Month: March 2023

In the last episode of Source De[Code], listeners learned about the transformative potential that digital twins represent for improving the design, optimization, and security across the spectrum of technology from consumer insights to smart cities, and everything in between. In episode 5, host Ben Coffin and Ian Rippke build on these insights and clarify the differences between simulation technology and digital twins to demonstrate how digital twin software is transforming the product design and development workflow.

Anyone who has purchased consumer electronics understands that each new version of a device will include new features and enhanced functionality that persuade customers to upgrade their old devices. The tantalizing promise of ‘new and improved’ performance is something that marketers like me home in on and leverage as competitor differentiation. Episode 5 of Source De[Code] explores how digital twins are aiding design teams in addressing the challenges they face in making potential performance upgrades a reality.

BALANCING BIG IDEAS WITH REAL-WORLD PRACTICALITY

This new episode made me pause and reflect on how little consideration I have given to the substantial efforts that go into developing those features that are so cavalierly marketed by those in my profession. In marketing, we focus on the end result without taking into account the significant effort that goes into making good on the promises we sell. As well, in listening to the episode, I was drawing parallels between the campaign planning that I do and the process of determining which ‘new and improved’ features are feasible.

In marketing, you begin with a goal, useful templates built from previous campaigns, ample historical data, and a wealth of great ideas. The challenge comes when we are trying to balance the excitement of brainstorming with reality. Time, resource constraints, partner and vendor considerations, and team capacity require limiting the scope of marketing activities in ways that force you to set aside brilliant ideas in favor of realistic, actionable ones.

Like marketing campaigns, big ideas and practical realities are often at odds when developing new product features. Consumers are uncompromising in their expectations of ‘new and improved’; we want new features and functionality without losing any of the upgrades present in previous generations. Business leaders have equally high expectations. In order to maintain a competitive edge and grow market share, business leaders push for more innovation delivered to market faster. This results in unforgiving demands on the design and development teams responsible for ensuring the ‘new and improved’ features are realistic, practical, and will work as consumers expect and the market demands.

WHAT IF YOU COULD HAVE IT ALL?

Consumers and decision-makers have the luxury of asking “what if” when considering new innovation. These “what ifs” are a source of consternation for the development teams responsible for implementing the required system changes that will enable that functionality. New features being added to existing architectures must work seamlessly with legacy systems and components. Moreover, these upgrades must work without sacrificing appreciated elements like battery life and system speed. Navigating the delicate balance of business needs and consumer expectations is a universal challenge for developers– and one that digital twins are helping them manage.

In the same way that marketers use previous activities to make educated assumptions about upcoming campaign performance, developers use simulation tools to visualize prototypes digitally. Like the marketing assumptions, these simulations do not adequately account for external influences and behaviors that impact the product’s performance in real-world scenarios. Simulations are, as episode guest Dr. Ian Rippke points out, “always considered an approximation step towards the end product, not a true representation of behavior.” Only when the campaign or product goes live can you correctly measure the accuracy of the assumptions made during the design phase.

As Robert Brown opined in his poem, To A Mouse, “the best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft a-gley”. Even the best plan can account for every circumstance. Simulation tools only allow developers to view the prototype digitally, but not to see how the product will interact with its physical environment.

‘WHAT IF’ BECOMES ‘WHAT IS’ WITH DIGITAL TWINS

The ability to predict how a campaign will perform amidst shifts in future consumer sentiment, events, and external influences would ensure the success of each campaign. It would allow us to weigh more “what ifs” in the design phase and be more strategic in determining the marketing mix that would best achieve the defined goals. It sounds like a dream come true. For development teams, digital twins can make this dream a reality.

Digital twins connect simulation models with the immense amounts of data collected in the physical domain to create a feedback loop that continuously informs the digital model with data. Digital twins can leverage AI and machine learning to predict how external factors like user behavior and supply chain fluctuations will impact delivery deadlines and the performance of the components and systems in the product.

Digital twin software enables teams to explore different architectures, applications, and interoperability dynamics between components and systems. Digital twins also account for external complexities and stakeholders involved in the development process. This untethers design teams from the constraints of the unknown and empowers them to explore the “what-ifs” that would be impossible to consider with physical prototypes and simulation tools alone.

These models improve designs and increase confidence in the end product because they build accurate representations of systems and the improved ability to predict real-world performance. They enable design and development teams to better visualize how the big ideas and planned performance improvements will impact the overall design without the need for additional lab work. This, in turn, allows for the faster delivery of innovation to market that businesses depend on for continued market dominance and ensure that customer expectations are met or even exceeded. Dr. Rippke summarized this concept succinctly and with poetic elegance in the podcast. With digital twins, he said, design teams “are not constrained by what they can test. They are constrained only by what they can imagine.”

ABOUT THE GUEST: DR. IAN RIPPKE

Dr. Rippke has over 15 years of experience in the simulation and design of high-frequency electronics. He has authored several patents and papers published in technical publications. He has worked in both technical sales and product management at Keysight.

What was the ‘aha’ moment that started you down the path or influenced your journey to where you are now?

After completing my Ph.D., I realized that what I loved about technology was the constant innovation. Working at a company that just ‘stepped and repeated’ design work was not going to work for me. Getting into software applications engineering and eventually, system software planning was perfect because there are always new customer challenges on the horizon and innovative ways to solve them.

What would you have pursued if you hadn’t chosen your current profession? Why?

Before engineering, I strongly considered architecture. Again, the idea of creating something from scratch, limited only by your creativity (and physics!) has been a recurring theme in my interests.

Where can we find you when you’re not innovating the future of technology?

You have lots of places to look! I could be out trying to conquer a new hill on my road bike, enjoying family time hiking through the amazing Pennsylvania backcountry, or just spending ‘me-time’ trying to nail a classic bass guitar riff.

EPISODE 5 OF SOURCE DE[CODE] IS OUT NOW

Episode 5 of Source De[Code] is available now wherever you stream fine podcasts. You can learn more about the show and find additional content and resources related to each episode by visiting Source De[Code] online. While you’re there, subscribe to the Source De[Code] mailing list to be notified when new episodes drop, gain access to exclusive resources, and enter to win a Source De[Code] hoodie.

For today’s grantmakers to be successful, they need to embrace complexity. The issues we face—from racial injustice to poverty to climate change—are not simple or straightforward. The solutions won’t be either.

Part of embracing complexity is understanding the way people’s unique identities shape their experiences. The policies and systems that have created our current reality do not affect all people in the same ways.

But how do you make space for so many different perspectives?

Applying an intersectional lens empowers grantmakers to honor the true lived experiences of the communities they serve. And it enables them to build toward solutions that will make lasting change.

But what is an intersectional lens? And what does it mean to apply it to grant programs?

Let’s dig in.

What is intersectionality?

Before we get too deep, let’s back up and take a look at the concept of intersectionality. The term was first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989.

Intersectionality describes the way social categorizations such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and class create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Essentially, Crenshaw was explaining the ways in which the systems of oppression are interconnected. For example, a black woman will experience misogyny differently than a white woman and will also experience racism differently than a black man. You cannot separate those experiences.

The key to understanding intersectionality is recognizing that it exists within institutions, not people. In the same way individuals cannot be diverse, nor can they be intersectional. The idea of intersectionality refers to the ways institutions and policies make room for these complex experiences.

Crenshaw puts it this way: “For those of us who live life in these bodies, it’s not a secret. Intersectionality isn’t telling us anything we didn’t know. Intersectionality is speaking to the institutions that didn’t seem to know what we know.”

For grantmakers committed to equity, applying an intersectional lens is an important step.

Why intersectionality is essential for effective philanthropy

What does intersectionality mean for philanthropy?

Intersectionality allows organizations to take into consideration the ways in which people experience multiple systems of oppression and how those vulnerabilities intersect in complex ways.

Too often, grantmakers take a siloed approach to their program design. They create distinct grant programs for specific causes. But these hard borders can create big gaps.

For instance, imagine a grantmaker creates two grant programs. One that addresses racial justice and another for LGBTQ youth. That sounds great in theory, but if there is no acknowledgement that these issues overlap and intersect, then a lot of people will be ignored. Where do queer Black kids fit? Which program honors the full range of their experiences? If the grantmaker isn’t applying an intersectional lens, the answer is likely: neither of them.

To create effective programs, grantmakers need to develop a deep understanding of the multiple layers of systemic oppression that make people vulnerable to discrimination.

Real-world examples of philanthropy with an intersectional lens

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota is one funder putting these values into practice. Their team applies an Intersectional Equity Framework™ to their work, which includes gender, race, place, and additional identities (ethnicity, sovereignty, socioeconomic class, age, disability, LGBTQ+, and immigration status). So when they invest in community programs, research, or policy advocacy, they are doing so with an awareness of the unique and complex ways community members experience injustice.

In a recent webinar by Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC)—an organization focused on racial, LGBTQ, and gender intersectionality—President and CEO Dr. Monique Morris explained that grantmakers have to take a holistic view of their work because making narrow advancements in equity doesn’t mean much.

“You can’t be invested in racial justice if you’re perpetuating harms in other ways,” she says.

7 steps to apply an intersectional lens to your grantmaking

Equity in grantmaking takes intention. It doesn’t happen by accident. You and your team have to make it a practice across all facets of your work. It may sound a bit overwhelming to take on, but we’ve laid out seven steps to help you get started.

1. Apply a historical frame

All forms of injustice sit within a historical context. That historical context is essential to understanding the multiple layers of oppression and how they overlap.

For instance, consider the racial justice movement that followed George Floyd’s murder. That response was born out of a long history of oppression. You cannot understand that moment without understanding how it sits in history—the racism, violence, and disenfranchisement that precedes it.

As a grantmaker, you want to work to understand history from the perspective of the people most impacted by systemic injustice. This often means listening to voices that have been silenced. Get close to the community and seek to understand the unique ways discrimination and inequity have shaped their experiences.

Be open to learning. You may find that the stories you hear challenge your preconceived ideas. That’s part of the process.

2. Elevate marginalized voices

When you think about the issues your programs seek to address, it’s worth remembering that the people closest to a problem are the ones who understand it best. In particular, those who live at the intersections of oppression are the ones with deep knowledge of how these systems work and what it will take to change them.

Be intentional about lifting these voices up and following their lead. You should be investing in the ideas and strategies from the people who sit at these intersections—such as queer and trans women of color.

As a grantmaker, you also want to value the organizations and individuals who are doing deep movement work, the ones priming our collective consciousness for new ideas.

For example, think about how the Black Lives Matter movement—started in 2013 by three radical organizers—reshaped the national conversation about racial justice.

Don’t undervalue this essential work. It often lays the foundation for transformative change.

3. Invest in solutions that address systemic change 

In the same way that intersectionality doesn’t live within bodies, neither does justice. Your programs need to focus on changing the systems and institutions. So don’t build programs around behavior modification at the individual level.

Rather than seeing behaviors as the problem, seek to address the underlying structural causes that give people limited options.

Take this recent report on women and wealth in the U.S. for example. It shows that single Black women have a median accumulated wealth of $200 and single Hispanic women have a median accumulated wealth of $100. Compare these numbers to the median wealth of single white women ($15,640) and single white men ($28,900). You can see clearly from these huge discrepancies that we’re not talking about individual choices, we’re talking about much bigger systems of oppression.

So as you set priorities and design your grant programs, keep your focus on the institutions and policies that need to change.

For example, if you’re trying to provide nutritious meals to kids in low-income households, don’t focus your efforts only on educating parents on the benefits of healthy meals. Instead direct your efforts toward solving the systemic issues: do these kids live in a food desert? Are caregivers not getting enough SNAP benefits? Are low wages forcing adults to work multiple jobs allowing less time to shop and cook?

Of course, as you turn toward these heftier questions, you might find the answers to be complex too. That’s okay. As a whole, philanthropy needs to think more holistically about solutions.

4. Don’t rely on trickle-down justice

Sometimes funders make the assumption that giving to big organizations will have a trickle-down effect. They assume that through processes like regranting, resources will reach smaller frontline nonprofits. But that doesn’t always happen.

Funders need to prioritize giving to these organizations directly. They are often the ones leading movements and most engaged in intersectional work.

To include these organizations, your team might need to rethink your grant application process. A nonprofit with a small team focused on community work won’t have time to complete a long, complicated grant application. Keep things simple and accessible and make the process as easy and quick as possible.

Supporting smaller organizations might seem riskier. It’s likely that they haven’t been around as long as large, well-established nonprofits. They might not have the ability to do complex reporting or create slick marketing materials. Don’t let this dissuade you. If they are trusted by the community and they are doing important work that aligns with your mission, then it’s worth investing in a relationship with them.

5. Adopt participatory practices 

Participatory grantmaking allows you to bring community feedback into your decision-making processes. Who better to help shape your programs and priorities?

By creating a formal framework for this dialogue, you’re ensuring that community members have a say when it comes to how you distribute resources. It allows you to hear directly from the people your programs are meant to serve. You can ensure that your priorities align and that your approach matches their lived experiences.

For example, Brooklyn Community Foundation has adopted participatory practices in their grantmaking. They also apply a racial justice lens to their work. Decisions are made transparently based on insights from the community and always with a deep awareness of the role race plays.

6. Offer multi-year grants with flexibility 

Providing unrestricted funding can help build stronger organizations and in turn more resilient communities. Rather than tying resources to specific programs, you allow the nonprofit team to decide how the money should be spent.

This flexibility can help organizations retain employees, build infrastructure, and have the tools to innovate. Plus again, you’re putting the decision-making power in the hands of the people closest to the problem.

If nonprofits are able to take risks, they can try new approaches to making their work more inclusive. This freedom is essential. If, as a funder, you’re forcing an organization to stick to the way they’ve always done things, you might be holding back progress.

Plus, flexibility allows an organization to adapt quickly to urgent community needs. If the team realizes that a certain population is being underserved, they can move quickly to fill that gap.

7. Support coalitions 

Justice is not a finite thing.

When it comes to this intersectional work, you have to move away from a scarcity mindset. There’s no pie to be divided up. Instead, consider justice as something we can all move toward collectively.

One way to do this is by connecting grassroots movements. You can fund programs that focus on solidarity and relationship building.

As a grantmaker, you’re in a unique position. You can dedicate some of your resources to bringing leaders and like-minded organizations together. You likely have established relationships with grantees. Leveraging those relationships to help form broader coalitions can help tap into the collective power of the social impact sector.

Find the right tools to support your equity work

Applying an intersectional lens to your grantmaking is ongoing work. It’s not a box to be checked. It’s a practice, one that takes a sustained investment.

You need to leverage tools that empower your team to do deep interrogative work and build meaningful relationships.

Submittable is a social impact platform designed to help you launch, manage, and measure your grants program. If your organization is focused on making lasting change, Submittable is an ideal solution to support your work. Find out more.

On February 28, Texas Capital Bank was honored to serve as Opening Day sponsor of the 2023 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™.

As the first-ever Opening Day sponsor, Texas Capital Bank partnered with the Houston Rodeo to uphold a long-standing tradition of volunteerism in support of the Rodeo’s charitable mission. This sponsorship is also part of a comprehensive approach to uplift the Houston community and bolster local education.

“At Texas Capital Bank, we believe in forging impactful partnerships that benefit the communities we serve,” said Effie Dennison, Head of Community Development and Corporate Responsibility at Texas Capital Bank. “We are excited to partner with the Rodeo as we share the same values of giving back to communities and look forward to serving together to create lasting impact.”

On Opening Day, Texas Capital Bank volunteers welcomed patrons as they entered the Rodeo grounds. In total, they handed out 10,000 limited edition 2023 Howdy Rodeo bobbleheads in Texas Capital Bank branded commemorative boxes. As part of Rodeo Acts of Kindness, a program of the Rodeo where sponsors can demonstrate community commitment through enhancing the experience of those that attend in various ways, Texas Capital Bank selected eight attendees to upgrade their seats from the top tier of NRG Stadium to the VIP section.

Texas Capital Bank and the Houston Rodeo are strongly aligned in their mission to strengthen Texas communities. In support of local education, the bank will also partner with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Celebration this June.

About Texas Capital Bancshares 
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI), a member of the Russell 2000® Index and the S&P MidCap 400®, is the parent company of Texas Capital Bank, a full-service financial services firm that delivers customized solutions to businesses, entrepreneurs, and individual customers. Founded in 1998, the institution is headquartered in Dallas with offices in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Fort Worth, and has built a network of clients across the country. With the ability to service clients through their entire lifecycles, Texas Capital Bank has established commercial banking, consumer banking, investment banking and wealth management capabilities. For more information, please visit texascapitalbank.com.

About the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo promotes agriculture by hosting an annual, family-friendly experience that educates and entertains the public, supports Texas youth, showcases Western heritage, and provides year-round educational support within the community. Since its beginning in 1932, the Rodeo has committed more than $575 million to the youth of Texas and education. The 2023 Rodeo is scheduled for Feb. 28 – March 19. For more information, visit rodeohouston.com and connect with #RODEOHOUSTON online via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for all the latest news.