, one person is going to share out what your final three was so let's have a first number from number one's the priorities Somebody share out Okay For group one our final three priorities were to create a district where students want to work and Our teachers want to work and students want to attend Our second goal was to stop the cycles slash forward on conclusions and focus on improving student outcomes for all students and our third goal was ensuring that our schools are have safety wellness and Include mental health and basic needs right We struggled a little bit to distill but we can't in the end we came up with um Sort of board expectations clarifying clarifying board vision goals and timeline To further formalize a process for community input and board accountability to that input so reporting back out Progress monitoring etc Establish Priorities and progress monitoring of the curriculum issues that have been raised by students Kind of relates to the dei policy, which was another theme That came up for us in the first part of the process Yes, I said all three I Think where we landed was The A priority of the boards would be to run this process to look at the intersection of Bullying harassment and restorative justice and discipline Resulting in the safer educational environment in our schools Um And then then you have to skip a few and go to with a robust community input Guiding the process apply in equity and that through a lens to the budget Leveraging our funding to support advances in educational equity closing the q-wikap and saving the planet I added that part right at the end because we were wrapping up And then the very bottom one advancing more dei competencies and values district wide To include recruiting and retaining more diverse hires and the more diverse for curriculum So just so that they stand out also, but I think that's Okay, so for themes We have We have some Dei right here's the things one di in terms of recruitment We all are going to have homework after this So just that way in terms of recruitment Climate I'm assuming that means teacher climate staff climate rather Yes, I don't want to put words in anybody's mouth. So this is your work. Now my things Curricular decisions I'm hesitating on that because I have a different definition curriculum and it sounds like you do so curricular work And I'm going to put a splash. This is my impact on here. So I understand that instructional practices Because that I think is what we're actually talking about not necessarily curriculum, but instructional practices and decisions Are we Curriculum are standards that are mandated by law So Is outcomes the same kind of now we're looking for for that list? Because we want to improve outcomes for students and the various Anything else that I missed There you know people are saying And I don't think you've missed it. I just have I'm Yeah I'm looking for clarification Jill when you say outcomes Are you talking about something like the way rephrase it over there was closing the opportunity and achievement gap? Yeah, exactly, right? Yeah, okay Okay, another theme Um was Later, can I just clarify the instructional practices? So the curricular work is district work off of common core standards National science standards See three standards that are adopted by the state that we have to do are mandated and prioritize what we want to focus on The teachers are doing that work like but they're pretty much standards as we're in Destructional practices and decisions are teacher roles that that's where they have choice in the matter So in for instance, there is no standard that says march through american history With the lens of white colonialism yet teachers do that. All right That's a that's an instructional decision that teachers have done. That's not curriculum. Okay. That's the case study They've chosen to follow To get at Is that great? Yeah, exactly But also that that we can go into me about this, but I don't think you want to spend the time on it I would say that you want to really think about instructional practices More than saying curriculum as a kentall because then you're going to get people saying remarker. He's fine Because they're standards Right, so we want to focus more on what are the choices we have within there would be my take Go ahead Zach one last topic. Yeah, I want to focus on this first I think plan at least for the students like when The work group was used they were referring to like material like the content of it Without still falling. Yes. That's a teacher choice. Yeah, nobody's forcing any kind of material on a teacher Unless it's like Exactly. Yeah, that's the only time that is. Yeah, thanks Zach. Absolutely Um Anything else that's on this list? Any other themes? Okay, so let's move on It's like budgetary process was kind of that was down there A little bit of our timeline and goals a little bit. Yeah We erased it was up there. It was a reason to make a priority All right, so we have student outcomes Here too. I'm just oh Bowling harassment you have Yeah, you have safety wellness here. You had it down there too. Yeah. Yeah, we do We definitely had it as a big topic of conversation with uh Student staff safety came up a lot and it was sort of like how do we what we struggled with Was how does what is the board's role in ensuring student and staff's safety and how can we make it a board goal? When a lot of that work happens Internally Yeah, they're in my mind they intersect. Yeah Right I would add a point under it to pull in mental health certainly related. I would say to bullying and harassment But maybe pull it out. Yes, it's okay What'd you say? And so in with discipline a big theme for us was restorative practices So right that's a that's a process or a way to get to discipline ish Okay, and then three do we have a three? I think the board budget Rolls responsibilities and timelines Is that or is that a different green side? Well certainly community input into budget through your process is a board responsibility and goal Anybody prioritize that we did We didn't specifically relate it to the budget on our in our group, but just community input And sort of output Me meaning like how are we publicizing the progress that's being made towards whatever it is Are we intentionally publicizing progress that's being able to address issues that are I'm just pretty communication process, but if I don't want to change your words. Yeah Okay Did the other two groups touch on net zero at all? I would think that kind of I would have been kind of in safety and it could go and say come on as it could go into a budgetary process In community, okay We ended up feeling like it sort of landed around like if if the board has clear vision Then we can create lenses through that vision and one of those lenses can be Climate stuff and net zero stuff Um, so I've been personally sort of eager to hear from the vision committee And hoping that those can provide the lenses that we can use which one of which could include net zero The other groups put something about the actual board process as involved or is that a strategy? Similarly, the clarifying board vision tools timeline. Yeah, I see it in the middle groups number two amanda So this is where I'm seeing this could go Okay, so this is where I talk off my toes. So make sure anybody jumps in This is what I would recommend or suggest happening next since it's noon and our lunch is probably on its way right now Is that um, everybody write down these three themes and here's your homework Word snippet a little bit into old language Okay, so It would be and if we could go into smart goal because then that's about smart goals earlier Uh smart goal language that would be helpful because it may not be measurable but you say that acronym can you say the acronym out smart goals is uh Specific and measurable attainable Relevant relevant Yeah, yeah We just made so much we take it for granted, right? That's interesting. I know a smart goal acronym that stands for other things. Really? Yeah They're not that it's not that different, but not the same look at it. It's fine. I'm sorry. Okay Was it attainable attainable? Okay, so um What I'd like what I would recommend And this is totally up for discussion. Please excuse the interruption claim a kyber. Please come to the main office Take these down word smith them send them to me five Was there one me Wednesday 6 30? Please send them to me by June on Wednesday Okay What I will do is I'll put them all in one spot, right one document for everybody And um, I'll try to get those out to you prior to the board meeting. Although you may not See that you can get as soon as you get up to be better because then I'll make a a doc um At the board meeting We'll look and the goal will be in the first part of when we have time maybe a lot of time Hold out for this in the board meeting will be a discussion around How which one do we like which phrase do we really like which ones do we really want to think it's good for? That's kind of a lot of time work smithing But like which one really reaches those it's measurable It's attainable we can do it in a couple years and then we can spend some time playing out the process Perhaps in committees perhaps as a court board like right now We have it as committee work, but it may make more sense to talk about the process of what you'd like to see as a court board And because this is where I think is a superintendent, right? I want to know what you need from us at the administration side and what like when I'm making that year long calendar How this is all flow across a year What trainings could be added in because we have to set that up For what we need so that's where library goes But it's helpful to have the actual goal and priorities, which we've never had started this for your report Does that sound okay for everybody for where we are right now? Would anybody like to make some friendly amendments in there So let me just make sure I understand you're saying well our homework is to use these themes and write our Version of smart goals that fall within these themes at the board meeting on Wednesday We will have a whole big list of Yeah, and if they say if you sound similar like you and Jim write pretty similar goals, then I'll just Proposed, you know like nobody should be offended if their exact wording isn't in there But I'll try to synthesize it as much as possible And then at the board meeting we will riddle those draft goals down to our top three Right and then coming out of the board meeting committees will have Work to do to create a timeline of what it would take to hit those goals, right? And if you get them to me earlier, then you can have time to look at them before Right if I get the vast majority beforehand, then I'll make a pdf We'll put it up on the website as well as public and you all will have it to review prior to Wednesday But knowing life gets in the way It can be hard, right? I feel like if we if we can we need to do some homework in order to move the process faster. I agree Maybe let me set that up from the end, like when is it for the process or the process we have to create the homework? Because you can add or subtract from the end of your work, right? When you do your homework. So these are themes And then a smart goal would be like more like here's a specific thing that we can accomplish Board will yeah, and you're saying within two years should be the time frame or within this year Totally up to you all that's working on first Okay, so just like that could also be defined within the goal Yeah I just want to help and this is where I get like the goal versus objective How we're gonna get there We can then as either board our computer How we never get there whether it's in five years Yeah Yeah, because that was sort of the struggle in our conversation There was a lot of themes and a lot of sort of like bigger hopes and dreams And then it was like how do we Turn this into something that we can like do in the next year, right? And how do we word it in a way? so Yeah Which is the tricky part, right? It's harder Yeah, I'll give you an example right was listening in on the conversation around that zero and Jim might be in of like the board's role is policy Right, so we could if we wanted to prioritize that make a policy around That's zero Right, and then you can see how that would work across multiple years You know that that goal is not going to change in one year necessarily But then it's becomes our job to report out to the board The steps for taking multiple times throughout the year Makes sense and it might be that really just for the one year the board actually says We're going to take a year to write and pass the policy right and then maybe we say we assign that to the facilities committee And the facilities give me like actually it's going to take us two years. So we have to read, you know, I don't so when we're when we When we go back to do this homework I just want to I like I think that doing an example together I don't know if we have time to do that right now, but like I'm waiting for lunch. So doing one example might be helpful for to like Understand what we're looking for for Wednesday That and so we're talking about whittling it down to three or four smart goals I'd say Three is beyond where your capacity is so if if Um Passing a net goal policy net zero policy would be a goal Is that what we're saying as an example as an example? Yeah, okay Then Is it is that the wording of it or do you want any more information attached to that so make that as the as it Let's play with this one, right? so A goal of the board and this may it could be a standing goal Is that when the large decisions which large is very arbitrary and subjective I understand that so when large decisions have to be made Aka budget or for example budget, right? The board will have design a process for community input and output of In order to make budgetary decisions Right that could also be You know big large goal could be our largest decision could be around that zero. It could be around I heard you talking about firearm policy You know like so big big decision could be something that's bigger than just budgetary process or different budgetary process But that could be a standing board goal That whenever there's a large decision that needs to be made but there's community input and output Then the board says how are we going to do that through committee work through? assigning roles through reaching like just reach out And we might even say that's the standing goal and then for this year like by the end by the end of the 2022-2023 school year We will have that process Written out for ourselves so that we can achieve that standing goal year after year after year And that that's how we time bound it is that we give ourselves that deadline of like we have to actually get this process Kind of hot bind so that it can be used Yeah, I think it's definitely my idea I think I agree with all that. I think it's kind of hopeful. It's kind of my friend to think about What we can actually do Yeah, I'm gonna think about the work we do and the processes we can put in place You know can rewrite a policy Can we put in place? You know as me has suggested a formalized working process to like you get a big decision. Okay We should salt our handbook. We don't have yet and this is the process that we go through the 2x1c Unless it's a emergency decision So like thinking about some things that we can actually Do as a board And if we look at this one right here Um, I can think of in my four years one time. We have presented the board on any kind of discipline data Pam Arnold in that one time And it was absolute disaster It was to show evidence to show evidence in need of a behavior teacher at msms for a pleasure to think So we We had one one instance of that we've never shown data around the number of pulling and harassment investigations we do or You know outcomes or anything like that. Like that's never been something We've shared about we've had one presentation around SEL like people think of Jim because he's been here for a long as SEL from Mary Bechtel, right Next year. We're piloting a thing called talk space, which is a virtual Mental health therapy or mental health therapy process for every staff member of their children and every student in MRPS, right Which is the considerable cost of the district, but we're piloting it for a year I would think the board would want to some like data on that like how's it going?  Because we're using S or money for it, you know, how we're going to use it and Next year if we are, you know, if we do a D1 put it into our local funding So those are kind of things that we mean end of this like but if we if you were made a goal around filling pulling and harassment It would be I'm not sure what it would sound like I can just picture my role in it, right bringing that data to the table Or to the board meeting so that you have something to talk about other than A vision and story and that kind of thing of what's actually happening And and it could be You know, at least for the year getting more data so we can perform calls Um Merit, do you have something to say? Um, no, I it was kind of answered. It was just like when we're drafting these goals Like it's best to keep it broad like when Maybe it was gonna make us the example of I don't know like we'll create a process. We're not saying anything more specific Well, but the first the first word in the acronym is specific So I think I think we should write down the smart acronym up here And I think people should have that as a note and maybe go through it Because it's like I'm I'm very concerned about the measurable thing and when we're going to do that When are so when we write these goals? I think we also need to be alongside Putting these goals out to the public as our goals for the year. I think we need to have I don't know when that work will happen But we need to we need to have it a drop down that explains how we're going to measure You know, what is the timeline? All of the smart acronyms and what how will go we're making progress? Yeah Um, so I don't want to just put the goal out there. I want to put all those things out there I think the Like I see these are overall goals and I think what In order the smart goal is now going to get us To any of the like there are multiple things within those big goals I think what the smart goal is like how we're going to get there this year Yeah, and like being able to say okay In the di let's say recruitment climate like all these things Now I'm going to use the smart goal setting for this year As the board how can we advance that work specifically? We're going to just make it this up right now. Uh, we're going to recruit in a You know variety of places Like I'm just making this up. Yeah, I was like um I'm going to Try to get this year I'm going to grow my own. I'm going to this year recruit five part educators again making this up um And because those are really big that's not going to give us Smart but what we can do because this is Those themes are important for all of us. What we can do is each of us create some smart Goals to get us to that big one. Yes, that will be specific for this year. So we could say Amanda's going to Do the smart one for bullying harassment here at some of like the steps that I see this year for example and then do that I think that will better serve us than try to create The smart goals for what we have those things that we have those are just big ones I don't think I mean That sounds like a friendly amendment to the process where instead of having three smart goals We're going to have three themes with uh with With maybe three smart goals for each theme Is that what I'm hearing you say it's like this is one that when when I think of process is when I think goals objectives like Like creating that like the strategies of how to get to that big picture If we're going to if we're using this slide, we're definitely doing one year or two I was deciding that work that dei Team we're not going to finish in two years That's like a long-term process of how We're going to work together to advance that and that is not really sticking one year Yeah, so we're not going to be able to recruit and buy but are you proposing that three smart goals is too few Is that what you're I'm proposing that we look at each of these themes and then create The beginning strategies of how we're going to get there And that's all of us creating a smart goal or two And then A vision statement around each team, you know, like mrps school board, you know We'll prioritize dei And then there's like, yeah three two or three smart goals beneath there But there's almost like a very simple vision statement for each team and then there's three smart goals Or two That's just it's too much. It's too big. It's not I mean, I think a lot of our Oh Keep talking. Yeah Yeah, we've been more specific goals for like actual board works or like Like what's what steps we achieve between now? It feels like it will circulate and we'll probably hear You know What is the priority what is doable and attainable in this timeline of one to two years? I'm having to be the deal wet one Because the reality is that as a board we are responsible to the voters for the budget and we have some This waiting study is really going to ding off pretty rock scary as far as our funding So we need to also be able to understand what our role is And it's not in infecting outcomes here and also be able to Articulate what we're doing as a district to our community so that we continue to support our budget I just want I just That is a big part of our goal which to develop the budget advocate for the budget Get things funded and this waiting study Is changing for the worst the weights that we get our education spending Based on so it's going to impact our tax rate so I I agree with and i'm glad that we've done all this and I also think we need to be realistic about You know, we need twice a month. We have public comment things come and go and we need to be able to Defend our budget and explain the positive impact that what we're spending is providing for our communities so that they'll continue to support it But I'm also hungry so well, I would I want to balance that To our students and our families to tackle some of these other things right so it's like yeah, that is our job safety With our budget And I don't hold on time up. Can we move tables so that people are looking at each other when we're eating? Oh I might just merge For example to Achieve these things. Yeah, that's our thing is is not to not do these but that we need to be prepared to Explain this to the community so that they can see the value in what we're doing So they'll continue to support this work Because if the only headline I've seen about our district lately is 11 tax rate increase because of the waiting study Not the 50 great things that are Probably happening to dress a million other things. That's the stuff that people see headlines about. I just want us to be Really on our feet so that we can explain Why the waiting study is what it is and That the decisions that we're making how they're impacting students how we focused on student staff support is we're coming out the other side of this pandemic and I don't know. We're very fortunate. We have a very supportive community now schools have that level of support And I just want to That's all I just wanted Somebody should be prepared to respond to that stuff Yeah, and I think building off that like you know those things come up and and they You know The board only controls the agenda so much Yeah, yeah, I mean you Yeah, you get hit with uh Please get hit with that to get hit with cobit. Um I yes, of course. Yeah. Yeah, you get hit with an 11 percent tax increase that Radically changes the discussion with the community Radically changes you get hit with as you know, the board did like Tax increase Yeah, you get hit with an 11 percent tax increase that radically changes the discussion with the community You get hit with as you know, the board did like 10 11 years ago a budget defeat um Yeah, so obviously you want a good plan of goal to guide us but Uh, you know, there are there are things that come up that Are very significant that you know That you'd be prepared for Amanda and I were talking one thing that came up this that we felt like we need both increased accountability, but also increased flexibility Which sort of sound opposite at first but really I think that you know, they are And I think this is why it's important to show a big picture people when they're They're only presented at years how much you're tough is increasing But like if you can show the benefits of like or like the issues that we have and how we're getting there, you know How as a community we are taking You know communities from different places and we're increasing like I think This is this is why it's not either or it's like and and we need to show the whole picture so that our community is aware and can make a decision that is And that we're thinking about all the communities including those who are low income And I kind of a question for the group about the vision committee and their results how polished Of of a result would you like to see come from like would you like the vision committee to take their to take a chance at writing a draft vision and a draft mission and identifying values and then sharing Either all the data in its raw and massive form or somehow distilled in one way or another or levels of distillation or something distillation wasn't that in the proposal and builds proposal like what the end products will be I Did anyone read that Yeah, I think so but I haven't looked at it. I think it was um if I remember my memory of it is that it was sort of more broader strokes Um, I don't think it said like a craft, you know craft a vision statement for the district I don't know because no one said that's our job. That is right. Yeah, so I mean Personally, I wouldn't if that committee has time which it sounds like time has been a struggle It wouldn't be a bad idea to see a draft or maybe some bullet points that you want to make sure to have included in the vision statement But it's not part of the job of that committee. I don't think that based on what's happened with that committee I would say that the Themes would be our biggest hope. Yeah Themes are given to the board Some time and that that's not up there, right? That might be something that we want to Hold on something else or it could be on the community input out by right. You've gotten community input. Yeah, and so now The goal would be uh using the themes from the visioning committee's work to draft a vision Who dropped a new vision statement for the district? Yeah, I think it'd be very difficult for the visioning committee to actually Craft the statement Yeah, it'd be hard for us. That'd be a lot harder for the vision committee. Yeah I think that I think I like the themes Yeah That would be very helpful. Yeah But my thought as far as the feedback was just that we'd pick out Really interesting ones good or bad And then just make the rest available. But I mean there's so much Feedback and it's like right all different formats. You have some questionnaires. You have some opening questions. You have Victory themes Hey I have to go in about 20 minutes and I was hoping that Part of lunch at least would just be like sitting around and chatting Are we okay to adjourn in the meeting and just like Bring it out together for a little while Or we feel like sure have more business to attend to The thing is like once you formally join the meeting we like seriously cannot talk you can't drift it to Which I'm sort of fine with but It's it's hard. It'll it would yeah, it'll become A violation of open meeting law if we start Oh, what about this? Oh, yeah, I guess I just want to make sure like I you know in our small group It was like there was a couple priorities that we each had that were sort of like Lost In the translation of of sort of narrowing it down or making it more broad to fit other things And I think it sort of relates to what amanda is saying is that Um It's that delicate balance of having the goal Or in this case the theme the themes are the broad things and then the goals are the are the more specific things But it's that delicate balance of like Having a goal that's big enough that can last a year And I'll be like, oh we checked that off. We're done, right? And that it's like capturing all of these things that we're all individually are bringing to the table as concerns So like one of the things that I would love input before we just chat about our weekends or whatever Is if we could workshop a little bit around the curriculum concerns that have been brought to us from students And that that was a big priority of of american zack when we've met outside of the meetings You know, it would fit under d i as a theme it would fit under community input output as a theme It also would fit under safety You know what I mean? It fits in all of these things. So do I if I'm going to be trying to write a smart goal around that? Or and I think I heard amanda sort of proposing and maybe christen echoing That maybe it is a theme with a few smart goals Instead of just three smart goals that we like land on After this process. It's finished and I still am struggling with like I don't want too many because I want to make sure that we Accomplish or try to accomplish I think I share with these. I don't know if that's a type a thing But sort of like I want to know that I can do this or like I'm gonna see the light at the end of the time I'm not having to too broad Of course, we'll always be sort of working towards it or just too lofty sort of like it's always going to be there as You know part of the vision work, right? It's always going to d i will always be part of our vision. I think But then it's sort of like this year. What do we want to accomplish? So I think another question to add on to that is what's the board's role in that work? So there is legitimate places for the board's right, but the board's not going to change instructional practices, right? The board could Make policy, you know make some implications in policy around instructional practices or Or Ensure budgetary money for professional right goes towards instructional practices, right? But Choosing instructional practices of teachers is not the board's role, right? So for Jim and I talked about in ours I was like, I've been a teacher. I would not want the school board Into my classroom and being like, so why aren't you teaching about this? I would tell you that we were to pass and say The set of social justice standards that kind of have some implications about resources and You know, it's that something that the board could do Yes, I mean, I think that would be helpful guidance because I mean it's The standards like if if Libby if you're talking about curriculum as just being the standards standards are like skill based right now That's how they're written. Some of them are not open. Yeah, most of the global citizenship standards are where it's like Here's this like specific. They're not like theme like we expect you to teach You know ancient Egypt this year. No where they used to be that that's right. They used to be they used to be sort of like So my I was global citizenship teacher or history teacher. However, you remember it But it's like it used to be sort of like set up like okay in these grades We want you to touch on these like historic themes And then these grades we want you to move towards and that's why everyone learned about ancient Egypt in middle school Right and then you move through And you get to like european history in high school So it's no longer written that way. It's more like skill based like are you able to analyze a variety of perspectives throughout history or themes throughout history that Relate back to this the topic that the teacher but then hypothetically the teacher could choose any The case study it's like the world is your oyster like what historical theme do I want to teach about like it could be Anything some teachers are just using the appendix of the c3 for example, which is Like what the social studies teachers that could give more diverse feedback So in terms of our smart goal, it's like yeah, it's I don't know I would like to workshop that a little bit or if I think it's really useful because I don't know if it's the board's role to To write curriculum for the school district. Well, no, I'm seeing it exactly that you are policy Yeah, policy monitoring. Yep action plan So that we can like What do you mean by action plan? What would go out of action plan? So maybe it's like Measurable so it would be measurable success towards Meeting the policy Okay, so or isn't it maybe who comes up with the action plan? Yeah Oh, okay, so it would be like okay, but we've we've tabled policy monitoring for a while now So we have not heard back from libyon things and if we're prioritizing the curriculum or dei policy So right now there's a paragraph in the dei policy about curriculum And that's kind of the only place where it lives for us So under our purview as the board like that's what I see it's either like we write a new policy that relates to curriculum or We adopt a procedure or ask the b2 adopt a procedure that's like specific set of standards or I forget what you said social justice Social justice standards as part of the dei, you know something like that, but it's like so how Yeah, I just don't want that to get lost like that's a big priority of mine now And I just don't want it to get lost in and watered down into like Having too big Yeah And I think that's where the collaboration with libyon goes is to ask what what you see Is our role versus not And how and like that conversation You know, this is something that's important to the board Some of us has come from community input. We now want to do an output. And so what is Kind of like our role your role and how do we come to the middle To walk the path of getting to the end Goal, which is we're going to have a district that really follows through dei And what are the resources that we're going to need The teachers are going to need to be able to implement Impacts all students I'm having a moment of feeling a little funny about articulating goals Like in public forum when we haven't really been able to see The community feedback from the visioning process It feels like the cart is coming before the horse a little bit You know, if these this if this is going to be the work that is or if these are going to be the goals That define our work for the next year or two Without having everything that we're getting out of the visioning process I could just see how that would be perceived as like undermining and and The public would just feel like well, that was futile They're just moving ahead and they haven't even yet heard And I guess they probably the public doesn't really know where we are at likely in in this process of like distillation But I personally then have kind of like a moral ethical Hangup of like defining our work plan without having heard from the community yet So and I I guess, you know, I don't I we can only push that process so far and it is massive and I think I haven't looked at Nathan's email that came in notably at 12 10 a.m And he's nearly working so hard. Okay. Yeah, and I haven't seen those so You know, I'm I'm like Do we have to do this by Wednesday? I mean, this is really big and do we look at Yeah Do we look at you know doing kind of some deeper personal homework like over the month of July when we're not Meeting and we're on beaches and maybe other Relax places. What's that or while we are? Yeah, right, you know, and because are we having a retreat in august? I think we're gonna have some sort of extended meeting in august. Yeah process with the visioning committee Is I think one of the thing that we have been all trying to work on is like this board processes So if anything, this is not a futile exercise to kind of just leave it and wait for the visioning committee to come back And one thing that we you know, we could be working on is like, okay like How are we gonna do this board process? Like what are the things that you know, we could I mean some of it informally has been happening like the equity committee has been Trying to develop already the board package that has some of these things, right? Like The policy committee is looking at the overall picture of like, you know, and then how do we develop those processes? That's still work that regardless of what vision or goals we have We still have a lot of work to do together to come up with You know, all of us said it we need to improve the way that we work together to advance our goals So we could have beautiful goals But if we don't have a process in place, we're just gonna keep not doing our work So you could use the board meeting on wednesday only because I think you want you want at least I want you to Have an idea of what wednesday is gonna look like Because just to have to announce in the board meeting You you could I think christin's point in very well taken And uh The other thing is the the staff climate as well, so right so uh, it could be that you use the time on Wednesday in your main committee some of you are Multiple committees, right? You couldn't use that time on wednesday in your main committee to talk about Where are you now? What's the next step? You know, let's get the next direct step going and where do you hope to be Based on a very good conversation that you had today, right? It may not be the exact conversation for goals and things, but it could we could put the goals setting aside until We're able to hear from Nathan's work in the climate survey I think right. I agree with that completely. I think the optics would be horrible if Announce some goals before you got the feedback, but for what it's worth. I don't think there's going to be any surprises in the in the feedback It's the same things similar issues I think I think there's some surprises Yeah around that as much emphasis on some themes as we think there would be Do you know what I mean? Um Libby when you say get together with our committee and say where are we now? First and one or some next steps Can you say can you me a little more context where are we at now in terms of these three themes or where are we now in terms of No, I think just in terms of work. So I think of the policy committee who works quite A lot, right? Yes. I don't know. There's memories. We said very regularly, but um The policy committee could say all right. This is what we know. We have to do You know, I've written to them like about a couple policies. Like where is that in the lineup of conversation? I'm just looking at you. I don't see you can correct me if I'm wrong. Um, what have we done What's the next thing we need to look at just some time for that kind of planning? Um, so I think about the majors who meet quite a bit like facilities have been meeting quite a bit lately With buildings the equity committee meets quite a bit and the policy committee meets quite a bit Superintendant valuations seems to be in a good spot ish right now Um and negotiations. It's not something you usually talk about in public meeting anyway And that's starting to fall. So there's plenty of time to There's nothing that we need to talk about around negotiations. Did I miss anything? Oh finance And that's finance But that's kind of her out in the corner with reports and things like that So so what you're saying is the committees that have been that have some ongoing work What we would do is kind of get ourselves organized for the year ahead. Yeah But um, but I sit in multiple committees. I can have like two hands instead of we but I have so Some of these goals for example of bullying harassment discipline Um some of the work around outcomes and um Having called I can see that part the student Climate curricular reconstruction practices Well, that was the last one decision. Oh community input output. No outcomes like the student outcomes like um So for example, just that the literacy Focus around that disparity and like how like some of the emails were received from families and just like I I guess that goes to the input and outcome and how how do we tackle some of that? So I don't I just don't want to because that process is not going to happen till august And then we're going to spend another two months kind of looking at the data looking at So like right now just feels like There's some other movement we can do around some other work like We should put all the eggs in the goals and like what are the other things we can do other than the committee work which In the two committees that I'm in I feel like we already have some things that we're working on that are planning that are moving that are kind of going ahead What's our I'm just it's just it's I'm feeling like the that is just like okay. We're gonna just Go back to what we're doing and forget that until august september and I'm like I think there's some other options that you'd have on the table you Another option would be that you know the budgetary process is coming And there you know you have to get community input around that budgetary process You know that in the past it's usually been too late Um to inform the process now. I know the visionary process could have some impact on budget process But what might that process look like you could go there? Um Other places like you have heard Things around literacy special education. Could you potentially think about the yearly calendar that? Jim and I make And think like we want data presentations this date this date, you know like spread them out So that we can get those on the calendar Or you could ask me questions as to when would be Days that would make sense to get literacy data In front of the board so you could go a different way of like Yeah, getting at these kind of outcomes and community input with things that you know Are out there. That's another way you could look at it Just like what are the what are the things we want to have in front of us? To inform decision that we know are coming towards us so that we could add that to the yearly calendar Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. I think using what sort of focus on Some data presentations and process we want for the year ahead because I think I think community input on kind of the broader goals and visions is really important I'm not sure community input on process is I don't think we're going to get much And I think that's something kind of we have to decide so we could use Wednesday to kind of think about that from any perspective like Yeah What do you want to see from the administration? What kind of data do we want? Kind of with these in mind that will bend these a little further, but Um How I think what I hear you say would be in jim is how might we organize ourselves for the year in order to ensure that these themes The board is keeping our Minds in these themes and Regardless of what goals we end up setting we would have Touchpoints throughout the year within which we would be able to get information that would help us move toward those goals So then your homework would be what questions might you have right thinking about literacy or special education? It might be what kind of trainings do you need? Yeah Can I add one more homework? What if we also think about the budget process? As to what are the things we feel We should get like to inform the community or like to get that input and output just based on the budget So then we can plan a timeline. You already gave us a timeline of The points at which we make decisions And so like we want to Plan ahead Like we're going to decide that why do we need between those decisions. Why do we dream of having in place? between those decision making points that we want to make sure we have so like I feel like there's a role for the finance committee in this because the finance committee has these quarterly reports and we kind of Forgive me for not knowing what my role is in that committee completely But there's kind of a okay. You're giving us a picture of where everything's at Is there a place where the finance committee can can? ask for highlights of What the intentions were from a previous budget and how it actually turned out or I don't know if there's a way that the finance committee can sort of Identify information that we hope can be presented to the whole board To help the board better make budget decisions or better communicate with the community based on Previous decisions or i'm not sure When is the visioning committee planning to be reported I thought there was like a soon like a sort of pre Like a report out And a school year report out and then that we had extended the timeline through the summer to sort of finish Is that the emails that came last night is our sort of report out? The board that there's no like visioning presentation to the board with like a I was just Looking the preliminary. There's nothing that's scheduled And right now, what does it mean there isn't it just means there's nothing scheduled because I was picturing These are goes back to assumptions. I was sort of picturing the visioning committee A representative or two coming from the community to report out on my case. Here's where we're at so far Here are the things that we've identified so far and that after that And since this since tomorrow or wednesday is our last Board meeting before the school year is over I thought that it would happen and that there would be like a report back to us And that then the extra time that was being asked for Was to sort of like fine-tune like the themes and um proposals for the vision Your assumption is accurate as to what the process was supposed to be That it's not how the process is shaping up to be And so I think we may find out more tonight. I'm looking at my fellow committee members We just put like we do committee like committee report outs can we have the visioning committee report out on wednesday It's it's a free-for-all right now. I know we can do it During that time that would be a good plus we do have some of the data We just got the data, yeah Yeah, we have all the data now, so Yeah, we also have that climate Yeah, so I almost feel like it's I think this is what amanda is touching on I don't know because our brains work differently. Yes, we have discovered Um That I think what you're saying is like you don't want to like lose momentum in progress Like we want to we do want to get goals written down um, and I feel like if we have a preliminary preliminary findings from both the climate survey and the visioning committee even if it's not like polished that that could help inform Our goals Now I'm kidding. Um, I think no I I want to respect the visioning committee Uh, I think like I don't want to lose momentum and because there are things that we could do what I What I am feeling like I like all this work was beautiful today And I think it gave us a lot of information and I think when we have a vision committee will add to that um But I think there are specific things we can do Like looking at the budget. That's something that we need to do We I don't want to lose momentum on that. Let's wait for that Before we can move forward. There are things that we can move forward and do in our break in july or like thinking of the budget like making sure that we have Let's start setting up that process of how we want to work together to advance I know I just worry that after today Where there's like this organized time set aside to do this That when we say let's do this let's do that like Whose shoulders does that fall on and when will it happen? Because aren't we taking a break in july? So we're not meeting again until After tomorrow night, or do we have another meeting? No I'll be or sorry Right I don't know. So I just that concerns me is like this that like who and how And so I mean accountability came up in a few different Discussions and we're going around didn't make it to our top three But definitely was the In one idea I had just which actually might work out is like What if the student reps are the ones that are their job is the oldest They come to the meetings. They're the people that are affected by it And you guys can say hey you meant last week.  Maybe nothing in kinder words So It almost be like like you would either review or Review the mix and just keep us accountable for what we've seen the week before until we see what we can do And you know, it's not it's not necessarily It's your answer. Hey This this was a part of us It's been a month Maybe nothing's happened. There's good reasons for it No, that's their role. I think that's more my role But Yeah, I mean, I think just to be manageable and so we don't have a No one's that I think if we can focus on some process things we want to see this conversation forward and also some Process things for you to come back in August Establish a work plan for July before the August meetings So I know it's a work plan. I just I just think the the process things that we want to Have happened when we come back Yeah, I think so committee work is going to happen in July I mean, I've just been on Nothing happens much people. Yeah, I think people did that break and I think they need to recharge and Yeah Yeah, and I think kind of use the think about using the visioning process which we're going to get hopefully in more depth in august and You know the upcoming budget process is a way to start to pull us And as far as that visioning Brahms, I'm envisioning I'm seeing like we got a ton of data and I'm imagining going through it. I'm imagining say she's going through it. We're both looking for themes. We're trying to come up with themes that anybody would feel are are You know represent the views that we've heard. How do we Communicate with each other as we're doing do we like present information just can't have Go back and forth.  How are you? Because We just have emails go back and forth agree on it then share it to the product group kind of It does feel like a ton of data and I'm happy to go through a lot, but I don't want to make I don't want to do stuff that somebody else has already done or that's you know, I mean that's going to happen But So just to be clear we're not drafting goals anymore We're just Yeah, what are we Yes, is it just like In preparation for Wednesday. Well, I think I tell about this. What do we do today? So why don't we Because it's fresh in our brains Drapped our smart goals and give them to Libby. Yeah, and you won't just discuss them on Wednesday But that she'll have them for August Because in August we'll be like what are you talking about? so So so draft them and send them to Libby just so she hasn't been one place with the fresh in our minds and then you know That document will exist, but I'm for the conversation on Wednesday Think about some process goals that we have for particularly August, September and then kind of throughout the year around data and You know community input what we want the budget process to look like some specific things we want to have happen procedurally and information wise that will Inform our ability to really code in our goals and also some of you just know What we're going to want to do and we're going to want to throw a budget process with good input And I think we can make a safe assumption that I believe that these more we're going to want more information on We're going to want more information on safety and wellness and you know giving Libby an idea of the type of data that we're seeking so she can start to think about You know How to put that together so go back to the calendar.  That's really helpful trainings. You might want And then presentations, right? So like data you might want to see I like that training data. What kind of training? What kind of data Any questions we have questions? Yeah And not can inform your process of like setting the agenda in the calendar for the year And that can always change once we hear back from like thoroughly from This community we're like, whoa hold the phone. Yeah, and there's some that I'll throw out that like training I'm thinking of trainings in particular like this board has never dealt with expulsion in any way But based on what we saw this year, it might Legitimately be something the board will have to tackle next year. And so I think bringing ph or and Heather and You know for a board training of what is your role? So so we don't have to figure it out when we're in the moment Right. It might be something that's helpful Um, so there might be some training so that I would recommend We do With myself included because I'm not Okay, I'm gonna well send an email out to everybody


Ghan Shyam has come up with a software solution called Kometa Intellect which aims to provide cybersecurity accessible and affordable to all. They do research and development and implementation of cybersecurity as well as software and proof of concept development for the government. Currently they are working with one of the leading edutic company in Pune. Welcome to yet another edition of Changemakers. High quality cybersecurity services are needed to protect businesses and individuals from the increasing threat of cyber attacks. These services help protect against malicious software, malicious actors and other online threats. They also provide protection from data breaches and other security incidents but providing high quality cybersecurity services while making it affordable and accessible to all is a big challenge. One entrepreneur who has taken up this challenge and trying to make difference is Mr. Ghan Shyam Agarwal the co-founder and CEO of Kometa Intellect. Welcome Mr. Ghan Shyam. Thank you. Can you tell us, can you tell us more about yourself and your passion for computers and how it has influenced your decision to start Kometa Intellect? Sure. So I was very much interested in computers from a very early age. I think my father bought a computer when I was only one year old and since the childhood only I have been seeing and seeing and working around computers. So that's how I got the passion of it and in college there was this very nice environment of the startups and everything. The professors were all very helpful and they encouraged us to learn and try to innovate. So that's how I thought of starting a company and that's how Kometa started. I registered it in the year 2019 and that's how it began. Great. Your belief in their power to transform the world and make it better places inspiring. It's evident that your passion has driven you to establish Kometa Intellect. Ghan Shyam, can you share your experience of participating in Smart India Hackathon and how it has impacted your entrepreneurial journey? Sure. So Smart India Hackathon was, it was a very great experience and it was actually my first experience in the team building aspect. So earlier I was working and I was this very very much solo entrepreneur whatever I did, I did all on my own. But when we participated in S I H we were a team of five and I had to manage my team. I was the leader and there that was the first experience of how to manage your team, how to encourage your team. So you know entrepreneurship is not something you can do solo. It's a team exercise. So you have to take your team forward. So that's that was the very key experience there. And also when it was online the year when I participated in S I H that was the COVID year and it was online, but meeting mentors over E meet and everything. It was a very nice experience. They were very highly skilled experts in their respective fields. They gave very useful insights. It was great talking to them. Thank you for sharing your experience of participating in Smart India Hackathon. What valuable lessons did you learn from the experience and how has it shaped your approach towards building Kometa intellect? So as I mentioned from Smart India Hackathon team building and taking your team leading your team was a very key takeaway for me from there and meeting the mentors, they gave me very useful insights. Some insights like I couldn't have imagined it myself myself in the college, right? So in my software, they they pointed out a few things like this was so and so this was so and so. And I was like blown away completely. So how can someone think in that way also? So the mentors were very great. And that was a point I decided. Okay, mentorship is not decided. I learned that mentorship is is the key, right? You cannot take it solo. You have to have mentor, you have to have a team and then everything moves together. That's right. In the startup, you need to have good mentor and good team. Great. Yes. Tell us about Kometa intellect and services it provides in the cloud and security consultancy space. How do you differentiate yourself from other similar companies in the market? Sure. So Kometa intellect provides managed services primarily and by managed services, it means let's say there is a company, let's say any Facebook only, for example, so Facebook will need to have its own cloud infrastructure and everything. There will be a large team, a team of developers. So for us company of scale Facebook, it's feasible for them to have their own cloud experts who manage their cloud and everything. But for small or medium organizations, they need some external company to manage it for them. It's not economically viable for them to hire full time cloud experts and then do the management of the cloud. So we provide cloud management as a service. So what we do is we are guys manage our team manages their cloud for them. So let's say they have it in Azure or GCP, whatever. So we will let's say create and delete users where they're when their employees enter or leave organization. Let's say when a server goes down, we will restart it, all that kind of stuff. That is the cloud management part. Then in the security aspect, we we check we scan their cloud for vulnerability. We do something called penetration testing. It's very much popular in the security domain. So we test their applications. Then if they want us to review their code from a security point of view, we can do that as well. So those are some key things key services we provide. So your USP are providing high quality cyber security services that are affordable and accessible is your USB. So as the co founder and CEO of Kometa Intellect, what are your key responsibilities and the roles in the company? How do you envision leading the company towards achieving its goals and making a positive impact on the world? So as a CEO, my important role is to lead the team lead the company. And you know, how does the company proceed as a as a whole, right? So the company has its mission. And how does the company reach to its mission? And whenever you know, there is something change, there is a change in market. So not on not only me, my team has to look into it, whatever is going on, whatever latest changes are developments are in the market. So we have to take care of it. We have to look into it. And for my team, whenever that there is some change. So basically, you know, leading the team is one of my very important goals. And finding finding new clients, not not only finding new clients, but new areas of business. So we expand, you know, from our existing clients, we want more business. So we figure out how do we provide more services to the existing clients so that we can get more business from them. And also how do we expand to new markets, finding new clients? So recently, only we had our strategy developed to go overseas to abroad different countries. So for now, we are targeting Middle East, America, for as of right now, maybe Europe would not wouldn't be a very good choice. But certainly America, there also things are not very great, but but it's okay, we can go there. And Middle East is doing fine. So that's that's what strategy development, that's one of my key responsibilities. So your key responsibilities and roles showcase your leadership and vision for the company, your determination to achieve the company's goal, and make a positive impact on the world is commendable. Mr. Ganshiam, who are the target beneficiaries of Kometa Intellect Services? And why did you choose to focus on small to medium scale organization and government bodies? What unique challenges do you foresee in solving these specific segments? So as we saw, there are these large companies and large companies can themselves hire experts for for managing their infrastructure, they can always hire ethical hackers for doing the security testing and everything. So that's why we don't target large companies as of now, because there is nothing we can provide to them as of now. So small and medium scale companies, they require another party to do the infrastructure management for them. So that's a very sweet spot for us, we can provide a lot of services there. They really need all the services which we provide. That's about small and medium scale businesses and in government. So while I was in college only, I would say out of luck, I happened to meet the district collector, and they wanted something I could offer in the area of computers only. So from there only all this government business started. So then I registered the company and then they came up with more requirements and there was a lot I could offer. So especially government of Odisha, it's doing a lot of work in computer in the field of computer. So many of the services are being provided online previously for something you had to go to the, let's say any, any government body, you have to stand in a long queue and get your work done. But now a lot of work is getting is being done online. So there is a lot we can offer to government and having these connections from from an early age. So it's easier for me to go to government to whenever they want to have some proof of concept built, for example, or they want some some software, we are not really very large company, but we can build a lot of software for them. So that's what we offer to government. And in this specific segment, some key challenges are the market changes very fast. So if you go into operating system development, it's a rather stable market, you won't see a very fast, the changes are slow.  So you have to stay up to date to keep up with the market. Also these there are these new cloud providers and vendors. Previously, there are only like three major Google Azure and AWS. But now there are like 10s 20s of them. So to keep up with the market to keep up with the changes, you really have to you have to be up to date with what is being provided, what is being offered, so that you can offer your services to the clients. So that that's about it. Yeah, that's great. We appreciate your strategic approach in serving these segments and foresee that you may face unique challenges in meeting their specific needs. Mr. Ganshiam, can you elaborate on the unique selling proposition of Kameda Intellect? How have you structured the organization to provide affordable and accessible service cyber security services without compromising on quality? Sure. So there are a few things which humans can do really great. Like there is no match of it for computers and humans. There are certain things a human has to do with current technology. So that's for the humans part. But what we have done is being being a new startup. What we have done is we have focused on robots. We have focused on building bots, computer bots who who do one thing and they do it great. So so we have developed these boards who do let's say they do some report some analysis, and then they send the reports to the client. So that's how we have structured our organization. So human resource is very expensive. And for a young startup, it's not very efficient, not even economically possible to hire a very good talent from the market. So we have focused ourselves on bots. So what's generate the reports, what to the automated testing code analysis, everything. So that's one of the USP and that's what differentiates us from many other players in the same segment. Yeah, great. So your USP is like a bot and it reflects your dedication to making cybersecurity accessible to all while maintaining the high standard. Well done. How did you go about customer acquisition? At initial stage, it must have been very challenging. What strategies did you adopt? So like I mentioned, I had found a great mentor and I found him through actually through startup Odisha program. So I was selected in startup Odisha in my college in the national level program and I went to an organization where the national level event was being held. And I met him there. His name is Anand Agrawal. He is my mentor currently and from a very long time actually. And he has been guiding me all along. So he helped me find key customers, the the initial customers, like you told me, finding the initial customer is very challenging because when you go to sell a cybersecurity service, people want some credential, right? You cannot just go and say, okay, I am so and so expert and I'll do everything for you. It just doesn't work like that. You have to show some previous work. So my mentor helped me in that. And like I said, the company itself was registered in 2019. But I was when I was in college until 2020, work was being done in the company. I went to college work in the company at the same time. It was all going good. But after finishing college, I took a job for like one and a half year, let's say. And recently only, I think three or four months ago only, we full swing went back into Kometa, the company. And when I went back, I again got in touch with my mentor and I requested him, okay, we are starting so and so and can you guide us what to do, how to acquire initial customers? And that's when he helped. And again, the government connections, as I mentioned, it also helped a lot. They're very helpful. You know, the state level government officials, even the state level, but I have been in touch with the state level a lot. So they are very helpful, very kind and you know, they provide business, they provide mentorship as well. So yeah, that's it. Really, it's good to know that you have got a right mentor and really appreciate like you registered the company in your third year itself and then went for a job for one and a half year, gained experience and came back to the start up. Great. Your approach to customer acquisition showcases your resilience and determination as an entrepreneur. Kudos to your efforts. Mr. Ganshiam, Kometa Intellect works closely with government bodies for building applications and proof of concepts. Can you share some examples of successful projects you have worked on with government bodies and how they have impacted their technology requirements? Sure. So very recently, only with one of the districts in Odisha here, we developed a project, a software suite for girl child care. It was under Betty Bachow, Betty Padaw scheme and the software what it did was you could, you know, Anganwadi workers, school teachers, everybody can gather information about the girl children and then data analysis can perform over it and various useful data points can be taken out, like whatever government needs government officials, rather they need these data input in order to take good decisions. So what software does is it crunches the feed level collected data and creates insights from it. And from those insights, they can take decisions. So we did that for the district government and now they are thinking about implementing it all over the state. So that's our work in progress. Great, congratulations Ganshiam and you are giving back to your society by your startup. It's evident that your projects have had a positive impact and we appreciate your contribution to the achievement of technology in the government sector. Ganshiam, the cloud and cyber security industry is constantly evolving. How do you plan to keep Kometa Intellect updated with the latest advancements, technologies and best practices in the field to ensure you stay competitive and continue to provide cutting-edge services to your customers? So, you know, we can approach this in two different forms. So first would be the personal growth. Personally, how do you grow yourself? How do you keep updated with the market? And the second would be how do you update your company with the changing market? So in a personal level, you know, there is this thing called T-shaped knowledge. So the vertical bar in T, it states it represents that you should have your knowledge very deep in in a few areas, in a few specific areas, you should have very deep knowledge. And in the like the horizontal bar of the T represents that you should have a little bit knowledge of everything so that you can run your company nicely. So I think during the college itself and even afterwards, that's more like a continuing thing. So my key area being cyber security, that's what I have been doing since like, I don't know, 10 years. So that's the vertical part. And I try to keep myself updated with the market, whatever changes are being going on. I follow journals, I follow news articles. And that's how I stay up to date with whatever changes are being made in the industry. Then about the company. So, you know, like I said, there are many different key cloud providers coming up. So you cannot expect your team to learn everything whatever is coming. But we always encourage our team to be flexible with learning. So, you know, if we hire a resource for AWS, then okay, he does AWS or he's fine. Okay, great. But we also encourage them to learn other things like maybe development, maybe Google Cloud. So if they are willing to learn, then we definitely encourage them because it always helps, you know, you don't know when you will get what client. So maybe our client now requires Google instead of AWS. So your resources must be compatible with the other providers also. And also that being said, you cannot expect your team to learn everything. So what we do is we keep hiring from the market for different other services, other kind of software available. So, you know, that's one way you can keep operated with the market. Yes. Yeah, as a dynamic industry, staying updated with the latest advancements, technologies and best practices in the cloud and cybersecurity field is crucial. Your commitment to keeping Kometa Intellect updated is commendable. Ganshyam, can you share some some of the biggest achievements or milestones of Kometa Intellect since its inception and how they have contributed to the company's growth and success? And what are your future plans and vision for the company? Sure. So first, important milestone, I would say is getting our first customer. So our mentor helped us get the first customer and that itself made us profitable in the first month of business. You know, I didn't even imagine that would be possible. I was expecting, okay, an investment period of at least six months, even though we are in services industry, but still one would expect an investment period of like at least six months or six months until you break even. So but that that wasn't the case with us. We were profitable since the first month of business itself. So I consider that as a big milestone and another milestone would be getting the the recently the girl child program software which we built that was again a milestone, you know, it makes me believe my life is valuable, you know, by contributing something to someone else's life positively, like for the girl children, we can do something, then it makes my and my colleague's life is valuable. That's what I believe. So that those are like some key milestones and moving our way forward, we believe like I already mentioned, we are trying to expand, we are trying to go global, whatever, you know, you need some good legal and financial financial as in chartered accountants and legal people who can help you with those specific areas because our area is software development consultancy. We are not a law firm, right? So we hire we don't hire. We are going to take consultancy from law firms from chartered accountant firms. So we are already in the process of doing that so that we can go global, you know, when you have a first international paying customer, you should be able to receive the money, right? And it is not as simple as it sounds. There are laws and which must be complied with. So that is all along the way. Yeah, great. Ganshyam, surely you will get your international customer very quickly. The achievements and the milestones of Commeta Intellect since its inception are impressive. They reflect your dedication and hard work in building the company's growth and success. Your future plans and vision for the company showcase your ambition and determination to achieve even great heights. Well done and we wish you get an international client very quickly. Mr. Ganshyam, as an experienced entrepreneur, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own venture in the cloud and security consultancy space or any other industry? What are the key learnings or tips you would like to share with them to help them succeed in their entrepreneurial journey? So I would say that having a mentor is really, really important. You know, it's not something that that would be overlooked. Please have a mentor. Be you might be of any age. It doesn't matter. You might be 20, you might be 40, whatever your business can be at any state.  Whatever be the case, a mentor is always helpful. You should have a mentor. That's what I would say. And try to get initial customers and try to be profitable. You know, that's an obvious one. Be become profitable, become break even at least as soon as possible. Try to find out early customer to market research well. And there are these lot of, you know, online resources available related to entrepreneurship. So don't just focus on what you are building, what you are doing. Also focus on there are these, you know, SWAT analysis, pastel analysis, all these things which can tell if you are going in the right direction. So these analysis help you find out your own weak points, your own strengths and who are your competitors, things like that. There are many online resources available. And what I have experienced, you know, in India currently, it's very, it's very suitable for entrepreneurship.  They are very helpful, you know, they even government bodies, private bodies, mentors, incubation centers, wherever I go, I feel this, this huge strong energy for startup.  So do what it, whatever you find exciting and do it well, you know, excel at it. That's what I say. Yeah, great. Having a mentor and acquiring an early customer are the key takeaways. Yeah, as an experienced entrepreneur, your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is invaluable. Your key learnings and tips for success in the cloud and security consultancy space or any other industry reflective of wisdom and experience, your willingness to share your insight is commendable and will surely inspire aspiring entrepreneurs to embark on their entrepreneurial journey with confidence. Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your thoughts. Thank you, Mr. Nandini. Thank you. Thank you. It was very nice being here. Thanks. With that, we have come to the end of this edition of Changemakers, but stay tuned for more such inspiring stories. Till then, goodbye.


So the concept of quantum randomness is essentially linked to the concept of measurement in quantum mechanics. Before quantum mechanics was developed, it was generally acknowledged by scientists that if you have a system that is a well-determined state and you perform a measurement on it, you're going to get a very well-determined outcome. Now in quantum mechanics that is no longer the case, you can have a system that is in a perfectly well-defined state and yet when you perform certain measurements on it, you can get random outcomes. So in order for me to illustrate that concept, I need to bring the concept of superposition. Superposition is a concept that is not inherently quantum. It's based on a system displaying several linear combinations of states simultaneously. And you can think of it as, for example, a radio wave carrying many different frequencies. There is nothing inherently quantum about that. What gives the quantum flavor to superposition is the fact of measuring the system. So I will illustrate it with an example. Imagine you have a system of arrows and you prepare the system so that all the arrows are pointing left.  And you ask every arrow. So because the arrows pointing left can be expressed or can be described as a linear superposition between up and down, you will get outcomes that are 50% up and 50% down when you ask the question, are you up or down? You get that result from the system and then you can prepare with that a different state of that system where half of the arrows are pointing up and half of the arrows are pointing down and you ask the same question. And you get the same result. There are two very different systems and you have got the same result for a measurement. Now how can you determine what the difference is? The systems are very different because in the first case you have prepared the system in a pure state. There is a question you can ask to the system that will give you a deterministic, not random outcome. And that question is, are you left or right? It's going to tell you 100% they are left. In the second case, there is no question you can ask. That will give you a 100% deterministic result because it's a mixture. So if you ask left or right, there's going to be a random outcome because half of them are up, half of them are down. If you ask up or down, same thing. It's going to be 50%. How does this relate to quantum random? So you can imagine that being similar to flipping a coin is going to be heads or tails. But it's not like flipping a coin at all because when you flip a coin, the only reason you don't know the result you're going to get is because you don't know the exact energy with which you flip the coin, the angular momentum, the ambient conditions in the room, and so on and so forth. So if you knew all those variables, you could predict heads or tails. There are variables that are hidden to the observer. And for a lot of years, scientists thought that there was similar variables in quantum mechanics that would reveal themselves as randomness. And it wasn't until the seminal work of John Bell in the 60s that actually it was demonstrated that that's not the case. And now every physicist acknowledges that there is no hidden variable theory that is compatible with quantum mechanics. So it is really true that when you measure a system, nature reveals randomness. And it doesn't matter how long I think about that. I will always find that amazing.


Winter is coming and with that comes the inevitable challenge of getting your vehicle winter ready. Today we're going to be talking about how to get your vehicle ready for the winter months to ensure that you and your family stay safe and enjoy hassle free driving. First thing you're going to want to do to get your vehicle winter ready is to check your battery. A car's battery becomes less efficient in cold temperatures. It is very frustrating to try to start your vehicle in the middle of winter only to find out that your battery is dead. Before winter even begins it is recommended to go and get your battery tested. On the top and the side of your battery it will show what your battery is rated for for the cold cranking amps. So if you go and get it tested and it shows that it is less than what it's supposed to be or it shows on the tester that there is a problem with your battery it is recommended to get it replaced. Also on the battery it should show a year of how old the battery is and I would honestly recommend if the battery is over five years to go and get it replaced because normally after five years usually you'll start to experience problems with your battery especially in the winter. Making sure that your battery is up to par and it is putting out the right cold cranking amps that you need for the winter it ensures that you're going to have no problems with your battery and no problems starting your vehicle this winter. Next look at your tires. You want to make sure that your tires are going to be good for the winter. If you do check them and you notice that the tires are starting to wear and the tread is starting to wear on your tires then it's recommended that it's time to replace your tires. Ideally it is best to go with winter tires as they have the right rubber compounds and they have better traction for the winter months. However you can go with a good set of all seasons as long as you do have good tires on your vehicle it will make it easier driving in the winter regardless of if you have all seasons or winter tires. If you are running with tires that have no tread you are going to be sliding around a lot this winter. It is also important to check your tire pressure throughout the winter because in the colder months the tire pressure in your tires will go lower and you will need to top them up to make sure you have the right traction whenever you're out driving and of course in the spring you might have to take out some air for your tires but that is the normal thing with your tires. Next you're going to want to make sure that you check your anti-freeze levels. Anti-freeze keeps your engine running smoothly even in the colder months. Simply check your owner's manual to see what type of anti-freeze your vehicle requires and make sure it's topped up for the winter. Next you're going to want to make sure that you check your wiper blades. You want to make sure that your wipers are in good condition and that the rubber is not wearing or cracked because that will become a hassle in the winter and make sure that they do clear your windshield completely and that they're not streaking or skipping sections. If they are definitely go ahead and replace them before the start of winter. Also consider investing in winter wipers. They are designed to work better in colder temperatures and also clear off snow easier for your vehicle. Obviously before you start driving make sure you clear off any snow or ice that is already on your windshield. That will definitely make your windshield wipers last longer and if there's snow or ice built up on your actual wipers make sure you clear that before attempting to use your wipers. I've seen a lot of cases where people just get in their vehicle and turn on their wipers and the rubber gets ripped off because it was actually frozen to the windshields and it never got cleared off so make sure you clear off the snow and ice before starting and using your wipers. It is also important to have your winter wash your fluid in your vehicle. If you do have the summer washer fluid obviously it can freeze and then you're not going to be able to use it. I personally use a washer fluid for the winter that has five times the de-icer so for me it just blasts through the ice but it also makes it easier to remove snow off the windshield and keep my windshield nice and clean while I'm driving. Regardless of what type of winter washer fluid you choose most of them are rated for minus 20 to minus 40 for the temperatures so if you live in an area where it does get colder it's recommended to go with the lowest possible temperature for your vehicle because in case the temperature ever drops if you only choose the minus 20 if it goes below minus 20 your washer fluid can still freeze. Lastly you want to make sure that you and your vehicle are ready in case of an emergency. You should keep a blanket, flashlight, flares, food and a first aid kit in your vehicle. To me that's not just for the winter that's at all times but it is definitely helpful in the winter and you might need it during the winter. Also make sure that your vehicle is always fueled up. Most people don't let their tank go below half full in the winter in case of an emergency. It is also ideal to have roadside assistance for you or your vehicle.  Some plans are for your vehicle so it doesn't matter who's driving your vehicle your vehicle is covered. Not only is that helpful all year round but in the winter if you do get stuck in the ditch or whatever happens in the case of an emergency you can get towed. I hope you guys enjoyed today's video talking about how to get your vehicle winter ready. I hope this winter is not going to be too rough but now you guys know a couple things to check and get your vehicle ready for this winter. Hope you guys enjoyed and stay safe out there peace.


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Good afternoon and thank you very much, Judith, for accepting our invitation to be together. My first question for you is that pillar five of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture Global Action Plan is about gender equality and equity related to artisanal small scale fisheries and aquaculture. What do you think are the main challenges facing women in the sector? So for me, what I would like to underline is a challenge is related to the whole issue regarding access by women in small scale fisheries and aquaculture and access is in all the areas including access to fish as a resource itself because this is the heart of everything, of the work that they are doing and without fish they are not able to access the market because they will not have any goods. So access to fish is really a challenge to them and other challenges related to this include poor or unhealthy working conditions that the women are facing but also access to finance, limited access to information, access to market and market information but also access to business skills which is really critical for them to be able to compete in the landscape around fish and other goods or food that are being produced. My second question to you is why can investing in capacity development for women in the small scale fisheries and aquaculture sectors have a big impact on the livelihoods and increase food security and nutrition for local communities? Capacity development activities are critical and for me if particularly they focus in building the organizations for women in small scale fisheries, I am the believer of collective action for women because if they work in these collaborative situations they have a huge potential to addressing the challenges that I've just mentioned, the challenges that women in small scale fisheries and aquaculture face and therefore capacity development in all areas for example in areas such as technology, areas of credit services, entrepreneurship opportunities, access to market, access to like information in all spheres, you know, skills and all the related knowledge is very, very important and vital in ensuring that women and their organizations, you know, play that important role of urgency to participate in decision and policy making processes. If these women are supported to build or to operate in these collaborative situations through their organizations they will be enabled to effectively participate in all forms of, you know, decision making as I said, policy making processes which are very, very important because if they are not there, meaning that even their views, their thoughts, their ideas, the issues that they would wish to send across to be incorporated in the policies they will not be there. So these all things affect their lives in their livelihoods and that's why it is really, really important. You've mentioned some factors that go into and help create the gender gap. So my next question is about this and what are some actions that organizations can take to incentivize governments to promote women's empowerment and policies that tackle the gender gap? Women in Fisheries play a significant role. They have a really important and crucial role in feeding our society, in educating the children in our communities, in ensuring that the families are healthy and so on and so forth and therefore this is really important that we are empowering ourselves when we need to advocate for collaboration between non-state actors and state actors in addressing these issues, in bridging this gender gap, in working with the women-led organizations. Why am I saying this? If we don't work together, it means we won't have really efficiency in trying to bridge this gap, but also having a clarity, a clear understanding of what these issues are unless we invite and embrace these women organizations working together with the government who are at the end of the day, the planners, those who are managing the budgets and implementation plans at the national level or the country level, I would say. And therefore, if I may give an example, recently, Tanzania, through the Ministry of Livestoken Fisheries, we launched a national steering committee for implementation of the international year of artisanal fisheries and aquaculture 2022. And this is an important step because you realize at the international level, we have an international steering committee and we are wanting to see international year celebrated worldwide, everywhere. So at this local level, at the international level, we need also some kind of coordination. And the good thing is the Ministry who is leading this process has opened their hands and has embraced collaboration with other non-state actors. And if I may give you another example, Emedo, the Environmental Management Economic Development Organization, the organization that I'm heading, we are working in support with the support from FAO HQ headquarters. And in collaboration also with the ministry responsible for fisheries in my country. We are supporting this national association of women in Moscow Fisheries in Tanzania to strengthen its base. So with this project supported by FAO, we are bringing together, mobilizing these women, informing about the national network, which is TALFA, Tanzania Women Fish Workers Association TALFA, that there is this opportunity. How do you feel coming together in this collective action so that the issues, the challenges that you are facing at this level could be amplified, could be brought into light so that at the end of the day, we are able to gather in our collective way to address, to support you, so that you are able to address these challenges. For the next question, I'd like to ask you, how can the international year of artisanal fisheries and aquaculture, YALFA 2022, and its supporters accelerate the process of achieving gender equality and equity? Yeah, thank you so much. You know, YALFA 2022 for me is really, really an opportunity. And it is an opportunity because it's giving attention globally to the women in Moscow Fisheries and aquaculture. Attention that was not there, YALFA is creating an opportunity. I would also like to give an example from our own organization, Environmental Management and Economic Development Organization, EMEDO. We are based in the Elec Victoria Basin. Our offices are just situated near a landing site, a very small landing site. But what are we doing with this small landing site? That has the capacity to accommodate just 20 landing, I mean, boats at one time, but still merely it supports women. And what do we do there? We use YALFA as an opportunity to create, you know, some kind of a dynamism with that community. In our office premises, we have an environmental resource center. This environmental resource center is also providing an opportunity for members of this community to come together and dialogue. And again, we are using YALFA as an opportunity, like, okay, this year is an international year of artists and officials and aquaculture. Please come and let's discuss together. What can we do together as a community to support these women who are engaging in responsible fisheries, but not just the women, but the BMUs here. How is the BMU functioning? What is giving us that push, the energy for this year is the international year. So we are using international year is like an excuse, but it's the opportunity, opportunity to bring the people together. That's why we are really, really keen to ensuring that we are using YALFA as an opportunity to continue raising awareness on the role played by small scale fisheries. And we are using our tool, which is the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries in the context of food security and proper television. And the good thing is, with the support of FAO, we've been able to end the ministry, we've been able to translate this into Kiswahili. And therefore, every community member can read through and benefit from all this. Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much.  So thinking about this, as you know, the theme for International Women's Day this year is breaking the bias. I wondered what bias do you feel is the most important one to break for women working in small scale fisheries and aquaculture, and what impact do you think breaking this bias would have on improving the situation? Exactly. Breaking the bias, again, goes back to what I've said before, when it comes to the challenges. Breaking the bias. Look at the significant role that is played by the women, especially on the post-service section. Really big. For me, normally, I look at this single woman whose capital is only able to manage buying one bucket of fish per day. And when what she gets out of this, she would extract the money for feeding their family, taking them to school, meeting health needs, and everything else, food and everything. And then that capital remains its second back. Get it back to buying fish the following day so that they are able to continue with the business. And therefore, breaking the barrier, meaning it means that we need to really address these challenges that women in small scale fisheries face. We need to address the challenges of access. And this access for me, I say it in the capital letters, and I bold and I underline because it's access to all these other issues, access to fish and the resource, access to market, access to technology, access to information, access, access is my number one thing. And once this is done, it's going to have a significant impact. So this is what I really feel that breaking the barrier has to be in line with breaking all the challenges or the barriers to access regarding access to all the productive resources in the small scale fisheries, especially concerning women. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Jennifer.