Hi everyone,

This week, I have decided to switch my updates to a public domain, making it easier to track old posts and organize the thread. Every week, my goal is to share something I am working on as CEO at Student Success Agency and a few things I learned. The articles that I share are a mixture of my interests and what I think is valuable to my colleagues, mentees, and friends. Thank you for reading my first personal public growth update!

Last week we had a partnership meeting with all of our educators responsible for bringing the SSA platform to their schools. It was the first time we ever did this, but we decided to do it due to all the rapid changes and the added value we offer in our partnerships. I also had a few important meetings with influential people in our space who are leading the conversation around the urgency of integrated student supports in education at the national level. I shared with these influential people how I think SSA can help. This week is about following up and taking action on the feedback I received from these meetings.

The U.S. economy is projected to grow 1.8% a year during the next three decades, up from the 1.6% forecast the Congressional Budget Office made in September. The CBO now expects a smaller impact from the coronavirus pandemic.

The federal debt is projected to be 102% of the gross domestic product in 2021. It has exceeded that level only twice before in U.S. history, in 1945 and 1946, following a surge in federal spending as a result of World War II. Read full article (https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-national-debt-is-likely-to-reach-a-record-202-of-gdp-by-2051-cbo-projects-11614884400)

Black Unemployment Rises in February While Every Other Race Decreases 📈

The unemployment rate for Black Americans rose to 9.9%, the highest among all race groups tracked, the Labor Department said Friday. The overall U.S. jobless rate fell to 6.2% and White, Hispanic and Asian-American workers saw declines, the data show.

According to the UN, poverty surge from COVID will  set Latin America back over a decade 😥

With only 8.4 per cent of the world’s population, Latin America has 27.8 per cent of all the deaths from Covid-19, making it the worst-affected developing region. Read full article (https://www.ft.com/content/3a01895f-0456-4261-ac67-7ae0dc778b5f?share)

U.S. Roadway Deaths Rose 8% Despite COVID Shutdowns 🚘

Motor-vehicle crashes killed nearly 3,000 more people in 2020 than the year before despite Americans driving fewer miles during the pandemic, a nonprofit safety group estimated.

The preliminary data, released Thursday by the National Safety Council, show as many as 42,060 people died in motor vehicle crashes last year, including pedestrians, up 8% from 2019. Read full article (https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-roadway-deaths-rose-8-in-2020-safety-group-estimates-11614883077)

TikTok Owner ByteDance Making Clubhouse Clone in China as Copycats of the Viral App Hit the Market 🤖

Read Full Article (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-clubhouse-copycats-idUKKBN2AW0KG)

Biden Increasing Support for Refugees 🇺🇸

The Biden ad­min­is­tra­tion on Feb. 12 no­ti­fied Con­gress, as re­quired by law, of its plan to raise the limit on refugees ad­mit­ted to 62,500 for the fis­cal year end­ing in Sep­tember, from the record-low 15,000 cap put in place by the Trump ad­min­is­tra­tion. Read full article (https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-refugee-flights-canceled-as-record-low-cap-on-admissions-remains-11614877596)

Texas Winn(d)ing? Then Came The Freeze 🥶

The Lone Star State has become the biggest producer of wind power in the U.S. It now derives roughly 23% of its power on an annual basis from the renewable energy source.

Stay awesome,

EJC