November 17, 2020

Flexible Work May Boost Women’s Applications for Top Jobs by 20%

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 Applications, Boost, Flexible, jobs, Top, womens, Work

(Bloomberg) — Flexible working could be the solution for businesses struggling to recruit women into senior roles, according to a new study by Zurich Insurance Group AG.

© Bloomberg
A woman works at a laptop computer in a home office at night in this arranged photograph taken in Bern, Switzerland, on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020. The biggest Wall Street firms are navigating how and when to bring employees safely back to office buildings in global financial hubs, after lockdowns to address the Covid-19 pandemic forced them to do their jobs remotely for months.

Applications for management roles by women jumped 20% after the insurer advertised all possible positions with part-time, job share or flexible working options as part of research with the U.K. government’s Behavioural Insight Team. The number of women hired for senior jobs jumped by one third as a direct result, it said Tuesday.

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The study — which was conducted before Covid-19 prompted widespread lockdowns across Europe — shows how the more flexible working approach many firms have adopted during the pandemic could boost gender-balanced career progression.

Despite increasing economic participation in recent years, women are still more likely to undertake the majority of domestic and caring responsibilities. That is often cited as underlying the lower proportion of female workers in the highest levels of business and the fact that on average men earn more.

The initiative doesn’t just benefit women though. Applications by both male and female candidates more than doubled after the options were offered, Zurich said.

“It clearly shows it’s not just women who have other responsibilities, whether it be a sport or caring responsibilities, that people want a bit more flexible work capacity to do,” Alison Martin, chief executive officer of Zurich EMEA, said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio.

(Updates to add Martin’s comment in sixth paragraph)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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shopping

Trying to budget your holiday shopping? New study crunches the numbers for your North Texas city

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 Budget, City, crunches, Holiday, North, numbers, shopping, Study, texas

With holiday shopping set to take place in the middle of a pandemic and associated economic crisis, how much should you be spending?

Personal finance website WalletHub crunched the numbers to come up with a maximum amount residents of various cities across the country should spend.

The study found encouraging news for local communities. Four North Texas cities landed in the nation’s top 75 cities for the maximum residents should spend while holiday shopping — all with limits of more than $1,490 per person.

To determine the maximum, WalletHub’s algorithm took into account income, age, debt-to-income ratio and how much income and savings residents have in relation to their monthly expenses.

However, the site warns that the maximum budget applies only if the consumer is in a comfortable financial position, has at least six months of emergency expenses saved and a debt-to-income ratio smaller than 22% for a renter or 43% for a homeowner.

Kess Eshun, of Frisco, competes in the Holiday Baking Championship, Season 7.

Among Collin County cities, Richardson leads with a maximum holiday shopping budget of $2,003 and national ranking of 36th out of 570 cities. Only one other city in North Texas ranked higher than Richardson: Flower Mound, with a second-place ranking and a maximum holiday shopping budget of $2,973.

See where other North Texas cities ranked in the table below. If you want more personal details about how much to spend, you can use the calculator on WalletHub’s website.

City	Ranking	Budget
Flower Mound	2	$2,973
Richardson	36	$2,003
Frisco	53	$1,684
Plano	59	$1,594
Carrollton	71	$1,492
North Richland Hills	95	$1,303
Allen	123	$1,164
Irving	128	$1,142
Lewisville	131	$1,124
Denton	133	$1,111
Garland	140	$1,071
Arlington	147	$1,054
Mesquite	154	$1,035
McKinney	163	$1,001
Grand Prairie	297	$733
Fort Worth	306	$718
Dallas	399	$596

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gift

Amava Launches “The Gift of Connection” to Promote Meaningful Interactions Among Baby Boomers and Their Friends and Family This Holiday Season

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 Amava, among, Baby, Boomers, connection, Family, Friends, Gift, Holiday, Interactions, launches, Meaningful, promote, Season

MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Amava, the first-of-its-kind platform connecting a new generation of empty nesters and active retirees with opportunities to remain mentally active and socially connected, announces the launch of Amava Gifting, allowing everyone to now give The Gift of Connection to friends and loved ones. With COVID-19 cases once again spiking across the country, millions of Americans face a heightened sense of isolation and social disconnect, with many people opting out of traditional family gatherings and reducing holiday travel.

Amava Circles offer peer-to-peer virtual experiences designed to foster connection, sharing, learning and entertainment among Baby Boomers, a growing population that has been disproportionately affected by recent social distancing. Each session, professionally curated and guided by experts, promotes active engagement, allowing people to stay connected and remain healthy throughout the next phase of their lives. Circles feature dozens of themed discussions and learning groups, including Designing Your Next: Plan Your Best Life (an 8-week workshop to plan a connected, purposeful future), Game Night: Trivia or Charades,Self-Care: Sip & Stretch, and Pet Lovers: Dog Talk or Cat Chat.

So instead of giving the same old Starbucks or Amazon gift card, or struggling to find the latest new gadget, give the gift of connection, a chance to meet people, laugh and learn in an Amava Circle.

“Amava was born out of a desire to create a stronger sense of community for our generation of Americans, allowing them to rediscover their purpose and experience fulfillment during every stage of their lives,” said Mark Silverman, Amava CEO. “We launched Amava Gifting to allow people who enjoy Circles to share this experience with their loved ones during what will likely be the most difficult holiday season that many of us have ever seen. With the 21^st century nuclear family becoming more dispersed and oftentimes separated by great distances, Amava provides loved ones with opportunities to forge genuine connections and enjoy meaningful engagement, which is especially important at this time of year.”

Amava Gifting is available at https://app.amava.com/gifting/ and digital gift cards can be sent out to recipients instantly. Beyond the upcoming holidays, Amava Circles are a perfect gift for any special occasion such as birthdays or Mother’s/Father’s Days and a thoughtful present for those who are far away.

About Amava

Amava is the first platform designed specifically to help a new generation of retirees and empty nesters to stay active and connected throughout their lives, which are proven keys to health and longevity. In addition to the Amava Virtual Volunteers program, Amava also recently launched Circles: vibrant, guided discussions with others around topics of shared interest.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amava-launches-the-gift-of-connection-to-promote-meaningful-interactions-among-baby-boomers-and-their-friends-and-family-this-holiday-season-301174704.html

SOURCE Amava

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women

Women and girls who play baseball find hope in Kim Ng

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 Baseball, Find, girls, Hope, Kim, Play, women

Two or three days a week, when she’s not fighting fires or raising her own two children or in the backyard putting innings on her own arm, Tamara Holmes spends a few hours volunteering answers to the question, “What more can I do?”

Earnest girls and young women hit for average, frame fastballs and chase fly balls. They run their laps, do their pushups and pour their allowances into metal boxes at batting cages. They come back to Tamara and ask, “What more can I do?”

They are ballplayers. Strong-willed and strong-armed, they play often as the curiosity, their caps pulled low to their brows. They lean into the same tired and dusty smirks, but lean just the same. Some are good at it and some are not, some are natural and others not so much, some couldn’t imagine playing any other game and others show up because it’s the thing to do in springtime, which makes them about perfect for how we like to think of ourselves and the game.

So from little animated boxes on her computer they ask Tamara Holmes how to hit home runs like she did, how to get good enough to play for the national team like she did, even how to love a game forever that sometimes doesn’t seem so sure about them, and Holmes tells them again about weight shift, about commitment, about heart, about knocking down doors. Also, she’ll assure them, to be patient — their woman’s strength is coming.

The regular sessions are part of Major League Baseball’s Elite Development Invitational program, forced to Zoom because of the pandemic. More, much more, they are how Holmes, a 46-year-old ballplayer and firefighter from Oakland, reaches Beth Greenwood, a 21-year-old hoping to make her college baseball team in Rochester, New York, and how Veronica Alvarez, manager of the U.S. women’s national baseball team, reaches Maggie Foxx, 14-year-old All-Star catcher from Bedford, New Hampshire, and how the last generation of women ballplayers reaches for this generation, which reaches for the next generation and the one after that.

The struggle is for a decent shake and a little more funding and a place on the field, same as it always was. The struggle is against bad hops and disappearing sliders and balls in the dirt and first-pitch strikes, too, same as it always will be.

It’s the same game.

About 100,000 girls play youth baseball in America, or did before there was a pandemic. As many as 2,000 girls play for their high schools. A handful or two play college ball.

Holmes sees a few of them. She offers them drills and encouragement, reminds them who they can be, smile and tells them she believes in them.

“Just because we don’t have the opportunities,” Holmes said, “doesn’t mean we can’t find other means to think baseball and get better at baseball.”

The girls see her too, a woman who hit bombs for the national team and won a Pan Am Games gold

wedding

The true story behind Princess Diana’s fairytale wedding in ‘The Crown’

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 Crown, Dianas, Fairytale, princess, Story, True, wedding

On July 29, 1981, Lady Diana Spencer walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey, London, leading her wedding dress’ enormous train past 3,500 guests, including nobility, world dignitaries and royalty. Waiting for her at the altar was Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir to Queen Elizabeth II.

Related: Who inherits the British throne?

Diana recalled feeling like “the luckiest girl in the world” to be marrying a man whom she loved so much, according to her biographer, Andrew Morton, in his book “Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words” (Simon and Schuster, 1992). However, the happy day, which according to the BBC was witnessed by more than 750 million live television viewers around the world, masked the now-infamous and tragic reality of the couple’s relationship, marred by infidelity, loneliness and unrequited love.

How Charles and Diana met

When Charles celebrated his 30th birthday in November 1978, speculation about who would be his future wife quickly intensified. In 1977, he had been briefly involved in a relationship with Lady Sarah Spencer (now Lady Sarah McCorquodale), the vivacious eldest daughter of Earl Spencer. But that relationship lasted only a short while and fell apart when Sarah spoke to the press about Charles. However, before their relationship ended, Charles was invited to Althorp, the Spencer family’s home, and it was there that he met Sarah’s youngest sister, Lady Diana, who was just 16 years old and still at boarding school.

Charles was intrigued by Diana’s adolescent gaiety, later commenting he found her “very jolly and amusing.” The pair didn’t meet again until November 1978, when he invited her and Sarah to his 30th birthday party. Another 18 months passed before Charles and Diana started to become romantically involved, after Charles invited her to a party in July 1980, allegedly at the instigation of Camilla Parker Bowles, a married woman whom Charles had an on-again, off-again relationship with for several years.

Related: What’s the difference between a duchess and a princess?

In interview tapes recorded in 1992 and later released in the 2017 documentary “Diana: In Her Own Words,” Diana claimed that Charles “leapt” on her after she told him how it seemed to her that he needed someone to look after him. Charles, who had come to rather the same conclusion, could not help but respond to her sympathy.

Shortly afterward, Charles invited Diana to join him on the Royal Yacht Britannia and their relationship began moving very quickly. A month later, Charles invited Diana up to Balmoral Castle, the royal family’s Scottish home, which was taken as a strong sign that Charles was seriously interested in the young aristocrat.

Meeting the queen and the rest of the royal family on such an intimate level would be extremely daunting for most young women, especially one as shy and awkward as Diana was at that point, but her family had been connected with the royals for most of her life. In fact, Diana had been born in Park House

women

The Latest: Ole Miss hoops coach Kermit Davis tests positive | Sports

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 coach, Davis, hoops, Kermit, Latest, Ole, positive, Sports, tests

Ticket-holders can apply for refunds or find other options on the school’s varsity club website.

Tennessee Tech is having a hard time starting its women’s basketball season with first Vanderbilt and now Chattanooga forced to cancel games.

Vanderbilt announced Tuesday morning it had canceled its opener scheduled for Nov. 25 with Tennessee Tech due to positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and injuries. A few hours later, Chattanooga paused team activities for a two-week quarantine and canceled games at Tennessee State and at home against Tennessee Tech.

Tennessee Tech officials say they are working hard trying to replace those games on the schedule before the next scheduled game Dec. 3 in their Ohio Valley Conference opener at Jacksonville State.

The NFL says there were 17 new confirmed positive tests among players and another 35 positives among other personnel in the latest round of testing for the novel coronavirus.

The tests were performed last week and included 17,161 to 2,482 players and 25,987 to 5,374 personnel.

Since the beginning of August through Nov. 14, the NFL and the Players Association report that approximately 645,000 tests have been administered and 95 players and 175 other personnel have tested positive.

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women

UW women’s basketball team picked to finish 11th in Pac-12

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 11th, basketball, finish, Pac12, Picked, Team, womens

University of Washington women’s head basketball coach Jody Wynn is not happy with a ref during the second half against UCLA, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, in Seattle. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)

After three years of steady — and arguably painstakingly slow — growth under fourth-year coach Jody Wynn, the Washington women’s basketball enters the 2020-21 season with four new starters and modest expectations.

The roster churn, the absence of notable stars and an inexperienced supporting cast no doubt played a major factor in the Huskies being picked 11^th in the Pac-12 preseason media poll.

Stanford, which tops the list as the preseason favorite, garnered 19 out of a possible 21 first-place votes and 248 points.

Arizona, which nabbed a first-place vote, is second with 225 points followed by three-time regular-season defending Oregon (201) and UCLA (200).

Oregon State, which received the other first-place vote, is fifth with 174 points and Arizona State (135) is sixth.

The bottom half of the poll includes USC (135) at seventh followed by Utah (94), California (76), Colorado (75), Washington (53) and Washington State (27).

The Pac-12 preseason coaches poll was nearly identical to the media’s picks.

Stanford tops the list with 120 points and 10 out of a possible 11 first-place votes. (Conference coaches can’t vote for their teams.)

Arizona, which picked up two first-place votes, tied Oregon for second place with 103 points.

The remaining list includes fourth place UCLA (88) followed by OSU (83), USC (69), ASU (61), Utah (52), Colorado (43), California (31), UW (24) and WSU (15).

Last year, Washington was picked ninth in the preseason coaches poll after being tabbed last the previous two years.

The Huskies finished the 2019-20 season 13-17 and tied for ninth place in the Pac-12 at 5-13.

It was the highest finish for UW under Wynn following an 11^th-place finish in 2018-19 and 12^th-place finish in 2017-18.

Washington, which has improved its wins each year under Wynn, will be hard pressed to continue the trend with a revamped roster that includes four new starters.

Junior center Darcy Rees is the lone returning starter who averaged 6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 18.4 minutes while starting 22 of 25 games before suffering a foot injury last February.

The Huskies also bring back junior forward Haley Van Dyke, who led the team in rebounds (5.1 per game) and steals (2.1) last season. She was second with an 8.2 scoring average while shooting 43.2 percent from the field.

Still, it will be difficult for Washington to overcome the loss of senior guard Missy Peterson, a two year-starter who suffered a season-ending knee injury last month.

The Huskies also lost starters Amber Melgoza and Mai-Loni Henson to graduation while Rita Pleskevich transferred to Florida Atlantic University.

Freshman point guard Tameiya Sadler, a four-star recruit from Vallejo, Calif., leads a quartet of first-year players who are expected to receive plenty of minutes and opportunities this season.

PAC-12 SCHEDULE PAIRINGS RELEASED

The Pac-12 announced

wedding

Nearly half of 83 people who attend Ohio wedding test positive for COVID-19

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 attend, Covid19, Ohio, people, positive, Test, wedding

A recent Ohio wedding attended by 83 people has become the latest super-spreader event amid a nationwide surge in Covid-19 after nearly half of them tested positive for coronavirus, the newlywed couple said.

Among the 32 people to contract the virus were the couple, Anthony and Mikayla Bishop, and three of their grandparents, two of whom visited the emergency room, the Bishops said in an interview with NBC affiliate WLWT of Cincinnati.

“I didn’t think that almost half of our wedding guests were gonna’ get sick,” Mikayla Bishop told the station. “You’re in the moment. You’re having fun. You don’t think about COVID anymore.”

The outbreak linked to the Oct. 31 event comes as states across the country see surging case counts, overwhelmed hospitals and officials imposing new stay-at-home orders and fresh restrictions on venues like indoor businesses and schools.

Ohio is one of a dozen states where the number of new cases has spiked in the last two weeks, jumping from 221,000 on Nov. 2 to 305,000 on Monday, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday said Ohio will now be under a curfew in an attempt to halt the surge in his state.

In Cleveland, officials recorded so many new infections over the weekend that they couldn’t count them all in time for a briefing Monday.

“The City of Cleveland is experiencing an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, unlike anything yet reported during this pandemic,” the city said in a statement.

Public health experts have warned against holding large weddings amid surging case counts. Events in Washington State, New York and Minnesota have led to outbreaks, and after one ceremony in Maine, 176 people tested positive for the virus and seven died.

With the recent rise in cases, the Bishops told WLWT that they cut their guest list from 200 to 85 and distributed hand sanitizer and masks. But aside from the couple’s grandparents, few people appeared to wear masks, even while they let loose during the reception and were close to one another on the dance floor.

Mikayla Bishop started showing symptoms during their honeymoon in North Carolina, she told the station. The couple then cut the celebration short after getting a call that their grandparents were sick.

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clothing

Get to know the designer behind the celeb-adored, cool and sustainable clothing brand, Aya Muse

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 Aya, Brand, celebadored, clothing, Cool, Designer, Muse, Sustainable

Aya Muse is shaking up the sustainable fashion industry.

Founded by Tina Rodiou, the Los Angeles-based brand launched two years ago with a line of biker shorts.

It has since become a go-to for ethical knitwear and contemporary women’s pieces for celebs like Dua Lipa, Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber and Emily Ratajkowski.

FEMAIL chats with Tina about her unique designs and what’s next for the brand.

Trailblazer: Aya Muse is shaking up the sustainable fashion industry. Founded by Tina Rodiou, the Los Angeles-based brand launched two years ago with a line of biker shorts

Hot mama: Emily Ratajkowski debuted her baby bump in an Aya Muse spring 2021 design

The name Aya (Japanese for beautiful) and Muse (Greek for inspiration) means beautiful inspiration, and this philosophy is carried on from collection to collection.

The label aims to create pieces that help women feel like a slightly cooler version of themselves.

‘I think we bridge the gap between being minimalistic and sexy,’ said Tina.

‘Everyone loves looking like their best self but also looking effortless whilst doing so.’

A stylish solution for the modern day woman, Aya Muse is an eco-friendly label with the Hadid sisters, Kourtney Kardashian, Elsa Hosk, and more celebs as fans.

Eco: ‘All our packaging is biodegradable corn starch. Our factories are single-use plastic free and we produce mostly everything on pre-order so we don’t have waste’

Mirror, Mirror on the wall: Kendall Jenner showed off her toned tummy in a cropped cardigan from Aya Muse’s collab with celeb-stylist Dani Michelle

Staple: Aya Muse launched with biker shorts. ‘We made one product in many colors to get our name out there. Since then we have been able to develop our true brand identity’

Sustainability is becoming more and more important to the brand.

‘We all need to our part and contribute as best we can to making a change,’ shared Tina.

‘We started off without a focus on sustainability and have since changed our brand ethos through the design process.

‘We still have a lot to learn and are constantly trying to improve our practices but we use a lot of recycled fabrics and recycled yarns for our knits.

‘All our packaging is biodegradable corn starch. Our factories are single-use plastic free and we produce mostly everything on pre-order so we don’t have waste.’

The line is designed in Los Angeles, and made in eco-friendly small factories in China and Italy.

Comfy and cool: The label’s knitwear has become one of their most popular categories, as seen on Khloe Kardashian

Aya Muse launched with biker shorts.

‘We made one product in many colors to get our name out there. Since then we have been able to develop our true brand identity.’

The label’s knitwear has become one of their most popular categories.

Emily Ratajkowski debuted her baby bump in an Aya Muse spring 2021 design.

Far from traditional maternity wear, the body-hugging dress featured a side cut-out with a built-in exposed thong.

This season, the label collaborated

women

Houston’s first women’s accelerator in planning stages

November 17, 2020 [email protected]_84 accelerator, Houstons, Planning, Stages, womens

Houston’s first accelerator dedicated to women is in the early planning stages, with architectural renderings released by the California-based firm Kurani.

Women entrepreneurs have consistently faced bias in funding, according to the Harvard Business Review. An analysis by the Boston Consulting Group pegged the impact of unequal startup opportunities for women and men on GDP between $2.5 and $5 trillion, meaning that the world’s economy could grow between 3 percent and 6 percent by increasing its support for women entrepreneurs.

“That’s the impetus behind this,” said Kurani founder Danish Kurani. “Women founders perform better than their male counterparts over time, but still the (venture capital) world isn’t funding them as much as their male counterparts.”

STARTUPS: Capital Factory acquires Station Houston as part of statewide innovation strategy

The accelerator, if built, would fit in with larger trends playing out across the city. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has pledged the city’s commitment to startups, with the announcement of an innovation district set to open in 2021, and a city task force is examining ways to connect women and minorities to capital.

Renderings of the accelerator show a 4,000 square-foot, WeWork-like layout. While the space has been designed, it is still seeking funding and the location has not been finalized, though Kurani said the pandemic has led to more spaces coming onto the market for the accelerator to choose from.

“With all of these vacancies, things like this now have space to move in,” he said.

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