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On the positive side of trying to mitigate childhood trauma, about a year ago the MacArthur Foundation gave Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee (a former volunteer home for me) a grant to create Sesame Street in Syria. Sesame Street deepened their work recently by teaming up with the Lego Foundation to work with Rohingya and Syrian child refugees. Isn\u2019t this just brilliant? All children need Sesame Street \u2013 and Legos!<\/p>\n
Speaking of Myanmar and refugees, I\u2019m squeezing in one more book recommendation from 2018 \u2013 we should thank Francis Wade for writing Myanmar\u2019s Enemy Within \u2013 a thorough account of the history and happenings of the crisis in Myanmar. If an entire book on this gut-wrenching topic isn\u2019t your thing, a little education can be attained from this review.<\/p>\n
Back in the U.S., one of my favorite things about the midterm elections was the gorgeous youth voter turnout. According to CIRCLE, the 31% turnout rate was off the charts. Literally \u2013 see chart.<\/p>\n Youth voter turnout \u2013 Midterms. From CIRCLE In other news, this year we saw the release of the Arizona Women Business Owners\u2019 survey. I was grateful to lead this research so that our entrepreneurial community could learn more about what is going on with women business owners. Here\u2019s a myth we busted: women business owners in AZ aren\u2019t just hobbyists \u2013 they are major employers and earners. The amazing Deepanki Bhatia\u2019s Tableau dashboard of the results can be found here.<\/p>\n One of the best things about 2018 for me has been my Hera Hub membership. Hera Hub is a co-working space for women entrepreneurs and community gathering space. Shatha Barbour opened the Phoenix space in early 2018, and has created a true hub for women business owners in the Phoenix area. Shatha likely regrets letting me join as I\u2019ve personally increased her budget line item for office chocolate.<\/p>\n One state over, California is now requiring women on public company boards, following the lead of some nations, to correct gender representation among directors.<\/p>\n In big data news, GDPR happened this year, at least in Europe. Will the U.S. follow suit in protecting citizens\u2019 data privacy? Stay tuned.<\/p>\n And, speaking of data usage, hey there runner and triathlete pals \u2013 you do know how much Strava is using your data, right? They partnered with Nike for an unprecedented data look at isolating the effects of a specific shoe (Nike\u2019s Zoom Vaporfly) on running speed. I can\u2019t think of a better dataset for that, but did we give Strava permission to use our data for Nike\u2019s gain? Especially after Strava users accidentally revealed secret military sites earlier this year\u2026<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/firsteval.com\/firsteval\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/youth_turnout_source_2018-1024x581.jpg\")
\nAnd, as you know by now, my passion in and out of my work life is lessening the experience of homelessness. This year, Cisco gave an unprecedented $50 million to a Bay Area nonprofit to go towards solving homelessness in Silicon Valley. I was lucky to work with Cisco\u2019s Corporate Social Responsibility team this year on affordable housing issues and Silicon Valley\u2019s housing shortage. While most U.S. cities lack affordable housing, the Bay Area tops the charts, where the median home price is $935,000.<\/p>\n
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