1 day agoMember-onlySpace as Social Worker: How the Built Environment Impacts Health and Transforms LivesBeauty may be in the eye of the beholder but is its appreciation contingent on the beholder’s social status? Not according to the founders of nonprofit housing developer, Skid Row Housing Trust (the Trust), who believe both that the homeless are no different from the housed and that our innate capacity to respond to beauty can provide a solution to one of society’s most rapidly growing and pressing problems — the swelling number of individuals living on the streets.Arts9 min readArts9 min read
1 day agoMember-onlyL.A. Residential — LA 2030 and Blade RunnerA week ago — in 2010, when I first wrote this! — Newsweek published “L.A. Residential,” an essay showcasing the work of three prominent architectural firms tasked with envisioning a Los Angeles of 2030. The three firms were asked to consider how the built environment would influence the way in…Arts4 min readArts4 min read
1 day agoMember-onlyOur Ambivalence with the Arts makes Bad Education and Economic Policy.Our Ambivalence with the Arts makes Bad Education and Economic Policy. With a new Los Angeles mayor taking office this month, I thought I would recycle this essay from over a decade ago when outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti took office. On October 13, 1996, the LA Times quoted several prominent…Art4 min readArt4 min read
Oct 22, 2021Member-onlyStreet Art: A Window Into a City’s Soul … so why not Los Angeles?Street Art: A Window Into a City’s Soul … so why not Los Angeles? This post was published first published on the Huffington Post in 2010. Around the world artists give voice to those who want to create change in their cities. …Street Art5 min readStreet Art5 min read
May 26, 2021Member-onlyThanks for the Advice — Now Please Promote MeI wrote this in 2013 for the Huffington Post. In 2013 we flirted with the concept that women deserved equal space in the business sector. Now we march with that idea and I hope this opinion piece adds to the conversation! We’ve all heard the saying: You can teach a…Women3 min readWomen3 min read
Dec 5, 2019Member-onlyThe MBFA — the New and Necessary Degree I Just Invented to Save the WorldIn 2005, Daniel Pink wrote The Coming Right Brain Economy, an article in the Harvard Business Review, where he declared that MBA graduates are becoming this century’s blue-collar workers — people who entered a workforce that was full of promise only to see their jobs move overseas. …Education6 min readEducation6 min read
Oct 25, 2019Member-onlyGrowing Up vs Growing OldRemembering to jump over cracks in the sidewalk … I recently bought a new toy for my 11 year old cat, Rashi, a string on a stick. The string on a stick was an instant success as evidenced by his pouncing from under chairs and running after me as the…Play4 min readPlay4 min read
Oct 20, 2019Member-onlyA Smile a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: The Role of Joy in the Face of SadnessAfter eight years of working in the charity sector, having founded an arts-based school for homeless youth, I left to put little ceramic feet on ceramic cereal bowls. I can’t think of a more frivolous thing to do after having saved lives (or at least contributed to their saving) than…Homeless4 min readHomeless4 min read
Oct 20, 2019Member-onlyI Shop, Therefore I am. Can Objects Make Us Happy?Products are instrumental accessories to our lives. They help us peel our fruit, brush our teeth, run our errands and wake us up. But can they make us happy? A well-known rap star stated that on tour he always carries with him a token item that brings him good luck…Consumerism4 min readConsumerism4 min read
Sep 26, 2019Member-onlyBoutique Hotels, Millennial Branding and the Well Packaged NonprofitOne reason for the growth of boutique hotels, said Henry H. Harteveldt, travel analyst for Forrester Research, is a reaction by travelers against large hotels that are much the same. “Everybody pays attention to design,” Mr. Harteveldt continued. “People like things a little bit different, offbeat. …Nonprofit4 min readNonprofit4 min read
