Category Archives: living

America’s Best Cities for Young Nonprofit Professionals


Posted by ajlovesya

This weekend Forbes.com released their list of America’s best cities for young professionals. To determine which cities made the cut Forbes.com measured unemployment rate, predicted job growth, cost of living, number of high profile companies, and concentration of graduates from elite schools (which indicates concentration of talent and career minded people).

While reading the list I couldn’t help but wonder what makes a city attractive to young nonprofit professionals. On the one hand, these measurements are important for all young professionals regardless of sector. For example, nonprofiteers especially want their money to stretch far–since we tend to make less of it compared to our for-profit peers–and are anxious to thrive while supporting their cause.

Yet I think the measurements offered by Forbes are incomplete when it comes to careers in the nonprofit sector. I find nonprofit work to be an after thought, not really included as a serious career choice or its employees having unique employment needs. Beyond money though, a culture where nonprofit work is valued results in a stronger professional and personal network, a sense of being part of the city, and opportunities to grow. Therefore, I wanted to brainstorm some measurements that might be important to young nonprofit professionals:

Size, job growth, and types of positions in the nonprofit sector: Essentially a snap shot of employment trends in nonprofit work in each city. These kinds of statistics show how sustainable the sector is in that particular city and if I can grow there.

Vocal nonprofits and partnerships with for profit and government: This indicates that the nonprofit sector has a strong presence in that city and that they are equal players in shaping the city.

Rate of volunteering: A city with a culture that fosters giving back, keeping nonprofits and public service at the forefront of city life.

Number of active young professionals groups or opportunities for meeting: To me, more important than the presence of graduates of elite schools is whether or not they are connecting around causes that are important to them. How easy will it be to find my peers, especially if I am new to the city or the sector?

I want a city where public service isn’t seen as an afterthought or nice idea–it is seen as a critical component of city life and its sustainability is viewed as crucial.

New York City would make the cut for me. In New York City, employment in the nonprofit sector grew in 2009 while it shrank in all other sectors. The nonprofit sector also increased employment of people between the ages of 16-24 by 17%. I’ve been able to connect with tons of people and organizations through YNPN-NYC and various other young professionals groups–not to mention all of the conferences that are held here each year. I’ve seen nonprofits–from grassroots to large institutions–mobilize to protest budget cuts and work with Mayor Bloomberg in launching new initiatives to support the nonprofit sector. We making progress in terms of volunteering but that cost of living still gets under my skin!

What do you look for when choosing a city for your nonprofit career? Any cities stand out to you as being great places for a career in the nonprofit sector?

Other posts you may find interesting:

1.  Meeting Fellow Nonprofiteers in New York

2.  Finding and Landing Your First Nonprofit Job


Are Black People More Accepting of Overweight Women?


Posted by ajlovesya

While tweeting the new reality show More To Love—a plus size version of The Bachelor on FOX—the conversation shifted towards the role of race in fat acceptance.  Throughout my time in college and even now I am surprised by the belief that black people are more accepting of overweight women.

Here’s the thing: it’s not about being big; it’s about being curvy in the right places.  It’s about having an impossibly small waist with large breasts, hips, thighs, and ass.  Adolescence was an incessant chase for the perfect hourglass shape with a warped sense of reality:  white girls want to be bone thin, black girls want the hourglass shape, ignoring how neither approach was healthy.

I grew up hearing my mother proclaim several times that she is FINALLY going to lose weight, my grandmother proudly recounting her days of forgoing food to look svelte in dresses, and my sisters and I agonizing over the width of our hips in relation to their stomachs.  I remember my friends and I mocking white girls for their lack of ass and titties while agonizing over the growth of our own, sometimes wanting to hide for developing too soon other times going through hell to make it seem as if we were growing faster than we really were.

Additionally while there are more overweight black celebrities than white ones I hesitate to see that as an example of fat acceptance.  As Julia over at Fatshionista mentions, those celebrity examples of plus size black celebrities are hand picked for the public.  It doesn’t reflect black people’s acceptance of overweight people; rather it reflects the mainstream media’s hunger for and comfort with large black bodies.  It is, on many levels, an outrageous example of racism and sexism.  Besides, I don’t think Tyler, Martin, and Eddie show their love for larger black women when they don fat suits and act insultingly ignorant.

At the same time, I would be lying if I said that my emotional scars come from the hourglass battlefield.  In all honesty I think that weight is lower on the list of things that black people make fun of each other for.  Skin complexion continues to be our venom of choice.  Weight is not at the center of the most vicious and cruel memories of my childhood; my complexion is and to this day even compliments about my skin color make me uncomfortable.  (So no, calling me chocolate will not get you any points with me).  And don’t even get me started when it comes to hair…

In fact, as I navigated college, internships, work, travel abroad, and relationships various forms of “otherness” mattered differently depending on who was in the conversation.   Class plays as much as role in beauty as race with my middle and upper class black friends weary of indulging in soul food for health reasons while my family back at home is unforgiving of my attempts of keeping my hair natural.

In the end total acceptance on any level is a fantasy but a reality I would love to create.  It requires consciousness—an awareness of all of the attitudes, messages, and behaviors that are detrimental to your self determination—which in and of itself is a terrifying thing.  You find yourself “on” all of the time challenging what was once comforting and normal.  But it’s liberating in the sense that you begin to love yourself, focusing on your potential and life’s possibilities.  It’s exciting to recognize all that you can do and all that you deserve to have. 

How do we shift the conversation from what we arent to a celebration of all that we are?


Social Change and Being Black in America


Posted by ajlovesya

For the past two nights I have been watching  Black America 2, a CNN documentary highlighting the challenges and successes  of black Americans.  I must admit that approached the documentary with low expectations.  I didn’t expect to learn much and for the conversation to be, well, bland.

In fact much of what I saw on Black In America 2 was not new.  However, I would be lying if I said I knew about every single issue affecting black Americans and didn’t walk away learning something.  This is not because of willful ignorance but rather some topics don’t come up regularly or are not my passion.  For example, my passion is education so the Harlem Children’s Zone or Capital Prep were not new.  But I did not know that there is a unique form of breast cancer affecting black women that is more aggressive and more difficult to treat and survive.  I did not know the myriad of issues affecting black men in prison and the challenges they face trying to rebuild their lives once they leave.

Aside from opening my eyes to the different kinds of issues we face I found the show to be inspirational.    Ill be honest and say that throughout my college career and even now the majority of the people I see working on social change in the black community have been white.  And while we should welcome all people who want to help those in need, there is something powerful about people taking control of their own communities and addressing challenges on their own terms. For every person who says “black people want hand outs” I just want to point them to the people in the documentary who are doing the opposite.

In fact what I loved is that my work and the work of countless others was put at the center of the conversation, finally validated and celebrated.  Non-profits and nonprofiteers stand up!  Here are some of the people and non-profits mentioned.

Nisa Muhammad at the Wedded Bliss Foundation, working to increase the number of black marriages.

Dr. Lisa Newmann at the University of Michigan Hospital, researching and trying to treat an aggressive form of cancer that disproportionately affects black women.

Sisters Network Incorporated, a network of African-American breast cancer survivors.

Marcus Murray at Project Brotherhood holistic services to improve the physical, mental, and spiritual health of black men.

Geoffrey Canada at Harlem Children’s Zone, providing a variety of services to children in Harlem from the time they are born (baby college) to the time they are leaving for college (College Success).

John Rice at Management Leadership Tomorrow (MLT), supporting young people interested in MBAs and leadership in the corporate and nonprofit sectors.

Salvation Army of Bushwick, what don’t they do?  :-)

Malaak Compton Rock at AngelRock Project, different services for at-risk youth in Brooklyn, New Orleans, and South Africa.

Government organizations mentioned:

Everett Highbaugh at Project Choice, support for men recently released from prison.

Dr. Steve Perry at Capital Prep: Charter school in Connecticut with 100% of its students attending 4 year colleges.

Looking toward the future (because you know there will be a Black in America 3) I would like to see more focus on black middle class experiences by those both born into it and those who moved up into it.    More context on issues instead of anecdotes.  For example, we saw how Taniqua’s weakness is fried chicken (I’m gonna leave that image alone) yet no one explored how healthy food in neighborhoods like Harlem are hard to come by.  I’d also like to see a shift away from using typical stereotypes as the launching point of exploration (like Taniqua loving fried chicken) and a  discussion of people under 30 making big moves.

Inspired by this story my question is how many of us will start telling our own stories, using the media and talent at our disposal?  By far the most informative and exciting discussions I’ve seen happened on twitter.  We didn’t need to wait a year to discuss being black in America; we could’ve been breaking bread with our communities.  And many of us do this but perhaps the trick now is harnessing our resources to make it public, on our own terms.

What organizations would you add to this list?  What topics would you like to see discussed?


Gen Y and the Stimulus Plan


Posted by ajlovesya

As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan (economic stimulus) goes around the Senate, I was curious about how the proposed plan would impact millenials. I reflected on some of the major issues and interests of our generation and how the stimulus plan proposes to address them. This list is by no means exhaustive but I thought it would be good to highlight aspects of the bill the Gen Y stands to benefit from either directly or by the increase in potential opportunities.

Job Training: While the focus of this stimulus plan is on creating jobs, the concern is the kind of education or training that will be required to obtain these jobs may make employment out of reach for younger people. Additionally, younger employees are hit hardest by the recession.

· $4 billion for job training including :

o $1.2 billion to create up to one million summer jobs for youth

o $50 million to expand Youth Build (provides jobs for low-income youths in constructing low-income housing)

o Training for Green jobs and other jobs to be generated by the Act.

Small businesses: Millenials are increasingly interested in starting businesses that generate profits and make the world a better place. Social entrepreneurship is growing right along with the traditional entrepreneurship.

· $430 million for new direct lending and loan guarantee authorities to make loans more attractive to lenders and free up capital.

Higher Education: 64% of women and 60% of men go to college after graduating high school and 85% attend full-time making Generation Y the most educated generation in our nation’s history.

· Pell Grants: $15.6 billion to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500, from $4,850 to $5,350.

· College Work-Study: $490 million to support undergraduate and graduate students who work.

· Student Loan Limit Increase: Increases limits on unsubsidized Stafford loans by $2,000.

· Student Aid Administration: $50 million to help the Department of Education administer surging student aid programs while navigating the changing student loan environment.

The Armed Forces: According to USA TODAY, the percentage of people ages 16 to 21 interested in joining the military has increased from 9% to 11% in the first half of last year. Additionally, 60 percent of Marines, 42 percent of Army and Navy and about 35 percent of the Air Force are younger than 25.

  • Over $7 billion in proposed facility renovations to defense and veteran facilities to increase to services to those currently in the armed forces and better care when they return.

Community Service: According to the National Conference on Citizenship, 56% of Millennials reported volunteering in the past year and more than 50% would be more involved if there were more opportunities.

  • $200 million to Americorps to expand by 16,000 members.
  • $1 billion to local organizations to increase their community service efforts.

Low income assistance: 17% of impoverished people in this country are under the age of 18 and as previously mentioned, millenials are hit hardest by unemployment and thus financial instability.

· $13 billion for grants to help disadvantaged kids in nearly every school district and more than half of all public schools reach high academic standards.

· $66 million for formula grants to states to provide services to homeless children including meals and transportation when high unemployment and home foreclosures have created an influx of homeless kids.

· $726 million to increase the number of states that provide free dinners to children and to encourage participation by new institutions by increasing snack reimbursement rates.

Read the executive summary here

Read the full document here


Reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday


Posted by ajlovesya

martin_luther_king3

…the easiest way to get rid of Martin Luther King Jr. is to worship him. To honor him with a holiday that he never would have wanted. To celebrate his birth and his death without committing ourselves to his vision and his love. It is a lot easier to praise a dead hero than to recognize and follow a living prophet.

Rev. Charles Adams

In many ways, I think turning King into a holiday was the worst thing to do for his legacy. On the one hand, having him as a holiday (and the very name “holiday” evokes leisure, not serious study or appreciation) at least requires that we collectively acknowledge his contributions. However, Americans–black and white–have this tendency to distort images to suit narrow needs essentially destroying a powerful legacy and message.

We are prone to selective amnesia.  We will remember that he was nonviolent yet forget he felt conflicted about teaching peace at home when we were so violent abroad; he fought against racism yet realized that the capitalist system devastated the poor and depressed them further; he professed a great love for black women yet cheated on his wife til the day he died, felt that he could find nothing beautiful in a dark skinned black woman, and stole the idea of the “poor people’s campaign” from an african american women’s organization; he believed in integration yet he also believed that separatism was healthy and necessary for blacks to progress; he recognized that we must use race in order to eradicate racism.

All of these bits of neglect serve social functions–to support the attack on affirmative action; to eclipse the problems and negative consequences of capitalism; to silence the contributions of black women to black liberation; to ridicule and dismiss black youths; to endorse feelings of victimization over resistance and power; to soothe feelings of guilt over oppression; and a host of other dreadful counterproductive actions.

And the fact that he was turned into a holiday by a anti-black anti-working/middle class administration makes me all the more weary the purpose and usage of this day.

My wishes for MLK day?:

1. Retire the “I Have a Dream Speech.” He made over 300 speeches at the height of his career. Surely we love him enough to read some of them.

2. Read about the civil rights movement from a different perspective. Women, for example, were instrumental in the civil rights movement but the patriarchal structure of the church made their voices difficult to hear.  Or how about how people abroad–mainly in Africa–reacted to the civil rights movement?  Countries throughout the continent were liberated during the same time period and the parallels are fascinating.

3. Commit to giving back. Throughout the country people are encouraged to volunteer on Dr. King’s birthday.   Instead of making it a one time thing, why not be an ongoing giver in terms of time and money.  Buttress your giving by learning about the cause or community you plan to serve through research and dialogue.  Once you make giving and learning a part of your life, you begin the process breaking down barriers.

When it comes to leadership and learning lessons the best thing to look at is how a leader evolves over their lifetime and what shaped their growth.