Latest news with #CEW
West Australian
18-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
'No-brainer': put women at centre of productivity push
Workforce participation by women must be at the forefront of the federal government's productivity agenda, as experts call for policies that continue to improve gender equality in Australia. Gender equality advocate Helen Conway has recently been appointed president of Chief Executive Women (CEW) and says the organisation will work with government, business and community leaders to advance women. The organisation was established in 1985 to address the under-representation of women in leadership. Four decades later, CEW has 1200 members across Australian workplaces who lead a combined 1.3 million employees and oversee $749 billion in revenue. As the 48th parliament prepares to meet for the first time, the Albanese government has declared its focus on boosting national productivity. This will include hosting a productivity summit in August at Parliament House attended by business, union and other leaders to focus on lifting economic output. But the priority of any productivity measures must be to boost women's workforce participation, Ms Conway said. That includes improving the foundations that allow women to work, such as affordable, accessible and quality childcare. 'Increasing female workforce participation is a no-brainer economically - it enhances GDP, brings in more workers and boosts the economy,' Ms Conway told AAP. 'One of the most critical issues is for the government to continue its program of ensuring childcare is available and that it is safe.' While reforms to make childcare more affordable and include superannuation on government paid parental leave had made a difference to working women, progress should not be taken for granted, Ms Conway said. The dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the United States should be cause for concern and gender equality efforts needed to include men. 'We have done a disservice to men and haven't brought them on the journey with us,' Ms Conway said. 'It's unfortunate that some men have drawn the conclusion that if women get ahead, they will be disadvantaged.' As the winner of one of the first scholarships offered by CEW at the beginning of her career, Ms Conway said it was a full circle moment to take on the role as president. During her career she has served at chief executive of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, ran as an independent for NSW parliament and undertaken roles in multiple boardrooms and legal practices. She credits CEW as pivotal to her being able to move through the executive ranks of multiple workplaces. But her priority as president is to make the organisation more ambitious, inclusive and active. 'We will champion women from all backgrounds and ensure no woman is left behind,' she said. 'We will make a concerted effort to champion First Nations and culturally diverse leaders, not-for-profit leaders, regional leaders and others who we believe are not being included at the level they should be.'
The Hill
26-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Lab-grown barbecue sales banned in Texas
AUSTIN (KXAN) — If someone wants to eat a meatball made of wooly mammoth and grown in a lab, they're going to have to do it outside of Texas. A new law passed this legislative session has made it illegal to sell 'cell culture protein for human consumption within' Texas. Senate Bill 261 will go into effect Sept. 1, 2025, and will expire in 2027. The law makes Texas the seventh state to ban the sale of lab-grown or cultured meat. Indiana passed a similar law in May. Nebraska, Montana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida also have bans in effect. 'As ranchers, we produce 19% of the world's beef with only 6% of the world's cattle,' said Carl Ray Polk, with the Texas Southwest Cattle Raisers Association, at a committee hearing on March 31, 'but some have decided a lab is better than a pasture.' 'The lab-grown meat sector will continue to face headwinds as consumers and lawmakers learn more about the lack of long-term health studies and use of 'immortalized cells,'' said Jack Hubbard, executive director of the Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW), in a press release. CEW, a think tank, is one of the leading critics of lab-grown meat. The bill was authored by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, and sponsored by Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Texas, in the House. 'Texas prides itself on being open for business, and yet here we have a law that's shutting down a business,' said Katie Kam, CEO and founder of Bio B-Q. Her Austin-based company aims to make lab-grown brisket. 'Cultivated meat, in our view, is safer than the conventional meat that is produced in a large scale that's on the market right now,' said Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and Founder of Upside Foods. Lab-grown meat is part of a larger trend in the meat industry towards sustainable meat products that don't contribute to climate change. According to the United Nations, 14.5% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are created by livestock farming. Multiple companies have sprung up in recent years focused on lab-grown meat, including Upside Foods, Vow Foods and Eat Just. The companies make a variety of meat products ranging from egg to quail. 'It's really important for our national security to be able to put meat on the table from an animal-based source,' Dr. Valeti said. Lab-grown meat is made by placing protein cells in a vat where they reproduce. 'They're floating around, they're growing, we harvest them, and we have the cell mass that we can then turn into a range of different products,' George Peppou, CEO and co-founder of Vow Food, said to Nexstar's KXAN in 2023. Questions about safety of lab-grown meat were brought up at the committee hearings in March. 'Because these products are so new, there has been no long-term research,' Polk said. 'There is no slaughterhouse, there is no poop, there is no skin, guts, there's no antibiotics used. We don't have pesticides or herbicides that are on the grass that an animal is eating. We do not have plastics or microplastics. So in all of these things, cultivated meat is a step above in terms of production quality, cleanliness and safety,' Dr. Valeti said. Right now, cultured or lab-grown meat is only legal in Singapore and parts of the United States. Israel and the Netherlands have relaxed some restrictions on the product.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- CTV News
Police deploy conducted energy weapon on knife-wielding suspect
A knife that was seized following the arrest of a robbery suspect in Toronto's west end is shown. Police say that officers deployed a Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) on a knife-wielding suspect following a robbery at a store in Toronto's west end earlier this week. Officers were first dispatched to the area of Eglinton Avenue West and Dufferin Street at around 12:15 p.m. for a robbery call. Police say that a masked male suspect entered a store carrying a large knife and proceeded to remove a BB gun from a shelf before exiting the store. It is alleged that the suspect then immediately re-entered the store and took a quantity of BB gun ammunition and several magazines before fleeing on foot once again. Police say that officers from 13 Division responded and were able to quickly locate the suspect. The suspect, police say, was 'openly displaying a knife' as he walked towards officers. An officer then discharged their CEW, striking the suspect and allowing police to take him into custody safely. Police say that a suspect, identified as 35-year-old Jamiel Omare Murray, is charged with robbery with a weapon, assaulting a peace officer with a weapon and disguise and intent.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
To Avoid Projected Shortages, the US Must Produce 712,000 Additional Credentials Aligned with High-Paying Middle-Skills Occupations Annually Through 2032, Georgetown University Report Says
Projected certificates and associate's degrees shortages present substantial opportunity for men and women of all races/ethnicities to earn credentials that align with high-paying middle-skills occupations. Washington, DC, June 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The US is facing shortages of middle-skills credentials (certificates and associate's degrees) that provide pathways for early-career workers to secure jobs in occupations that are high-paying for workers without a bachelor's degree. New research from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) finds that these projected shortages present substantial opportunities for men and women of all races/ethnicities to increase attainment of credentials aligned with high-paying middle-skills occupations. High-paying middle-skills occupations for early-career middle-skills workers (ages 18–35) offer median annual earnings of more than $55,000, but just one in four of these early-career workers is in a job that meets this threshold. Bridging the Middle-Skills Gap: Connecting a Diverse Workforce to Economic Opportunity Through Certificates and Associate's Degrees examines the projected shortages of credentials that offer pathways to high-paying middle-skills occupations across five occupational groups. CEW researchers determined that the US is facing an annual shortage of nearly 712,000 certificates and associate's degrees aligned with high-paying middle-skills occupations nationwide. These shortages, which are projected to persist at least through 2032, fall in four occupational groups: blue-collar (360,800), management and professional office (253,000), STEM (87,500), and protective services (10,600). Healthcare is the only high-paying occupational group for early-career middle-skills workers that does not face a projected national shortage of middle-skills credentials, in part because healthcare employers increasingly prefer to fill these open positions with workers who have a bachelor's degree. In healthcare occupations, better connectivity from middle-skills credentials to bachelor's degrees would offer workers more economic opportunity. 'Credential shortages are troubling because the US is in dire need of qualified workers to keep our infrastructure intact, our communities safe, and our industries at the forefront of innovation. We must do more to improve access to and boost the attainment of credentials that align with high-paying middle-skills occupations and to smooth the transition from school to employment,' said Emma Nyhof McLeod, lead author and senior policy analyst at CEW. 'Although earning an aligned credential doesn't guarantee a job in a high-paying occupation, workers with these credentials who find work in aligned lower-paying occupations still earn more than workers in lower-paying occupations that don't align with these credentials.' The prospects of landing in a high-paying occupation are mixed. Workers with aligned credentials have the highest chance of finding a job in high-paying middle-skills STEM occupations (73%), followed by high-paying middle-skills protective services occupations (58%), high-paying middle-skills management and professional office occupations (47%), and high-paying blue-collar middle-skills occupations (37%). The racial/ethnic and gender demographics of workers in high-paying middle-skills occupations tell a clear story. Men hold the majority of jobs in both high-paying and lower-paying middle-skills occupations in three occupational groups (blue-collar, protective services, and STEM), and white men alone hold the plurality of high-paying middle-skills jobs in four of five occupational groups: blue-collar (68%), protective services (64%), STEM (58%), and management and professional office (49%). Women account for only 30% of high-paying middle-skills management and professional office employment, despite holding 53% of lower-paying middle-skills jobs in this occupational group. This may be because women are more likely to earn middle-skills credentials that offer pathways to lower-paying middle-skills management and professional office occupations, even as women earn the majority of all middle-skills credentials aligned with this occupational group. Women also earn the majority of middle-skills credentials aligned with healthcare occupations and account for more than 80% of high-paying and lower-paying middle-skills employment in these occupations. White women account for the majority of workers in both high-paying and lower-paying middle-skills healthcare occupations, though they hold a larger share of high-paying than lower-paying middle-skills healthcare jobs. While men earn just 16% of middle-skills healthcare credentials, men of all races/ethnicities who earn these credentials are more likely than women of all races/ethnicities to earn them in programs that align with high-paying healthcare occupations. White men are the most likely to earn credentials that align with high-paying healthcare occupations (61%), while Black/African American women are the least likely to earn these credentials (22%). 'Credential shortages present an opportunity to diversify high-paying middle-skills occupations and strengthen the American economy by drawing qualified workers from the widest talent pool possible. But first, we need to address long-standing disparities in credential attainment and the labor market,' said co-author and CEW Director Jeff Strohl. 'Increasing the number of work-based learning opportunities, providing integrated academic and career support services, and addressing biases in hiring and promotion are necessary to clear the pathway to opportunity in high-paying middle-skills occupations.' As described in the report, filling credential shortages more equitably would mean that, for men and women of all races/ethnicities, the new share of credentials earned aligning with high-paying occupations in each occupational group would match the current share of all credentials earned in each occupational group. Filling credential shortages equitably would require an increase of more than 500% in credentials aligned with high-paying blue-collar middle-skills occupations among men and women of all racial/ethnic backgrounds, along with substantial increases in credentials aligned with STEM, management and professional office, and protective services occupations. To view the full report, including a more in-depth discussion of policy and practice recommendations for the high-paying middle-skills workforce, visit: The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) is a research and policy institute within Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy that studies the links between education, career qualifications, and workforce demands. For more information, visit Follow CEW on X @GeorgetownCEW, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. CONTACT: Katherine Hazelrigg Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce kh1213@
West Australian
23-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Chief Executive Women boss Lisa Annese warns against giving Donald Trump's diversity war too much air time
The freshly-minted boss of Chief Executive Women has cautioned against giving too much air time to Donald Trump's war on diversity and inclusion policies. Lisa Annese took the CEO role at one of nation's most powerful female lobby groups in January, two months after Mr Trump won the presidential election in a political resurrection that sent shockwaves though the US and around the world. On his first day back at the White House, Mr Trump scrapped Federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs to prevent discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. 'It's important not to talk it into existence (in Australia) just because it's a conversation in the US,' Ms Annese told The West Australian ahead of CEW's annual dinner in Perth this week. 'After the election of Trump . . . he was very public about rolling back on what they call diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the US and so people were reacting to that thinking, 'Oh well if that's being discussed, maybe we should preemptively roll back or preemptively re-examine what our approach is'. 'We've got buckets of evidence around why diversity and inclusion is good for business. Let's not panic and let's not just assume because some one person, or a few people, think that this is all about political correctness that that's actually true, because it's not.' Walmart, McDonald's and Facebook owner Meta are among the major US companies that have proactively scaled back their DEI initiatives to comply with Mr Trump's crackdown. Ms Annese notes that 'we never really did DEI in Australia, it's a very American thing'. 'What diversity and inclusion has meant in Australia is around how do we make sure that our processes, the way we develop talent and the way we support people into leadership draws on 100 per cent of the talent pool, not just 50 per cent of the talent pool,' she said. 'Whilst I've always supported organisations having targets to achieve these things, we don't have a lot of the affirmative action of the US and so it's a different thing here.' She reckons Australian businesses remain committed to the equality fight. 'I actually don't believe anyone has changed their position,' Ms Annese said. 'Whilst there's always resistance whenever you try and create change . . . I just haven't seen enough evidence in Australia that en masse, organisations are rolling back on (diversity and inclusion).' Ms Annese started the CEW role on January 6. Most recently, she was the CEO of Diversity Council of Australia, where was responsible for growing its membership to 1400 organisations. Prior to that, Ms Annese worked as a diversity practitioner at law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth and at the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. 'I feel really confident in being able to defend the work of the gender equality movement because I know it's good for business and it's good for people,' Ms Annese said. Meanwhile, outgoing CEW president Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz reflected on her two-and-a-half-year stint as 'an absolute honour and privilege, although not always easy'. 'CEW has made some really important contributions toward advocacy around gender equality in Australia with the lens that gender equality isn't a seesaw about about men versus women,' she said. 'It's genuinely something that is good for everybody and indeed the single biggest economic lever that we have. 'In shaping the narrative around the why of gender equality, it's because we need to create high performance teams from 100 per cent of the population.' CEW is in its final stages of selecting Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz's successor.
