This piece from Southern Poverty Law Center highlights over 30 women (including inspirational quotes from each) – including Rita Moreno, Megan Rapinoe, Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker and more.
Women’s History Month – Inspiring Trailblazers
Category: Gender Dynamics
Syrian Women Leading In Refugee Communities
Unconventional times can create impactful change. Syrian women have begun to be elected as camp leaders in their Lebanese refugee communities. While these women would have been expected to stay at home in their native Syria, the turmoil caused by war has begun to shift some of these traditional norms. One of the female leaders who heads up camp of hundreds of refugees, Hind Al-Haad, stated,”Circumstances can either form obstacles or push [women] forward.” Learn more about these amazing women in this BBC piece.
Why Women Belong In the C-Suite
Of all Fortune 500 companies, only 41 are currently headed by women (which is less than 10%). Despite this lack of representation, having a woman at the helm can often positively impact a corporate bottom line. This recent piece from Forbes outlines five reasons why companies can benefit from placing women in the top spots.
Flexible Workplaces and Impact on Women
This article from Politico entitled “You Are Mommy Tracked to the Billionth Degree” explores how the concept of the flexible workplace has been shifted due to the pandemic. Women, who were more likely than men to request flex/hybrid schedules in the past, used to face a penalty since they weren’t considered to be “real” members of the work team. But after 18+ months of many people working at least in part from home due to COVID restrictions, businesses are now re-evaluating how hybrid work my now be the future of a lot of white collar jobs. Whether or not there will still be a penalty for working remotely – or whether it will become a new norm – is yet to be seen.
Leadership Lessons From Women Who Competed in Tokyo Olympics
This Fast Company article shared eight leadership lessons from the first gender balanced Olympic games to ever take place. In addition to the highly publicized lesson that Simone Biles demonstrated regarding mental health and self-care, female competitors from around the world also had their own lessons to share.
Items shared in the piece include shattering the concept that athletes have a limited age range (this year the youngest female Olympian was 12 and the oldest was 66) as well as the importance in speaking up and advocating for equal sponsorship support for women (specifically how decorated track star Allyson Felix took on Nike over their sponsorship and pay policies for pregnant athletes). Also mentioned were the Norwegian beach handball and German gymnastics teams who pushed back against female athlete uniform guidelines which seemed to put sexualization of athlete bodies ahead of function.
COVID’s Impact on Women’s Finances
Sallie Krawcheck, one of the highest-ranking women on Wall Street from positions at Bank of America and Citigroup, is the CEO of Ellevest, a digital financial company for women that she co-founded in 2014. In this interview with NPR’s “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal, she shared thoughts on what the COVID pandemic has specifically meant for women’s personal finances.
According to Krawcheck, “if pay is what you bring in, wealth is what you have and keep.” Prior to COVID, women’s wealth was approximately 32 cents to a white man’s dollar – and only one penny if only considering Black women. In this discussion, Krawcheck mentions how this has only become more severe during the pandemic and also shares strategies to close the gender wealth gap.
Women on the 50 Over 50 Impact List
Forbes recently unveiled its 50 Over 50: Impact list, which spotlights women over the age of 50 who are leaving a positive and lasting impact on the world. The list highlights exceptional women who found success later in life and are constantly working toward increased equity and diversity. Women from all areas are represented – government/military, academia, non-profit and for-profit businesses. Click the link above to learn more.
The Key To Innovation In Women’s Health Is Having More Women Inventors
This June 18, 2021 piece from Science Alert shares the grim reality that in 2020, only 12.8 percent of U.S. inventors receiving patents were women. Why does that matter for women’s health? Because inventors are often inspired to find solutions to problems that hit close to home. With so few women inventors, the opportunity for women’s health concerns to be addressed is lessened. In fact, the piece highlights, “scientific discoveries by female scientists as measured by published research papers are 12 percent more likely to benefit women than discoveries by men.” The article ends by sharing, “biases in who gets to conduct research and commercialize inventions is more than a matter of who gets to play. It’s also a matter of who benefits from the march of progress.” Let’s all work to encourage the women inventors that we know!
MSNBC Interview With US Vice President Kamala Harris
As part of the launch of Forbes‘ “50 Over 50” list, Vice President Kamala Harris sits down for an exclusive interview with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski to discuss not evaluating herself based on age, eating ‘No’ for breakfast, working with women-owned small businesses and encouraging women and girls to know their strength. Click here to watch.
Pioneering Women Will Appear on US Quarters
The US Mint is creating some new designs – featuring women – for the “tails” sides of quarters that will start circulating in January 2022 and run through 2025. The first two honorees have already been chosen: poet Maya Angelou and astronaut Sally Ride.
The other female honorees will be decided by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen – with input from the American public. To read more about the initiative, check out this article from CNN. Want to submit a suggestion for a nominee? Fill out this brief form provided by the National Women’s History Museum.