Summer Journalism Fellow Joe Strong speaks to Elisa Jagerson, CEO Emeritus of FutureBrand Speck, the design consultancy credited with driving major product and service innovations within Google, Apple, and more. Jagerson chats about her pioneering role in redefining intelligent design to grow Speck from a boutique design and engineering firm into an innovation leader. She also shares her passion for service, legal reform, and gender/racial justice.
Read MoreThe global pandemic is squeezing the living space out of many industries, including the traditional fashion industry. However, to some Internet-based fields such as esports, the pandemic has produced more opportunity. COVID-19 has also catalyzed more cross-border cooperation: traditional industries need new blood to twist the adverse situation, while emerging industries need legacy icons or brands to help them unlock broader markets. Hence, the marriage between fashion and esports under the pandemic is unexpected, but predictably, influential.
Read MoreOptimizing quality, cost, and accessibility of healthcare may be a three-pronged scenario, but there remains room for improvement in both Australia and the US. Business Today spoke to Anjana Sreedhar, author of “Healthcare of a Thousand Slights”, and Charles Fedor, an economics student at the University of Western Australia, about perceived gaps and possible solutions for the Australian and American health insurance and healthcare spaces.
Read MoreBezos’ growing wealth amid the unrest brought on by COVID-19 has prompted country-wide discussions on the way big corporations perpetuate unequal distribution of wealth. Journalism Fellow Maryam Gamar questions the power that big corporations have over their employees, specifically among the working class.
Read MoreAs a result of an unexpected increased use of video conferencing during the pandemic and shifting cultural norms, it has become much more acceptable for men to dabble in cosmetics. Summer Journalism Fellow Charlotte Ehlers traces the evolution of men’s makeup from the Ancient Egyptians to the present day and then analyzes consumer behavior that is influencing the steadily growing men’s makeup market. Finally, she predicts that the market in the future will continue to be more open to skincare, grooming, and lean more towards ‘unisex’ or natural makeup.
Read MoreSummer Journalism Fellow Anastasiia Tokar interviews Lake Buckley, Creative Director of SpecialGuest, a communication and arts agency and production studio. Buckley discusses the role that design and film industries play when persuading people to take action on social justice and her story as a creative. She also touches upon the craft that goes into her work with clientele such as Facebook, Google, and National Geographic.
Read MoreAs regulation of private and public health coverage continues to be debated in the political arena, a comparison between Australian and American health systems illustrates the benefits and shortfalls of each. 2020 Summer Journalism Fellow Millie Muroi speaks to Anjana Sreedhar, author of Healthcare of a Thousand Sights, about the unique problems faced by the Australian and American healthcare spaces.
Read MoreSummer Journalism Fellow Maryam Gamar analyzes the court ordering of the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which took place in July 2020. She points out how instances of environmental racism, such as DAPL’s construction across the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, are subjecting Native American and other BIPOC communities to deadly health consequences. In particular, Gamar argues that environmental racism includes a power imbalance between corporations and communities of color that puts these communities at a disadvantage and keeps them there.
Read MoreIce coverage in Arctic regions is decreasing, causing the size of the oceans expand, which gives way to potential new routes of travel. Within the Arctic, we have seen the Northern Sea Route (NSR) open, creating alternative lanes for global trade. Summer Journalism Fellow Joe Strong analyzes how countries with ports at the ends or along the NSR will be impacted. The ability to use the Arctic would shorten and reroute many of the most internationally favoured trade routes, which primarily travel through the Suez and Panama Canals.
Read MoreBefore the pandemic took over, the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) industry was booming, with experts predicting greater capital availability and healthy liquidity scenarios for the players in the space. However, the coronavirus pandemic, with its unimaginable magnitude of economic disruption, has impacted the CRE industry in an unquantifiable way that can only lead to lesser demand for new office spaces in the ‘new normal’ era of economic functioning.
Read MoreAccess to clean and affordable energy in Africa has been a major challenge, as most of its governments still nose-dive to source dirty fossil fuels to oil the wheels of their nation. However, renewable energy development offers the continent the option to be a global renewable powerhouse and the option to re-write its energy story.
Read MoreIn recent times, consumers and investors have started to pay a lot more attention to the sustainability of the products they buy and the companies they decide to support. While this is a good thing, it gives rise to something dangerous. Greenwashing can distract people and mislead them into thinking that climate goals and sustainability targets are being met, and so we must be up on our guard to recognize greenwashing and how companies can avoid it.
Read MoreIn the last few years before COVID, Business Today had already begun transitioning to a stronger online presence, as opposed to its traditional print magazine. In 2020, our move to explore digital content creation reached new heights, though facing the challenge of leading a team residing in different places all around the globe. In our first episode of Inside BT, Amy Wang, Director of Content, speaks to her experience leading this team and what it means for the future of BT content. Inside BT is a series that was launched to reflect on how Business Today, a nonprofit that's entirely run by undergraduates, has adapted to the new digital normal created by COVID.
Read MoreSa Sa, the Hong Kong-based beauty retailing giant, had never published a fiscal deficit since the days of SARS due to a proactive expansion strategy in both physical stores and digital outlets. Everything changed in 2020 when a new coronavirus emerged, but Journalism Fellow Hypatia Wu’s analysis reveals that its financial slump had begun even before the global pandemic.
Read MoreIn a competitive world where “emulation and envy are ever at work,” many companies find it hard to use advertising as a space to break free from the rigid rules of business. However, those that invest in creative and inclusive styles of marketing often find the most success because consumers are looking to buy much more than a physical product; they are looking to buy an identity.
Read More2020 was anticipated to be a decisive year for climate action before COVID-19 hit, yet unlike most of its harmful effects elsewhere, the pandemic has brought about an unexpected silver lining with a dramatic reduction in GHG emissions. However, the global economic recovery in the post-COVID era could quickly undo this progress as countries look to fossil fuels to lift them out of the recession.
Read MorePublic service and resilience have been at the heart of Amanda North’s career as Founder & CEO of Plan C Advisors. In her interview with Summer Journalism Fellow Anastasiia Tokar, North describes the role of purpose in strategic entrepreneurship and key steps for the corporate world to prioritize meaningful climate action in their business models, emphasizing the need for stable environmental policy in facilitating the transition towards a sustainable future.
Read MoreCOVID-19 has raised risks associated with travel, from prolonged exposure to other people to last-minute cancellations before getting on a flight. Typically, people buy travel insurance to mitigate risks when visiting places outside of their home country. However, the current state of traveler’s insurance may not be enough to cope with the aforementioned pandemic-induced risks. Summer Journalism Fellow Charlotte Ehlers proposes a plan where federal governments set up their own travel insurance plans and market them alongside preexisting COVID safety measures to restimulate the tourism industry.
Read MoreStorytelling —and by extension design— is often about revealing what's already there. David Lai continues the second half of his story as CEO of Hello Design with Summer Journalism Fellow Ashleigh Fields, emphasizing the value of building holistic brand relationships, balancing the digital and physical in the customer experience, and bringing creativity to the forefront of genuine marketing.
Read MoreThe “Skirmish Era” of antagonistic policies and strained interactions between the U.S. and China seems to have extended to the third decade of the 21st century, and the rift between the two economic superpowers is leading the world to yet another cold war. Summer Journalism Fellow Peyush Karel looks at how the rest of the world responds when two nationalistic agendas collide.
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