My Favorite Things

I’m back to feeling a little overwhelmed.

It’s different from when this pandemic and shutdown first started. Now I’m overwhelmed by ideas, innovation and inspiration.

I keep losing emails. Because my inbox is flooded with invitations to Zoom webinars with my favorite leaders, authors and investment minds. There are GoFundMe campaigns for mask delivery initiatives and charitable giving match opportunities with my favorite non-profits. And I haven’t even gotten to all the creative ideas and thought-provoking articles in my social media feeds.

There can be too much of a good thing.

When I feel overwhelmed, pen and paper helps me focus. So I sat down and wrote five headers. Under each, I wrote my favorite ideas. They’re the ones I’m connecting to and sharing with friends.

And I want to share them with all of you. For the moment, these are my favorite things.

GIVE

I always look for ways to maximize giving and connect the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Here are three great ideas from Connecting Growth Globally partners:

• Take advantage of this limited time match from U.S.-based investors in Room to Read’s global education efforts. Why the urgency? Because with 1.5 billion children out of school globally, girls from poverty-stricken areas are, in particular, at risk.

• Boston-based Partners in Health is on the front lines of responding to the urgent COVID-19 needs of the most vulnerable globally. Right here at home, the State of Massachusetts even brought them in to help scale up COVID-19 contact tracing. If you’re looking to make one impactful emergency COVID donation, this is a great choice.

• Room to Read founder John Wood and wife Amy Powell recently launched Operation Mask-Lift, connecting suppliers with masks to the hospitals and healthcare workers most in need. It’s an inspiring example of using your superpower for good. Here’s how to support the ongoing effort (GoFundMe).

There’s a wall of need right now. If you can, give. And if you have a donor-advised fund, I challenge you to push forward your granting.

INVEST

We’re thinking differently about a lot of things. It’s a great time to consider how to be more purposeful and impactful in your investing.

Where to start? Check out The Conscious Investor, offering practical solutions towards plotting your journey. Start with their Guide to ESG Investing, and learn from the stories and tips from traditional-turned-impact investor, Jennifer Kenning (pictured, right).

One of my favorite impact investments are fixed income and cash investment strategies through CNote. Because they partner exclusively with federally-certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Low-Income Designated (LID) Credit Unions, I know my investments support small businesses in the U.S. economically hit by COVID-19.

Take one or two small impactful investing steps and I guarantee you’ll find yourself taking others.

CELEBRATE

We all feel for the Class of 2020.

I have a number of graduates in my life (who happen to be female). To celebrate their achievements, I’m gifting necklaces from Penh Lenh. We visited their workshop and retail store on my last (only two months ago?) CGG Experience to Cambodia. I love the Penh Lenh story and gorgeous products, handcrafted in Phnom Penh by female artisans working to build a life for themselves and families. It’s a way to connect and celebrate a Gen Z that seeks to spend, invest and live more purposefully.

Ready to treat yourself to some new clothes to up your game while retaining the comfort of your sweats? Check out Dorsu. It’s fashion intentionally and ethically-produced in Cambodia…and their online store is now 30% off.

CONNECT

One graduate I’m celebrating is my Rwandan mentee who will soon graduate from Tufts University.

The world benefits from greater female leadership, and becoming a SHE-CAN mentor to a young woman from Cambodia, Liberia or Guatemala selected to attend university in the U.S. is one of the best ways you can bring global connection to your life. New mentor teams are forming now—here’s how to learn more.

Connection can be a whole family affair. I’ve been assembling my family tree on Ancestry for over a decade; it’s built to over 5000 people and 3000 photos. It’s connected me to childhood cousins and distant relatives in Poland; through DNA, Ancestry introduces me to new people and shows us how we connect.

The more we each share, the more we learn.

There’s never been a better time to work on this meaningful, fun family puzzle. Ancestry offers everything from free AncestryK12® lesson plans, online tutorials, and now free access to U.S. National Archive records. Try it with a 14-day free trial.

LEARN

There are endless opportunities to expand our learning—from podcasts to books, from online courses to museums. It’s a little overwhelming.

Here are two resources I’ve enjoyed pertinent to us all:

• If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that we need improved media literacy. That’s the mission of Ad Fontes Media, seeking to make news consumers smarter and the news media better. I’m obsessed with their ever-improving Interactive Media Bias Chart® which plots news sources based on reliability and bias. It takes a polarizing, complex topic and views it objectively. I applaud Ad Fontes’ outstanding resources for educators and parents to help teach younger people to be more media literate (more on my own battle with media bias).

• The Global Mentor Network‘s mission is building the next generation of principled, transformational leaders. They’ve been hosting free Ask a Mentor LIVE Q&As, with Thuy Vu interviewing accomplished leaders ranging from Khan Academy’s Sal Khan to retired U.S. Army General Stan McChrystal. It’s rare, unparalleled access—check out past and upcoming events via Ask a Mentor LIVE.

Give, invest, learn, connect and celebrate.

Ultimately, my favorite things are inspiring, innovative people. They are found the world over. We can’t travel to connect in person right now.

So forget the email I just lost in my inbox. I’m grateful to reconnect and share my favorite things.

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