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December 2019
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Holiday Last-Minute Gifts for Self & Others12/16/2019 5 MIN READ  The holidays are here and gift-giving activities are fast approaching. You may be ahead of the game as I’ve tried to be in past years, or you could be way behind on your gift-getting as I happen to be this year. Wherever you are on your holiday shopping, one thing is almost always certain - you didn’t include the most important person on your list, YOURSELF. So in the spirit of last-minute holiday shopping, here are some tips and suggestions as you hastily make room in your bank account and your tree for presents for the loved ones in your life, which includes you. Tip #1 Gift Yourself This time of year can be filled with stress, grief, anxiety, and busy work. Consider giving yourself a self-care gift of time, rest, and relaxation. On my Self-Care page, you’ll find gifts like:
 Tip #2 Buy a Book With so much to learn and so many stories told, why don’t we take a break from binge-watching our favorite shows and pick up a book instead! Whether you prefer audio books, reading from your Kindle, or holding a bound copy in your hand, a good book can be the needed respite from a busy life and stressful activities. In my Bookcase, you’ll find gifts like:
Books for the wonderful kids in your life include:
Tip #3 Make Something From the Heart Gone are the days when we could put our hands in some paint, stamp it on a card, write our name and “I love you!” next to it, and give that to a loved one as a gift. Or is it? We underestimate the value of a thing or work made with our hands and minds, but it continues to be one of the most thoughtful, personal gifts that we can give to someone. Here are just a few examples of gifts that I’ve seen people give as gifts, consider what makes sense for you and try something out of your comfort zone! 
 Poetry, short story, or other writing. I’ve done this for my partner, my Mom, and friends over time. This can be a poem typed and framed, or a printed book of short writings. You don't have to write something new if you have pieces folks have never seen before, bring something out of your treasure chest and make it shine with pretty font on fresh paper!  Arts and crafts of any kind. When was the last time you’ve gone inside Michael’s or Joann’s? My bestie Gina is a fantastic scrapbooker and she also makes dreamy ribbons and bows. My long-time friend Amparo (aka Apple) makes incredible gifts from the heart through crochet. If you check out Apple’s Instagram you’ll get some great ideas for crocheting, or you can reach out to the queen yourself for a special order! Tip #4 There is No Perfect Gift, Just Thoughtful Ones At the end of the day, let’s try to remember that it isn’t about how much money you spend, or if you even expect a gift from this person in return. It’s about what makes you grateful for having this person in your life, and the most natural, cost-effective way for you to show her or him that gratitude. To my Mother, my partner Michael, my grandma Trining, my cousins Janella, Melinda, Justin (may you rest in peace), Evita, Cristine & Mikey (and my second cousins Nate, Jon, and Lizzie), Cassandra & Matt, Dalton, Anna, my aunts and uncles Hedy & Ben, Hanny & Howard, Joel (aka Manoy), Elenore & Bernie, and family spread throughout the Philippines, US, Australia, and elsewhere, I’m thankful everyday to have you in my life and to be part of this beautiful, multi-cultural family! To my best friends Lara, Gina, Erin, Meo, Serei, SJ, Roy, Alerie & Rod, and friends all over the world, I’m grateful for you! To my mentors Dwayne, Sr. Susan, Kevin, Elroy, and so many more that have touched my life, thank you for your wisdom, your well-intentioned feedback, your selfless coaching, and your positive vibes. To you readers out there, I’m so thankful that you read whatever you read on my website, and I hope you have a blessed and joyful holiday season with your loved ones! About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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A Review of GDPR and CCPA12/9/2019 5 MIN READ This article is the 2nd in a series. Read the introduction article: "Why Data Privacy Matters." So you know what your data looks like. You know what it is used for. You have a sense of who touches it and who uses it. Now what? Now, you educate yourself on data privacy. If you have data, you need to protect it. I had the opportunity to speak to this on a webinar hosted by FormAssembly on August 21, 2019. I joined Maggie Tharp at FormAssembly to talk about the data privacy landscape in 2019, and evolving regulations and best practices. Check out the Webinar Recap: California Privacy and How It Affects You. On the webinar, Maggie and I discussed The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) which will go into effect on January 1, 2020. As FormAssembly’s guest presenter, I spoke to the implications for nonprofit and educational organizations who may not have people or processes in place to specifically track data privacy and how it impacts organizations. In my Webinar Recap, I share some key insights that I shared on the webinar.  As a follow up to their Data Privacy Deep Dive Webinar Series, FormAssembly recently published their white paper, State of Data Privacy in 2019. In this guide, they talk about the data privacy landscape in the United States, the new data privacy laws in other U.S. states, where businesses stand, and tips on better data stewardship.
A realistic next step to prepare for CCPA is to have a discussion with the relevant leaders of your organization and determine your level of preparedness. Review FormAssembly’s white paper, State of Data Privacy in 2019 and give your organization a rating of Very Prepared, Prepared, Somewhat Prepared, or Not Prepared. Depending on what your team decides, make a plan to move your team to Prepared or Very Prepared. I’d like to share some highlights from the guide, and weave in some of my own best practices. These tips come from working with small to large, local to virtual organizations across California in developing and implementing data privacy business processes and protocols.
Read my next article “How You Can Protect Your Data” (under construction) for more tips and tricks to manage and protect your data. Want support developing a data governance strategy? Data governance helps organizations manage their stakeholder data and protect it from being abused, stolen, or lost. AdvancED can help you design an effective data governance strategy that will describe the steps to analyze, secure, store, and manage your organization’s stakeholder data. Schedule your free 20-min consultation now. Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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Why Data Privacy Matters12/5/2019 4 MIN READ  This article is the 1st in a series on "Why Data Privacy Matters." I learned the importance of data starting in high school working at a local CPA firm in downtown San José during my summers. Making my way through rows of filing cabinets, building up a tolerance to papercuts, and sneezing my way through dusty file folders, I took numbers off pieces of paper and turned them into financial statements. Sometimes it was straightforward data entry. Other times I double-checked the math after translating illegible debits and credits into typed balance sheets and income statements. Today I am so adept at ten-key I can type rows of numbers without looking at the keypad. I am also so grateful now for Excel formulas, pivot tables, and tools like Salesforce and FormAssembly that can bring clarity, transparency, and automation to once complex and highly manual (and thus, fraught with human error) processes. In my over 10 years of being a certified Salesforce Administrator and over 20 years of championing Excel, I am a firm believer that the more data you can have at your fingertips, the more questions you can develop to find intelligent answers to. But in my years of working with corporations, startups, and nonprofits, I’ve seen varying levels of success making use of the data that is available. Often, the challenge isn’t just what to do with the data you do have, but how to get the data you really need for the scale and impact you want. This might mean taking a step back and asking yourself, “What data do I have now, what am I using it for, and how has that been helpful?” It might then lead you to ask more questions like, “What data should I continue to track, what questions will they answer, and how will that be helpful in the long-term?”
 If as a professional, manager, or executive, you are not asking yourself these questions at regular intervals (I recommend quarterly if not annually), then I highly recommend that you start now. Once you go through this fact-finding mission of understanding what data you have and what it is used for, the next important question is, “How am I protecting it?” I’d like to give you the use-cases, best practices, and tools to develop an intentional action plan around data privacy to ensure you are protecting the data you have and the data you intend to collect. Read my next article “A Review of GDPR and CCPA” to learn about the most important regulations and legislations that inform the policies and practices you may need to develop around data privacy. Want support developing a data dictionary? A data dictionary is a document (Word, Excel, whatever suits your fancy) that describes the types of data collected, the sources, the intended uses, and how the data is stored, archived, and scrubbed/deleted over time. Let’s talk about how our advisors can help you customize a data dictionary for you that tracks all of your data elements from all of your sources (e.g. Google Analytics, Salesforce, Google Sheets, Excel). Schedule your free 20-min consultation now. Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com. |
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