Digital Edition: August by Worth Media

WHY YOU SHOULD INVEST IN FARMLAND TRAIN YOUR BRAIN TO BEAT STRESS

BILL NYE ON THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE

Can

the

office

really

call

the

shots?

Answers to all your burning questions about workplace vaccine requirements

C ON T E N T S DIGITAL EDITION 02 | AUGUST 2021

Domenique Camacho Moran explains whether employers can require employees to get vaccinated before returning to the office.

If Bitcoin is a long-term hedge, then there should be more savings and pension-like programs for passive investing in it.

Farmland is the latest asset class to be revolutionized by the fintech wave.

While conventional composites are both cost-efficient and provide great performance benefits, they have a negative impact on the environment.

The Legal Ins and Outs of Vaccines and the Workplace

Why You Should Invest in Farmland

Why Bitcoin Savings Products Are the Future of Crypto

The Green Revolution Comes to Materials

Navigating Office Dynamics Post-Pandemic After more than a year of working from home, in-office dynamics promise to be more volatile than ever.

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The Woman Bringing Together Venture Capital, Diversity and Impact Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson, CEO of VC Include, discusses how to expand investment opportunities for diverse asset managers.

How to Channel the Power of Activism Inside Your Company

Why Bill Nye Is Excited About the Future The Science Guy spoke to Worth about his new partnership with Bombay Sapphire, what people can do to help the environment and why science is “the best idea anybody’s ever had.”

What’s Your PostPandemic Pathway?

The answers are rarely black and white.

Canyon Ranch is seeking to help people find their own pathway through the maze of reestablishing intelligent self-care with its newest program.

How to Change the Way Your Body Reacts to Stress

Departments 04

Masthead

Editor’s Letter

Contributors

Editors Picks

20 Questions CeCe Olisa

Perhaps it’s time to think about immunizing ourselves against stress.

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Jim McCann CHAIRMAN

Josh Kampel CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

James Ledbetter CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER

EDITORIAL E D I TO R I A L D I R E C TO R

Emily Cegielski

S E N I O R E D I TO R

Micki Wagner

C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R

Nicole Dudka

E D I T O R AT L A R G E CO N T R I B U TO R S

Richard Bradley George Everly, Steve Johnson, Michael Levin, Karn Manhas, Artem Milinchuk, Jonathan Russo, George Salapa, Nancy Vailakis

INTERNS

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E V E N TS & CO M M U N I T Y M A N AG E R

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PRODUCT, OPERATIONS & FINANCE HEAD OF MARKETING M A R K E T I N G C O O R D I N AT O R

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E DITOR ’ S LE T TE R

Legally Vaxxed

I L L U S T R AT I O N : LY N D O N H AY E S

s we approach fall, there has been seemingly more and more conversation about the return to the office. It’s up to each company to decide what policies they’ll put in place and what kind of schedules they’ll implement for their employees as offices reopen and many turn to new hybrid models of work. But one policy that seems common across industries is that employees return to the office fully vaccinated. In May, I was having a conversation with someone about vaccine policies being put in place for workers at an investment firm in New York City, and as we discussed it further, I began to wonder if this policy was even legal for employers to implement. So, I sat down with Domenique Camacho Moran, a partner in the labor and employment practice of New York-based law firm Farrell Fritz, to ask her all my burning questions about what employers can legally ask of employees now. What I learned surprised me—employers can require employees to be fully vaccinated and can fire an employee for not doing so, provided the employer gives a reasonable accommodation to workers who can’t get the vaccine due to a disability or serious religious belief. I had assumed something like a vaccination would be considered a private medical decision, something that employers could not

require. Domenique told me that this is unusual, but that due to the pandemic, “employers may be permitted to do a little bit more than they could before to protect the health and safety of employees.” And now, with the Delta variant spreading, New York City has announced that proof of vaccination will now be required for indoor dining, gyms and entertainment venues, and the state of New York will require all state employees to get vaccinated. In New York, 68.1 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, according to the state’s website at the time of writing. Ultimately, both employers and employees are navigating this rocky post-pandemic terrain for the first time. There will be mistakes made and lessons learned by everyone along the way as we try to return to some sense of normalcy as we used to know. In easing back to office life, as many of us will come fall, we should be mindful to treat our coworkers with empathy, kindness and perhaps even a sense of humor as we all begin to meet work and life where it is now.

— Micki Wagner S E N I O R E D I TO R

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CONTRIB UTORS

Michael Levin

Nancy Vailakis

New York Times best-selling author Michael Levin is one of America’s most prolific ghostwriters and journalists. He has helped create more successful books than anyone in the publishing industry, and he specializes in business fables and business fiction. His websites are TheFableFactory.com and MichaelLevinWrites.com.

Nancy Vailakis has over 16 years of alternative asset management industry experience as a business development, marketing and investor relations professional, and over 19 years of experience in financial services. She earned her MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business and her BA in English Literature from Binghamton University. Nancy continues to serve the Stern community as an Alumni Advisory Board Member of the Stern Private Equity Club.

Q: How has the pandemic

changed the way you think about self-care?

Nancy is engaged with many nonprofit and professional organizations in New York, including

High Water Women, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), 100 Women in Finance, New York Cares and Binghamton Women in Business. She is a regular speaker and writer about industry topics. “It was compelling to highlight Ms. Robinson and VC Include’s mission in this interview. The potential impact of investment models focused on sustainability, diversity and inclusion may resonate well beyond their current popularity. VC Include helps to position investment in women and BIPOC-led funds as a strategic option for the next generation of investors.”

A: Just started to wash my hands when I came home and made sure I got enough sleep—things to strengthen my immune system. Overall, I figured, rightly or wrongly, that I wasn’t at great risk, because I’m healthy and not in the at-risk age group. So, I lived my life as normal. Went to the gym every day, flew half a dozen times, saw friends...and I’m still here!

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do at Canyon Ranch?

A: Mixing and matching physical activity with classes and one-onone sessions with experts. It’s the variety and the high quality that makes it so much fun.

Q: What interested you the

most about Canyon Ranch’s new Pathways program? A: The fact that it’s so easily modified to meet the needs of each individual guest. “One size fits all” is the exact opposite of the Canyon Ranch way!

Q: What’s your favorite way to de-stress and relax?

A: I’m a book nerd, so going to the library and looking at books is very absorbing for me. I know— bor-ing! But it’s what I like! I get as much pleasure from my library card as my Amex card—and there’s no bill at the end of the month!

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Dr. George Everly George S. Everly, Jr., PhD, ABPP, FAPA, FACLP, is an award-winning author and researcher. He is considered one of the “founding fathers” of the field of disaster mental health. Trained in business, neurophysiology, public health and clinical psychology, he holds appointments as professor at the Center for Humanitarian Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, as well as associate professor (parttime) in psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He cofounded a United Nations non-governmental organization and previously served as its chairman and CEO. In addition, he has served on the adjunct faculty of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the FBI’s National Academy at Quantico, Virginia. Dr. Everly holds honorary professorships at the Universidad de Flores, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Universidad de Weiner, Lima, Peru. He was an advisor to the Hospital Authority of Hong Kong, subsequent to the SARS pandemic. Dr. Everly was a Harvard Scholar, visiting in psychology at Harvard

University; a visiting lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School; and chief psychologist and director of behavioral medicine for the Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Hospital Center. Among his books are A Clinical Guide to the Treatment of the Human Stress Response, 4th Edition (Springer, 2019), STRONGER (AMACOM, 2015), The Resilient Leader (ICISF, 2010) and The Resilient Child (ICISF, 2009, Gold Medal Winner). He consults internationally on the development of crisis leadership and human resource programs designed to build resilience and psychological immunity to highly stressful situations at both the organizational and personal levels. “As we can get vaccinated and develop immunity against viruses, science has now given us insight into how we can develop ‘immunity’ against excessive stress. As some professionals put on physical body armor to defend against physical injury, it seems we can now put on ‘psychological body armor’ to defend against psychological injury. Are you interested?”

E DITOR ’ S PICKS SPIRITS

TEQUILA DAHLIA CRISTALINO I am not a tequila drinker, but this could change that. Tequila Dahlia is a Blue Weber agave reposado tequila that’s been filtered with activated charcoal. This makes for a beautiful, clear tequila that is incredibly smooth. It’s almost dangerous how easy it is to drink straight up, but it’s truly the most enjoyable and palatable tequila I’ve ever had. —Micki Wagner TEQUILA DAHLIA CRISTALINO, $39.99

BOOKS

The Brains and Brawn Company: How Leading Organizations Blend the Best of Digital and Physical

obert Siegel, who lectures at Stanford’s business school and also works in venture capital, argues that digital-native companies aren’t always automatically advantaged and that the crucial importance of data and execution requires all companies to balance physical and digital. Clarim Media’s Chief Content Officer James Ledbetter recently interviewed Siegel.

Q: Say I’m an enterprise SaaS company. Why do I care about the physical world? A: If you don’t understand your customers—what their business is, your ability to deliver the best product to them—you will be hindered. A company like Uber did a horrible job at government relations, right? There are skillsets and competencies you can learn from incumbents.

Q: So, you figure out where your company is on the brains-brawn spectrum. Now what do you do?

A: There’s almost a duality that leaders need to have. They need to be able to understand how to manage in the short term and hit your numbers—but also: How do you manage longer term and figure out what innovation do you need to invest in?

Q: I can’t help but feel that the supply chain shocks that we’ve been seeing really underscore your thesis.

A: Business leaders are going to be at the crux of a lot of geopolitical issues, and supply chains are part of that. There’s going to be new ways of doing manufacturing, whether it’s on the desktop or an oil barge in the middle of the ocean. MCGRAW HILL, $28, 272 PAGES

ACCE S SO R I E S

PORTLAND LEATHER GOODS Leather often gets a bad rap. From animalrights opposition to toxic tannery chemicals, the leather industry is not generally associated with eco-friendly, sustainable fashion. But for many, the rich creamy texture and extreme durability of a finely made leather bag is the epitome of luxury. Finally, it seems, we may just be able to have our cake and eat it, too—thanks to Portland Leather Goods. The small business sources its hides from the U.S. beef industry, ensuring materials which would have otherwise gone to waste get a second life, and then those hides are tanned in award-winning facilities that are redefining the standard for eco-practices in the field. Not only that, but the company also owns and operates an artisan workshop in Mexico, blocks away from its tanneries, reducing environmental impact through close proximity and fostering community values. Oh, and the bags are gorgeous, too. —Emily Cegielski STARTING AT $88

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VA C C I N E S

Can Employers Require Employees to Get Vaccinated? Plus, Answers to Other Legal Questions as We Return to the Office

Worth sat down with Domenique Camacho Moran, a partner at Farrell Fritz, to discuss the legalities associated with going back to the office coming off a global pandemic. BY MICKI WAGNER 08

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s many companies begin to reopen offices and bring employees back in, many are requiring that employees be fully vaccinated. But can companies actually require that of their employees from a legal standpoint? And what legal pitfalls do employers need to be aware of while navigating this tumultuous time? Worth sat down with Domenique Camacho Moran, partner in the labor and employment practice of New York-based law firm Farrell Fritz, to discuss if employers can legally require their employees to get vaccinated, if employers can legally penalize an employee for not doing so and the biggest workplace health issue that has arisen during this time. Q: Let’s start with the biggest question here, and that is, can employers legally require their employees to be fully vaccinated before returning to the office, and is it lawful for employers to implement a penalty if they don’t comply? A: Yes, employers can legally require employees to be fully vaccinated with the caveat that they will have to provide a reasonable accommodation to those who cannot be vaccinated due to a disability or a sincerely held religious belief. In those circumstances, the employer is required under the law to engage in an interactive dialogue with the employee to determine if there is a reasonable accommodation that can be granted in lieu of full vaccination. As for a penalty, employers can adopt a mandatory vaccination policy and separate those who choose not to comply as long as those employers offer to reasonably accommodate employees who are not vaccinated because of a disability or sincerely held religious belief. So, provided you don’t have a disability and/or a strongly held religious belief, can a company rightfully penalize an employee for not getting vaccinated, including laying that employee off? Companies have the right to terminate employment based on an individual’s refusal to be vaccinated if the refusal is not based on a disability or sincerely held religious belief. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

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has issued guidance that permits mandatory vaccination policies—whether someone is vaccinated is not a protected category. To use a silly example, if an employer decides to mandate that its workers all wear green socks, that policy is lawful. Requiring the COVID-19 vaccine is like all other employer rules, i.e., “this is what we ask of our employees.” In the private sector, such a policy is permissible. As companies are beginning to require workers to go back to the office, what can, and can’t, they ask of them from a health standpoint? Employers should always proceed with caution when asking employees about their health. While some employers are mandating the vaccine, others are managing how to transition back to the office without requiring vaccination. On May 19, the governor of New York adopted the CDC’s stance on masks and social distancing. Then, New York released guidance for offices and other workplaces that permitted employers to decide whether vaccinated employees needed to mask and/or social distance. Now, employers have a choice: They can either go with the honor system, where they say to their staff and employees, “OK, we’re accepting the CDC’s recommendation, if you’ve been vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask. And if you have not been vaccinated, you should wear a mask, and you should social distance. And we’re going to rely on you to abide by those rules.” Alternatively, here in New York, the

employers can require employees to present proof of vaccination to remove their mask and continue to mandate masks and social distancing for those who have not been vaccinated. Employers, however, must take care when collecting proof of vaccination because the EEOC has declared that information and documents concerning vaccination status must be kept confidential. In short, employers cannot share employee vaccination status. I think it’s really interesting that employers can ask for what I assumed to be a private medical thing. Yes. It is unusual. Being allowed to ask about vaccine status feels like a step in a different direction. But what we’ve discovered during the pandemic is that employers may be permitted to do a little bit more than they could before to protect the health and safety of employees. I remember on March 18, 2020, I did a town hall and told the audience they were not the temperature police and should not be taking employee temperatures because that was a medical exam arguably prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Literally, within 48 hours, the EEOC released guidance that said taking temperatures was not going to be deemed a medical exam. We definitely have seen a bit of a transition over the course of the pandemic that has given employers greater ability to make sure they are creating a safe workplace. Gathering information about vaccination status is a step in that process. As a result, the rules and regulations have had to stretch a bit to get past the “we don’t tell anybody anything about our medical conditions and our medical history,” but I think on balance, the conversation for employers is, you can certainly ask this question—but keep the information confidential. From my perspective, it really means that employers need to be mindful of, “what is our policy going to be, and then how are we going to enforce it?” Keeping in mind that employers in private employment, for sure, can choose to

ask their employees to wear masks going forward. That might not be popular, but it’s certainly lawful. Let’s just say for a second that the employer, non-maliciously but accidentally, did say something about an employee’s vaccination or something along those lines. What happens? I don’t know that there’s a clear answer. Arguably, it would violate the EEOC’s guidance regarding COVID-19 vaccination status and the Americans with Disabilities Act provisions that require medical information be kept confidential. But the question would be: “What is the harm?” Is there likely to be litigation over an isolated circumstance? Probably not.

With or without a lawsuit, employers must understand their responsibility. According to the EEOC, vaccine information is confidential, but considering the vast number of venues—theaters, arenas, parties, etc.— that require proof of vaccination, it is puzzling that employers are charged with keeping the information confidential.

“From the executive’s perspective, stick to the three Es: Educate, encourage and enable.” —DOMENIQUE CAMACHO MORAN

What should executives be aware of that is not legally permissible to ask employees as they begin to return to the office because, obviously, we’re navigating kind of a weird landscape right now? From my perspective, executives should focus on three things. First, communicate with employees about the reopening plan if they haven’t reopened, particularly in New York City, where lots of offices have not returned to the workplace. As businesses start to reopen their offices, it is a really good idea for people to go to their offices in a gradual way. Giving employees the option to return slowly allows everyone to become more comfortable over WORTH.COM

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time. Also, employers should provide any COVID-19 rules and protocols ahead of time. For example, while health screenings are no longer required in New York, will employees be required to certify they do not have COVID-19 symptoms on a daily basis? Executives should spell out their mask policy and include the rationale. If the company has adopted a vaccination policy, provide plenty of advance notice to allow employees to get their shots. Finally, what will your organization expect when offices reopen? Is it, “we expect everybody back in the office on a full-time basis”? Is it, “we’re going to do some remote work”? Is it, “we’re going to continue to permit remote work indefinitely”? How do you think executives should navigate trying to have the safest workplace for everyone, while also respecting people’s health decisions during this time? While I am a fan of the honor system, unvaccinated employees who decide not to mask may create conflict in the workplace. So, requiring proof of vaccination to unmask may be necessary. Such a policy will likely require that somebody be

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designated to check vaccination cards and spot check to make sure that those who have not been vaccinated comply. I also am concerned about discrimination claims. I think from the executive’s perspective, stick to the three Es: educate, encourage and enable. Employers want to make sure that they’re educating employees on where they can go to get vaccinated, encourage employees to get their shots, offer small incentives and enable employees to get vaccinated by providing time off from work with pay (federal and New York law provides paid leave to be vaccinated). I also think it is critically important to respect those who want to wear a mask and social distance. Not everybody wants to get rid of their mask, and so having employees understand that they should be respectful of how others want to proceed will promote a healthy and safe workplace. Even as we become more comfortable in group settings, for now, if you’re hosting an in-person meeting, establish the rules in advance and respect individual choices about comfort without the mask and in close proximity, particularly in this initial phase of return to the workplace.

Just out of curiosity, could an employer face some sort of legal repercussions if someone were to get COVID in the office? I think we are going to see a few things happen in the next several months. New York has enacted something called the HEROES Act. That statute provides for there to be new guidelines and guidance on how to create a safe workplace so that the transmission of viruses, like COVID, are limited. Although most of the COVID-19 protocols have been lifted, employers should continue the cleaning protocols that provided some protection against the transmission of viruses. Generally speaking, it is difficult to ascertain whether an employee contracts the virus at the workplace, though we certainly have seen litigation during the last year alleging that employers failed to protect employees from the spread of COVID. The only way to minimize the risk (though not eliminate it) is for employers to comply with federal and state workplace safety guidelines. What is the biggest workplace health issue you’ve seen arise during this time, and how should executives go about dealing with that in their own companies? The irony is the biggest issue at the moment is the mental health issues associated with the pandemic. Employees are experiencing a fair amount of anxiety issues, depression and, in some cases, burnout. Executives need to gather resources and introduce programs to help employees manage their mental health challenges. An employee assistance program (EAP) can be enormously beneficial to employees at this moment in time. Executives will want to learn whether their organization provides an EAP, the benefits offered and how those benefits are communicated to employees. Establishing a wellness program that reminds their staff of available resources will help to ensure a healthy and productive post-pandemic workforce.

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I M PA C T I N V E S T I N G

Farmland Investing: Impact Beyond Returns Farmland is the latest asset class to be revolutionized by the fintech wave. Whether it’s through REITs, commodity ETFs or crowdfunding platforms, farmland sticks out among investors, both in terms of its attractive return on investment and its potential to increase the sustainability of the agriculture sector. BY ARTEM MILINCHUK

SG investing is here to stay. For more and more investors, it’s increasingly important that investments not only produce returns, but have social and environmental benefits as well. Fortunately, over the past decade, sustainable investments have become much more mainstream, and investors now have access to a wide range of ESG investments that also produce attractive returns. Thanks in part to the rise of technology-enabled investment platforms, investors no longer need to choose between meeting their financial goals and promoting positive change. INVESTORS ARE HUNGRY FOR IMPACT INVESTING While investors 10 or 20 years ago might have been focused primarily on returns, investors today are seeking to make an impact in the world through their assets. In 2018, Morgan Stanley found that 84 percent of individual investors were interested in using their dollars to effect change. This growth has been largely driven by an increased understanding amongst investors that ESG investing can drive competitive risk-adjusted returns, just as with any other investment, while also driving a positive impact. In fact, research from Morningstar on sustainable

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funds counters claims that ESG investment comes at the expense of performance. Even more striking, the majority of sustainability-focused funds actually outperformed the S&P. As the impact investing space continues to mature, investors have many more opportunities to simultaneously have a positive social or environmental impact and achieve their long-term financial goals. Today, sustainable investing assets are valued at over $30 billion globally, according to the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment and Global Sustainable Investing Alliance. Some of these opportunities have arisen in the alternative investment space, where debt and equity investments can be used to create positive impact. TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS INCREASE ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY INVESTMENTS Many alternative investments, including venture capital, private equity, real estate and lesser-known assets, such as

farmland, have long been out of reach for individual investors. Several barriers stood in the way, including high minimum investment thresholds and a lack of transparency around market opportunities. However, in the past few years, the rise of technology-enabled investment marketplaces, ranging from EquityMultiple (real estate) and Vinovest (wine) to Coinbase (crypto), are making alternative investments more accessible than ever. Farmland is the latest asset class to be revolutionized by the fintech wave. Whether it’s through REITs, like Farmland Partners, commodity ETFs or crowdfunding platforms, farmland sticks out among investors, both in terms of its attractive return on investment and its potential to increase the sustainability of the agriculture sector. SUSTAINABLE RETURNS It’s not hard to understand why Bill Gates is now the largest farmland owner in the U.S.

Another difference that sets farmland apart from gold is that its value is underpinned by its fundamental role in the global economy and its scarcity. The population continues to grow and people continue to need to eat, but high quality farmland isn’t created every day. In fact, the amount of arable land is declining due to a changing climate and rapid development, meaning suitable farmland will only become more valuable.

U.S. farmland returns are comparable to returns achieved by the stock market. Between 1992 and 2020, farmland returned an average of 11 percent per year, while the stock market returned an average of 8 percent. Farmland is also an extremely lowvolatility asset. The volatility of stocks, publicly traded REITs and gold is between 14.9 percent to 18.3 percent. In comparison, the volatility of farmland is only 6.9 percent, making farmland comparable to bonds. The combination of high average annual returns and low volatility means that on a risk-adjusted basis, farmland provides significantly better returns than public equities. Farmland has several other attractive qualities as well. It is uncorrelated with most major asset classes, meaning that events that impact the performance of stocks and bonds do not have the same impact on the performance of farmland. For this reason, adding farmland to your portfolio increases diversification, which is important for building long-

term wealth, and reduces overall portfolio volatility. Like gold, farmland acts as a store of value in turbulent economic times. It performs well in a recession and can be used as an effective hedge against inflation. Unlike gold, however, farmland offers investors two sources of income: price appreciation when the underlying asset is sold and passive income from periodic rental and crop payments. This means that farmland investing diversifies your income streams in addition to your investment portfolio.

As impact investing continues to mature, investors have many more opportunities to have a positive social or environmental impact and achieve their long-term financial goals.

PORTFOLIOS WITH A PURPOSE This is where sustainable farmland comes into play. In order to continue to feed the growing global population for years to come, sustainable farms are better equipped to take on the task. In fact, research shows that with proper management and by incorporating high-tech and sustainable approaches, farms could very well be able to satisfy the needs of the growing population. These approaches include water conservation, emphasizing organic and nature-based farming methods and leveraging agronomic innovations to make farms more efficient. However, these updates and transitions are often costly, presenting a barrier for most. Enter farmland investing. By channeling outside capital to farming, investors are driving agriculture toward sustainability and ensuring abundant food supply on a massive scale. Plus, sustainably managing farmland will also reinforce the land’s value. Farms with healthy soils, ample water and efficient infrastructure are worth more, leading to stronger returns in the long-term. FARMLAND: WHERE INCOME AND IMPACT GO HAND-IN-HAND For many years, impact investors were forced to choose between returns and their ESG goals. Fortunately, with the rise of technology-powered investment platforms, this is no longer the case. With access to farmland as an investment, investors are channeling the capital needed to preserve land and support future communities, while sharing in the rewards with cash income, capital appreciation and a balanced portfolio. WORTH.COM

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O F F I C E C U LT U R E

How to Navigate Post-Pandemic Office Dynamics When people return to the office after more than a year of working from home, office dynamics promise to be more volatile than ever. BY STEVE JOHNSON

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O F F I C E C U LT U R E

ast year, I joined a company that should have been full of brilliant jerks. Its ranks included dozens of PhDs in artificial intelligence and machine learning, among them some of the true pioneers in the industry. They were building smart robots for the biggest retailers on the planet and were really, really good at it. But weeks, then months, went by and I couldn’t find a single jerk. It was really unusual. One day, I walked into a room to see a team of scientists dusting robots and sweeping the floor. Here were truly brilliant people doing these tasks without being asked, just because they needed to be done. So, what was their secret? DEBUNKING THE BRILLIANT JERK LEGEND In three decades of business, I’ve contended with plenty of talented and difficult people. Some call them brilliant jerks; I just thought of them as prima donnas. In tech lore, those people appear to have the largest footprint—think Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Travis Kalanick. If you want geniuses, it seems, you have to put up with eccentricity. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Wharton researcher Adam Grant has written extensively about how people who give more than they take are actually more likely to be successful than their selfish counterparts. At the end of the day, the takers can hamper productivity, bring down morale and cost money. Now, more than ever, we need to take this to heart. When people return to the office after more than a year of working from home, office dynamics promise to be more volatile than ever…and brilliant jerks even more problematic. The good news is there are lessons you can take from offices like ours—and they start with one question.

Whatever you say after that question tells me exactly what I need to know about you. If a person can’t answer it, I’m striking a line through their name. Studies have shown that employees motivated by helping others tend to come up with more creative ideas and can help protect people around them from experiencing burnout. Those are the people I want on my team. Meanwhile, other studies have found people with negative attitudes or selfish motivations can be a cancer in the office. Those are the jerks we hope to weed out with this question. I know what you’re thinking: “But Steve, people can lie.” That’s why I always check the references. If you’re a good person, your references should be able to give me a specific instance where you lent a helping hand. If they can’t, I’m moving on.

AN EASY TRICK FOR CATCHING ATTITUDES IN THE INTERVIEW “Can you tell me about a time you helped someone, ideally someone who wasn’t part of your team?”

We sometimes hold up the wrong people as role models in business—brilliant leaders who take more than they give.

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HOW TO AVOID WORKING FOR BRILLIANT JERKS Sometimes, the shoe is on the other foot. As a job seeker, how do you know you’re not joining a company where difficult people are endemic? This is important: Everything starts with the founder. Do your research on who’s running the ship, and you’ll often get a feel for the vibe before ever setting foot in the office. In my first interview with our CEO, he took every step to make sure I was comfortable. This guy used to run artificial intelligence programs for the U.S. Department of Defense, and as I’m trying not to be awed by his reputation, he’s asking me if the office thermostat is set to my liking and whether I’d prefer coffee or water, then helping me with directions when I leave. Next, make sure you look for a core values statement—these mean more than you might think. A company’s values drive its mission, which in turn drives its strategies. Look for red flags in those statements. Uber’s early mission statement included terms like “toe-stepping,” which its first CEO said would empower low-level employees to speak up, but its second CEO admitted was often used as “an excuse for being an asshole.” IF YOU’RE STUCK WITH JERKS: REFORM, REPURPOSE OR REMOVE So, what do you do with the brilliant jerk who’s already at your workplace? There are things leaders or colleagues can do to make life more tenable. First, make sure they’re aware of it. For some people, arrogance is a character flaw that can’t be cured, but others are just clueless. It’s important to remember some people have a hard time with social cues, so it helps to be direct. Before anything else, have the hard conversation.

Second, if the person is still causing problems with productivity or morale, find a new purpose for them. In past jobs, I’ve had people who were extremely talented but abrasive with customers, so I took them out of their role and framed it as a move to help them find their superpower. Finally, if they can’t be helped, they need to be let go. As Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said, “the cost to effective teamwork is too high.” I truly believe there are very few of us who are irreplaceable—myself included—and you cannot let a bad crewmember sink the ship. We sometimes hold up the wrong people as role models in business— brilliant leaders who take more than

they give. However, I’ve been honored to know some of the real heroes like SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, who came to spend a day with my team about eight years ago and radiated selflessness. Despite knowing him so briefly, we were devastated to learn of his death in 2015. In the days following, I saw dozens of people sharing stories just like our own. It gave me faith that the most brilliant minds can be beautiful people. So don’t let the prima donnas get you down—we have them outnumbered. Surround yourself with the Dave Goldbergs of the world, and, when time allows, maybe sweep the floor.

Studies have shown that employees motivated by helping others tend to come up with more creative ideas and can help protect people around them from experiencing burnout. Meanwhile, people with negative attitudes or selfish motivations can be a cancer in the office .

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AUGUST 2021

B I TC O I N

Why Bitcoin Savings Products Are the Future of Crypto If Bitcoin is a long-term hedge, then there should be more savings and pension-like programs for passive investing in it. BY GEORGE SALAPA

here is this strange idea that with each new financial crisis, it becomes clearer that the naked emperor is, in fact, naked. In 2020, when world leaders unveiled, yet again, trillions of dollars of quantitative easing (QE)— just like after the 2008 global financial crisis—to avert the impending economic disaster, people were reminded once again how the centuries-old money-printing banking apparatus works. There is nothing new about monetization of debt—the first among central banks, the Bank of England, was founded by institutionalizing it—but it is not necessarily obvious, nor easy to understand, to a regular Joe. Until it is. The growing realization that the global financial system is somewhat illusory, in combination with lockdown boredom and stimulus checks, has propelled the price of Bitcoin to all-time highs and fueled the meme-stock crypto craze. And despite its large pullback this year, Bitcoin has attained a new place in the public consciousness: the perfect inflation protection, the denominator of all fiat currencies. If you get nervous about the realization that all money is made up or get suspicious that the U.S. can print as much debt as it likes because virtually all foreign trade is in U.S. dollars, meaning all importers and exporters have to hold it to trade, then you might like the idea of a digital currency with limited supply. As the price of Bitcoin kept spiraling upwards over 2020 and the beginning of 2021, the world’s most celebrated investors from Paul Tudor Jones to Ray Dalio publicly broadcasted that they are invested in Bitcoin. It can mean two things: Either they have only now, after 10+ years, realized that Bitcoin is really, really great, or the system is broken

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enough that 60-plus-year-old billionaires feel the need to invest in a line of code with limited supply. Perhaps both are true. Bitcoin is like Pandora’s Box—it cannot be stopped once it is released. Every new Chinese crackdown is just a blip on Bitcoin’s timeline. The fact that it cannot be controlled and has an upper limit is what makes it a perfect hedge against monetary debasement. Of course, there is a third less naive reason for the big hedge funders to endorse Bitcoin: Since it is a complete black box for trading, you can essentially buy and sell it through OTC desks at-will without saying anything to anyone. Sing-

“If you own a Bitcoin today, you will become a millionaire in the future. For sure. Congratulations...” —CAMERON WINKLEVOSS

ing praise of Bitcoin, only to sell it on the other side, is exactly what a hedge funder might do. Bill Ackman’s “hell is coming” speech on CNBC in March 2020, when markets feared the worst, earned him billions, first by betting against the market through the purchase of credit protection products, then, shortly after the markets tumbled, by buying stocks, some of which he previously said could be headed to zero. Still the argument for Bitcoin is strong. From a purely technological perspective, Bitcoin is a “version 1,” and in technology, “version 1” rarely succeeds. But Bitcoin is unlikely to be replaced. It performs its function well. It is a common denominator of value detached from human control, a bancor-like instrument as envisioned by economist John Maynard Keynes. If you believe that like other empires of the past, the U.S. is inflating its currency—with a notable exception that it can push things much further because the global monetary system is stacked in favor of the U.S. dollar—and that if anything could give it a system reset, it is Bitcoin, then Bitcoin is also a great long-term investment. Or to put it more bluntly, in the words of Cameron Winklevoss, “If you own a Bitcoin today, you will become a millionaire in the future. For sure. Congratulations…” Of course, this is nothing new, and by now, you may have read or heard this story hundreds of times, in which case I apologize. But it is striking how few investment products cater to this long-term investment thesis. Investing in Bitcoin has shifted from the domain of pure technologists in the early 2010s to the domain of the digitally native. Opening an account on a crypto exchange is easy, as is buying Bitcoin through a PayPal app, but it still requires some digital literacy as well as a willingness to manage your own money.

Coinbase has recently signed an agreement with a 401(k) provider that will allow workers to invest a small percentage of their 401(k) contributions in Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies. This makes sense. If Bitcoin is a longterm hedge, then there should be more savings and pension-like programs for passive investing in it. Most crypto savings products today cater to the digitally native demographic and involve less intuitive concepts like staking, wrapping, harvesting, etc., which require attention and can lead to a loss, both due to a user’s missteps and/or an error in the underlying technology. Add to this that the onboarding into the DeFi (decentralized finance) world is still too overwhelming for the average user; it involves creating a wallet, moving fiat funds to various on-ramps and having to suffer uncompetitively high processor fees. Even after this is done, wallet management by the user can be intimidating, as it is very distant from everything we know from the traditional financial world. Research shows that people are bad at managing their money, and this is increasingly dangerous as the financial markets become more accessible to small investors across a multitude of options and products. If buying Bitcoin on a crypto exchange is easy, so is panic-selling it the next time it tumbles, leading to unnecessary short-term losses or painful tax hits at the end of the year. A quick look at a Bitcoin graph tells us that over the last 10+ years, the best investment strategy was to passively buy Bitcoin. Bets are that with its limited supply and its bancor-like potential to fulfill the role of denominator of all fiat currencies, Bitcoin will remain an important long-term investment. Its strong cyclicality does mean, however, that dollar-cost averaging may be the best investment approach. WORTH.COM

AUGUST 2021

P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F G R E E N B O AT S

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

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The Green Revolut ion Comes to Mater ia ls While conventional composites are both cost-efficient and provide great performance benefits, they have a negative impact on the environment. Fortunately, alternatives are emerging. BY JONATHAN RUSSO

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

THE FUTURE IS LIGHTWEIGHT AND SUSTAINABLE Exponentially growing trends, like the electrification of transportation, are increasing the demand for highperformance lightweight solutions. As a consequence, composite and related industries are booming. However, one must keep in mind that the surge in demand for electric vehicles is the consequence of something even bigger: Our collective quest of becoming a climate-neutral civilization over the next three decades. And while conventional composites are both cost-efficient and provide great performance benefits, they have a negative impact on the environment. But fortunately, alternatives are emerging. PLASTIC HAS NO SOUL “From the age of six, I knew I wanted to become a boatbuilder,” Friedrich J. Deimann, the founder and CEO of GREENBOATS, told Worth. He started with an apprenticeship in wooden boatbuilding, and while he loved working with natural materials, he quickly realized that this was no longer state-ofthe-art. Over the years, he worked in

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the yacht industry and learned everything there is to know about high-end processing of composite materials in vacuum infusion and prepreg processes, for example. Deimann was fascinated by the new possibilities in terms of performance and the ability to reproduce components at low costs, but he could not imagine working with these materials for the rest of his life. “From the point of view of the worker, the materials required for the production are all extremely harmful to health,” he explained. “The fibers itch on the skin, the resin systems trigger allergic reactions in many craftsmen.”

“Inevitably, anyone using traditional composite materials is going to have to look at the environmentally superior alternatives. There will be a tipping poing.” —JOSH SUMMERS

Deimann started his research into alternative materials and found evidence that natural fibers such as flax have promising mechanical properties. Inspired by the findings, he decided to quit his job and start a company that would combine the possibilities of modern composite technologies with the appeal and aesthetics of classic wooden shipbuilding. That was 2013—the start of GREENBOATS. A NEW CATEGORY OF COMPOSITES Fast forward 10 years and GREENBOATS has completed 30+ projects using sustainable composites. Next to a portfolio of various motor and sailing boats, they are developing panel-based product solutions for the caravan and construction industries—from AUV deep sea vehicles that have tested their materials as deep as 18,000 feet below water, to offshore wind turbine nacelles, able to withstand winds of 150 mph. Most recently GREENBOATS has been commissioned by 11th Hour Racing Team to develop components made of sustainable materials for their upcoming Ocean Race campaign. Together with Marineshift360, GREENBOATS has been developing a tool that is measuring the environmental impact of their components over the entire lifecycle of the product. Using these so-called life cycle assessment (LCA) tools in combination with their proprietary material database and advanced engineering software, GREENBOATS can quantify costs, performance and the environmental impact of a given product, already during the design and engineering stage. “With our process, we make sustainability visible,” Deimann said. Proof that these are not empty words is their Flax27 Daysailer with a price tag of $150,000; the 27-foot sailing boat is made from 80 percent natural and recycled materials and weighs less than 2,700 pounds. In other words, it comes at a com-

P H OTO S C O U R T E S Y O F G R E E N B O AT S

t seems like all the innovative energy on the planet is digital. All things digital are being “disrupted.” Real estate, dating, community awareness, banking and transportation, it’s all new. Much more quietly, the same revolution is happening in the world of materials. Few of us stop and contemplate what our cars, planes, houses or even medical devices are made of…but we should. If we ever did stop to look around, say out of a new jet window at the wing, we would understand that composites are the materials essential to our lives. Composites are a combination of different materials that join their properties to create a suitable material for a certain application. Typical composites are a combination of a plastic core with a fiberglass or carbon surface. Since they are lighter than metal with equal or greater strength, their use has grown when applied to industrial, home, recreational and medical products. They are all around us all the time.

petitive price, superior performance in terms of weight and incomparably better environmental credentials. According to Yachting World, the Flax27 is “ just gorgeous” and comes with a lifting keel as standard, ideal for all those shallow draft waterfront homes. Although most of GREENBOATS’ clients are still in the early stages of adoption, both bottom-up pressure by consumers and top-down incentives by governments will only increase the demand for sustainable lightweight solutions. With the overall composite industry accounting for a turnover of more than $100 billion, market observers will closely watch the subcategory of sustainable composites—a niche that is likely to even outpace the al-

ready impressive, predicted growth rate of the overall composites industry. Back on our shores, GREENBOATS is working with several individuals to move natural fiber composite (NFC) use forward in the U.S. Josh Summers is working with them to help market their expertise and connect them with interested parties. As Summers, put it to Worth, “inevitably, anyone using traditional composite materials is going to have to look at the environmentally superior alternatives. There will be a tipping point and one day, hopefully soon, flax and natural epoxies will be everywhere.” We can only hope for that day—a future as a sustainable planet, using NFCs, as Deimann and Summers hope for.

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DIVERSITY

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WORTH.COM

Meet the Woman Bringing Venture Capital, Diversity and Impact Together Worth recently spoke with Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson, CEO of VC Include, about how to expand investment opportunities for diverse asset managers. BY NANCY VAILAKIS

here are many ways that Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson defines the leading edge of diversity-focused investing, at the intersection of technology and social impact. Robinson is the CEO of VC Include, an ecosystem and marketplace designed to expand investment opportunities for diverse asset managers, as well as a partner at new fund-of-funds Include Ventures. Previous to her current initiatives, Robinson developed online technology competitions and conferences in Africa to provide early-stage capital to the first wave of technology entrepreneurs across the continent, partnering with the U.S. Department of State, the World Bank, Microsoft, Mozilla and Nokia. Prior to that, she was a senior consultant at Ashoka, where she devised value-added propositions for clients including ExxonMobil, G20, Amgen, the eBay Foundation, HUD, Google and Omidyar Network. Robinson was also a former co-chair with the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, and her work has been recognized by the Knight Foundation, Echoing Green, Entrepreneur, CNN and Forbes. WORTH.COM

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DIVERSITY

Q: Bahiyah, thank you for agreeing to share your insights with the Worth community. This is a very unique time. A broader set of investor types are expressing interest in diverse managers, and firms like VC Include are gaining visibility. Please speak to the evolving picture you see. A: Thanks, Nancy. When I embarked on creating a platform for underrepresented emerging managers in the VC and ESG space in 2017, which I officially launched in 2018, the sentiment was much different than it is now as it relates to asset allocator perspectives on this niche market. Just a few years ago, the allocation story was much more about investing in later-stage asset managers and more on the public side of the market. This was interesting to me because there was so much innovation and alpha being driven in alternatives on the private capital side, particularly in private equity and, specifically, in venture capital. It was a challenging time trying to engage and source institutional investors that were willing to invest in smaller funds. One reason is that emerging managers, particularly at the cross section of venture and impact, are simply much smaller funds trying to take advantage of a new market, typically under $100 million in total AUM (or assets under management). The median size of a diverse fund that’s focused on impact investment or ESG and venture capital opportunities was, and still is, in the $30 to $50 million AUM range or smaller. Before the pandemic, there was definitely a product mismatch in the marketplace between smaller diverse and ESG focused funds and institutional investor appetite for those types of funds. Institutional investors wanted to almost exclusively cut larger checks for larger funds due to their mandates and client demand. In the wake of the pandemic and the zeitgeist shift due to civil unrest in the U.S., more institutional investors are looking closely at updating their strategies to meet the moment and to take advantage of alpha opportunities at the earlier stage where these managers are sourcing the

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next unicorns. This shift is mostly driven by client demand—more private capital cares about what and where they’re investing. There’s been a pendulum shift amongst many family offices and institutional investors, which is refreshing. There are varied approaches and sometimes very qualitative definitions applied to the terms ‘diverse’ or ‘BIPOC’ manager. Please speak to the range here. What are your preferred definitions and why? Naming conventions are so important, and yet everyone has a different lexicon when it comes to identifying non-white male communities. We seem to be at a turning point now as we deepen the understanding of diverse and underrepresented communities, so that on one hand, diverse can mean Black or Latinx founded. What it really means is that historically underrepresented groups are coming into the spotlight, which along with women of any ethnicity, still make up only 1.3 percent of all asset managers in the U.S., according to a Knight Foundation survey conducted in 2019. And so whether it’s gender lens or racially diverse, that term becomes the catch-all—and it has been for a few decades. The shift here is the intentionality about the type of diversity that institutional investors are looking at. We know that, for instance, Asian men specifically, and then secondarily Asian women, over index in the financial services industry as a whole, based on their percentage of the population here in the U.S. A number of reports show this, including a Racial Equity in Financial Services study by McKinsey for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation concluded in September 2020, which breaks down the data quite clearly. What we don’t see as much are Black and Latinx diverse managers en masse. When you look globally, even in frontier markets like Africa, you don’t see many African or Black-led funds in the private equity and venture impact space. Splicing that data is important when we look at diversity because then we can get a better picture of where there are alpha opportu-

nities and where certain populations can be included in a way that drives returns. It’s interesting that there are relatively few Black-run African funds, based on your experience. Yes, expat Europeans or Americans are running most of the African-focused investment funds. BIPOC nomenclature was really designed to be specific, to call out Black, Indigenous—the interesting thing is that Latinx is not part of that first part, but it is a part of the ‘POC’ part, which is “people of color.” BIPOC as a distinction is meant to identify the least represented people in America in a number of industries, including the investment industry. Many large institutional investors need to put sizable tickets to work and typically rely on consultants, OCIOs and fund-of-funds to analyze or allocate to earlier stage managers, if that is a part of their allocation mix. This earlier stage is where many diverse manager firms are in their lifecycle. Please speak to the pluses and minuses of this potentially consultant heavy approach, and any alternatives you find compelling. While it makes sense that large institutional investors would rely on consulting firms to advise across their portfolios and provide recommendations around the particular types of managers that map to their strategy and their interest in particular focus areas, the one challenge with consulting firms that’s remained true is that both the research arm and the CIOs are typically not BIPOC themselves. When you look at Black, Latinx and Indigenous staff at consulting firms, they are at a relatively low employment level. DAMI’s 3rd Annual Investment Consultant survey, released at the end of 2020, looks at how that breaks down. Firm ownership remains overwhelmingly male and white. Gender diversity is improving slightly amongst senior management. This is challenging because people usually look to their networks to source deals, based on trusted relationships over time, buddies from college, etc.

I liked another sentiment from that same survey, namely that diverse manager days, inclusion in databases, firm policy statements about diversity and the like change the playing field, but the real change we’re looking for comes when more money is managed by minorityowned fund managers. As there are not a lot of people of color working at these firms, it tends to skew the pool of qualified managers being considered. That’s something that many consulting firms are taking a hard look at now, at least in my conversations with them. They recognize that they need to hire more diverse investment talent at their firms and that will yield a more diverse product suite. We’re far away from the makeup of the major consulting firms matching the racial makeup of the country, and part of the reason I built the VCI platform was to be a solution to this challenge. In terms of allocations to diverse venture capital managers, in particular, the percentages on an overall basis are still quite low despite the broader conversation taking place these days. Given your expertise in the sphere of venture capital at the cross section of diversity, and the fact that you’ve evolved a platform to ‘do something’ about it, why is this true relative to other asset classes and what makes you optimistic? Well, as we know, the venture capital industry grew out of a particular set of circumstances that occurred in a particular region, in this case, Silicon Valley. Government spurred technological innovation in the Bay Area in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and out of that came the first hardware innovations, later technological innovation around the worldwide web/internet and later software. A very specific set of variables led to the birth of venture capital, the more high-risk, high-reward type of investment structure and overall strategy. Now that software and hardware technological advances have covered the globe, Silicon Valley is still the leader in this space, for obvious reasons. But I think there’s a challenge for the rest of the nation and, in certain cases, the world, in terms of really understand-

“There’s been a pendulum shift amongst many family offices and institutional investors, which is refreshing.” —BAHIYAH YASMEEN ROBINSON

ing that there are new solutions, new markets, new companies and new fund managers that could have an equally compelling strategy and investment thesis as we approach the next level of innovation and Web 4.0. What inspired you to put together your first official VC Include emerging manager program? Please speak to the project sponsors and what excites you about it. The inaugural VC Include fellowship was realized in 2020, when the VCI platform was gaining real momentum as a meeting place for managers and investors at the intersection of diversity, ESG and venture capital investing. A lot of investors in our ecosystem were very excited about building a platform specifically for venture capital and impact fund managers. When the pandemic struck, everything paused for a number of months on the early stage investing side. And then the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor incidents happened, which sparked civil unrest in the U.S. At that point, VCI experienced a real avalanche of interest from institutional investors asking how they could ‘meet this moment’ and be good fiduciaries and put some capital to work at the early stage, and specifically into Black and Latinx managers. So, we were able to look at the breadth and depth of current managers on the platform: first-time managers that were fundraising, as well as new managers that were coming into the market in 2020. We started to build the emerging manager program we wanted to see, focused on building institutional grade asset management firms at scale. We realized that we could best serve the GPs asking to join the platform by

really being specific, making sure that those managers are ‘institutional grade.’ And so we stood up the VCI fellowship to provide the type of training and education, mentorship and engagement that many first-time managers sorely need and somehow don’t attain as they’re building and raising their first fund. We’re very excited to be sponsored to create this fellowship as a first effort of many to provide a pipeline of institutional quality fund managers from fund one, through fund two and fund three, and support them as they grow through their lifecycle. What challenges do you see in the diverse, emerging manager ecosystem? There are plenty of smart, pedigreed, underrepresented founders and funds in the ecosystem that we’ve built. There’s a ton of ‘pipeline.’ The challenge is that many institutional investor mandates dictate that they cannot invest in earlier stage funds; they have to invest starting with fund three due to risk rules and tolerance levels. So we bump up against this question of risk. We see this particularly because venture is already an asset class that’s based on having savvy investors that can balance risk with some bigger, larger bets to drive returns for the entire portfolio. We’re in the business of finding the right fit of alpha generating potential, in the context of big bets in venture and impact and really understanding trends that drive that probability of great success. VC Include is laser-focused on supplying those managers with exposure to potential LPs that track to their asset class; this is much easier to do when you talk about high net worth or family office investors who are also fiduciaries. If they’re investing in venture and impact, they’re already early adopters and first movers. They get the plum alpha opportunities because they’re taking larger bets. For me, this is just a matching problem. It’s less about there not being enough talent, and it’s more about facilitating better engagement, aligning strategies on the manager side and on the investor side. That’s what we specialize in.

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AUGUST 2021

AC TI V I S M

Channeling the Power of Activism Inside Your Company The answers are rarely black and white, but here’s what I’ve learned about harnessing people’s passion towards purposeful work. BY KARN MANHAS

ast year, Dyson shifted production from vacuums to ventilators. Sharp went from making LCD TVs to surgical masks. Distilleries and manufacturers everywhere started turning out hand sanitizer. With the crisis peaking, the question from people inside my own company was: What about us? Should we pivot our own labs from agricultural research to sanitizer production? It would involve turning away from our core mission— setting aside work on one pressing challenge and taking up another equally pressing one. What was the right thing to do? A year later, this question remains as salient as ever. How exactly do company mandates and social imperatives come together? From global health to climate change to social justice, what lines do we draw when it comes to activism and engagement in the workplace? The answers here are rarely black and white, but here’s what I’ve learned about harnessing people’s passion towards purposeful work. WHY ‘APOLITICAL’ ISN’T THE ANSWER Politics sometimes get lumped in with money and religion as dangerous territory in the office. But the impulse to shut it down isn’t the answer. Take Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s attempt to keep his company apolitical. In a blog post that went viral, Armstrong said employees should work elsewhere if they wanted to be activists. But that stance drew criticism from other tech leaders and alienated large parts of his team. Ultimately, this approach overlooks key realities. First, even if employees aren’t talking about these issues, they’re still thinking about them, which has real repercussions in terms of focus,

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performance, retention and more. Moreover, even doing nothing—ignoring “politics” altogether—is tantamount to taking a stand for the status quo. That’s why, while it’s not always comfortable, it’s imperative that leaders provide space for expression and discussion. “Space” risks being reduced to an empty buzzword these days, but at its heart, it means making sure your team feels psychologically safe and has openings to raise issues and concerns. At our weekly all-hands meetings, for example, we reserve time for open questions and discussion. Taking a page from companies like Shopify and Google, we’ll have “Ask Anything” sessions with leadership to foster internal dialogue. Team members can also anonymously submit questions, see others’ questions and upvote the ones they’d like to hear answers to. The goal is to let people feel heard while giving them a safe platform to talk about the issues that are on their mind. But the process doesn’t end there. Providing space for dialogue is different than committing to action. For that next step, a different matrix comes into play. FIND A COMMON CAUSE Of all the causes to address, which do you pursue as a company? And what’s the best course of action? To me, the answers have to start with company mission and values. Our mission is framed around a core question (How can we use technology to unlock the intelligence in nature?) and goal (to reduce the global synthetic pesticide load by 80 percent). Having a clear mandate like this provides a North Star to rally employee activism around. In our case, the application of technology to global problems is what we do. So, it only made sense to act in the face of COVID-19. From there, it’s a question of how. Here’s where Ancient Greece—and the practice of stoicism—proves

handy. Often misunderstood, the Stoics weren’t indifferent as much as archly pragmatic, committed to expending energies where they would have maximal impact. What does that mean for us? Rather than being overwhelmed by the enormity of the world’s problems, our energy is better spent on actions we can take. For me, this starts with asking three questions. What’s in my span of direct control? What’s in my sphere of influence? And what’s completely out of my control? Dwelling on the latter leads to stagnation and negativity, whereas focusing time and effort on what we can do leads us forward. Ultimately, this approach helps foster a culture of pragmatic altruism: doing good and doing what’s possible.

An activist spirit has direct bottom-line benefits. Study after study has shown that companies with a more diverse workforce out-innovate and out-perform others. There’s no secret here. People who bring passion to causes around them bring that same passion to bear on their job.

In our case, this meant that instead of shutting down our lab and turning it into an antibacterial bottling station, we tapped our own technology to help. Working as part of a collaborative project, we used our artificial intelligence capabilities to identify future mutations of the coronavirus and predict outbreaks. In the end, the best thing we could do to help solve the world’s big problems was to do what we do best. THE BENEFITS OF INVESTING IN YOUR TEAM’S PASSION At the end of the day, companies that find ways to channel, rather than suppress, employee passions stand to reap a very real return. The impact on recruiting and retention is hard to overstate. Research shows top employees seek jobs where they know their work will make a difference and where their opinions will matter. A recent study found that 94 percent of millennials want to use their skills to benefit a cause and 63 percent said the primary purpose of businesses should be “improving society.” An activist spirit has direct bottom-line benefits, too. Study after study has shown that companies with a more diverse workforce outinnovate and out-perform others. To me, there’s no secret here. People who bring passion to causes around them bring that same passion to bear on their job. To suppress passion in one arena is to compromise it everywhere; conversely, fostering passion among your team lifts all boats. To be clear, workplace conversations about social and political issues aren’t easy; in fact, they’re often challenging and uncomfortable. I’ve experienced this firsthand. But by opening a space for discussion, you give your team a chance to connect their individual passions with the collective purpose of your company. The result is a more engaged team, a stronger business and, when done well, real steps toward a better world. WORTH.COM

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M E N TA L H E A LT H

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Psychological Immunity: The Pursuit of Health Beyond Wealth Perhaps it’s time to think about immunizing ourselves against stress. BY GEORGE S. EVERLY JR.

t has been said that we will spend the first half of our lives sacrificing health to gain wealth, then we spend the second half of our lives sacrificing wealth in an attempt to recapture our health. Roughly speaking, you will spend 80 percent of all your health care costs in the last 20 percent of your life. This is to be expected. As we age, we simply begin to wear our bodies out. And let us not forget the role of stress in our lives. Stress may be thought of as an acceleration of the aging process. It accelerates the wear and tear processes that lead to a deterioration of vitality, illness and ultimately death. It was once believed that there was nothing that we could do to controvert the process; however, we now believe differently. Evidence exists that shows we can slow down the aging process and even suppress epigenetic expression of pathogenic genes. And the best part is: There appears to be evidence that you can develop a form of “psychological immunity” to many stressful events in your life. I remember being a young intern at a clinic that specialized in the treatment of stress-related illnesses. As an adjunct to their primary treatments, my job was to teach each patient, regardless of their diagnosis and subsequent treatment, techniques to lower their stress levels. We employed a wide array of non-pharmacologic techniques which were designed to elicit what cardiologist Herbert Benson referred to as the “relaxation response.” The relaxation response was simply a waking state of deep relaxation. Each person participated in a 12-week program wherein they practiced for 20 minutes a day. I began to see a pattern emerge that neither I nor my supervisors could explain. After about six weeks of practice, on average, people would begin to almost parenthetically comment that the things that used to upset them no longer seemed as troubling. It was almost as if they were developing some form of psychological “immunity” to many of the stressful events in their lives. Those who experienced this response at six weeks then seemed to benefit from a lessening of their stress-related

We found evidence that people could learn to quickly reduce their blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and activity of the sympathetic nervous system even in the face of a stressful event. With time, this ability to dampen the stress response appears to generalize into an “immunity” to excessive stress across many sources of distress...Perhaps it’s time to think about immunizing ourselves against stress.

symptoms at about 10 weeks. Those who benefited the most were those who were most consistent in their “relaxation” practice. While there was no denying the existence of this “psychological immunity,” we did not understand the mechanisms that would account for such an outcome. Was it simply a placebo effect, that is, did people get better simply because they expected to get better? Or was there some other explanation? We would begin to learn the answer to that question 10 years later. A seminal study was conducted in the early 1980s by J. W. Hoffman and others at Herbert Benson’s clinic and laboratory at Harvard Medical School. The results, published in the prestigious journal Science, proved that consistent practice of the “relaxation response” could actually create reduced physiological responsivity to stressful events. Several years later, my colleagues and I initiated a simple educational program designed to develop a similar “immunity” to stressful events. We found evidence that people could learn to quickly reduce their blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and activity of the sympathetic nervous system even in the face of a stressful event. With time, this ability to dampen the stress response appeared to generalize into an “immunity” to excessive stress across many potential sources of distress. There is no debate—stress is associated with premature aging and premature death. Relying on traditional health care to help us slow down stress-related aging and premature illness seems like a fool’s errand. Perhaps it’s time to think about immunizing ourselves against stress. Note: Reviews and discussion of the original research and clinical practices can be found in G.S. Everly, Jr & Jeffery M. Lating (2019). A Clinical Guide to the Treatment of the Human Stress Response. NY: Springer. WORTH.COM

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eave it to Bill Nye (yes, the Science Guy) to make the science of something as serious as a pandemic palatable, if not fun. This is Bill Nye—a man who is funny, quirky, positiveminded and dedicated to science and all the wonders it holds. When the pandemic broke out and lockdowns began, Nye started taking to TikTok to explain the science of COVID, maskwearing and other protocols. Now, Nye still makes TikToks in his characteristic quippy style, but he has also partnered with Bombay Sapphire (his gin of choice) on their new Bombay Sapphire Gin & Tonic canned cocktails—the company’s take on the classic gin and tonic. Nye sat down with Worth over Zoom to discuss how he became “the Science Guy,” the science behind why gin and tonics taste so good and why science is “the best idea anybody’s ever had.”

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Q: How did you become “Bill Nye, the Science Guy” in the first place? A: So, I went to engineering school because I liked bicycles and airplanes. And the other thing, I went to Cornell because I got in, which was a surprising result. And then I got a job at Boeing. I graduated in 1977 during the disco era before new wave and punk, and Steve Martin was huge. He was huge. Steve Martin’s first two albums I claim are the reason every city in the U.S. and Canada has two comedy clubs. Anyway, Warner Brothers Records sponsored a Steve Martin look-alike contest. And I won. With respect, I didn’t advance beyond Seattle, but in Seattle, I won. Then you get hooked on it. I started doing stand-up comedy, trying to do stand-up comedy. And at the same time, the U.S. had abandoned teaching the metric system, tore the solar panels off the roof of the White House and produced the Chevy Vega and the Ford Pinto. And I just thought, the U.S. is going to heck in a handbasket, so I eventually quit my job—October 3, 1986 roughly—and started writing jokes for a comedy show in Seattle. Anyway, I got very concerned about the United States. These things were on my mind. And one day in a writers’ meeting, Ross Shafer said, “You know Bill, you could do some songs.” We had to fill six minutes, which is quite a while in television, six minutes of dead air is a lot. So yeah, he said, “Bill, why don’t you [do] the stuff you’re always talking [about], you could be, ‘Bill Nye, the Science Guy’ or something. I got to go.” Then he closed his briefcase, and he’s got to go. He was the host of the most popular evening drive radio show at the time also. Anyway, it went well. I did just what you’d expect—I did the household uses of liquid nitrogen because we all have liquid nitrogen around. And it was funny! So then, I started doing regular Science Guy bits. I trademarked Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and eventually, I was able to work with two other people at KING Television, Jim McKenna and Erren Gottlieb, and we created The Science Guy show. Did the pilot in 1992. And then did five seasons, 100 shows, over the next five years.

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What prompted you to take to TikTok to explain the pandemic to the public? Oh, TikTok’s fun everybody, come on! TikTok is short. That’s my style—crisp lessons expressed in a funny way, that’s my bit. I mean, TikTok is sort of, why didn’t I think of that. And also, my audience is on TikTok, so that’s great. Millennials, Gen Z, these are my people. How do you decide what you’re going to post about? You know what really happened—one morning, maybe over the course of a couple days, I just got really frustrated. In Los Angeles, near me, [I have] a neighbor who runs a textile business, and he manufactures jeans and stuff. So, over a year ago, he tried making masks, protective masks, and he left me a few on my front porch because we weren’t talking, we weren’t getting close to each other, we were socially distant. Anyway, they didn’t work. I mean, they had two layers of cloth, they look like they would work, but you could just breathe right through them. They didn’t stop anything. And so, it got me thinking that there’s more to it than just wearing a bandana or pulling a scarf over your face. As always, I get frustrated and concerned about my fellow citizens who want to ignore science. It’s crazy. So, I did this candle thing—I blow out a candle through the mask, through a scarf, through stuff. And then I show that if you had a real N95 [mask], or there’s another style that I got involved in, an N99, you can’t blow out the candle. You can breathe but can’t blow out the candle because it creates a labyrinth for the particles of these droplets that are going to carry the virus. So, that’s when TikTok really went wild. Fifteen million views or something of me just messing around in the kitchen. It’s funny and cool in a way.

Science, of course, has been at the heart of a lot of conversations throughout the pandemic. So how do you think we can keep science engaging for the mass public after the pandemic subsides? Well, how can we not? In the U.S. Constitution, we find Article One, Section Eight, Clause Eight: Congress’ job is “to promote the progress of science and useful arts.” That’s in the Constitution, people! It wasn’t my idea. That was in 1787; they realized the importance of science. If we want to compete economically as a country, if you don’t want to die as a person, science is essential to your life. When I was a kid in New York at the New York World’s Fair, there were three billion people in the world. United Nations had a scoreboard. Well, now there’s almost eight billion people, and everybody’s going to want to eat something. And that food is going to come from agricultural technology, which is going to be a result of science. And so, I’m very hopeful, but hope is not a plan. I’m hopeful that we can keep this momentum going, that science, years, decades of investment in messenger RNA research led to the production of these extraordinary vaccines in a very short amount of time. And that’s a result of continual investment in just basic research—why are you guys doing this, what are you going to find? We don’t know what we’re going to find, that’s why we’re doing it. And so, I’m really going to work to keep this momentum going. As I like to say, the U.S. is under new management, and so I think the anti-science movement, which is quite strong, the anti-vaxxer movement, all of that will get set aside as people realize, if you get vaccinated, you don’t die very much. And so that’s, for most of us, a desirable outcome. That’s a joke. That’s irony.

I want to switch gears a little bit and talk about Bombay Sapphire. I’d love to know how you came to partner with them? Some journalist a long time ago, and by that, I mean four years ago, five years ago, asked me, “I understand you like martinis?” There was some James Bond reference. I think it had to do with the first Daniel Craig James Bond film, Casino Royale. And I said, “Yeah, I like a martini.” Gin or vodka? That’s what people ask, it’s like the second thing they ask. What’s the third thing? Olive or lemon? Anyway, gin or vodka? Gin for me. Vodka, it doesn’t have very much flavor, it doesn’t have nearly the interesting flavor that you get with gin, and Bombay Sapphire is, if I may, my go-to. I very much enjoy an occasional Bombay Sapphire gin martini. And in the summer, when it’s warm, I like a gin and tonic. This is not extraordinary. The world’s lousy with people like that. So anyway, this is four or five years ago, asking me about Bombay Sapphire, and then Bombay Sapphire has been after me occasionally, but then when this gin and tonic product came out—this gin and tonic in a can, which I have to say is just excellent, tastes great, if that’s your thing—I said OK.

“If we want to compete economically as a country, if you don’t want to die as a person, science is essential to your life.” —BILL NYE

What makes this particular drink unique? Keep in mind, people will say offhandedly, “Well gin and tonic, that’s nothing, that’s gin and tonic.” True enough. But if you go to make gin, first, you’ve got to harvest juniper berries, then you’ve got to harvest something called grains of paradise, then you need lemon, you need seven other ingredients to get this crazy perfect flavor of Bombay Sapphire. It’s one ingredient with 10 ingredients and hours and hours of messing around to make it come out with just the flavors, the botanicals, that everybody who tries it is so fond of. And then, you go to make tonic, my goodness, you need quinine, from the bark of the quinine tree, it’s not trivial. Carbonate it, and then there’s some other secret ingredients. And so, although there’s two things you mix together, ultimately, they are a result of a whole bunch of other ingredients and a great deal of distilling technology.

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WORTH A DRINK

So, what do you think would surprise people about the science behind this classic cocktail? Oh, I think the complexity. I mean, it must be years of dinking around to get it to come out right. And I’m no expert, we had a meeting by Zoom with the master distiller [Dr. Anne Brock] in Leicester, England. She is quite cool. She’s the expert, and she’s been elected [as head of ] the Gin Guild. And it’s doesn’t surprise me because no kidding, you guys, Bombay Sapphire is just an excellent gin. There’s more going on, it has more flavor than other brands. And there is a fad, if I may whine and complain with a first world issue, there is a fad to make things botanical. You can overdo it; you can have too many ‘tanicals. I want to taste the juniper, that’s what makes the gin go, is those juniper berries.

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What can we look forward to from you and your partnership with Bombay Sapphire? Well, we did three videos, which I think are pretty funny. And I hope you enjoy them. I think they’re funny, and they’re based on a premise that I came up with talking with my agent a few months ago, where I’m talking to myself. It’s something you do during the pandemic. So, it’s Bill and Chill Bill, and they’re talking to each other, and then we work with somebody who has just become a good friend—Cece Pleasants. Man, she is brilliant. Cece just came up with some cool little twists, and so it’s funny, I think it’s funny. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope people try the gin and tonic in a can. I think it’s a good product! Apart from Bombay Sapphire, what have you got going on? What can we expect from Bill Nye, the Science Guy? Well, I do a podcast, Science Rules!, and every two weeks, we do a version Science Rules: Coronavirus Edition. We had Christian Glaser on. He has, to me, the most satisfactory hypothesis about how this virus got out and became worldwide. It was really interesting, fascinating. And

“There is a fad, if I may whine and complain with a first world issue, there is a fad to make things botanical. You can | overdo it; you can have too many ‘tanicals. I want to taste the juniper, that’s what makes the gin go, is those juniper berries.” —BILL NYE

then we had Clifford Johnson, who is a cosmologist. These people try to decide what happens to the energy that goes into black holes and how black holes are able to radiate, and it’s just cool. So, podcasts are cool, and then I have a television show coming out, which the working title is The End Is Nye, and I’m working again with people I just really enjoy working with. What I still love about television is it’s handmade, even though there’s all these electronics, all these amazing digital effects, all this crazy stuff, it’s still storytelling based on ideas, and it’s about people. And so, I really like that. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Well, when people ask me about Bombay Sapphire or the pandemic or climate change, these are all science issues, science-based issues, opportunities through science. And I just like to remind everybody, science is the best idea anybody’s ever had for knowing nature, for knowing the cosmos and our place within it. And so right now, the Perseverance Rover is on Mars, and it is very reasonable, not for sure, but very reasonable in the next 10 years, we will find evidence of life on another world. And that will change the course of human history—that will be profound, if we find evidence, let alone something alive. I’m CEO of the Planetary Society, the world’s largest non-governmental space interest organization, advocating, innovating, collaborating and educating people of the world about the science of planetary exploration, so it’s the discovery and the adventure of the planets. So, check it out! It was started by Carl Sagan. I’m a charter member. I left the room at a board meeting, now I’m CEO. I know climate change is something that you care very much about, so what would you say people should start doing right now to begin making a change?

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From a science perspective, what actually makes gin and tonics taste so good? Do you know the fad, and if you’re a science teacher, it’s not a fad, it’s something you’re going to do every year, where you drop Mentos in Coke? If you try that same demonstration with just soda water, without the Coca-Cola flavor or Pepsi flavor, it doesn’t work. I mean, hardly anything happens because these essential oils, as they’re called, and essential oil is an old, I guess, chef ’s term for the thing that is the essence that gives it the flavor. Anyway, these oils make the bubbles smaller. These oils make the bubbles smoother on the palate. And so, the people at Bombay Sapphire have dialed this in, in my opinion, so that the bubbles are just right. And it’s really appealing. I’m not a foodie, but they call it the mouthfeel— the mouthfeel of gin and tonic is pretty good, of the canned gin and tonic is pretty good.

Alright, everybody wants me to say, “recycle water bottles.” Yes, do that. Everybody wants me to say, “recycle your paper.” Yes, do that. People want to hear “drive less,” “buy a car that gets better gas mileage.” Yes. “Get an electric car.” Yes, yes, yes. But if people were just talking about climate change, if we were talking about climate change the way we are talking about other very important issues. And what are we all talking about right now, as we should be, we’re talking about racism. If we were talking about climate change the way we’re talking about that, talking about the pandemic. If we were talking about climate change, the way we’re talking about the pandemic, we’d be gettin’ ‘er done, we’d be gettin’ ‘er done! So, everybody, talk about it. Here’s one thing you can do: Don’t waste food. That’s a real lifestyle change for many people, don’t waste food. How many times have you seen all that extra ketchup next to the French fries? How many times have you seen that extra jam on the plate that gets thrown out [with] that last scrap of toast? People—don’t waste food. And talk about climate change, and then we can change the world! One thing we know that happened, at least at the beginning of the pandemic with the lockdown, is we kind of saw nature starting to heal. What do you think of that as life starts to get moving again? Do you think we’re going to just regress right back? Well, what I think we’re going to do is one thing, what I want to work that we don’t do is mess things up as much as they were messed up before. Here’s the big idea, everybody: We have to accept that we are in charge now. And by that, I mean, humans are running the planet. This was not the way it was in Aug’s time, my mythic cave

“Here’s the big idea, everybody: We have to accept that we are in charge now. And by that, I mean, humans are running the planet...and so we have to make decisions that preserve the environment for everybody.” —BILL NYE

guy idea, Aug and Augette. Anyway, nature was in control of their lives. If there was a flood, their lives were a mess. If there was a drought, their lives were a mess. If lion and tigers and bears showed up, their lives were very troublesome. But now the situation has reversed; humans are now in charge of the whole earth. And so, we have to make decisions that preserve the environment for everybody, and by that, I mean, not just every human, but all these species. In a bigger sense, we have three problems: We have climate change, where these extra greenhouse gases are getting the world warmer; we have food insecurity, which is leading to

all sorts of trouble; and then now we have this possibility of the pandemic. We have this climate change, loss of biodiversity and the possibility of a global pandemic. Those three things are just huge, serious threats and what’s everybody’s favorite adjective? “Existential.” They’re existential threats; humans will go out of business if we don’t address these issues, so we are in charge now. As we come out of the pandemic, and people are interacting again, let us make better decisions about plastic, about food waste, about carbon dioxide and methane. Let’s make better decisions. And we’ve got some big, old problems to solve. I’m all for recycling water bottles. Yes, that’s great, but we have huge problems, huge problems, and they’re going to take more than what any individual can do. This isn’t just about picking up your trash. This is bigger—this is going to take huge policy changes, and so I’m excited about the future because young people are going to be running the show. And people like me are going to age out, and young people can make better decisions about the environment. It’s exciting!

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Canyon Ranch Asks: What’s Your PostPandemic Pathway? Canyon Ranch is seeking to help people find their own pathway through the maze of reestablishing intelligent self-care with its newest program. BY MICHAEL LEVIN

s the pandemic mercifully winds down, tens of millions of Americans are looking in the mirror, looking at their relationships, looking at their health and looking at the future, and asking one basic question: “Now what?” For many, the answers can be found at Canyon Ranch, the luxurious spa and wellness retreat center with locations in Woodside, Calif., Tucson, Ariz., and Lenox, Mass.

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As we emerge from isolation—all too often accompanied by depression, overeating, getting away from our exercise routines and other markers of a healthy lifestyle—the question becomes, what do we fix first? Canyon Ranch is seeking to help people find their own pathway through the maze of reestablishing intelligent self-care with its new program, titled, appropriately enough, Pathways. “Admittedly, just coming here can be overwhelming,” says Mindi Morin, managing director of Canyon Ranch Lenox. “We offer so many different options for our guests, from yoga to wellness talks, from meetings with experts on diet and nutrition to, believe it or not, birdwatching. In today’s world, where people are trying to find ways to establish their own healthy routines,

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sometimes our guests also need help just navigating the variety of our offerings. So, the Pathways program helps them do just that.” “The [new] options don’t sound that hard to take,” she added. “You can go to Canyon Ranch for three, five or seven nights and enjoy a personally directed pathway around the concepts of Lifestyle Reset, Optimal Health Exploration, Transition Purposefully, Reconnect with Joy, Personal Discovery or Outdoor Escape, which is specifically designed to take advantage of the incredible nature experience in the Berkshires.” And for those who put on extra pounds while working out of their second bedroom during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canyon Ranch offers another pathway, Live Your Healthy Weight.

Apart from the initial months of the shutdown last spring and summer, Canyon Ranch has been open throughout the pandemic, as hearty souls tiptoed out of their houses and gave themselves a much-needed break from the tension, frustration and fear that the pandemic engendered. Now, as America approaches herd immunity and increasing numbers of the populace have been vaccinated, more and more people are making the trip to one of Canyon Ranch’s locations and experiencing the serenity and calm that the retreat center offers. I’ve been to Canyon Ranch a number of times, and while the weekly catalogue of events and activities makes the place seem like Disneyland for body/ mind/spirit types, the sheer number of choices can indeed be hard to navigate.

Canyon Ranch is offering not only a way out of the pandemic, but also intelligent ways to make the most of your visit.

The Pathways approach allows visitors to identify just what they want to make better in their lives and then have some guidance as to how to put the puzzle pieces of their Canyon Ranch visit together in the best possible way. So take off your masks and rejoice, America. Canyon Ranch is offering not only a way out of the pandemic but also intelligent ways to make the most of your visit to Canyon Ranch.

WORTH.COM

AUGUST 2021

20 QUESTIONS

City, of course! When NYC went into lockdown in 2020, I could have gone home to stay at my parents’ house with a lot more space, but I decided to stay in my little Manhattan apartment. I’ll admit that it was a very challenging time, but my neighbors took care of each other; we made sure the local businesses in our neighborhood felt our support. We became a tighter community than we were before. That’s when I knew I truly loved New York.

04. What do you love about it? That’s a

CeCe Olisa CeCe Olisa is all about confidence. We’ve heard from the founder and curator of Curvy Girls Guide and cofounder of theCURVYcon multiple times in both interviews and at events about the importance of building confidence as a founder. As she works to start a new company, she told Worth all about her love for New York City, her travel essential and the importance of investing in herself. 01. What are you reading? I’m traveling

at the moment, so that means I’m trading in books for magazines. Books are precious to me and they weigh a lot, so I tend to save my book reading for when I’m home in Brooklyn. Magazines are light, easy to travel with and if I want to save an article, I just tear out the page. My favorite magazines to read are: New York Magazine, Magnolia and Fast Company.

02. What’s your favorite way to give?

I really enjoy giving to people, ideas and causes that I believe in. For me, that typically looks like time with friends and family, mentoring other women entrepreneurs, charitable giving and serving my community through church.

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great question! I’m a lifelong learner. Outside of my neighborhood and local community, New York is my dream city because you can learn something new here each day. I recently moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and it feels like starting over completely! Now I have the opportunity to learn a whole new neighborhood, and I really love that.

05. How many days a year do you

travel? I’ve never counted how many days I travel in a year, but as a Christian, I tithe 10 percent of my earnings back to God. So, following that practice, I think it would be nice to give 10 percent of my year back to myself in travel days. There are 365 days in a year, so in my dream life, I would like to travel at least 36.5 days per year.

As a cofounder, the biggest mistake I made was putting my company, theCURVYcon, above everything else in my life, including my health. That mistake landed me in the hospital right after theCURVYcon in 2017. I never want to make a mistake like that again. So right now, I’m strategically investing in myself. I’m taking a lot of classes, training in the gym, resting, going to therapy and practicing radical self-care all in the hopes that when my new venture launches, I’ll be in peak performance shape mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally—that’s the kind of founder I want to be.

11. What advice would you give to a

younger you? It’s going to take time for your ideas to make sense to others. Be patient.

12. Drink of choice? Cortado with cream. 13. Favorite artwork? I would love to own an Agnes Pelton painting one day.

14. What does “worth beyond wealth”

mean to you? It means that my family is healthy, happy and in alignment with God’s will for our lives.

15. Favorite movie? The Bodyguard. 16. What always makes you feel

Commercial, but I’m willing to be flexible on that!

confident? This is a small thing, but having soft skin makes me feel confident. I love to spend my free time mixing up buttery lotions to keep my skin soft and smooth.

07. Other than a phone or computer,

17. What keeps you awake at night? I’m

06. Do you fly private or commercial?

what do you never travel without? My journal. I practice The Artist’s Way method of journaling three pages first thing in the morning.

08. What does confidence mean to

you? In my Tedx Talk “How to Build Self Confidence,” I talk about how confidence is a combination of the thoughts we think and the actions we take.

09. The most difficult part of being a

founder and influencer? Right now, my biggest challenge is managing my privacy. I love that I have a transparent relationship with my community around the world, but I’m enjoying creating boundaries between my professional and private life. I’m learning how to create sacred space for certain things in my life. It feels good to have things in my life that are just for me.

10. Your investment strategy? I’m

starting a new company, this time as a founder, which requires a lot more from me.

always dreaming up ideas to help women feel more confident. My mantra is “don’t wait on your weight to live the life you want.” I know what it’s like when insecurity holds you back. I hear from women every day who feel like they need to lose weight before they do anything—that keeps me up at night.

18. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve

had to overcome? This year my biggest challenge has been articulating my vision to my advisors and investors. As a creative, I dream big. As a founder, I have to learn how to walk someone through my vision from a purely strategic perspective. I’m getting better with time.

19. What do you deny yourself? These days, television. I’m behind on all of my shows, and I’m OK with that.

20. How would you like to be

remembered? I want to be a person of integrity who makes impact and income.

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y LY N D O N H AY E S

03. Your favorite city? New York

Fall 2021 Summit JOIN THE WOMEN & WORTH SUMMIT AS WE EXPLORE HOW TO KEEP THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST AT THE FOREFRONT AND CREATE ACTION TO HELP THE WORLD BUILD BACK BETTER.

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