Archive for the ‘ U.S. ’ Category

John Wood on Room to Read

Yesterday I attended a presentation by John Wood: former Microsoft executive, author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, and charismatic founder of Room to Read. Room to Read has been a phenomenon success in the social enterprise sphere – I actually first learned about Room to Read in a class at Brown University, but it was still extremely inspirational to hear the story firsthand from John. Thanks to Volunteering Qld/Business Roundtable for organizing this inspirational event!

A distilled three minute version of John’s hour-long presentation can be found on Youtube.

You can also catch a different hour-long talk by John on FORA.tv, which was delivered on August 2006 and included additional anecdotes about John’s literary/publishing experience.

2011
03/02
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U.S.
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It's Harder to Be Christian During Christmas in the States?

Ok, I admit that I mainly wanted to practice writing a “catchy” title for this post. I’m sure that people who know me are thinking something along the lines of “but you’re not even Christian!” And I’m not in the U.S. right now either. But I did just read a fantastic TIME article about how Christian church groups are standing up against the insane commercialization of Christmas in the States, offering some proof that this title might not be as outrageous as it appeared at first glance.

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2009
12/24
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Dining & Wine
Opinion
Travel
U.S.
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Volunteering @ White House Kitchen Garden

White House Kitchen Garden - WeedingBack in May this year me and a bunch of colleagues had the opportunity to volunteer at the White House Kitchen Garden – we basically spent a slightly drizzly half-day doing lots of weeding. Although it was a morning spent with good company, wonderful White House staff members, and also – Bo paid a surprise visit at the end! So overall, definitely was a memorable day. And as another work friend and I joked, the White House is one of those few places on Earth where people will line up to do chores like weeding or sweeping (if such opportunity were readily available!)

It took me a while to get photos from that day for posting, but here they are, finally! đŸ˜€

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2009
08/28
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Home & Garden
U.S.
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Previously Convicted Felons Barred from Stimulus Employment in Virginia? Part Four (Final)

Four days ago I received the final response to a question that I had stumbled upon almost two months ago – are there employment restrictions against people with past criminal histories for stimulus projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? Somewhat on a whim, I decided to see if I could uncover the answer to this question by sending inquiries to the Department of Energy, Virginia State Government, and the Department of Labor, because the anecdote I had heard involved Virginia county agencies preventing previously convicted felons from being employed on stimulus-funded energy projects. One by one, thoughtful responses slowly came back from all the agencies I had contacted, and all of the answers were an overwhelming NO – there are NO POLICY RESTRICTIONS against employing previously convicted felons on stimulus projects.

If you are aware of a stimulus project in your community that bars ex-offenders, I would highly urge you to report the incident to Government Accountability’s FraudNet, or contact relevant agencies’ Inspectors General as listed on Recovery.gov.

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2009
08/28
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Previously Convicted Felons Barred from Stimulus Employment in Virginia? Part Three

Last week I got a short email from the Department of Labor stating that they’ve forwarded my request to the appropriate office, so still waiting for the final word there on whether Labor has some sort of policy that would prevent previously convicted felons from being employed on stimulus-funded projects. I also received a more definite letter from Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy that was sent on July 14. See relevant excerpts below; bolded emphases are mine.

Thank you for your email to Governor Kaine regarding any Virginia policy or regulation that precludes convicted felons from working on energy-related stimulus-funded projects in the Commonwealth. He has asked the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to respond to you on his behalf.

We have researched your question which included contacting the Virginia Department of Correctional Education, the agency that deals with occupational licensure for people with past criminal convictions. We were unable to discover any such blanket restriction in Virginia law. There is no such restriction in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants that this department has received.

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2009
07/28
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Previously Convicted Felons Barred from Stimulus Employment in Virginia? Part Two

Following up on my previous post about trying to find the legislative source of the restriction against barring previously convicted felons for stimulus projects in Virginia… the Department of Labor’s Recovery site proved to be much more impenetrable and less citizen-friendly when it comes to trying to find an answer to a specific question. In comparison to the Department of Energy’s Recovery site, which had clear links to the “Ask an Expert” clearinghouses and toll-free number that you can call, Labor’s “Contact Us” link led me to several pages of long links and left me rather confused as to where I should send my inquiry to.

After quite a bit of clicking and reading, I decided to try the emailing the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), since they’re supposed to be responsible for providing “policy guidance and direction for ARRA funding for activities authorized under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Subtitle D, Section 166, Native American Programs, National Emergency Grants (NEGs), the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), and the Wagner-Peyser Act.” Close enough, maybe?

On the other hand, I was happy to see that Virginia’s Recovery site not only looked very modern and sleek, but also had a great contact link in the top nav that took me to a email web form. So I sent in my inquiry to Governor Kaine’s office – and will keep my fingers crossed for responses back.

My feeling is that Labor as a national agency probably doesn’t have a restriction against employing previously convicted felons for stimulus-funded projects. If there is indeed some such policy in place, I’d expect it to be from Virginia’s state/local government. For now I’ll just have to wait and see –

This is part two of four in the “Previously Convicted Felons Barred from Stimulus Employment in Virginia?” series. Follow the discussion through parts one, two, three, and four.

2009
07/07
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U.S.
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Previously Convicted Felons Barred from Stimulus Employment in Virginia? Part One

This past Tuesday I learned that Virginian county agencies are preventing companies from employing previously convicted felons for stimulus projects (e.g. the low-income weatherization program) funded by the Recovery Act – also known as the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress in February. This saddened me on several levels – firstly, if there is indeed policy that’s preventing people with past criminal histories from trying to turn their lives around, what’s the incentive for ANYONE in those situations to try and improve their lives? Secondly, if business owners are hiring previously convicted felons to try to give them a second lease on life, such a policy would not only prevent this from happening but would also mean that businesses would have to rehire/replace their workforce for Recovery-funded projects ONLY, which doesn’t make any sense at all. Thirdly, many previously convicted felons have families that they need to support too. Why punish their families? I can only imagine that people with criminal records find it difficult enough on a regular basis to find jobs to support themselves and/or their families. Why should the stimulus bill make it harder for these people?

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2009
07/03
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Anthony Rapp Talk on Rent and LGBT in the Arts!

rent-posterI got to hear Anthony Rapp give a speech today!!

Who is Anthony Rapp, you might ask, and does the above statement really warrant two exclamation marks?

Well, Anthony Rapp was one of the original cast members of Rent, the musical – he played the role of Mark Cohen. As Rent is one of my favorite musicals ever (and I did not plan or expect to go to hear him speak today), my excitement was tremendous. And when I found out through this event that he and Adam Pascal (another original cast member) was on tour for Rent and they would be performing at the Warner Theater until May 31st, my excitement meter simply went through the roof. Needless to say I’ve purchased tickets for a Saturday performance. It’ll be my third watching of the show, and I can’t wait!

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2009
05/29
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Arts
Theater
U.S.
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