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BUSINESS, CAREER PATH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP ARTICLES
UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU! HOW TO GET A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT JOB
While many employers are handing out pink slips, one large employer is not only hiring, but also preparing to do so on a massive scale. Who? The federal government… that’s right, Uncle Sam wants you! According to labor department statistics, the total number of federal employees reached an astounding 2.7 million in 2008. Forecasters anticipate the fed will need to fill in the area of 1 million positions as baby boomers bid adieu to their federal careersThe appeal of a career with the federal government is quite obvious. The average federal worker receives $106,871 in annual compensation when pay and benefits are factored into the equation – a whopping difference compared to the $53,328 average annual compensation in the private sector. Add in student loan payoff programs, paid relocation and even cash incentives for hard to fill positions and you can see why the federal government is quickly becoming a sought-after employer.
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BE YOUR OWN BOSS - CONSIDER BECOMING A FRANCHISEE
When considering career options, many of us know we'd like to be in business for ourselves but are unsure of exactly where to start. Additionally, the excitement of entrepreneurship has become tainted by horror stories about dot.com companies burning through piles of cash and closing their virtual doors, and of mom-and-pop businesses losing their neighborhood niche when a megastore moves in. However, consumers are buying goods at an unprecedented rate, despite threats of recession, and spend nearly a trillion dollars worldwide in franchised businesses annually. The franchise way of doing business is unique - it offers the independence of "being the boss" combined with the security of working within a business that has already proven to be profitable.
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WORKPLACE ISSUES & ADVICE ARTICLES
HIGH IMPACT DIVERSITY TRAINING
What is diversity about? Different points of view? Race? Gender? Sexual orientation? Orlando-Ward Associates – based in San Diego with offices in New York City and London – provides educational workplace training with a unique twist. The company specializes in live-action professional drama as a tool for facilitating communication within organizations about issues usually too uncomfortable to discuss, such as diversity and sexual harassment.
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STOPPING INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR IN THE WORKPLACE
Is someone treating you in a demeaning manner at work? Do you find the casual comments and repeated actions of others to be offensive? Think about what happens consistently at work that punches your buttons. You can probably think of several things in the workplace that you feel are offensive, but most of us have no idea how to respond professionally and effectively to stop offensive behavior. There are methods to overcome offenses like sexual harassment or racial bias. The STOP method may do the trick.
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BECOMING AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE
Today’s job force expects not only to like their work, they intend for employment to become a primary vehicle through which they find fulfillment. Top performers demand work that is rewarding, where their unique talents are recognized and encouraged. Frequently the dollar is not the main motivator. Working people today want to feel that their work contributes to noble goals and, on top of that, they want the flexibility to blend work and family without detracting from quality in either area.
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PROFILES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN BUSINESS & EDUCATION LEADERS
DR. M. LEE PELTON
Born in Wichita, Kansas, M. Lee Pelton, the 22nd president of Willamette University, received his undergraduate education at Wichita State University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1974, with a double major in English and psychology. His academic and professional life is a shining example of the value of education.
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CHIEF HERMAN WILLIAMS, JR. (ret)
Appreciation for firefighters in America is at an all time high, since hundreds rushed up the staircases at the World Trade Center to save lives, not knowing they were about to lose theirs. However, in 1954, racism was so red hot that America’s first Black firefighters were not just unappreciated, their fellow firefighters refused speak to them, and wouldn’t even eat food off the same plates.
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PATRICIA WINANS, CHAIRMAN/CEO OF MAGNA SECURITIES CORP.
What does it take to own a part of Wall Street? Ask the highly esteemed Patricia Winans, Chairwoman and CEO of Magna Securities Corp., a New York City brokerage firm that is making a name in Wall Street history. Her career is unparalleled, and her business is bottom line focused, but this strong-willed financial magnate also manages her life and her firm with a softer side–one that is insightful, edifying, and generous to the core.
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DAVE BING, NBA ALL STAR - FROM BASKETBALL TO BILLIONS
Dave Bing uses the same old-fashioned dedication to hard work that made him an NBA All Star to become one of America's most successful Blacks in business. His steel company is likely to bring in $1 billion a year by 2005.
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PROFILES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN BUSINESS & EDUCATION LEADERS
CATHY HUGHES, RADIO ONE FOUNDER
Everyone loves a hero. We love old fashioned rags to riches stories about starting at the bottom and zooming straight to the top. Cathy Hughes' story is one of those. In the world of radio and business, she has built an empire and attained status of truly heroic proportions.
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EARVIN MAGIC JOHNSON, aka GOODWILL MAGIC
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, is a good will hunter. He founded the Magic Johnson Foundation in 1991 to raise both money and awareness for HIV/AIDS. Since then, this basketball wonder has turned an altruistic enterprise into a multimillion dollar network, which has allowed him to expand his mission from raising awareness on health issues, to supporting the educational and social needs of inner-city youth. By providing students with scholarships, underserved communities with computers, and nonprofit organizations with financial support to stabilize urban areas, Magic has become a staple supplier of good will.
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TIGER WOODS AND THE TIGER WOODS FOUNDATION
A 10-year-old boy loses sleep for two weeks. An 11-year old girl hyperventilates, and then bursts into a cascade of happy tears. What is the cause of so much excitement? It's the opportunity to receive thoughtful, one-on-one guidance from their hero, America's top golf superstar--Tiger Woods.The Tiger Woods Foundation has grown quickly to become an efficient fundraising machine that distributes money in ways that make a real difference in kids' lives. Through 2001, the Tiger Woods Foundation Benefactor Program has contributed to 65 youth programs in 36 cities throughout 21 states, and the Foundation has helped raise over $560,000 for the cities in which it has conducted clinics.
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EDUCATION AND SCHOLARSHIP ARTICLES
THE RON BROWN SCHOLARS
Named after Ron Brown, the distinguished Secretary of Commerce who was lost tragically in a 1996 plane crash, and supported by the CAP Charitable Foundation, the Ron Brown Scholar Program focuses on young African Americans of outstanding promise. The CAP Foundation's founder, Anthony Pilaro, a businessman who made his fortune through duty free shops, came up with the initial concept for the scholarship program.
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STEVE HARVEY AND HIS BOOKS TO BEHINDS PROGRAM
It's 8:15 on a foggy Thursday morning in L.A., and Steve Harvey, the morning disc jockey on The Beat 100.3, is riled. His customary honey smooth Southern style drawl has turned to an evangelist's bark, full of hell fire and brimstone. Harvey is furious. "We've been to the schools ourselves," he rants, as he describes The Beat's efforts to help L.A.'s inner city schools get needed resources. "We counted the books. Some kids don't even have a book to take home. There's a problem here."
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DR. TERRENCE ROBERTS ON CARING ENOUGH TO LEARN
In 1997, the City of Little Rock hosted a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the integration of Central High School. Many of the locals voiced discontent and suggested it was inappropriate to revisit such a chaotic period in our nation’s history. They said that good, righteous people would be embarrassed because of youthful indiscretions, that old photos would show them at their worst. Further, they contended, it was probably best to let sleeping dogs lie; it would do little good for anybody to stir up those old memories. I wondered then, as I wonder now, about the wisdom of such advice.
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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ARTICLES
STAND AND PROSPER: PRIVATE BLACK COLLEGES
Scattered across the deep south from Texas to Florida, a small group of distinctive institutions of higher learning have survived and prospered since the middle of the last century. Their stories tell of astounding resilience in the face of the adversity generated by this country’s legacy of slavery and segregation.
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TAKING THE TEMPERATURE OF DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE
You've probably never heard of a company called Johnson Controls. But it's likely that a component on the seat or instrument panel of your car was made by Johnson, or that you've been inside a building where the temperature is maintained by one of their systems.But Johnson Controls Equila Wainwright heads up efforts to create a climate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace... and she's succeeding.
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HOW WELCOME ARE WE?
According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), five of the national hotel companies were rated “B-” or better when graded on such items as diversity in hiring, contracting with Black vendors, marketing campaigns, and charitable giving. NAACP President/CEO Kweisi Mfume said: “Although the NAACP has seen a greater responsiveness from the industry and we are pleased to witness the installation of various diversity officers to implement and direct project goals, we are disheartened to report that progress in certain categories remains stagnant. While there are now African Americans on six out of 11 boards of directors few if any of those six have more than one African American and many hotels have no minority representation whatsoever..”
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