Latest news with #UNCG
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Greensboro initiative places priority on family friendly workplaces
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — The Greensboro community will soon be the first in the state with the title Family Forward North Carolina Certified Community. There are 82 employers across the community that meet the qualifications. There are big corporations and small businesses, and they all have their own way of making sure that family comes first, even at work. 'I have been here for 27 years,' Associate Vice Provost for Student Success at UNC-Greensboro Regina McCoy said. McCoy knows what it's like to balance being a mom and climbing up the career ladder. 'I was pregnant in my interview, and that was the first thing I asked: 'How do you support working moms, working families?'' McCoy said. Most recently, she helped bring a lactation pod to UNCG's campus. Another one is on the way soon. UNCG also offers child care on campus. 'You can come and drop them off. You can also make sure there is time you just play with your kids. You can learn with your kids,' McCoy said. It is a similar story across town at North Carolina A&T State University. 'We have lactation rooms and child care facilities that support families that are growing,' Associate Vice Chancellor at NC A&T Veronica Sills said. NC A&T knows a thing or two about breaking barriers, and this certification is no exception. 'It also means we are setting the pace. We are setting the tone and the expectation as we set the bar for other employers about what it means to be a family-first and family-forward employer,' Sills said. Something similar is happening in downtown Greensboro. 'We help clients find talent,' Chief People Officer at Charles Aris Danielle Bowman said. The executive search firm also has a lactation room. 'We have necessities under the cabinet, and we have a refrigerator … If they want to store their breast milk until they leave, they can do that,' Bowman said. The office also offers a space for mental health. 'We have what we call a Zen room here in the Greensboro office where if you just need a moment to go chill, you can go and sit down and shut the door and get away from the noise of technology and people around you and have that quiet moment to reset,' Bowman said. There are five categories that are considered to make the cut, including child care, health and wellness, parental leave and designated facilities. If an employer qualifies, they get a badge that shows they are certified. 'I think that really gives them kind of a competitive edge when they are recruiting or retaining talent,' Executive Director at Action Greensboro Cecilia Thompson said. On Thursday, Greensboro will officially be certified as a family-forward community. The celebration starts on Friday. Anyone is welcome to come to LeBauer Park from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to meet some of the employers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Business Journals
22-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Outstanding Women in Business 2025: Michelle Schneider, vice president and chief philanthropy officer, Cone Health
MICHELLE SCHNEIDER Vice president and chief philanthropy officer, Cone Health Business address: 1200 N. Elm St., Greensboro Education: BS, social work, and MPA, UNC-Greensboro Where are you a native of? Chicago Why selected: Schneider leads a team of 12 professional fundraisers who support the entire five-county Cone Health system reporting directly to Cone's CEO. Under her leadership, the organization launched its first comprehensive philanthropy campaign in 2022. The campaign has raised more than $28 million toward a $35 million goal to expand heart and vascular services across the system and fund critical programs like telehealth for Title I schools in three counties. She was a member of the advancement team at UNC-Greensboro and ended her tenure as the director for the Students First Campaign, which exceeded the university's original $78 million goal by $37 million. During her time as senior counsel for CapDev, Schneider helped more than 20 nonprofits raise millions of dollars while strengthening their fundraising programs to ensure long-term sustainability. She is a mentor in her profession, often speaking to nonprofits and their boards, and carries the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation from the American College of Financial Services. How did you get started in your career? As an undergraduate at UNCG studying social work, I had the opportunity to complete an internship at United Way of Greater Greensboro. In this capacity I learned about the important role nonprofit organizations play in identifying and studying the needs of individuals and families. I became keenly aware of the need for philanthropy to advance solutions in partnership with governments and institutions who could not do this alone. After attending several board meetings, I saw the important role volunteers and board members play in raising money and providing oversight to ensure nonprofit organizations operate efficiently and effectively. Before joining Cone Health in 2016, I worked for several United Way organizations, then spent 10 years at UNCG learning about transformational philanthropy and then seven years in fundraising consulting. What are you passionate about? As a recent graduate of Cone Health's High Performing Leaders program, I was asked to define my personal stance. After a nearly 30-year career in this community I am passionate about building relationships that create solutions to make the world a better place. I truly believe working together we can overcome most of the problems that impact our community, state and nation. Proudest achievement? My family has been very fortunate to find both personal and professional success in Greensboro. I have had a robust and fulfilling career working for institutions that significantly impact our community. My husband was the co-founder of several successful businesses and now my sons own their own business right here. We love living in Lindley Park and have made incredible friends here. I volunteer with several organizations that focus on strengthening public education. I am grateful for these opportunities and proud that we are individually and collectively making a difference in the community we love. When I moved here in 1987, I never imagined the life I would create here. Next big professional goal? Over the last several years the Cone Health Philanthropy team has experienced significant success with unprecedented generosity from the community. We have recruited and retained a phenomenal team and we are building deep relationships with those that support Cone Health and partnerships with organizations that share our mission. I am committed to ensuring this work continues and I am working to make sure there is a strong team in place for decades to come. This includes mentoring newer teammates, creating increasingly more challenging opportunities for those on the rise and continuing to recruit the team we will need for the future. My goal is to create a culture of philanthropy at Cone Health that will stand the test of time. What do you like to do in your spare time? I enjoy family dinners, spending time in the mountains, hiking, traveling, hanging out with neighborhood friends and spoiling my dogs Mogul and Luna. I love trying new things and great food! Something that would surprise others? I started figure skating after the 1976 Olympics and wanted to be just like Dorothy Hamill. Someone who fostered and influenced your growth? My grandmother was the most influential woman in my life. She taught me at a young age to be independent, to be prepared in any instance and how to overcome my fears. More importantly she helped me realize that each decision is just that, one decision; it does not define you. If something goes wrong, regroup, ask for help and start over. This has been valuable in both my personal and professional life; you just keep going. How have you supported other women in career growth? Throughout my career, I have been blessed to be around women who lift each other up. I have amazing friendships and important work relationships that keep me grounded. I return this support by mentoring women, by making connections, by offering support and by lifting others with me. My current team is primarily women of all ages and we support one another's growth and development. We recently reorganized our team and I was able to promote three women. This has created new opportunities for them to lead, which will elevate them within our organization and in our profession. Something unusual in your purse, briefcase, laptop bag or backpack? I have a small shell from the ocean I carrry; it reminds me that even things with cracks and holes can be beautiful and strong. 2025 Outstanding Women in Business Honorees
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
March Madness Saturday recap: John Calipari's Sweet 16 redemption, Big Ten's perfect start ends, is JuJu OK?
The third day of the NCAA tournament is now in the books. Here are the biggest stories from Saturday's games as the men worked through the second round of their tournament and the women wrapped up their opening round. Kentucky, you're on deck. In his first season post-breakup, former Kentucky coach John Calipari is back in the Sweet 16. He got there with 10th-seeded Arkansas, the first double-digit seed he's coached in 24 NCAA tournament appearances. His Razorbacks advanced thanks to a win over No. 2 St. John's Saturday to knock out the tournament's highest-seeded team to be eliminated so far. They did so by defeating Calipari's longtime rival coach Rick Pitino, who fell to 2-3 in tournament games against Calipari with the loss. It's all pretty sweet for Calipari, who's been one of the most criticized coaches in college basketball for the better part of the last decade. The crux of that criticism was Kentucky's NCAA tournament failures under his watch with rosters brimming with NBA talent. Calipari coached Kentucky to a national championship in 2012. But he's probably best-remembered in Lexington for failing to advance the Wildcats to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament in his last five chances. Cal sure can recruit. But can he coach with the game's best? Saturday's win over St. John's suggests that yes, he can. Kentucky and first-year coach Mark Pope have their opportunity to counter on Sunday with a Sweet 16 berth at stake against Illinois. —Jason Owens JuJu Watkins had an excellent game on Saturday to lead the top-seeded Trojans to a 71-25 shellacking of UNCG. But the USC All-American got banged up in the process. Watkins appeared to injure her left hand early and was repeatedly seen massaging it in the first half. Then she rolled her left ankle in the second half and briefly left the court to have it looked at. Juju Watkins rolled her ankle — CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) March 22, 2025 Watkins quickly returned to the bench and the game even though the outcome was long determined. She finished with a game-high 22 points alongside 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals while nearly outscoring UNCG by herself. Watkins downplayed the injuries in a sideline interview on ESPN, calling them "end-of-the-season knick-knacks." She maintained that stance in her postgame interviews, telling reporters "I'm all right, don't worry.' We'll know more on Monday, when USC takes on No. 9 seed Mississippi State. Playing hurt against No. 16 seed UNCG is one thing. It's another as the competition stiffens. -Jason Owens Michigan beat Texas A&M Saturday afternoon to advance to the Sweet 16 and improve the Big Ten's record in NCAA tournament play to 10-0. But 11-0 was not meant to be. Wisconsin trailed BYU by double digits in the late window only to mount a rally and have a look at a game-tying basket in the final seconds. But John Tonje's contested jumper missed the mark, and BYU held on for a dramatic 91-89 win that featured a Wisconsin rally sparked by a flagrant 2 foul for "non-incidental contact to the groin.' Wisconsin will not advance to the Sweet 16, and it was the first Big Ten team eliminated from the field. Tennessee then beat UCLA in the last game of the day to drop the Big Ten to 10-2. Each of the Big Ten's eight NCAA tournament participants (Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan, Oregon, Michigan State, Illinois, Maryland and UCLA) won in the first round. In a season filled with well-deserved hype around the SEC, the Big Ten staked its own claim to excellence early in the the perfect start is no more. -Jason Owens It's only one game, but Paige Bueckers and the Huskies look ready to run their Spokane region. No. 2 UConn absolutely demolished No. 15 Arkansas State on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Huskies picked up a 69-point win, which set up a second-round matchup with No. 10 South Dakota State on Monday. It was the largest margin of victory in the tournament so far. Azzi Fudd led the way with 27 points, seven assists and six steals in the blowout win, and Sarah Strong added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Bueckers had 11 points, and shot 5-of-9 from the field. They shot almost 59% from the floor as a team while looking like a truly vintage NCAA tournament team built by longtime coach Geno Auriemma. The blowout was one of several seen throughout the day. No. 2 NC State, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 UConn, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Iowa and No. 6 West Virginia all rolled to double-digit wins in their respective first round matchups. The only true upsets we saw were from the Jackrabbits, who beat No. 7 Oklahoma State, and No. 9 Mississippi State's win over No. 8 Cal. Top seeds USC and Texas each walked away with huge blowout wins, too. The Trojans nearly tripled up on UNC Greensboro, and Texas rolled to a 105-61 win over William & Mary on Saturday night. While it's still early, and a lot needs to happen, a battle between USC and UConn with a spot in the Final Four on the line looks even better now than it did on Selection Sunday. -Ryan Young You'd think, by the third day of play, that CBS would have it together. But during BYU's win over Wisconsin on Saturday, their score bug went completely haywire in a wild fashion. It wasn't a one-time error, either. It kept happening randomly throughout the game and seemingly tried to give Wisconsin a leg up. CBS has a real problem on its hands. 🏀📺🎢😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫 #MarchMadness — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 23, 2025 But, even with the boost from CBS, the Badgers couldn't pull off the win. And in the network's credit, this was the first game of the tournament with a significant technical issue. Hopefully it was just a hilarious one-off mistake. -Ryan Young The last perfect bracket, at least on the men's side, has been busted. That's not that big of a surprise, considering both the quest for a perfect bracket is a seemingly impossible one and that only 11 brackets entered in Yahoo Sports' Men's Bracket Mayhem were perfect entering the day on Saturday. But the brackets disappeared quickly even with how relatively straightforward the games were. But it was Arkansas' win over St. John's that eliminated the bulk of the brackets on Saturday. That upset left just one perfect bracket alive though Michigan's win over Michigan State ruined that almost immediately. The women's side was a little bit better. Nearly 98% of brackets were busted to start the day on Saturday, but by the end of the first round just more than 100 of them remained intact. We'll see how long those last when the second round gets started on Sunday. -Ryan Young
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NCAA tournament: JuJu Watkins plays through pain as USC cruises past UNCG
No. 1 seed USC made easy work of No. 16 seed UNCG in its NCAA tournament opener Saturday. But the Trojans don't leave the game without concern. All-America forward JuJu Watkins appeared to tweak her left hand in the first half and played through pain in USC's 71-25 win over UNCG. Then, in the third quarter, Watkins rolled her left ankle on a drive to the basket. She regrouped after the miss to hit an open 3-pointer from the corner after a USC offensive rebound. Juju Watkins rolls her ankle and still hits the 3 right after — Shabazz 💫 (@ShowCaseShabazz) March 22, 2025 But she limped off the court toward the locker room at the next break in action. Watkins returned to the USC sideline after her brief exit from the court, her day seemingly done with USC in control with a 45-15 lead in the third quarter. But head coach Lindsay Gottlieb sent Watkins back out for the start of the fourth quarter as the Trojans led, 53-16. Watkins went on to lead the game with 22 points alongside eight rebounds, two assists and three steals. After the game, Watkins downplayed the injuries when asked about them by ESPN. "End of the season knick-knacks," Watkins said. "So small things, maintenance things. Regardless, nobody cares. So just continue to do what I do." The nature of either of her injuries wasn't initially clear. It was also unclear what initially happened to her left hand. She was seen throughout the first half grabbing her left hand, but played all but two minutes of the first half. Juju Watkins has been grabbing her left hand since the first quarter — Shabazz 💫 (@ShowCaseShabazz) March 22, 2025 Here's a closer look at her rolled left that took place when she stepped on a UNCG defender's shoe. Juju Watkins rolled her ankle — CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) March 22, 2025 USC advances to face the winner between No. 8 seed California and No. 9 seed Mississippi State in the second round on Monday. They'll hope to do so without any limitations on Watkins.
NBC Sports
20-03-2025
- Business
- NBC Sports
March Madness offers same perks for South Carolina and Columbia. That includes new money for women
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Columbia women's basketball team plays in an intimate 2,700-seat gym nestled in Manhattan that is nowhere to be found on the national sports landscape. Now the Lions and all the other starry-eyed dreamers in the NCAA Tournament are being serenaded just like former national champions UConn, South Carolina or Tennessee. And this year, they're all getting paid to be there. The star treatment this year goes beyond charter flights, hotel accommodations and coveted swag. For the first time, women's teams are getting an individual share of the profits, a perk men's teams have enjoyed for years. 'It should be this way. We should be able to fly charter,' said UNC Greensboro coach Trina Patterson, whose Spartans will take a charter flight to play a game for the first time. 'We are all playing in the same March Madness, the treatment for the men and women should be equal. We get a unit!' That's correct, each women's team in the tournament will get a 'unit' — money that is paid to conferences when one of its teams appears in the NCAA Tournament. The formula and definition of a unit can be complicated, but the bottom line is conferences will receive $113,000 for each game one of its women's team plays in the tournament. Columbia reached the tournament last year, but neither the Lions nor the Ivy League received money for the appearance. 'You got to start somewhere and I think we've been so far behind,' said Columbia coach Megan Griffith. 'I think of Sedona Prince and it's really cool to see that she's still able to play at a high level on a big stage. This is more like the whipped cream. I think the cherry on top is going to keep coming, but this it's really good so far.' Prince's video from 2020 that shed light on the inequalities between the men's and women's tournament helped spearhead change in the tournament. Patterson is now with UNCG but she knows what its like to be one of the marquee teams. She played at Virginia in the 1980s when Geno Auriemma was an assistant at the school. Patterson then went on to be an assistant coach at Stanford for a few years under Tara VanDerveer. Her 16th-seeded team will enjoy the comforts of the cross-country charter flight from Greensboro to Los Angeles, where they will try to knock off JuJu Watkins and No. 1-seeded Southern California. It's UNCG's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1998. This is all new for William & Mary, which is making its first appearance but has the chance to earn two financial units. They are in the play-in game against High Point with the winner facing No. 1 seed Texas. 'It should have always been that way. Women's basketball has been fighting for equality for a very long time,' said William & Mary coach Erin Dickerson Davis, who was the associate head coach at Wake Forest, an assistant at Georgetown and has also coached at Towson, Illinois State, La Salle and Furman. 'I've been in this business for many, many years,' Davis said. 'I played college basketball, it's a long time coming.' It is the Tribe's first trip to March Madness in either men's or women's basketball. 'Everyone is so excited about the experience, going from the bus directly to the plane, everyone was so happy,' Davis said. 'Yes, we're here on a business trip and we want to win. But just to be able to have these experiences for them that no one has done at William & Mary is special.' Several of the players at Columbia can relate. They aren't in Chapel Hill for spring break. They are here to win. But that doesn't mean they aren't taking time to enjoy the moment. 'It was cool going to the charter and we've been taking it all in,' junior Perri Page said. 'But it's a business trip and we have a goal in mind.' The Lions' schedule has mirrored most schools' travel itinerary. There was the building anticipation on the bus ride from their New York campus to Newark Airport for their pride-filled one-hour charter flight to Chapel Hill and the giddiness that comes with picking up that tournament swag. Yes, there is a game to be played. A pretty big one at that. But what a ride to get here — with a paycheck looming to top it off. 'We've been enjoying the whole season,' Page said, adding, 'It's great we can make money for the school now.' Patterson, the former Virginia Cavalier, Stanford Cardinal and now UNCG Spartan summed it up when she said: 'It's great for women's basketball.'
