Gauge

A few months ago, I had an idea for a city-wide scavenger hunt, and last week, that idea transformed into a powerful experience for Newark’s youth. What started as a simple concept turned into an opportunity for students to engage with local businesses, explore cultural landmarks, and connect with the vibrant community around them—all while learning key financial skills. Watching the students discover Newark’s unique spaces—like BrownMill Company and MENTOR Newark—was incredible. They met business and nonprofit leaders who shared stories of resilience and entrepreneurship, engaged in financial literacy challenges, and gained valuable exposure to their thriving local community. The energy was contagious, from their competitive spirit to their curiosity. A huge thank you to Kira Traore and Chime for trusting me and the Values Partnerships team to bring this vision to life. Dr. Sharnee Brown and Mark Comesanas were also immensely helpful partners; their deep understanding of Newark helped us shape an event that was truly impactful for their community. Special shoutout to Kelsei Wharton for his partnership and Dessie Brown Jr. for always coming through when it counts. I also had the honor of moderating a conversation with Alix Lapri (Power) and Jacob Latimore (The Chi), where they shared their personal financial journeys. I’m grateful for the incredible folks at Great Oaks Legacy Charter School, Marion P. Thomas Charter School, UCC Newark, and Leaders for Life, who made this possible, and most importantly, to the students who brought such energy and enthusiasm to the day. Looking forward to curating more experiences that empower our youth and strengthen our communities!

An absolute stunner from Tiffany A. Yu, MSc. THE ANTI-ABLEIST MANIFESTO is as tender and human as it is tenacious and urgent. Tiffany and the team at Diversability® have been such incredible teachers to me personally and to our entire Gauge team. Don't miss this one. https://lnkd.in/g4F_RmxF

"How do I teach my kids about disability so they don't point and stare?!" I’ve spoken with brands, agencies and conferences large and small for the past ten years. I educated over 750k people about ableism in one year back in 2022. When it comes to teaching advertisers about disability inclusive marketing, I'm a powerhouse. And yet, THIS is the question every executive asks me in private. Well, the good news is you have an opportunity to teach your kiddo (and yourself!) how to talk about disability through neutrality via a major pop culture moment: The Olympics + the Paralympics. See our guide for best practices, share it to help educate others in your circles, and sign up for our newsletter (in comments) to get even deeper insights delivered directly to your inbox weekly. #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityPride #Disability #RepresentationMatters

Today, Pinterest launched our 2024 ESG Impact Report 🎉 It's a snapshot of the progress we’ve made to scale impact across our core focus areas of people, products, planet, and governance. Read the report and learn more on Pinterest’s new Impact Hub: impact.pinterest.com

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. I had a tough call with our team this morning. For any leader who has to figure out how to talk about this, I transcribed my remarks below in case it's helpful. Feel free to share. *** Hey everyone, I know we’re waking up today after a horrific weekend in our country. First, I want to affirm that if you’re feeling destabilized right now, you’re not alone. A lot of us are. We're reeling & wondering how on earth we got to this place. In response to that destabilizing feeling, I want to encourage you first to take good care of yourself today. Take whatever practical steps are healing for you. This is a day for walks, breathing deep, reaching out if you need help. It's really important in moments like this to take good care of yourself. And if we can help facilitate that, let us know. Second, I have personally found it important to get beyond short term electoral politics in the way I see this situation. The attempt against former President Trump’s life is horrific. No matter your political background, it’s important to be clear about that. We have to be clear about the absolute horror of one person attempting to kill another person. I know some folks on Twitter are differing right now, but if we can’t be crystal clear about this tragedy, we begin to lose our humanity. And someone did die. A husband and a father named Corey Comperatore. His wife and 2 girls are waking up this morning without their dad, and their husband. That's senseless, horrific. It's bigger than politics. It should have never happened. There’s still an open investigation into what happened and why. And I know we still have a lot to learn. At minimum, I encourage everyone to reflect, and while you're taking care of yourself, think about how you can love those close to you as best as you can. For those who want to go beyond that - my hope is that this will serve as an inflection point. Our country is at the point where people are walking into churches, synagogues, schools and political rallies, expressing their hatred with actual violence. There are many reasons for that. But one reason is a deep sickness that has infected our country. A poisoned public discourse that nearly every single person has either ignored or contributed to. In moments like this I’m curious, who wants to go further, and actually be a healer? Who's courageous enough to do healing work? I'm asking myself that question. I think we can all do that in small ways. In the ways we show up in the world, the ways we love our neighbor, the ways we encounter someone we disagree with. Each of those moments are opportunities for those who feel called to healing work. No matter what happens in November, that work will matter. Because if we can’t figure that out, this won’t be the last destabilizing morning we’ll wake up to. But if we can figure it out -- maybe our kids or grandkids will have fewer mornings like this.

AI + Business + Future of Work Insights from Brandon Andrews. I started the From Spaghetti to Growth podcast last year to really dig deep into the REAL founder growth journeys. The stories of resilience, pivots, milestones and learnings---all the real "spaghetti" ALL founders go through but don't always talk about...all to help the CEOs/ founders gain some real insights and strategies to help them in their own journeys. This season given the fact we are in the biggest technological revolution in our generation--and the work we do at Virgent AI--and the fact that you can't talk about growth without speaking about AI...one of the pillars of the podcast is to go in depth with each founder / expert that comes on to talk about AI and business. Where they are using it (or how they are thinking about using it), debunking some myths, talking through some of the tech realities--and more. This past episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Brandon Andrews, the epitome of a serial entrepreneur, co-founder of Gauge (an AI-enabled influencer marketing research company steeped into gaining cultural nuances for large brands); the CEO of The Inexorable; an international speaker on AI and business; and a prominent Shark Tank Casting director. In all my other channels, I did share many of his very thoughtful Shark Tank insider insights --and will here too, but I wanted to first share our discussion on the future of work and AI. Everyone is (or should be) going through their AI and business journey. Education is the foundation. So please listen in. Full episode links are in the comments below. #AI #AIandbusiness #futureofwork #virgentAI #brandonandrews Produced by: Legacy Sessions