Hello! Every month, I share my favorite SmartBrief stories from the prior month.
I’m writing this on Easter. I was all set to hunker down at my laptop this afternoon to write this post when my husband and I got a last-minute invitation to join family we’ve barely seen over the past pandemic year for an afternoon of time together and dinner.
Therefore, I ask your forgiveness that this is a little more brief than usual. Look at it as a sort of lightning round. My favorite stories are still here, along with the stories that received the most clicks that month. I’ve limited myself to one sentence about why I chose the stories I’ve designated as my favorites.
Hippity, hoppity … here we go!
BoardSource
BoardSource CEO Anne Wallestad’s emphasis on the need to break with tradition to reduce inequities is something every nonprofit board member should take to heart.
BoardSource top March story: The dirty dozen of poor leadership
Business Transformation SmartBrief
Shimrit Perkol-Finkel sounds amazing; I wish she had been able to continue her work and I hope her legacy lives on.
Business Transformation SmartBrief top March story: What types of redress do colleges owe for slavery ties?
International City/County Management Association
The City Council installed Zoom backgrounds with “celebratory balloons” — I loved the sense of optimism and unity about this choice for city leadership
ICMA top March story: The top story for ICMA was the same as the top story for BoardSource, “The dirty dozen of poor leadership.” The second-place story was the same as my favorite — “Durham, N.C. council unanimous on new city manager.” That leaves “Leadership is about people. Don’t forget that” as the next in line.
National Association of Social Workers
If you took the time to put together a Final Four bracket (or even if you didn’t), you should take the time to read about the mental health challenges faced by student-athletes.
NASW top March story: Quitting could be the best thing you ever do
March was also Social Work Month. I wrote a post for Social Work Month about an incredible program that helps children who have experienced traumas, such as Hurricane Michael. Learn more about Save the Children’s Journey of Hope program by visiting this link.
National Emergency Number Association
Dispatcher Anastasia Kitchens, as she helped coordinate a response to a house fire and was speaking with a resident who wanted to retrieve a propane tank from a spot near the burning home, said, “Let’s not.” 👏
NENA top March story: D.C. 9-1-1 chief: Some dispatcher actions “unacceptable”
Reserve Officers Association
Retired Maj. Gen. Mari Eder, who became the first full-time deputy chief of the Army Reserve, learned decades into her career that her high school guidance counselor had written in a letter about her that she was not being recommended to attend college because she wasn’t smart enough to finish.
ROA top March story: Army modifies fitness test
Sigma Xi, the Scientific Honorary Society
A scientist discussing this research effort said, fittingly, “This paper, like all important papers, raises many additional questions.”
Sigma Xi top March story: Video shows daily life inside a beehive
UN Wire
Even though we only shared this headline about the “pandemic classroom,” I was taken with the profound image in the article, which discusses the 168 desks — each representing 1 million children whose schools have been closed or severely restricted during the pandemic.
UN Wire top March story: Pandemic unlikely to end in 2021, WHO official says
About working at SmartBrief/Future
Each month, I share the open positions at SmartBrief and Future for anyone who is interested in being a part of finding and sharing stories through newsletters and Future’s other enterprises.
All open positions at SmartBrief and Future plc can be found at this link. Here are a few highlights (listed in order of least recent posting date (3/3/21) to least recent (4/1/21)):
Senior Marketing Manager – Events – 6 mo. contract
Part-time Copy Editor for SmartBrief (remote)
Associate Product Marketing Manager
Temporary Events Program Associate (NY)
Digital Sales Associate – AV Tech
Digital Sales Associate – Infrastructure
Computing Writer – Tom’s Guide
Client Success Manager (Remote)
Client Success Director (Remote)
If you are interested in applying and have questions, please email me so we can discuss further.
To subscribe to one (or more) SmartBrief newsletters, including the “end of the work day” While You Were Working, for which I am a contributing editor, click here. We’re also still producing a brief specific to COVID-19 on Tuesdays, and you can subscribe to it here.
If you aren’t in a subscribing mood, you can still keep up with us at the site of our parent company, Future; on Facebook; SmartBrief Twitter; Leadership SmartBrief Twitter; LinkedIn and SmartBrief Instagram.
Note: This post expresses my personal views, not the official views of my employer.
Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
What’s great is that we can now start doing things. YES. So let me page through what you think is just making do!
It didn’t end up being all that much shorter than usual nor did I really save any time, but it was a good exercise to force myself to keep it to one sentence for each story! Thanks for stopping by.