e-Newsletter: February 2007
New Faces at Level Playing Field Institute
Level Playing Field Institute is excited to announce our new team members. Read about them below:
Angela Lintz, Ph.D., Director of Higher Education Programs
Dr. Angela Lintz is Director of Higher Education Programs at the Level Playing Field Institute, where she oversees efforts to empower post secondary students, primarily through the IDEAL Scholars Program. She is a scholar of urban and comparative education, and has dedicated her career to expanding higher education access, particularly for historically underrepresented and low income students.
Angela has held a number of impressive leadership positions, including Assistant Dean for Program Development in International and Area Studies at UC Berkeley, an Upward Bound directorship and an Early Academic Outreach Program assistant directorship, and national director of the High Tech High network of charter schools. She has served as a member of the Gates/Marshall Partnership Redesign Program Advisory Board, the Chabot Science Center Teacher Education Board, and the UCSD African and African American Studies Project Board.
The first generation on both sides of her family to attend college, Angela received her A.A. at Tacoma Community College, her B.A. at Smith College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. [ angela AT lpfi DOT org ]
Martha Kim, J.D., Associate Director of Research and Workplace Programs
As Associate Director of Research and Workplace Programs, Martha is responsible for managing qualitative research and preparing reports as well as developing workplace audits, training content, and programs in Second Life.
Prior to joining Level Playing Field Institute, Martha was a litigation associate at Dewey Ballantine LLP, where she worked primarily in matters of international antitrust and securities regulation. She also worked at McKinsey & Company and PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Management Consulting Services group. In addition, Martha was an intern at the Business and Legal Affairs Department of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in New York.
Martha received her B.A. in Political Science in 1999 from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was the keynote speaker at the Chancellor’s Annual Scholarship Reception. Her research as a Ronald McNair Scholar, regarding racial discrimination in the National Football League (NFL) and how it is a microcosm for discrimination in society at-large, was published by the University of California. Martha received her J.D. in 2003 from the University of Michigan Law School, where she served as a Research Associate to the Assistant Dean of the School of Public Policy and received an award for Best Oral Argument.
Marco Corona, Development Associate
Marco Corona is the Development Associate for Level Playing Field Institute, working directly with the Director of Development to raise funds and increase the sustainability of the higher education programs, the Summer Math & Science Honors (SMASH) Academy and the Initiative for Diversity in Education and Leadership (IDEAL) Scholars Program. Previously, Marco worked for Best Buddies, a non-profit enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, as the Deputy Director of Programs for the state of California.
Marco attended UCLA and received degrees in Sociology and Chicana/o Studies. During his time there, he was heavily involved in education and youth-based non-profits, providing peer and college advising to high school students, tutoring elementary schools students, and was a head counselor and hike leader for UCLA UniCamp, a camp for low income and at-risk youth. Marco’s drive to make a difference has not diminished since those days, but instead, has only grown stronger.
Most weekends, you can find Marco watching English Premier League games, specifically Manchester United, playing soccer, reading, going to the movie theater, and on occasion, hiking.
Alma Olmos, Program Associate, SMASH
Alma is a Program Associate for SMASH, where her primary responsibility is to provide administrative support to the SMASH Director and assist with coordinating program activities for the SMASH students. Before coming to the Level Playing Field Institute, she worked as a tutor at the East Oakland Boxing Association. Alma grew up in Santa Ana, CA, where she attended Orange Coast College and received an A.A. She transferred to UC Berkeley where she graduated with a B.A. in English Literature and a B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology. Alma has worked with SMASH for two summers, first as Teacher’s Assistant and then as a Resident Advisor the following year. Alma enjoys empowering underrepresented youth through mentoring and tutoring. Other interests include traveling to Mexico where she visits her huge family.
Terence Hawley, J.D., Board Member
Terence is a partner at Reed Smith, where he focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, including financial services, real estate and intellectual property cases in the state and federal courts. He also serves as the firm-wide Dean of Reed Smith’s School of Professional Support, which develops and implements training programs for the over 1,100 non-lawyers on the firm’s staff. He has been recognized by The East Bay Business Times in its "40 Under 40" business leaders article.
Terence, a native of Berkeley, went to Berkeley High School, did his undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley, and earned his J.D. from UC Berkeley as well. He has been involved with IDEAL since 2002, serving on its board, being a member of the selection committee, and speaking at IDEAL retreats. He had also been a key connection in introducing UC Berkeley alumni of color to IDEAL and Level Playing Field Institute as well as being a resource in locating summer internships for IDEAL scholars. Terrence joined the Level Playing Field Institute board in late 2006.
SMASH students with astronaut Rusty Schweickart, who served on the Apollo 9 mission.
SMASH is Taking Off!
SMASH students are already out in the world in 2007 attending exciting events. In January, SMASH students attended a Luncheon Society roundtable in Berkeley on Near Earth Objects and the dangers they pose, where they learned from and mingled with a distinguished guest list of American Astronauts and Russian Cosmonauts. In addition, a group of SMASH students also attended the 2nd Annual Tutor24 Summit at Stanford University, where they took part in demonstrations by Nobel Prize winning scientists, visited world class laboratories, and interacted with science and engineering doctoral candidates, faculty, and researchers.
After the events, students had so much to say. Allan Gamboa reflected on his experience learning and meeting accomplished astronauts and cosmonauts at the Luncheon Society event:
There come opportunities in every person’s life that he or she cannot simply ignore or pass up. These once in a lifetime events will probably never be available to the specific individual again. The Luncheon Society [event] was just such an opportunity. When offered the chance to dine and speak with some of the most reputable names in space voyage history, there was no way I could say no. I gained much from this extraordinary experience. I received the opportunity to network with distinguished people, I learned about the dangers of near earth objects, and I also savored some of the best food in my entire life.
Being some of the most reputable names in space voyage history, these individuals held many networking possibilities. From Reda Anderson I learned of a possible scholarship opportunity for high school student interested in majoring in space studies. Simply to leave some type of imprint in the minds such significant people is great in itself; who knows when knowing these individuals will come in useful?
The purpose of the luncheon was to educate many of the attendants about possible collision between the earth and asteroids, and also to raise funds for this group of people who dedicate much of their time and effort to the prevention of such an event…Being a "space enthusiast," the general subject greatly interested me…
The luncheon society was an incredible opportunity. I met exceptional people, I learned truly interesting facts, and I had the best meal of my life. It was both an unreal and intimidating experience. It’s hard to relax when surrounded with brilliant people with impeccable table etiquette. I still can’t believe that I actually willed myself to ask a question.
Re-charting the Course of Diversity and Inclusivity in Corporate America
Despite corporate America spending an estimated $8 billion a year on diversity training, subtle bias is still causing people of color, GLBT individuals and women to voluntarily leave professional jobs. The reason: Businesses have failed to make the deep cultural changes that are necessary for embracing diversity. In 2007, Level Playing Field Institute is implementing several key initiatives to address this issue: "Corporate Leavers" Research, "TILT," and Services & Training.
"Corporate Leavers" Research
Understanding how workplace culture and subtle barriers affect both employees and employers is a critical first step to retaining high performing talent. To meet that need, we are conducting the first national quantitative study to uncover the role that subtle bias plays in the reasons why professionals – especially people of color, women and GLBT individuals – leave their jobs in corporations and professional service firms. The ground breaking research examines the financial impact that companies experience when employees feel devalued or excluded in the workplace.
The data from this rigorous survey will be complemented by the extensive qualitative research we are collecting on why people choose to leave professional jobs. Conducted via the Web, phone and in-person, the study is expected to provide hundreds of detailed stories that will ultimately influence the creation of best practices, tools and training programs for helping corporate America and professional service firms make a course correction that will create more welcoming workplaces. People interested in sharing their own corporate leavers stories can visit www.corporateleavers.org/gen. A "Corporate Leavers" website incorporating this research will soon be launched.
"Tilt"
In late 2007, Jossey-Bass will publish "Tilt," a riveting study on who leaves corporate America and why, authored by Level Playing Field Institute founder, Dr. Freada Kapor Klein. "Tilt" combines groundbreaking quantitative research with stories of the day-to-day experiences of professionals and managers, and documents – for the first time – the hard costs of voluntary turnover attributable to hidden barriers in the workplace. The "Corporate Leavers" themselves tell their stories, letting their employers know what could have been done differently to keep them.
Services and Training
Level Playing Field Institute provides expert consulting, research and training services to companies who are serious about creating inclusive, welcoming workplaces. As exclusive partners to Harvard-based Project Implicit and innovators in using virtual worlds for immersive diversity training, we provide corporations and professional services firms with customized approaches to training, where measuring the impact of interventions is key. If you are interested in transforming the culture of your organization, please contact us at 415-946-3030.
Ten exciting Level Playing Field Institute achievements in 2006 (in no particular order):
- SMASH student podcasters won Best Education Podcast Award
- Graduated our second class of IDEAL scholars from UC Berkeley
- Cut down on the number of canine "accidents" in our dog-friendly office
- Took our first step into leveling the playing field in the virtual world of Second Life – be on the lookout for us in Second Life in 2007
- Kicked off a $2 Million Funding Challenge to bring 50% more students into IDEAL by 2010
- Upped parent involvement in SMASH, and now have a parent planning committee that organizes events
- Added four new employees and two new board members to our team
- Collaborated with 10 professional organizations and collected stories from over 150 individuals in our research on "Corporate Leavers"
- Drank over a 2,000 cups of coffee
- Raised $604,924!
Tidbits
- Level Playing Field Institute was featured in a story in Benefit Magazine
- IDEAL Scholar Rulette Mapp was named the recipient of the Celia J. Peeler Memorial Award for the 2006-2007 academic year
- AT&T gave $25,000 to IDEAL