Children's Magazine Month
Family History Month
Diversity Awareness Month
Gay & Lesbian History Month
German-American Heritage Month
Polish-American History Month
Health Literacy Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Family Secuality Education Month
National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
National Mental Illness Awareness Month
Emotional Wellness Month
Festival of Penha (Brazil)
1st week - Fire Prevention Week
2nd week - Teen Read Week
1 World Vegetarian Day
1 Yom Kippur begins at sundown (Jewish)
2 Child Health Day
5 International Teacher's Day
7-13 Sukkot (Jewish)
9 Columbus Day
9 Indigenous People's Day
11 National Coming Out Day (USA)
12 Dia de la Raza (Mexico)
14 Lailat-Ul-Quadr (Islamic, Muslim)
14 Shemini Atzeret (Jewish)
15 Simchat Torah (Jewish)
15 National Poetry Day
16 Boss's Day
16 World Food Day
17 Black Poetry Day
24 United Nations Day
29 Daylight Saving Time ends (USA)
31 Halloween (USA)
31 Reformation Day (Christian)

Princeton University has followed Harvard's lead and dropped its early-admissions program. Harvard University President Derek Bok said early-admission programs "tend to advantage the advantaged." Princeton President Shirley Tilghman echoed those very words during a faculty meeting when she made the official announcement.

Workforce Diversity…Today’s Largest Blended Family

We have often heard the term “blended family.” When a couple unites with children from an earlier relationship, the resulting family is “blended.” Remember the Brandy Bunch? That was a blended family. In many ways, the workplace is one huge blended family. Employees often spend more waking hours in the workplace than they do with their families.

Today’s diverse workforce should take lessons from blended families, to determine how best to create and sustain a respectful and inclusive workplace. Many of the skills needed to make a blended family run smoothly, are the same as those needed at work.

When children from one family come together with children from another family it is not always smooth sailing from the start. Let’s imagine there are four children total, two each from previous parental unions. Deborah, age ten, and Mia, age 16 are sisters and their dad is Charles. Pegine is the mother of Jeffrey, age eight, and Colin, age 15. Pegine and Charles dated for two years and then married.

Pegine and Charles will go through an adjustment period even if there are no children involved. In this case, they must reevaluate their parenting skills/leadership skills too. Imagine the tension when there are elementary, middle school, and high school aged children living together for the first time, while they must also adjust to having a step parent. Even the most well intentioned, best behaved people would feel stressed at least some of the time in this situation.

Our workplace is not much different. People from different backgrounds work together every day. In today’s work environment Generation X, Generation Y, Baby Boomers and Seniors work in the same environment. Additionally, these men and women have a variety of spiritual beliefs, political outlooks, cultural, regional and social norms. They differ by abilities and limitations, communication styles, size, ethnicity and the list goes on and on. The environment is further compounded by tenure, status and title. Managers most develop effective leadership skills that include multicultural competencies.

In either case, just bringing these two groups together does not make them a team automatically. It takes conscious effort to develop a highly functional family, and a highly functional work team. Just trying to be ‘nice,’ is not enough. Multicultural skill development is needed in both cases. Below are a few suggestions to convert groups to teams that work with families and co-workers:

▪ Clarify and focus regularly on the purpose or mission. For families, perhaps the purpose is to value each individual, regardless of their differences. Organizations can focus on their purpose as it relates to the product or services they provide.

▪ Create an opportunity for individuals to share their culture, beliefs and outlook with each other. Make the time for people to socialize and learn about each other.

▪ Provide opportunities for each person to excel.

▪ Sharpen your listening skills and help others listen without interruption.

▪ Teach team members how to give and receive feedback about sensitive issues.

▪ Positively reinforce inclusive behavior. Look for people doing things right.

Over 50-Under 30: Closing the Generation Gap


Hosted by Tracy Brown (over 50) and Desiree Lyle (under 30) this CD Pack features eight one-hour candid conversations with a variety of women aged 25-65.


The 8 conversations include:

▪ The Meaning of Work: Looking Forward, Looking Back
▪ Gender: Barrier or Opportunity?
▪ Racism: Then and Now
▪ Mommy Track: Is it Still an Issue?
▪ Affirmative Action: Who Does it Benefit?
▪ Sisterhood: Fantasy Versus Reality
▪ Career Goals: Jobs, Careers or Entrepreneurship?
▪ Mentoring: What Can We Learn from Each Other?

Black Enterprise Magazine
www.ctrsr.org - The Center for Sexuality and Religion is an educational, interfaith, and interdisciplinary organization that assists communities of faith to promote sexual and spiritual health.
www.DiversityInc.com - The leading online and in-print magazine reports current diversity news.
www.glaad.org - The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
www.hacu.net - Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities
www.HireDiversity.com - An excellent site that provides a link between today's multicultural professional and corporate America.
www.pflag.org - Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG) is a national non-profit organization with over 200,000 members and supporters and over 500 affiliates in the United States.
www.splcenter.org - The Southern Poverty Law Center is internationally recognized for its work against racism and extremist groups.

Thank You in over 465 languages

Listen to Lenora's latest radio interview! She provides an in-depth discussion on the value of diversity and why organizations that embrace diversity have the advantage in today's competitive environment. Click here, then scroll down to the February 21, 2006 episode!.

The strongest bulwark of authority is uniformity; the least divergence from it is the greatest crime.

--Emma Goldman

Of the nearly 54,000 partners and more than 61,000 associates, staff attorneys and senior attorneys, attorneys of color make up almost 4 percent of partners and almost 15 percent of associates, while women make up nearly 17 percent of partners and almost 48 percent of associates, according to a study of law firms represented in the 2004–2005 NALP Directory of Legal Employers.

More than half of Latinos between the ages of 18 and 24 mistakenly believe that only U.S. citizens can apply for financial aid, while a fraction of those surveyed mistakenly believe that they could only apply for financial aid if their parents were U.S. citizens, according to a survey by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.

From 1975 to 2002, the percentage of women with law degrees rose from 33 percent to almost 40 percent, while the percentage of blacks rose from almost 2 percent to 4 percent. Latinos showed an increase from 0.7 percent to nearly 3 percent, and the percentage of Asian Americans rose from 0.5 percent to 5.3 percent, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In 2005, almost 35 percent of Asian males between the ages of 18 and 29 graduated from college, compared with less than 8 percent of black men, nearly 6 percent of Latino men, and 17 percent of white men, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Source: DiversityInc.com

"Diversity is no longer about counting heads,
it's about making heads count."

Source: HR Magazine, August issue

Lenora Billings-Harris, CSP is an internationally recognized speaker, diversity consultant, and author with more than twenty-five years experience in the public and private sectors. As an educator and keynoter, Lenora has developed a unique way of presenting sensitive topics in a high-energy, fun-filled, yet thought-provoking way. Call today to book her for your organization - 888.288.8885.

Helping you make diversity an advantage,

Lenora

Lenora Billings-Harris, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional)
lenora@LenoraSpeaks.com

888.288.8885 (toll free)
336.282.4443 (voice)
336.282.4487 (fax)

For more information, please go to

www.LenoraSpeaks.com