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The necessity of strong mentorship

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August 16, 2017
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“The future is ours to seize. But we aren’t going to seize it by contorting ourselves into the male version of what power and success look like. Instead, we’re going to do it by embracing and investing in our true female selves – and bringing those badass selves proudly, unapologetically, to work.”

I love it!

I love the evolution of women, particularly, women in the work place. It is a new world for female professionals and seemingly, for the first time, women don’t feel the need to conform to the standards that men and the greater society set for us. We are confident, we are fierce and we are determined to command respect.

The opening paragraph consists of the words of Sallie Krawcheck, author of “Own It: The Power of Women at Work.” The book addresses the pay gap between women and our male counterparts, the benefits of networking and the need for flexibility in today’s work environment.
“Own It” also discusses the importance of mentorship, a topic that never gets old.
I am a beneficiary of strong mentorships. Women like Carolene Mays-Medley and the late Yvonne Perkins poured into me, they guided me, invested in me and they believed in me. It is because of them – and select others – including male mentors, that I am who I am: a hardworking woman with character, integrity and talent.

By far, Carolene has been the greatest influencer in my professional life – largely because we spent 10 years working alongside one another. Over the years, particularly the decade that she was my superior; I was able to learn constantly. I would often tell her, she teaches me without her even knowing it. That type of mentoring relationship – where there are two willing participants – is invaluable. Because I specifically benefitted from mentors, I too, try to mentor others. As a matter of fact, a report by Jazmine Boatman, Ph.D., Linda Miller and Stephanie Neal, states that 74 percent of women mentor others because they have benefitted from their own mentorship experiences. Eighty percent of respondents said they mentor because they want to be supportive of other women.

Boatman, Miller and Neal also found that women who mentor other women within their companies have far more successful business outcomes.

There is power in mentorship and great things happen when women can join forces with other women to learn and grow. This is especially true when established women mentor younger females and when C-suite executives mentor lower level employees who typically need help with influencing others, working through challenges, negotiations, and interpersonal skills.
Studies show that mentorship is most effective when mentees are open-minded and receptive to the ideas and philosophies of mentors.

It brings me great joy to mentor others. It is my way of blessing others in ways I have been blessed. I’m extremely proud that some of the people I’ve mentored are doing great things professionally and personally. They are thriving! However, while my success rate as a mentor is fairly high, there have been a couple instances where the individuals don’t welcome the authenticity of my mentoring – they don’t like to hear the critiques, they are unwilling to put in the hard work or they simply are inpatient and immediately want whatever “it” it is that they seek. Even still, the positive experiences far outweigh the not so positive ones and I continue to be fulfilled through my service as a mentor as well as my experiences as a mentee.

Only through the teachings of the successes and mistakes of others will the next generation develop into the leaders of tomorrow. And who better to teach us, than us?

BBB warns: Choose your fun run carefully

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August 7, 2017
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FOR THE RECORDER

In recent years, the number of fun runs has exploded. Ads target everyone from advanced runners to beginners as well as people interested in supporting a cause, such as cancer awareness and veterans. These color runs, obstacle courses and mud runs promise fun and adventure and, often, a chance to help a charity. Many of them deliver, but there have also been cases of promoters simply creating an official-looking website and collecting fees for runs that never happen. The Better Business Bureau Serving Central Indiana offers the following tips when considering registering for a fun run.

Do your research. Check out the race organizer’s BBB Business Profile at bbb.org and look online for additional information before signing up. Read customer reviews from runners who have participated in previous races or events. Do a general internet search of the run coupled with the word “scam.”

Don’t be fooled by a well-designed website. Scammers can easily create an official-looking website. Look for misspellings or poor grammar, which is a sign you might be dealing with fraudsters.

Check with the local venue. Contact the park or host venue to confirm that the event is on the calendar and organizers have gotten the correct permits.

Don’t get caught up in the hype. Just because an event is being heavily promoted on social media doesn’t necessarily make it a legitimate event. Still do your research.

Pay with a credit card. Credit cards give you protection for charges disputed according to the terms of your financial institution. Debit cards generally come with shorter timelines for fighting charges and minimum fees. Never pay by wire or pre-paid money card.

Understand terms and conditions. If the website says there are no refunds, buyer beware. It’s your responsibility to read the fine print before hitting “I agree” when making a purchase or registering for a race.

Keep documentation of your order. After completing the online registration process, you should receive a confirmation receipt. Print out and keep a copy of the confirmation and any supporting documentation for future reference.

Check out the charity. While the organizers of many runs are for-profit businesses, some may advertise a charitable partner. If race organizers claim a portion of the proceeds will go to charity, ask for more details. Contact the charity to make sure there’s a connection. Research give.org to make sure your donation is going to a trustworthy charity. Be wary of sound-alike names similar to those of more established charities.

Fun Runs can indeed be fun, but in some cases have also led to headaches and disappointments. Just as it’s a good idea to train before undertaking a race, it’s also a good idea to do your research ahead of time to ensure your fun run delivers the goods.

NAACP, Airbnb partner to promote travel, offer new economic opportunities to communities of color

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August 1, 2017
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BALTIMORE — The NAACP, the country’s original and largest social justice organization and Airbnb, the world’s leading hospitality company, today launched a landmark partnership that will help spread the economic benefits of home sharing to more communities.

Under the new partnership, Airbnb and the NAACP will conduct targeted outreach to communities of color to help more people use their homes to earn extra income. By increasing the number of travelers to communities of color, the partnership will spread the economic benefits of tourism. The partnership also includes a unique revenue sharing model: Airbnb will share 20 percent of its earnings from this partnership with the NAACP. The NAACP and Airbnb will also collaborate on a series of projects to support Airbnb’s ongoing efforts to increase workforce diversity, as well as support Airbnb’s supplier diversity goals.

As the original social justice organization, the NAACP has been at the front lines of the fight to create economic opportunities for African-American families for 108 years. The agreement with Airbnb builds on this work by creating a 21st century partnership that makes housing more affordable and drives new economic activity to communities of color.

“For too long, Black people and other communities of color have faced barriers to access new technology and innovations,” said Derrick Johnson, interim president and CEO of the NAACP. “This groundbreaking partnership with Airbnb will help bring new jobs and economic opportunities to our communities. Airbnb’s commitment to that goal is a tremendous step in the right direction for Silicon Valley to opens its doors to African-Americans and other communities.”

“Airbnb is democratizing capitalism. Instead of a corporation controlling the supply and distributing the profits, hosts decide when they offer their space and keep 97 percent of what they charge for their listing,” said Belinda Johnson, Airbnb’s Chief Business Affairs Officer. “Our fastest-growing communities across major U.S. cities are in communities of color and we’ve seen how home sharing is an economic lifeline for families. This partnership will build on this incredible progress. The NAACP is unrivaled in its tireless work to expand economic opportunities for minority communities and we look forward to collaborating with their talented team.”

Economic Opportunity is one of the NAACP’s six “Game Changer” issues. As such, the NAACP recognizes the importance of the economy and economic issues in advancing an equal opportunity society and aims to address the challenging economic realities facing our country including poverty, lack of jobs and disproportionate high unemployment, lack of affordable housing and foreclosures. Through its Economic Department, the NAACP works to enhance the capacity of African-Americans and other underserved groups through financial economic education; individual and community asset building initiatives; diversity and inclusion in business hiring, career advancement and procurement; and monitoring financial banking practices.

Analyses have shown that Airbnb and home sharing can provide significant economic benefits to communities that have not benefitted from tourism in the past. Up to 50 percent of guest spending occurs in the neighborhoods where guests stay and communities of color are some of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the Airbnb community. A 2016 study of the New York City host community found that the number of Airbnb guests grew 78 percent year-over-year in the 30 city zip codes with the highest percentage of black residents, compared to 50 percent city-wide. Similar studies of Airbnb host communities in Chicago’s South Side and Washington, DC’s Anacostia neighborhood found even higher rates of growth.

The Airbnb-NAACP partnership includes a series of commitments:

● Community Outreach & Education. Local NAACP chapters will work with Airbnb to launch a grassroots, community-based campaign to educate more people on the economic benefits of hosting and bringing more travelers to communities of color. The campaigns will include a series of in-person community meetings, online and offline outreach efforts, and educational campaigns on issues regarding fair and affordable housing.

● Revenue Sharing. Airbnb will share 20 percent of the earnings it receives as a result of these new community outreach efforts with the NAACP. Host earnings will not be impacted by this initiative. Additional details regarding this initiative will be announced in the weeks ahead.

● A Diverse Employee Base. According to the most recent figures, 9.64 percent of all United States-based Airbnb employees are from underrepresented populations. Increasing diversity in its workforce is a key priority for Airbnb, which has set a goal of increasing the percentage of its employees from underrepresented populations in the U.S. to 11 percent by the end of 2017. The NAACP will provide support and guidance as Airbnb works toward this goal.

● Supplier Diversity. The NAACP will serve as a formal adviser to Airbnb’s Supplier Diversity Program to better connect Airbnb with diverse businesses who can help meet the growing company’s needs. Airbnb has set a goal that 10 percent of its total procurement spend goes to suppliers owned by underrepresented communities, women, veterans, members of the LGBTQ community, and businesses in Historically Underutilized Business Zones by the end of 2019.

Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere and the company has worked to leverage its platform for good around the world. In the last year, Airbnb has set a goal of providing temporary housing for 100,000 displaced people, forged partnerships to provide economic opportunities for women in India and is creating new ways to recognize and promote hosts who commit to pay their house cleaners a living wage of $15 per hour or more.

Airbnb has also worked to implement a series of steps to help fight discrimination, promote inclusion and diversify its community and employee base including, but not limited to:

● Everyone who uses Airbnb must agree to the Community Commitment, a pledge to treat everyone in the community with respect and without judgment or bias, regardless of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age.

● Airbnb has surpassed our goal of making 1 million listings available via Instant Book. Today, Airbnb has 1.4 million Instant Book listings available, and 60 percent of all reservations are now booked instantly. Instant Book lets hosts offer their homes for immediate booking without requiring prior approval of a specific guest.

● Under Airbnb’s Open Doors policy announced last fall, if a guest is unable to book a listing and feels that it’s due to discrimination, a specially trained team of Airbnb employees, available 24/7, will ensure that the guest finds a place to stay.

● Anyone who violates Airbnb’s policies may be immediately and permanently banned from using Airbnb.

● Last fall, Airbnb also engaged a preeminent US expert to help develop trainings for hosts that will help reduce unconscious bias. After launching the training and promoting it to US hosts, Airbnb continues to make it available online.

● Nearly 100 percent of Airbnb employees have completed anti-bias training, and Airbnb has created a permanent team of engineers, data scientists, researchers and designers whose sole purpose is to advance belonging and inclusion, and to root out bias.

Indiana Minority Business Magazine to honor women business leaders

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July 19, 2017
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The Indiana Minority Business Magazine will honor 12 women who have excelled as business professionals and community leaders during the 2017 Summer Golden Laurel Professional Reception: Women Excelling in Business.

The recipients of the Golden Laurel distinction will be awarded on Thursday, July 27th at the Mid-States Minority Supplier Development Council office, located at 2126 N. Meridian St. Indianapolis, IN 46202. A networking reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., and the awards presentation will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m.

This event is presented in partnership with the Mid-States Minority Supplier Development Council and sponsored by IndyGo – Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation.

“The feminist movement of the 1960’s led women to the workforce en masse, presenting women with agency and access outside of their homes. Since then, women have not stopped fighting for equal representation in their respective fields,” said IMBM President Shannon Williams. “As a woman in leadership I have experienced firsthand the struggles that women are subjected to compared to our male colleagues. In spite of disparate treatment and insurmountable odds, we rise and uplift each other along the way. I find that it is my both my honor and responsibility to congratulate these 12 extraordinary women who represent exactly what women are capable of during this seasons Golden Laurel Professional Reception honoring women excelling in business.”

Below are the 2017 Summer Golden Laurel award recipients:

Kim Borges – Vice President, Area Marketing Manager, Regions Bank
Joan Carter – Owner, The Jewelry Lady
Tamika Catchings – Founder, Catch the Stars Foundation and Owner, Tea’s Me Cafe
Sonia Chen-Arnold – Counsel-Litigation and Legal Compliance, Eli Lilly and Company
Susan Decker – CEO, Susan Decker Media
Deb Hallberg – Business Development Manager, Barnes & Thornburg LLC
Tavonna Harris Askew – Chief of Staff and General Counsel, Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County
Denise Herd – President, Herd Strategies
Deborah Hearn-Smith – CEO, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana
Jackie Morales – Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs, Morales Group
Deborah Oatts – Owner, Nubian Construction Group
Angela Smith-Jones – Deputy Mayor of Economic Development, City of Indianapolis

Admission to the Golden Laurel Professional Reception is free of charge, but RSVPs are strongly encouraged. Visit goldenlaurelwib.eventbrite.com to register.

On the Cover: Third Quarter 2017

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July 19, 2017
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She is a newly retired superstar athlete, an Olympian and now a sports executive and entrepreneur.

Beyond the athletic accolades, one of Tamika Catchings’ most impactful accomplishments is in her work as a humanitarian and philanthropist.
Recently, Catchings awarded a group of young Hoosier scholar-athletes with scholarship funds for college. In her new business venture, Tea’s Me Cafe’in Indianapolis, she plans to help young teens learn the ins and outs of running a successful business of their own.

In our cover story, Tamika Catchings takes us into her world post-basketball and gives readers a glimpse into where she draws inspiration and what makes her successful.

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