By Jared Teutsch, Executive Director Spring is here and across Georgia we are seeing signs of life in our gardens and landscapes. Those who pay attention to the sounds of the seasons will have also noticed a huge uptick in the amount of bird song each morning. There’s a cacophony of songs as our resident birds gear up for nesting season. Migratory birds are also on the move from their winter homes in Central and South America back to Georgia and other states where they will build their nests and rear their young.  Bird migration is one of the most amazing feats in the natural world. Each fall and spring, billions of birds take to the skies, avoiding predators, and dodging turbulent weather as they travel between breeding grounds in the north and wintering grounds in the Caribbean or Central and South America. Some of these migration routes are epic, like the Red Knot that travels more than 9,300 miles one-way each fall and spring, pausing along Georgia’s coast to refuel. Or, the tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird, weighing about the same as a penny, that spends summers in Georgia and then, in a stunning migratory feat, crosses the Gulf of Mexico, a 500-mile trip, in a single 18- to 22-hour flight. Birds passing through Atlanta and other cities face an additional threat—glass-covered, brightly-lit buildings. Large, brightly lit cities wreak havoc on migratory birds as the ever-present glow of artificial light turns the normally safe nighttime sky into a perilous pathway. Bright lights both attract and disorient birds, causing them to flock to our illuminated spaces where they often collide with structures or become trapped in beams of light where they circle until they are exhausted.  Current research estimates that between 365 million and 1 billion birds perish each year after colliding with buildings in the U.S. Atlanta is a particularly challenging place for migrating birds, ranking as the fourth most dangerous city during fall migration and ninth in spring for light exposure to migratory birds, according to a 2019 study by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. With an estimated 250 million birds passing over Georgia during spring and 675 million birds migrating over in the fall, it is vital to learn about migration over our state and make our cities safer. While there are several pre- and post-construction solutions to reduce bird collisions, one of the simplest and most effective ways to keep birds from striking windows is to simply turn out the lights, particularly on the 20 or so nights of peak migration each year. In 2017, Georgia Audubon launched the Lights Out Georgia program to encourage people to turn out or reduce night time lighting during fall and spring migration and more than 1,000 people have enrolled. But while turning out the lights is relatively simple at residences, it can be more challenging for commercial properties where outdoor lighting is both decorative and functional.  Thanks to a collaborative venture between Georgia Audubon and Dr. Kyle Horton, at Colorado State University, and a generous grant from the Disney Conservation Fund, Georgia Audubon has launched a new tool that predicts nights of high bird migration enabling Georgia Audubon to issue Lights Out Alerts via email on peak migratory evenings. While it may not be feasible to dim the lights every single night during migration, reducing or eliminating nighttime lights on the ten or fewer peak migratory nights each season is a much easier request and makes the program more palatable to commercial properties. To learn more about Georgia Audubon’s work to prevent bird-building collisions or to sign up to receive Lights Out Alerts on nights of peak migration, please visit https://www.georgiaaudubon.org/lights-out-georgia.html. Together we can make Georgia a safer place for migrating birds.   This is sponsored content.

Today’s the Last Day! Please RSVP by clicking here. The gala will be held at the Atlanta History Center at 6pm on Thursday, March 30, 2023, and includes a cocktail reception, live entertainment – with a special performance by the Atlanta Women’s Chorus, dinner, live auction and more. Please join us and Honorary Chair Ambassador Andrew Young as we celebrate Lucy C. Vance. Former Families First board member Monica Kaufman Pearson will serve as emcee! There are a few sponsorships and tickets still available, but the deadline is today!  Click here or the above flyer for more details and to make your purchase.  You may also email us at marketing@familiesfirst.org for more information.   Warmly, Paula M. Moody Paula M. Moody, LCSW, MS Chief Executive Officer Families First

Representatives from the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce recently joined Fiserv, a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology with a significant presence in the Atlanta area, to present three Atlanta-area small businesses with $10,000 grants in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month.  The business owners who received grants included: Joel Ferrer of Chef Joel Coco Cabana LLC, a restaurant delighting guests with unique cuisine, showcasing Chef Joel’s classically trained background and Cuban heritage. Vanessa Higgins of Clean Tu Casa, a cleaning, organizing and personal errand service company serving homes, small offices and short-term rentals in Metro Atlanta. Alejandra “Luz” Pelaez of UP Advertising, a multicultural advertising and digital marketing agency specializing in reaching the Hispanic market, ensuring companies communicate authentically. In interviews following the grant presentations, the recipients discussed the impact the grants will have on their businesses. Chef Ferrer highlighted plans to invest in upgraded technology, while Vanessa Higgins underscored that the grants will enable her to create jobs and Sebastian Uribe of UP Advertising noted an anticipated increase in sales.   The grants were awarded as part of the Fiserv Back2Business program, a $50 million commitment to support minority-owned small businesses. In addition to grants, Back2Business connects diverse small businesses with critical resources, including complimentary small business coaching, leading technology solutions such as Clover and community partners. “We’re proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by supporting these inspiring businesses and all the small businesses that play a crucial role in Atlanta’s economy,” said Vivian Greentree, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Corporate Citizenship at Fiserv. “Providing funding and resources to help small, diverse businesses thrive is a key tenet of the Back2Business program and it’s wonderful to see the impact this program has made in cities all over the country, and especially here in our own backyard in Atlanta.”  “It is an honor to partner with Fiserv and the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to celebrate and support entrepreneurs in the Hispanic community during Hispanic Heritage Month,” said Alex Gonzalez, Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer at the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “Through the Back2Business grants, Fiserv is providing access to capital and resources to help these three Hispanic-owned businesses grow and thrive.” In addition to facing difficult business conditions such as rising costs, supply chain challenges and labor shortages, Hispanic-owned small businesses have their own unique set of challenges. “Fiserv recognition and support of the Hispanic community, providing valuable grants and services at a critical time for small businesses through Back2Business, is key to assuring equitable opportunities for our community and to being seen as the vital force that we are for the economy and the great state of Georgia,” said Verónica Maldonado-Torres, President and CEO, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “When one group thrives, we all thrive as a society, and that is our goal at the GHCC – to match businesses with the resources, tools and opportunities to inspire them and help them reimagine the next for their company.”  In addition to Atlanta, Fiserv has sponsored the Back2Business program in cities including New York, Milwaukee, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, Tulsa, Oakland, Washington. D.C. and Omaha. To date, Fiserv has presented nearly 1,500 grants to small businesses through the program.   This is sponsored content.

By Eric Tanenblatt, Chairman of the Buckhead Coalition The years-long cityhood debate made it possible—perhaps even easy—to view each other as adversaries with distinct and opposing visions for our community’s future. But we’re not rivals, and we never were; we’re neighbors, now and always. By now, you’ve heard that the Georgia Senate considered legislation that would have allowed for the fragmentation of Atlanta. A different path was chosen, and it’s time to move forward together to build the safest, most prosperous and best-run city possible. Buckhead is a unique economic engine—the sort of rising tide that lifts all boats, as President Ronald Reagan said. Considering its significant contributions to the local tax base, it’s not too much for Buckhead to expect that its trash be picked up, its sewers don’t overrun and giant potholes don’t persist. After years of feeling ignored and undervalued, city hall’s new leadership is finally taking Buckhead’s concerns seriously.  The city’s recent and ongoing public services and safety initiatives, including a new police precinct and remote security infrastructure, show it understands the imperative to deliver for taxpayers. Thanks to the activism and engagement of residents and civic groups, Buckhead now leads the City of Atlanta in crime reduction, with crime falling by 14 percent year-over-year. That progress represents a decent down payment, but a great debt is still owed. And you better believe we’re going to collect. As Chair of the Buckhead Coalition, our priorities for the next year will include a continued focus on public safety. We will champion improvements to city services, transportation and infrastructure needs and zoning regulations through new and stronger partnerships with local and state officials and community organizations. The Coalition will continue implementing the Buckhead Security Plan, including placing more security cameras to complement the new police precinct in the Buckhead Village through a collaborative effort of the Coalition, Buckhead Community Improvement District and the Atlanta Police Department.  The Buckhead model of civic and public-private cooperation is often imitated but never duplicated, because it’s taken decades of work to get us here. Today, Buckhead is as much a home to big businesses as small families. That these stark incongruencies exist simultaneously is a testament to the founding vision of the Buckhead Coalition and helps explain why our community is and will remain the jewel of Atlanta. But as we hold the city accountable to its most basic commitments of quality municipal services and public safety, it’s equally important that Buckhead neighbors tear down the artificial fences that the cityhood debate constructed between us. We may have favored different paths at one time, but now we’re walking the same one. As the old proverb says, go alone if you want to go fast but go together if you want to go far. Me, I hope we go far.   This is sponsored content.

By ULI Atlanta During the month of March, ULI joins the nation in celebrating the achievements women have made over the course of history — by amplifying women’s profound impact in the real estate and land use industries. ULI has made a global mission commitment to pursuing unrelenting efforts to shape the built environment toward diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities and by acknowledging the historical importance and influence of women in the industry, we are building a foundation for the next generation of women leaders in real estate to stand higher on. The Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) is an important forum within ULI launched 10 years ago. In those 10 years, it has done some amazing work – and Atlanta has been at the forefront of pioneering programs like The Leaders.  In 2020, ULI Atlanta’s WLI set out to launch “The Leaders” with the goal to increase the presence of women in the real estate and land use industry in leadership positions, board rooms and as speakers at industry conferences. The intention was to celebrate women who make extraordinary contributions to the built environment throughout the Atlanta region. The Leaders has grown to a list of women that are 70 strong, and we are now looking for nominations for our 2023 cohort. Please consider supporting a female colleague, peer, or friend by nominating her for this accolade today! Nominations and Selection Process:  Nominations will be open between March 8 and April 10, 2023.  The process is described below: Anyone can submit a nomination. Nominees will be asked to submit an official application for The Leaders between April – June. The Leaders will be selected by a committee of ULI member leaders who will meet to consider nominations and make final selections; and The final selection of nominees will be by the beginning of September. Strong Nominees will meet the following criteria: Minimum 15 years of work experience. Be located within the ULI Atlanta District Council, which serves Georgia and Eastern Tennessee. Have a dedication and commitment to the success of the Atlanta region. Contributed significant impacts and influence on the built environment through both personal and professional accomplishments. Contributed to positive community impact through volunteer service outside of work responsibilities. Demonstrated leadership in inspiring others in the real estate and land use industry. NOMINATE HERE   About ULI Atlanta: ULI Atlanta is a District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). As the preeminent, multidisciplinary real estate forum, ULI is a nonprofit education and research group supported by its diverse, expert membership base. Our mission is to “Shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide.” ULI Atlanta has over 1,400 members throughout the Atlanta region and our broader geography which includes the entire state of Georgia and eastern Tennessee. ULI Atlanta is one of the largest and most active District Councils in the United States.   This is sponsored content.

By Jared Teutsch, Executive Director Spring is here and across Georgia we are seeing signs of life in our gardens and landscapes. Those who pay attention to the sounds of the seasons will have also noticed a huge uptick in the amount of bird song each morning. There’s a cacophony of songs as our resident birds gear up for nesting season. Migratory birds are also on the move from their winter homes in Central and South America back to Georgia and other states where they will build their nests and rear their young.  Bird migration is one of the most amazing feats in the natural world. Each fall and spring, billions of birds take to the skies, avoiding predators, and dodging turbulent weather as they travel between breeding grounds in the north and wintering grounds in the Caribbean or Central and South America. Some of these migration routes are epic, like the Red Knot that travels more than 9,300 miles one-way each fall and spring, pausing along Georgia’s coast to refuel. Or, the tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird, weighing about the same as a penny, that spends summers in Georgia and then, in a stunning migratory feat, crosses the Gulf of Mexico, a 500-mile trip, in a single 18- to 22-hour flight. Birds passing through Atlanta and other cities face an additional threat—glass-covered, brightly-lit buildings. Large, brightly lit cities wreak havoc on migratory birds as the ever-present glow of artificial light turns the normally safe nighttime sky into a perilous pathway. Bright lights both attract and disorient birds, causing them to flock to our illuminated spaces where they often collide with structures or become trapped in beams of light where they circle until they are exhausted.  Current research estimates that between 365 million and 1 billion birds perish each year after colliding with buildings in the U.S. Atlanta is a particularly challenging place for migrating birds, ranking as the fourth most dangerous city during fall migration and ninth in spring for light exposure to migratory birds, according to a 2019 study by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. With an estimated 250 million birds passing over Georgia during spring and 675 million birds migrating over in the fall, it is vital to learn about migration over our state and make our cities safer. While there are several pre- and post-construction solutions to reduce bird collisions, one of the simplest and most effective ways to keep birds from striking windows is to simply turn out the lights, particularly on the 20 or so nights of peak migration each year. In 2017, Georgia Audubon launched the Lights Out Georgia program to encourage people to turn out or reduce night time lighting during fall and spring migration and more than 1,000 people have enrolled. But while turning out the lights is relatively simple at residences, it can be more challenging for commercial properties where outdoor lighting is both decorative and functional.  Thanks to a collaborative venture between Georgia Audubon and Dr. Kyle Horton, at Colorado State University, and a generous grant from the Disney Conservation Fund, Georgia Audubon has launched a new tool that predicts nights of high bird migration enabling Georgia Audubon to issue Lights Out Alerts via email on peak migratory evenings. While it may not be feasible to dim the lights every single night during migration, reducing or eliminating nighttime lights on the ten or fewer peak migratory nights each season is a much easier request and makes the program more palatable to commercial properties. To learn more about Georgia Audubon’s work to prevent bird-building collisions or to sign up to receive Lights Out Alerts on nights of peak migration, please visit https://www.georgiaaudubon.org/lights-out-georgia.html. Together we can make Georgia a safer place for migrating birds.   This is sponsored content.

This week is very special because it’s the week we celebrate the 91st birthday of a truly remarkable human being, my dear friend and mentor, Ambassador Andrew Young. Words cannot adequately express my admiration and gratitude for this great man, who has played such an integral role in shaping our country’s history and inspiring future generations. Ambassador Young has lived a life of service to others, from his work as a civil rights leader and lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to his tenure as a mayor of the city of Atlanta, to his time as a congressman, and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He has been a tireless advocate for justice and equality, and his legacy continues to inspire people around the world. On a personal note, Ambassador Young has been a mentor, a friend, and a true hero. He has always been there to offer guidance and support, and I am constantly amazed by his wisdom, his kindness, and his unwavering commitment to making the world a better place. His legacy of leadership and service is a constant source of inspiration for me and for everyone at Operation HOPE. Ambassador Young has been a true blessing to our organization, and we are proud and honored to be in his social justice, moral, and spiritual lineage. His leadership and vision have helped shape our mission to empower underserved communities and promote financial dignity for all. We are grateful that he has lent us his voice to amplify our message, his shoulders on which we stand, and his giant heart to help us achieve our goals. For that, we are forever grateful. To our hero, we pray that your day was filled with love, joy, and happiness. May you continue to inspire us all with your leadership, your vision, and your unwavering commitment to justice and equality. And may you continue to be a beacon of hope for future generations. Happy birthday, Ambassador Young. We are all blessed to know you, and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you in the years to come.

By Lily Samuel When it comes to health, it’s important to recognize how interconnected the world is. No nation, including the United States, can be truly safe until all countries have core public health capabilities and reliable health systems to protect all communities regardless of their social, political, economic or environmental circumstances. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s newly released Global Health Annual Report, “CDC Advances Health Equity Around the World,” emphasizes the importance of promoting health equity and minimizing health disparities across the globe. Global health inequities arise from many factors, including lack of access to healthcare, the rise of drug-resistant pathogens, gaps in immunity to vaccine-preventable diseases and the impacts of the changing climate. To address these inequities, CDC’s Global Health Equity Strategy takes a human rights approach focused on improving the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of global health programs. The strategy recognizes that there are multiple ways to pursue the right to health, and it sets specific goals to help countries eliminate health disparities. The CDC Foundation has worked with CDC for more than 25 years, building public-private partnerships to identify and resolve common health priorities and advance health equity worldwide. Through these partnerships, we strive to advance health equity by focusing on changing the systems, both formal and informal, that have created and perpetuated global disparities in health outcomes and catalyzing cross-sector collaboration for sustained impact. As highlighted in CDC’s report, the CDC Foundation partners with CDC on a variety of key priority areas that include building the capacity to detect, respond to and prevent the spread of diseases like malaria and expanding access to critical public health services and infrastructure in countries like Haiti and Ukraine during times of crisis. The report also features our partnership with CDC and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen the capacity of malaria laboratories and experts on the African continent focused on monitoring malaria drug resistance, equipping a laboratory in Senegal to offer the same trainings and services as CDC’s Malaria Lab. This partnership supports global efforts to ensure that malaria therapies retain their efficacy and demonstrates who we work to ensure that the systems for addressing infectious diseases like malaria are in place in the countries facing the greatest burden of those diseases. The report also features CDC and CDC Foundation’s research, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on the efficacy of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in Mozambique and Burkina Faso. This research will inform future vaccine policy that may help these countries achieve higher and more equitable PCV coverage and save the lives of thousands of children. The global health community has renewed its commitment to lessening the burden of these and other diseases on vulnerable populations all over the world, and we believe that our greatest impact will be made through collaboration. Together with CDC, we aim to create a healthier and safer world that is better prepared to equitably address the next global health challenge and help people achieve their healthiest potential. Read the full report here. This is sponsored content.

Born in 1908, Dr. Irene Dobbs Jackson was the first of six daughters born to Irene and John Wesley Dobbs. In her early years, Irene, known as “Renie,” and her family resided in Auburn Avenue, a thriving neighborhood in Atlanta known as an epicenter of Black culture and excellence in the South. She was a brilliant academic, graduating valedictorian of her high school and 1929 Spelman College classes, and a talented pianist, a skill that ultimately led her to her future husband. In 1932, while playing piano at a party in her Auburn Avenue neighborhood, Renie met Maynard Jackson Sr., her husband-to-be. Before tying the knot, she moved to France to study for a Master’s degree in French at the University of Toulouse. During this same time, her father John Wesley Dobbs embarked on a mission to secure voting rights for Black Americans. Believing that enfranchisement was the key to overcoming segregation, Dobbs started a voter registration drive in 1936 with a goal of registering 10,000 Black voters in Georgia. That year, Dobbs founded the Atlanta Civic and Political League, and over the next decade more than 20,000 Black citizens were registered to vote. In 1946, following this decade of success, Dobbs founded the Atlanta Negro Voters League and, using his found influence and leadership, convinced then-Mayor Hartsfield Jackson to integrate the Atlanta Police force. By then, Renie had returned from France and married Jackson Sr., a preacher at Friendship Baptist Church. In 1949, the couple built and moved into their new home at 220 Sunset Avenue in the Vine City neighborhood on the Westside. They chose the location for their family’s home because of the neighborhood’s reputation as a nice, middle-class Black neighborhood. The couple and their six children lived in apartment three on the second floor. Maynard used the third floor apartment as his office and they rented out the two first-floor units to generate additional income. During this time, Jackson Sr. became increasingly involved in the local push for civil rights for Black Atlantans, using his position as a leader in his prominent Black church to encourage increased political involvement in the Black community. A few years later in 1953, Jackson Sr. passed away and Renie decided to further pursue her education, returning again to the University of Toulouse for a doctorate in French. In 1959, she returned home to both her Sunset Avenue home and alma mater Spelman College, where she assumed a post as a professor. As a scholar in a constant pursuit of new knowledge, she headed to her local Atlanta Public Library. While in France, she had been free to join any library she chose and check out any books-–but that was not the case at home. Segregation restricted Black people from full participation in the library system. Black Atlantans were permitted to read books, but only in the basement of a segregated branch of the library system. Additionally, they couldn’t hold an official library card to the main branches of the Atlanta Public Library system. Determined to be the difference, Dr. Jackson walked into the main branch of the Atlanta Public Library and demanded equal treatment, applying for a library card. Within a few days, her application was approved, and Dr. Irene Jackson was the first Black person in the city’s history to be issued a public library card. Today, she’s credited with integrating the Atlanta Public Library system. Her leadership in the fight for equality went on to inspire her children, including her son Maynard Jackson Jr. From his earliest days on Sunset Avenue into his adulthood, Maynard Jr. was a champion for the Black community. After years of community leadership, he was elected as Atlanta’s first Black mayor in 1973. The Jackson family sold their home in 1969, but its historical significance grew. In 1970, the home was purchased by Southern Rural Action Incorporated and was used to house visiting scholars who came to see The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, an organization founded by Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 2020, Westside Future Fund purchased the Sunset Avenue home to restore and apply for historic designation on the National Register of Historic Places. Renovations are currently underway. Once completed, the reimagined property will serve as affordable housing for researchers and graduate students affiliated with the Atlanta University Center, and it will stand as a landmark for years to come.   This is sponsored content.

By Taylor Ramsey, executive director, OneGoal Metro Atlanta Last week OneGoal Metro Atlanta hosted our second Student Summit at Clayton State University where 500 OneGoal juniors and seniors from across the metro area came together for a day of inspiration, connection and empowerment as they pursue their postsecondary goals. During this day, students have the opportunity to explore a variety of postsecondary pathways through workshops led by industry professionals, go on campus tours and attend our opportunity fair where they can connect with colleges, technical schools and other postsecondary programs.   As a postsecondary access and success program, OneGoal developed this student centered event because we know that students need to see it to believe it.  This high energy, celebratory day of learning is important against a backdrop of continued declining enrollment and well documented hesitancies about affordability and the value proposition of a postsecondary degree or credential. College enrollment declined by 9.4% across the pandemic, where students from low-income communities and students of color experienced  the most adverse effects.  Experts aren’t clear whether the decline represents a lingering pandemic effect or a more fundamental shift in student attitudes about the value and necessity of college. As a first-generation college student, I know firsthand the positive impact a college degree or credential can have on a young person’s trajectory. With 9.4% fewer students attending college, particularly from low-income families, this is likely to have a devastating effect on their lifetime earnings, job stability, and overall economic opportunities.  As Georgians these shifts and declines in postsecondary enrollment should be of particular concern as we consider that nearly 60% of jobs in Georgia will require some kind of degree or credential yet only 30% of our metro’s young people are on track to get there.   So, what should we do?  Listen to our young people. I think we all need to more deeply understand what our students have experienced and how their attitudes towards school and higher education may have changed. We need to affirm and acknowledge the fears or doubts they may have about the value of a degree or credential and understand what, if any, misconceptions need to be dispelled. At OneGoal, we administer a ‘mindsets survey’ to better understand what our students believe and what they need as they pursue their postsecondary path. Events like the Student Summit are created in direct response to what our students have named.  Exposure and postsecondary advising matters. Students need to see, feel and be immersed in the breadth of exciting career and postsecondary opportunities available to them. Our young people need opportunities to hear from role models, understand the costs and long-term benefits associated with various career paths. Students need opportunities to be inspired followed by practical information and an adult who can help them make sense of it all.  Link arms. Across metro Atlanta and the state, there are some exciting opportunities for us to recommit to ensuring that our young people can fully participate in our booming economy through postsecondary attainment. GPEE’s recent goal of ensuring 65% of young people attain a degree or credential, Learn4Life’s postsecondary CAN, commitment from funders like the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, and workforce development leaders like Georgia Power offer a blueprint for how to ensure that public and private entities come together to support students in pursuing their postsecondary goals, economic opportunity and lives of their choosing.  After the massive disruption we have experienced in education over the past three years, we have a chance to reimagine postsecondary access for all of Georgia’s students by taking steps to influence policy and practice in ways that matter most for our region’s youth.  To learn more about OneGoal, visit our website or reach out to Taylor Ramsey at taylor.ramsey@onegoalgraduation.org.   This is sponsored content.

As COVID-19 continues to evolve and impact the lives of people around the world, the need for additional effective treatment options continues to be at the forefront of global efforts to combat the disease. Emory University has entered into an agreement with Pfizer Inc. to advance research that may serve to help address this need and potentially save patients’ lives.    Under the terms of the research collaboration, option and license agreement, Emory University’s Schinazi Laboratory, led by distinguished researcher Raymond Schinazi, and Pfizer will work together to identify and evaluate potential antiviral compounds for the treatment of COVID-19.  As part of the collaboration, Pfizer will provide funding to the Schinazi group and collaborate on research to advance the preclinical development of these compounds. If successful, Pfizer will have the option to exercise exclusive rights to the leading clinical candidates and be solely responsible for further development activities. “We are thrilled to work with Pfizer, whose research and development efforts have led to significant advances in vaccine and drug development for COVID-19. Together, we have an opportunity to progress the discovery of a novel drug or drug combination to continue to fight against this formidable disease,” says Schinazi. “COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, a devastating effect on patients, communities, and economies throughout the world, and we believe it is vital to continue to invest in promising research that may help mitigate its impact,” says Charlotte Allerton, chief scientific officer, anti-infectives and head of medicine design, of Pfizer. “We’re pleased to be working with Emory University and the Schinazi Laboratory with the shared goal to bring forth scientific breakthroughs for people in need.”   “At Emory, our scientists are global leaders in the development of innovative, lifesaving treatments, and Dr. Schinazi and his team have the deep experience needed to make breakthroughs in combating the viruses around us today,” says Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves. “This agreement with Pfizer will put us on a path to potentially help serve COVID-19 patients like never before.” Emory has been a global leader in drug discovery and development for severe life-threatening infections. Schinazi and his team have a long track record in the discovery and development of antiviral agents for treating infectious diseases. His work has identified agents used widely in the treatment of HIV, hepatitis B and C, and COVID-19 that have saved millions of lives globally. “This collaboration could offer us another tool to benefit people most vulnerable to COVID-19,” says Ravi Thadhani, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University. “Reducing the rate of severe illness and hospitalizations would also benefit the clinicians and hospital staff who have been under enormous strain for the past three years.”   This is sponsored content.

By Damian Ramsey  While student exploration in college is generally considered a good thing, there is a hidden cost to students changing their majors after their first year. Changing majors after sophomore year has been linked to declines in college graduation, extended time to degree, and increased  student debt. Students change majors for many reasons. Understanding one’s aptitudes (natural abilities) and interests prior to enrolling in college, may reduce the likelihood of doing so.  Students sometimes lack visibility into the types of careers that would be both personally and financially rewarding. YouScience is a talent discovery platform that uncovers students’ aptitudes and interests, and aligns them with best-fit, high-demand careers. Using a series of short, game-like exercises to measure various types of aptitude (e.g., spatial visualization, sequential reasoning, numerical reasoning, inductive reasoning, etc.), and a career interest survey to assess students’ knowledge of, and interest in high-demand careers, YouScience matches students to fields in which they are uniquely fit to succeed. The report that is generated  provides the first step in bridging the gap between students’ aptitude and interests. What if YouScience was leveraged to match students to college majors that lead to high-demand careers? Would exploring a student’s talents, desired lifestyle, and understanding of specific career pathways prior to college, result in better outcomes during and after college? Learn4Life’s Postsecondary Success Network is exploring these and other questions as we consider YouScience as a tool to reduce major-changing and improve the region’s 27% postsecondary completion rate.    Currently, Georgia pays for all middle and high school students across the state to have access to YouScience. In 2019, almost 22,000 students across the 5 county 8 school district metro Atlanta region used the platform. Administration of this assessment, however, is completely voluntary, so usage varies from district to district, and the analysis of results for college and career advising, and experiential opportunities, vary from school to school.  By raising awareness of YouScience as a state-funded tool to unlock students’ interests and aptitudes, Learn4Life hopes to not only increase usage, but also encourage cross-sector partners to leverage the platform in ways that expose students to high-demand careers so they enter college with more clarity and focus. By helping high school students understand their unique skills that map to rewarding careers, we hope to mitigate the pressures that compel many of them to change majors in college. Doing so can set them on a path toward postsecondary success, and propel them toward future careers that directly align with their interests and natural abilities.  If you’re a parent, or from a school, nonprofit, community organization, or business, and you’d like to support Learn4Life’s cradle to career approach, you can join our early literacy, math, and postsecondary success networks here. All are welcome, and we’d love to have your voice at the table.