Tag: work

creativity

NIH funding freeze endangers American lives and the US economy

Christa Avampato
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash. Chanelle Case Borden, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the National Cancer Institute’s Experimental Immunology Branch, pipetting DNA samples into a tube for polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, a laboratory technique used to make multiple copies of a segment of DNA.

Earlier this week, I wrote in my Togetherhood newsletter about the history and scientific research of Gila monster venom that led to Novo Nordicks’s medications Ozempic and Wegovy. This research began at the National Institutes of Health and led to some of the most profitable and promising drugs. These types of advances are now in danger because the Trump administration has frozen much of the $47 billion the US spends annually on biomedical research like this through 60,000 NIH grants.

The US houses the world’s leading medical labs that research cancer, dementia and Alzheimer’s, heart disease, child health, and diabetes to name just a few. NIH grants provide significant funding to these labs. To make sure the grants are used efficiently and ethically, there’s an extensive review process of grant applications. When the Trump administration froze the funding, they stopped all these review processes. These frozen funds also caused many research labs and universities that house them to halt hiring and PhD and post-doc admissions. Even if they released the funding today, it would take weeks or months to restart all these processes.

Additionally, freezing these funds is negatively impacting the economy and US competitiveness on the world stage. Every $1 of NIH spending generates more than $2 dollars in US economic activity. Healthcare is the biggest industry in the US. Without the foundation of NIH-funded research, the industry is in crisis. The US produces more influential health science research than the next 10 leading countries, combined. Every day that goes by, lives and livelihoods of Americans are in jeopardy. Please call your reps today and tell them to fight to restore NIH funding. Your life and the lives of those you love depend on it.

creativity

Digitally connecting everyone everywhere all at once: the Digital Doughnut Model

Christa Avampato
2024 United Nations Summit of the Future. Photo by Christa Avampato.

This weekend I attended the 2024 United Nations Summit of the Future as part of the 2024 United Nations General Assembly programming and Climate Week NYC. The event had three key tracks: digital technology, peace, and sustainable development and finance for sustainable development. The programs, speaker bios, and session recordings are all publicly available to anyone who would like to view them at the links above. 

At the summit, I had the good fortune of sitting next to Neal McCarthy, Associate Director of Digital Programs at Oxfam America. I asked him what work he’s most excited about. He told me about the Digital Doughnut model, an excellent example of researchers and practitioners collaborating and building upon one another’s work to create a better world. The irony isn’t lost on me that my most valuable insight from a summit about digital technology came from sitting next to and talking to someone in-person. 

During my Masters in Sustainability Leadership at University of Cambridge / CISL, I studied Kate Raeworth’s Doughnut Economics, which she first developed while at Oxfam. Because I’ve worked in digital technology for over a decade, I was excited to hear from Neal how the Digital Doughnut combines sustainable development and digital technology. When I got home from the summit, I read about the model. Below I share an abbreviated explanation of its structure and insights. 

Digital Doughnut Model
Kate Raeworth developed the theory of Doughnut Economics. The outer ring of the doughnut consists of the ecological ceiling (maintain balance in the natural world that supports life). The inner ring of the doughnut consists of the social foundation (the minimum standards that we need to live a healthy life). The sweet spot, the doughnut itself, exists in the space between the rings where our societal needs are met, and nature’s boundaries are respected. 

Doughnut Economics model developed by Kate Raeworth

Developed by Hannah Smith and Alistair Alexander, the Digital Doughnut is an emerging idea, applying the Doughnut Economics model to the digital technology industry. The Digital Doughnut explores 3 key areas: 12 social foundations (based on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals), 9 ecological ceilings (planetary boundaries developed by the Stockholm Institute), and 7 ways to transform our thinking and imagination (also developed by Kate Raeworth).

In their 2022 pilot workshops, Hannah and Alistair worked with digital technology professionals to:

  • explore a broad definition of sustainability;
  • look deeper into the root causes of what is going wrong and how the digital technology industry has been culpable in eroding sustainability;
  • imagine a better future for the industry and actions that the digital technology industry can take to create that better future for all. 

The Doughnut Flower
The workshop discussions and insights led to the creation of The Digital Tech Industry Doughnut Flower. It shows which social foundations and ecological ceilings were most related to the digital tech industry. 

The diagram helps us see all social foundation dimensions were relevant to the attendees, especially income and work, networks, peace and justice, and social equity. Education, energy, gender equality, health and political voice were also prominent. Food, housing and water were discussed but not to the same degree as the others.

Of the ecological ceilings, not surprisingly, climate change was a very strong topic of discussion amongst the ecological boundaries. Air pollution and land conversion were the next dimensions to receive the most attention. Biodiversity loss, freshwater withdrawals and chemical pollution were discussed to some degree in most of the workshops. Ozone depletion, ocean acidification and nitrogen/phosphorus loading were barely discussed at all, and attendees generally did not see much or any connection between these boundaries and the impacts of digital tech.

The Doughnut Flower by Hannah Smith

Discussion themes
Three main themes were brought up in the workshops. These theme were woven throughout all of the discussions. 

  • Issues around gender/ethnicity, especially pay inequality and exclusion. differentials of pay, but also exclusion were major concerns of participants. These issues were clearly seen by many attendees as essential — and central — to any meaningful discussion on sustainability.
  • Work culture was a theme, with “toxic” tech culture referred to repeatedly, as well as exploitation and overlong work hours.
  • Quality of life issues, and in particular our unhealthy relationship to technology that drive addiction to tech and disinformation.

Solutions
The workshops then moved to discuss possible solutions. These solutions showcase four solutions of how the digital tech industry can mitigate its challenges and contribute to a more sustainable world. 

  • Stop the relentless consumption/depletion of resources — attention-based revenue is driving the wrong behaviors.
  • Pointless — and endless — growth is getting us nowhere — the exponential growth bubble needs to burst.
  • Build things that last and can be reused — the strategy of planned obsolescence only serves shareholders and not society.
  • Detoxify tech culture — replace with fairness, inclusion and better ways of working.

Open-source resources for all to use
Hannah and Alistair have generously shared an enormous amount of information on this idea and the resources for these pilot workshops on the website https://doingthedoughnut.tech/. They welcome anyone to use all of these resources to run a similar workshop. All they ask is that the materials be attributed to Doing the Doughnut Tech Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0.

What’s next
Reading through their website, I’m considering how the Doughnut Economics model could be applied to the strategy and operations of any organization in any industry that seeks to make sustainability its foundation. In my own work at Double or Nothing Media, I’m developing a proof of concept for a new company focused on rewilding and in the research phase of developing a food waste mitigation tech platform. How might you use the Doughnut in your work? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

creativity

To create a joyful life, imagine these 3 versions of your career

Christa Avampato
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

What would you do if the work you do right now ended tomorrow? I’ve been thinking about this question since I was at University of Cambridge / Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) in December for my Masters in Sustainability Leadership program. My wonderful friend, Karen, in my cohort found me one morning to show me a Stanford TEDx talk titled 5 Steps to Designing the Life You Want by Bill Burnett that she felt I needed to see. She was right.

The whole talk is worth watching and the part that affected me most is a future visioning exercise called 3 lives. You imagine the next 5 years of your career in these scenarios:

1. Keep doing exactly what you’re doing now and it’s going to turn out great. What does great look like? In your career and life?

2. What would you do if what you’re doing right now ends tomorrow? How would your career and life change? What would that look and feel like?

3. Now for your wildcard plan. You have enough money to pursue any career you want, and no one would laugh at you for it. What would you do? What would your life and career look like then?

Which of these lives feels like the best path? Put aside the inner critic. Which one makes you happier and more fulfilled? For various reasons, that one may not be the one you choose to pursue but having a sense of these different paths helps us get unstuck.

Futures visioning is a part of my Cambridge dissertation so doing this exercise was a part of practicing what I preach. I sat down and sketched out these 3 lives for myself. It helped me uncover hidden ideas, interests, and desires I didn’t even know I had. It also helped me realize a few things that Bill speaks to in his talk:

1. The really interesting opportunities present themselves in our periphery. They are the things we didn’t see coming and didn’t plan for. Realizing this encourages me to be open to new people, information, learnings, ideas, and opportunities.

2. Bill encourages us to look at these three lives with our head and our heart. Decisions made from your emotions are just as valid, if not more so, than those made from our logic and reasoning. Emotions have much more wisdom than we give them credit for.

3. There isn’t one way to build a life or career. We can and will grow into different lives, and that can happen at any and every age. There is no timeline that we must follow. We can trust the timing of our lives and career. Things unfold in ways we don’t always understand. That’s okay. Be open, and be prepared to be lucky.

Let me know how it goes for you if you try this exercise. I’d love to hear about what you discover and I’d also love to support your journey.

Bill’s TEDx talk in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SemHh0n19LA

He also has several books with Bill Evans on the topic of designing a joyful life and career: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bill-Burnett/author/B01KVOW2RS?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

creativity

The season of soft things

Christa Avampato
My view on the train to Bristol, UK. Photo by Christa Avampato.

It is the season of soft things. Warm tea. Thick blankets. Crackling fires. Cozy sweaters. Candle light. Woollen socks. Hugs. Laughter. Kindness. Whispers. Dreams. The world seems especially hard right now, with sharp edges that cut and harm. I find myself craving comfort, ease, and quiet. Seeking out people who exude warmth, welcome, and joy.

Our world, especially our working world, often demands structure and immutable processes. Too often telling us what is and has been must continue to be. This relentless beat can make me tired and worn. It’s in these moments that I remind myself the value of flexibility, the ability to bend so we don’t break.

We so often prize efficiency and abhor redundancy, until we recognize that nature in all her glorious wisdom has survived and thrived for nearly 4 billion years because of her integrated systems that are stronger than the sum of the parts, with pieces that back up one another so that as a united whole they can weather the storms, accommodate change, and retain balance, even and especially in crisis. And there are always storms, and change, and crises.

Nature built herself to flex, to make room, to expect the unexpected, to support. What if that became our goal, for ourselves, our organizations, our government, our world? How then might be change, grow, evolve, and be? I suspect that in this season of soft things, I may find answers to those questions by the time the light of spring returns.

creativity

It’s time for a public-private funded climate WPA and PWA in NYC

Christa Avampato
Screenshot of Brooklyn floods on September 29, 2023 captured by ABC 7 NY

“If I don’t work, I don’t eat so I have to be out here, even when there’s a flood.” This was a quote from a NYC delivery worker on the news during the September 29th, 2023 flash floods. His electric bike failed in the knee-deep water. He was pushing it against the current to deliver food. 

NYC now has the largest income gap of any large city in the country — the top 20% make 53 times more than the bottom 20%. We’re failing our people with no social safety net, no protection from climate hardship, and few pathways out of their circumstances. City workers often live in temporary shelter and public housing because they don’t earn enough to make rent but residency is often required for their jobs. 

This city is run by service workers. They are the lifeblood that keeps the city moving. Failing them will cause the city to crumble. 

We also have the migrant crisis. Right now at the U.S.-Mexico border, the city is distributing these fliers:

Flyer being handed out at the U.S.-Mexico border

I cried reading it. This has been the city of dreams for decades. Now it is the city of dreams only for those who are already of means. That cannot continue. 

New York is a city of immigrants. It always has been. They enrich and enliven the social and economic fabric on which this city’s creativity thrives. Without them, we lose who we are and what we stand for. 

The economics and business side of my brain spends the bulk of my waking hours thinking about how to support New Yorkers, present and future. How do we boost the economy and provide opportunity to everyone who wants to be a New Yorker? How do we rebuild this city, not just for the privileged few but for all the huddled masses yearning to be free so that everyone wins together?

The historian and storyteller side of my brain always sifts the sands of the past to see what I can find and use. As the late great John Lewis, who was at one time a New Yorker and is one of my greatest inspirations, often said, “We must make a way out of no way.” 

We have an immense amount of capital—NYC is the wealthiest city in the world with 340,000 millionaires. We also have staggering gaps in our economy that need attention: 24,000 city jobs vacancies, 20% office space vacancies, and city infrastructure that desperately needs repairs, particularly to prepare for climate impacts. We have people who want to work and make a difference but are being left behind—5.3% unemployment, 11.5% underemployment, 17% youth unemployment, 90,000 migrants and asylum-seekers over the last 18 months, and over 100,000 people without housing.

Now imagine this: New Yorkers of means collaborate hand-in-hand with policy makers and city agencies to put all of this wasted human capital to good use to rebuild this city through a Works Progress Administration / Public Works Administration that focuses on nature-based solutions. Good jobs. Good work. A way out of no way. They fortify our 520 miles of coastline with reefs, mangroves, and natural defenses, clean up, restore, and regenerate the 10,000 vacant lots for productive use like bioswales that reduce floods and the pressure placed on the water, sewer, and transporation systems, install green roofs and rooftop gardens, and build and connect wildlife corridors and habitats. 

That’s just a start of how NYC can work with nature so that everyone is cared for. There are dozens of other solutions that are relatively low-cost, efficient, and proven to clean the air, water, and land—benefits that benefit every resident, visitor, and commuter. 

This doesn’t have to be a concrete jungle. It can be a green, verdant, healthy, thriving place for all beings who want to be New Yorkers. It’s going to take a massive mobilization, and the relentless pursuit to match needs with resources to transform our challenges into opportunities. We have to do this work, and we have to do it now while we still have time. I’m tired of a dirty, flooded, and unequal New York. Aren’t you? I love this city. I love New Yorkers. And I want us to do better. We have to do better, and we can—together.

creativity

Will writers be replaced by OpenAI, makers of ChatGPT?

Christa Avampato

This week I’m working with one of my biomimicry clients to explore the use of OpenAI, makers of ChatGPT. It has several models within it, including Davinci which we’ve found has the most detailed, natural sounding results but not necessarily the most accurate information. We are using this technology to ingest a wide variety of scientific papers and produce plain-language text that can be used by designers and engineers who want to explore nature-based solutions and biomimicry inventions and applications.

We tried five tests with different biomimicry topics. I compared the source papers and the two versions of AI-generated text to assess them. Of the five tests, four were decent first drafts that need a human editor to refine them. Most of the scientific data was presented in a plain text way that maintained accuracy and integrity. It missed some key findings that would be valuable for engineers and designers, and the tests need to be edited for clarity. It had some trouble extrapolating the information into potential biomimicry applications and nature-based solutions. In other words, it could create plain-language text based on complicated, jargon-filled text reasonably well as a first draft. It could not creatively interpret the data to imagine many new possibilities. The one failed test completely missed the mark on the main points of the scientific paper.

Overall, it was exciting to see how this innovation could democratize access to information that is concealed in jargon. As with any simplification task, the accuracy has to be evaluated by someone who can reliably translate from language that needs deep expertise to language that’s accessible to those without that expertise. Proliferation of misinterpreted, oversimplified, and inaccurate translations is a risk and a danger. We’re in the early days of this tool and it will undoubtedly improve over time.

Some have expressed concern that writers will no longer be needed and that all writers will be forced into becoming editors. As a writer and an editor, I don’t share that fear. Human creativity, ingenuity, and imagination will never be obsolete. My hope is that tools like AI-generated text will free up our time, energy, and headspace to spend more time on creative projects.

creativity

My workplace dream about layoffs and writing comedy

Christa Avampato

This morning I had a workplace dream so odd I woke up laughing, something I used to do often and haven’t done in years. I can’t keep it to myself because it was, as dreams often are, full of entertainment and insights too good not to share.

I was working at a large media company with a bird as the logo (not the one owned by a billionaire lunatic, the other one). I was sitting in a very grey cubicle in a very grey office in front of my computer when an email popped up. There was a huge layoff and reshuffling of jobs at the company. Most of the company had been laid off but not me. I still had a job and that job had a two-word description stated in the email: Christa Avampato – writes jokes. My boss was J Lo.

My colleagues, and now former colleagues, were a mix of people I knew from my many past real-life jobs and people who were either figments of my imagination or who I’ve yet to meet. Though there was going to be a big meeting with everyone who still had a job the following day at 4pm, I huddled in separate corners of our very grey office with my team, past and present to talk about the reorg.

With the ones who’d been let go, I expressed how sad and outraged I was, wondering aloud how the company was going to get by without them. I was very upset they were leaving. Ironically, none of them were upset and were all making plans to go to dinner to celebrate their departure. They asked me to join them even though I still had a job. Sadly the dream ended before that dinner happened.

With the ones who still had jobs like me, an odd shift of energy happened. We all sat around in a circle, and immediately began drawing up plans of how to move forward. They were all very eager to just get on with it and began drafting up new plans that looked very much like the old plans put together by our now-former colleagues but no one except me saw the irony in that. I asked why we would throw out the old for the new when the new was a replica of the old with nothing more than a shiny new package. “That’s the way it is, Christa,” I was told.

Then the de-facto leader of this little group asked if there were any questions. And if you know me, you know I always have questions and I always ask them. Apparently I’m as utterly myself in dreams as I am in my waking hours. I had two questions:

1.) Why was I, a person who thinks comedy is hands-down the most difficult genre to write and who is by full admission only occasionally and only situationally funny, tasked with writing jokes? If you asked me to tell you a joke right now, I’d draw a total blank. I am by nature a serious person, sometimes too serious.

The leader of the group (the man with the clipboard, pen, and glasses who I’ve never seen before in my life) said, “That’s the point, Christa. If it makes you laugh, then it must be funny.”

As an aside, in real-life, I find most things in life amusing and I am a very easy audience member. I pretty much smile and laugh the whole time. I know it’s damn hard to be really funny and I applaud and support anyone brave enough to give it a try, even if they aren’t funny at all (to me).

2.) Why is it that when companies say they need to cut costs and save money, they often cut people who actually do the work and rarely the people at the very top who do so little work and make so much money? Apparently I had done my research (dreams imitating real life again.) The CEO of this bird media company made $3,000 a minute. That’s roughly $375million / year. Why wasn’t he being asked to give up anything while my friends who made only a tiny sliver of that and did all the work were let go?

Silence from the whole group. J Lo walked by and didn’t even look at us.

My parting thought as I headed back to my grey cubicle was, “Man, they’re really going to wish they hadn’t put me in charge of writing jokes.” Then I woke up.

—

It’s a shame my dream didn’t include that 4pm company meeting the next day because I’m confident I would’ve had time to come up with some real zingers and I probably would have been fired in a really fantastic, dramatic way that could have made for good comedy. Maybe next time.

I woke up to write down this dream and then walked into the kitchen to make coffee. I’ve got a long day of writing ahead of me that unfortunately won’t include any jokes. (Though maybe some humor in the academic writing I need to do today wouldn’t be such a bad thing!) As I sat down at my laptop, I decided to write up this dream to share with you and a few insights from it bubbled up to the top. They seem worth sharing, too.

1.) Love the company you work with and the company you keep. No matter how long you live, life will always be too short to do anything else. Many of my now dearest friends (and more than one of my past romantic partners) I met through work.

2.) You can be and do lots of things, even those you aren’t particularly good at when you first begin, so long as you love the practice (comedy included!)

3.) Given my love of and belief in the value of practice, and lots of it, it’s ironic that I’ve worked with Carnegie Hall for almost 4 years—a storied institution where practice is so foundational that it’s been their unofficial motto for almost 100 years. It’s also ironic that this unofficial motto started as a situational joke. It’s credited to violinist Mischa Elman who was born the same year Carnegie Hall opened (1891) and made his debut there in 1908 at the age of 17.

4.) For years I’ve wanted to write something funny but always told myself comedy isn’t my thing. Leave that to the experts, to people who are naturally funny, I thought. But maybe this dream was meant to shake things up in my real-life. Maybe it was a message that funny is my future, or at least part of it.

If that 4pm company meeting shows up in a future dream, I’ll be sure to let you know. Maybe my new boss, J Lo, will run it. I sure hope so because I’ve definitely got some funny questions to ask her.

creativity

Ending a relationship with a writing client

Christa Avampato
Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

Today I ended my relationship with a client I’ve worked with since 2015. Over 8 years, 5 editors, and hundreds of interviews, I wrote 50+ pieces for them on education, travel, healthcare, science, and culture. It was a wonderful experience and I’m very grateful for all of the opportunities I had with them. I wish them all the best. Now I’m excited to write for new publications and I’m open to referrals, ideas, and suggestions.

To be true to ourselves, sometimes we have to move on from where we’ve been. It’s not easy to let go of clients or to turn down work, especially when the work is comfortable and easy. But in this new chapter of my life, I’ve committed to only doing work I can do with my whole heart. That means that I have to make tough choices, but I know they’re the right choices for me. I’m excited to see how this space I’ve created in my client book will take shape.

creativity

Write every day: A few words about fees for your writing work

Christa Avampato

My heart’s pumping after hitting send on a consulting statement of work that significantly increases my client fee. It’s challenging to do that, especially for a client I love, and it’s absolutely necessary to price our work for the value it brings. Know your worth, writers, and don’t be afraid to price accordingly.

creativity

Joy today: Helping musicians become citizen-artists

Christa Avampato

It delights me to no end when a consulting client receives my draft deliverable of a business plan for their new program and their response is “this is amazing!” In this case the client is Carnegie Hall, and I’m working on helping them build an online community filled with content and resources that helps musicians become citizen-artists. Talk about a dream mashup of everything I love: art, activism, business, technology, and making the world a better place through building community. Updates coming soon with ways for you to get involved and access the resources yourself!