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Some ERGs are given company funds for meals, events or travel to conferences. A new group should be prepared to make a business case for a budget request. Experts also advise collecting data to show the group’s impact in areas such as employee retention.It’s easier to start a new ERG when an organization already has one in place because there’s a road map of what worked and who supported the initial group. But if none exist at your workplace, you can start with one and build from there, Jang said. “There is no perfect recipe,” she said. “Start small.”

As organizations absorb various federal directives, they’re deciding which direction to take. Some have adjusted to make it clear that all are welcome. Others have shuttered their ERGs altogether, wiping out years of work, Ettin said.“The underrepresented, underserved communities still need the programs, support, connectivity and advocacy that they’ve needed for the last decades,” Ettin added. “That hasn’t changed.”Have you overcome an obstacle or made a profound change in your work? Send your questions and story ideas to

. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health atATLANTA (AP) — Black women around the world gather in salons, dorm rooms and living rooms for hours at a time to get synthetic braids put in their hair. But they’re wondering if the convenience and fashion benefits are being outweighed by

The question circulating on social media and in the Black community follows on the heels of a proposed federal rule — that’s still in limbo after multiple delays — to ban the

in hair-straightening chemicals.at a conference in China, Cook expressed doubt about whether the U.S. labor pool had enough workers with the vocational skills required to do the painstaking and tedious work that Lutnick was discussing.

“In the U.S. you could have a meeting of tooling engineers and I’m not sure we could fill the room,” Cook said. “In China, you could fill multiple football fields.”Stocks closed lower on Wall Street, breaking a nine-day winning streak. Crude prices fell to a four-year low Monday after the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations said it plans to increase output.

The S&P 500 slid 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%. Drops in Big Tech stocks like Apple helped pull the Nasdaq composite down 0.7%.Berkshire Hathaway slumped after legendary investor Warren Buffett announced over the weekend that he would step down as CEO by the end of the year after six decades at the helm.