June 22, 2020

Hello BOSLadies,

Happy Monday! I hope that over the weekend you all took some time to take care of yourselves and recharge. This past week felt particularly overwhelming for me and what I really needed was to disconnect from the world and just relax for awhile. What is the old saying...you can't fill others up if your own glass is empty. Something along those lines? Whatever exactly it may be, the point is the same. While we have been at home and our personal lives have slowed down, we have become aware of larger issues that demand action and continuous mental checks. How we successfully carry those demands with us as our lives slowly transition back outside the home will be filled with a lot of trial and error so give yourself grace and don't be afraid to reach out to talk about it.

You should have all received a separate email with a calendar invite for next month's meeting on July 14th at 5:30PM PST/ 8:30PM EST. If not, the Zoom link is posted on our website and below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81006220555

Meeting ID: 810 0622 0555

We will be discussing The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison. 

The Weekly Three (plus)

1. Something about "more ethical and inclusive technology" with the BSA Knowledge Community: Sign up for a 12pm webinar on June 24th entitled Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Network: Racial Bias by Design. If stories about what Amazon and Microsoft have been doing with their facial recognition software interest you, this event that focuses on how AI and algorithms affect bias is right up your alley. Thank you Alexandra for sharing

2. Something actionable you can incorporate into your daily work: For BOSLadies in design: consider using one of these resources to be purposefully inclusive in your renderings (thanks Kseniia!): 

https://black-img.com/Cut-outs 

https://kaleidoscope-arch.tumblr.com/

http://www.escalalatina.com/

https://www.alamy.com/

https://www.vishopper.com/

https://jugaadrender.in/

3. Something about the immediate future of work from Cindy Gallop: I didn't know who Cindy Gallop was prior to watching this interview and sincerely wish that I had. During the Q&A session at the end of the video, many of the questions are amalgamated into a general query about how to be confident. Her response is to ask yourself WWSWGD: "what would a straight white guy do?". She says that she obviously wishes that this wasn't the answer but for now that is the way to go and to consider the lack of obstacles for incompetent men. My other favorite moment in this interview is when she points out that it is only when things break down so completely and utterly that new models can emerge. She also says not to ask what our future is going to look like in a passive sense - it's what we are actively making it. We must take ownership and shape the future we want. (photo from Forbes)

4. Something about comfort zones and "professional pivots": I've included The Stokecast before and this week want to recommend episode 84. This episode was recorded early quarantine but offers some interesting insights into the different ways that outdoor industry entrepreneurs are handling things mentally, financially, professionally, etc. I'm also partial to this episode because one of my favorite ultra runners, The Mirnavator, is a guest. (photo from her site)

Thanks as always for reading and being part of the BOSLady community,

Amber