Colin Powell said: “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”

“I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.” -Audre Lorde

“Dreams are lovely, but they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It's hard work that makes things happen. It's hard work that creates change." — Shonda Rhimes

“Accept and acknowledge your own brilliance. Stop waiting for others to tell you how great you are! Believe it for yourself and about yourself.” — Iyanla Vanzant

“You are on the eve of a complete victory. You can’t go wrong. The world is behind you.” – Josephine Baker

“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does -- that makes you a winner right there.” - Venus Williams

“One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.” - Franklin Thomas

“When you control a man’s thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions.” — Dr. Carter G. Woodson

“Just don’t give up what you’re trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” — Ella Fitzgerald

"Are you going to let someone else's view of who you should be, and what you should do, hold you back?" — Charmaine Wilkerson

“Never give up. Never give in. Never become hostile... Hate is too big a burden to bear.” -John Lewis

“History has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own." – Michelle Obama

Yesterday, during a panel on career opportunities in quantitative social science at the PREDOC Conference, I told the students about the importance of networking and mentorship and how much people like @davidmwessel.bsky.social have positively influenced my career.

Rest in peace Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

“It’s important to have as many voices as possible because inclusion really fuels innovation. If we want to see the best of the best in terms of technology, we need to make sure that voices that have been at the margins are really included.” – Annie Jean-Baptiste

I believe this: “Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.” —Barrack Obama

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” —Ella Fitzgerald

We each find our way through these times As an academic, I am doing this: Uplift those whose research you admire. Diversify the academy. Many ways to do this: -Nominate for awards (did 2 yesterday) -If you are in an academy, nominate to it (did 3 this month) -cite them in a paper and/or talk

For the first time in two years one of my orchid plants is blooming! #Gardening

Happening tomorrow at 11 AM CT Register here: www.chicagofed.org/events/2025/... Or watch via livestream on the Chicago Fed website.

Launched today: Workforce Realigned, Vol II. Many thanks to the team at Social Finance for allowing me to contribute! Check out my chapter on human capital and AI. workforcerealigned.org/overview/

Social justice advocates are creating a queer history archive that celebrates Bayard Rustin, a major organizer in the Civil Rights Movement and key architect of the March on Washington.

Fantastic housing job posting!! @ternerhousing.bsky.social is hiring a Deputy Director of Policy. The Terner folks are doing frontier work on housing policy & connecting the research-policy dots. Plus, they're lovely humans to have as colleagues. Details below: ternercenter.berkeley.edu/careers/

Tune in on Tuesday, July 15th 11:00am - 12:00pm CT Register here: web.cvent.com/event/54074c...

Happening Thursday, July 10th 11:00am - 12:00pm CT Register here: web.cvent.com/event/6c5e81...

Thursday, 7/10 @ 11am CT: Join the Economic Mobility Project of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for “Labor, Leisure, and Life Choices: How Child-Rearing and Local Amenities Impact Urban Migration” Register here: www.chicagofed.org/events/2025/...

New Dataset Maps Losses from Natural Disasters to the County Level 1996-2023 via New York Fed libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/07/new-...

Join us 7/15 @ 11am CT for a webinar on how weather-related risk impacts access to mortgage and business loans in the U.S. Hear from: Ralf Meisenzahl @jennyschuetz.bsky.social Nicole Elam @macmccomas.bsky.social @nitzantzur.bsky.social & @svaneksmith.bsky.social web.cvent.com/event/54074c...

“We are the ones we have been waiting for.” -June Jordan

“And so, lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go, struggling and striving, and hoping that the buds and blossoms of our desires will burst into glorious fruition ere long.” -Mary Church Terrell

"I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become." -Oprah Winfrey

“You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.” -Deepak Chopra

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -Michael Altshuler

"Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do." -Ella Fitzgerald

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” -Paulo Coehlo

Easy does it. Don't waste today punishing yourself for having wasted yesterday. That's not gonna feel good tomorrow. Breathe; blink; focus; and do the next right thing.

Looking forward to this discussion next week!