The Future of Work is Diverse, Inclusive, Just and Equitable
GlobalMindED closes the equity gap by creating a capable, diverse talent pipeline through connections to role models, mentors, internships for low-income students, returning adults, First Gen to college and inclusive leaders who teach them, work with them and hire them.
|
|
April is STEM Month and we celebrate the leaders in our community who are making a difference in this important field, impacting health, science, space, technology are the arts and creativity which intersect yielding innovations that improve our world. |
|
Creative Analytics Guru Defies Conventional Wisdom: Meet Dr. Yustina Saleh, Managing Director of Innovation Solutions, The Burning Glass Institute
The brain works in mysterious ways. And the brain of a child getting uprooted from a culture time and again - to never feel she quite belongs - can become the epitome of paradox. Longing for belonging, yet unapologetically rebelling against all norms. Brutally logical and quantitative, and yet imaginative, artistic, and defiant of conventional wisdom. An analytics guru who only shines when she dances with data on the largest stage ever – a world of disjointed people, work, opportunity, and value.
I was born in Austin, Texas to an Egyptian family; my dad was pursuing his doctorate in structural engineering at the University of Texas, Austin. When I turned 5, I went back to Egypt, carrying dual citizenship, which bred too many identities within me. I come from a family of engineers. My mom, who was also an engineer, viewed mastery of math as the most feminist act. My brain was naturally very quantitative, and so when I got admitted to the American University in Cairo, I gravitated towards STEM fields, engineering, and computer science. And yet, I had a keen eye and uncanny interest in people’s behavior and social systems. Still, I always felt like an outsider to the culture and was accused of being “too liberal,” “too westernized,” and “too emboldened.”
At college, I was like a person starving for every flavor of knowledge, oscillating between STEM and social science majors. I ended up majoring in economics and political science, with a strong focus on econometrics and statistics. The college course catalog was my nightly reading; I mined it daily to find courses to fulfill both parts of my brain and to optimize my chances of graduating on time with too many “intended” majors. That was when my passion for developing skill-based, personalized, and optimized career pathway tools started.
Shortly after graduating college, I decided to move back to the USA. Afraid to change my mind, or for my family to stop me, I packed and left in 10 days. I was 24 and alone when I moved to New York City with only two pieces of luggage–one filled with clothing and the other with my most treasured possessions, my books. I soon understood that I didn’t fit in here either. Then I realized something–neither did any woman or any person in NYC. We were all misfits, and we were proud of it. I am still proud of it.
When I first started grad school here, I heard about a research assistant opportunity that required strong quantitative skills. I had no references, and no experience in the US. I begged to get that job. I was already working 3 jobs to make ends meet, but I offered to do this job for free. It ended up being a $12/hour job where I probably worked 40 hours a week and got paid only for 19 hours, but it was the best career investment I made. It paid off tremendously. Five years later, by some kind of coincidence, I found myself as the head of the Labor Market Information Division for the State of New Jersey. Twenty months later, the Great Recession took us all by surprise. With this sudden onslaught of responsibility, I discovered within myself a power and a voice for transformation that I didn’t know I had. I excavated a completely unstructured database of job descriptions from a vendor’s trash bin and ended up developing the first real-time labor supply/demand analytics products in the nation. The two sides of my brain were in full harmony at last; data science meets imaginative vision, giving birth to a full paradigm shift in workforce development. That paradigm became a foundation for all workforce development within the state.
Shortly after, I partnered with Matt Sigelman, the then-CEO of Burning Glass Technologies, in inventing the field of real-time job market intelligence. And it all started from a whiteboard in my conference room at the Department of Labor in Trenton. Mining data scraped from the internet (that most people thought only belonged to a trash bin) was viewed as scientifically blasphemous and borderline suicidal from a professional point of view. But I had been trained in the art of non-conformity all my life. Not only am I a woman, but I have an accent and look different from others in most rooms. Colleagues at times would comment on my impatience, the impossibility of doing what I was doing, or even make snarky comments about how I approach scientific methodology (choosing value and meaning, at times, over statistical rigor). In response, I smile. Rather than feeling self-doubt, I feel more emboldened. And I won’t stop.
If there is any advice I can humbly share with a rising leader in science and technology, it would be to fall in love with the problem, not the solution. Don’t be afraid to knit your own unique story and perspective into the solutions you are building. Leave your office and your elegant algorithms and designs and dare to experience the frustrations of the people who need the solutions you are building. Let that frustration guide your efforts and your solutions. As a person who is dedicated to promoting equity through connecting people with opportunity, I find the GlobalMindED community a perfect venue for inspiration, and an ideal platform to test and advance new product ideas.
You can connect with Dr. Saleh on her LinkedIn or Twitter and you can attend her session on the Global Work Skills track at GlobalMindED June 8, 9 in Denver. |
|
Join us in Denver June 7-9 for GlobalMindED 2023
Register Today, Prices Go Up May 1st
|
|
This unique event builds the bridge for students of all ages from education to employment and promotion pathways. If you are an educational leader or faculty, you can attend and also bring one or more students with you.
See the K-12, Higher Education, STEAM, and Health tracks below.
For more on the conference experience, watch this brief video by The PhD Project, and check out the 2022 Program
The 2022 Conference:
- 800+ attendees
- 140 students from 41 universities/colleges
- 300+ speakers from 65 universities/colleges and 47 businesses
- 130 universities/colleges represented
- Majority of panels featured at least one student
- 74 % diverse speakers
|
|
Congratulations to the 2023 GlobalMindED Inclusive Leader Award Winners!
Celebrate them in Denver on Wednesday June 7 at 7:00 pm to open the 2023 GlobalMindED Conference.
We will recognize the most inclusive leaders in these key categories for their innovations and bold actions to promote access and equity for women, people of color, and underrepresented populations in their recruiting, development, in senior management, on their boards, and in their pipeline strategies from education to employment.
You can use the QR codes below or register here for the dinner and/or the conference
|
|
We are delighted to announce the following Inclusive Leader Award Winners:
Early Childhood Education:
Miriam Calderon, Chief Policy Officer, ZERO TO THREE
K-12 Education:
Dr. David Miyashiro, Superintendent, Cajon Valley Union School District
Higher Education:
Carrie Billy, President & CEO, American Indian Higher Education Consortium
Government:
Afua Bruce, Founder & Principal, ANB Advisory Group
Health & Wellness:
Dr. Elena Rios, President and CEO, National Hispanic Medical Association
Banking & Finance:
Hassan Salem, Head of Commercial Banking, U.S. Bank
Energy & Sustainability:
Mary Nichols, Professor in Residence, UCLA Institute of the Environment
Space & Aerospace:
Greg Robinson, Webb Space Telescope Program Director, NASA
Technology:
Michael Campbell, General Manager, EdTech Innovation & Transformation, Intel
Entrepreneurship:
Diego Mariscal, CEO and Chief Disabled Person, 2Gether-International
Media & Arts:
Mario Carrera, President & CEO, CLLARO
Foundations & Funders:
Nasruddin Rupani, Chairman, Ibn Sina Foundation, RUPANI Foundation
Non-Profit:
Kimberly Bryant, Founder, Black Girls CODE
Leadership & Equity:
Guillermo Diaz Jr., Founder & CEO, Conectado Inc
Global Impact:
Rosanna Durruthy, VP, Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, LinkedIn
|
|
If you missed STEM Stars: Stellar Success Stories
STEM students need to see themselves in the leaders they can become. Dr. Ryan Ross interviews leaders who are role models for the emerging talent pipeline of STEM students who will lead our nation and our world.
You can meet many of these leaders at the conference June 7-9 in Denver.
|
|
 |
STEM Stars: Stellar Success Stories, a Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable presentation Click HERE to view
|
|
|
|
Dr. Ryan Ross; Assoc. V. Chancellor Student Affairs, Equity, & Inclusion, Colorado Community College System
Praveen Mamnani, Co-Founder and CEO, Ninja Focus
Tommie Pittman, Founder and CEO, Global Diversified Biosystems
Trina Jefferson, Systems Engineer Sr, Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space
Natasha Herring, Senior Client Success Manager, EnergyHub
Patty Beach, Chief Executive Officer, LeadershipSmarts
|
|
|
|
|
Female College Presidents: Breaking Barriers in Higher Education, a Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable presentation Click HERE to view
|
|
|
|
Dr. Ryan Ross; Assoc. V. Chancellor Student Affairs, Equity, & Inclusion, Colorado Community College System
with:
Dr. Colleen Simpson, President
Front Range Community College
Dr. Cynthia Lindquist, President
Cankdeska Cikana Community College
Dr. Rochelle Ford, President
Dillard University
Sandra J. Doran, JD, President
Bay Path University
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
