This episode of the SitRoom features MD Anderson Cancer Center's Ronald DePinho on the rise in COVID cases, The Carlyle Group's Glenn Youngkin with a plan to bring back 15,000 jobs in Virginia, and more.
Glenn Youngkin, President, and Co-CEO of the Carlyle Group and Chairman.
Glenn is out with an innovative plan to get Americans back to work — VA Ready (link below), helping establish 15,000 jobs in Virginia in the wake of devastating unemployment.What do we know about unemployed Americans? Most come from industries that have been most economically hurt during COVID and are thus less likely to hire quickly in the future.Since COVID-19, nearly 875,000 Virginians have filed for unemployment — 60% of whom do not have a college degree and a majority of which are minorities. Technology and healthcare represent the biggest gaps between job opportunities, and it is especially hard to learn an entirely new skill to fill a new labor market, even if it will ultimately be more profitable for you. Glenn’s plan establishes a dynamic partnership with 20 of the Commonwealth’s leading businesses and the Virginia Community College System’s 23 community colleges to retrain and equip out-of-work Virginians who want to gain the required skills for in-demand jobs in high-growth sectors.It’s a program Glenn said is easily replicable across other states, and he was impressed at how readily the business community agreed to the partnerships. What can you do to help? Glenn says you can start by donating to their 501(c)(3) work (link below). Ronald A. DePinho, former head of the world-renowned cancer research hospital — University of Texas MD Anderson in Houston.
Ron addressed the national spike in COVID-19 cases, noting rising hospitalizations suggests increased infection rates.The percent positive rate in places like Texas and Florida has increased from 5% to 10%, which means cases are rising faster than testing capacity. However, death rates are declining as effective treatment and mitigation become more widely understood. Ron believes the federal government has done a good job rapidly ramping up testing but says we don’t yet have enough to do contact tracing, requiring 1 million tests per day.Ron also noted the virus has mutated to become more contagious. While it is not more deadly, it is easier to catch than it was three months ago.Ron’s No. 1 piece of advice? “Wear a mask! It’s the right thing for you and for the economy.”Haley McNamara, Vice President of Advocacy and Outreach at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
Haley shared the devastating trends of child and sexual abuse happening under COVID-19, with surprising insights: “Most people being trafficked are not in physical chains,” she said. “Some are your Uber drivers, grocery delivery people, and cashiers who are being forced into the gig economy.”NCSE’s Dirty Dozen (link below) lists names companies who do business with or platform is known trafficking organizations. This list has successfully pressured the likes of Google, Hilton Worldwide, Verizon, Walmart, and Paypal to reform their practices over the past two years. It’s not all discouraging: thanks to new research, Haley sees a global re-evaluation of the health impact of pornography. Hotels are pulling pornography from their entertainment, PayPal and others refuse to service pornography sites, and public polls on the public health impacts of pornography are moving in the right direction — parallels to the anti-smoking revolution 50 years ago.What can you do to help? Start by attending their Global Summit taking place July 18-28, where they’ll host over 10,000 virtual attendees and 100 speakers over 10 days. It’s free, and in Haley’s words: “There's no better way to get keyed in.” Sign up at the link below.VA Ready: https://vaready.org/
Donate to VA Ready: https://vaready.org/donate/
Dirty Dozen: https://endsexualexploitation.org/dir...
Sign up for the summit: https://cese2020.heysummit.com/