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With special thanks to Georgia-Pacific's AV team, we are able to share this video of the full IWD 2022 program with you:

The "Fearless Girl" statue was installed on March 7, 2017—the day before International Women's Day by State Street Global Advisors. It depicts a girl four feet high, promoting female empowerment, and it is located at Broad Street across from the New York Stock Exchange Building in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City.  

​Click here for details. 

Click here to view the article by Maria Saporta in the Saporta Report. 

"International Women’s Day program explores gains losses for women"

March 3 2022 7:59 pm

"1 million women left the labor force. Here's what many are doing now"Mar 9, 2022, 1:14pm EST Updated: Mar 9, 2022, 2:11pm EST

​When Malika Sylvain lost her job in August 2020 as head of operations and strategic planning for YearUp Atlanta, she did what many people did during COVID-19 lockdowns, she began “decluttering her home.”

Then, she turned her attention to other people’s houses, and soon realized she was onto something—a new business. She launched Shared Demands, LLC, a personal organization and lifestyle concierge company in December 2020.

“We’re more than a year in, and I’m booked,” said Sylvain who spent much of her career working for nonprofits.
Sylvain is one of thousands of Black women who became an entrepreneur during the pandemic out of necessity. Women of color were more than twice as likely to start a new business because of financial concerns or a layoff, according to a Gusto-NAWBO survey.
“A couple of years ago, minority women startups accounted for just 27% of all new companies. During the pandemic, it jumped to 47%,” said Qaadirah Abdur-Rahim, chief equity officer and executive director of the City of Atlanta, citing the Gusto-NAWBO survey.

That trend is a “silver lining” in what has mostly been a difficult two years for working women, Abdur-Rahim said. More than 1 million women left the labor force between February 2020 and January 2022.

If starting a business during a global pandemic seems counter-intuitive, lending to one would also buck conventional wisdom.
But Grace Fricks, president and CEO of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE) has seen her organization grow “tremendously in the past two years.” Before the pandemic, ACE had 91 borrowers. Last year, it had 797.

The community development financial institution (CDFI) offers “capital, coaching and connections” to business owners who are typically underserved by mainstream lenders.

Fricks calls ACE “counter cyclical.” When traditional banks pull back because of perceived risk, that “creates an opportunity” for ACE.
Seizing opportunities often takes courage—a key quality for entrepreneurs.

“If I’m going to bet on anyone, I’m going to bet on myself,” said Tracey Grace, president and CEO of IBEX IT Business Experts. She started her IT consulting business on the heels of the Great Recession.

Now 10 years old, IBEX IT has 120 full-time employees. Its clients include hospitals, corporations and government agencies. Last year, the Inc. 5000 list named IBEX IT one of the fastest-growing small businesses in America.

Grace said during the pandemic, the company focused on training employees and building its back-office infrastructure. She anticipates once the pandemic ends, “the floodgates will open,” and she wants to be ready.

“The past two years have been especially hard for women,” Abdur-Rahim said. Women of color had some of the highest rates of job loss during the height of the coronavirus spread.

But women are “digging in and creating new opportunities,” said Abdur-Rahim who ran the nonprofit Future Foundation before joining Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ administration.

The increase in women-led startups has given women “more control of their work schedule” and financial well-being, Abdur-Rahim said.

Malika Sylvain’s Shared Demands, LLC organizing business tripled during the pandemic. After just 15 months in business, Sylvain sees an opportunity to branch out.

She said, Shared Closet Consignment will be “coming soon.”

In honor of International Women’s Day, “Closer Look" program host Rose Scott spoke with several Atlanta-based leaders for a roundtable group discussion about several topics. From left to right: with Paige Alexander, the CEO of The Carter Center; Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur, an Atlanta-based global activist and the communications division director and chief of staff in the Office of the CCO at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Michelle Nunn, the president and CEO of CARE USA. (Photo courtesy of the guest listed above)

Women from across the world are being celebrated in honor of International Women’s Day.

According to the International Women’s Day website, the global holiday seeks to shine the light on the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.  

This year’s theme #BreakTheBias calls for people to actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping.
Across social media platforms, people posted pictures of themselves with their hands forming an X shape to stand in solidarity.

On Tuesday’s edition of ‘Closer Look” program host Rose Scott talked with Paige Alexander, the CEO of the Carter Center; Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur, an Atlanta-based global activist and the communications division director and chief of staff in the Office of the CCO  at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Michelle Nunn, the president and CEO of CARE USA, about several topics, including how women are fairing globally amid the pandemic and how women are responding to the Ukraine crisis.

AJC Article: 
"Rahel Tsada made it into a metro Atlanta domestic violence shelter when there was still space.
It was late 2019, and the mother of two was pregnant with her third and desperate to leave the children’s father. He’d kept her from fleeing his abuse, she said, by hiding her green card, passport, other important documents and family photos. Tsada, a native of Ethiopia, needed the documents to work or to rent an apartment.

The Women’s Resource Center in DeKalb County took Tsada and her children in. The resource center saved her. “I feel like I have somebody who cares about me,” she said.
But if Tsada had tried to flee abuse now, she likely would have a much harder time finding space in a shelter around Atlanta or elsewhere in the state. COVID protocols have forced shelters to reduce capacity. Reports of domestic violence have also risen amid the pandemic, leaving many shelters weathering unprecedented need...." 

Click here for the full article. 

February 7, 2022
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The Winter Olympics kick off, Queen Elizabeth celebrates 70 years on the throne, and January’s jobs report shows the women’s employment crisis is far from over. Have a productive Monday. 

– Jobs report. For a few months, it seemed like the women’s employment crisis of the pandemic was easing. In October, women gained 57% of the jobs added to the economy. In November, Black women’s unemployment fell to 5%. In December, women’s labor force participation rose—even if that rate was still lower than it had been in decades. 

But whether the economic outlook is good or bad news for women always depends on which slice of data you’re looking at. Friday’s January jobs report made that clear once again. 

In January 2022, 27 times more men than women joined the labor force, according to an analysis by the National Women’s Law Center (which also provided the above analyses for the past few months.) Men have completely recouped pandemic employment losses, while 1.1 million fewer women are participating in the labor force than did in February 2020. Some more numbers: 39,000 women over age 20 joined the workforce last month, compared to 1 million men. The economy gained 467,000 jobs, but just 40% of those went to women. 

NWLC director of research Jasmine Tucker blames this disparity not just on the longtime pressures of the pandemic on women and caregivers, but particularly on the effects of the Omicron variant, which closed schools and childcare facilities yet again last month.

Speaking of those closures, the jobs report provided some insight into the country’s childcare providers; the sector gained 5,600 jobs in January, bringing the net number of childcare jobs lost since February 2020 to 131,200. 

For parents, it’s likely that none of this is surprising. Caregivers are the ones tracking every single daycare shutdown or day of unexpected remote learning. But for those who aren’t personally affected by year three of COVID caregiving, the jobs report is a good monthly reminder of just how serious these problems continue to be—and who they’re hitting the hardest. 

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

The Broadsheet, Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women, is coauthored by Kristen Bellstrom, Emma Hinchliffe, and Claire Zillman. Today’s edition was curated by Emma Hinchliffe. 

Hello! 
You are receiving this email because you have either contributed to or expressed an interest in the Afghan American Alliance of Georgiaand the urgent work that we are doing.  Many of you receiving this email are the backbone of our efforts.  We have good news to share with all of you. 

• We now have a website that explains who we are, the work that we are doing, and the support that is needed
• We are now a 501c3 organization, so donations are tax deductible as permitted by law
• For our supporters who have been so patient, our website now has a fully functional "donate" button!

It has been a very busy four months since we were incorporated, and it is now almost six months since Afghanistan fell and this humanitarian crisis began.  The families we are meeting have needs that are both basic and tremendous.  We are starting to see the physical and mental health toll that this has taken on parents, children and grandparents.  Families face challenges finding long term housing after they arrive, and without a stable address, they cannot start working or get their children enrolled in school.  It takes weeks to get children enrolled even after they move into their apartments.  There are very serious needs for dental care, which is hard to find and afford even if you have insurance.  And of course, there is a great sense of urgency to learn English and find jobs.

The AAAGA has been working to provide basic necessities like furniture, clothing, shoes and household items.  We help families move into their new homes when possible, and then follow up with a visit to see how we can further help.  Our first foray into this work was thanks to Ethaar, who brought us into their fold. We have since partnered with Inspiredu to help families get laptops so they can learn English and apply for jobs.  We work with ICNA Relief, who generously provides culturally appropriate food staples for families every month.  We were also able to collaborate with the Intensive English Program at Georgia State University to welcome and orient six female students who fled Afghanistan so they can continue their studies.  

We have been so fortunate to receive support from donors across the state and across religions (the Cooperative Baptist Ministries, Congregation Bet Haverim, the East Cobb Islamic Center, Ismaili CIVIC).  We still have a lot of work ahead of us, and we would appreciate you sharing this email within your networks.  If you have already donated items, funds or your time, thank you!  And if you haven't, please consider supporting our efforts, or that of our partners.

Thank you!

Hogai

Hogai G. Nassery, M.D.
CEO, Afghan American Alliance of Georgia 
hsnassery@gmail.com
www.afghanamericanallianceofga.org