e-Newsletter: October 2007
Lux Award honorees UC Berkely Chancellor Birgeneau and Eric Tate, Morrison & Foerster LLP Partner.
2007 Fairness Matters Gala
The 2007 Fairness Matters Gala was held on October 5th, 2007 at the City Club of San Francisco. Community members joined LPFI in honoring UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau and Morrison & Foerster LLP for their innovative approaches to fairness in higher education. The event raised $76,000 for LPFI’s education programs, the Summer Math & Science Honors Academy and the Initiative for Diversity in Education and Leadership Scholars Program. The event began with a reception and silent auction, followed by a dinner and awards show, and was capped off with dessert and dancing! Over 150 friends and supporters of LPFI were in attendance, making the evening the most successful event in LPFI history! We want to thank all of you who attended, as well as all of our event sponsors who made the event possible.
On October 5, 2007, a convening of individuals took place; there were academics, entrepreneurs, business people, students, fathers and mothers, and sons and daughters. The event, which was able to bring this diverse group of people together, was called the 2007 Fairness Matters Gala, Level Playing Field Institute’s (LPFI) annual celebration raising funds for its education programs, the Summer Math & Science Honors Academy (SMASH) and the Initiative for Diversity in Education and Leadership Scholars Program (IDEAL), and honoring leaders in our community for their innovative approach to fairness in education. This event showed everyone that you can fight for fairness while having the time of your life.
At the beginning of the evening, guests were treated to a cocktail reception with a silent auction, showcasing some of the finest restaurants, crafts, artists, collectibles, and resort packages from the Bay Area and around the country. Individuals were then directed up the stairs of the historic art deco City Club of San Francisco, passing a vivid and vibrant mural by Diego Rivera on the way, and took their seats for dinner and the awards program. This year, recipients of the annual Lux Awards included Morrison & Foerster LLP and UC Berkeley’s Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau, accepting on behalf of Morrison & Foerster was Eric Tate, Partner. Lux, a Latin word for light and illumination, provided the spirit of clarity and vision behind the awards. Upon receiving his award, Chancellor Birgeneau shared that out of all the illustrious awards he has received in the field of Physics, and there are many, it is the Lux Award that means the most to him. And in the spirit of fairness, Chancellor Birgeneau took this opportunity to express his dedication to the Development, Relief and Education for Aliens Minors Act (also known as “The DREAM Act”), which would allow undocumented students who have known no other home than the United States to be eligible for financial aid, as well as provide them with a direct bridge to citizenship upon graduating higher education or serving in the armed forces.
Alas, the event couldn’t last all night, and as the evening came to a close and this collective separated back out to individuals, driving back to their homes stretched out across the Bay Area, heading back to the familiar, they knew something different. There was something new. There was knowledge that they are now part of a community that shares one very simple, but very important, principle: fairness matters.
We would like to give special thanks to our corporate sponsors, without whom we could not have produced this event and raised $76,000 to go directly to our programs!
AAA of Northern California
Adelante Capital Management
Morrison & Foerster LLP
Orrick
PG&E
Reed Smith LLP
Wells Fargo Bank
Bid on an Incredible Resort Package to Benefit LPFI’s Education Programs!
Amid three hundred acres of wildflowers, rolling hills, wandering trails and a pair of lakes, the Twin Farms Resort and Spa in Barnard, Vermont, offers the best of the great English country house weekend. Twin Farms Resort has donated 2-nights accommodations in a luxury cottage, all meals, wines, liquor, and activities for two at their country estate. This package is valued at more than $4500, and as we auction it 100% of the proceeds will go directly to LPFI’s education programs for students of color. Noted in Gourmet Magazine, Wine Spectator, and rated by Zagat as the Best Small Hotel in America in 2006, you can have an amazing stay at Twin Farms while simultaneously giving to the Level Playing Field Institute. Click here to bid now!
Giving Notice in Bookstores!
Giving Notice: Why the Best and Brightest Leave the Workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay, by Freada Kapor Klein, is in bookstores beginning on October 19. Giving Notice is an eye-opening examination of the causes and dynamics of workplace bias, offering a psychological, political, and societal analysis of the actual cost of bias. Through three characters, which are composites of the thousands interviewed, Giving Notice makes the hurdles certain professionals face as personal to the reader as they are to those who face them. Giving Notice is filled with sensible approaches for solving the current imbalance and challenges us to rethink unconscious ideas about stereotypes and commonly accepted business practices.
Giving Notice has already received reviews and mentions in multiple publications and websites include the New York Post, the New York Times, Training & Development, CEO Reads and the Chicago Tribune.
David Blood, managing partner of Generation Investment Management and former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, states the book “should be required reading for anyone in the investment business.” Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor at Harvard Business School echoes Blood’s sentiments, stating that the book “tells it like it is and then tells it like it could be, offering every American a vision of workplaces that are good for people, companies and the economy.”
Giving Notice offers readers a comprehensive blueprint for understanding and correcting the thought errors that are rampant in many of today’s workplaces. The book challenges readers to re-examine their ideas about biases, barriers, stereotyping, and other forms of workplace unfairness, and to rethink “commonly accepted business practices” that will continue to hold US companies back, even as they begin to face severe talent shortages.
Giving Notice is available at bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and CEO Reads.
Workplace Program Launches the “Corporate Leavers” Website
LPFI’s Workplace Program is proud to announce the launch of its new Corporate Leavers website, www.corporateleavers.org. The website is an interactive site that illustrates the results of a groundbreaking study that aimed to identify and quantify hidden biases and barriers in the workplace. The site features stories from real-life corporate leavers, a calculator to determine the cost of unfairness to business, tips for creating more inclusive workplaces, a discussion forum and case studies.
Features of the site are gleaned from the Corporate Leavers Survey, a qualitative and quantitative study completed by LPFI in 2007. The quantitative portion, which began with a nationally representative sample of 19,000 participants, identifies the role of unfairness in voluntary employee turnover at the professional or managerial level. The qualitative portion is a collection more than 1,000 interviews of professionals and managers who experienced workplace unfairness. he website will launch on October 29th to coincide with the release of Freada Kapor Klein’s book, “Giving Notice.”
For more information about Corporate Leavers, please contact Martha Kim at [martha AT lpfi DOT org] or (415) 946-3027.
Ashley Johns (left) with Angelica Torres (right), 2nd Year SMASH Scholar.
Back to School Update
This month, we are looking at our education programs, specifically SMASH, through a different perspective, focusing on an unsung hero who ensures the safety and health of our students, as well as provides peace of mind to our parents. In this issue, one of our Summer Residential Advisors speaks out about her three year journey (thus far) with our students and what it means to her. In her own words, here is Ashley Johns:
Three years ago, no one could have told me that I would be completely devoted to a group of 91 high school students as if they were my own flesh and blood…no one! Before I began working with SMASH as a Resident Advisor, I couldn’t really understand why anyone would want to be a teacher, let alone of high school students. It seemed to be a frustrating job that didn’t pay well and caused so much stress for both parties; then I met the students of SMASH and it made sense! After my third summer, and having the immense pleasure of watching the class I came in with graduate, I understand the desire to make sure that these students have access to a wealth of knowledge that others can afford, but rarely appreciate. Their passion and drive to learn about math and science is inspiring and encouraging. What a joy it is to receive a phone call at least once a week from different scholars asking for help with their homework, advice in their personal lives, and/ or even to tell me about the A they earned in their math class! Not only have they taught me about what it is to be a good RA, but also what it is to be a good student and teacher. Never afraid to speak up and voice their confusion, concerns, and joys, these students are incredibly unforgettable and stand out in crowds of most college students. I look forward to the amazing discoveries the SMASH students—my students—will make in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related fields. I am incredibly proud to have been a part of their growth as young scholars and amazing people.
Ashley Johns
3rd year SMASH Resident Advisor
Level Playing Field Institute Welcomes New COO Keith Spindle
Kapor Enterprises, which provides services and support to the Level Playing Field Institute, has hired Keith Spindle as its new Chief Operating Officer. Keith’s responsibilities include leading the accounting, administration, human resources, and information technology functions, as well as ensuring that our workplace continues to reflect LPFI’s values.
Keith comes to us from the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, where he was the Chief Financial and Administration Officer. He also has almost 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector, including work at Walden House, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and the San Francisco Opera Association.
Keith anticipates that one of the most interesting aspects of his work with LPFI will be “observing the energy associated with [our] students.” He said, “With the help of SMASH and IDEAL, the students’ energy is focused on advancing their prospects for obtaining an excellent education and for creating networking, leadership, and career opportunities. I look forward to seeing the positive impact that SMASH and IDEAL have on the lives of young people participating in the programs.”