almost completely absent in high-level meetings where decisions of war, peace and politics are made. Work for women at routine jobs is a daily barrage of harassment, insult and abuse.

Among the police forces, which have been the focus of diversification efforts for years, women still make up only 2.8 percent of employees and that is the highest level in 18 years. Most of those 3,800 women are in hidden roles with little contact with the public, officials acknowledged. Only five of the total of about 200 military and civilian leadership positions at the Interior Ministry are occupied by women. NYT

-- The Disappeared Of Pakistan Have New Champions: Young Women, via NPR ... The COVID-19 crisis disproportionately affects women heres how Latin America is addressing it, via World Economic Forum

IN THE COURTS -- Google Women Seek Class-Action Status for Gender-Pay Lawsuit, by Malathi Nayak: Four female former employees of Alphabet Inc.s Google are trying to persuade a state court to let them represent more than 10,000 peers in a gender-pay disparity suit against the company, setting the stage for the next big battle over class-action status. Google paid women approximately $16,794 less per year than the similarly-situated man, the women said in a filing on Tuesday, citing an analysis by David Neumark, an economist at the University of California, Irvine. Google paid women less base salary, smaller bonuses, and less stock than men in the same job code and location, they said.

The women claim the pay differences violate Californias Equal Pay Act. According to the lawsuit, Google also violated the states Unfair Competition Law with a policy from 2011 to 2017 of asking job candidates for prior salaries, perpetuating lower pay and seniority for women. They want a San Francisco Superior Court judge to let them sue on behalf of all women who have worked at Google in California since Sept. 14, 2013. Bloomberg

WOMEN AT WORK -- How to Stop the Tidal Wave of Multicultural Women Fleeing Corporate America, via the Working Mother Research Institute: They start their corporate careers like everyone else, eager to show their value and hungry to learn. They actually are more ambitious than other newbies, much more likely to aim for the top jobs. But they quickly and consistently see that stretch assignments and promotions arent coming their way, and there are no seats at the table for women who look like them. So they resign.

Multicultural women are currently 39 percent of the U.S. female population and are projected to be 66 percent by 2060. But heres the growing dilemma for employers. Too many multicultural women dont want to work in corporate America, our new research shows. Fifty percent of them are considering leaving their companies within the next two years, a 10 percent higher rate than white womenand its highest for Black women (52 percent). Read the report.

-- Anti-mask customers, happy hours and BLM protests: 30 days as a grocery store worker, via The Lily

#METOO LATEST -- Hearst Employees Say Magazine Boss Led Toxic Culture, by Katie Robertson and Ben Smith: [Inside] the Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, the Hearst Magazines leader, Troy Young, has drawn complaints from people who said he had made lewd, sexist remarks at work. And in recent weeks, inspired by the civil rights movement, current and former employees at Cosmopolitan and another Hearst womens title, Marie Claire, have spoken out on social media and during staff meetings on what they describe as a toxic environment.

Mr. Young succeeded David Carey as Hearst Magazines president in 2018, winning the job over the high-profile former editor and magazine executive Joanna Coles. That promotion came after at least four employees had complained about what they described as Mr. Youngs bullying or harassing behavior to the human resources department or senior executives, according to four former Hearst employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation.

One incident involving Mr. Young occurred during a visit to the Cosmopolitan office when he was the digital head, according to two people who were present. Mr. Young picked up one of the sex toys that had been sent to the magazine and asked if he could keep it, the people said. Referring to the openings of two toys, he said he would definitely need the bigger one, the people said. NYT

-- Retired Col. Kathy Spletstoser wasnt able to stop Joint Chiefs vice chairman Gen. John Hyten from being confirmed. But shes not done with him, by Manuel Roig-Franzia: Spletstoser has accused Hyten of sexually assaulting her more than half a dozen times while she was under his command and then retaliating against her accusations that he has vigorously denied during a military investigation and in front of the Senate.

So now, she turns to a federal court in Los Angeles, where a victory in a sexual assault lawsuit she filed against Hyten, which reached a critical juncture Monday when a federal judge in Los Angeles heard arguments on Hytens attempt to dismiss the suit, would be the equivalent of a major legal earthquake that could possibly set precedent for other service members, permitting them to sue their commanders in federal court for damages. WaPo

WHEN MARKETING GOES WRONG -- Bacardi targeted women with its new reduced-alcohol vodkas. It went over as well as youd expect, by Emily Heil: It seems that everyone is pivoting these days. That includes spirits giant Bacardi Limited, which is apparently walking back the branding behind a new line of reduced-calorie and reduced-alcohol vodkas that was initially exclusively aimed at women. A Bacardi spokeswoman wrote in an email Tuesday that the Plume & Petal products, which were soundly dragged on social media last week, are not for women specifically.

A millennial-pink flag went up last week when Food & Wine restaurant editor Khushbu Shah posted an image of a message she had received from a PR representative hoping to interest her in writing about the new collection, by women, for todays modern woman, intended to be enjoyed with other women. ... The mockery came in as hot as a stone massage. Shah kicked it off, writing, ah yes just what I need in 2020! gendered drinks with half the alcohol.

This ad copy is from a Crystal Light ad from 1995, another critic wrote. Others wondered why women would want a lighter booze these stressful days. This is a pandemic, one wrote. How dare you. WaPo

IN SPORTS -- New Womens Soccer Team, Founded by Women, Will Press Equal Pay Cause, via NYT

PERSPECTIVE -- Breonna Taylor Cant Tell Her Story of Police Abuse, but Im Here to Tell Mine, via The New Yorker ... With the Women, Peace, and Security Act, Washington Could Be a Model for the World, via Foreign Policy

BOOK CLUB -- Why Is Womens Work Still Undervalued and Unacknowledged? by Heather Boushey: If there ever were a moment in the history of capitalism for the work of women to be fairly valued around the globe, that moment is now, as the coronavirus pandemic rages. In The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Womens Empowerment, Linda Scott tells powerful stories about how equal economic treatment for women would put a stop to some of the worlds costliest evils, while building prosperity for everyone.

By costly evils, Scott, a professor emeritus at Oxford and the founder of the Global Business Coalition for Womens Economic Empowerment, has in mind the cycle of poverty evident in countries that fail to keep girls in school, since girls who complete high school are not only better able to compete in the work force but tend to have their first child later and have fewer children over all, thus slowing population growth. They also are more likely to keep their children in school longer, feed them better and provide them with adequate health care. (Moreover, girls who stay in school are less likely to be victims of human trafficking.) But the pandemic and subsequent recession are crises made worse by existing impediments to womens economic participation, obstacles that have resulted in a shadow or unacknowledged system of female labor what Scott calls the double X economy. NYT

-- The Literature of the Pandemic Is Already Here, via The Atlantic ... Sisters In Hate Profiles 3 Women Who Find Bonds In White Nationalist Movement, via NPR

VIDEO:

TRANSITIONS -- Rachel Scott was promoted to White House correspondent and D.C. correspondent at ABC News. The New York Times Co. named Meredith Kopit Levien as chief executive. Maj. Gen. Jody Daniels will be the first woman to take command of the Army Reserve.

WISDOM OF THE WEEK Christina Kanmaz, Manager, Communications and Public Affairs, Global Strategy Group: Never be afraid to change careers at any age nothing is more frightening than stagnating. You'll never know what talents you hold until you explore what you're capable of. I went from an elementary school teacher to a DC lobbyist and often felt embarrassed when people asked me, "What did you do before?" But I've found that most people find my career path fascinating. It may take a while to find your true calling, but never stop searching! Connect with Christina here.

Read more here:

Expletives and outbursts: The real life of a woman in U.S. politics - Politico

There are lessons to be learned regarding how history is reproduced in the present. First, there is the Trump administrations caging of children on the southern border. Second, there is Trumps threat to use dominating force and unleash the National Guard and police upon demonstrators peacefully resisting police violence against people of color. Third, as Jason Stanley points out, there is Trumps relentless language of violence designed both to embolden second amendment gun rights activists toward committing violence and to dehumanize certain populations while attempting to harness the emotion of nostalgia to the central themes of fascist ideology authoritarianism, hierarchy, purity and struggle.

Trumps authoritarian impulses and fascist politics took a dangerous turn when he authorized the use of unmarked, military-clad federal law enforcement shock troops to round up and detain protesters in Portland, Oregon. The troops offered no proof of identification, drove around in unmarked cars, pulled people off the streets with no probable cause, provided no sense of whose directives they were acting under, or who was to be held accountable for their actions. Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, called such actions an attack on our democracy. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tweeted in reference to Portland that, Trump and his storm troopers must be stopped.

We have seen this before under Hitler, Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and in other dictatorships. When such actions appeared in the past, dissidents, demonstrators and intellectuals disappeared, were beaten, tortured and interrogated in undisclosed sites, and in the worse scenarios, were murdered. What has happened in Portland suggests that the war on terror has shifted from abroad to the homeland. Outraged by such actions, Charles Pierce, writing in Esquire, suggests that this may be a trial run for an authoritarian state:

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A major American city is being softly Pinochet-ed in broad daylight. And, if we know one thing, if this president and his administration get away with this, it will only get worse this could be a dry run for the kind of general urban mobilization at which the president has been hinting since this summers protests began. Portland may be a dumbshow for dummies, but it also looks like a dress rehearsal. This is not an authoritarian impulse. This is authoritarian government straight, no chaser. And this administration has a powerful thirst for it. It will do anything if it thinks it can get away with it in order to benefit a president who wants to bring the Republic down on his head. Unmarked vehicles, disappearing people off the streets?

These events mimic, if not recall, an older period in history when Hitler, following the crisis produced by the Reichstag fire, seized upon the ensuing fear, terror and war fever to further consolidate his power. Trump pushing the United States to the edge of fascism in the midst of a pandemic by using the military to stifle domestic protests reinforces the seriousness of growing claims that the United States is moving closer to a full-blown authoritarian state.

A crisis has spread across the globe driven by a pandemic pestilence that exhibits a dystopian presence at odds with any just, prudent and equitable notion of the future. The U.S. is in a state of crisis. This, medical, racial, economic and educational crisis touches every aspect of public life. We are in a new historical period, one that has inherited a neoliberal legacy in which every aspect of society has been transformed and corrupted by the tools of financialization, deregulation and austerity. This is an era in which the scourge of neoliberalism merged with the ideologies of racial cleansing and a politics of disposability an age in which economic activity was divorced from social costs, all the while enabling policies of racial cleansing and white nationalism to become defining features of the public sphere and an established mode of governance.

We are also in a period in which the old social order is in the midst of a legitimation crisis and new political formations are trying to be reborn, to paraphrase the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Out of this period of uncertainty, new forces for change have appeared evident in the presence of millions across the globe protesting racial injustice and state violence. The COVID plague has produced an age of uncertainty, fragmentation, despair and a dire foreboding about the future. Certainties have been replaced by shared fears. More troubling is the apprehension that the present crisis has an air of longevity about it, constituting a turning point in history. The stark choice of what the future might look like appears to hang between the forces of despotism and democracy. Yet, as real as this foreboding appears, history is open, and how it will unfold remains in the balance. The pandemic is a crisis that cannot be allowed to turn into a catastrophe in which all hope is lost. On the contrary, the pandemic that threatens democracys ability to breathe should also offer up the possibility to rethink politics and the habits of critical education, human agency, values and what life would be like in a democratic socialist society. Amid the corpses produced by neoliberal capitalism and COVID-19, there are also flashes of hope, a chance to move beyond a contemporary resurgence of authoritarianism. This suggests rejecting the normalizing ideologies of a poisonous cynicism and a demobilizing conformity endemic to neoliberal capitalism. It also points to the need to reclaim a vision of a radical politics that is more compassionate, equitable, just and inclusive.

Within a new wave of resistance and rebellion, anti-democratic principles that had been normalized are being questioned with an inspiring sense of collective urgency. This is especially true among people of color and others bearing the burden of economic and political colonialism. The horrors of inequality, compulsory austerity, defunding of public health systems, and the collapse of the economy in 2008 produced by four decades of neoliberalism are finally being acknowledged as the fundamental plague behind the current pandemic. This is a plague marked by egregious degrees of exploitation, unchecked militarism, and a racialized politics of disposability and terminal exclusion in which human beings are viewed as disposable, reinforced if not propelled by an ethos of white nationalism and white supremacy. This long residue of unbridled capitalism is inseparable from its deep-rooted institutionalized racism and a pestilence of disposability, updated into a form of neoliberal fascism.

Fascist principles now operate at so many levels of everyday society that it is difficult to recognize them, especially as they have the imprimatur of power at the highest levels of government. Fascist pedagogical ideas, practices and desires work through diverse social media platforms and mainstream and right-wing cultural apparatuses in multiple ways. This is the space of a pandemic pedagogy that is produced in the workstations and cultural apparatuses that function ideologically and politically to objectify people, promote spectacles of violence, endorse consumerism as the only viable way of life and legitimate a murderous nationalism.

A pandemic pedagogy has emerged in the midst of this plague that makes ignorance a fundamental principle of politics, and in doing so, tends to function so as to erase everything that matters. Pandemic pedagogy works subconsciously as an affective mode of self-sabotage. It legitimates the discourse of hate in everyday exchanges, degrades people of color, promotes thoughtlessness through the ubiquity of celebrity culture, and produces an endless array of authoritarian pedagogical practices that serve to exploit, dominate and depoliticize us. In the pandemic fog of social and historical amnesia, moral boundaries disappear, people become more accepting of extreme acts of cruelty, and willingly submit to propaganda machines that disdain notions of truth and view any viable critique of power as fake news, all the while disconnecting language and policies from their social costs.

This plague of neoliberal fascism is just one pestilence among many. This is a pestilence that engulfs U.S. society as memories of caged children disappear into a vaporized culture of immediacy, the killing of journalists is forgotten, and the lynching of Black bodies is buried beneath the discourse of a post-racial society. In addition, the terror of a fascist politics evaporates in the affective modalities of pleasure and fear, and a rampant culture of political theater and spectacles.

As the underside of fascist politics, pandemic pedagogy closes down the space of translation, and thrives on a machinery of inscriptions that erases the notion that human beings are not only moral and political agents, but also historical subjects capable of both understanding and changing the world. This depoliticizing practice is not only a political and ethical issue but also an educational issue that connects the power of critical understanding to the capacity for action, empowerment and transformation.

Pandemic pedagogy makes clear that the most important forms of domination are cultural, intellectual and pedagogical while embracing the tools of belief and persuasion as appropriate weapons in the struggle over meaning, knowledge, values and identities. This depoliticizing practice is not only a political and ethical issue but also an educational issue that undermines the power of critical understanding to produce the capacity for action, empowerment and transformation. Pandemic pedagogy functions as a propaganda machine to bury what Foucault once called the dramaturgy of the real.

On the other hand, critical pedagogy works to establish a symbolic relationship with the world. It highlights the workings of power and the possibility to use the symbolic and pedagogical dimensions of struggle as weapons in the struggle over power, knowledge, agency and social relations. This is a pedagogy in which the political becomes more pedagogical by taking on the challenge of using the power of persuasion to change the way people see things and resist those ideas and institutions that thrive on the energies of the political zombies. Critical pedagogy deepens the role of the political by including and emphasizing the importance of the struggle over cultural meanings and identities as well as over more narrow political terrains like the workplace, schools and the state. If pandemic pedagogy fuels multiple forms of domination that accelerate the deaths of the unwanted and make social death a self-generated practice, critical pedagogy is the political antidote to such practices.

As a counterpoint to existing pandemic pedagogies, the relationship among education, historical consciousness and political action points to new possibilities for change. And while historical consciousness can be both informative and emancipatory, it can lead to malicious interpretations of the present, as well as elements of history that are difficult to accept. The trajectory of history is not innocent and it needs to be interrogated in order to think through how we can build on it through a process of critique and possibility. At the level of critique, as Angela Davis has suggested, we need to figure out context within which people can understand the nature of U.S. history and the role that racism and capitalism and heteropatriarchy have played in forging that history.

On the more emancipatory and empowering side, critical pedagogy informed by the value of historical consciousness and moral witnessing can uncover dangerous memories and the narratives of those whose voices have been drowned out by those who have the power to write history to serve their narrow and reactionary interests. The greatest pandemic we face is the pandemic of ignorance and the willingness to surrender our power as individual and social agents to those who write the past and present in the scripts of domination. Pedagogy has never been more urgent as a political tool that can offer the resources to challenge the ideological, educational and militant practices deployed by emerging right-wing and fascist groups. Pedagogy is crucial for understanding how power shapes and is reinvented with respect to questions of culture, sexuality, history and political agency.

As a political project, pedagogy is the struggle over those public and private spaces in which peoples everyday lives are aligned with particular narratives, identities, cultural practices and political values. As such, pedagogy is the essential scaffolding of social interaction and the foundation of the public sphere. It is a crucial political practice because it takes seriously what it means to understand the relationship between how we learn and how we act as individual and social agents; that is, it is concerned not only with how individuals learn to think critically, but how they come to grips with a sense of individual and social responsibility. At issue here is the crucial political question of what it means to be responsible for ones actions as part of a broader attempt to be an engaged citizen who can expand and deepen the possibilities of democratic public life. Human agency is inseparable from the formative cultures and pedagogical practices that create the possibility of a mobilized citizenry and radical change.

As such, critical understanding is not just a state of mind but an empowering practice. It is the precondition for social change and pedagogy is crucial in shifting the way people view themselves, others and the larger world. Democracy requires a certain kind of subject who thinks in terms of broader solidarities and is willing to both translate private troubles into larger systemic considerations, to challenge the various threats being mobilized against the ideas of justice, equity and popular sovereignty.

In order to make education central to politics, critical pedagogy should provide the capacities, knowledge and skills that enable people to speak, write and act from a position of agency and empowerment. In addition, it should energize individuals to think differently so they can act differently. For instance, the current mass rebellions against racism, inequality and injustice have embraced the pedagogical task of attempting to recognize those modes of agency, identity and values that have been erased from the script of economic, political and personal rights and freedoms.

Agency is being rethought within a notion of freedom that expands human rights to the realm of economic rights. The notion of agency is severely limited and political and personal rights largely invalidated if one is engaged in a constant struggle to survive economically. In addition, individual freedom under neoliberal capitalism falls on the side of undermining the solidarities needed to live in a socially responsible and just society. As Frank Bruni observes, along the way, we went from celebrating individual liberty to fetishizing it, so that for too many Americans, all sense of civic obligation and communal good went out the window.

We are in the midst of a crisis in which it is crucial for individuals and social movements to learn anew how to take responsibility, to learn how to listen, and to act with vigilance. The pandemics of injustice that are ushering in massive degrees of poverty, exclusion, suffering and death must be resisted with a new understanding of politics and agency.

Moreover, the move from extending the capacities for individual agency must be expanded to a notion of social agency imbued with a sense of collective resistance. In the current historical moment, this points to the necessity to create an international social movement for the defense of public goods and the principles of a democratic socialist society.

The pandemic crisis is much more than a medical crisis. At its core it is both a political and ideological crisis. It is both a crisis of agency and politics. If the radical political horizons of a future society are to be brought into fruition, it is crucial to engage those everyday pedagogical spaces where identities are produced, modes of recognition come into play and critical points of view can be redeemed. The energies of fascism have become less intense, more fragile, and open to challenge as the limits of right-wing and updated fascist populist movements become more visible. As the virus spreads, the merchants of misery and hate have no language to explain or address the ubiquity of death spreading across the planet.

At the heart of the current pandemic crisis is the need for developing a new radical imagination and political language in which the crisis of citizenship is connected to the crisis of education, and the crisis of globalization is situated within the crisis of power.

The most important challenge that the pandemic has produced is not simply how to stop the spread of the virus. We must also ask: What kind of society do we want in the future, how do we want to live and who will be the agents to address these issues? Under what narrative for justice will various resistance movements both domestically and internationally come together to put a stop to the pandemic of poverty, inequality, racism and militarism? The relevance of this challenge hinges on reclaiming the relationship between education and democracy and taking seriously the recognition that the force of education operates in multiple social and public spaces, and those spaces should be places where individuals can realize themselves as informed and critically engaged citizens. The current pandemic follows a wave of right-wing movements and modes of governing that want to destroy any vestige of a democratic imaginary and to relegate the value of ethical and social responsibility and the question of justice to the wasteland of political thought.

The ugly terror of a fascist abyss lurks in the background of this pandemic, one that murders dreams, employs cynicism as commonsense, and prevents people from claiming any democratic sense of moral and political agency. What this dystopian pandemic can teach us is that democracy is fragile as a way of life and that if it is to survive, critical education and pedagogy must become central to producing citizens who are informed, politically aware and willing to produce a culture with the habits and sensibilities that keep a democracy alive.

If the pandemic can teach us that democracy is only as strong as the people who inhabit it and who are willing to struggle to keep justice, equity and the principles of a socialist democracy alive, the ominous clouds of fascism will not prevail in the United States. Democracy needs to breathe again, inspired by the struggle to dismantle the death machine at the heart of empire. Resistance is no longer optional, given that both humanity and the life of the planet are at stake.

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The Ugly Terror of a Fascist Abyss Lurks in the Background of This Pandemic - Truthout