Take Some Time for What's Really Important

Barrage of Information Overload. Deluged with press releases, news articles, tweets, LinkedIn updates. The daily morning ritual of clearing your inbox, even after you answered the last email the evening before from your smartphone right before you went to sleep.

My wife’s birthday was this past weekend. I’m eternally grateful for this woman as she is very important to me, as she’s given me the greatest blessing –our son who is nearly two years old now. She keeps things running in our lives and has always been there for me. Without her, would I have made it this far? I don’t want to think about that, but she keeps me grounded and motivated to keep moving forward.

Her birthday, was one of the triggers for me to slow down and write this, as well as another important day coming up this week—International Women’s Day, March 8th https://www.internationalwomensday.com/ Very important day. Please take time to slow down, and acknowledge the ladies in your life—professional and personal. Without them, the world would not and will not go round. 

Which brings me to the unpleasant topic of “Domestic Violence”. I’ve been an Executive board member at Saving Promise (www.SavingPromise.org) for over three years now and try to assist and help whenever possible on a volunteer basis—through strategic input, business and technology ideas, and funding wherever possible. 

An acclaimed author and former corporate executive herself, Saving Promise Founder L.Y. Marlow’s personal story is about four generations of mothers and daughters who survived more than sixty years of domestic violence. Please take some time out of your busy schedule today to read a story that USA TODAY featured about the recent TEDx Talk that our Founder and CEO of Saving Promise, L.Y. Marlow, gave as she explains Why You Should Have the Vision to Embrace Your Passion and her vision for Saving Promise and a national call to action; as well as an article written by L.Y. that was also featured in USA TODAY. Meanwhile, I’ll share the actual TEDx Talk once it’s been published on the TED platform soon. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/24/tedx-speaker-domestic-violence/370714002/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/02/22/secrets-house-chronic-public-health-crisis-domestic-violence-l-y-marlow-column/354466002/

It’s unnerving that the term is called “Domestic Violence” as this implies that it’s a US or inside one country only as a problem or issue. I understand that this is a matter we don’t usually talk about in our boardrooms or around the water cooler, but our silence can put our co-workers at risk. Abuse is abuse –whether its emotional or physical. It’s an international problem—and a large one at that. Did you know:

•  More than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
• Intimate partner violence costs our economy $8+ billion a year for health care and lost productivity.
• “Violence at home costs $8 trillion a year, worse than war. For every civil war battlefield death, roughly nine people ... are killed in inter-personal disputes." - Study from the Copenhagen Consensus Center https://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/post-2015-consensus/news/violence-home-costs-8-trillion-year-worse-war
• The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has labeled intimate partner violence as “a widespread major public health problem in the U.S.”

Not surprised enough? Please take some time to read through the following:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/50-actual-facts-about-dom_b_2193904.html

https://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/post-2015-consensus/conflictandviolence

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cost-of-domestic-violence-is-astonishing/2018/02/22/f8c9a88a-0cf5-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?utm_term=.6cd7cc280df1

Finally, I’m also a proud employee of Huawei Technologies in Shenzhen, China who has an award winning portfolio of Safer City https://e.huawei.com/en/solutions/industries/public-safety/safe-city/safe-city solutions. A Smart City starts with a solid Safe City foundation. We’re doing our part to help prevent violence out there as well across the world.

How can you help?

Saving Promise is always on the lookout for ideas and energy. We are in need of additional corporate partnerships and funding to keep this important mission moving forward. If you are interested in learning more about Saving Promise, please feel free to reach out directly to me and/or directly to L.Y. Marlow at [email protected].

Please take a few minutes out from information overload, and remember those important to you in your lives—please don’t take this issue for granted. Please see here for further information:

https://www.savingpromise.org/get-involved/      https://www.savingpromise.org/donate/

Thank you!