DEI Archives

There is perhaps no political demonstration more iconic, well known, or influential in American history than the 1963 March on Washington. Hundreds of thousands of people participated in the event, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech” and the actions taken that day spurred congress to enact the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While the March remains a benchmark in civil right history, one of the key architects of the March itself is all too often overlooked.

Bayard Rustin was a fearless and prolific leader for civil rights, the labor movement, socialism, and gay rights in the United States, and played a significant role in many of the biggest political demonstrations in the 20th century.

Rustin was born on March 17, 1912, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents. Rustin was exposed to civil rights activism from a young age, as his grandmother was a member of the NAACP, and he credited his own activism with being raised Quaker. His grandmother was also accepting of the fact that Rustin was gay: when he told her he was more interested in men than women, she is said to have responded, “I suppose that’s what you need to do.”

Rustin spent his early adulthood cutting his teeth on organizing and activism. He was expelled from Ohio HBCU Wilberforce University for organizing a strike and eventually landed in New York where he joined the Young Communist League; he left after being ordered to “cease protesting racial segregation in the US armed forces” — and pursued a career as a vocalist.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Rustin worked with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a pacifist justice organization founded by A.J. Muste as well as A. Philip Randolph, who founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Black labor union. Together the three men organized a March on Washington in 1941, to protest racial segregation and discrimination in the armed forces, but the March was cancelled when then President Roosevelt issued an executive order banning racial and ethnic discrimination in the defense industries.

Rustin was arrested and imprisoned a number of times for his political demonstrations. He served 26 months for resisting the draft as a conscientious objector and was arrested multiple times for desegregating buses, including organizing the Journey of Reconciliation, also known as the First Freedom Ride.

His outspokenness and activism for Black liberation was inextricably linked with being openly gay. Rustin stated that to protest was to educate children and adults that segregation and racist treatment of Black people in America was not okay, going on to say:

“It occurred to me shortly after that that it was an absolute necessity for me to declare homosexuality, because if I didn’t, I was a part of the prejudice. I was aiding and abetting the prejudice that was a part of the effort to destroy me.”

Rustin was fearlessly and unapologetically open regarding his sexuality, which was rare at the time, but intolerance towards his being gay cost him opportunities and forced the brilliant organizer to take a back seat during the historic movement.

After being arrested in California in 1953 for sexual activity with another man, Rustin resigned from the Fellowship of Reconciliation. When he and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began organizing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, other Black leaders voiced concern that Rustin’s sexuality would damage the civil rights movement — Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell even threatened to falsely accuse King and Rustin of having an affair in order to get King to cancel a march he and Rustin planned. King capitulated to Powell’s demands and distanced himself from Rustin (who stepped down from the SCLC) to the dismay of young African Americans.

From there, Rustin organized the March on Washington alongside A. Philip Randolph, and although he played an undeniably pivotal role in the event, he was once again forced out of the spotlight by other leaders who feared the impact his sexuality might have on the movement. Throughout the following decades, Rustin continued his advocacy, and in the 1980s, he addressed his sexuality more publicly and openly advocated for gay rights.

It’s truly unfortunate that Bayard Rustin is often left out of mainstream narratives when it comes to the March on Washington, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and other Civil Rights achievements simply due to his sexuality.

But hopefully we can continue to pay tribute to those like Rustin who were denied their flowers despite their brilliance and power. And while Rustin was forced to sacrifice one part of who he was for the sake of another, the fact that he never denied who he was and always lived truthfully is the very thing that made him a great leader and man of integrity.

After all, according to Rustin, “To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true…”

We can learn so much from Bayard Rustin, from the meaning of non-violent protest to how divisions in race and class are rooted in socioeconomic inequalities. But we can also learn from how he lived his life. That to know yourself, to live in your truth, to speak truth to power, is to be fearless.

About the author.
Sam Mani writes about work, creativity, wellness, and equity — when she’s not cooking, binging television, or annoying her cat.

Recession, inflation, stagflation — these are terms that fill the pages of textbooks and messages from the media. But there’s a new one. This indicator comes to us by way of the pandemic. It impacts employees and employers. And it doesn’t stop there. It touches families and our whole social fabric. Above all, this sad turn of events is adversely affecting one gender. And this lopsided pummeling, which has reached crisis proportions, needs to be reckoned with now.

Take a deep breath. We’re in a “she-cession.”

No, this is not a typo and don’t rush to Google — it’s not an entry in Merriam-Webster, at least not yet. But it may qualify as word of the year and certainly as major problem of the last two.

‘She-cession’ – What Exactly Is That?

The word “she-cession” — alternately “shecession” — appeared in the New York Times in May 2020 for the first time in its almost 170 years of publishing history. It emanates from a quote: “We should go ahead and call this a ‘shecession.’” This comment comes from C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). According to a post in The Guardian, she coined this term. Its definition and very existence mark another first. That is, it’s the first time that women are bearing the brunt of an economic downturn in this country. For that reason, it’s a “she-cession.”

As proof points, let’s look at the employment numbers. They tell the story, most markedly in 2020 as COVID-19 started to wend a perilous path through the country. IWPR estimates that 11.5 million women incurred a job loss from February to May of that year. On top of that, others vacated the workforce. How many women left on their own volition? Between August and September 2020 alone, 865,000 women quit their jobs.

Men also have suffered on the employment front. But it has not been to the same extent as women during the COVID-19 siege. IWPR describes the difference as “disproportionate,” as in “women have experienced a disproportionate number of job losses since the start of the pandemic.” Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the University of Michigan, expresses the disparity graphically: “Covid took a crowbar into gender gaps and pried them open.”

Why More Women Have Exited the Job Market

What accounts for this discrepancy? Much has to do with the roles of women in the workforce. A Quick Figure bulletin from IWPR explains. “Women’s jobs on payroll have declined more than men’s because women are more likely than men to work in the sectors that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. Job losses have been severe in Leisure and Hospitality, Education and Health Services.” Women are clustered in other pandemic-pounded industries too. They include Retail Trade and the broad category of Other Services.

But there’s more to it. In addition to legions of women who were pushed out, others dropped out of the labor force on their own accord. They had to quit to manage the myriad responsibilities that befall them. They needed to step in to take care of children furloughed from attending school, receiving education via remote learning, or unable to attend daycare or receive childcare. The list of circumstances and reasons goes on and on.

There’s yet another segment. If women didn’t leave one way or the other, many have been contemplating it. A story in Forbes addresses this issue. It offers the finding from a 2020 McKinsey Women in the Workplace Report that: “1 in 4 women was considering stepping out of the workforce or downshifting their careers.” What would happen if they took those actions? The consultants did the math: a stunning 2 million women would either relinquish their jobs or scale back on their work.

Reversing Progress in Diversity

First here’s some heartening news. Programs to advance diversity and inclusion goals have gained ground. Be mindful though, there’s still a long way to go. Now for a COVID-caused update. The “she-cession” is wiping out many of those advances. The Forbes article noted above reported: “A ‘she-cession’ would not only undo the strides made toward gender diversity in recent years but would jeopardize future progress as well.” It adds that the loss of senior female leaders in the workforce has major repercussions. “A paucity of strong female role models coupled with a loss of female support from senior-level women mentors and allies risks the loss of retaining female talent, particularly among minority women.”

Let’s focus on that last phrase: “particularly among minority women.” The New York Times story referenced earlier — “Why Some Women Call This Recession a ‘Shecession,’” pinpoints the problem. The “Some Women” are minorities. “The scale of the crisis is unlike anything since the Great Depression. And for the first time in decades, this crisis has a predominantly nonwhite, female face.” This correlates largely with the type of jobs many women hold; rather, make that “held.” Many in the industries most heavily impacted by the pandemic are staffed by nonwhite female workers.

IWPR frames this racial and ethnic aspect in its Quick Figure snapshot. “Losses have been particularly severe in high customer contact services sector jobs.” Who dominated the payrolls for these spots? The answer: Black and Latina women. What’s more, these positions rely on in-person customer-facing interactions, where “remote work is much less likely to be an option than in many professional service jobs, which employ a higher share of White women.”

How quickly will these jobs return as the nation moves into recovery mode? The April 2021 employment statistics show a paltry 266,000 jobs added to payrolls overall. “Disappointing” is the word used in The Washington Post report on the numbers. Gains made by women during this period were minimal. This brings us to the intent of the federal government to help get us out of the “she-cession.”

Part of the Solution: Government — Build Back Better for Women

On none other than Mother’s Day 2021, Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, addressed the “she-cession” on “Face the Nation.” First she commented on the severe effect the pandemic exerted on jobs populated by women. She mentioned related recovery realities. “The number one reason they’re not going back to work is – is fear due to the virus.” There are others. They include lack of childcare and “the fact that schools were closed and many still remain closed hits women harder.”

Then she shifted to the role of government. She referred to President Biden’s directive to his Administration to make “bold moves” to assist Americans in finding jobs. In doing so, she summarized more difficulties women face. They include the demand to “break down some of the barriers necessary to find a job, to have access to the skills they need to get a good job.” She opined that the President’s pending package would address these issues.

A CNN opinion piece seconds this view. Titled “Biden’s plan will help reverse the ‘she-cession.’” It puts forth how the proposed legislation would invest in education, child care, and paid family leave. These actions would pave the way for all people to join/rejoin the workforce. “But even more importantly, it is aimed at helping women, who have fallen even further behind during the pandemic.”

“When American Families Do Well, Our Nation Thrives.” That’s the tagline atop information on the “American Families Plan” site from the White House. The package comprises $1 trillion in investments as well as $800 billion in tax cuts. Recommendations include subsidizing paid caregiving and offering universal benefits to all families with children. In short, it strives to:

Make education more affordable and expand opportunity
Provide economic security for families
Expand tax credits to help workers and families

What Employers Can Do about the ‘She-cession’

It’s all hands onboard to conquer the “she-cession” and strengthen the foundation to avoid future shocks. Companies can pitch in by taking a telescopic view of the requirements of employees, especially those of women in the workforce. Women are among the pandemic’s sorry victims. As such, they are a prime linchpin for the recovery.

The title of a post by BSR states the case: “Companies Can’t Ignore the ‘She-cession’ Created by the COVID.” It starts with a quote from the EU Commissioner for International Partnership. “Stronger engagement on gender equality is key to a sustainable global recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and building fairer, more inclusive, more prosperous societies.”

To “ensure a gender-responsive approach,” what does BRS prescribe? Firms should:

Accent flexibility and adopt it as the norm
Employees have a lot of juggling to do at times to balance their professional and personal agenda. So help them. Install policies to enable them to achieve these goals. Examples: telecommuting, part-time schedules, reduced working hours, role sharing, compressed work weeks.
Help women get back into the fold
It’s a long haul from being out of the workforce to returning or joining for the first time. Pave the way via re-entry programs, mentoring and training geared to women. Skills development provides a path to move into higher levels or more technical roles.
Foster men to step up and into care
Boost parity of unpaid care work. Make it easy for men to do their share. Sponsor campaigns informing male employees about this concept and encouraging them to participate. Offer paid paternity and care leave. To learn more, access the Parental Leave Taskforce.
Assist survivors of domestic violence
Victims of domestic violence need aid. Provide services to those at the firm who experience this trauma. Offer paid leave for victims, relocation programs, and information about services in the community.
Design policies for at-risk women
Support women who are the most vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19. They include women of color, women with disabilities, and those in the LGBTQ community. Strengthen Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through an “intersectional approach.”
Reach out and across to drive a gender-responsive recovery
Advocate at your company and band together with other firms for this purpose. Invest in care initiatives, lend your voice to conveying equality messages and work with trade and civic organizations to apply a gender-based lens to rise up from the “she-cession.”

More ideas come from “Women Are Quitting: How We Can Curb The ‘She-Cession’ And Support Working Women,” the article noted above from Forbes:

Enhance mental health and well-being programming
Extra burdens on women caused by the pandemic are putting them at risk for “mental and physical burnout.” Acknowledge this state of affairs. Provide empathy and offerings to address the “whole health of employees.”
Profile struggles of successful role models
Women in leadership have not escaped the scourge of COVID. How are they contending with this crisis? What do they advise? Share the experiences and insights from these respected sources to inform and connect with others across the company.
Empower men at the company as inclusion champions
Involve men in this issue. Enlist them to create “a more inclusive and gender-equitable workplace.” A study by Catalyst on “Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives” found that having men sponsor women and act as career-allies “is a vital strategy for addressing entrenched gender bias.”

Finally, What We the People — Employees, Displaced Workers, Job Candidates — Can Do

The “she-cession” has long tentacles. They are strangling the ranks of women far and wide and at all levels. On account of it, many employees may be stretched and stymied to advance their career. Multitudes who lost their jobs or left voluntarily have to gear up. So do those vying to enter the workforce for the first time or re-enter after a lengthy absence. What can this massive segment of talent do to enhance their career odds?

Gilda Carle, Ph.D. knows. An organizational and relationship expert, performance coach, and author, she has been sharing her wisdom with firms, students, and individuals — notably women — through the years. Her latest book Amplify Your Media Presence, Amplify Your Brand provides a roadmap on how to, as she says, “become your most successful megaphone.”

Vital strategies she proposes to use and ingrain at this time and going forward include:

Be your own best friend
Like yourself. Believe in your talents. Be comfortable and content, appreciative of who you are and what you contribute. Project that image to others, such as colleagues and potential employers during interviews. Radiate that quality and, the chances are, others will like you. What you project, others reflect.
Think of yourself as a brand
A maxim to adopt in your business and personal life is to “sell yourself and everything attached to you.” How? Accent the positive about who you are and what you represent. “Star in your own commercial.”
Enumerate the benefits you bring to the table
Do an in-depth personal assessment. Think about your wide-ranging abilities — don’t take anything for granted. Then formulate a running inventory and keep it ready to go. In this way, you “underscore your uniqueness.”
Sharpen your communications and body language skills
It’s not enough to master these initial steps. You have to deliver them artfully to get your essence and points across. Use the S-O-F-A approach. S is for smile, O for open posture, F for forward lean toward your listener, and A for acknowledge your listener by, for example, nodding at times to show engagement.
Deflect your nervousness by focusing on your power
Quit thinking about your problems. Substitute this limiting mindset with a constructive one about your capabilities. This lesson requires practice. Stop fretting and instead continuously review your easily forgotten power sources and how you can best apply them.
Refresh your hair and makeup
Clothing designers update their product line at least annually. Do the same. Mix and match. Cut and style. Stay current and chic. Have fun with this process so that you are poised to walk the red carpet when called for an interview. “Sharpen your attractor factor.”
Formulate content for two crucial questions
Prepare responses in advance and vary or add information on an ongoing basis. They are: I want to be known for expertise in (what area or areas)? I want to be known for solving this problem (which one or ones)? Back these up with brief cases and compelling illustrations.
Weigh your options
Another angle to consider is freelancing, applying for freelance-to-permanent positions or working as a “permalancer.” A good route for exploring these and other options is through Creative Circle. This nationwide recruiting firm specializes in placing creative talent and digital marketing professionals with clients of all kinds.

Looking Ahead

At the time of this writing, COVID vaccinations are mounting and quieting the pandemic. It’s not an all or nothing scenario as the disease and variants still are rampant. However, reopening and recovery is afoot. It’s not a quick fix, but rather a gradual inching up with tenuous footing. The “she-cession” will take time to “she-cease.” It’s of value to understand the fallout and ways out of it. Efforts of many should help bring us back to growth.

About the author.
You name it, she covers it. That’s the can-do attitude Sherry M. Adler brings to the craft of writing. A polished marketing and communications professional, she has a passion for learning and the world at large. She uses it plus the power of words to inform and energize stakeholders of all kinds. And to show how all of this can make a difference, she calls her business WriteResults NY, LLC

A year and a half into the pandemic, the shift in how fathers view their responsibilities at home is worth noting. Much of the gender inequality in the workforce has been driven by forces in the domestic landscape — far more moms than dads scale back or step away from their careers to care for young children, sick parents or spouses, and manage the household.
Eroding or nixing this imbalance is key to greater equality in the workplace — and one of the first steps to manifesting this? Awareness. Many of the dads interviewed shared how their eyes had been opened to all the invisible work their partners did to keep things going. And now that they see a fuller picture of what balancing work and home life looks like, they are better positioned to share more fully in the totality of that experience. Here’s to silver linings and the dividends that may echo and grow as we segue into the new normal.

Steve H.

Father to Jacob, Age 3
Married to Henry
Lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, in New York City

+ What has been your experience as a working dad during the pandemic?
In our household, there are two dads figuring it out. My partner, Henry, and I have Jacob, who is three years old. He was born through surrogacy . Our collective experience in terms of working during the pandemic, in a word: stressful.

It’s hard balancing work, childcare, and family time. It took us a while to figure it out, and now we carefully plan each day together and align on the next day’s game plan every night — but it can sometimes be hard to plan because we are independent consultants, and things pop up. We try our best to even it out, but it will never be perfectly 50/50. We often end up making up work that didn’t get done during the day during the evening after Jacob goes to bed. It’s non-stop. A toddler is a handful

+ What kind of work do you do? Where do you work?
We have both been self-employed for the last four years — Henry is in real estate, while I am more of a design consultant and project manager. Sometimes our professional worlds overlap, sometimes they don’t.

+ What is Jacob’s school situation?
Our son is enrolled at The Co-op School four days a week. Initially, Jacob was only registered for two days in 2020 since we were unsure how the Covid situation would play out in the school environment. As we grew more comfortable, we slowly increased our son’s days to three days per week — and then to four. We kept Fridays open for family time. A BIG shout out to The Co-op School for making in-person education work for 2020-2021. They’ve been amazing keeping the school safe, open, and enjoyable for everyone! We are incredibly grateful for the experience we have had.

+ How have you gotten work done with Jacob home?
Last spring, when there was no childcare — and even now — we take shifts. Morning, afternoon, then dinner and bath time together. Everyone gets some time. We rotate bedtime routine and cooking. It’s fair and balanced, but it’s also hard for both of us to spend time together as an entire family. And once our son is asleep — it’s back to work. There’s no real downtime, and that’s been a bit challenging. I’m surprised and proud that we’ve been at this for more than a year, and we’re still doing alright!

Jacob is super-hyper, and it takes a village, but the village during Covid was my husband and me. Now we hire one of the support teachers at Co-op School to help us fill in the gaps.

+ Have you gotten any help from a partner?
Yes — and from extended family and nannies. My partner and I take turns for child duty, whether that’s taking Jacob to school, picking him up, or taking him out to the playground. I feel fortunate that we have the flexibility and can work around our schedules, but the tradeoff is that we often work late into the night.

+ What has been the most difficult thing about fathering and working and existing this past year?
Finding a balance between personal time and family time; I think we all need a breather, and finding that quiet moment can be challenging while working and taking care of life during a pandemic. It’s essential to find a few minutes for yourself every day just to de-stress and do something mind-numbing or mind distracting. For me, that’s enjoying a TV episode of anything that resembles “normalcy.” I think we all miss that.

Erosion between work and life, with everything just blending together, has been difficult to surmount. When you’re self-employed, the to-do list is tough to tackle.

+ Has there been a best part?
During the lockdown, spending time at home together in the backyard or taking long walks brought a lot of joy. For a few months, our work completely came to a standstill. It was nice having no work and all family time — but I think after a few weeks of that, we were all getting itchy too…

+ What would help working fathers in this country?
Quality and affordable childcare. It’s especially challenging in New York City, where everything is already expensive, from housing to healthcare. Having a good education is deeply important for me, so I’m really grateful for The Co-op School being open and flexible during the time of the pandemic.

When we had Jacob, I wasn’t working, I took a year off, and at that time, my partner did have a corporate job and had two months of paid parental leave. And he took all two months. You hear about unlimited vacation and leave, but I think it can be something of a show. The more potential PTO is on the table, the fewer people may actually take it. I used to be in corporate, and my company introduced six months of paternal leave, but my boss said de facto, “You’re not going to take six months, are you?” By the time I had Jacob, I wasn’t there.

+ How important is community for you in terms of being a same-sex parent?
Community is key. We found community by going to our local park and library in Bed-Stuy. The Macon Library storytime was a great place to meet local parents who would congregate there. And going to the playground, I’ve met other same-sex couple parents — the community is more extensive than I thought. It’s a great vibe; all the parents and caregivers know each other and look out for one another.

Brian Young

Father to two boys — Hudson, 7 and Mason, 4
Married to Nicole
Lives in Midland Park, New Jersey

+ What has been your experience as a working dad during the pandemic?
It’s been interesting. Both my wife and I have been working from home since last March. She’s a teacher. Our boys are doing virtual learning, but one of them is in preschool. We haven’t had any help in the home. As you might imagine, our hands are full — two kids, three dogs, two full-time jobs — all of us working and learning together.

Our youngest son, Mason, went back to preschool part-time in the fall of 2020, but we kept our older son, Hudson, home. My wife has been teaching the entire past year virtually. The juggling act has been supreme.

+ What kind of work do you do? Where do you work?
I work at Creative Circle, leading a team of recruiters and placing candidates in opportunities. I am focused on the tri-state area. I live in Bergen County, NJ, and my office is (historically) in NYC.

+ What is your children’s school situation?
Hudson is completing a virtual year of 2^nd grade. Mason has been in a truncated schedule of in-person pre-school. It was nice having him home, but it was also nice having him back in school (laughing).

+ How have you gotten work done with the kids home?
We converted an extra bedroom into an office. Nicole would teach her classes in that room, Hudson would learn in that room, and I would set up in a separate space. When they were done teaching and learning, we’d switch spaces, and they’d go to the kitchen or family room to finish their days. Essentially, they would have the workspace in the morning, and I would take it over the afternoon. Hudson was very organized and luckily able to manage his own schedule, doing most of it independently. He’s super mature and organized.

+ Have you gotten any help from a partner?
In the mornings, it was typically me dropping off Mason to daycare, and then later in the day, while I was available, Nicole helped him manage his schedule. We swapped and tag-teamed like champs.

+ What has been the most difficult thing about fathering and working and existing this past year?
For me, it was challenging to work while my kids were done with their day and playing — I wanted to be with them. In the beginning phases of the pandemic, it was easing into our new routine — finding a balance with the new structure of the day. It’s not been easy to shut off work and transition to home life, but I am figuring out how to step away and when. In the beginning, I was the person who would go out and get things like food, which gave me some anxiety. That was something I was concerned about at first.

+ Has there been a best part?
Before the pandemic, my commute was 1.5 hours — getting that time back has been extremely valuable. This year, for example, I had the time to coach soccer. I am fortunate that I can remain WFH. The pandemic’s silver lining has been regaining more work/life balance. This past year has also shown me in greater detail just how much work Nicole does to organize the social activities and other components of our son’s lives. I am more grateful and appreciative for having seen this effort firsthand.

+ What would help working fathers in this country?
Better paternity leave programs. When I had my kids, I had to use PTO — there was no set paternity leave. Having more comprehensive programs would be good, as would support groups of like-minded fathers coming together to have conversations. Some fathers I know have struggled in the past and have not felt comfortable discussing their challenges — I think that a forum for open communication is vital to help normalize the challenges of fatherhood that are not always openly discussed. We need support systems beyond employer set up groups and extend more deeply into mainstream society. Fathers need more open forums for communication and sharing.

Brian Lamsback

Father to two boys — Jonathan, 4.5 and Oliver, born on June 1, 2021
Married to Angela
Lives in Wayne, Pennsylvania

+ What has been your experience as a working dad during the pandemic?
It’s been tough, challenging, yet also really lovely — sweet and sour mixed. My commute is usually an hour each way, now that extra hour can be used for work or family time. I can have dinner at a regular time, and we can all eat together. At first, it was challenging because there was no routine, but we created one. In the beginning, we had no help, and both my wife and I work full-time; navigating that terrain wasn’t always straightforward. I also found it challenging to translate an in-office work culture to one that is virtual.

But — you can’t really talk about quarantine fatherhood without discussing quarantine motherhood. In our case, we’re lucky that Angela has more flexibility with when she needs to get her work done than my more fixed schedule.

+ What kind of work do you do? Where do you work?
I am a Managing Director for Creative Circle’s Philadelphia team; I manage the recruiting and the sales team and have been with CC almost 7 years.

+ What is your children’s school situation?
We were lucky that it was less about managing a more formal educational experience and more about keeping Jonathan entertained. Last summer, we were able to get a university student to help, who began teaching letters, numbers, and other things — and gave us the gift of time to get our respective jobs done.

+ How have you gotten work done with the kids home?
Early on, it was more of a split, but as is often the case, my wife had more flexibility than I did. I tend to be busier in the mornings, and she has several West Coast clients, so we were able to do some dividing and conquering along those lines, though that makes it sound more organized than it was (laughs). I did a lot of evening work after putting Jonathan to bed.

+ Have you gotten any help from a partner?
Absolutely. 100%. I would not have been able to do it otherwise. I would not be able to work anywhere close to an 8-hour workday without my wife. Angela was able to make mornings available to me. We would check in daily and map to each other’s calendars and balance the time. From March 2020 to the summer, we had no childcare, but the re-inclusion of help was a game changer in the summer.

+ What has been the most difficult thing about fathering and working and existing this past year?
Focus and balance. I strive to live by the maxim of “be here now.” I aim to be where I am in a fully present manner. But while that’s my goal, it’s been extremely challenging to do when I’m exhausted and consumed by anxiety around the worldwide pandemic. Trying to focus on all the things meant my mind was bi or tri-furcated, and it was hard to find success in things. I had to reorient and become more process-oriented, to learn to find appreciation less in the goal and more in the journey. I was able to tap into gratitude when I recalibrated my thinking about what constituted success by removing some of the emphasis I had historically placed on achieving specific aims. Once I was more able to appreciate the process and experience, I could value the journey, not just the destination.

+ Has there been a best part?
We learned a lot about ourselves and one another, both personally and professionally. I always thought I could get through anything with my wife and son’s support, but now I know that. Having more time for my family to be there for each other in meaningful ways has been a gift.

+ What would help working fathers in this country?
We need to change the conversation around manhood in America and make it an ideal that a man puts his family first. Let’s normalize the idea that fatherhood and husbandhood (whomever you are partnered up with, whether a marriage or not) are the most important jobs we have. That tough guy BS, I’m not into that.

About the author.
An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist—Karina writes, produces, and edits compelling content across multiple platforms—including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Yahoo News, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties and has spanned insight pieces on psychedelic toad medicine to forecasting the future of work to why sustainability needs to become more sustainable.

June 28, 1969. The Stonewall Inn, a known gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, was raided by the NYPD. This was nothing new. What was new was the response — the gay community stood their ground and fought back. Many people who were there that night identified Marsha P. Johnson, a 23-year-old drag artist, as one of the main instigators. Days of protests and riots followed, activating a movement in the LGBT community to fight for their right to exist without the threat of violence and police harassment. A fight that continues to this day.

Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1945, Marsha began wearing dresses at age 5 but stopped shortly after that due to the violence and harassment she experienced as a result. Her mother told her that being homosexual made her “lower than a dog,” so as soon as she got her high school diploma and turned 18, she crossed the river to New York City with nothing more than $15 and a bag of clothes.

Marsha P. Johnson was a character known in the Village and throughout the City for more than just her eccentric fashion.

She constantly showed up with a friendliness that came with no agenda — always the type to say “hello” whether she knew you or not. The P in her name iconically stood for “Pay it no mind,” which was her response to anyone who questioned or challenged her gender expression.

Marsha knew the dangers and hardships of living on the streets as a Black trans woman and working NYC’s Westside piers as a prostitute. Along with fellow trans activist and friend Sylvia Rivera, she founded STAR, the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, which provided resources to trans youth living on the streets — including STAR House, which offered them safe shelter. Marsha’s generous spirit defined her activism. She was constantly giving all she could and was committed to taking care of the community and folks that came through STAR House.

In the 1970s, the mainstream gay rights movement shifted away from the populations that started it all.

The rights and visibility of white, middle-class homosexuals began to take priority over the street queens and trans women of color. Heritage of Pride, who ran the Gay Pride events, went as far as to ban all transvestites from the parade because they claimed that the drag queens were seen as too “different” and “other” in a way that would hinder the progress towards rights for white homosexual men. So, instead of marching in the parade, Marsha and Sylvia instead marched IN FRONT of the official parade. As leaders in the movement for gay liberation, they took their rightful place in leading that parade.

When the AIDS epidemic hit, Marsha took care of patients when others would often stigmatize and ostracize them as they suffered. She challenged the notion that AIDS somehow made a person dirty or undeserving of respect; she believed you should “stand as close to them as you can and help them as much as you can.” She advocated for remembering those who died of AIDS for all the courage they had fighting the disease.

She was known as Saint Marsha to the many folks who knew her throughout the City. The magic of Marsha P. Johnson was her kindness and generosity, and that built her legend. She would spend the last two dollars she had on a box of cookies and then walk through the Village to the Piers, handing them out. She knew what it was like to be hungry and living on the street, so she knew that gift of a chocolate chip cookie to a starving street queen was a great gift. If there was anything she had, even just a bag of potato chips, she would hand that over to homeless queer youth she would come across.

Every year, she marched because Marsha knew the fight was never over — even as Pride events began leaning more towards celebration than protest — sharing that:

“You never completely have your rights, one person, until you ALL have your rights. And I think as long as one gay person has to walk for gay rights, God, all of us should be walking for gay rights.”

Marsha P. Johnson died in June of 1992; her body was found in the Hudson River.

She put her life on the line fighting for LGBT rights — while the police ruled her death a suicide, there was no thorough investigation into her death. Those that knew her highly doubt the validity of that ruling. Marsha would sometimes get harassed on the Pier, and many queens had been subject to violence in that area. Despite those circumstances, the police did not investigate it any further. Hundreds of people showed up to her funeral, overflowing the church, and they had to shut down 7th Avenue for her procession.

At a time when gay people were expected to hide who they really were and conform to the standards of straight American norms to survive, Marsha’s decision to authentically present as herself every day was a radical act of rebellion. While she actively fought for gay liberation, ending police brutality, and AIDS awareness, she was an advocate for the fundamental human right to exist at the core of it all.

Over the past year, five years, ten years, longer depending on what you’re counting, our hyper-awareness of global and national pain, injustice, and suffering has catapulted. Depression and anxiety levels are at an all time high in the United States — and amidst pandemic, protests, and ongoing conflict, is anyone surprised?

Depression and Anxiety in the COVID Age

In the early months of the pandemic, circa April 2020, depression rates more than tripled according to a survey conducted by the Boston University School of Public Health. Further surveys confirm that we’re holding steady with a quarter to a third of the population consistently reporting symptoms of anxiety disorder.

Writer and Experimental Psychology PhD, Dana G. Smith, explores the way our literal brains might have changed over the past year in her in a two part series titled Your Poor Pandemic Brain. The TL;DR is that our chronically stressed out brains have been changing to adapt, and not always in good ways. As adrenal glands release cortisol in a continuous stream instead of in pulses, microglia start to prune more synapses than necessary, including necessary and functional ones. This can make stress worse in a messed up feedback loop that impairs memory, impulse control, and ability to manage stress.

So if you feel dumber when you’re stressed and depressed, that’s because your brain is straining itself as a result of the excess cortisol your body is releasing. Not cool. Especially since chronic stress can lead to depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use disorders.

Here are some sobering statistics:

Mortality from suicide has increased about 17% since 1981
About half of US adults will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime
About 20% experience a mental health issue each year
Workplace stress — at baseline — accounts for about $190 billion in health costs and $1 trillion in lost productivity
84% of workers report they are not comfortable discussing mental health with an employer

Who feels the brunt of the devastation?

So here’s the picture: we’re isolated, grieving, anxious, and depressed, but, as usual, the most affected can be drawn along lines of class, race, gender, age, and other differentiators that lie upon a complex spectrum of privilege, like job prospects and education.

According to Smith, the people at highest risk for developing all sorts of maladies are those with the “most stressors and the fewest resources.” As reported in a September 2020 study, “lower income, having less than $5000 in savings, and having exposure to more stressors were associated with greater risk of depression symptoms during COVID-19.” Living alone as a young adult or in a household with children is another big indicator of anxiety.

Certain groups experienced chronic stress at higher levels pre-pandemic, but stress for these groups has only gotten worse through factors onset by the pandemic, such as financial instability. Those at greater risk include:

Younger people
Women
Black and Latinx adults
Tribal members of Indigenous communities
Those without a high school diploma
Healthcare and other frontline workers
People who have had COVID
People grieving the loss of a loved one
Young adults living alone
Living in a household with children
Lower income individuals
Those with less than $5000 in savings
Those with exposure to more stressors

According to Oregon Health Authority data, Black, Latinx, and Native American communities are at the highest risk of contracting COVID, as well as dying when they do contract it — and that data lines up with figures seen across the country. The CDC reports that the five key social determinants of health are:

neighborhood and physical environment
health and healthcare
occupation and job conditions
income and wealth
education

Racial and ethnic minorities often experience barriers to wealth accumulation, housing opportunities, and education because of historical laws and mandates (such as redlining) that have legally prevented them from doing so. This is not to say these barriers exist exclusively for BIPOC identities, and that many BIPOC folks don’t overcome these circumstances and thrive. For example, white Appalachian communities experience many of the same disparities. Human stories cannot be boiled down to statistics. However, a nuanced look at statistics can show us who is disproportionately affected because of systemic circumstances. Here are some more numbers.

NYC death rates from COVID -19:

35 per 100,000 among Asians
45 per 100,000 among Whites
74 per 100,000 among Hispanics
92 per 100,000 among African Americans

Many American are susceptible to severe COVID-19 illness because of underlying health conditions, but some communities have higher rates of these conditions often because of lack of access to fresh groceries and affordable healthcare. That looks like:

20% of all US adults under 65
34% of Native Americans
27% of African Americans

While tribal communities, most notably the Navajo Nation, have also been severely affected, they have also been extremely effective in their vaccination efforts despite rural distribution. More than 60% of Navajo adults are fully vaccinated and most other times have vaccination rates that exceed the national average.

Those are a lot of numbers, so what does this look like beyond statistics?

Social Epidemiology

According to Elizabeth Walsh Yoder, the lead epidemiologist in Clay County, Missouri, when it comes to health equity and diving into social determinants of health, “COVID has just exposed what has already existed since this country was colonized. That fact is that people with brown, black, yellow skin, they don’t have the same access to a healthy life as white people do, period.”

Some of these determining factors include the ability to work from home or take paid time off if a person has to quarantine. Jobs that don’t allow telework (like service industry professionals, factory workers, delivery people, drivers — as in the those bringing your Amazon packages and Instacart or Door Dash deliveries to you — healthcare staff including nurses in hospitals and long-term care facilities) are “all the jobs ten to be occupied by people of color,” explains Yoder. This makes them disproportionately exposed to the virus, which is why we’re seeing higher rates of infections and death in poor communities and non-white communities.

Not only that, but “they aren’t making as much money as everyone else so when you compound that, these jobs don’t offer paid time off, they may not pay a living wage, the benefits probably aren’t great either, which means they don’t have access to care. So then, if they do get sick, they usually don’t seek care until it’s really really bad, and that’s why we’re seeing more deaths.”

Healthcare has become such a polarizing political issue that it has evolved into a public crisis. Yoder explains, “There is a lack of understanding that giving other people access to healthcare, doesn’t take away their access … They think they’re going to have to pay for it [through taxes], but they’re already paying for through premiums or expensive hospital bills … Just because [an expensive hospital bill] is not getting paid through Medicaid, doesn’t mean we’e not paying for it elsewhere.”

And then, there’s vaccination. While some states are making strides, many have fallen behind. “We still have inequities in who’s getting vaccinated,” explains Yoder. “The one big thing we can do to make things better, we are still not getting to the people who need it the most, and that’s our fault. We did that. We have perpetuated that.”

To that end, Hello Black America! is part of an initiative between Jacob Kornbluth Productions, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Black Coalition Against COVID to ease the justifiable fears of Black Americans when it comes to the COVID vaccine.

It’s not just COVID.

Of course, if it was just managing the physical and mental effects of COVID, we’d already have our work cut out for us. Unfortunately, we’re in the midst of a power keg of social unrest. For the empathetic and informed, it can be exhausting and heartbreaking to bear witness to one tragedy after another both domestically and globally. However, when you’re a member of these communities, the mental and emotional burden is much worse.

Deaths to innocent men, women, and children have an excruciating toll on the communities affected most — disproportionately Black Americans. The stress of managing the global movement of protests and activism also takes a toll on Black organizers. Family and community members experience recurring grief as every new death serves as a reminder of the people they have lost or could lose someday under similar circumstances.

We’ve also seen a rise in hate crimes for various minority groups across the country. Since the onset of the pandemic, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been targeted in public spaces. A large percentage of these crimes are against the elder population. While 2020 crime statistics have not been released, Stop AAPI Hate received more than 2,800 reports of hate incidents last year. Children have also been targeted and bullied at school. While the COVID-19 hate crimes bill has passed in the Senate to fight this kind of discrimination, there are plenty who publicly oppose these kinds of protections.

Antisemitism has also skyrocketed during the pandemic, although it was already rising on 2019. According to the ADL, 63% of Jewish Americans have experienced some sort of antisemitism in the past 5 years. Last December, New York synagogues were graffitied with nazi symbols, and those have shown up repeatedly on campuses and other public spaces.

Islamic Americans have also faced their share of hate crimes throughout the pandemic. When you have a public that is unwilling to participate in a shared reality (for example, that there exists an extremely contagious virus identified as COVID-19 that seems to affect people differently based on some factors we understand and some that we don’t), the only possible outcome is creating scapegoats through ethnic and religious minorities.

What does that mean for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives?

Understandably, diverse employees are struggling the most: Only one in six reports feeling supported through the pandemic. This only highlights the intersection of who has been hit hardest by the pandemic, social unrest, systemic injustice and targeted hate crimes — in addition to history and unconscious bias.

Even before COVID-19, women and men of color have incurred an emotional tax in the workplace, meaning they feel the need to be on guard to protect against discrimination or bias. A report by Catalyst found that not only do diverse employees pay that tax, but companies do too, by losing talents and revenue as a result.

Award-winning photographer Eva Woolridge explains her experience:

“It’s exhausting to be a minority in a corporate space. When the wave of BLM movements happened in June, our work day was going to go on as usual if I didn’t write to the entire NYC office that I was struggling to operate because of the very real institutional racism of my everyday experience. And what’s worse is to be taken seriously, minorities have to put their trauma on a platform. I had to recount the years of abuse me and my family experienced at the hands of police as well as my daily experience on a corporate platform for the realities to even be addressed. I was happy they finally listened, but I shouldn’t have to recount trauma to prove this is a reality for all minorities.”

When we discuss DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) initiatives, a lot of thought goes into giving opportunities in the workplace, but when the external factors that govern our lives keep some people playing more difficult games of mental gymnastics, or struggling with their physical health, a major piece of the puzzle goes missing.

Erin Lee, a New York based DEI and Leadership Development consultant thinks an upfront approach and acknowledgement of people’s lived-reality would go a long way. “I think on a basic level, managers can acknowledge what is happening right now socially and politically and let team members know they are open to dialogue if their direct reports want to talk about anything,” explains Lee. “Signaling safety proactively is something they can do to let people know that it’s okay to talk about the emotional toll of everything that’s happening.”

It may not always lead to conversation, but it’s an important first step, Lee continues: “Then employees have a choice whether or not they would like to open up. Another thing managers can do is share about their experiences and concerns as well to normalize these conversations.”

Yoder offers additional solutions to companies looking to step up their game, starting with opening up who is in on these conversations. “If you have one person of color, that doesn’t cut it,” she explains. “You need multiple people at multiple levels of the company making decisions.”

The following questions are a good place to start:

Who are your lowest wage workers?
What do they look like?
How much money do they make?
What does the company look like from top to bottom?
What kinds of education requirements are you including in your job descriptions?
Does the salary offered reflect those requirements?
Does the role you’re hiring for actually need a Bachelor’s degree?
If you’re requiring a Bachelor’s degree, are you paying accordingly?
Does your benefits policy negatively impact your lower wage workers (especially in regard to parental leave)?

What can we do as individuals?

First and foremost, take care of yourself. Make sure your physical, mental, and emotional needs are met. Drink water, eat a nourishing meal, try to sleep. Take breaks from social media if you need to, if you can. Check in with your friends. Acknowledge what is happening in the world. Be gentle and generous. Here are some more in depth tools to incorporate intersectionality into your self-care and mental health advocacy:

DEI Collective has put together two incredible toolkits that encompass anti-racism and the pandemic. Here you’re find a range of article and exercises to address mental health, self-care, and other tips for BIPOC communities and allies alike.
For help building a more resilient brain check out Your Poor Pandemic Brain and my previous post, You Can Survive This: Cultivating Resilience for Hard Times.
Check out this CRS guide to supporting communities during COVID-19.

About the author.
Alessandra is the mentor, educator, and writer behind Boneseed, a private practice devoted to deep self-inquiry through a range of physical, energetic, and mental modalities. She has over 500 hours of yoga, mentorship, and facilitation training and can be found slinging knowledge on her website, newsletter, and @bone.seed.

There’s a mental health crisis in America.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health of people of all ages, but even before the pandemic, the prevalence of mental illness among adults was increasing, affecting 1 in 5 adults – nearly 47 million Americans.

Numerous studies show that mental health in the United States is worsening among all age groups. While this is due for myriad reasons, one stands out: too many people are not getting the treatment they deserve.

Stigma around mental health and insufficient access to care are driving many people away from getting the care they need. 60% of young people with major depression did not receive any mental health treatment in 2017–2018. And among youth with severe depression, only 27.3% received consistent treatment. In addition, 23.6% of adults with a mental illness reported an unmet need for treatment in the same period — a number that has not declined since 2011.

You may be surprised to learn that in the United States, 55% of counties have no psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker — and 70% don’t have a single child psychiatrist. Wait times for substance abuse care can be weeks (or months) long: 70% of those that needed substance use treatment in 2017 did not receive it. To heap insult on injury, many practices have closed or reduced their capacity in response to pandemic health concerns.

Lockdown saw a spike in demand for therapy. With movement restricted, digital alternatives stepped in as traditional methods of treatment were unavailable. With a reported 36% of Americans sharing that COVID-19 has impacted their mental health, there is an overflow of new patients in need of support.

The United States has long suffered from a severe shortage of mental health care services. But the pandemic has spotlighted the effectiveness and availability of digital and virtual mental health care, and by doing so, may just have thrown a lifeline to our mental health system.

Digital technology and virtual care present an emerging opportunity to address Americans’ growing mental health needs and the shortage of providers. The digital mental health space has been in ascension for some time — but growth and adoption have been accelerated by 2020. Globally, investors poured over $1 billion into mental health and wellness startups in 2020 alone. As a result, innovative mental health providers are increasingly merging digital tools and virtual care to craft a robust ecosystem for end-to-end patient care, including guiding patients to in-person care when needed. This digital and virtual care toolbox provides the mental health care system with scalable solutions with flexibility baked in, while amplifying access and convenience for consumers.

It’s a digital revolution in the mental health space — and these are some of the leading players.

Talkspace

Talkspace has been connecting users with licensed therapists from the palms of their hands since 2012. They have also created a new digital Employee Assistance Program so businesses can connect staff with support on a wide range of issues, including mental health, finance, and even legal advice. During 2020, they offered thousands of free subscriptions to healthcare workers and first responders and discounted subscriptions for everyone else. The online and mobile therapy company is based in NYC and famously had Olympian Michael Phelps in their TV ads.

Calm

Launched in 2012, Calm is a meditation, sleep, and relaxation app that holds the concept of mindfulness as its North Star. With an aim to make the world “happier and healthier,” Calm creates unique audio content to tackle stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. The most popular feature on the app is a 10-minute meditation called ‘The Daily Calm,’ which explores a fresh mindful theme and inspiring concept each day. Calm also has more than 100 Sleep Stories (yes! bedtime stories for adults), plus sleep music, mediation lessons, nature sounds, and more. And it’s popular: It won Apple’s 2017 iPhone App of the Year in 2017, garnered “Editors’ Choice” by Google Play in 2018, and has been voted the “the world’s happiest app” by a major study of 200,00 iPhone users.

Lyra Health

Lyra Health is a technology platform and mental health care provider that works with employers to screen, treat, and coordinate care for employees grappling with mental health challenges. They offer an array of in-person and virtual behavioral therapy to help remove barriers to access to high-quality mental health care. Lyra Health is unique in that it takes a deep dive into the health care delivery system, functioning as a conduit to ensure employees with mental health conditions get quality treatment by the right people. In addition, they employ doctors and can act as a medical provider. Business is booming for Lyra Health; they added more than 800,000 new members since the start of the pandemic and have joined the ranks of other health tech unicorns, having raised a $110 million Series D round in August 2020.

Headspace

Headspace is a mindfulness and meditation app founded by a former Buddhist monk who narrates most of the guided meditations. The company recently landed $140 million in new capital to continue building its vision of bringing meditation and mindfulness practices to the people. Started in 2010, it’s an excellent app for beginners, with guided meditations, sleep techniques, and mindful workouts — there’s something on the app for all. Headspace is one of the top mindfulness apps globally, only second after Calm, according to Tech Crunch, garnering millions of downloads.

Mindstrong

Mindstrong is an innovative mental health app that pairs patients with a network of providers to deliver personalized mental and behavioral healthcare via a digital biomarker tracker of mood and cognition that analyzes patterns of smartphone interaction. Turns out that how we navigate our phones is an indicator of cognitive and emotional health and can reveal as much as a psychological test. The app (which just raised $100 million in Series C capital this past week) monitors things like how a person types, taps, and scrolls while using other apps. The seemingly mundane particulars of how you interact with your phone offer surprising insights into your mental health and can, according to the company’s data, reveal, for example, a depression relapse. Mindstrong aims to predict and act preemptively when possible. Phone interaction data is encrypted, analyzed remotely using AI, and the results are shared with the patient and their medical provider.

Changing cultural sentiment, evolving technology, and increased funding are making mental health accessible to more people — a huge opportunity to address one of the most significant unmet needs in American healthcare today.

Many employers have begun to embrace the value of these digital mental and behavioral health services, with an incredibly robust uptake during the pandemic. They are offering them as core employee resources or discounted benefit services. And for great reason: a 2018 study published in the US National Library of Medicine showed that 86% of employees reported performing better and had lower absenteeism rates at work after receiving treatment for depression.

If you, your family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors could all be just a bit happier, our society will indeed be a better place.

Companies are now jumping on the sustainability bandwagon in troves — a trend that is expected to continue in 2021. According to a study done by Xerox, the number of American businesses with formal eco-sustainable programs in place is up 54%. Consumers are demanding green initiatives — and they have become hip to “greenwashing.” Cambridge Dictionary says greenwashing makes “people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.” Misleading people has layered consequences — it doesn’t further sustainable design or the circular economy, environmental problems stay the same (or worsen), and it misdirects well-intentioned consumers down the wrong path.

Research shows that most consumers (of all ages) believe it is vital for companies to implement sustainability programs, according to Nielsen. And they are beginning to demand green initiatives.

There’s new motivation to get into the green groove. Companies shied away from sustainability in the past, partly because the return on investment was difficult to quantify. For years, brand managers complained that consumers said they would buy eco products but did not actually put their money where they said they would. And this was used as justification for not making moves towards greater sustainability.

But a recent study by NYU’s Stern Center for Sustainable Business looked at sales of sustainable products from 2013 to 2018 and found that this is not true. In more than 90% of CPG categories, products marketed as sustainable grew faster than their conventional counterparts, accounting for 16% of the market in 2018, up from 14.3% in 2013, or about $114 billion in sales. And about 50% of CPG growth in that timeframe came from sustainability-marketed products. The tide has begun to turn: Consumers are increasingly voting with their dollars (and euros, yen, and more) against “unsustainable” brands.

In honor of Earth Day, let’s take a look at six companies making BIG things happen with their sustainability initiatives.

Hermès

French luxury house Hermès unveiled a new luxury vegan leather that will be used to craft some of its storied accessories. Partnering with California-based start-up MycoWorks, they developed a sustainable leather alternative made from…mushrooms! The fungi-derived material, known as Sylvania, is on the vanguard of a new generation of biotech materials. It will make its debut on an eco-friendly version of Hermès’ classic Victoria bag.

Three years in the making, Sylvania is fashioned from MycoWork’s patented Fine Mycellium technology. To produce the material, the company grows mycelium — the vegetative part of fungus that consists of fine white filaments — in a way that emulates leather by creating an interlocking cellular structure that gives the material the strength and durability of cow skin. Sylvania will be produced in MycoWork’s California facility, then shipped to the Hermès ateliers in France, where artisans will tan and finish the mushroom-based leather before crafting it into sought-after luxury goods. The inaugural Sylvania Victoria bag is slated to hit stores by the end of the year.

Apple

The tech giant’s operations run on entirely renewable energy — and everything about its products, from raw materials to packaging, is designed to have minimal environmental impact. The production assembly sites for Apple products are certified as Zero Waste to Landfill, and the company has decreased average product energy use by 70% in the last ten years. Apple’s supply partners have banded together with the company and have worked together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 466,000 metric tons — equal to 100,000 cars being off the road for an entire year. All of which is significant, but the company’s sustainability measures go beyond mindfulness in the production process. Here’s why this matters: in 2016, 49 million tons of electronics waste was thrown away worldwide — roughly the equivalent of 4,500 Eiffel Towers. And by 2021, that number will grow to more than 57 million tons.

In the United States alone, consumers get rid of millions of pounds of tech products every year, but only 20% of that is properly recycled. The other 80% ends up clogging landfills and leaching toxic chemicals and waste, which is why Apple is also invested in its robust recycling program, which compensates consumers for trading in their old devices. These efforts can (and will) substantially lessen the number of tech products in landfills and the overall environmental footprint of the industry at large.

Capsula Mondi

Your carbon footprint doesn’t rest in peace when you R.I.P.

Cemeteries are a grave business indeed, beyond what lies six feet under. Every year, four million acres of hardwood forest are cut down for the production of caskets, and the wood, synthetic cushioning, and metal used in hermetically-sealed traditional coffins, along with the concrete around reinforced graves, continues to litter the land. Add to this that cemetery lawns are synthetically fertilized and perpetually being watered and the idea of returning to the earth quickly evaporates.

But two Italian artists, Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel, have envisioned another way — the Capsula Mundi. This egg-shaped, organic burial pod allows your body to become the “seed” of a new tree when you die. The deceased’s body is placed into the biodegradable pod in a fetal position and is then buried. A tree, or the seed of a tree, is planted above — the person being buried can choose what kind of tree they want planted before they pass. The pod germinates and grows into a tree, a living memorial to the person that has passed — a much more beautiful, ecologically minded tribute than a concrete slab. Citelli and Bretzel hope that their organic pods will transform the grey stone landscape of cemeteries into verdant memorial forests of the future one day.

Adidas

The future of footwear is here — say hello to the Adidas Futurecraft Loop. As one of the first consumer products designed for a circular lifecycle, this experimental shoe could be the start of a major shift in how Adidas does business.

In 2015, the sportswear juggernaut partnered with Parley for Oceans, an environmental organization, to turn marine pollution into footwear with these 100% recyclable performance running shoes. Once worn out, these sneakers can be returned to Adidas, which will reuse the materials to manufacture a new pair. In 2019 they produced 11 million pairs of kicks with upcycled ocean plastic, intercepting plastic waste on beaches, remote islands, and coastal communities. Consider that the apparel industry is the second-largest polluter in the world, the Futurecraft Loop represents a giant leap toward truly sustainable fashion.

“When you wear out this product, you give it back to us. And we recycle it,” shared Tanyaradzwa Sahanga, materials engineer at Adidas. “We can take that recycled output, those ground bits of shoe, and put them into new shoes again.” No, the Loop process is not 1:1 yet — one old shoe does not yet equal one new one, but Adidas hopes to reach the ideal of 1:1 product circularity in the coming years.

The broader commercial release is targeted for summer 2021 — the first running shoe made to be re-made!

Walmart

Until 2005, Walmart was the archetypal BIG corporation: 6,600 stores, 1.8 million employees, $312 billion of revenue — and a lousy sustainability record. In terms of environmental impact, Walmart used more electricity than Namibia and its truck fleet, the second largest in the country, traveled one billion miles a year. The company’s outsize environmental impact had not gone unnoticed — up to 8% of former shoppers had stopped shopping at the store. But in 2005, the CEO, Lee Scott, announced an ambitious plan to recraft Walmart as a sustainable business. Lee hoped that in joining the fight against climate change, he could make smart, eco-friendly decisions that also made economic sense.

The first thing Walmart did was cut fuel usage for its truck fleet to lower carbon emissions and fuel costs. By 2015, Walmart had overshot its goal of eliminating 20 million metric tons of greenhouse emissions. Instead, it eliminated 28.2 million metric tons — the equivalent of taking 5.9 million cars off the road, saving the company over $1 billion each year.

Sixteen years later, Walmart is a sustainability leader in the retail space. It is the lead company in the United States for on-site solar capacity and installations. 29% of its operations are powered by renewable energy, including wind and solar, 80% of waste materials are diverted from landfills and incineration globally, and its suppliers have avoided producing 230 million metric tons of carbon emissions. They have set forth the laudable goal of powering 50% of their operations with renewable energy sources by 2025 — and given how much they pivoted in terms of sustainability, we suspect they will succeed.

Green Toys

Sometimes it’s all in a name — Green Toys does an excellent job of summing up the company’s leading value proposition.

For the past 50 years, much of the profit in the toy industry was derived by the disposable nature of the business. As plastic became increasingly part of our design eco-system, toys became less and less sustainable — inexpensive items quickly tossed aside when fads changed. But things are changing. The toy industry is realizing that it needs to step into the eco-sphere in a big way.

“Sustainability is becoming much more important both to this generation of parents and retailers,” said Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of The Toy Association, which hosts the annual New York Toy Fair.

California-based Green Toys has been making toy boats, cars, and trucks, from 100% recycled milk jugs for more than a decade, growing from a small startup to a key player in the industry — moving from specialty toy stores to deals with big-box behemoths like Target. Their playthings are living proof that milk jugs — yes, the same kind as you might have in your refrigerator and recycling bin — can come back to life as toys in your playroom.

Kids get to see their sustainability efforts in action, and parents can feel good about putting their money where their values are.

All of Green Toys’ non-toxic products are phthalate and BPA free and are 100% made in the United States, eradicating the carbon emissions that would accrue if they produced their goods overseas. They are raising awareness about sustainability while delivering good-looking, safe products. What better way to encourage environmental change than through goods the little people in our lives play with every day?