-
Government mandated shutdowns are making a case for welfare
With talks of some sort of welfare mechanism for millions of Americans doing the rounds, it looks like Universal Basic Income (UBI) is having a moment of spotlight. Let us not forget that it had its moment during the Democratic Primaries, with Andrew Yang making it his signature policy. Welfare policies are making a comeback…
-
How should you manage a crisis?
Lessons from crisis management & communication campaigns – Part 1 I just heard from a colleague that entire malls are being shut down and people are stocking up food and supplies, in California. The Coronavirus scare is getting real as the State of California has declared an emergency. For sure, this seems to be a…
-
What is going on, in India?
An elderly American gentleman asked me that question, just last week. And I summed it up neatly as quite simply : the struggle between those who want to keep India a secular republic (which the constitution guarantees) and those who want to turn into a Hindu nation. This explanation captures, in my view, what this…
-
Innovations in money transfer and remittances
The past few weeks have been filled with conferences. I was in Mexico City for a conference organized by CEMLA on remittances in Latin America and a meeting there lead me to another conference in Miami, this time the IMTC conference. Founded by Hugo Cuevas Mohr, the IMTC conferences are where practitioners, bankers and technology…
-
Do we need whistleblowers?
The recent scandal with Ukraine and Mr.Trump is one of the dozens of ethical (and legal) scandals that we have seen. Scandal after scandal, it seems like the word scandal is losing its steam. However, this one has a new twist : there is a whistleblower involved. The American legacy of whistleblowing goes far back,…
-
Honesty, hardwork and the academic life
New York Times published this article recently that talked about writing companies offering essays, academic papers and the like, as services to American college students. I have seen examples of this in my own classroom, though have been handicapped in proving that this work is completely written by someone else. This goes to the heart…
-
Race to lead
I received a report in my mailbox today titled ‘Race to lead’ which deals with the issue of challenges that leaders of color face, in the nonprofit sector, in the U.S. Many of the issues highlighted in the report are quite familiar to me : lack of funding, board of directors not taking you seriously.…
-
On leadership…
I am teaching a course on Nonprofit Leadership this summer. This is a strange time to be talking about leadership, given that we are witnessing so much chaos around the world and those who are supposed to be ‘leading’ are doing anything but lead. Consider the world of business, which has become the focus of…
