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ON OUR MINDS
Brought to you this week by Account Director Ilena Parker, with a gentle reminder to take care of yourself, stop doomscrolling, and support the vital work of Ukrainian media organizations.
Standing with Ukraine
People in Ukraine are throwing Molotov cocktails at Russian tanks and forming human barricades around their towns. For the rest of us, watching the news unfold in fragments on social media, it’s easy to feel paralyzed by the threat of a new world war between nuclear-armed states. Mister Rogers taught us that when the news gets heavy, we need to look for the helpers — or better yet, be a helper. For philanthropy, that means providing immediate humanitarian aid, supporting the free press, and investing in peace and security, which currently accounts for only 1% of grantmaking, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. For businesses, helping means mobilizing aid, taking steps to divest from Russia (before the choice is made for you), and creating safe and compassionate spaces for employees affected by the crisis. Media can help by being conscious of racial and ethnic bias in reporting of the refugee crisis in Europe, and readers can diversify their news sources and help hold Western outlets accountable for empathetic coverage of humanitarian crises around the world. Individuals have enormous power to help too: here’s a searchable list of protests around the world, a list of organizations accepting donations for on-the-ground support (compiled by Susan), and ways to be a discerning reader amid the fog of war and rampant misinformation online.
Keeping up with consumers
Brand strategy group Prophet identified a new pattern in its 7th annual Brand Relevance Index: the most successful brands connect with consumers as humans — by appealing to both the head and the heart. According to a recent McKinsey survey, two out of three Americans now say their social values shape their shopping choices. A savvy new generation of consumers, driven by Gen Z values, can smell performative “woke-washing” from a mile away. And smart brands today know that ESG isn’t a brand strategy, it’s an existential imperative. It’s not enough for brands to show their humanity by telling consumers they care, they need to do more. A growing number of brands are taking these lessons to heart — even linking executive compensation (paywall) to social and environmental impact goals.
Messing with Texas
When Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to investigate parents and doctors who provide trans children with gender-affirming care, it was met with outrage everywhere from DC to Hollywood, and even in District Attorney offices across Texas. In a stirring op-ed, one Texas mother calls out the particular cruelty of this order: “putting parents in an impossible situation by forcing them to choose between providing medically necessary, lifesaving care, or facing the threat that their children will be taken from them.” The outrage is especially strong in Austin, where thousands are planning to converge over the coming weeks for the first in-person SXSW Festival in two years. Even as SXSW organizers denounce the criminalization of trans youth, activists are asking if a SXSW boycott is the right way to mess with Texas. Companies like Clubhouse have pulled out of the event altogether, and many others are planning to support trans rights from the SXSW stage, and drive resources to organizations like the Trevor Project and Trans Texas.
ON OUR RADAR
Celebrate:
- Play Active Citizen, a new game-based learning experience that teaches students to build a more peaceful world from Minecraft: Education Edition, the Nobel Peace Center and McP client Games for Change.
- Learn about the first-ever global plastic pollution treaty, created by world leaders from nearly 200 countries in the most important climate deal since the 2015 Paris Accords.
- This Women’s History Month, read Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head from Somali British poet Warsan Shire, a poetry collection that celebrates stories of resilience and survival.
Listen:
Read:
- Anita Hill writes about Biden’s historic nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and what it means for a Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
- There’s a silver lining to living with social distancing: giving brought us closer together during the pandemic, as charitable donations in the U.S. reached a record high in 2020.
- Learn to build deep business and personal relationships as the foundation of a meaningful life and purposeful collaborations with Jean Oelwang’s new book Partnering: Forge the Deep Connections, coming on March 8.
Learn:
- Become a JEDI investor with actionable Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion tools to use across the investment process.
- Empower students to learn the histories that aren’t taught in schools with a new toolkit for teaching truth from cosmetics brand Lush.
- Drive measurable change and track true progress with the Black Equity Index, a new initiative for organizations to benchmark and advance racial equity in the workplace.
Grow:
Apply:
- The New Museum is looking for a Director of Communications.
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