Happy New Year! 2020 has been a year full of challenges for everyone across the world. As much as it has brought us down, however, it has also built us up as more resilient individuals. For Business Today, this past year has provided an opportunity to rethink how we execute our mission, and we’re excited to share our year-in-review with you!
Top 10 Reads
Here are our top reads of 2020, brought to you by the Online Journal:
Appreciation, not Appropriation: Cultural Inclusivity in the Spotlight by Gio Kim
Disney+ and its Infiltration of the Streaming Monopoly by Joseph Strong
The Future of Travel Insurance and the Tourism Industry During COVID-19 by Charlotte Ehlers
The Changing Creative Landscape of the Media Production Industry with Vico Sharabani by Peyush Karel
The Power of Sustainable Urban Farming: an Interview with Tosha Phonix by Collin Riggins
Production and Accountability: How COVID-19 is Revealing Flaws in the Fast Fashion Industry by Maryam Gamar
Apple vs. Spotify: Through the Lens of Those who Consume and Create by Ashleigh Fields
“Lift as You Climb”: Gene Waddy on Diversity in Business, Mentorship, and Education by Lindsey Moore
A Conversation with Alex Kennedy, Global Head and Director of Partnership Strategy and Operations at Twitter by Kim Tran
Changing the Face of Economics: an Interview with Chinemelu Okafor by Victoria Agwam
New Developments
BT Beats
From stories on how BT internally pivoted to COVID for our first ever digital conference to guests like VC Kanyi Maqubela and the Senior Advisor of Banco Santander, BT Beats brought in some fascinating conversations in 2020. We also caught up with alumni from our International Conference: Rohan Pavuluri (Co-Founder of Upsolve) and Indra Sofian (Co-Founder of Sora Schools), both of whom are respectively disrupting the fields of bankruptcy and education.
Boost
The year also highlighted the continued challenges of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Business Today launched Boost, an initiative to focus our mission specifically on Black students, with a summer journalism fellowship and an upcoming spring seminar series. We continue to prioritize DEI going into the new year as a means to ensure we are fully executing our mission.
Launching #LEADERSTODAY
With our new media & marketing team, Business Today created a new series #LEADERSTODAY. With students wracked by questions around the job search in a tough year, we sought to showcase the advice of unorthodox leaders in business, from Paper Source CEO Winnie Park to Head Chef of the NBA Alexia Grant.
Consistency & Innovation
Meeting the CEO of Panera, Niren Chaudhary
For our Online Journal, while continuing to produce articles, we tripled our journalism fellows to 12 and produced articles far beyond the summer too. We also held plenty of video interviews and seminars where BT members received insights on career and industry.
With classic programs such as the Design Nation Conference and International Conference forced online, we decided to expand our reach. This year, our conferences have impacted more than 500 students and executives around the world.
Though the transition to digital certainly hasn’t been perfect, it has certainly provided an amazing opportunity to innovate and unleash our creativity in an unprecedented year. We hope that 2021 will be greater for all of us, and from everyone at Business Today, we wish you a wonderful new year!