Monthly Archives: May 2022

Rolanda Mitchell believes that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts are necessary because all students deserve to see someone who looks like them in education spaces and feel like higher education is an option for them.

As a Black woman raised in a low-income, rural North Carolina community, I recognize that part of the reason Im here is because I was able to see and interact with other Black people who pursued a college degree, she said. As a result, earning a college degree felt like a feasible option.

Mitchell is currently an assistant teaching professor in the counselor education program and one of the co-chairs of the Council for Multicultural Initiatives & Diversity (COMID). She joined the NCState faculty in January 2018.

Mitchell does not think it is possible to have strong and effective educational systems if diversity, equity, and inclusion are not prioritized and centered.

The reality of our world includes barriers that prevent people in marginalized groups from having a high-quality K-12 education and seeing educators that look like them, Mitchell said. The barriers arent going to go away by themselves, so its our job to be intentional about centering diversity, equity and inclusion.

Mitchell believes that DEI efforts help to mitigate barriers and give folks the tools, confidence and support to meet their full potential.

As a result, we get equitable distribution of funding, stronger schools, graduates who are better equipped for careers and/or post-secondary education and more effective higher education institutions, she said.

Mitchells research interests include studying access to counseling and mental health services for historically marginalized communities. She saw first-hand how COVID-19 exacerbated the digital divide and created a significant barrier in low-income and rural communities.

Mitchell is also planning a study that surveys how professional school counselors managed the transition to virtual learning. She will collect information about the support they received or were missing during the pandemic and how that impacted their ability to provide counseling services to students and families.

My hope is to bring awareness; I dont think there can ever be too much of that, she said. But more than that, I hope that all of our research inspires change.

Recently, she was also invited to work on a collaborative project with Halifax County Schools, specifically with the school counseling department, for the 2022-23 school year.

As a consultant, my job will be to tap into their existing skills, add additional training and hopefully leave them feeling better equipped to support their schools through a strong comprehensive counseling program, Mitchell said.

Another goal of this collaboration is to use research and data to demonstrate the hard work and progress happening in Halifax County school counseling departments.

Often, schools and students in lower-income districts are portrayed from a deficit model, highlighting whats wrong and suggesting that there is something inherently lacking with students, families and educators, she said. That is absolutely not the casethere is talent and potential everywhere if we take the time to look.

Mitchells role as an educator in the counselor education program also allows her to embed DEI into her work.

Our goal is to graduate counselors who have unconditional positive regard, empathy and hope for the students, clients and families they serve, she said. Additionally, we want them to value and practice advocacy in their community.

In the counselor education program, the faculty works to help students recognize and confront the inherent biases that all humans bring to the table, unpack where that comes from, challenge the beliefs that dont serve them and work to keep biases from interfering in their counseling skills and techniques.

In order to get conversations going, we use elements such as readings, case studies, media and processing questions, Mitchell said. Its also important that we provide a safe space so that all students can have honest discussions without fear of academic retaliation or harm from their peers.

For other students and NCState community members, Mitchell encourages those who are not already familiar with COMID to engage in their upcoming events.

This year, in collaboration with Professor and Senior Advisor for Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Joy Gaston Gayles, COMID hosted a series of discussions focused on topics such as anti-racism and self-care while doing DEI work, tackling microaggressions, and racial gaslighting.

Mitchell also recommends those who engage in DEI work be intentional about taking care of themselves.

In order to engage fully and effectively, you have to be healthy and whole, mentally, physically, and spiritually, she said. So, if youre reading this, take a moment now and think about something you can do to recharge, then make time for that.

This story was written by Jayla Moody

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Rolanda Mitchell is Using Diversity, Equity and Inclusion To Help Build Strong Educational Systems in K-12 Schools and Higher Education - NC State...

Upon coming back from spring break, Doris Smiths first call was to a family displaced following a fire at their home.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt, the family told Smith, who is family and community support service provider at Hartfords Thirman L. Milner Middle School. The family was stable on food and other essentials. But the childrens school uniforms were lost.

Milner officials were able to replace the uniforms through Milner Market, a newly opened food pantry located within the middle school that provides food assistance and other essential goods to families. Its the latest development in the longstanding relationship between Milner and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Hartford, which provides afterschool programs and a wide array of wrap-around supports to the school community.

We all come together. Families will tell us what they need, and well take it to them, Smith said.

Milner Market, which had its grand opening on April 6, is one of four pantries of its kind that have opened across Hartford schools since the beginning of the pandemic amid heightened need for goods and services among low-income communities. Parents and caregivers can shop for food supplies, from nonperishables to frozen meats, as well as other essentials, such as cleaning supplies and hygiene products.

I never want to hear a child or family say, I dont have... said Leanardo Watson, principal at Milner. He said hes always looking for ways to supplement whats accounted for in the budget, adding: Money only goes so far.

Leanardo Watson, principal at Hartford's Milner Middle School, holds a box that a family can use to shop for items at Milner Market, a newly opened food pantry located on school grounds. (Seamus McAvoy)

The market is made possible by a $500,000 grant from Cigna Corp. as part of the Bloomfield-based companys global Healthier Kids For Our Future initiative, which aims at reducing food insecurity in high-need areas.

About 1 in 7 children in Connecticut faces food insecurity, according to Connecticut Foodshare, a regional food bank. Communities of color were hit hardest following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted job security and supply chains.

Though some progress has been made at curbing Hartfords food desert status, the census tract surrounding Milner Middle School is one of two within the capital city in which a significant number of residents live more than one mile away from a supermarket, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In the first year of the grant, Milner tapped Catholic Charities to coordinate Cignas Full Cart program, which delivered meal boxes straight to homes.

Milner used the grant award to sponsor mindfulness training among school staff, which will be complete by the end of the year. The school also created a training class for parents and caregivers called Healthy Bodega, which teaches community members how to shop for healthy, nutritious food at their nearby grocery store.

Milner Markets name was intentional, said Sahar A. Hakim, Catholic Charities community school director. Organizers want to give families the impression that its no different from any other grocery store, and avoid the stigmas unfortunately attached to food pantries and similar sites.

Similarly, the shopping process is structured to maximize discretion. Family members pick up their supplies in the back of the school, and only one family is allowed in the market at a time during shopping hours. Its a shame-free zone, but they let the families be in control of their own narratives.

As in the case of the family displaced by the residential fire, the market is already making a difference.

There have been times when I ran out of food or personal hygiene products, and I was so happy that the Milner Market existed, one parent wrote in an email. I want to say thank you for the help and hope that this continues to help more people like me.

Milner Market, a newly opened food pantry at Hartford's Milner Middle School, offers household essentials such as toiletries and cleaning supplies in addition to meat products and nonperishable food. (Seamus McAvoy)

Milner is whats known as a community school a model that uses a lead outside agency to provide much-needed supports without depending on full-time staff employed by the district. The model hinges on four components: family engagement, collaborative leadership and practices, student support, and extended learning opportunities.

Its essentially an extension of the school day, Hakim said: Extended services, extended hours, extended partnerships.

Beyond Catholic Charities, Milner also has partnerships with The Village, a youth mental health organization, and Hartford Knights, a local youth organization.

Were engaging several stakeholders, all at the same time, to coordinate services to remove barriers for students as well as families, said Nuchette Black-Burke, the districts chief outreach, community partnerships and family engagement officer.

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Hartford Public Schools has been using the community school model for about 14 years, according to Black-Burke. Participation has grown from just seven schools with embedded partners to include all 39 within the district, which fall along four different tiers depending on need.

Milner is a tier four school the highest tier as identified by the state Department of Educations accountability index, which indicates the highest need and most services.

Catholic Charities is embedded into the building, with staff on site. The organization runs daily afterschool programs until 6 p.m. each evening, with transportation provided. Students can participate in sports, mentorship opportunities or participate in a wide variety of activities like barber shop lessons and martial arts.

Alexx Dennis, Catholic Charities program coordinator at Milner, is fond of the cooking class on which he serves as a taste-tester.

Yeah, I run the program, but Im also getting to see the kids progress, Dennis said.

How can we come together to provide all the different types of services a student may need? It goes beyond academics. ... Its focused on the whole child, Watson said.

Seamus McAvoy may be reached at smcavoy@courant.com.

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Through community partnerships, Hartford schools meet myriad needs from food to uniforms, child care, martial arts and mindfulness - Hartford Courant

This weekend in New York City, thousands of community college representatives from across the nation gathered with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), their first in-person convention since the pandemic.

Community college leaders gather to hear Dr. Michael Baston, Dr. Lawrence Rouse, and Dr. Willie Smith on Monday at the New York City Midtown Hilton.On Monday, two Black community college CEOs shared how they purposefully lead their institutions to create opportunity for those with less, and the president of Lone Star Community College, Kingwood (LSC-K), shared how her institution has completely changed its marketing to recruit, enroll, and retain Latinx students.

As community college presidents, we have an awesome task, and Im delighted to have that responsibility, said Dr. Lawrence Rouse, president and CEO of Pitt Community College in Winterville, NC. [The pandemic] was the greatest disruptor, in our lives but also in higher education for community colleges. We had to take a step back and look at how we reinvent what we do.

Since the pandemic, Rouse said that Pitt discovered over 39,000 people in his community who had started a post-secondary credential at an institution but had not completed. Rouse and his colleagues are working to bring those individuals into their fold.

[Those students] have a lot of things going on with them, food insecurity, childcare, sometimes a fear of coming back to a college environment if you werent successful before, said Rouse.

Dr. Lawrence Rouse - President and CEO, Pitt Community College.Pitt converted a tiny house into what Rouse called a mobile enrollment vehicle, which is towed around the community to spread the word about Pitt.

We go to churches, we go everywhere, said Rouse. We also have four mobile classrooms to do class on site in the community and give them a taste of, You can do this.

Rouse also reached an agreement with his local district attorney in an effort to disrupt the cycle of incarceration facing Black and Brown youth. During trials, a Pitt staffer sits in the back of the courtroom. Defendants are given an option to take classes at the college, which will be taken into consideration by the judge.

Dr. Willie Smith, CEO and chancellor of Baton Rouge Community College, joined with Rouse on the panel as they shared their backgrounds. Both grew up in severe poverty are keen to share the support and opportunity they received through education.

Coming from that background provided perspective that I must give back and challenge the status quo, said Smith. I know many of our students come with baggage, and people see that baggage and dont want them. We, as a community college, are a reflection of our communityI want to make sure we support and help people achieve the dream.

Shortly after the pandemic began, Smith said he received an email from one of his students, sharing with him how she had lost her job, had no money or child-care, and was now going hungry. Smith later discovered food-insecure faculty members. Students, faculty, and administrators alike were struggling with no or low-speed internet.

Those kinds of things floored me. We gave away thousands of gift cards, Visa cards, paid for internet access, said Smith. I told my staff, were no longer educatorswere social workers. We have more work to do to make sure food is secure across our colleges. We need to be talking with our policy makers about the challenges of being a student.

Smith is working to uplift the Baton Rouge community by removing programs and courses that result in low-paying careers. He said this decision may not be popular, but its the only one that sits right with his conscious.

Dr. Melissa N. Gonzalez, President, Lone Star College Kingwood.I think everything we do now in this society needs to be intentional, said Smith. It doesnt do me any good if you do a low wage [earning] program, and six or seven years later you come back with no money in your pocket, no house, no American dream.

Smith urged community college leaders to earn the trust of the surrounding community, something Dr. Melissa N. Gonzalez said is crucial to connecting with and recruiting from Latinx populations.

Gonzalez, president of LSC-K, just northeast of Houston, TX, said when she started the role ten months ago, there was hardly any targeted marketing to the schools surrounding Latinx communities.

Latinx students might be intimidated by the process of applying to and attending college, as many might be the first in their families to have access to higher education, Gonzalez said. Many families and students only speak Spanish, and some may face pressures from their family to work instead of going to school.

So, through a process of constantly reviewing tangible, data-driven reports of their progress, Gonzalez has seen the Latinx enrollment of her Kingwood campus grow to 44%, up from 25.2% in fall 2012.

Go into the communities and just be there, listening. Then the next time, say something about the college. Then, the next time, bring them in, said Gonzalez. It takes time. Its so important that they see this is who you are, this is genuine. You really want to know about the community, and you want to help.

Personal outreach, an ability to understand how each community likes to be contacted, having bilingual staff on hand, and engaging with the leaders and influencers of those communities can help institutions reach the Latinx population.

Liann Herder can be reached at lherder@diverseeducation.com.

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Gathering in Person, Community College Leaders Shared Advice for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

Editors note: The opinions expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of NextShark.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as well as Mental Health Awareness month. It is a unique time to be an Asian American psychologist, as it is the one month in which Asian American mental health issues become highlighted across many platforms. I am often asked, What is the state of Asian American mental health? Truth be told, less than three years ago, it was a topic that was mostly siloed within cultural competency courses in graduate schools, and rarely discussed by the public. People were not accustomed to acknowledging Asian American identity, and even less attention was placed on exploring Asian American mental health.

Suddenly, COVID-19 and the rise of anti-Asian hate started to permeate the everyday lives of Asians across the world. We witnessed and read about them being brutalized and verbally attacked. Especially painful were the videos of Asian elders being assaulted. All these terrifying events during the loneliness of a pandemic-induced lockdown only furthered our sense of isolation. The parts of ourselves that knew anti-Asian racism existed long before the pandemic began were brought to the forefront of our consciousnesses, and our collective mental health suffered greatly in response. For many of us, this collective trauma activated childhood memories of discrimination toward our immigrant parents, as well as forgotten experiences of being othered by our peers. We have buried those experiences so deep in our psyches that we may not have even remembered that we experienced such discrimination. It has been difficult not to waver between hopelessness and rage over these past two years.

Despite these racialized experiences within our families and community, many of us found ourselves as young adults trying to navigate the consequences of the model minority label. As Asian Americans, we are often expected to perform well and excel everything while always being agreeable. We learned how to code-switch with a smile, even in the face of blatant microaggressions. But what if certain aspects of the model minority myth were, in fact, a trauma response? In trauma literature, there are the more commonly known trauma responses such as Fight, Flight and Flee. But the Feign Response, one of the lesser-known ones, is worth exploring. Feigning is a protective response in which we may appease, defer or comply with others to protect ourselves from future attacks. When faced with a potential threat, we might instinctually make ourselves smaller, more docile or even invisible. These people-pleasing behaviors may have helped our parents and earlier Asian immigrants survive systemic injustices that plagued our people for generations. However, what began as an adaptive response for our community in the face of decades of mistreatment might have unwittingly contributed to the Asian stereotypes we work so hard to overcome.

Now, we must challenge the narrative. This process of unlearning can be difficult within a culture that often chooses to suppress pain instead of verbalizing it, but there are steps we can take to move in a direction of progress. We must first acknowledge our emotions and name the injustices we experience. Then, we must start externalizing oppression and hold those who do harm accountable. This accountability may be necessary in our schools, neighborhoods or workplaces. It may call upon us to be courageous and assertive. It may require us to seek community solidarity to persist in the face of injustice. But compliance is no longer an effective strategy for our community developing a voice must become an intentional practice.

Silence has long been another problematic aspect of the model minority myth. It is particularly dangerous because it can fuel shame within communities, which is a direct threat to our mental health. Silence has left many of our racialized experiences unexplored, making it difficult to name the racist structures in our lives. Moreover, many of our parents cautioned us to not rock the boat and to stay silent in the face of mistreatment. As people of color, protesting and fighting back against inequity can prompt dangerous retaliation, which is why family members encourage us to comply in order to protect us. Furthermore, our silence makes it seem as if we are living our best lives. But when we are silent, we are cut off from empathy and compassion from others. This also allows us to repeat harmful identity stories that keep us suffering, both alone and together. And though silence may have been how many of our parents and ancestors endured their hardships and trials, our generation must refuse to be silent it is costing our community far too much.

Moving toward each other and breaking the silence can be uncomfortable in a community that glorifies achievement and self-reliance, but it is a worthy pursuit for the sake of our mental health. For some, breaking the silence may involve putting words to emotions and sharing them with people we deem safe. For others, it might include seeking therapy, medication or both to support a life well-lived. Our willingness to show our vulnerability, our struggles in the face of challenge and our heartache in the midst of grief all offer a glimpse into our humanity that has been erased by the model minority myth.

So, my invitation to our community is this: Will you help us break the silence surrounding mental health? If not you, then who? If not now, then when?

Author Bio: Dr. Jenny Wang is a Taiwanese American clinical psychologist and national speaker on Asian American mental health and racial trauma in Asian American, BIPOC and immigrant communities. She is the founder of the @asiansformentalhealth Instagram community, in which she discusses the unique experiences of Asian diaspora and immigrant communities. Her forthcoming book, Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans will be out May 2022 from Balance Publishing.

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Mental health in Asian American communities: Why we must break the silence together - Yahoo News

Press release from Florida Department of Children and Families

Yesterday, Department of Children and Families (Department) Secretary Shevaun Harris announced the creation of a Family Navigator initiative to enhance the safety and well-being of Florida children after a report of potential child abuse or neglect.

After reviewing past child welfare cases and reports to determine commonalities and further evaluating current practices, the Department developed a new model aimed at addressing deficiencies in the child welfare system, including enhanced engagement and ensuring families receive the right supportive services at the right time. This new model will enhance the Departments engagement efforts with families, further promoting safe, resilient families.

Building on the recent momentum of historic funding for Floridas child welfare system, the Department has gathered industry leaders from all parts of our system to help create supports to enhance the well-being of Floridas families, saidSecretary Shevaun Harris. With the deployment of Family Navigators, the Department will use these clinicians to meet families where they are to help parents and children heal from trauma and overcome mental health and substance abuse challenges to help promote safe, resilient families.

Over the last few weeks, the Department has worked with child protection and behavioral health leaders across the state to form a new strategy, which will improve supports for child protective investigators (CPI) to enhance outcomes for Floridas families.

Secretary Harris push to enhance the engagement and support we provide to families in the system is the right way we should be approaching protection and prevention, saidWilmine Merilan-Louis, Child Protective Investigative Supervisor, Broward County Sheriffs Office. We must continue to examine our practices and figure out what is working and where we can make improvements. The children of our state deserve this kind of innovation and leadership, and the Broward County Sheriffs Office is energized by this new model and forward thinking.

Ensuring that our survivors have the resources they need to thrive in the community is our top priority, saidDr. Gail Patin, Chief Executive Officer of Hubbard House. We know that partnership among providers, advocates, and the state is vital to enhancing the system. We are encouraged by the Departments leadership and thank them for convening todays panel and for the Family Navigator initiative.

Integration of behavioral health and child welfare is at the foundation of our mission at Citrus Health, saidMaria Alonso, Chief Operating Officer of Citrus Health Network. Our vision will only come to fruition if we holistically wrap our services around our families to further ensure their well-being. This announcement by the Department is an encouraging step forward, and we are excited to be part of the implementation.

When we work with a family in crisis, it is imperative that the right supports are not only offered, but utilized to further stabilize and enhance recovery, saidMike Watkins, Chief Executive Officer of Northwest Florida Health Network. It is clear that, through intentional collaboration with community partners and with Secretary Harris recommendations, we can ensure that Floridas families have not just access, but engagement to the appropriate, timely help they need and deserve that will help them overcome the challenges they are presented with.

A cornerstone of the field of psychiatry is relying on evidence-based methods, and working with an administration that values enhancing accountability for mental health and substance abuse providers is encouraging for us to hear, saidDr. Courtney Phillips, Director of Behavioral Health, Health Care District of Palm Beach County. Most importantly, in order to improve the well-being of Floridas families, we must employ a model shift that focuses on implementing 24-7 access to evidence-based compassionate substance use care that is available throughout the lifespan of the patient due to its chronic nature.

As a person with lived experience of the system, I know that in concrete times of need, positive social connections and understanding can make a world of difference for a family, saidVictoria Camper, Parent Representative. This model has the capacity to support families through authentic engagement and coordination of services.

A key component of ensuring child safety, and family well-being, is activating community resources, supports, and mental health treatment services timely and appropriately. As trained clinicians, Family Navigators will work alongside the CPI and family to quickly help assess, locate, and provide pivotal services to ensure the family unit is stabilized, safe, and on a pathway to building a resilient family unit. Floridas child and family well-being system will continue to invest in fully embodying a trauma-responsive system of care where the Department, Community-Based Care organizations, and Managing Entities come together to provide more meaningful services that promote positive outcomes to enhance the overall, long-term well-being of the family.

The Department will create a new Family Navigators resource:

The Department will also implement the following additional actions:

These actions will ensure that the Department will work to activate communities across our state to wrap vulnerable families with intensive supports to maintain children in a safe, united home. Along with the Departments vast programs, partners, and providers, the Office of Child and Family Well-Being will work to closely integrate safety and well-being into the system of care to enhance service capacity and supports for families.

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DCF Announces Robust Child and Family Well-Being Initiative to Better Support Families - Alachua Chronicle

MOBItalks is back and ready to empower attendees with conversation around alternative wellness, understanding sex therapy, and black queer joy with industry leaders and community activists.

NEW YORK, May 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative (MOBI) is teaming up with local New York-based Entertainers, Entrepreneurs and Community Based Leaders for their signature MOBItalks presented by ViiV Healthcare accelerate initiative. MOBItalks, a free personal and professional development series for Black gay men, creates distinguished experiences while encouraging attendees to live stronger, longer, and healthier.

MOBI is excited to return where it all started with MOBItalks. MOBItalks New York will take place on May 14th at 265 West 37th Street, 17th floor, New York, NY 10018, from 12 pm to 4 pm. Attendees can look forward to hearing from Thaddeus Coates, Dr. Sean Larry Stevens, Jonathan Burke, Kevin E. Taylor, and Walter Kemp. Individuals will also enjoy the artistic expression of Chalvar Monteiro, and Jamel Franks. The evening will be hosted by the award-winning host of Surface Level Podcast. Attendees will also have the opportunity to receive free professional headshots by award-winning photographer, Laquann Dawson. Brunch bites will also be provided by Food Network highlighted cater, Cornbread26 Food Co.

"NYC is home for MOBI and we are extremely blessed to be back in person this year with so many familiar faces. These are the people that have helped MOBI continue to thrive and do intentional work where it is needed most," said DaShawn Usher, Founder and Executive Director. We are excited to connect, laugh, and give back to the people who give us so much." As an alternative to limited social gathering spaces, MOBI seeks to provide a platform for Black gay men and queer people of color to speak authentically about issues that affect them regarding health, wellness, and personal and professional development. All our events and initiatives are peer-led and connect community members across different social classes, education levels, and ages.

Along with MOBItalks, MOBI will host MOBIfest,a free interactive wellness experience that celebrates Black queer voices in fashion, music, visual arts and media on June 9-12, 2022. MOBI is in its 5th year of programming and has given over 1 million dollars back to the black queer community. "MOBI's impact is felt throughout New York City by providing opportunities for queer Black people and other queer people of color to connect with each other. Connection is important for health. MOBI creates spaces where queer POC can feel safe but also see themselves represented and celebrated," said Dr. Jorge H. Soler, Public Health Researcher at Project ACHIEVE. " We have all missed going to in-person MOBI events and can't wait to be with them again!"

For more information on MOBI or to register for the event, please visit https://mobi-nyc.com/nyctalks.

Media Contact:Alloric Riley - Communications and Digital Account Manager[emailprotected]

About ViiV Healthcare:ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV and for people who are at risk of becoming infected with HIV. Shionogi B.V. joined as shareholders in October 2012. The company's aims are to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV and AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and innovative medicines for HIV treatment and prevention, as well as support communities affected by HIV.

For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline, and commitment, please visit http://www.viivhealthcare.com.

About Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative:Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative (MOBI) is a series of curated social connectivity programming and events, launched in 2017, for Black gay men and queer people of color to see their holistic self while promoting community, wellness, and personal development. MOBI engages communities through free programming such as MOBIfest and MOBItalks. MOBI is committed to connecting individuals to opportunities to better themselves before, during, and after our signature programming. With a focus on health and wellness, MOBI seeks to cultivate a more informed, better equipped, and supportive network for the communities we serve.

In an effort to affect greater audiences, in 2020 we transformed our signature live programming MOBIfest into a virtual experience and MOBItalks into a 3 part digital series that documents the intersectionalities of LGBTQ life and culture through the themes of sex, mental health and identity.

For more information on MOBI please visit, http://www.mobi-nyc.com

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MOBI Makes Their Post-Pandemic NYC Debut - PR Newswire

MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- First Horizon Corp. (NYSE: FHN or "First Horizon") today announced that it has been selected for the 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI). For the fourth consecutive year, First Horizon is listed in the index which recognizes public companies for their commitment to supporting gender equality and advancing women.

Bloomberg GEI infographic

"First Horizon strives to create a workplace where all associates feel accepted and valued," said Tanya Hart, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at First Horizon. "We believe that championing diversity and inclusion fosters a more creative and innovative workforce. We are proud to be included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index and thank them for this recognition."

First Horizon's strategic approach to diversity, equity and inclusion focuses on elevating equity in the 4 strategic pillars of workforce, workplace, marketplace and community.

Workforce: At First Horizon, women represent approximately:

66% of the overall workforce

57% of manager roles

36% of the Executive Officers

24% of the Board of Directors

Workplace: The First Horizon Women's Initiative Associate Resource Group, founded more than 20 years ago, also played a major role in its GEI recognitions. The Women's Initiative helps female associates develop leadership skills, facilitate mentor-mentee relationships and network with leaders and executives.

Marketplace: Realizing that women have unique financial needs, First Horizon created Women and Wealth, a private client practice dedicated to empowering women's financial lives. More information about the practice may be found here. https://www.firsthorizon.com/products-and-services/private-client-category/women-and-wealth

Community: In 2021, Susan Springfield, Chief Credit Officer, served as the American Heart Association's 'Mid-South's Go Red for Women' chair. Through Susan's leadership, more than $325,000 was raised, marking the best 'Mid-South Go Red for Women' campaign to date. Go Red for Women is a national initiative of the American Heart Association that raises awareness of cardiovascular disease as the #1 killer of women. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/first-horizon-bank_memgored-goredforwomen-bettertogether-activity-6851191769141444608-w1dZ

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"A culture of equity is built and maintained by having a diverse base of vendors, grantees, talent and clients that are reflective of the communities we serve," said Dr. Anthony C. Hood, executive vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at First Horizon. "Having an intentional focus and strategic plan aligned to our business contributes to First Horizon's associate satisfaction, retention and loyalty in our markets across the Southeast." For more information visit https://www.firsthorizon.com/first-horizon-national-corporation/careers/diversity-and-inclusion

About First Horizon First Horizon Corp. (NYSE: FHN), with $88.7 billion in assets as of March 31, 2022, is a leading regional financial services company, dedicated to helping our clients, communities and associates unlock their full potential with capital and counsel. Headquartered in Memphis, TN, the banking subsidiary First Horizon Bank operates in 12 states across the southern U.S. The Company and its subsidiaries offer commercial, private banking, consumer, small business, wealth and trust management, retail brokerage, capital markets, fixed income, mortgage, and title insurance services. First Horizon has been recognized as one of the nation's best employers by Fortune and Forbes magazines and a Top 10 Most Reputable U.S. Bank. More information is available at http://www.FirstHorizon.com.

(PRNewsfoto/First Horizon Corporation)

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SOURCE First Horizon Corporation

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First Horizon Recognized for Investment in Women - Yahoo Finance

After igniting Sunday afternoon near Bursum Road, 18 miles southeast of Reserve in the Gila National Forest, the quickly growing Turkey Fire expanded by around 350 acres Sunday night and during the day Monday, pushing its total acreage to 800. However, much like the similarly sized Water Fire that firefighters battled near Mimbres at the end of last week, it is being contained.Today and yesterday, they did some strategic burning, so theres some line around the heel of the fire and the two flanks and [much of] the head, said Gila National Forest incident contact Andrew Mitchell on Monday. I suspect we will have a good containment number tomorrow morning right now its zero percent, but it looks like its pretty wrapped up and tight around three different sides.He added that although the total acreage of the fire grew since it started Sunday, some of that growth was intentional on the part of firefighters.Today was more about getting resources in place, finding opportunities to fight the fire directly and continue with hand crews [digging] line, Mitchell said Monday. We saw minimal fire activity maybe just some short runs in the grass so a lot of that new acreage is from the strategic burning.The cause of the fire still has not been determined, but Mitchell said it was definitely human-caused, as there was no lightning in the area when the fire started.Mitchell did not have an exact breakdown of resources currently allocated to the fire, but said that there are around 75 firefighters working on containing it.Another 50 firefighters are still at work monitoring the Water Fire that started 6 miles north of Mimbres last Thursday. That fire has not grown since the weekend, and is currently listed as 60 percent contained.Theres no fire activity on that one, so were just kind of searching out hot spots, Mitchell said. Its moving down in complexity to what we call a Type 4 the higher [the type number], the better.The cause of the Water Fire is also under investigation.Meanwhile, in the midst of an early onset fire season that is devastating forests and communities in other parts of the state, the federal Bureau of Land Management has implemented fire restrictions across public lands in the area.According to a Monday release from the BLM, the bureau is implementing fire restrictions across Doa Ana, Otero, Luna, Sierra, Grant and Hidalgo counties in hopes of reducing the risk of wildfire on public lands.Prohibited acts under the federal order include the building and maintaining of campfires or use of coal and wood stoves, smoking in open areas that are near flammable material, possessing or driving a motor vehicle off roads, except when parking in an area devoid of vegetation within 10 feet of the roadway, and operating a chain saw or similar machine with internal or external combustion engines without taking proper precautions.The purpose of this order is for the protection of public health and safety by minimizing chances for wildfire starts, a spokesperson said in the release. Abundant dry fuels, high fire danger and worsening fire conditions have promoted this action.In late April, the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department enacted similar restrictions on non-municipal, non-federal, and non-tribal lands statewide.David Marquez may be reached at [emailprotected] press.com.

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Two fires on the Gila slow down - Silvercity Daily Press - Silver City Daily Press and Independent

St. Anthonys Hospital, Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital, and Bayfront Health St. Petersburg have committed to using their economic power to improve the well-being of surrounding neighborhoods and communities. Pictured, Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg President and CEO Randall H. Russell

ST. PETERSBURG Three major downtown institutions are joining with the City of St. Petersburg to embrace shared, collaborative, and intentional practices focused on moving the needle on race equity.

The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg introduced the idea to these institutions who developed this historic focused effort on their needs coupled with the aspirations of a healthier community by race, Foundation President and CEO Randall H. Russell said. The leadership shown by these entities fundamental to a healthy community advances race equity forward with their focused intent.

In addition to city government, the St. Petersburg Anchor Institution Initiatives inaugural members include St. Anthonys Hospital, Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital, and Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. All three institutions have committed to using their economic power to improve the well-being of surrounding neighborhoods and communities.

The outcome is explicitly directed at improving race equity, impacting the economic well-being of residents, and contributing to transforming neighborhoods and communities. It is also likely that the anchor institutions will experience cost savings, a steadier workforce, and enhanced data enabling smarter approaches to improve population health.

Race equity is required to reach health equity. These leaders have taken a bold step to improve the health of our entire community, Russell said.

This initiative comes as awareness is growing about how systemic bias in institutional and government decision-making over the centuries has resulted in communities being denied many of the opportunities afforded to other neighborhoods. That systemic racially focused bias has led to worse health outcomes for many in these communities after sustained underinvestment that shapes the social determinants of health. Evidence of this reality is that just blocks south of these hospitals, life expectancy at birth is 16 years less than two miles north.

Intentional equity is at the core of my administrations priorities in everything we do. It is not enough to be equitable; we must also be intentional, said Mayor Ken Welch. Im pleased to support and participate in the St. Petersburg Anchor Institution Initiative aimed at just that. The participating businesses employ thousands within our citys workforce, and they set an example for all businesses to ensure fair and accessible hiring practices and equitable access to health care services.

John Moore, president of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, is also extremely pleased to partner with like-minded organizations on this initiative.

Serving as an Anchor Institution is especially meaningful to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, which has served the community for more than 100 years. We are excited about how this collaboration dovetails with our own ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. We look forward to the positive results that will stem from it, Moore stated.

At St. Anthonys Hospital and BayCare, we believe in continuous improvement, and that includes doing better for and by our community, said Scott Smith, president of St. Anthonys Hospital. Were excited to join with our health care colleagues and the city to develop new, more inclusive ways of serving our community to support racial equity and build a brighter future for our entire city.

As a leader in childrens health and the top-ranked childrens hospital in the state of Florida, Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital understands the critical need to work with others in the community and find ways to eliminate racial disparities and improve access to both basic and specialized pediatric care, particularly in some of our most vulnerable areas.

As an Anchor Institution, it is important for us to bring together the resources to enhance the safety, nutrition, health care, and access to these services in order to improve mental and physical health for families in our community, stated Alicia Schulhof, M.H.A., F.A.C.H.E., president of Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital.

The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg fueled a learning partner, Marga, Inc., to bring knowledge from across the country into developing this effort.

The proximity of these four institutions makes St. Petersburg a prime location to initiate an Anchor Institutions Initiative. The intention is to move health equity forward through a focus on race equity. We look forward to the next steps of this fantastic partnership modeling cross-sector collaboration to bring about positive change, said Russell.

David Maurasse from Marga, Inc. added, The St Petersburg Anchor Institutions Initiative is a monumental development that has rapidly taken shape. The participating institutions have demonstrated extraordinary readiness and willingness to collaborate and adapt their systems and thinking toward the well-being of local residents with a race equity lens.

The institutions will continue to be convened by the Foundation as they form a structure, hire staff, and move forward with the launch of this effort. The St. Petersburg Anchor Institution Initiative efforts will continue finalizing plans in 2022.

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Major downtown institutions come together to address race equity and institutional needs - Weekly Challenger

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.

A newreport from O'Reilly and Instaclustr draws a stark contrast between the advantages of open source flexibility compared to software sold under constrictive open core licenses. Instaclustr, which helps organizations deliver applications at scale by operating and supporting their open source data infrastructure, today announced the findings of The Benefits of Open Source and the Risks of Open Core, a report created by OReilly with collaboration from Instaclustr.

The 40-page report delineates the critical but often misunderstood differences between open source and open core models. It highlights the distinctive and specific advantages of open source, including global communities that collaborate to continually improve software, transparent communications and open archives, and licenses that guarantee the rights to use, change, and share software. Organizations leveraging fully open source technologies also benefit from the ability to own, port, and utilize their code however they like and do so regardless of the vendors they work with. Open core, in contrast, mixes open source and proprietary code into what are ultimately proprietary offerings. While open core vendors often lure customers with the promise of both uniquely valuable proprietary features and open source freedoms, this is most often not the case.

Among the key findings from the OReilly report:

Open source adopters like the flexibility and freedom as much as the free licensing.

Technology leaders with deep software procurement experience tend to prefer free and open source solutions for several reasons. Open source software enables organizations to avoid vendor and technical lock-in. Building their applications around open standards enables strategic shifts to alternative technologies, as needed, without the need to alter code or change established processes. Technology leaders also find that new staff can often work productively with familiar open source tools from day one, eliminating much of the time-consuming training required with less-known proprietary offerings. Community participation to steer healthy open source projects, adaptability, tool compatibility, and freedom from licensing limitations round out the open source advantages cited in the OReilly report.

Customers of open core vendors often take on risks they dont understand.

In part due to the similarity of the two terms, the report found that many organizations actually have trouble understanding whether they have access to open source or open core solutions. While honest presentations of open core offerings simply amount to a legitimate business model, many open core vendors are not as transparent. For example, open core vendors may draw in customers with fully open source community editions that arent actually viable, or suddenly end community edition support in an attempt to force customers into their paid proprietary offerings. Open core licenses then often restrict customers from owning their own code, sealing an intentional trap that captures users with vendor lock-in.

Open core practices have negative long-term impacts on both customers and vendors themselves.

In addition to customers losing out on the open source flexibility and freedom they likely believed they were getting, open core often negatively impacts vendors as well. Open core vendors might begin with good intentions, but fall into their own trap when trying to balance community stewardship and commercial pressures. Those pressures result in incentives that then limit community contributions especially when vendors fear losing control of their solutions to their more innovative communities.

When we say open source software is free, thats not just about the price, said Peter Lilley, CEO and Co-Founder at Instaclustr. The freedoms that fully open source technologies provide enterprises amount to transformative advantages for building powerful and versatile technology stacks. Unfortunately, many open core solutions serve as a cautionary tale on what can happen when end users (and even vendors) dont prioritize freedom, flexibility, and community. The OReilly report digs deep to offer comprehensive clarity on the state of open source vis--vis open core, and is worth a read in its entirety for any technology leadership team.

Read the full report here: https://info.instaclustr.com/OReilly_Open_Source_vs_Open_Core.html

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Instaclustrhelps organizations deliver applications at scale through its platform for open source technologies such as Apache Cassandra, Apache Kafka, Apache Spark, Redis, OpenSearch, Apache ZooKeeper, and PostgreSQL. Instaclustr combines a complete data infrastructure environment with hands-on technology expertise to ensure ongoing performance and optimization. By removing infrastructure complexity, Instaclustr enables companies to focus internal development and operational resources on building cutting-edge, customer-facing applications at lower cost. Instaclustr customers include some of the largest and most innovative Fortune 500 companies.

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Report Sheds New Light on the Risks of Open Core Software - CIO Dive