A Note from Bernadette
I’m collaborating on a project with some people with different backgrounds from me. When I saw their first revision of my draft, my jaw dropped. Our ideas merged into something I couldn’t have made alone…and something far better than anything AI could deliver. That’s the promise of diversity fulfilled.
My ego is briefly bruised by the consensus, but then I remind myself that everything we’re doing is in service to the client.
This Week's Good Vibes
Soccer Doesn't Clock Out at 10
New York City is keeping the lights on until 2 a.m. at one soccer field in each borough through November, then again April through September. A summer pilot drew more than 4,500 players, especially nurses, students, and delivery workers playing after dark. Parks typically permit lighted fields only until 10 p.m. Schedules built around daytime hours leave out people who work evenings and nights. ♐️ Ask whose schedule your "normal hours" were built around.
Walmart Picks Up the Prescription Tab
Starting in 2027, Walmart will cover more than 250 prescriptions at no cost on most of its employee medical plans, including some insulin, inhalers, and GLP-1s for Type 2 diabetes. Walmart employs about 1.6 million people in the U.S. While many other employers are trimming insurance coverage, Walmart is expanding. ♐️ Look for the cost barriers your people are working around.
Detroit Grows Its Own Teachers
Detroit Public Schools and Michigan State University are partnering to prepare more teachers for students with autism. The district's count of students identified with autism nearly doubled in 7 years. Eligible teachers can earn MSU's online special education master's degree with an autism endorsement, with the district paying for the endorsement and teachers paying for the master's. Michigan requires a specific endorsement for each disability area, so training is what makes support possible. ♐️ Invest in the people already on your team.
Northeast Brazil Makes Trans History
Voters in Brazil's Rio Grande do Norte state elected Thabatta Pimenta, a Natal city councilwoman, to the national Chamber of Deputies. She is the first trans woman from northeast Brazil elected to Congress. She will serve alongside Erika Hilton and Duda Salabert, the two trans women who made history in Congress in 2022 and were both re-elected. Hilton's 1,596,472 votes are the most any female member of Congress has received in Brazilian history. ♐️ Ask who is missing from the rooms where your decisions happen.
County Goes First on Paid Leave
Allegheny County, PA passed the first countywide paid parental leave policy in the U.S. This requires businesses with 15+ employees to provide 12 weeks of paid leave. It covers birthing parents, their partners, adoptive parents, and people who experience a stillbirth. It also applies to remote employees whose employers are based in other states. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act requires only unpaid leave, and few states have mandatory paid family leave. Council members who voted yes pointed to better health outcomes for babies and parents when parents get paid leave. ♐️ Ask whether your leave policy treats every path to parenthood the same.
Good Vibes to Go & Updates
Join the WNBA Finals fun: game 4 is today at 1pm ET! If you haven't been watching, there have been plenty of good vibes in these games.