As Georgia gets set to reopen more non-essential business this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study finding that more than 80 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients were black.
Former Joe Biden staffer, Tara Reade, continues to cause difficult conversations regarding her sexual abuse accusation against the presidential hopeful. #MeToo founder, Tarana Burke recently broke her silence on the issue in a lengthy Twitter thread.
Burke stated that she had taken time away from work to “be present where I was needed as my family was affected with COVID.”
READ MORE: Stacey Abrams on sexual assault allegations: ‘I believe Joe Biden’
Burke went on to state that while she understands that people have been waiting on her “take” on the story, there are “no easy answers.”
The 14-part thread went on to say that her “stance has never wavered: survivors have a right to speak their truth and to be given the space to heal.”
I took a moment away from work and movement-related issues to be present where I was needed as my family was affected with COVID. But, I know many of you are wondering about my “take” on the Tara Reade story.
1/14— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) April 28, 2020
Burke continues that “the inconvenient truth is that this story is impacting us differently because it hits at the heart of one of the most important elections of our lifetime.” She continues, “There are no perfect survivors. And no one, especially a presidential candidate, is beyond reproach. So where does that leave us?”
Burke further explains that in a “just world, we’d have a transformative approach to dealing with claims of sexual violence where a survivor’s story is given fair consideration and they are made whole by a process that supports both accountability and healing. This is doubly important when outsized power dynamics are involved. But, we don’t have that right now.”
Burke, who advocates for survivors, then chastised people who are exploiting Reade’s story, “Many of you are only interested in this story because you are entertained by the trauma of others or because it has the potential to be politically expedient — with no real regard for the survivor.”
She continued to explain that “the defense of Joe Biden shouldn’t rest on whether or not he’s a ‘good guy’ or ‘our only hope,’” she wrote. “Instead, he could demonstrate what it looks like to be both accountable and electable.”
READ MORE: Tarana Burke reveals fiancé tested positive for coronavirus
The activist concluded by saying that “survivors deserve more than being used as a political football by disinterested parties,” Burke wrote. “And a culture of acknowledging harm can’t exist if we continue to view sexual violence as a catastrophic outlier rather than an embedded toxic element of our culture.”
The post #MeToo founder Tarana Burke on Biden sexual misconduct allegations appeared first on TheGrio.
Today Ashlyn Sanders is an entrepreneur, the founder of a medtech company called NeuroVice, which is in the final stages of clinical development of a medical device to help people who suffer from seizures.
But just a few years ago she was a grad student planning to go to medical school—when a medical crisis of her own sent her down a new path.
“I started graduate school back in 2014, and a few weeks into the program, I was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation. I was rushed into emergency brain surgery that night, and spent quite a bit of time in the hospital and then at home recovering,” she says.
Not only did Sanders spend weeks in the ICU, and have to walk with a walker for the rest of the year, but she also started to have seizures after her brain surgery.
“I was having multiple seizures, multiple seizures every week, sometimes multiple seizures a day. I’ve lived with them now for about six years. Having to live with those residual effects definitely impairs my quality of life.”
The experience also left her with an idea: a device that could be placed in the mouth to prevent people from biting their tongues while they were having a seizure.
“When I came up with the idea, it just never left me. I’m a very spiritual person and I prayed about it. I felt like if I didn’t do it, nobody would do it,” she says.
So after getting her graduate degree, she put her original plan on hold to develop the device—named PATI (protector against tongue injury)—that could help the 3.4 million Americans living with epilepsy plus the many others who may experience seizures related to traumatic brain injuries, brain tumors, strokes, and other conditions.
“I didn’t think that I would ever become an entrepreneur,” she says, “and then a life experience happened that motivated me to solve a problem for other people.”
Sanders’ experience makes her uniquely qualified to design the product: “PATI is by a patient and for a patient. It’s something I believe a patient would have to start. My patient experience has really been critical in terms of understanding the diagnosis and how it impacts people’s lives.”
“Typically, physicians are concerned with how do we minimize your future episodes or how do we minimize your risk of falling,” she says. “But oral health is important if you live with these episodes day after day, and every time you seize there’s a possibility of potentially lacerating your tongue or injuring yourself orally.”
The device is currently in Phase 2 (of 3) of commercial development. By the end of this year, Sanders is expecting to have an initial patent issuance and to file FDA clearance paperwork. The product should be on the market by the end of next year or the beginning of 2022.
Despite the product’s potential, Sanders has had a tough time when it comes to fundraising.
“When I first started the company I was a little naive to the path of resistance that occurs being an entrepreneur, especially one of color,” she says. “It’s horrifying that we are the group that has the fastest-growing number of startups but yet we’re the least funded.”
Sanders initially tried to raise money through grants and pitch competitions. She always got positive feedback, but never got any actual money.
“I remember being told that I would never raise a seed round because my startup wasn’t as competitive as others and that it had nothing to do with the fact that I was a woman or I was an African American,” she says.
“But the more I faced that resistance, the more I started to understand the landscape and how difficult it is for us.”
So Sanders began pursuing funding that was designated for minority entrepreneurs, becoming a finalist in the New Voices competition and raising an angel investment through Pipeline Angels.
It was retired NBA legend Charles Barkley, however, that gave the company the financial assist it needed.
“I saw him on Shark Tank. He was a guest shark and I remember him saying something to the effect of he’s interested in investing in entrepreneurs of color, or people who are in the life science or tech space. So, kind of on a whim, I wrote him a letter. I told him about my background, I told him about the traction we’ve gained, and I told him what I needed—which was a pretty significant investment to get this product to market,” Sanders says.
“It took I would say 6 months or so to hear back. I got an email from one of his representatives, inviting me down to pitch to not only him but his financial adviser, two physicians that were in the neurology space, and a trusted adviser of his,” she continues. “A few months later I got the call that he would invest, and I was completely ecstatic but also emotional. I’m so grateful for him to believe in me and the product’s potential.”
Unlike many entrepreneurs, Sanders has an exit strategy already planned—before her product has even come to market.
“It just wouldn’t be a wise business decision to go and scale a one-product company that would require millions of dollars in the manufacturing infrastructure and the marketing infrastructure. It just doesn’t make sense,” she says.
So she has a list of about 30 potential companies she will be approaching about acquiring NeuroVice or licensing the product.
“A lot of companies, at least in the medtech space, are looking for unique innovations that have been de-risked through development, through FDA clearance. All of those things, in addition to a human factors study with real patients, will position us to say, ‘We’ve done all the initial legwork, all you have to do is commercialize this product at scale and put it on the market.'”
The device would represent a literal disruption of the industry: current seizure safety guidelines advise not to put anything in a patient’s mouth while seizing.
That is a risk Sanders is confident the company will overcome: “Changing the way we think about symptom management and empowering consumers to take control of their own healthcare is a really hard task, but it can be done with the right person at the helm and the right product.”
Her projections are also based on the unmet need in the market—there are around 12 million seizure-related 911 calls a year in the U.S. and 1.4 million emergency room visits—and other factors such as the lack of direct competition.
“I’m really excited about the multiple revenue stream indications,” Sanders says. “It’s going to be a consumer technology, an intervention for first responders, and an inpatient clinical intervention. The revenue potential is immense, not only in the domestic market but worldwide.”
And Sanders predicts that that revenue potential will translate to a huge valuation when she sells the company.
“I believe that I will be one of the first African American females to exit the company at a billion dollars or more. And I want to be that unicorn.”
Today Ashlyn Sanders is an entrepreneur, the founder of a medtech company called NeuroVice, which is in the final stages of clinical development of a medical device to help people who suffer from seizures.
But just a few years ago she was a grad student planning to go to medical school—when a medical crisis of her own sent her down a new path.
“I started graduate school back in 2014, and a few weeks into the program, I was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation. I was rushed into emergency brain surgery that night, and spent quite a bit of time in the hospital and then at home recovering,” she says.
Not only did Sanders spend weeks in the ICU, and have to walk with a walker for the rest of the year, but she also started to have seizures after her brain surgery.
“I was having multiple seizures, multiple seizures every week, sometimes multiple seizures a day. I’ve lived with them now for about six years. Having to live with those residual effects definitely impairs my quality of life.”
The experience also left her with an idea: a device that could be placed in the mouth to prevent people from biting their tongues while they were having a seizure.
“When I came up with the idea, it just never left me. I’m a very spiritual person and I prayed about it. I felt like if I didn’t do it, nobody would do it,” she says.
So after getting her graduate degree, she put her original plan on hold to develop the device—named PATI (protector against tongue injury)—that could help the 3.4 million Americans living with epilepsy plus the many others who may experience seizures related to traumatic brain injuries, brain tumors, strokes, and other conditions.
“I didn’t think that I would ever become an entrepreneur,” she says, “and then a life experience happened that motivated me to solve a problem for other people.”
Sanders’ experience makes her uniquely qualified to design the product: “PATI is by a patient and for a patient. It’s something I believe a patient would have to start. My patient experience has really been critical in terms of understanding the diagnosis and how it impacts people’s lives.”
“Typically, physicians are concerned with how do we minimize your future episodes or how do we minimize your risk of falling,” she says. “But oral health is important if you live with these episodes day after day, and every time you seize there’s a possibility of potentially lacerating your tongue or injuring yourself orally.”
The device is currently in Phase 2 (of 3) of commercial development. By the end of this year, Sanders is expecting to have an initial patent issuance and to file FDA clearance paperwork. The product should be on the market by the end of next year or the beginning of 2022.
Despite the product’s potential, Sanders has had a tough time when it comes to fundraising.
“When I first started the company I was a little naive to the path of resistance that occurs being an entrepreneur, especially one of color,” she says. “It’s horrifying that we are the group that has the fastest-growing number of startups but yet we’re the least funded.”
Sanders initially tried to raise money through grants and pitch competitions. She always got positive feedback, but never got any actual money.
“I remember being told that I would never raise a seed round because my startup wasn’t as competitive as others and that it had nothing to do with the fact that I was a woman or I was an African American,” she says.
“But the more I faced that resistance, the more I started to understand the landscape and how difficult it is for us.”
So Sanders began pursuing funding that was designated for minority entrepreneurs, becoming a finalist in the New Voices competition and raising an angel investment through Pipeline Angels.
It was retired NBA legend Charles Barkley, however, that gave the company the financial assist it needed.
“I saw him on Shark Tank. He was a guest shark and I remember him saying something to the effect of he’s interested in investing in entrepreneurs of color, or people who are in the life science or tech space. So, kind of on a whim, I wrote him a letter. I told him about my background, I told him about the traction we’ve gained, and I told him what I needed—which was a pretty significant investment to get this product to market,” Sanders says.
“It took I would say 6 months or so to hear back. I got an email from one of his representatives, inviting me down to pitch to not only him but his financial adviser, two physicians that were in the neurology space, and a trusted adviser of his,” she continues. “A few months later I got the call that he would invest, and I was completely ecstatic but also emotional. I’m so grateful for him to believe in me and the product’s potential.”
Unlike many entrepreneurs, Sanders has an exit strategy already planned—before her product has even come to market.
“It just wouldn’t be a wise business decision to go and scale a one-product company that would require millions of dollars in the manufacturing infrastructure and the marketing infrastructure. It just doesn’t make sense,” she says.
So she has a list of about 30 potential companies she will be approaching about acquiring NeuroVice or licensing the product.
“A lot of companies, at least in the medtech space, are looking for unique innovations that have been de-risked through development, through FDA clearance. All of those things, in addition to a human factors study with real patients, will position us to say, ‘We’ve done all the initial legwork, all you have to do is commercialize this product at scale and put it on the market.'”
The device would represent a literal disruption of the industry: current seizure safety guidelines advise not to put anything in a patient’s mouth while seizing.
That is a risk Sanders is confident the company will overcome: “Changing the way we think about symptom management and empowering consumers to take control of their own healthcare is a really hard task, but it can be done with the right person at the helm and the right product.”
Her projections are also based on the unmet need in the market—there are around 12 million seizure-related 911 calls a year in the U.S. and 1.4 million emergency room visits—and other factors such as the lack of direct competition.
“I’m really excited about the multiple revenue stream indications,” Sanders says. “It’s going to be a consumer technology, an intervention for first responders, and an inpatient clinical intervention. The revenue potential is immense, not only in the domestic market but worldwide.”
And Sanders predicts that that revenue potential will translate to a huge valuation when she sells the company.
“I believe that I will be one of the first African American females to exit the company at a billion dollars or more. And I want to be that unicorn.”
I have been part of the McDonald’s community for over 30 years, beginning when my mom became an operator in the 1980s. Today, my sister and I operate 18 restaurants across Los Angeles and are proud to be a familiar and reliable presence in our hometown. Over the decades, my family, restaurant teams, and our communities have experienced a lot together, but COVID-19 is truly unprecedented. We are all navigating this together, and I have never been more proud, grateful, and inspired by the character and generosity of spirit shown by my crew members.
Nothing matters more than making sure our crew is safe, informed, and supported as we continue to serve meals to the customers and community who rely on us. As we look to government leaders and medical experts for continued guidance on the most effective safety measures, our restaurant managers and I are making changes as rapidly as possible. To date, we have implemented:
Throughout these uncertain times, as an owner and community leader, I am committed to being a resource for my crew, alongside our team of managers. No one has all the answers when it comes to dealing with a public health situation that is rapidly evolving, but we will continue to communicate and provide access to information and resources to help everyone make the best choices for themselves and their families. If any of our crew members are not comfortable coming to work, they know that their job will be here for them when they are ready to return.
For those who choose to continue to work, we are recognizing their dedication by providing additional pay, a free meal during their shift, as well as an extra free meal coupon for each shift they work to share with their families. In the event that any of our crew is exposed to or comes down with COVID-19, they are eligible for two weeks of paid sick leave to rest and recover before returning to work. At a time when unemployment rates are skyrocketing, I am proud that we continue to provide our crew members a steady job and a reliable income.
The men and women I work with inspire me every day. Seeing their commitment to supporting their families, colleagues, and local communities motivates me. Recently, on behalf of our McDonald’s team, my sister and I delivered McDonald’s to several local hospitals as a small token of appreciation for our first responders and healthcare workers. Together with our crew, we are making sure that essential workers know they have a place to go for a sense of normalcy and a bite to eat served by a familiar face. All our restaurants are honored to provide for first responders and want them to know they can get a free Egg McMuffin® and coffee at our local restaurants or Drive-Thrus. And, if their shifts mean they’re going to miss breakfast, they’re welcome to pick up a free lunch or dinner later in the day. We’re here to serve them, while they serve our communities and save lives.
My leadership philosophy in one word has always been collaboration. This has never felt more true. Our teams and our communities are at our best when we listen to each other, problem-solve together, and support one another, particularly in the face of this historic crisis. We truly are all in this together, and I have never been more proud to serve our communities.
