with light

Dear friends,
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I'm taking a small leap of faith this week for you, for us 🌱 I read in your community feedback that you'd like to hear from me more often: here we go :)

And let's start with Faith. I don't belong to a single religion, but I am a spiritual human who strives to be open to signs deeper than sight, and listen for dialogues beyond sound. I believe everything happens for a reason, that I am here, typing this letter to you for a Higher reason, and that you are here, reading The Bloom, cozy in bed, or at your desk as you prepare for work, or on a cool patch of soil in a garden, for a Higher reason. Wherever you are, however you're feeling today, I want you to know I believe in you. There is an abundance of good in our community unlike anything I've ever encountered, and this motivates me every week to show up with joy, presence, and faith in the incredible future we're working towards building, one newsletter at a time.
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with light,
Jasmine

fresh soil

🌍 100 hours of audio memos later: 'It's Nice To Hear You' is an independently produced genre-bending podcast about this real life experiment that took place in 2020. Can the power of voice lead to a deeper connection? Hear what happens in this audio only matchmaking experiment based on the exchange of voice memos. No names, no direct contact, no pictures. → Podcast
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🌍 International illustrated exploration of gender in language: Linguists group languages into 3 types by how gender is used: grammatical gender, natural gender, and genderless. Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic are grammatical gender languages, where gender plays a significant role. Every noun — even those referring to inanimate objects — has a grammatical gender, and most adjectives change to reflect that. → Illustration
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🌍 Database of climate innovations:An extensive database of over 1,300 innovative pro-climate projects from all over the world, “assessed by independent experts for their environmental and economic performance”. From carbon-positive concrete alternatives to e-bike sharing programs – if you believe we should innovate our way out of the crisis, this is a great resource to find intriguing prototype projects to get involved in.→ Database​

water your soul

🦋 See from the heart to feel abundance.
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😂 Job success: hack your digital DNA.
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⛵️ Ocean canoe voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti.
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🌈 Psychedelic explosions of colors.
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👀 My dress too short?
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🌞 If shadows long to feel the sun.

community garden

A big thank you to all of you who took time to share your feedback with us in our annual community survey!! Here were some of the ways you described The Bloom:
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​🍄 "Everything you needed to read that you didn't know existed. Totally wholesome, engaging and motivating. I have a time set aside in my calendar to read it on a Sunday."
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🌿 "A newsletter that opens doors and windows for other people, making more information accessible in a fun and healthy way."
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🌵 "The most needed boost of happiness and hope to start the week. A Monday morning ritual."
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🌲 "Newsletter with feminist resources such as job opportunities, events and media posts (blogs, podcasts, even TikToks) that make you think."
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🌳 "More than a newsletter: a digest with the resources to help you craft a healthier future for yourself and the planet."
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🌴 "A hub full of organizing and activism around the world. It is a weekly reminder that there are good people in the world, doing the important work, and when we work together we can create real progress!"

branch out

🦋GROW
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​Yale Climate Crisis Public Voices Fellowship is dedicated to diverse thought leadership on climate change; the fellowship is offered to 20 exceptional individuals each year, most of whom are women and people of color.
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A leadership program for women entrepreneurs in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, offered by the Swedish Institute in Istanbul.

​VVEngage is a 10-month fellowship supporting outstanding women political leaders influencing policy across the globe. The fellowship advances women’s political leadership and the SDGs by conducting online and in-person trainings with experts such as women leaders from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Cairo-based educators Mariam Diefallah and Amuna Wagner reflect on their journey to create feminist classrooms that centre pleasure and joy. Sign up to their courses by 31st January to take part. ​
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🧠 EXPLORE
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​Investing in crypto for beginners and... WTF is an NFT??
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​Reflections on burnout, written by one of our Bloomers (!!) and inspired by one of our past newsletters :)
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A guide to quitting your job.​
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If, like us, you use "sorry for the delay" one too many times to start emails...

sponsor seed

Frances Tang is the founder of Awkward Essentials, a company that makes products addressing unspoken parts of hygiene, and on a mission to "make sex less awkward." Her career journey, ranging from wedding photography to baking, holds wise seeds we can all plant in our own lives on the power of storytelling in business, misunderstandings as a fuel to creativity, and the intrinsic relationship between failure and blooming.
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​How do you feel you have grown since launching Awkward Essentials?
​When I first began talking about this idea, a lot of people did not understand the product (or take me seriously!). Sex itself is already such a hush-hush topic, so to go beyond that and talk about the sticky, gooey aftermath was not something people were comfortable with! I had to fight through a lot of misconceptions and criticism to bring the product and company to life (things that we still battle today!), which caused me to grow tremendously. ​
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Describe your relationship to failure.
​I have come to learn that failure is impossible to avoid and completely necessary for growth and learning! When I first pitched the idea for dripstick, I pitched it as any founder would — with numbers, statistics and facts. It was an absolute trainwreck. I distinctly remember several faces in the room, with a look of open-mouthed, horrified shock. Pitching an after-sex cleanup invention with statistics apparently was a terrible idea.
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From this, I learned to change the narrative to a personal story entirely, addressing the problem that’s solved. It shifted how I talked about the product and our brand, and ultimately changed how I marketed the company. This voice is also what helped us to secure investment. Since then, myself and the team have always been very open about testing new ideas - this means we are continuously failing in pursuit of learning. ​
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The Bloom is always looking for empowering resources: any you recommend for our community?
​As a founder of a company helping women improve their sexual experiences, Cindy Gallop’s TED talk, “Make love, not porn” impacted me so much in just four minutes. Cindy discusses how hardcore porn has skewed a generation’s understanding of what real sex looks like. Through her company, she’s working to introduce the world to real sex between real couples. Cindy’s success has helped me see the possibilities in this industry, and I know we can have a real, positive impact on women.

grow new roots

ASIA + OCEANIA​
🇮🇳
🌱India marketing coordinator – Bumble
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​EUROPE ​
🇩🇪
🌱Junior communications officer – Treedom
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​AFRICA + MIDDLE EAST ​
🇿🇦
🌱African futures & innovation officer – Institute for Security Studies
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​LATIN AMERICA
🇧🇷​
🌱Social media analyst – Greenpeace
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​NORTH AMERICA​
🇺🇸
🌱LGBTQI+ program assistant – International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights
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REMOTE
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🌱Fellowships on disability, gender, sexual diversity & intersex rights – CREA

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