$900,000! For an individual, this is a life changing amount of money. And yet, this is the monetary impact to the average Black woman over the course of her lifetime of work resulting from the wage gap, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

“Where have all the people gone?” I have continued to get this question that I’m sure you have asked – or been asked – related to workforce shortages. In our organizations we feel it daily. A recent article from Fortune caught my eye.

For many people, August is a time of transition. Students are preparing to return to school, teachers and professors are preparing to welcome students and facilitate their growth during this year of learning, and parents are trying to determine how to manage their roles as logistics specialists and juggle professional and personal lives.

As a high schooler, I ran track and field. I typically ran independent events – such as the 1- and 2-mile – that depended solely on my efforts in the race and on my own investment in training.

Moments of transition are always a time for reflection. And so, I find myself waxing nostalgic as I pass the baton to our new executive director.

As we wrap up one sign of transition — another school year in the books — it feels like aspects of life in the U.S. have stabilized.

I always love this time of year, and in Colorado it truly feels like spring.

The big news around Together We Grow is that our posting to hire a new Executive Director is live!

As we start this new year, I’ve been honored to join my Colorado State University System colleagues in opening a brand new campus in the heart of downtown Denver called CSU Spur.

2021. Whew! It’s been a year. You’ll see evidence of some of my favorite Together We Grow highlights further below in this newsletter, but in the meantime here are a few of my favorites.

We’re entering the season of gratitude. That time of year when we create pause in the bustle and arrange spaces and tables to celebrate the people in our lives. We cross distances, both physical and perceived, to share something together that we hope will be meaningful.

I love this time of year. For starters, my kids are back in school. While I hold my breath to see how long that may remain, I am grateful to have some sense of normalcy (and a significantly quieter house while we continue to work from home).

It’s late July as I write this update, and I’m thinking about the color red.

As we transition to warmer months, I’m thinking about our academic partners and the challenging and amazing year you have just pulled off. Congratulations, you did it!

Where I live, in Colorado, the trees have begun to bloom, the grass has finally greened, and after a season of storms and confinement, it does feel that the world is opening, if even a little bit, sowing seeds of hope.

There is much to be hopeful about right now. Vaccinations. Continued innovations. And the transformational energy that comes with spring.  

I so enjoyed listening to Dr. Elizabeth Parks last month as she discussed the art and science of ethical, sustainable listening — and the ways that we often miss one another.

2021 has those of us who are leading culture change within our organizations and this industry looking at the agenda for the year with awe.

Somehow this year is already coming to an end, and this is our final newsletter of 2020. And what a year it has been!