Purse Pundit

Why No Wonder Woman?

2012-01-03T12:15:00.005-05:00

Published to Jackizehner.com on January 1, 2012

I am starting 2012 with a question that has been haunting me for the past 10 years. It was in 2001 that I began somewhat obsessively thinking about why there was no Wonder Woman feature film. I shared the whole story with a group of friends we had over for dinner last night but the punch line was that it was Wonder Woman, or lack thereof, that convinced me to leave my role as a partner of Goldman Sachs. I quit to write the screenplay! I took a screen writing course, accumulated stacks of notes, and sought out people in the industry to help. The product of all that labor has it’s own special box and I keep on adding to it. It is not that I ever gave up on the idea, but rather it is like the red wine I am sipping on this New Years Eve, the idea, my participation, needed time to age. Now, on the 70th Anniversary of WW ( first issue appeared December 1941), I figured it was finally time to try to make it happen!

Here is the freaky thing. So much of what is scribbled down on those pieces of paper I recently started leafing through again has come to be in my life. My story line was not just about a single woman with super powers saving lives and fighting for justice. Yes my WW, my superhero, had those powers, but she quickly realized that one woman could never save the world on her own. She tried it for a while but became frustrated and exhausted. Over one too many cocktails pouring her heart out to the bartender she helped her figure it out. She needed a gang, a tribe, to do it with her. So she began to recruit the best of – the best in each discipline – sports, business, politics - and taught them how to tap in to their full power and potential. They were already leaders, she just enhanced them.

In the alternate world she came from everyone was capable of greatness, they just had to tap in to it and the ticket was using that power for good. When she came to our world she was shocked that women were vastly underrepresented in positions of leadership, suffered from so much violence and when she experienced our media which portrayed women primarily as victims or sex objects, she was outraged. “Where is girl power?” she asked. “Why does this world not value human life and not fully value women and girls?”

I have been asking myself these same questions for over a decade and like Wonder Woman, I am trying to use my power to change it. Championing for the rights and potential of women and girls is my calling, my life’s purpose, and I know this with certainty. On this journey I have come to know countless women with incredible passion, skills, creativity and resources and are putting all of it to work for a more just and equitable world. They are Wonder Women. What I see happening now is that this community, this tribe is growing. These women champions of change are finding each other, nourishing each other, and more fully coming in to their power to use all their resources to make a difference. They too are shocked and outraged and are saying enough, things have to change! We may not have a true super hero as our leader helping us tap in to our inhuman superpowers, but we have each other.

The Wonder Woman in my screenplay knew that the world would only shift for the better if many people, but particularly those with power and shared values worked together and fully employed all the resources at their disposal. She knew that money, big money, was needed. At the time I wrote this in my notes there was no such thing as Women Moving Millions ( WMM). WMM was birthed in 2006 by two visionary sisters Helen LaKelly and Swanee Hunt, women I did not come to know until 2008. In phase one, which ended in 2009, WMM raised over $180 mm for women’s foundations around the world. Perhaps more important than that was that a community, a tribe, was formed. We are sisters ( and a few brothers) united with a common purpose. This year we will launch as a global movement to encourage and support not only large financial gifts to organizations and initiatives that work for the advancement of women and girls, but the thinking that a world that fully values women and girls is a better and more just world. We aspire to mobilize billions!

My WW sought to balance the masculine energy that had dominated for so long with the feminine energy that supported a different kind of power - “power to, not power over“. She knew that a world so out of balance was a world that would blow itself up. Her job in coming to our world was to help elevate the feminine and in doing so change the course of history. From her experience she knew that too much of one, or the other, had negative consequences. ( ok there is a heck of a lot more to it, but I can’t give the plot away now can I?)

So this is the year that not only will I continue to be a player in my real life Wonder Women story as Co Chair of Women Moving Millions, but also try to finally get a GREAT screenplay for the film in to development. Here is my plan on how to do it!

1) Produce a white paper of sorts, that poses the question “Why no Wonder Woman?” ( see below) that details the history of the character, why other attempts to bring her to the big screen have failed, numbers that show the power of the superhero franchises, who the players are and issue a call to action for fans of WW to contribute ideas. This paper is almost finished and together with my collaborator in this work, Laura Moore, we will begin sending the 30 page report to others for feedback.

2) Convene a meeting with women I know, many of which also happen to be iconic feminist leaders with a passion for Wonder Woman, to get their ideas about history, character, potential screenwriters and more. On the top of that list is Gloria Steinem, who I am blessed to know and is one of the world’s experts on Wonder Woman.

3) Meet with the Executive team at Warner Brothers who own the rights to Wonder Woman.

When I look back on my life, which I tend to do every year on January 1st, I want to know this. Did I do ‘what I could, with what I had’ to try to make the world a better place? I believe the universe, God, speaks to us all. If we are willing to both listen and work our passions will be revealed to us and in that we will find what it is we are uniquely called to do. It may become our jobs, it may be what we do in our spare time, it may be just how we affect the lives of a few, or the lives of countless we don’t even know. From the time I was a little girl I loved Wonder Woman, I loved superheros, and perhaps helping to show the world the Wonder Women who are among us every day, is just one of the many things I am supposed to be doing.

Why No Wonder Woman? ( from the white paper..)

Wonder Woman was created as a distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to ʻa world torn by the hatred of men.ʼ” For 70 years, Wonder Woman has stood as an icon of female empowerment, the embodiment of feminine strength, and ultimately, a hard core superhero who fights side by side with Superman and Batman, superhero icons in their own right. With the release of Superman in 1978, superheroes emerged from the back shelves of dusty comic book stores and burst onto the mainstream. Today, half a dozen comic book films are released a year, with budgets reaching up to $300,000,000 and bringing in billions of dollars at the box office. Batman is on his second franchise reboot, as is Spiderman, while Superman is currently enjoying his third. Even second tier or little known comic book heroes such as The Hulk or Hellboy have managed to rack up a pair of sequels between them. Yet in spite of all this, Wonder Woman remains conspicuously absent. Where is Diana, princess of the Amazons?

Continually published since 1942, her popularity and place in pop culture can not be disputed, yet for all that she has achieved, Wonder Woman remains in that most hated of industry spaces: development hell. Created by William Moulton Marston in 1941, Wonder Woman has come to represent the best of the feminist movement. She is a strong, independent, and intelligent warrior of the Amazons; someone who fights for truth, justice, and peace. Wonder Woman is loyal, honest, and courageous, and seeks to improve the world of humans; leading by example as she teaches the values of her Amazon sisters.

Wonder Woman has allies, allegiances, villains, and some impressive gadgets in the form of an invisible airplane and bullet deflecting bracelets. Yet in spite of this treasure trove of rich material from which to draw inspiration, Hollywood claims to be unable to come up with a good script for the big screen. At this point, this is simply unacceptable. It is time for Wonder Woman to emerge out of the depths of development hell and take her rightful place on celluloid alongside her male counterparts. Whether it is studio indifference, sexual discrimination, or a simple but widespread case of writer’s block that is causing Wonder Woman’s delay, it is time for the excuses to stop. Superheros represent the very best of peoplekind; what we are capable of when we are held accountable to a higher cause. What better cause then to ensure that every superhero’s voice has equal opportunity to be heard?

( by Laura Moore)

I would add this… In a world that continues to be plagued by violence, economic hardship and environmental destruction, and a media landscape that continues to underrepresent women, particularly in empowering leadership roles, we need a GREAT Wonder Woman film in hopes that it could prove a turning point not only for media, but for our societies in general. We need superheros, but we desperately need female superheros. It is time to make the reasons for, the results of, and the solutions to gender inequality visible and actionable. The long term outcome will most certainly be a more just and equitable world for all.

Sending you all my best wishes for a great 2012 and beyond.

Jacki Zehner

* to read all my entries on Wonder Woman use the search function.

other articles/sites

Wonder Woman: The Missing Superhero EW.com

The History of the Universe as told by Wonder Woman - a documentary film in process

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4U614Nv0ZU visual history of WW on YOUTUBE

A FACEBOOK group – Share the Wonder: The Marston Wonder Woman Message Project

2011-12-16T18:04:00.002-05:00

2011 - Not a great year in many respects - continued economic crisis, the big fat mess in Europe… nope, not going there. For me 2011 was a GREAT year! Why? Because I made some amazing friends in my new home town of Park City, my family has been healthy and happy, and I have been given the work opportunity of life time with a dream team of girl power at my side. ( you know who you are! H, M, N, J, J and Amanda) So coming from the space of abundance and gratitude I share with you “a few of my favorite things for 2011. ” Move over Oprah, Jacki’s list is here!!

Funniest Youtube Video- I hate to say that it’s true, but how often have you said these things to your friends, spouse, or boyfriend?

My favorite song- We Found Love by Rihanna . I got hooked when it become the opening song for one of my other new favorite things – Zumba!

Zumba is an exciting and energetic way to get in a great cardo workout and have fun while doing it. I have been going to The Law of Fitness in Park City, Utah with an amazing teacher Patrice Martin. She teaches everything from Pilates to Zumba to Funk and every class is like a party! She is so energetic and excited to whip you into the best shape of your life. It is my goal Patrice to help make you the next Tracy Anderson. My 11 ydar old daughter Allie goes with me and that makes it even that much better.

Favorite Beauty Product- In spring of 2011 Mac came out with fun new line from Wonder Woman! M∙A∙C Spring Colour 2011 is, “the feminine force that saves the day! No nemesis can match her super-sized Mineralize Skinfinish, Eye Shadows, Lipsticks and Powder Blush for this transformation!” It is a great collectors item and I love collecting anything Wonder Woman!

My Wonder Woman T-Shirt – Ok not a new favorite thing, but a classic! I order this tshirt by the dozens and give them to my favorite people. It you receive one you know the rule, you must take a picture of yourself in it and send it to me. I you have not received one for me send me an email telling be why you deserve one and I will send to the top 5 requests! pursepundit@gmail.com ( include your mailing address)

My Favorite New website for buying great gifts and all things handmade and Vintage: Etsy. My fav thing to buy as a gift are PeaceCords – a new product by the company ARZU, founded by my friend and former Goldman Collegue Connie Duckworth. Buy one for everybody and help the women of Afghanistan.

As I have taken on a new role as Co Chair of Women Moving Millions I have obsessively been reading books about philanthropy. Here are two, new, sure to be classics by authors I met this year, alongside by two other favs by women who are also my fav people!

Do More that Give - Leslie Crutchfield, John Kania and Mark Kramer. new

Giving $mart by Thomas Tierney and Joel Fleishman. new

Inspired Philanthropy: Creating a Giving Plan and Leaving a Legacy by Tracy Gary

The Generosity Plan: Sharing Your Time, Treasures, and Talent to Shape the World by Kathy LeMay

My favorite thing to watch this year are TED videos, especially the women. Hard to pick one out of the crowd by I really loved this one by Sheryl Sandburg of FACEBOOK at the inaugural TED Women Conference. (Why we have too few women leaders)

My favorite article – Do you sometimes read an article that literally gives you the chills because it speaks directly to something you have been thinking about? This is how I felt when I read the article called “Collective Impact” by John Kania and Mark Kramer appearing in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. The article frames how ‘large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination.” Since reading it I have adopted a “collective impact mind-set” with all the social change work I am doing.

My favorite drink – Ok it is a toss up between an alcoholic drink called “The Love Potion” and Vitamin Water Zero. Perhaps they balance each other out? One for the night and one for the morning after? The recipe for this fabulous drink – 2.5 shots citron vodka, 2 shorts Lillet (white), 2 shorts St. Germaine, and 1 cup grapefruit juice. YUM.

Lastly I am ending with my new fav joke. Always gotta have one to pull out in times of emergency.

What Religion is Your Bra?

A man walked into the ladies department of a Macy’s And shyly walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, “I’d like to buy a bra for my wife.” “What type of bra?” Asked the clerk. “Type?” inquires the man, “There’s more than one type?” “Look around,” Said the saleslady, As she showed a sea of bras in every shape, size, color And material imaginable. “Actually, Even with all of this variety, There are really only Four types of bras to choose from.” Relieved, the man asked About the types. The saleslady replied:

“There are the Catholic, The Salvation Army, The Presbyterian, And the Baptist types. Which one would you prefer?”

Now totally befuddled, The man asked about The differences between them. The Saleslady responded, “It is all really quite simple. ..

The Catholic type Supports the masses; The Salvation Army type lifts the fallen; The Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright; and The Baptist makes mountains out of mole hills.”

Have you ever wondered why A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, G, and H are the letters used To define bra sizes? If you have wondered why, But couldn’t figure out What the letters stood for, It is about time You became informed!

(A} Almost Boobs…

{B} Barely there…

{C} Can’t Complain!…

{D} Dang!…

{DD} Double dang!……

{E} Enormous!…

{F} Fake…

{G} Get a Reduction…

{H} Help me, I’ve fallen And I can’t get up!…

Once again have a Very Happy Holiday and a Gorgeous 2012! Jacki

A "Modern Miracle"

2011-12-14T13:53:00.009-05:00

“A Modern Miracle” was a top headline in the Financial Times yesterday. Your mind may be wandering to thoughts of a soldier coming home to his family, a lost child being found unharmed, a life saving surgery or other such heart-warming human stories. However, the article was referring to a violent video game, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," which has recently shattered video and movie game records. It is a "Modern (sales) Miracle." It was reported by Activision Blizzard Inc., the games distributor, that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 rang up $1 billion in sales just 16 days after it launched in stores Nov. 8. 2011. (NY Times 2011).

Activision, in a statement released Monday morning, placed Call of Duty in the same pantheon of other mega-entertainment franchises such as "Star Wars," "Harry Potter" and the "National Football League" (LA Times, Dec. 13, 2011). Unlike those ones this came is rated M for Mature and is about killing people. The Entertainment Software Rating Board defines M rating as, “Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.”

While the Call of Duty website requires visitors to enter their birthday (17 years and older are allowed to enter the site) it is hardly a practical form of parental control over such a violent site. Most recently, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has recruited popular actors like Sam Worthington (from Avatar), Jonah Hill (from Moneyball and Superbad) and Dwight Howard (NBA basketball star for the Orlando Magic), to star in a live-action trailer for the video game. In the Minute and a half long trailer guns and weapons of all types are constant reminders of the violent and crude nature of the game. If you want to take a look, click here.

Perhaps the most alarming statistics are for the trailer and the overall sales of the game. The trailer alone has received 17,640,028 million views and 31,775 comments since its November 8, 2011 release date. Many hit TV shows and movies will never see that kind of viewing. To put things into perspective, it took James Cameron's "Avatar," a record breaking 17 days to reap $1 billion after its release in 2009. It also went on to break multiple North American and worldwide box office records, including becoming the highest grossing movie of all time worldwide. Meanwhile, it only took 16 days for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 to reach $1 billion in sales. Of the top 10 titles sold on Amazon.com in 2011, six are violent and rated for mature audiences.

Top 10 titles sold on Amazon.com in 2011*

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision Blizzard) (Rated M for Mature)

2. Just Dance 3 (Ubisoft Entertainment) (Rated E 10+ for Everyone over 10)

3. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks) (Rated M for Mature)

4. Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) (Rated M for Mature)

5. Portal 2 (Electronic Arts) (Rated E 10+ for Everyone over 10)

6. Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros. Interactive) (Rated T for Teen)

7. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft) (Rated E 10+ for Everyone over 10)

8. Madden NFL 12 (Electronic Arts) (Rated E for Everyone)

9. Gears of War 3 (Microsoft) (Rated M for Mature)

10. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision) (Rated M for Mature) (LA Times 2011)

So is this the kind of "Modern Miracle" we should be celebrating? Further what is this saying about our culture? What is this saying about what our sons, our young men ( primarily) want to do with their spare time? Their downtime is spent killing people in more and more realistic ways. An amazing film which premiered at Sundance last year and likely to be an Academy Award Nominee is called "Hell and Back Again." This Film follows the US Marines Echo Company in Afghanistan, and one particular solider back to the US after an injury. What did he like to do in his spare time at home while in recovery? Play violent video games because they were so 'realistic' and gave him that rush which he so missed. I honor those serving our country but I also believe that violence is a drug. You can come to need it, even be addicted to it, and it can have horrible and devastating consequences for the individual, our families, our communities and our world.

My 11 year old daughter just started debate in school and her first assignment was on whether violent video games led to more violent behavior amongst school age children. Without citing all the compelling evidence the answer is yes. Do violent video games have anything to do with the increased level of random acts of violence that we seem to be witnessing more and more? I don't know, but doesn't common sense say perhaps?

My almost 15 year old son had 6 video games on his Christmas list, almost all of them violent M rated games. I stood in front of the rack at BESTBUY talking about them with him and the young male sales rep. The salesperson gave me a run down on them all - which ones involved killing real people ( women and children) versus aliens, how much blood generally spurted out when victims were shot, and so forth. I asked him if there were any games that were about solving world problems, helping people, and they both just laughed. He suggested I go over the Disney section.

Standing there I was reminded of a conversation I overheard two weeks ago on a plane. I was sitting beside a 13 year old boy and two younger boys across the aisle started talking about "Call Of Duty." There were no more than 8 years old. They were all talking about how awesome the video was, how they could not wait to get the game, how 'everyone' plays it. At the time I did not know much about the game but now I wish I would have ask that parent, 'what the heck was he thinking?"I am not perfect. My son has a couple of fighter games, but not the worse ones. I admit to cowering under the pressure of "come on mom, all my friends have these games and it's just not fair. They are not that bad. " He works so hard at school and a couple of hours of video games over the weekend truly seem to be his downtime, but it is breaking my heart.

The Christmas season is a time to take stock. It is a time to think about our family values and what messages we send our children by what we buy for them. Perhaps next year the "Modern Miracle" will be that violent video game sales are down, way down, and donations to charities that help people are way up. I know. Dream on.

Wishing you all the most joyful holiday season. Looking forward to sharing more in 2012.

Ted Women – part two

2011-12-08T11:49:00.002-05:00

Published to Jackizehner.com on December 2, 2011
Yes can you believe it. An unannounced speaker to TEDxWomen was none other than THE Barbara Streisand. Sure I think it is cool meeting celebrities, but Barbara is beyond a celebrity to me. When I was a young girl I used to play her music, cradling the album cover in my hands, and sing to her. “The Way We Were” could possibly be my fav film. Her and Robert Redford. Remember that scene where he fell asleep at the bar and with those long fingers she pushed his hair aside. Magical.

She was at TED to talk about “Women and Heart Disease” and introduce Dr. Noel BaireyMerzis, the director of the Cedars-Sinair Women’s Heart Center. That will be the topic of a future blog entry but suffice it to say it is the leading cause of death for women. Let’s imagine for a minute that heart disease gets the attention and funding it deserves. Imagine.

My hat is off to Pat Mitchell for a truly spectacular day. Spectacular. Last year in Washington was amazing but I have to say, this was better. The diversity of the speakers and performers was off the charts. It ranged from the three girls who recently won the GOOGLE science awards, to the legendary Jane Fonda. Al told there were over 30 speakers and my head is exploding with after thoughts. If that were not enough Debbie Reynolds was at the Paley Center giving an intimate tour of her costume collection that was there for display and auction. She is almost 80 years old and so charming, and funny, and well, just delightful. It was indeed a very special day.

TED Women LA – The Conversation Continues

2011-12-08T11:46:00.004-05:00

Published to Jackizehner.com on December 1, 2011

I am here in LA for TED x Women – The Conversation continues. The first session – Resilience- was great. All the speakers were amazing but I truly connected with the words of Gayle Tzemach Lemmonis, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributing editor-at-large for Newsweek Daily Beast. I have had met Gayle and she is truly, the real deal.

Gayle has interviewed women that are economic and social agents of change around the world. A few quotes from her remarks in somewhat freeform…

We do not invest in victimes we invest in survivors. We must move beyond micro thinking for women. Women are an emerging market in emerging markets. We need to replace lofty words with the power of our wallets. Investing in women is not about doing good but about economic growth. We are 50% of the population and not a special interest group. Never import other people’s limitations. Women are not exceptions. We need to think Bigger.

Check out Gayle’s book – The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Women Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe

For the full TED Women Schedule – click here

A shout out to the most incredible Pat Mitchell President and CEO of the Paley Center for Media. She is hosting this event and is a co founder of TED Women. I am so blessed to know some of the world’s most incredible women and Pat is most certainly at the top of that list. She is a tireless supporter of women. Tireless. Let us never lose hope in our goal to creating a more gender balanced world.

Deepak Chopra – The Soul Of Leadership

2011-12-08T11:43:00.003-05:00

Published to Jackizehner.com on November 29, 2011
It was a pleasure and honor today to be interviewed by Deepak Chopra, the author of more than fifty-five books, including his latest one “The Soul of Leadership.” This book, this interview, could not have come at a more important moment for me and is a perfect example of “Synchronicity.” In the book Mr. Chopra uses the acronym L-E-A-D-E-R-S to provide us with a very practical guide to the development of these crucial skills. S is my favorite – Synchronicity. He defines it as “the unseen intelligence that puts you in the right place at the right time.” That has been the story of my life….

I chose to go the finance route in college because of a party I went to while visiting the school that was filled with commerce students. They convinced me that a business undergrad would be much more practical then a liberal arts one en route to law school.

In my junior year three amazing men decided to create a portfolio management program at the University of British Columbia to give students the real life experience of running money. Their generosity led to some incredible work experience, which contributed greatly to me being hired to Goldman Sachs as an analyst in 1988.

Of all the possible positions I could have been chosen for at Goldman I ended up in mortgage-backed trading where I became the youngest woman and first female trader. People left at the right time to open up opportunities for me and thanks to amazing mentors my track was very short.

I became passionate about working on diversity and other human captial issues within the firm and the right people were there to make it happen. I truly loved that work and contributed greatly to know my second career, working for the advancement of women and girls around the world.

At the moment I was truly searching for a way to make a difference along came Women Moving Millions. This initiative to encourage women to make gifts of a million helped me step in to my capacity, not only as a donor, but as a leader.

Now as Co-Chair of this brand new organization I will need all the crucial skills Mr. Chopra so beautifully lays out in his book. He is encouraging us to be leaders that look and listen, that forge emotional bonds, that have a deep sense of awareness, that do, that empower others, and that accept responsibility. Imagine our world if these were the characteristics of the leaders in government and business today.

I take this invitation to be on his show as a sign. A sign that I am on the right path. A sign that working full-out on the advancement of women and girls is indeed my calling.

The show will air tomorrow and you can find it via this link.

For those visiting because of the radio show please find below the links mentioned:

Women Moving Millions - Our new web-site is coming soon but this will provide an overview of who we are and what we do.

Women’s Funding Network - A Global Network of over 160 women’s foundations around the world. Please consider supporting a local foundation of one that shares your interests and passions.

A Future Not a Past - To Stop the Child Prostitution of Children in Atlanta

Blessings and Peace.

* Sorry for the dated information – I am a former Vice Chair and current board member of the Women’s Funding Network.

Evelyn H. Lauder – Honoring an Incredible Wonder Woman

2011-12-08T11:36:00.003-05:00

Published to Jackizehner.com on November 20, 2011

On November 12th the world lost a very special woman and one of the leading philanthropists of our time. The cause of her death, at the age of 75, were complications of non-genetic ovarian cancer. She is survived by her beloved family: husband Leonard A. Lauder, her two sons William and Gary and five grandchildren. Though I could not attend the funeral as I was at a Women Moving Millions event in Washington, my thoughts and prayers were with her family. This week, while in New York City, I did have the opportunity to meet with Myra Biblowit, the magnificent President of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I left the BCRF board last year when I moved to Park City, but what an honor and a privilege it was to serve on it alongside Myra and Mrs. Lauder.

Mrs. Lauder’s life is a remarkable American success story. Born in Vienna, Austria, her parents fled from Europe with her during the Nazi occupation, eventually settling in New York City. Asleep when the ship bringing them to the United States arrived in New York Harbor, she awoke to see the Statue of Liberty. Mrs. Lauder would remember, and be inspired by, that symbol of hope for the rest of her life.

Mrs. Lauder was a philanthropic leader in New York City. She served on the Board of Overseers at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and on the boards of the Central Park Conservancy and the Evelyn and Leonard Lauder Foundation. Many other charities also benefited from Mrs. Lauder’s thoughtful guidance and renowned generosity, including nonprofits devoted to health and human services, education and inner-city schools, the environment, women’s causes, and the arts.

The public perhaps best knew Mrs. Lauder for her work in bringing global awareness to women’s health, a passion that stemmed from a personal experience with early stage breast cancer. In 1992, she co-created the Pink Ribbon, now recognized as the worldwide symbol of breast health, and launched the Estée Lauder Companies Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) Campaign (www.bcacampaign.com). Each year, the BCA Campaign raises funds through its brands, employees, and retail partners around the world to help support breast cancer research. Mrs. Lauder founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) in 1993 to provide crucial funds to breast cancer medical and scientific researchers around the world. BCRF (www.bcrfcure.org) has raised more than $350 million and supports 186 researchers globally. She believed wholeheartedly the the prevention and cure for breast cancer resides in funding innovative research.

I would be hard pressed to name a woman who more fully used her resources – her money, her heart, her corporate affiliation, her business savvy, her network, her time – to make a difference in the lives of others. She boldly stepped out in front to be a leader in this movement to find a cure for all kinds of cancers. After sharing many stories about Mrs. Lauder over coffee at the Palace Diner on 57th street with Myra we ended thinking that “so many have great ideas, but only a small percent act on them, and an even smaller percentage result in sustainable action.” Without Mrs. Lauder there would be no pink ribbon, their would be no BCRF, and the movement to end breast cancer would not be one of the most well funded movements of our time.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Evelyn Lauder Founder’s Fund, 60 E. 56 St., 8th floor, New York, NY 10022, or www.bcrfcure.org . Please consider a donation. Blessings……………

Frank Coulson - A Man Who Truly Made A Difference

2011-11-22T22:19:00.001-05:00

Last Friday I was travelling home from New York City and started a conversation with the man sitting next to me. In short order we figured out that he was a good friend of the daughter of a dear friend of ours. A few minutes later another connection was made. A colleague travelling with him used to work at Goldman Sachs in the Philadelphia office. In chatting with this gentleman the conversation quickly went to someone I knew we both knew well from that office, Frank Coulson.

Frank was a partner in the fixed income division and a truly legendary bond salesman. I told my new friend that I would very likely not be on this plane, not be doing what I am doing now, if it were not for Frank Coulson. I went on to tell him the story about the largest single trade I ever did as a mortgage backed bond trader at Goldman, and that trade was with Frank. The story of that trade is forever captured in the book “More Than 85 Broads: Women Making Career Choices, Taking Risks, and Defining Success on Their Own Terms.”

The story contrasts how two men treated a young woman (me) on the trading floor one particular day, doing her best to be the best trader she could be. Frank was the hero of the story. Frank was the hero because on that day he trusted me, despite my inexperience, to execute a huge trade for his best client when he could have easily gone over my head. That day, that trade, that TRUST truly changed my life. It was that day I realized I could survive and maybe even thrive as a Wall Street Trader.

After sharing that story I went back to my seat, grabbed my journal and started writing about Frank. Today I heard that Frank Coulson passed away. My deepest condolences go to Frank’s family. He was a spectacular man and I am grateful to have known and worked with him. He really did change my life.

Jennifer Buffet and Women Moving Millions

2011-11-20T16:19:00.004-05:00

(From www.jackizehner.com November 13th)

I have the honor and pleasure of knowing and working with one of the most noteable women philanthropists of our time, Jennifer Buffet, President of the Novo Foundation. Today I am off to Washington, DC, where I am Co Chairing a Women Moving Millions event with her and the equally fabulous Ambassador Swanee Hunt, President of The Hunt Alternatives Fund. This is our final event of the year and it promised to be amazing. Guest speakers include Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman Nan Hayworth, Treasure of the United States Rosie Rios, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congresswoman Donna Edwards, Barbara Lee - Founder and President of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation and many more.

We are focussing on three main topic and issue areas: Advocacy - what it is and how to do it, Women Stopping War and Economic Security Through a Gender Lens. I will be sure to report back.

A fabulous friend and philanthropic consultant Tuti Scott ( of Imagine Philantrhopy) shared this with me yesterday about Jennifer. Very much worth sharing. Jennifer we love you and appreciate all you do to make the world a better place.

Jennifer Buffett – 10 Concepts worth Sharing

By Tuti B. Scott ( Imagine Philanthropy)

Jennifer Buffett will change the world. You may not know her now, but when all is said and done I believe she will own the title, The First Lady of Women’s Social Change Philanthropy. Jennifer is the life size symbol of NoVo – to alter, invent. The NoVo Foundation she created with her husband Peter is based on the premise that if you give a girl an opportunity, she will become a successful woman who will in turn create successful communities, businesses, and families. Jennifer’s story is just that.

After deep examination of the focus of their philanthropy and a personal examination of her own expression of her values and influence, Jennifer is speaking around the world sharing her personal story and experiences. She and her husband Peter spent years examining the interrelation between systems, culture, and relationships to determine place of impact and opportunity for change before launching the largest foundation serving women and girls, the NoVo Foundation. Jennifer has incredible perspective to offer activists, social change drivers, and philanthropists and after hearing her recently, I distilled these ten concepts that are worth sharing;

1. Look at the roots of the problems, examine patterns and themes and find the programs and the stories that rule the world and which ones make sense.

2. Acknowledge two conflicting truths: 1. Girls and women are the primary drivers of change. 2. Cultural attitudes and systems put girls in a vicious cycle; blaming them and affirming that they are not valued. The girl effect demonstrates that if you invest in a girl, her family thrives, she contributes to her community, and eventually her country succeeds.

3. Invest in places where value is held and not yet recognized. Note: there are 600 million adolescent girls living in the developing world who are currently ‘undervalued assets’.

4. Value balance and partnership and affirm feminine values.

5. Encourage women to use their voice, say what is want and needed, take credit, and invite men to join as equal partners and co-creators.

6. As a woman, choose to be seen and heard and work to change the course of the boat named Earth Community.

7. Improve gender dynamics by recognizing that the qualities in the masculine ‘toolbox’ - force, hierarchy, punitive, and a focus on head not heart - are learned, normalized, and internalized.

8. Honor and showcase the characteristics found in the feminine toolbox; listening, connectedness, experiential learning, honoring innate cycles and rhythms, and wholeness.

9. Establish learning environments that allow for inquiry and participation.

10. As conduits of feminine energies, allow the most precious qualities of clarity, strength, knowing and vulnerability of yourself to come into full light.

Thank you Tuti. Well said.

( Pictured with Linda Basch - President of the National Council for Research on Women, Jennifer Buffet, Lisa Witter - Partner, Fenton Communications and author of "The She Spot", yours truly)

Evelyn Lauder - Honoring a True Wonder Woman

2011-11-20T16:16:00.003-05:00

On November 12th the world lost a very special woman and one of the leading philanthropists of our time, Evelyn Lauder. The cause of her death, at the age of 75, were complications of non-genetic ovarian cancer. She is survived by her beloved family: husband Leonard A. Lauder, her two sons Willian and Gary and five grandchildren. Though I could not attend the funeral as I was at a Women Moving Millions event in Washington, my thoughts and prayers were with her family. This week, while in New York City, I did have the opportunity to meet with Myra Biblowit, the magnificent President of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I left the BCRF board last year when I moved to Park City, but what an honor and a privilege it was to serve on it alongside Myra and Mrs. Lauder.

Mrs. Lauder was a philanthropic leader in New York City. She served on the Board of Overseers atMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and on the boards of the Central Park Conservancy and the Evelyn and Leonard Lauder Foundation. Many other charities also benefited from Mrs. Lauder’s thoughtful guidance and renowned generosity, including nonprofits devoted to health and human services, education and inner-city schools, the environment, women’s causes, and the arts.

I would be hard pressed to name a woman who more fully used her resources - her money, her heart, her corporate affiliation, her business savvy, her network, her time - to make a difference in the lives of others. She boldly stepped out in front to be a leader in this movement to find a cure for all kinds of cancers. After sharing many stories about Mrs. Lauder over coffee at the Palace Diner on 57th street with Myra we ended thinking that "so many have great ideas, but only a small percent act on them, and an even smaller percentage result in sustainable action." Without Mrs. Lauder there would be no pink ribbon, their would be no BCRF, and the movement to end breast cancer would not be one of the most well funded movements of our time.

Koinonia and a "Luv-o-lu-tion"

2011-11-06T21:27:00.005-05:00

Koinonia. Up until this morning I had never heard of this word. It is a greek word that appears in the bible which in translation means deep fellowship. Not fellowship as in “let’s hang out at the bowling alley together,” but rather fellowship as in “I will lay down my life down for you.” It means caring so much about the relationship that it leads to a profound shift in both attitudes and behavior.

Who are you in Koinonia with? God? Your spouse? Your kids? Your friends? Think about what it would mean to our world if we were in Koinonia with everyone. The world is in deep need. People are in deep need. Maybe you are in deep need. The solution to need is easy in principle, but hard in action. The solution is generosity. The solution is a Luv-o-lu-tion. ( noun: A dramatic change in the way love works)

Needless to say I had myself a little church this morning, ( K2 in Salt Lake City to be exact), but this message goes beyond my church. This message goes beyond any church. In a world of injustice and pain and suffering and poverty and us versus them and war and terrorism and “Occupy Wall Street” this is a solution.

My 14 year old son is skeptical. Though he admits we should all try to do something good, to be good, he feels it will not collectively make a difference. I respectfully disagree. If we all “ do what we can with what we have where we are” it will make a huge difference. For me giving up on each other is really not an option. Feeling insignificant is not an option. I aspire to live a generous life which my pastor put this way:
- Take time to acknowledge all you have. Give thanks and live in that “attitude of gratitude.”
- Once you have given thanks, no matter how much or how little, but especially if how much, release your grip on it. We are stewards not owners.
- Try to live in “Koinonia.” Live in fellowship and love with one another and be as generous as you can be to each other. Respond to those in need. “Do what you can……

I am sharing this not as a teacher, but as a student. I am not as generous as I can be. I am not as kind as I can be. I am not alot of things I want to be but I can promise you I wake up every day and try. Greed and fear and privilege and entitlement are demons I reckon with ever day. For me, it will be my love and relationship with God that helps loosen their grip.

May you have a blessed day.

We sang the song “I Will Follow You” by Chris Tomlin at church today. It is one of my favorite gospel tunes. If you want to listen click here.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Women's Economic Empowerment

2011-10-19T16:11:00.002-04:00

After previously serving in the House of Representatives since 2006, Kirsten Gillibrand was sworn in as Hillary Clinton’s replacement as New York State Senator in January 2009, and was later re-elected in November 2010 with 63% of the vote. Since her days as a lawyer taking on pro bono cases defending battered women, to working with Hillary Clinton to encourage women to enter politics and leadership, Gillibrand has always taken a strong stance towards the advancement of women and girls.

Gillibrand was formerly the leader of the Women’s Leadership Forum, and now as Senator, she has launched www.offthesidelines.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women realize the potential impact they can have on our country. Whether it is through political office, advocacy, or by simply taking a more active role in their community, Off the Sidelines provides women with the resources needed to make their voices heard.

Yesterday, Gillibrand’s office released Women’s Economic Empowerment Summit, a research paper highlighting the economic plight of women in America, and how women can be utilized to help improve our nation’s economy. The full paper can be downloaded at http://gillibrand.senate.gov/ and it is full of some very sobering statistics, reminding us all that there is still so much work to be done to level the economic playing field between women and men.

You can also find this research paper in the resources section of this website. We’ve recently expanded and updated this section to include literally hundreds of research papers, articles, books and websites, as well as fact sheets for various women’s issues. Check back to this section often, as we are continuously updating as new information becomes available.

written by Laura Moore (the incredible cousin of Jacki Zehner)

2011-10-19T13:04:00.001-04:00

Philanthropy is commonly known as the act of giving away money to charitable causes. But for those who are lucky enough to pursue philanthropy full time, it is a well known fact that philanthropy is a much more involved process than simply writing a cheque. It is a deeply personal process that forces donors to ask themselves: “What cause am I most passionate about?” and “How can I make a difference?” To the uninitiated, this can be a daunting task, and that’s why The Bridgespan Group has launched www.givesmart.org, a website designed to help donors make the most of their philanthropic gifts.

In addition to the website, a supplementary book titled Give Smart: Philanthropy that Gets Results by Thomas J. Tierney and Joel L. Fleishman has been published to further help guide philanthropic donors in their endeavours. I had the honor of meeting Thomas last week while in San Fransisco. Something he said really resonated with me as it was what I have been feeling. He said that many donors feel that giving of their time and expertise is more important than money. This is not to say that the money is not important, it is very important, but to me money absent the connection to the heart, absent the connection to passion, absent the connection to purpose, risk being transactional and not transformational. Since I have made that connection of passion to purpose to expertise to money, it has made my giving so much more meaningful and I believe, impactful.

Give Smart asks six essential questions:

1) What Are My Values and Beliefs?

2) What is “Success” and How Can It Be Achieved?

3) What Am I Accountable for?

4) What Will It Take To Get The Job Done?

5) How Do I Work With Grantees?

6) Am I Getting Better?

In answering these questions, donors are given the tools needed to start their philanthropic journey, make a difference in the charitable interests about which they are passionate, and hopefully help them to change the world for the better.

Jacki Zehner and Laura Moore

2011-10-19T12:57:00.001-04:00

Starting tomorrow, Tuesday October 11th, THIRTEEN, the most watched public television station in the United States, begins the five week series Women, War & Peace. This series comprises of five documentaries that examine the changing roles of women in wartime conflicts, both as casualties of war and as brokers of peace. War has traditionally been defined as a man’s domain, but the changing nature of modern warfare, and the unconventional and constantly evolving battlefields have allowed for women to take on unprecedented capacities in the operation of war.

Some truly inspirational and courageous women are taking the stand to fight for women’s rights in developing countries. From Bosnia to Columbia, Afghanistan to Liberia, women the world over are stepping up to demand justice in countries torn apart by years of insurgency. They are speaking out against the practice of using women as wartime weapons, and the cruelty and inhumane methods deployed against women on the battlefield for centuries.

Women, War & Peace promises to be a groundbreaking series on the topic of women in wartime, and is a television event you do not want to miss. Our foundation is a proud supporter of this and I thank fellow WMMer Abigail Disney and Fina Reticker for their incredible work. You are my SHEROS. Titles and airdates are below; please check your local listings for times.

Tuesday, October 11th – I Came to Testify, narrated by Matt Damon

Tuesday, October 18th – Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Tuesday, October 25th – Peace Unveiled, narrated by Tilda Swinton

Tuesday, November 1st – The War We Are Living, narrated by Alfre Woodard

Tuesday, November 8th – War Redefined, narrated by Geena Davis

For more info, please visit http://www.thirteen.org/wwp/

The Girl Effect

2011-10-04T11:25:00.003-04:00

There are currently 600 million adolescent girls in developing countries, and for many of them, their future looks bleak. Countless numbers of them face a life of early marriage and pregnancies, vulnerability to HIV, hunger, poverty, and no ability to provide for their families or even to control the circumstances of their lives.

Faced with this reality, the Nike Foundation and the Novo Foundation started The Girl Effect, a campaign to end the cycle of poverty for women in developing countries. They believe that when you invest in a girl through education, access to health care services, freedom from violence, and access to resources, she can grow into her potential and become an important member of her family, her community, and the world at large. I believe that too.

Today bloggers around the world are celebrating this important initiative. Please watch the video, go to www.girleffect.org to take action, and celebrate the power of our girls to change the world for the better.

Some facts: ( find more in my resource section)

-1.7 billion people in the world earn less than $1 per day
-60% of the working poor in the world are women
-7 out of 10 people going hungry are women and girls
-Two thirds of the world's unpaid work is being done by women, amounting to the equivalent of nearly 50% of the world GDP
-Women earn 5% of the world's income
-Women own 1% of the world's property
-Two thirds of the children who are denied primary education are girls
-75% of illiterate adults are women

A Thelma and Louise 20th Anniversary Celebration

2011-09-30T13:32:00.002-04:00

2011 marks the 20^th Anniversary of the release of Thelma and Louise, a film primarily filmed in Utah (my new home state). This past Wednesday Geena Davis came to back our state to participate in a celebration that marks the 10^th anniversay of the Utah Film Center, and to also raise awareness around the work of her foundation, The Geena Davis Institute for Gender in the Media (I serve on it’s advisory board). We had a beautiful gathering for her in a private home and also a public screening and Q & A around the film.

Released in 1991, Thelma and Louise made an instant mark on pop culture, and was expected to open the floodgates for female driven films in the years to come. Ha Ha. Twenty years later, people are still waiting for those floodgates to open. This past summer yielded the success of Bridesmaids and The Help, but these successes were labelled unexpected, with many Hollywood insiders doubting the films’ bankability. It would appear that nothing has changed in the twenty years since Thelma and Louise drove off into the sunset in that ’66 Thunderbird convertible.

It is this inequality in Hollywood that caused Geena Davis to found the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004. Fueled by watching children’s programs with her kids, Davis realized that there was a substantial lack of female characters in children’s entertainment. In response, the Institute commissioned the largest research study at that point on gender in film and television, and came to the conclusion that only one out of every four characters in children’s entertainment were females. Furthermore, this statistic has remained virtually unchanged since 1946.

It is this fact that Geena Davis and her organization seek to change through advocacy, research, and the education of Hollywood on the need for more female characters in the media. It is their hope, that by 2016 when they repeat their research, the results will show a significant improvement. At the event in Salt Lake City, Davis spoke of the impact Thelma and Louise had on women at the time, and described how women would approach her and literally grab at her clothes in an effort to make sure she heard how much the film had effected their lives. Clearly there is a void in Hollywood where female voices need to be heard. Thankfully, there are people like Geena Davis coming in to fill it.

On a personal note, as I sat in the darkened theater watching that film I realized how much I have changed since I first saw the film in New York City in my mid- twenties. Then, I am sure I percieved it as a great story with two fantastic women characters who kicked some ass. It is likely I went to work the next day as a bond trader at Goldman Sachs and spoke to my all male trading desk about ‘girl power.’ Perhaps I even quoted that line in the middle of the film where Thelma asked the crying police officer to climb into the trunk of the car and warned him to “be nice to his wife or she could turn out just like me” (a gun wiedling fugitive wanted for murder and armed robbery). But then I left the movie behind and I don’t think I stopped to wonder why I never saw another film like it. I don’t remember asking myself why there were not more films like this, and why was it that almost everything I watched over the next decade had men as the heros and women as only the victims or arm candy.

Now I am 46 and have spent the last 10 years focussed on the advancement of women and girls. Now I see that the attempted rape was not just a scene in a movie, but in fact “1 in 6 American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.” Now I see that that Louise’s courage to say enough is enough, and it is “not ok” perhaps opened the door for countless women to do so. Now I see that violence against women continues to be a pressing issue in our society and the only way we can ever hope to stop it is if women and men, together, say enough is enough, and work to end it.

What also struck me in the film this time, which I am sure I did not notice the first time around, is how much more beauitful the women became on their journey. They started out with barbie doll style make-up and hair, uptight clothing, and a car full of luggage. They were like actors in their own life play, dressed up for the parts of submissive wife, waitress, and more. By the end of the film all that had been stripped away, and their authentic beauty, inside and out, was all we could see. Their iconic journey was one of discovering their true selves and my oh my, isn’t that the universal journey we are all on?

Geena stated that women still come up to her today, telling her how empowering the film was and how it changed their lives. She joked at the irony that a film where the two lead characters commit suicide at the end would have that effect. Well it sure did. I want more films like Thelma and Louise, only this time, can we let them live?

Jacki Zehner with much help from Laura Moore

Turn of the Tide? Women and Television

2011-09-21T12:22:00.004-04:00

Guest Post by Laura Moore

Last Monday night the hotly anticipated ninth season premiere of Two and a Half Men aired on CBS. Normally, shows that are entering their ninth season have long since passed their creative peaks and are limping out one last season for syndication profits. However, this premiere was different because it was the first episode to air since Charlie Sheen’s spectacular public meltdown and subsequent firing last spring, and the debut episode of his replacement, Ashton Kutcher. Tuesday morning the overnight ratings came out, and they were HUGE. Over 28 million viewers, and a 10.7 ratings share in the 18-49 demographic. For those unfamiliar with ratings, those numbers are staggering, and larger than the past three seasons ofAmerican Idol, long the number one rated show on television. But for all the headlines Men’s ratings are generating, another story is getting shoved under the rug.

Airing immediately after Two and a Half Men, the new sitcom2 Broke Girls premiered to nearly 20 million viewers and a 7.1 share, easily becoming the second most watched show Monday night, and is on track to become the highest rated debut this television season. One could argue that 2 Broke Girls benefitted greatly from its lead in, but numbers are numbers, and those 20 million people could have easily changed the channel once Men rang in its final credits. Instead, they decided to stay tuned to what was reportedly CBS’s highest scoring pilot among test audiences, and what was listed by several critics as one of the best new shows of the season. More importantly, 2 Broke Girls is at the forefront of what industry insiders are calling the year of female domination on broadcast television.

Of the 24 new shows to debut this fall, 14 are centered on a female character, compared to 7 that are centered on male characters, and of those, the majority of these men are struggling to determine what it means to be a man in a television landscape dominated by strong women. Even more telling are the behind the scenes statistics: six out of the ten new sitcoms were created by women, and the creators of ABC’s Revenge only got the go ahead once they changed their lead character to a women. Furthermore, viewership statistics show that women account for up to 65% of primetime viewing, meaning that advertisers are starting to demand shows that will deliver large female audiences. Looking at this season’s line up of new shows, it would appear that the television industry is finally delivering.

Television isn’t the only industry getting on the female bandwagon; Hollywood is starting to take notice as well. The summer season of Hollywood blockbusters has just ended, and in a season dominated by male superheroes, Bridesmaids has emerged has the underdog winner of the summer. Made on a budget of $32 million, written by two women, and starring a pitch perfect ensemble of women, Bridesmaids has now pulled in over $280 million worldwide, beating out a lot of other blockbuster juggernauts at the box office in turns of profits vs. budget.

While Bridesmaids was the story of the beginning of the season, then The Help was the story of the end of the season. Debuting in August in second place behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Help went on to win the next three weekends at the box office, eventually pulling in over $150 million on a $25 million budget. This is all the more impressive given that August is the month that has commonly been known as the wasteland of summer movies, where films go to die.

So do these successes signal a turn of the tide? Only time will tell, but the immediate future looks promising. What’s Your Number? another female driven and written R-rated comedy is set to be released next week, and reports are that in the wake of Bridesmaids’ success, Hollywood producers are being inundated with scripts both written by and featuring women. Moreover, it is telling that the highest rated comedy on TV has put a heartbroken computer geek in the place of TV’s ultimate womanizing manwhore. Although the history of television tells us that over half of all new shows to debut in any given season will eventually fail, the odds are for once squarely in favor of women. One can only hope that this trend will continue, so we can finally arrive at a point where characters of either sex have equal opportunity to flourish and a television season can be judged solely on its artistic merits instead of the gender behind it.

For more information on women’s progress in media, look into the following organizations; both offer weekly newsletter updates.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/#

http://www.thegeenadavisinstitute.org/

Poverty in the United States

2011-09-21T12:14:00.002-04:00

This week we got some unsettling news on income, poverty, and education that should leave us all deeply concerned.

Here are the facts from the census bureau as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

- the income of the typical American family has dropped for the third year in a row, is at the same level as 1996 when adjusted for inflation and 7% below its peak in 1999

-income of a household considered to be at the statistical middle fell 2.3% to an inflation-adjusted $49,445 in 2010

-Earnings of a typical man who works full-time year round are lower than in 1978 when adjusted for inflation

-Women are making 77 cents for every dollar earned by comparably employed men and their median incomes rose in 2010

-22% of American children live below the poverty line, up from 20.7% in 2009, and the biggest percentage since 1993 ( thought this significantly overstates poverty my mission government transfers)

-US per capita net worth is $169,691, up from $147,889 in 2007

-14 million Americans remain unemployed

-16.3% of Americans do not have health insurance, or 49.9 million people.

-5.9 million Americans between 25 and 34 (14.2% of that group) lived with their parent in Spring 2011, compared to 4.7 million (11.8%) before the recession

- the results from the college entrance exam, taken by about 1.6 million students, revealed that only 43% of students posted a score high enough to indicate they were ready to succeed at college.

(for many more FACTS check out the resource section of this web-site)

President Obama on Job Creation

2011-09-08T19:50:00.004-04:00

Here is my recount of the speech tonight. Where possible, I quoted. Thoughts at the end.

“We meet at an urgent time in our country. We still face the impact of the Financial Crisis and Political Crisis that has made things worse.”The U.S. has thrived under the basic concept that if you worked hard, you could make it in this country. That has eroded.“There are steps we can take right now to make a difference.”“American Jobs Act” – pass it right away. (most repeated line of the night) “Everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything. Point to put more people back to work, and more money in the pockets of people who are working. Small businesses are where most jobs are created.” Payroll tax credits for small business. Next. Spend money on schools. We will spend money on infrastructure. Tax credits for hiring veterans. Tax credits for hiring young people. Tax people who have been looking for a job for longer than 6 months. Extend unemployment insurance. No tax increases on the middle class.

Now… how to fund.

I will release a more ambitious deficit reduction plan next week… which includes increasing taxes on families earning more, as well as corporations. Medicare reform needed. “We need a tax code where everyone pays their fair share.”

Says we can do this. Create jobs and pay for it. A question of priorities. We need to out innovate companies in other countries. We need to shorten the patent process. Make exporting easier and more cost effective. We need to strengthen American company’s competitiveness. “Made in America.” ( lots of cheers) Training. Internships. Ra Ra.

“We can’t afford wasteful spending. We can’t burden business. I ordered a review of all government regulations. What we can’t do is let this economic crisis be used to wipe out basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades.” He rejects a lot of ideas…. (all good) “America should be in a race to the top.” ( lots of cheers)

“We built America together.” Members of Congress we need to meet our responsibilities. Everything I laid out will be paid for. ( really????)

Ended with a huge and passionate call to action. We cannot wait to pass this jobs bill.

My commentary…

Overall a really great speech. Big picture he spoke well to the issue of job creation, but it is the actual policies and practices that matter. Sounded great. Problem is that based on what I have read there is not enough money in taxing the rich and closing loopholes for corporations to fund new programs and tax breaks, let alone narrow the deficit. This was a pep rally for all things American, and it was good. We do have to come together to solve problems. Many are in serious need and to help. Agree.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Debt. Debt. Debt.

2011-09-06T16:58:00.001-04:00

Debt. Debt. Debt. That was all we heard about this summer and with good reason. The US is in horrible shape and the numbers below put it all in perspective.

Here is why S&P downgraded the US credit rating.

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000

* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000

* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

* Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000

Now let's remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget.

* Annual family income: $21,700

* Money the family spent: $38,200

* New debt on the credit card: $16,500

* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

* Total budget cuts: $385

This Thursday the President is being called upon to explain how is going to get the economy going again. Unlike the last go around, his options are more limited. Because of the numbers above which we have all been living and breathing for the fast few months, he does not have the ability to keep spending, nor should he. The public is demanding jobs but the problem is that our economy was fueled by spending financed through debt, and that has all but dried up. It is time to get creative and provide incentives for the private sector to invest and thus create employment opportunites. We are likely going to be in this slow to no growth scenerio for a while. For those expecting miracles, you may have a long time to wait

I'm BACK

2011-09-01T22:52:00.003-04:00

What a summer! For the first time in forever I gave myself permission to take some time off and it was wonderful. Honestly, I kept thinking about this blog ( especially after watching the film Julia and Julia with my daughter) wondering how my readers might get along without me. Well I trust you all got along just fine but it is good to be back.

I am soon going to make the big move from BLOGSPOT to www.jackizehner.com so if you have not yet visited my web-site and signed up there, please do. Unlike blogspot you can elect to have my entries emailed directly to you. In addition I am populating the site with some great resources that I hope you might find interesting and useful including a robust library and events list.

So what to expect this fall? Lots more sharing about great people, ideas, organizations and more. Since kicking in to high gear this week I have already had some incredible calls with amazing women I will feature in upcoming entries - Abassador Swannee Hunt ( check out her latest Oped in the Boston Globe appearing today), Jensine Larson of World Pulse, Pat Mitchell of the Paley Center for Media and Lisa Witter of Fenton Communications.

It's good to be back.

The Debt Ceiling and the US Economy

2011-08-01T18:49:00.006-04:00

Not a small topic for a short blog entry. For weeks the headlines have been all about the US hitting their debt ceiling and the possibility of a default on government debt. Now it seems like we have a 'deal' that will stop that from happening, a deal that likely no one really understands let alone buys in to. That said, thank goodness there is one. One could only imagine what the consequences of a default might have been, but it might well be the case that we begin to live them out due to lack of faith that the government of this great country of ours may be ever able to stop us from drowning in debt. Monika Mitchell of Good Business International gives a great overview of this crisis which you can access by clicking here.

Many have been asking my opinion about the economy, the equity markets, the bond market and more, so here it is in brief. I would continue to hold cash, gold, fundamentally strong global equities, commodities broadly speaking over the long run, and not much else right now. Further it is likely that the US dollar will continue on it's long term descent, so beware that if all you own are dollar denominated assets your purchasing power will be eroded away.

Why concern on US equities? I believe the fundamentals remain very poor. Yes corporate earnings and balance sheets are strong but because of cost cutting primarily, which is largely done. Without a robust domestic consumer how much hope can their be? Further the economic numbers have been horrible - employment, GDP, and more. I am particularly worried about the financials given that spreads (difference in yield between government bonds and corporate/mortgage/high yield debt ) in general are narrow, issuance is down, and the poor real estate market will work it's way in to write-offs.

US bonds. Rates are so low, artificially low due to the huge treasury buying program which cannot go on forever. You are simply not getting paid enough to go long duration. For more on this read the latest commentary by bond manager/guru Bill Gross of PIMCO.

Gold - protection against a depreciating dollar, financial insecurity, and the declining faith in the US dollar as the currency of choice. For so much more on gold check out this website - JSmineset.

Sorry wish I could be more positive on both the economic and market outlook but I really see little good news out there. Bottom line we have spent beyond on our means for some time now, at multiple levels, and sooner or later you have to pay the price.

I am officially taking a blogging vacation so wishing you all a fabulous August.

New Study Shows Working Mothers Do No Harm to Their Young Children

2011-07-23T10:50:00.003-04:00

A new "long-term study by University College London suggests young girls fare better if their mothers go out to work." (link to article and study) I wish that wasn't the headline. I wish that we were past needing or wanting studies and headlines like this that pit working mothers against stay at home ones. Reality is though we still live in a world were women who work, whether by pure economic need or other reasons, are too often made to feel or just feel, that their children will suffer because of it.

We also still live in a country that does not do enough to support working parents. "The ideal scenario for children of both sexes was for both parents to live at home and for both to be working, a finding that will encourage policymakers' moves to help families stay together, if not critics of the rising numbers of working mothers." This should have been the headline for the research. Policies and practices like maternity leave, pay-equity, paid sick leave, compassionate leave are not women's issues, they are family issues and need increasingly to be framed as such for the health of our children, our communities and our nation.

To learn more about the issues please check out the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

The Bumbling of the Sexes in the Modern Workplace

2011-07-19T22:42:00.003-04:00

My latest article, "The Bumbling of the Sexes in the Modern Workplace" was just published on Women Advisors Forum, a new online community of women investment professionals. It offers a fresh take on 'bad behavior' in the workplace. The kind of behavior I wrote about does not make headlines but may be one of many reasons why women are still far from achieving greater success in critical mass in the workplace.

Life Lessons and Never Give up!

2011-07-11T11:03:00.005-04:00

I have an 11 year old daughter, Allie, who loves soccer. (pictured left as a snowy spring game in Park City )It started at the age of 4 when I began coaching her mixed team. She and her teammates would run around in little packs, sometimes kicking the ball, sometimes not, but they were out on the field as a team and loving every second of it.

Every season since then she has played. It went from mom coaching to now a professional coach in the Park City League. She practices two to three times a week and we drive her all over Utah it for games and tournaments. In her spare time she is often out there with the soccer ball practicing keeping the ball in the air and her power kicks. Her dad is often out there with her as she has long since passed the skill level of her mother. Watching the two of them together, and her out on the field, makes my heart sing.

We have been watching the watching the Women's World Cup Soccer matches as a family, and yesterday's game between the USA and Brazil will be a time I hope I never forget. (read here) The USA was in the lead early but the game was later tied due to a penalty kick Brazil had on goal that involved a very harsh call by the referee. The US then found themselves down a player for the rest of the game, and Brazil subsequently scored in OT to make the score 2 to 1. It was in the last minutes of overtime play that the US scored the most amazing goal I have every seen. It was to be decided in penalty kicks and the US won.

This team never gave up. They did not allow a referee's horrible call to take away their drive to win, but rather it seemed they used the injustice of it to motivate them. They supported one another and gave it their total all to the very end. Their focus, their intensity, their sense of team was one of the most spectacular moments in women's sports that I have every seen. We were all jumping around the living room screaming and in the middle of it all was my daughter Allie. I have no doubt for a very long time to come when she is feeling defeated and down on that soccer field, and maybe even in life, she will remember that moment. I know I will. If you really want something, never give up.

link to video of the game click here.

John Hunstman

2011-07-03T15:51:00.002-04:00

Just shortly before John Huntsman announced that he would be running for President on June 21st Greg and I had the opportunity to meet him at a small gathering in Salt Lake City.

First impressions? He was a very good speaker, poised, and delivered a strong message which he undoubtedly will be taking on the road. The message was a call for an industrial revolution in the US and renewed faith in the innate strength and leadership of America and the American people.

While serving as Ambassador to China he saw first hand the growth potential of that country but he was bothered how it seemed that many in the US were ready to hand over the top dog position in terms of being a global power. He does not see it that way. He sees the US as having so much that a country like China aspires toward and the call is for the American people to see it that way too.

Are US debt levels unacceptable to him? Yes. Is there a need for tax reform, energy reform, regulatory reform and health care reform? Yes. Is he tired of the divisiveness in this country? Yes. Are lessons is civil discourse needed? Yes. In his short remarks to a very friendly audience filled with close friends and family members he has enthusiastically received. Could he make a great President? Way to early to tell but there is no doubt about his aspirations.

For the record I am neither Democrat nor Republican. I am Canadian!

Bridesmaids - The Movie

2011-06-23T23:03:00.005-04:00

This entry is not about "money, markets or changing the world" but I feel called to share. Two nights ago I went to see the film Bridesmaids with my mom and it was absolutely entertaining and hilarious. Ok I admit it, I have a somewhat crude sense of humor at times, but can you blame me after spending over 10 years on a trading floor? The film was written by two fabulous women writers, Kristen Wiig ( who is also the main actor) and Annie Mumolo. It "took its cue from the success of buddy comedies like “The Hangover,” but aimed it at a female cast and female anxieties, with a poop scene as its most memorable set piece. In the process, the Judd Apatow-produced Universal comedy seems to have single-handedly gestated a new movie genre." ( read the full article here)

For the record I really did not like The Hangover. I also disliked Knocked Up (both were DVD rentals and I am embarrassed to even say I watched them) so you might call me a hypocrite for loving Bridesmaids but I am willing to live with that. I hope I am the type of person that can take a joke but that genre of 'guy flicks' were women are only strippers, sex-toys or nagging girlfriends or wives makes me crazy. Sadly most 'chick flicks' are still about women whose lives are almost completely defined in relationship to men, this one too to some extent, but it was still absolutely hilarious. Where it played off female anxieties that were not related to guys were it's funniest moments for me.

I have to go back and see it again with my husband and maybe some other dudes to see if they how they felt about the movie. I read some great reviews of the film and one guy called it the "anti-chick flick' - meaning it was a chick flick that he actually liked. Did it portray men in a somewhat stereotyped and sexist manner? Well yes but that the male reviews I read did not seem to have a problem with that.

Will it gestate a new movie genre? I am not so sure but I am willing to give other such films a try. I am loving that this film is a huge success and is sending a message to Hollywood that films for women, featuring women, written my women, that don't follow the 'rules' can be hugely successful.

So I have this idea for a comedic film. It is a set in an alternative universe where women are the main breadwinners, have all the power, and it is the men that are trying to break in. Think "Working Girl" but gender reversed. Think MadMen, but gender reverses. If anyone knows Kristin Wiig can you please give her my number?

Go see the film and get ready to laugh yourself silly. Warning it is rated R for a reason.

Gold

2011-06-12T15:37:00.003-04:00

It has been a while since I have written about GOLD. For that matter it has been a while since I have written about the markets in general. John Hathaway is a personal friend, a lovely human being, and a brilliant investor. Read what he has to say about GOLD and perhaps more importantly, the US dollar. I agree.

The price of gold is more about the declining value of the US dollar, they it is about an intrinsic value of the commodity. He makes some strong claims in this piece including this one about how the government has artificially held down nominal interest rates - "That amounts to outright theft of wealth by government from its citizens and more recently non-U.S. investors." Bottom line - not good. Stay with the piece, it is a long one, but indeed very educational.

"

2011-06-09T16:16:00.004-04:00

Pat Mitchell is one of my favorite women on the planet. I can think of few others that advocate for the advancement of women and girls more then Pat. She serves as President for The Paley Center of Media which "with locations in New York and Los Angeles, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public."

In a blog posted today she talks about a new initiative called She’s Making Media. It is a "new series of programs that puts a slightly different lens on the subject of women’s role in media. We are going to celebrate, curate, and build a special collection (and a new television series) with women who are making media for a very specific purpose." The program was launched earlier this month with playwright, performer, artist, and activist Eve Ensler. "She is making media that makes the world safer for women and girls."

At our recent Women Moving Millions gathering in April we had the pleasure of participating in a conversation with both these amazing women. ( photo above ) The topic of the discussion was how to leverage media to create social change. There is likely no better example of that then the work of Eve Ensler. "From her productions of the groundbreaking play, The Vagina Monologues (5000 performances a year in 140 countries raising 80 million dollars to end violence against women and girls) to her television documentaries, books and social media campaigns, Eve and V-DAY, the organization she built, are inspiring examples of making media that matters and, in fact, changes lives. My(Pat's) hour interview with Eve, featuring excerpts from the plays and films, will be posted on Paley Center’s video section within the next couple of weeks and an edited version will be part of a new TV series, network to be announced later." Check back to the Paley site to watch.

One thing that Eve said that has really stuck with me is this concept of "thingafying." The idea that if we just do this thing, or that thing, then problems will be solved. In the world of economic development that thing might we provide a girl with an education, or access to health services, or a micro loan. The reality is that issues like violence and poverty are very complex and we need to acknowledge that complexity and structure it in to the solutions we are championing.

Thanks to Eve and Pat for the amazing role models you are to all of us. Love you.

Women and Ambition

2011-06-07T12:39:00.006-04:00

Please click here for a co-authored piece I wrote with the most fabulous Courtney Martin on women and ambition just published with Alternet. Coincidently I was just interviewed by the Center for Work Life Policy for an article on this same topic. Bottom line is the need to our own success while "acknowledging the ways in which we continue to benefit from unearned privilege." I hope you like the piece!

Courtney is a fabulous feminist writer and speaker. She is the author of three books DO IT ANYWAY: The New Generation of Activists, Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists, and Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters. I love them all. Every single one of them is a must read and a PERFECT gift for a graduating girl.

For Some - Judgment Day is Here

2011-05-31T10:50:00.002-04:00

Though Harold Camping's prediction of Judgment Day came and went, many are facing another type of Judgment Day - of the financial kind. Click here to read more, my latest article for Women Advisors Forum.

How Change Happens! The Revival of the French Feminist Movement

2011-05-24T10:51:00.005-04:00

I have become fascinated with studying how social change happens. Over the past few years we have been given incredible opportunities to study how an event can occur that suddenly catapults an issue area forward. The power of media and new social technologies allows more people to both take a stand and take action. Communities are able to quickly connect and organize speeding the pace of movement building for collective action. This is exciting.

Scanning my feminist news brief this morning courtesy of the Women's Funding Network I read this article in the Guardian about the effect of the arrest of IMF Chief and Presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Khan on alleged rape charges is having in France. France is not exactly known for being a leader in gender equality, but perhaps this incident will serve to reignite the movement. Change happens when an issue, in this case what is considered accepted sexual behavior by a powerful French male, is brought in to the public for debate and engagement. What is accepted becomes challenged and re framed, leading to a possible change in beliefs, which leads to a change in behavior, that change becomes institutionalized and there you have it. Will this happen overnight? Of course not. Without challenge? Of course not. But, the French people may one day look back and say the incident that ignited a wave of advancement on gender equality in their country was this arrest.

To get the news brief from the Women's Funding Network subscribe here. It is an incredible, daily news link summary of the best articles relating to women and girls around the world. Thank you WFN for this incredible service.

Roseanne Barr Tells her Story - Thank you

2011-05-22T17:05:00.004-04:00

This is absolutely a must read article by Roseanne Barr in the latest issue of New York Magazine. It is one of the bravest stories I have ever read by a successful woman. So few women who have 'made it' are willing to be this honest about what it took to get there, and what it cost them. So few men for that matter too. There is so much I can relate to in her story and it rings true for so many other ones I have heard over my career in finance. The list includes men and women taking credit for your work and ideas, other women pretending to be your friends and then stabbing you in the back, having to put up with sexist jokes, being humiliated in front of your peers, being taking advantage of with assumption you will take it because you are a women, and not being allowed to be yourself which in theory is why you are in a position of influence in the first place. Then of course there is the upside. The money. The platform. The title. The power. The perks. The 'celebrity' status. Then there is a whole other side which Roseanne did not choose to share and that is when was she less then her best self in terms of how she related to and treated others? At the end of it all however is the fact that we all have to look in the mirror and identify with the person who we see. I want to be a person that sees the truth, good, bad and otherwise, and so I hope is Roseanne.

This is inspiring me to tell my own story but the question is, am I that brave? A Goldman Sachs Women Partner tells her story. I can't tell you how many times I have sat down to write that one. Thank you Roseanne and thanks to all the women who put it all out there to help change the game for the better.

The End of the Mancession? ...and women's increasing economic clout

2011-05-18T16:27:00.005-04:00

"The End of the Mancession?" is the title of this article in TIME but the story is really about the growing economic power of women. It is not surprising that men outpaced women in recent employment gains - "Men gained over a million jobs last year, while women gained only 149,000."( link to article ) Men lost the majority of jobs over the past couple of years due to the hard hit areas of construction and finance. Those areas have recovered and many men are back at work, awesome. Though women stand to gain jobs over the longer term because of the sectors of the economy that are growing, my worry is that these areas tend to be lower paying industries like health-care. Overall the future employment outlook for the US remains a big concern.

We need to be a country that continues to emphasize innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. In these areas women are underrepresented for a variety of reasons and in addition face barriers to accessing capital. This concern fuels my passion for "Gender Lens Investing" - the proactive stance towards using one's investment dollars to support and empower women.

The good news, as the article points out is that " BCG estimates that women will earn the majority—some $5 trillion-—of the world's new income over the next five years. No wonder banks like Goldman Sachs are starting to rate industries according to how much of the female dollar they are poised to capture. Merrill Lynch recently went “long on women” and companies targeting female consumers, noting that it expected women to “increasingly become the -higher-income earners of U.S. households.” In my view, that's the most important reason that you'll ultimately see female employment rebound. The growth industries are those that cater to women. And you can bet that the people who run those companies are going to want to hire plenty of female employees who understand those markets, and those consumers."

The OPED Project

2011-05-11T14:59:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of speaking with Katie Orenstein today, the Founder and Director of THE OPED PROJECT. Over many years I have heard so many incredible things about Katie and it was a pleasure to finally speak to her regarding her work. If I was putting together a list of "wonder women", Katie would be on it. What is The Oped Project you ask?

The OpEd Project is an initiative to expand the range of voices we hear from in the world, with an immediate focus on increasing the volume of women thought leaders in the public sphere to a tipping point. Since women currently do not submit to key opinion forums with anywhere near the frequency that men do—and because these gateway forums feed all other media and drive thought leadership and policy—we target and train women experts at top universities, think tanks, nonprofits, corporations and community organizations to write op-eds and more broadly to take thought leadership positions in their fields; we connect them with a national network of high-level mentor-editors, and we channel them to the media gatekeepers who need them, across all platforms.

Sound cool? If you are looking for training on how to expand your sphere of influence please check out this group. The scope of work they are doing is amazing.

Mother's Day

2011-05-07T17:22:00.004-04:00

I was so fortunate to grow up with a fantastic mother. What made her so great? She was loving, accepting, expected me to do my best but never beat me down when I did not, made Barbie toys with me, worked hard to bring in an income for our family, supported my crazy hobbies like horse-backed riding and body building, had a healthy relationship with my father, did not favor one child over the other, went out of her way to help others, and really never complained about any of it. I was so lucky and I thank God every day for being born in to such an amazing family and pray I am doing the same for my children.

But the reality is that too many mothers no matter how much they may want to, cannot be that for their children. Economic stress might be wearing them down. They may not be fortunate enough to have a husband that was as solid as my dad was. They might not have been raised in a loving household so they in turn do not know how to give love. And for too many they are so poor they cannot even afford to keep their children fed and in medical care. So no presents for me this Mother's Day. Not only am I just doing my job but instead I want my family to commit incremental resources to helping mothers around the world. Without healthy mothers, we will not have healthy children, nor families, nor communities and so the story goes. So today, and every day, honor your mothers, and help make this world a safer and healthier place for all. For ideas on organizations to support please see the list to the right or take the recommendations of Nicholas Kristof in his most recent article.

(pictured my mother Rose with my 94 year old amazing grandmother, Sadie)

"Power Unused Is Power Useless" - A Case For Gender Lens Investing

2011-04-28T11:31:00.003-04:00

"Gender Lens Investing." This is the piece I have been wanting to write forever, and I thought this new site for Women Investment Advisors would be a great place to launch it! Thank you to Ruthie Ackerman for the encouragement. I hope to write a lot more about this topic and will be building out my web-site to hold more information related to how we can use our money power to drive positive change.

"Non-profit dollars will never be enough to solve the complex issues and negative outcomes associated with gender inequality. By thinking about gender when investing, we can use the markets to narrow the gender gap which, as studies show, has the additional benefit of fostering economic growth and creating jobs. Moreover, many government, economic and business entities have showered us with research saying that, in addition to positive economic and social implications, increased political stability is also highly correlated to the status of women and girls. In other words, greater gender equality results in greater economic and human security."

Kathy LeMay featured in CURVE Magazine

2011-04-27T23:44:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I pull out a piece of paper and just start writing down everything I am thankful for. I usually do this when I am feeling ( or acting) especially selfish, or angry, or sad, or disappointed, or impatient. Inevitably the name Kathy LeMay appears on that list because Kathy is one special lady. If you read this article, you will begin to get a sense of why.

Why do I love this woman so much? One of the reasons is that she has this way of helping me be my best self. She helps me believe that anything is possible and that I, little me, can really make a difference in this world. She does this for so many. Besides that she is just brilliant, loving, generous, and a person who shows up!

Last year her first book came out called "The Generosity Plan: Sharing your Time, Treasure and Talent to Change the World." Buy it. Give it. Have Kathy the rock star public speaker come talk at your gathering or event. Go Kathy!

PAY IT FORWARD, EASTER, and GRACE

2011-04-23T09:37:00.002-04:00

Last night we sat down with our two children, ages 11 and 13, for a family movie night. We were cruising through titles and stopped dead at "PAY IT FORWARD," one my all time favorites that we had not yet watched as a family due to mature content. It was only after it ended when we started to discuss it that I realized what a perfect film it was for the EASTER weekend. EASTER is all about "Paying it Forward" and what a world we would have if everyone acted about in it.

First the movie. IMDB sums the movie up like this. "A young boy attempts to make the world a better place after his teacher gives him that chance." More specifically the new, maimed, social studies teacher asks his 7th grade students to take on this project for the year, to come up with a NEW idea how to make the world better. Our lead character, an 11 year old boy of an alcoholic mother and abusive father, comes up with the "pay it forward" concept and puts it in to action. For those unfamiliar with the film it means to do something hard and incredibly generous for someone else that likely does not deserve it. Our boy Trevor helps a drug addicted, homeless man get a fresh start, tries to help his mother get off alcohol and stay away from the returning abusive husband, he connects deeply with the very wounded social studies teacher and works to reconnect him to the world, and to love, and more. As he plot unfolds he thinks his idea has failed because the short term outcomes do not match his expectations.

What he does not know until the end of the film is that HE has started a movement. A jaded news paper reporter hundreds of miles away is the recipient of one of these random acts of extreme generosity and when told about 'pay it forward' feels compelled to track the source down. Over the course of the film we discover many lives touched by this one idea and 3 single acts of our boy Trevor. He has changed the world. He has succeeded and now, because of this reporter he knows it.

Is it to bad we don't have a reporter tracking our lives to see the outcomes of our actions or rather, is that a good thing? Well as a Christian I believe I do have that reporter. I believe that every thing I have done and will do in my lifetime I will have to account for. Until I became a Christian the thought of that freaked me out, and was so scary that it kept me at a distance from my faith, but not anymore.

There was a moment many, many years ago when I chose to share with a friend my deepest secret that I had been too ashamed to tell anyone that I discovered GRACE. With tears pouring from my eyes, I acknowledged that I, like these incredibly damaged adults in this movie, was not perfect and was in need of forgiveness and acceptance. I needed to not only be forgiven, but forgive myself for the mistakes I had made ( and continue to make ) and that for me, it was my faith in Jesus Christ that allowed both to happen. That moment changed my life as it was the moment I chose to accept the GRACE that has been offered to me, and is in fact offered to everyone.

"Pay it forward" is not a Christian film per se but within it is the message at the heart of Christianity, and that is that we all deserve to be loved unconditionally and have the opportunity for forgiveness such that we can aspire to become our best selves every single day. Being your best self means not living just for you, but living to serve others. Living to 'pay it forward." That is what makes it such a perfect fill for Easter.

But this movie is for everyone. Regardless whether you believe in God or not, isn't this what you aspire to do? Isn't this what makes the world a better place? I love that this film NAMED IT and put it in a conceptual framework to attempt to have a positive impact on individual and collective behavior. It is the best film I have every seen that builds a narrative around a model of how change happens. ( A Theory of Change - frame it, people get it, people change their behavior on an individual then broader scale, it becomes part of our culture and institutions)

(On Monday I am having an article published that I have been thinking about for years. This article is about "Gender Lens Investing" and will it frame how we can use our for profit investment clout to help advance women and girls. Will behavior change follow? I hope so...)

When the teacher gave these children the assignment and asked them what they thought about it they all said it was stupid, dumb, ridiculous as they did not see themselves as powerful. They did not see themselves as having the POSSIBILITY to positively impact the world at large. Wow. Ask you child this question. Ask the neighbors'. Ask anyone. Then discuss it. It is about paying it forward, it is about living the most generous and loving life we are capable of and at the same time, forgiving ourselves when we are far from perfect. In this film 11 year old Trevor shows his family, his community, that everyone can make a difference.

"Be the Change you want to see in the World." Happy Easter.

Goldman's Research on Women

2011-04-19T12:31:00.004-04:00

There are a lot of reasons not to like Goldman Sachs right now (including that they only have one board member that is a woman) , but let me give you a BIG positive. For years now Goldman has been producing cutting edge research on women and the economy. They have highlighted the growing economic power of women in terms of their collective purchasing power as well as how a country will be better off on multiple fronts by working to narrow the gender gap. Please find below a link to their reports and a synopsis. Thanks to Goldman for this compelling reserach.

"Australia's Hidden Resource: The Economic Case For Increasing Female Participation" November 30, 2009

-An alternative source of highly educated labour is already at Australia's disposal and with the right set of policy options this pool of labour can be unlocked. Closing the gap between male and female employment rates would have important implications for the Australian economy. The authors estimate that closing this gap would boost the level of Australian GDP by 11%. Indeed, much progress in closing this gap has already occurred over the past 30 years with the rise in the female employment rate since 1974 boosting economic activity by 22%. In this respect, Australia is only 2/3rds of the way to unlocking the hidden value of the female labour pool.

"Power of the Purse: Gender Equality and Middle-Class Spending" August 5, 2009

-In the BRICs and N-11 countries, gender gaps in education, employment, health and political representation are narrowing. At the same time, laws and social norms that have discriminated against women are shifting in many countries.Together, these factors are giving women greater decision-making power. Improving gender equality coincides with the rapid growth of the “global middle class.” Sectors likely to benefit from women’s growing buying power include food, healthcare, education, childcare, apparel, consumer durables and financial services.

"Women Hold Up Half the Sky" 2008

-The Chinese proverb that ‘women hold up half the sky' has long been more aspiration than fact. In developed and developing countries alike, gender gaps persist in education, health, work, wages and political participation. Education is key to gender equality. Educating girls and women leads to higher wages; a greater likelihood of working outside the home; lower fertility; reduced maternal and child mortality; and better health and education. The impact is felt not only in women’s lifetimes, but also in the health, education and productivity of future generations.

"Womenomics: Japan's Hidden Asset" October 2005

-Don’t underestimate the power of the purse. Higher female participation in the workforce can help mitigate some of Japan’s demographic pressures and raise the long-term trend growth rate. Womenomics is likely to become a secular investment theme, and we identify potential beneficiaries.

Equal Pay Day

2011-04-15T07:18:00.003-04:00

April 12th was "Equal Pay Day" and I wanted to share this thoughtful piece written by Linda Basch, President of the National Council for Research on Women. I remain a Board Member Emeriti of NCRW and partnered with Linda to write the "Women In Fund Management Report" in 2009.

"On Equal Pay Day -- April 12th -- it's time to stop using our economic doldrums as an excuse for indifference and inaction. For how many more years are we going to dutifully report on the stagnant gender wage gap? Women who work full-time, year-round are still paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts or $10,622 less per year in female median earnings, a gap that yawns wider for women of color and older women [National Women's Law Center, NWLC]. "

Women, Money, and Power...and superheros

2011-04-14T06:47:00.005-04:00

My most perfect and amazing visit to NYC continued yesterday. We ( me, my 11 year old daughter and au pair/assistant Mandy ) started the day on Wall Street. I walked with Allie on the exact path I walked thousands of times from the subway to the entrance of 85 BROAD street. I remembered so vividly 23 years ago when I made my way for the very first time, having arrived hours early for day one as an analyst and I sat outside on the benches, shaking, unable to really comprehend how I went from a very small town in Canada to NYC. I decided to film a little video clip in front of the now abandoned headquarters for Goldman Sachs which I will post when I return. Has so much changed for women on Wall Street? Sadly, no.

We did out little tour of downtown including the NY Stock Exchange, the Fed, and of course a picture with the bull, before heading back uptown for lunch, and shopping. I slid in a meeting for Women Moving Millions before attending the SOFA Opening night art show with my buddy and collector Ann Kaplan, a board member of the Museum of ART and Design. It is official. I am a collector of superhero art. The very first piece that caught my attention as I walked in the building was a huge, 68 by48, comic book/paper piece. The title - Where are our heros now? A close up of the piece is pictured and it is made entirely of pieces cut from comic books. A sign you might ask? YES, absolutely. The world needs superheros and darn it I am going to work on that superhero screenplay this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But the concept is bigger then that. The concept for me is that everyone can be a superhero. Everyone and anyone can and should aspire to be the best they can be and it is in living to that potential that we will create a more just and equitable world for all. "Be the change you want to see in the world."

So that leads me in to dinner where the conversation was about women using their power. My dinner companions were two of the most fabulous women - Author Leslie Bennetts ( of The Feminine Mistake and a contributing editor for Vanity Fair) and Katharine Henderson, President of Auburn Seminary and author of God's Troublemakers - How Women of Faith are Changing the World. I have to run off to a 3 hour Women Moving Millions meeting so cannot write fully about it now BUT let me say this - it is about empowerment. It is about us all developing confidence in their own capacities to make a difference. ( the art piece???) More specifically it is about our economic empowerment meaning that we choose to use our financial resources more fully to drive the change we want to see. Ponder that today.... Another day in New York - yeah me!

A Perfect Day...The Sackler Center, Carlo's Bakery, WICKED..

2011-04-12T22:47:00.004-04:00

What a day, what a week, what a year, what a ......

Every single part of this day I want to remember. It started off with a breakfast with two of the most amazing women - Elizabeth Sackler, who founded the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Ann Kaplan, a dear friend and spectacular human being.

I am honored to serve on the Advisory Board for the center as it has expanded the possibilities for women artists and will continue to do so. If you have not yet visited the center in Brooklyn or browsed there web-site, you must. It was very fitting that the first time I visited the museum was for our celebratory event for Women Moving Millions in 2009 where we recreated The Dinner Party to honor women who were making history with their collective giving. At the time I did not know Elizabeth but let me tell you, she is a force of nature. Our conversation, not surprisingly, was about philanthropy and in particular the power of putting your name on something. Many studies have shown that women are much more likely to give anonymously which makes the impact of women's giving more invisible. Many women I have spoken to who have stepped up to NAME IT do so, not because it is about them, but because it is heightens the attention and awareness of the cause they are supporting. They are using and leveraging their social capital for GOOD! Love it.

Breakfast was followed by a very special meeting and all I can really say is that it could be a dream come true. If 'it' happens I want to be able to look back at this entry and say.. that was the day.

Right after my meeting I rushed to meet my daughter for a trip to Hoboken to visit Carlo's Bakery. Our whole family loves "The Cake Boss" and we wanted to pay Buddy a visit. We waited outside for our turn to go in and was so excited that although Buddy was in Florida many of his family members were there including Mary, his sister. We heard her barking orders, swiftly moving in and out and Allie said "she seemed exactly like she does on TV." Very exciting. Post bakery we went to Herald Square, The Times Square TOYS R US, the M and M Store, and finally to the play WICKED which is a family favorite. At 10:30 we were grabbing a slice of PIZZA before back to our fabulous pad. Although I lived in and around New York for over 20 years, coming back as a visitor experiencing it with my daughter is truly special. It was a perfect day.

Say NO to All Male Corporate Boards! - HUFFPO

2011-04-07T10:49:00.003-04:00

It was an honor to co-write this oped with Joe Keefe, CEO of PAX World Funds. There is so much discussion about the lack of women on corporate boards, and here is something YOU can do to take action. Vote your proxy! PAX is leading the way in this effort and also writing letters to CEOs with all male boards putting forth the evidence that more diverse boards lead to better decision making. Thank you Joe I will hope others will follow - institutional investors, investment advisors and individuals!!

For more information on PAX Click here.

Women Moving Millions - IMPACT-MEDIA-VOICE

2011-04-07T01:05:00.002-04:00

What an amazing day! I am honored to be Co-Chair of Women Moving Millions, a philanthropic initiative that supports and encourages million dollar gifts to organizations and projects to advance women and girls around the world. Today we have a FULL day retreat in New York and what a day it was.

The agenda was jam packed and included a discussion on "Collective Impact", a visit by the acclaimed activist and artist Eve Ensler (just announced today would be the recipient of a special TONY award ) , and an afternoon discussion on how media can be used to advance social change. Lisa Witter and Pat Mitchell lead the afternoon discussion, ( pictured right) providing amazing insights on the power of media. Lisa has been working on the action campaign around "Half The Sky" and boy oh boy do we have a lot to look forward to.

Tomorrow it is the Women's Funding Network Conference in Brooklyn and the White House Project's Epic Award. GIRL POWER!

"A Club for the Women Atop the Ladder" - NYT

2011-04-04T17:03:00.010-04:00

I hope you caught a great article by Pamela Ryckman called "A Club for the Women Atop the Ladder" featured on the front page of the Sunday NY Times Business Section yesterday. The article was primarily about a very cool women's club called the Belizean Grove . Though I am not a member, many of my friends are, and it is a very interesting group indeed. The article describes how through this network women help each other become more successful personally, and hopefully as a movement as well. That is my challenge to this group, to figure out how they can leverage their collective power for maximum impact.

That is exactly what we are thinking about as group of funders of women and girls. I am heading to NY tomorrow for a Women Moving Millions gathering where, with the most fantastic Mayree Clark, we will be leading a discussion on how we can have greater collective impact. Our event is at capacity and in addition to our presentation, we will hear from many experts on how media can be used to advance social change. Guest speakers include Eve Ensler, Pat Mitchell, Gloria Steinem, Jennifer Buffett, Lisa Witter, Dan Cogan, Geralyn Dreyfous and more.

For the following three days I will be attending the Women's Funding Network Conference in Brooklyn, where over 500 people from around the world will be gathering under the umbrella of this powerful global network. The panel I am most excited about is on Friday, where I will be speaking on the topic of investing for gender equality. I hope to hit this topic in an interview with Bloomberg Television to be taped on Thursday which will likely air Friday morning.

A big thanks to Pamela for mentioning Learnvest in this article. If you have not yet signed up for their daily updates, or financial boot-camp, please do. Pictured above is Founder Alexa Von Tobel, investor and best bud Ann Kaplan, and moi!

Have a great week and I hope to blog from the road.

Women and Wall Street - We Need them!

2011-04-01T18:37:00.007-04:00

Did you know the number of women working on Wall Street has decreased dramatically? An article back in September in the Wall Street Journal stated that "in the past 10 years, 141,000 women, or 2.6% of female workers in finance left the industry.The ranks of men grew by 389,000 in that period, or 9.6%." New research released this past week says that "less than 5% of the most senior executives at investment banks are women." This is a serious issue that we need to care more about. Let me tell you why.

There is a large amount of research, summarized well by Nicholas Kristof in this article , and in this research report by the National Council For Research on Women, that having women present in critical mass in leadership and decision making positions could lead to better outcomes.

We just went through a massive financial crisis, one characterized by excessive risk taking and greed, led my men, and now we have even more of the same in decision making positions. Please someone show me the list ( and it should be long ) of senior people who lost there jobs over this? Please someone give me examples of firms that said you know we messed up, we want to be better next time, and we are going to shake up our leadership teams, think out of the box, add talented, diverse people because hey, we don't want this to happen again. Now the numbers show not only is this not true, but we are moving even more in the direction of homogeneity.

Every time I write something like this I get a whole bunch of nasty responses saying I am out to lunch, that women are as greedy as men, that women should not be favored, blah blah blah.... I say PROVE IT. Find an example of a women leading organizations or systems where the outcome was the loss of trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of jobs..... Or perhaps this is easier, show me the EVIDENCE that rooms and buildings full of white, American, upper-class men have done such a good job creating a somewhat just, equitable, well functioning financial system. When is it time to take a leap of faith, embrace the research, and enact the solutions so that diversity on Wall Street might finally be achieved? I am not talking about a women take-over, I am talking about a goal of critical mass, 30% women on the board and in senior leadership roles. The goal is greater balance. Our current system is out of balance!!!

If you have any doubt that our financial system is run my white guys, watch the Academy Award Winning film "The Inside Job." Read any one of the now hundreds of books telling the tales of the crisis and get a highlighter out when they mention a woman.

The real question is how do we get there. That I need to tackle in another post but read the NCRW report!!!! As a co-writer and funder of this research it tells you how. It is a road-map for how to increase diversity in the financial services sector.

These numbers are shocking, disturbing and everyone who ones a stock, a bond, a house or gives a hoot about our collective economic future needs to care.

Resources

This article was just written today by Amy Siskind of the Daily Beast on the same topic. ( click here to read it)

"Ranks of Women on Wall Street Thin" by Kyle Stock

"Revealed: scale of gender bias in investment banking" by Elena Moya and Shanny Basar

Link to research mentioned

"Where are the Women on Wall Street?" The Female Factor - NYT

"Terminated: Why the Women of Wall Street are Disappearing" - Anita Raghaven FORBES

Museum of American Finance - History of Women on Wall Street

Women Helping Women

2011-03-31T11:56:00.002-04:00

I am extremely honored to be included in this fabulous list of "Women Helping Women," located on a new web-site that I hope to be a regular contributer to. Thank you to the most wonderful Ruthie Ackerman for highlighting so many Women Moving Million donors. ( click here ) The site is Financial Advisors, part of a group of media properties of Source Media.

"Why I am a Male Feminist"

2011-03-27T11:59:00.006-04:00

Ok I realize I have been a very lazy blogger of late. Rather then writing about my own thoughts on various topics I link to other people's writings that move me. In part it is a time issue, but the larger piece is that there are just so many great articles and stories out there worth sharing. Below please find an excerpt from an article by Byron Hurt on "Why I am a male feminist." The entire article can be found by clicking here.

"Like most guys, I had bought into the stereotype that all feminists were white, lesbian, unattractive male bashers who hated all men. But after reading the work of these black feminists, I realized that this was far from the truth. After digging into their work, I came to really respect the intelligence, courage and honesty of these women.

Feminists did not hate men. In fact, they loved men. But just as my father had silenced my mother during their arguments to avoid hearing her gripes, men silenced feminists by belittling them in order to dodge hearing the truth about who we are.

I learned that feminists offered an important critique about a male-dominated society that routinely, and globally, treated women like second-class citizens. They spoke the truth, and even though I was a man, their truth spoke to me. Through feminism, I developed a language that helped me better articulate things that I had experienced growing up as a male.

Feminist writings about patriarchy, racism, capitalism and structural sexism resonated with me because I had witnessed firsthand the kind of male dominance they challenged. I saw it as a child in my home and perpetuated it as an adult. Their analysis of male culture and male behavior helped me put my father's patriarchy into a much larger social context, and also helped me understand myself better.

I decided that I loved feminists and embraced feminism. Not only does feminism give woman a voice, but it also clears the way for men to free themselves from the stranglehold of traditional masculinity. When we hurt the women in our lives, we hurt ourselves, and we hurt our community, too. "

I want to thank Mr. Hurt on writing such a brave and powerful article. He gets it. He gets that feminism is not a women win and men lose thing. Feminism is about creating a better world for all. When men and women more equally share in power and decision making, when they make an effort to more fully understand each other, when we work to bring out the full potential in each other, then we will have a more just, equitable and peaceful world. This is what it is about!!!!! Men have much to gain in this new paradigm and I hope and pray that more men gain this perspective and claim their feminist voice.

Have a wonderful Sunday. We are off to church where I will pray for this future.

Widows in Afghanistan

2011-03-26T17:40:00.003-04:00

This is why I care so much about working for women and girls around the world.

"After more than 30 years of fighting, Afghanistan has one of the highest percentages (6-8%) of widows in the world. Although the Afghan government doesn't have an accurate total for widows in the country due to the lack of a recent census, some officials estimate the number to be upwards of 2 million. By extrapolating from other demographic data, it's thought that the average age of an Afghan widow is about 35, that 90% of widows have children to shelter and feed, and that 94% are unable to read or write.

In Afghanistan's patriarchal society, the death of a husband not only diminishes a woman's economic security, but also removes her social protections, putting her at the lowest level of society. As a result, the most pressing issues for most widows are making a living and finding some measure of social protection. To survive and provide for their children, many Afghan widows find menial work weaving carpets, working in tailor shops, begging on the streets, or becoming prostitutes.

In response to this crisis, numerous international volunteer groups, churches, and other non-governmental organizations, as well as ISAF teams of female military personnel are working in Afghan villages to equip widows with the life skills they require to survive. The goals of such programs are generally tow-fold: the first is to teach widows how to live independently and earn a living wage without relying on government handouts and terrorist provided security which subjects them to human rights abuses; and second to demonstrate that ISAF forces are indeed in their country to protect them and help them rebuild their shattered country so that they can provide a future for their children. "

More on the White House Council Report

2011-03-18T17:48:00.006-04:00

Two weeks ago the White House Council on Women and Girls released a report titled "Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being" (available by clicking here )the most comprehensive report on the state of women in the United States since the Kennedy administration. The report uses data collected from a wide variety of government agencies and paints a picture of women in five focus areas: People, Families and Income; Education; Employment; Health; and Crime and Violence. The results were mixed--some good news, some bad.

First, the good news: We've seen positive changes with respect to education, employment and violence against women.

Women ages 25-34 are now more likely than their male peers to have attained a college degree, which is a reversal of the norm 40 years ago. They are also attending graduate school in greater numbers--11 percent of women compared to 8 percent of men. Overall, women have outpaced men in educational attainment over the past 40 years.

Unemployment rates for women have risen less for men in the most recent periods of recession, and women's labor force participation rate has held steady around 61% since 1997.

Between 1993 and 2008, homicides and nonfatal violent crimes committed against women both declined. Additionally, nonfatal attacks on women by intimate partners declined between 1994 and 2008.

The picture isn't quite as rosy as we might hope based on that news though. Women may be making great gains in education, and while we know that education increases earnings for both women and men, it doesn't translate to a closing of the pay gap. More women than men work part time, and occupational segregation persists. Women are also still working a "second shift"--In households with employed husbands and wives, women spent an average of 2.6 hours on household activities and caring for family members, while men spent about 1.6 hours on the same activities. Female headed families also had the lowest earnings among all family types, and the poverty rate for female householders with children under 18 years of age is still nearly three times as high as the overall male and female poverty rates.

Women's health is also worse than men's--more women than men report having chronic medical conditions, and more females over the age of 12 report experiencing depression than their male counterparts. Additionally, more than one third of women age 20 and older are obese.

With respect to crime and violence, women are a small but growing share of individuals arrested for violent crimes other than homicide, and the imprisonment rate for females has increased significantly since 1985. On the other side of the equation, women face a greater threat of stalking victimization.

There was also one slightly misleading statistic included in the crime and violence portion of the report as well. According to the data, reported rapes declined during the '90s and have remained stable since then, hovering around 1 per 1,000 females aged 12 and over. However, in the notes, the authors write "Other government studies that asked more detailed questions specifically about sexual assault have found higher rates of victimization." Similarly, it is also worth noting that 54 percent of women surveyed who reported being raped did not notify the police. The culture of silence around sexual assault is truly pervasive. If someone had their wallet or their purse stolen, they would report it to the police, but when women have their dignity stolen they blame themselves--and others place the blame on them as well. True change will happen when rape is viewed by the public like the crime it is, rather than a private, personal problem.

We've made progress in important areas, but as the numbers show, we've still got a long way to go.

( thanks to Erica O-Neil for researching and writing this post)

BE A MAN!! .... by supporting women.

2011-03-15T13:24:00.006-04:00

Ok this is awesome. Truly AWESOME. It is a video in support of giving money to Women's Funds! You must watch and congrats to the Women's Fund of Central Ohio for creating such a great video and campaign. LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( here is the link)

Women World Wide - Leading Through Philanthropy

2011-03-10T08:54:00.003-05:00

I am in Chicago for the 2011 Women World Wide Leading Through Philanthropy conference by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. The speaker line-up is incredible, including many of the world's leading philanthropists and industry leaders. Be sure to check out the center's website for incredible information on the state of giving in America.

Generosity is hot. Generosity is cool. Generous people should be our celebrities, not stars of TV sitcoms that seem to be losing their marbles. If we gave 1/10 the amount of media time to people that are helping others that we do to derailed movie and TV stars, our world will be a better place. For just such a story check out this article by Camilla Webster in FORBES. I had the honor of being interviewed by Camilla for her upcoming book and she is one fabulous woman. Thanks Camilla for this inspiring story. Pass it on.

International Women's Day!!! Time to celebrate or ??

2011-03-08T11:13:00.010-05:00

Today is the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day - "It is a major day of global celebration of women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements." ( Wikipedia) So if you are a woman, be sure to get lots of of extra hugs today from the men in your life, and give your sisters some high fives.

But here is the question - As American Women ( full disclosure I am Canadian living in the US ) do we have a lot to celebrate or if this a moment to say where we are is unacceptable and it is time to step up and create positive change? Here are some facts to help you think about your answer:

The US ranks 37^th in gender equality among the world's 42 most highly developed nations
The US ranks 64^th globally with a 19 percent wage gap between male and female full-time workers
The US ranks last among the world's top 11 industrialized nations in both infant and maternal mortality ( above from the Ms. Foundation )
Nationally, women are 57% of all college students but only 26% of full professors, 23% of university presidents and 14% of presidents at the doctoral degree-granting institutions
Among Fortune 500 companies, women constitute only 3% of the CEO's, 6% of the top paying positions and 16% of the corporate officers
In film, women constitute 16% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers and cinematographers
Of the top 15 media corporations (which include a mix of print, online, television and radio businesses), all CEO's are male and only 17% of board members are women
Despite being nearly half (48%) of law school graduates, women make up only 18% of law partners and only one in four are judges.
The military remains the only profession in the United States which under Department of Defense policy prohibits women from taking certain jobs. This hinders women from being promoted to the top levels of leadership
Women make up only 17% of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; no women have ever been presidents or vice president. Women of color are completely absent from the Senate and only account for 5% in the House of Representatives

I assume you can guess where I am on this issue. This is unacceptable to me. Unacceptable. It has been and will continue to be my life's work to help in whatever way I can to narrow these gaps and help create a world where both men and women, boys and girls, can live in a more peaceful and just way. So when I raise a glass tonight it will be NOT be to toast our progress, but to recommit myself to the promise of a better future. Be part of the solution. Be the change you want to see in the world. Believe that gender inequality is an important issue and deserves your attention no matter what you age, race or gender.

Many of the statistics above were pulled from this comprehensive study - White House Project's Benchmarking Study. Take a look. ( click here )

The list of amazing articles that were written in honor of today is very long indeed and I will in the next blog attempt to gather the best of.

For now watch this new video just released by V Day! V Day's mission, to end violence against women and girls. Eve Ensler thank you for creating such a powerful movement. You have made such a difference. ( click here to watch )

Women Who Shake the World!

2011-03-07T12:32:00.002-05:00

The Daily Beast's annual Women in the World Conference is next week in New York. As Women Moving Million's Co Chair I was fortunate to get an invite, but had to pass it on to another WMM member as I will be attending the "Women World Wide Leading through Philanthropy" event in Chicago at the same time. There is no doubt that this gathering is going to be fantastic! Visit this link to see their list of 150 Women Who Shake the World. Congrats to the many WMM donors that are part of this incredible list.

A Wonder Woman Documentary in the Making!

2011-03-06T20:54:00.002-05:00

Check out this link about a documentary that is in process. Have I reached out to the filmmakers? You bet. More as that unfolds. ( click here for the link)

Women In America!

2011-03-01T10:58:00.003-05:00

After 10 days of travel - LA for fun and San Fran for a 3 day Women's Funding Network Board Meeting and Retreat I am back and caught up! I am suffering from blog constipation. There are SO MANY topics all blocked up and I need to get them out!! I will try a blog a day for a while. After three years of blogging without focusing on how to really get my blog out there, I think it is time to get my act together. I just read about a mommy blogger who has millions of followers. Inspiring! Ok, on to the topic for today!

It is Women's History Month!! In honor of this the WHITE HOUSE is having a call on WOMEN IN AMERICA! They just released a HUGE report on this topic and can be downloaded here. It looks absolutely incredible. Be sure to check it out and share the link.

Fannie and Freddie - the story continues

2011-02-17T15:47:00.004-05:00

I am sure at least a few of my regular readers might be wondering WHY I have not yet done a posting about the report just out on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ( and the mortgage market ) The reason is that I knew my dear friend Bethany McClean, author of THE BOOK on the subject called "All the Devils are Here " would most certainly be called upon for comment. She was, and her brilliant response appears on SLATE .com ( click here) A number of options were presented and none of them are too practical. The combined entities who dominate the multi-trillion dollar market have so far cost the taxpayers $130 billion dollars. Two monsters were created and we will continue to leave with their remains for some time.

I have done numerous posts on these two entities and if you would like to read any of them please go to my web-site and search Fannie.

Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology

2011-02-11T14:04:00.014-05:00

I recently watched Tiffany Shlain's documentary Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death, & Technology. It was one of the documentaries in the Sundance Film Festival and won a Women in Film Award. I had the pleasure of meeting Tiffany and she is one passionate and interesting woman.

"Connected explores the visible and invisible connections linking major issues of our time-the environment, consumption, population growth, technology, human rights, the global economy-while searching for her place in the world during a transformative time in her life. Employing a splendidly imaginative combination of animation and archival footage, plus several surprises, Tiffany Shlain constructs a chronological tour of Western modernization through the work of her late father, Leonard Shlain, a brain surgeon and best-selling author of Art and Physics and The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. "

Take a look at the trailer below and watch for the film to be released.

Women's Funding Network Conference 2011 - Investing with a Gender Lens

2011-02-10T12:58:00.010-05:00

I serve as the Vice-Chair of The Women's Funding Network a network of over 160 women's organizations around the world. They are hosting their annual conference this year April 7-9, 2011 in Brooklyn, New York. This global conference is called The Power of Global Networks and its purpose is to bring together women's fund leaders, donors, experts and activists from around the world. The conference will focus on how women's funds turn the conventional model of philanthropy upside down, radically changing the way individuals, corporations, foundations and government invest in women and girls. It will also focus on how women's funds, and the network at large, is an effective vehicle, for shared leadership and collective action, allowing us to authentically and effectively extend our reach, increase our impact and build a movement for social change. Please join us! The conference is open to everyone.

We have a fantastic line-up of panelist and speakers including Ms. Michelle Bachelet. She is the first Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women which was established on July 2, 2010 but the United Nations General Assembly. Under Ms. Bachelet's leadership, UN Women will lead, support and coordinate the work on gender equality and the empowerment of women at global, regional and country level.

I will be moderating a panel on Friday, April 8. We are asking the question - How do we use our investment dollars to drive the economic and social empowerment of women and girls? This session will explore how investors, individual and institutional, can invest for profit with the same set of values they apply to their philanthropy and grant making. We ask if viable financial products exist that incorporate a gender lens? What are the current barriers and opportunities? How can the movement to invest in the potential of women and girls make all levels of money matter to make a big impact?

Again. Join us.

Also note that I have added an 'upcoming events' tab above which lists many upcoming gatherings in the women's space. Hope it is helpful.

"Women at the Top" more on the DB comment...

2011-02-09T18:55:00.002-05:00

I have to say I love it when I write a blog entry on something (yesterday) and the next day it appears in one of my favorite papers as an OPED. Love it. Today in the Financial Times the editors wrote a piece called "Women at the Top: Make Boards More Diverve and Stop the Patronizing." The article makes the same basic points I did taking to task Josef Ackerman, chief Executive of Deutsche Bank. I love this quote...
"Diversity is not a feminist issue.....Failing to recruit from the widest possible talent pool is bad for a company, it's investors and society at large." I love how it ends as well saying that perhaps DB should think about replacing him when his term is up.GO FT!!!!

Women on Boards - The Dumb Comments Continue

2011-02-08T16:06:00.004-05:00

The issue of women on boards continues to make headlines. Many countries are wrestling with the idea of quotas and others have already implemented it. Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank Germany, recently made a remark about this issue which got him in a lot of hot water. Responding to a question at last weeks annual results conference he stated "I hope it will be prettier and more colorful one day". Mr. Ackermann's comments were attacked by many prominent women in German business, including Ilse Aigner, minister for consumer affairs, saying: "Whoever wants things more colorful and beautiful should go to a flower meadow or museum".

Mr. Ackerman here are a few words of wisdom for what to say next time. "We are well versed in the incredible amount of evidence that greater board diversity leads to better decision making and are trying to get over this white male bias that clearly is reflected in our current lack of diversity. We say we cannot find talented women to fill these board seats but really, we are not trying very hard and this will change. We recognize that women are half the population, are clearly as smart and capable as men, and although there are fewer women with CEO experience that is often a prerequisite for board placement, we will find the talent BECAUSE we know that greater board diversity will lead to better outcomes. We did not do well in the financial crisis as you know, and our hope is that a more robust board going forward will help us weather the next storm more soundly."

Some facts

"Deutsche Bank has no female executive board members and last year only 2.2% of executive board members at the 30 companies in Germany's blue-chip DAX index were women. Germany also came last in ranking if women's representation on executive boards."

- 14.8% of Fortune 500 board seats were filled by women (2009)

-15.4% of Fortune 500 corporative officers were women (2009)

-During the four-year span of their study, Fortune 500 companies with the highest percentage of women on their boards, and greater numbers of women in the clout titles, saw 53% higher returns on equity than those companies with the fewest number of women on their boards.

-Return equity for companies with at least three women on their boards was 16.7%, compared with 11.5% for the average company.

To read more about the article visit Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, or The Telegraph.

Our foundation has created a "Why Diversity on Corporate Boards Matters" Brief - if you would like it please email me at pursepundit@gmail.com .

Women Moving Millions and Women's Media Center

2011-02-04T13:24:00.003-05:00

I am attending a three day training for WMM donors in NYC in partnership with the Women's Media Center. So far so awesome! They just showed this video about why getting our voices out there is so important. Check out this video on YOUTUBE. ( click here )

Also consider supporting this important organization. ( click here )

Pictured right are Elizabeth Sackler, Founder of the Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Jodie Evans of Code Pink who is the host of this gathering, and Jane Fonda who is a huge supporter and Board Member of WMC.

Sundance - A Feature Article on Geralyn Dreyfous plus Davos

2011-01-30T15:11:00.005-05:00

What a 10 days! We saw 12 films, attended many parties, met countless fabulous people and I am exhausted! That said, I am completely inspired to work on a Wonder Woman Project and have so many ideas for documentaries that it feels like my head is going to explode. WOW. My last post was about a party I held for some fabulous feminists last Sunday ( see below) and it made the front page of Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune. Click here to read the profile piece on Geralyn and see some fab photos.

I failed to report on the gathering on DAVOS this past week, and in particular on the implementation of a gender quota. Click here to read more about it in an article by Katrine Behold of the New York Times / International Herald Tribune in which I was quoted.

There is so much I want to write about but it will be another crazy week with little time for writing. I am off to NY for a bunch of meetings related to the Women's Funding Network and Women Moving Millions, plus a few days of media training! I am hoping to do one more post on Sundance before I head off as it truly was an incredible experience. So much talent. So many great stories. Just an incredible experience.

Sundance - Margin Call and and....

2011-01-27T14:11:00.008-05:00

My last Sundance Post! Again, what an incredible week of taking in the best of independent films. ( click here from FB) I have posted on a number of them but here are a few more that were on our list: The Ledge, Miss Representation, Cedar Rapids, Take Shelter, Perfect Sense, The Convincer, Salvation Boulevard , Tyrannosaur , The Flaw, Incendies and Margin Call. I was sad to have missed Connected, Hell and Back Again, Like Crazy, How to Die in Oregon and RAW/WAR. Those are all on my to watch list. For a list of the years winners click here.

By far my favorite feature was INCENDIES a film about twins in Montreal that must deal with their passing mother's last wish- to locate their father and brother that were not known to them. The film up for an academy award and is a must see.

Worth commenting on is Margin Call and The Flaw, both about the financial crisis. Margin Call featured an all star cast of Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Jones, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci, all of which were present for the premiere! The film was a day in the life of the financial crisis, located at one firm, when they find out that they have risk on their books that could effectively take down the place. Sound familiar? A young rocket scientist discovers the 'truth' and the plot follows how that piece of information travels up the decision making chain and back down again. Realistic, not really, but interesting never-the-less. I did enjoy how each character in the film was a Wall Street archetype.

- A dude in risk that was a PHd that moved to Wall Street for the money, but really felt somewhat guilty about it. Why is it we are paid so much in this job compared to "real work?"

- His sidekick, who did not have the pedigree and was completely obsessed with what everyone was paid with no moral conscience about it, nor about the fact that his firm was about to explode.

-The middle man manager/salesman that lived the life, $2.5 mm a year to be exact, of which he said about $80,000 was spent on partying and hookers. Very slick, a company man, and clearly a A-kisser.

- The trading floor boss who felt just a tad more conflicted about what was the 'right' thing to do for customers versus protecting his firm's interests.

- The big boss ( Jeremy Irons ) who had no idea what kind of risk the firm was taking but when confronted with the possible losses, did not hesitate to make quick decisions to protect the firms short term interests, even if it meant damaging client relationships.

- The only female in the film, Demi Moore's character, who was the doe in the headlight head of firm-wide risk, who clearly sacrificed family life to be a player, only to be told that the firm needed a fall guy and she would be it.

- The day to day head of risk who gets canned upfront even though he was trying to do the right thing, exposing the 'truth' that no one wanted to hear while the $$ was pouring in. A family guy who becomes obsessed with the fact that at one point he did something that helped people. He designed a bridge that saved people time in the commute.

So what was the point of the firm you ask? Well I asked that question actually, of the Director J.C. Chandor, and he answered that he really wanted to explore the crisis with from a personal perspective. Further that what we know of the crisis is more about the firms, or the dollars, and not about the people that drove the decisions. He added that what this experience caused him to question is why is it that some of the smartest, most talented people go to Wall Street? And what does that say about us as a society? Well I am sure we can answer that question.

Was it a good film? No, but with such a big cast and on such a timely topic, it is sure to be released. Will it become a Wall Street cult classic? Nope, but I do hope people go see it and it will likely result in some great conversations! ( a link to an article about Margin Call from The Guardian,)

The Flaw - a documentary about the crisis. Just not good. Took a very narrow perspective with Wall Street taking the solitary hit. There are many factors that caused the financial crisis with Wall Street certainly playing a key role, but not the only one. Too bias, stay away.

A Feminist Bash plus Miss Representation

2011-01-23T15:51:00.006-05:00

Okay I don't meet to brag, but we just had a heck of a party! ( click here from FB) About 100 people came including our guests of honor Gloria Steinem, Geena Davis, Pat Mitchell, and Amy Richards. Whole teams came from three fabulous documentaries (!WAR, Connected and Miss Representation) including the filmmakers. There were also other actors, filmmakers, activists and all around fabulous people. If you are a feminist in Park City, this was the place to be! The spotlight was on Geena for her fabulous work at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media . If you are not aware of the research she has done please find it on her web-site. The facts around women's lack of representation in the media, or the distorted view of them, will shock you in to action. Please consider supporting her important work!

My idea for next year is to gather together women writers, producers, filmmakers and other change makers to help make SUNDANCE and the industry in general much more gender balanced. I am so inspired by the films I have seen over the past few days that deliver the powerful message that we can all make a difference.

MISS REPRESENTATION - link to YOUTUBE clip

Yesterday I attended the premiere of this fabulous film that Greg and I were honored to support. This documentary by Jennifer Siebel Newson ( pictured center above) "explores women's under-representation in positions of power and influence in America and challenges the limited portrayal of women in mainstream media." It was extremely well done delivering powerful facts, images and opinions, but it is also a call to action. Please visit their website to learn more www.missrepresentation.org. I am excited to be a part of their outreach.

Here are a few facts from the film - WOMEN ARE

- 3% of clout positions in the mainstream media

- 3% of Fortune CEOs

- 7% of mainstream film directors

- 16% of film protagonists

- 17% of Congress while women make up 51% of the population

Also present at the party was the founder of Common Sense Media, Jim Steyer. If you do not know about this site, you must. I introduced him to my son Matthew who loves the site, and they had a great talk about Halo. How cool is that?

"Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.We exist because our nation's children spend more time with media and digital activities than they do with their families or in school, which profoundly impacts their social, emotional, and physical development . As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume."

More film commentary to come this week!

Sundance - Report on Films

2011-01-22T06:58:00.005-05:00

At 4 am my eyes popped open thinking about Sundance. (from FB) Not surprising given the two fabulous and provocative films I have seen over the past two days.

The first was the premiere of "Sing Your Song" a film by Susanne Rostok, a biographical documentary of the life of Harry Belafonte. His "groundbreaking career personifies the American Civil Rights Movement and impacted many other social justice movements." The filmmaker had collected over 800 hours of film on this extraordinary life. Mr. Belafonte told of how his mother taught him to wake up every day looking to right an injustice in the world. This is the same message that I am trying to live by, and am trying to teach my children - to do "what you can with what you have where you are." What was so incredible was how he used his platform, used is power, used his relationships, to help others. This is what the world needs a heck of a lot more of. I cannot wait to share this movie with my Women Moving Millions sisters ( and a few brothers) as that is exactly why this initiative was created. "To those to which much is given, much is expected."

Yesterday we saw a feature film called "The Ledge" by Director/ Screenwriter Gavin Wiesen. "Atop a high-rise building, Gavin, a young hotel manager, is about to end his life. Hollis, a detective whose own world has just been turned upside down, is dispatched to the scene. As Hollis tried to persuade Gavin not to jump, each man begins to open up about his past, and we discover that neither of them is convinced that his life is worth living." The film stars Charlie Hunnman, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson and Terrance Howard ( who were all excellent!!) who were all there for post film Q and A. Patrick's character Joe was a fundamentalist Christian who we find 'rescued' his gorgeous and docile bride. Charlie, the 'happy go lucky' neighbor, an atheist , falls for her, and her for him. I won't say more about the plot but it is filled with temptation, tragedy, and moral dilemmas. Ultimately it is about forgiveness, grace and perhaps event salvation. Faith is forefront. Love it. What I did not love is that I asked this question to the crew - "This movie is about one's struggle with faith. What did you learn about your own faith during the filming and would you like to share your faith with the audience?" The crowd cheered the question but that actors ducked answering. Sorry but that was lame. Why is one willing to get on the big screen and play a fundamentalist Christian, and not willing to comment about how you could or could not relate to the character." It was a moment for them to real about it, which was of course the point of the film and they did not. Very disappointing. Very.

Last night we attended a gathering for Impact Partners, a film investment group that funds social impact documentaries. They have three films in the festival - !WAR, Hell and Back Again and Connected: An Autobiography about Love, Death and Technology. They all sound extraordinary and I am hoping to see them. The filmmakers were there and the stories about how much passion went in to creating this films moved me. I have found my new love, Documentary Films. Also there were two filmmakers pitching their projects. The first will be about acid attacks on women in Pakistan and one man, a doctor, who is doing something about it. The second is about the Biosphere Two Project. Amazing. ( click here for the film guide)

My fabulous feminist house guests arrived last night for the Premiere of "Miss Representation" today. I am so excited which is likely why my eyes popped open at 4. Yes it is fun seeing movie stars, but activists and change makers are my heros. I suggest the cast of "The Ledge" come to this film for a little inspiration of how to not fear putting who YOU are out there. For that matter they should also search out Mr. Belafonte for an amazing example of a man who leverages his celebrity and is not afraid to share his values off the screen.

Sundance Film Festival!

2011-01-19T13:13:00.009-05:00

Eighteen movies in 10 days......can it be done??? ( click here from FB) Not to mention other events and parties. This is my first Sundance Film Festival experience and we are going for it! The festivities began last night with a quick drink at ZOOM ( the Robert Redford Restaurant and yes there was a sighting!!!) with Pat Mitchell and her fabulous husband Scott. The bartender called it the calm before the storm. As a forever board member of the institute Pat likely knows more about Sundance then anyone and we were grateful for the advice. Tonight it is the opening Party at the Montage, the swanky new hotel at Deer Valley, and a viewing of the film "Sing Your Song."

The one I am most excited about is Miss Representation a film written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newson. "Miss Representation" uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. It's clear that mainstream media objectifies women, but what most people don't realize is the magnitude of that phenomenon and the way objectification gets internalized - a symbolic annihilation of self-worth - and impedes girls and women from realizing their full potential." This documentary features interviews with politicians, journalists, academics and activists. The guest list to the event and panel discussion to follow included the most fabulous Gloria Steinem (pictured with me up above), Geena Davis, and more with Pat Mitchell to moderate. "The purpose of the film is to re-energize the movement!!!" love it. I am excited to be able to continue the discussion the following day with a party at my home. This will be the first gathering in our new home and what a way to start!

Here are a few of the movies that we are hoping to attend. (in order of viewing):

The Ledge-A thriller. Atop a high-rise building, Gavin, a young hotel manager, is about to end his life. Hollis, a detective whose own world has just been turned upside down, is dispatched to the scene. As Hollis tries to persuade Gavin not to jump, each man begins to open up about his past, and we discover the neither of them is convinced that his life is worth living. Starring Charilie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Terrence Howard.

Miss Representation!!!

Like Crazy- A romance that is a film from and about the heart. Jacob, an American, and Anna, who is British, meet at college in L.A. and fall madly in love. Starring Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence.

My Idiot Brother-A comedy. Despite looking for the good in every situation and the best in every person, Ned always seems to find himself holding the short end of the stick-being conned into selling drugs to a uniformed cop, being dumped by his girlfriend. and worse yet, losing custody of his beloved dog, Willie Nelson. Starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel,

Higher Ground-Romantic/Drama charting one women's spiritual journey through life while exploring and embracing her own humanity, Higher Ground is that rare film that is rich in ideas but also charger with emotion.

Red State-A horror which follows three high school boys who come across an online ad from an older women looking for a ....... Hmm, not sure why I picked this one, perhaps because they confront a "holy" force.

Cedar Rapids-A comedy about a group of insurance salesmen who use the opportunity to attend an annual convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as a way to escape their doleful existence...like Vegas but with corn. Starring Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche. This looks really funny!

Take Shelter-A psychological thriller about Curtis who lives in a small town in Ohio with his wife and daughter, a six-year-old deaf girl. When Curtis begins to have terrifying dreams, he keeps the visions to himself, channeling his anxiety into obsessively building a storm shelter in his backyard. Starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain.

Perfect Sense-A thriller/drama about a global pandemic which first attacks emotions, the senses. Starring Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Ewen Bremner. Love Ewan!

The Convincer-A drama about an insurance agent that is looking for a way to jump-start his business, reunite with his estranged wife, and escape the dismal mid-western weather.

Margin Call- Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. Starring Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto.

Salvation Boulevard- A drama about Reverend Dan, a charismatic preacher who has a captivated a city with his charm. Starring Pierce Brosan, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Greg Kinnear, Marisa Tomei.

The Flaw-A documentary. The Flaw makes one thing clear from the outset-there was nothing simple about the U.S. financial collapse of 2007.

Incendies-A drama about twins from Montreal that must deal with their mothers dying wish: to locate their father, who they believed was dead, and the brother they never knew existed.

Tyrannosaur-A drama about Joseph, a tormented, self-destructive man plagued by violence, finds hope of redemption in Hannah, a Christian charity-shop worker he meets one day while fleeing an altercation. Starring Peter Mullan, Olivia Coleman, Eddie Marsan.

The Son of No One-Is a police thriller about a yound cop who is assigned to a precinct in the Queens neighborhood where he grew up. Starring Channing Tatum, Tracy Morgan, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino.

Will we make it through? I will report back.

Wonder Woman - The Missing Superhero

2011-01-14T20:36:00.003-05:00

Regular readers know that I love Wonder Woman. I collect WW memorabilia, and I fantasize about writing the WMM screenplay. So I sent this article to Gloria Steinem, who is one of the world's experts on WW, as I have been saying to her "Gloria, it is time we got involved." She agreed. Sundance is next week and we will both be attending, so we are going to find someone to listen! They need some hard core feminists to get involved and we are ready!

Read the latest news on WW by clicking here. Bottom line they have not found a screenplay, the concept is in "development hell." CALL GLORIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are Women Leaving Men Behind?

2011-01-11T22:38:00.006-05:00

A while back Hanna Rosin wrote an article for the Atlantic called "The End of Men." ( click here from FB) Needless to say it caught my attention. Sorry Hanna but although you made some great points in the article about the rising economic power of women, I truly hated the title. Hated it. The idea that when women rise men must fall is just plain wrong and truly damaging. It is not an either/or, but a both and.

Today this oped appeared on CNN and it links to Hanna's talk at TED Women, a conference I recently attended. Sorry again Hanna, but I really did not like your talk for the same reason I did not like the title of your article. It was too anti-men. Watch it for yourself and leave a comment.

Men need to be our partners in advancing gender equality. I truly believe that when women more equally share in all forms of power in our society, we will have a more just and equitable one, and a growing number of men believe that too. So please Hannah, no more putting men down and making them feel like the 'losers.' Last time I checked, despite all the facts you quote ( which I fully agree with), men still do run the world, and we need them to support us running in it with them.

Some Facts About the Deficit

2011-01-07T08:43:00.003-05:00

Deficit reduction is likely to be the hottest, domestic, political topic this year so let me arm you with some facts according to the WSJ.

- The government is currently spending about $100 billion more a month then it is taking in, adding about $1.3 trillion to the federal debt per year.

- Right now the government only has $400 billion before it hits the $14.3 trillion ceiling. ( and there is really no way to avoid hitting it)

- I love this quote - "Today's deficits are political problem, tomorrow's economic threat."

- Federal borrowing grew by $3.9 trillion between the end of 2007 and the third quarter of 2010. ( Why? to cushion the blow of the economic downturn)

- Every additional $100 billion borrowed this year adds $43 billion in interest over the next 10 years.

My comments to this - Scary. The numbers are extraordinary. When we raise the debt ceiling the federal debt will exceed our national GDP. This does not include state and local debt. You have likely been reading that there are HUGE issues in the muni area right now as bond holders are worried about the ability of many issuers to repay. This does not include mortgage debt, credit card debt, corporate debt, high yield debt...... We are an indebted nation and to a large extent that has been good, it has fueled growth, but at the end of the day it comes down to this. can the debt payments be made? No, for the subprime mortgage market and that is what contributed greatly to the financial crisis. Partial no for commercial real estate which has also caused big issues. So far yes for government, but at what cost to our future? The federal government can print money which is a good thing if you need to pay people. Printing does risk credibility and the credibility is reflected in both interest rates and exchange rates. Again so far ok because many other developed countries are in the same position and hey, we are the US, the world's largest economy.

So where does that leave me? Worried, as i have been for some time. Worried for the economic future of our collective children. I teach my children to be financially responsible. I teach them to spend within their means and our nation's capital is not exactly setting a good example.

Helen Mirren on Hollywood

2011-01-05T15:32:00.002-05:00

This video is a must watch. You go Girl. Thank you for the courage to speak from the heart about what you know to be TRUE. ( click here)

My FAV TED talks from TEDWOMEN 2010

2011-01-04T13:24:00.006-05:00

I am so sorry this is so late in posting. ( click here from FB ) I have been waiting for more talks to be posted before sharing and they are still not all up but here it goes! Below are my FAVs in no particular order.

I have to give a huge shout out to Pat Mitchell, The President of the Paley Center for Media, who was instrumental in making this event happen, and a co-host of the whole thing. I have both the honor and pleasure of working with Pat and she is truly one of the most brilliant, warm and committed women I have ever known.

New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly (TED talks) tackles global issues with humor, intelligence and wit. Her latest project supports the United Nations initiative cartooning for peace. Her talk was absolutely hilarious and a must watch when it comes available. I had the opportunity to talk with her a little and she is a lovely person.

Documentary filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert (TED talks) have worked to conserve wildlife for more than 25 years. As National Geographic explorers in residence, the couple influences public policy and perceptions. Their video showed a herd of lions taking down an elephant. It was breathtaking.

Stephen Lewis (TED talks) advocates for the victims of Africa's HIV/AIDS pandemic, and believes that gender lies at the heart of the problem-and the solution. Oh my gosh this guy was amazing. To here a MAN talk about Why Women and Girls is so powerful. A quote " Gender Equality Now or Never!" Check back to find the video....

Courtney E. Martin (TED talks) chronicles-and encourages-the current generation of young activists and feminists. Courtney is a friend and i completely adore her! She's an editor at feministing.com and author of Do It Anyway: The New Generation Of Activists. ( pictured above) Again, check back for the talk.

Jacqueline Novogratz (TED talks) founded and leads Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that takes a businesslike approach to improving the lives of the poor. I am a proud supporter of the Acumen Fund and Jacqueline is an amazing woman and leader.

Tony Porter (TED talks) is an educator and activist who is internationally recognized for his effort to end violence against women. Tony shared his personal experience and you could here a pen drop. Violence against women is a men's issue!!!!!! You must watch and learn about the 'man box."

In Hans Rosling's (TED talks) hands, data sings . Global trends in health and economics come to vivid life. And the big picture of global development-with some surprisingly good news-snaps into sharp focus. This guy is a gifted presenter, no wonder he ranks amongst TED's top talks.

As the COO at the helm of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg (TED talks) juggles the tasks of monetizing the world's largest social networking site while keeping its users happy and engaged. A GREAT talk for all aspiring professionals. I had the opportunity to meet her at dinner and she seems truly lovely.

Halla Tomasdottir (TED talks), co-founder if Audur Capital, has been instrumental in rebuilding Iceland's economy since the nation nearly went bankrupt in 2008. Her approach: applying female values to financial advice. I have written about Halla before as we were sisters in a former life. We met last year at the Global Forum for Women and the Economy and we have been connected every since. She rocks!

I truly hope this becomes an annual event. It was great.

Women's ENews - 21 Leaders

2011-01-03T09:00:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year! What a great first blog for 2011, acknowledging the 21 Women Leaders chosen by Women's ENews to be this years honorees. ( click here from FB) I have the pleasure of knowing and working with a number of these fantastic women.

First, Linda Basch. Linda is the President of the National Council for Research on Women where I continue to serve as Board Member Emeritae. Linda is passionate, articulate, and deeply committed to leveraging the power of research to create positive change. Congratulations Linda!

Second, Kayrita Anderson. This women is a force of nature. Kayrita and her husband Harold are from Atlanta. Having supported an organization that provided a safe house for young girls escaping a life of prostitution they asked themselves, why are there so many girls in this situation? They decided to do something about it and created a program called "A Future, Not a Past," taking a holistic approach to ending the prostitution of young girls in this country. Kayrita is a fellow Women Moving Millions donor and a board member with me of the Women's Funding Network. Congrats Kayrita!

Third, Pamela Shifmin the Director of Initiatives for Women and Girls at the Novo Foundation. Novo is a foundation that gets it! They believe that "empowering girls and women with emphasis on increasing educational and economic opportunities in the developing world" is key to a more just and equitable world." YES!! Thank you Pamela and my buddy Jennifer Buffet for doing what you do in the world. Congrats!

Fourth, Lauren Embrey! Lauren is another remarkable woman philanthropist and change maker. I have had the pleasure of serving with her as Co-Chairs of Women Moving Millions. She is authentic and passionate, caring deeply about the empowerment of women and girls in multiple realms. Congrats Lauren!

To the many other fantastic women nominated congratulations to all of you. I had the honor of being an awardee in 2009 it was a tremendous honor. A shout out goes out to Women's ENews. If you are not currently a subscriber to their daily news briefs click here to become one. In addition please consider becoming a supporter of their work.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2010-12-25T14:48:00.002-05:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The Zehner family is heading to Mexico tomorrow where I hope to reflect, write, and spend quality time with the family. 2011 will be a very exciting year. I know it.... Blessings to all.

"Collective Impact" - Mark Kramer

2010-12-14T17:40:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks back (click here from FB) I was sitting on a plane catching up on my reading and read an article this article in Stanford Innovation Review. The article is called "Collective Impact" by John Kania and Mark Kramer. I was so moved by the article that we arranged a call and just spent the past hour on the phone with Mark to talk about how this thinking could be applied to the Women's Movement. The topic of the article - "Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination yet the social sector remains focused on the isolated intervention of individual organizations."

Here are my highlights from the article but PLEASE read it first!!!

- About isolated impact - "despite the dominance of of this approach, there is scant evidence that isolated initiatives are the best way to solve many social problems in today's compex and interdependent world."
-This point - "social problems arise from the interplay of government and commercial activities, not only from the behavior of social sector organizations. As a result, complex problems can be solved only by cross-sector coalitions that engage those outside the nonprofit sector."
- The FIVE CONDITIONS of Collective Success - love it!
- "The expectation that collaboration can occur without a supporting infrastructure is one of the most frequent reasons why it fails." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- "Funders' reluctance to pay for infrastructure and preference for short term solutions."
- The Story of STRIVE - that has a $1.5 million annual budget but is coordinating the efforts and increasing the effectiveness of organizations with combined budgets of $7 billion." Refer to the upper point. Funders don't like to fund infrastructure and yet the leverage that could be created by funding infrastructure is HUGE. We need to fund this infrastructure in a this Collective Impact manner.

"Until funders are willing to embrace this new approach and invest sufficient resources in the necessary facilitation, coordination, and measurement that enable organizations to work in concert, the requisite infrastructure will not evolve." !!!!!!!!!!!! This is a call to action !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rising Rates

2010-12-13T09:38:00.004-05:00

Over the past few weeks US interest rates have risen dramatically. ( click here from FB) For example 10 year US treasuries have gone from a low of about 2.30% t0 3.32 %. That is a 30% rise!!! This is a problem for a country that is addicted to very low cost money. This has occurred despite hundreds of billions of purchases from the FED ( I cannot imagine how much money they lost). The FED's famous QE program met with much scrutiny, especially from free market players who see this as massively disruptive. The big question is what next? Further what are the reasons for the rise? Is it the economy is improving or that investors are demanding higher rates from the US because of concerns about lack of fiscal discipline? I have more questions then answers but when I step back what remains somewhat shocking to me is despite the rise, how low interest rates are. Despite this, despite it, we are not experiencing any real growth. Yes savings rates have gone up dramatically but we are still a country that is way to indebted. ( household and government) The corporate sector fairs better but investment on their part does not make sense unless the demand is there. How can there be demand when the consumer remains over-spent? I continue to think it will be a slow road to recovery for the US with the potential for some major bumps along the way.

More Women on Boards

2010-12-12T11:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Sunday! I have so much to write about TED, so much. But for now a quick hit on an important topic, getting more women on corporate boards. Read this in the New York Times from yesterday. Within a few weeks I hope to have a dedicated section on my web-site ( jackizehner.com ) that will feature a brief about why the time is now to move for the "Critical Mass Principle" - a voluntary goal for public companies to have a minimum of 30% women on their boards. That brief will feature the many research reports and arguements for why greater diversity on their boards is good business!

TED - Women are Heros a film by JR

2010-12-07T07:19:00.002-05:00

Last night at the TED opening I had the opportunity ( click here from FB) to see the documentary film "Women are Heros"- a film by JR, and the 2011 TED Prize Winner, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It was an extraordinary film of a street art project come to life in the communities in which it was born. Click here from YOUTUBE trailer. I am off to a Women Moving Millions breakfast, a tour of the museum and by first TED conference. What a day!

Off to TED Women!

2010-12-05T23:46:00.003-05:00

This is going to be a GREAT week. ( click here from FB) I am off to Washington to attend the first ever TED Women Conference. The line up is nothing short of spectacular and it includes a number of amazing women I know well. To name a few...

Halla Tomasdottir - co-founder of Audur Capital in Iceland.

Courtney Martin - Blogger, Writer and Internet Entrepreneur

Jacqueline Novogratz - Founder of the Acumen Fund

Lisa Witter - Chief Strategy Officer of Fenton Communication and writer

Other speakers include Madeline Albright, Eve Ensler, Donna Karan, Nancy Pelosi, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - President of Liberia, Ted Turner and it is hosted by one of my fav people on the planet - Pat Mitchell, President of the Paley Center for Media. The whole two days is available by WEBCAST - click here for more information.

If you have not heard of TED before this is what it is..

"TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize."

Women are more Generous!

2010-12-02T09:50:00.002-05:00

It's official, women give more. ( click here from FB) This is the conclusion of a recent report by "The Center on Philanthropy" at Indiana University. They studied the giving behaviour of single men and single women and reached this powerful conclusion. Why does it matter? Because it highlights" that women play a distinct and powerful role and philanthropy."

To download the full report click here.

This finding is deeply connected to my work with Women Moving Millions, an initiative to encourage million dollar gifts to organizations that support, promote and include women and girls. Why? Because for the first time in history women are starting to fund women and girls and this report highlights the growing power of women to give and drive social change and all income and wealth levels. Look for more, much more, on this initiative on PursePundit.

on the report...

- WSJ reports on the study.

- blog post from the Case Foundation on why it matters.

- CBS news on the report.

on Women Moving Millions

- press release from The Women's Funding Network

- Huffpo blog post on WMM

- NYTimes on WMM by Lisa Belkin

Paycheck Fairness Act - Defeated

2010-11-22T10:48:00.003-05:00

Last week this bill was defeated. (click here from FB) There were many articles written about this issue which frankly left me somewhat confused. Like many, I quote the statistic that women in the US continue to be paid 77 cents to the male dollar, and taken at face value, no one would say that is fair. But this is a complex number. Clearly some of the difference can be explained by the fact that women often opt for lesser paid jobs, often work part-time, require more flexibility, and often withdraw from the work-force for periods of time. That said many experts say there is still a hefty residual that cannot be explained by these factors.

This was from the White House - " Most economists agree, however, that no matter how many variables you control for an unexplained wage gap between men and women persists. For example, Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn did an excellent breakdown of the wage gap in 2007 and identified that 41% of the wage gap between men and women could not be explained by controlling for variables. Regardless of the precise percentage of the wage gap, we have a responsibility to ensure that no one in this country makes less as a result of his or her gender."

This from Valerie Jarrett's office - Click here. Lily Ledbetter pictured.

Financial Times - Women At The Top

2010-11-21T17:26:00.002-05:00

The FT published a list of their top 50 women in world business. It is a fascinating list. Many of the obvious Fortune 500 Women CEOS were of course there, but this list is a global one, and it included many women I have never heard of. Of particular note were a number of young women business owners from China who founded billion dollar companies. Wow.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett and The Center for Work Life Policy

2010-11-19T11:30:00.007-05:00

I adore Sylvia and had the honor of serving on the board of The Center For Work Life Policy, an organization she started, for many years. ( click here from FB) The center does cutting edge research on human capital management issues and the Hidden Brain Drain Task-Force turns this research in to action. For a list of their research click here.

Thursday Sylvia had an OPED published in the Financial Times called "A Final Push Can Break the Glass Ceiling" on their newest Sponsor Effect research. It is an extremely well written piece and a timely one given the prior days announcement of a new round of GS partners.

Here is my summary of her article:

- Yes progress but women still hold only 15% of corporate board seats, make up less then 5% of top earners and 3% of Fortune 500 CEOS. Numbers are worse in the UK.

-Why? Talk of discrimination,work/family trade-offs, lack of the 'vision thing', nor ambitious enough. She says.. much more to it.

-Her new research - "women who are qualified to lead stall not for lack of drive, but for lack of push." It is about sponsorship.

-Why the difficulties in getting sponsors? Reluctance to give women feedback, fear of mentor ship either being perceived as or leading to more (the sex thing), and more.

- UK is pushing forward with a 'plan to take female representation on corporate boards to 50%."

- This week on Tuesday "a group of major companies launched a new "30% club" aiming to increase female board representation to 30% by 2015."

Personally I was blessed to have some amazing sponsors at GS, including a man named Mike Mortara who was my immediate boss and later the head of fixed income. There is no doubt that I would not have made partner without his intentional support and mentor ship. There were others as well and I could not agree more with Sylvia's findings and the importance of these strong relationships. Later when I worked on the partner selection process it was so clear that without a senior person pushing for the candidate, they were less likely to make it through. When push came to shove and it was one candidate versus another, the power and voice of who was in the room pushing for them made all the difference. It was also my experience that it was more likely that a woman did not have that voice in the room, and their road to partnership became much longer.

Thank you Sylvia for the work you do. It is truly an honor to be in your circle and connected to the work of the Center. If you have not already read it, I would highly recommend Syliva's book "Creating a Life: What Every Women Needs to Know about Having A Child and a Career," as well as her latest, "On Ramps and Off Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success." ( click here for Amazon)

Goldman Announces a New Partner Class

2010-11-17T18:34:00.004-05:00

It is a big day for over 100 people who were named the new Goldman Partners. I remember getting the phone call in 1996 from Jon Corzine, as did my husband Greg, and it was special indeed. At the ripe old age of 32 I was invited to be part of a club, perhaps the club, and one of only a handful of women to be so named. Two years ago I wrote an oped about it, and in the words of Forest Gump - "That's all I have to say about it." Well.. maybe not all, but that is all I have to say for now.

Congratulations to all the new partners, and in particular the women partners. Use your position wisely and for the benefit of the women to follow. Though I cannot tell how many of the new partners are women one web-site said it was 10%, which if true, is disappointing. For a leader in corporate diversity my fingers are crossed that the numbers are much, much higher.

ps - I hope you all are still having that brunch.

Are Stocks Overpriced? Yes says Jeremy Grantham

2010-11-12T08:35:00.002-05:00

"It [the Federal Reserve] wants us to go out there and buy stocks, which are overpriced because bonds they have manipulated into being even less attractive," (click here from FB) said Grantham, who is chief investment strategist of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo, a Boston-based asset management firm, and a respected voice in the financial world. "So, we’re being forced to choose between two overpriced assets. That is not always a terrific choice to make because there is a third choice, and that is, 'don't play the game and hold money in cash.'" ( From CNBC)

I agree with the above, but would point out that the primary goal of 'manipulating' interest rates was to provide support for the housing market, as well as making money more affordable to support both business investment and private spending. The rise in equity valuations since late summer has been astonishing, and at these entry points, I am on the sidelines as well. Our favorite asset continues to be Gold. Jim Cramer was jumping up and down about it yesterday and is in words " talk to me about price when it is 5% of portfolios."

Have a great day.

Eve Ensler's List of Most Powerful Feminists

2010-11-10T22:38:00.007-05:00

Eve Ensler was asked to create a list for FORBES ( click here from FB) of the the most powerful feminists. Cool. I wish I could say I know all these women, but only one, Pat Mitchell, do I now well. To see them all, click here. ( it is a slide show)

Eve would most certainly be on the top of my last of powerful and influential feminists. Eve is a role model in how you can leverage your skills, your passions, your platform to change the world. Big time! Her cause? To end violence against Women. I am a proud supporter of V-Day and I hope you are too! Violence is not a women's issue it is a human rights issue. I have had the pleasure of meeting Eve many times and she is the real deal.

Another amazing woman who has dedicated her life to ending violence against women is Jodie Evans of Code Pink. Jodie is a sister in the Women Moving Millions Movement, that I am honored to be a part of. I have only seen her wear PINK. Talk about wearing your values, again, totally inspiring. Spend some time on the CODE PINK web-site it is an amazing resource for all who care about human rights.

What is a feminist? Feminism refers to movements aimed at establishing and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. ( Wikipedia)

( Please note there is nothing in the definition about being anti-male or 'radical'. By this definition I truly hope everyone sees themselves as a feminist.)

Elections, Quantitative Easing and more....

2010-11-07T10:56:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of blog entries this past week. I spent Monday and Tuesday at a board meeting for the Women's Funding Network and spent the rest of the week trying to catch up! I really don't have much to say about the election results, except that it is going to be tough going in Washington. There are so many problems that need tough, thoughtful analysis and decision making and I doubt much will get done over the next few years. More in my realm of expertise has been the action by the FED to expand their balance sheet by another trillion. The Wall Street Journal has been doing some excellent writing on this including Wednesday's oped "High Rollers at the Fed." They say "this is a monetary mistake" which will have fiscal risks. The Fed's balance sheet is more than $2.3 trillion, including $1.1 trillion of mortgage backed securities. When you add in what is held by Fannie and Freddie is is mind blowing. The good news ( ha ha ) is of course that the FED has earned $76 billion by driving down interest rates, but the bad news is that there is no exit strategy. If mortgage rates were to rise 100 bps from 4% to 5% it is estimated they would love $162 billion. Honestly, I cannot even wrap my mind around this. It is unprecedented and I think extremely dangerous for our economy. For a detailed analysis Bill Gross' recent commentary is a MUST READ.

The Gender Gap In Philanthropy Revealed plus the California Women's Conference

2010-10-29T10:01:00.005-04:00

One my fav people on the planet is Lisa Witter. Lisa Witter is a Vice-President at Fenton Communications, working with organizations around strategic communications. She is also the author of "The She Spot: Why Women and The Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them."

Yesterday she posted this article on Huffington Post on women's philanthropy. As a board member of the Women's Philanthropy Institute ( Indiana University ), I am sure she was instrumental in creating this compelling new report on women's giving. This is a must read study, full of facts and stats and insights. Big thanks to Lisa for highlighting the work of The Women's Funding Network and Women Moving Millions. I serve in a leadership role with both groups and my oh my, many good things happening in the next few months.

"The Women's Philanthropy Institute report is illuminating, not because it proves women are "better" than men because they tend to give more, but because it disrupts conventional wisdom about what a philanthropist looks like in terms of both gender and income." Yes Yes Yes!!!!

The Women's Conference - 2010! I would have loved to have been there but ....... I am however, looking forward to watching many of the sessions. Check out the fantastic speakers !!!!

October has been a HUGE month for conferences and gatherings for Women and Girls!!!

Fannie and Freddie and $259 billion

2010-10-23T10:45:00.005-04:00

On February 25th, 2008 I wrote my first OPED about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (click here from FB)The piece was called Quickfixonomics, and appeared on the Huffington Post. At that time I criticized the government for increasing their loan limits as their balance sheets were already a complete mess. I cannot imagine how much THAT MOVE contributed to the $259 BILLION in total expected losses that were reported yesterday. $259 BILLION. Can you all please think about that number. This is not TARP, this is not WALL STREET, these losses are the result of government creating agencies to make homes more affordable for Americans. I have written dozens of blog entries about these two and it is truly just heartbreaking. Now what? is really the question. The truly sad thing is these losses will likely continue and go higher. They have no way to hedge their portfolio that I can think of against decreasing home prices and defaults. Given they own and guarantee trillions of mortgages, and home prices have decreased on average around 30%, it likely means this number is going to be much, much higher.

Now I really hate playing the blame game but this makes be angry. Years and years ago when Fannie and Freddie were printing money for their shareholders and bringing down mortgage rates it was all good, and so they kept expanding their portfolios because as a publicly traded company, that was what they were suppose to do. By buying trillions of mortgages they 'crowded out' other natural purchasers of bonds, perhaps forcing them in to investment strategies and products that were not optimal. ( think Alt A, subprime mortgages, and the like) I have done this rant before in one of my other dozens of entries on these mortgage giants but every time I see another headline about how much money they have lost I lose it. $259 billion. THIS WAS AVOIDABLE. The responsibility for oversight of these organizations was by people that are still in power today, like Barney Frank. I would argue that if Fannie and Freddie did not exist in the form they did, we would not have had this financial crisis. Were they the only players? No of course not. But go down the path of imagining the financial world, and especially the securitized world, without the likes of them, and I don't think you would end up where we are. Note that no other country has the likes of Fannie and Freddie, and they did not experience a financial crisis like the US did.

$259 billion and rising. It is all just so sad. Regarding this foreclosure mess. My gosh.. I don't even know where to start. I am really worried this will all lead to the next inning of financial market chaos.

For all the blogs I have written on Fannie and Freddie go to my web-site and search Fannie.

www.jackizehner.com

Closing the Gender Gap: The Business Case for Organizations, Politics and Society

2010-10-20T14:28:00.004-04:00

Last week I had the honor of attending a conference (click here from FB) at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government which brought together over 100 though leaders to discuss the research that supports the positive economic value of gender diversity. It truly was a ‘who’s who’ of researchers in the field, including many of the people we quoted in out “Women in Fund Management” Study. A partial list includes:

Barbara Annis – Author, Leadership and the Sexes

Hannah Riley Bowles – Associate Professor Harvard Kennedy School, extensive research on gender in negotiations and the attainment of leadership positions.

Iris Bohnet – Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, extensive research on the role of gender in decision making.

Robin Ely – Professor at Harvard Business School, research on race and gender relations in organizations.

Morten Huse – Professor of Organization and Management of BI Norwegian School of Management, published widely on the topic of women and diversity on boards of directors.

Herminia Ibarra – Faculty of INCEAD, and expert on professional careers and leadership development.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter – Professor at Harvard Business School and listed as “one of the most powerful women in the world.” ( pictured left)

Mona Lena Krook – Assistant Professor of Political Science, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. An expert in Quotas for women in politics.

Terrance Odean – Hass School of Business and an expert in behavioral economics.

Scott Page – University of Michigan, Professor of Complex Systems, Political Science and Economics.

My takeaways in brief:

- The evidence for investing in women and girls in the developing world is conclusive and compelling. Create and fund programs that provide for economic their opportunity and security.

- Quotas Quotas Quotas. I am absolutely in favor of quotas for boards of directors of publically traded companies. Representatives were at the conference from Norway sharing how almost no one wanted it, but they did it, and it is having very positive impact. ( they have a 40% law) So many other countries are doing it and it is THE THING we can do to create huge positive change.

- The benefit of gender diversity in groups is nuanced. It is not just add women and better outcomes; it is about creating an inclusive environment which leads to better outcomes. This is the main reason why diversity programs have failed to deliver. We are adding women without changing the culture. PS – an inclusive culture is better for men too!

- Change has and always will be about power. Women have so much more then we are using. We continue to be asking permission when we should be demanding change. The research supports that change is good business.

- Overall there is just a huge and significant amount of research that makes the business case for women. I knew that, but this gathering solidified it for me. Even where there was not absolutely conclusive research of a diversity bump, it does not matter. Show me the other research that says conclusively that excluding women or keeping them a minority leads to better outcomes. The fact that in 2010 we still have to PROVE that we deserve a seat of the table is crazy. I mean really?!? Really?

It was a joy to meet the researchers that do the work that fuel my arguments and my passion. Hopefully soon I will have an updated research list of all their work but for now many of their studies are listed or quoted in the resource section of my website.

SPARK!! Courtney Martin and Geena Davis

2010-10-13T20:40:00.003-04:00

I am a mother of a bright, kind, wonderful, beautiful 10 year old girl. (click here from FB) Thankfully she has zero interest in boys, has not asked to get her ears pierced, dresses like a 10 year old should, and has rarely watched anything more that a PG rated movie. That said I worry... I worry about the highly sexualized society we live in, and the pressure on girls to grow up way to fast.

I recently wrote to my friend Courtney Martin, a brilliant young feminist writer, about this issue, begging her to please do something !!!!!! Not surprisingly she said.. "we are" and directed me to SPARK.

"SPARK is both a Summit and a Movement designed to push back against the increasingly sexualized images of girlhood in the media and create room for whole girls and healthy sexuality. SPARK will engage teen girls to be part of the solution rather than to protect them from the problem."

They have an upcoming summit in NY on October 22nd, and I wish I could be there. Their keynote speaker is the most wonderful Geena Davis - Actor ( of course ) but also founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. I have had the opportunity to meet with Geena many times and I will tell you, this woman is the real deal. She is leveraging her celebrity to bring attention to these issues and I lift her up as someone who should inspire as all. If you have not signed up for the Institute's media alerts, do so now. It is an awesome service.

"Who Will Drive the 21st Century Agenda? Women" according to the CEO of Coca-Cola

2010-10-10T00:05:00.006-04:00

I love it when men make the business case for women. (click here from FB) "According to Muhtar Ken (CEO of Coca-Cola)t, women already are one of the fastest growing dynamic economic forces in the world today, with assets worth $20 trillion worldwide. In the United States alone, women-owned businesses generate $4 trillion, he said, while women comprise nearly 14% of the entrepreneurs in Thailand, 12% in Argentina, 11% in Brazil and 10% in Chile and Mexico." Click here for the full article and video.

This week I will be attending a two day conference on this very subject in Boston. The event, called "Closing the Gender Gap: The Business Case for Organizations, Politics and Society," is a partnership effort between the Council for Women World Leaders, The World Economic Forum, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The list of people speaking is incredible. This movement is getting stronger and stronger and it is all very exciting.

A Special on Goldman Sachs on CNBC tonight at 9 pm

2010-10-06T10:40:00.002-04:00

Should be interesting....

The Lack of Women in Finance - A RANT!!!!!!

2010-10-06T09:50:00.010-04:00

Women in Finance is a hot topic these days. (click here from FB) I can barely keep up with the articles talking about the lack of women on the street, pay disparities, lawsuits and more. Here is the most recent from BLOOMBERG filled with great stats:

- Women in Finance earn 63.9 cents for every dollar men made in 2000.
- Same stat for 2001 - 58.8 cents

- Biggest gap in any of the 13 industries surveyed by the Government Accountability Office

- Number of women in finance, banking and insurance in the US fell by 537,000 between the second quarter of 2007 and the second quarter this year

- Citigroup does not have any women on their executive committee - 19 men

The reasons as to " why so few" are many and the research paper "Women in Fund Management: A Roadmap to Critical Mass and Why it Matters" addresses this in detail ( click here ), but her is more of my personal take:

- Pipeline issues - Fewer women then in math, science and business programs. Fewer women choose to enter the field out of undergrad or graduate school. That said, when the environment is perceived as not "women-friendly", no wonder.

- Gender Discrimination and Bias - Wall Street and finance in general is still very much a 'boys club.' Some firms are better then others, but all the major institutions are governed by men and many of them bring their personal biases to work place and for some, bad behavior. When I began on Wall Street strippers still made visits to the trading floor in celebration of someone's birthday, and thank heaven those days are behind us. That said, it is naive to think that men who think that it is fine to stuff hundred dollar bills in g-strings of naked women at night, don't bring some of that to the workplace with them in terms of how they manage, mentor, co-exist with women in the work place. On the other hand I think some women bring too much of their sexuality in to the workplace and I have seen them use it as a tool to get ahead. It is a delicate balance and one that women, more then men, will have to manage. More relevant is the reality that we are more comfortable with, and confident with people that look and act like ourselves. If you are a man, that means men. In a male dominated work place it takes a huge effort to move away from that tendency and needs to be driven by a deep belief that talent comes in both genders, and all colors. Great new book on this - Laura Liswood "The Loudest Duck: Moving Beyond Diversity While Embracing Differences to Achieve Success in the Workplace."

- Problems with Diversity Initiatives and Programs - Despite a lot of good intentions and good programs, too many managers remain ill-equipped to manage a diverse population. Many firms have pages of programs, but the numbers are not changing and it is time to ask why. Too many firms are just checking the box with programs rather than creating accountability for their outcomes. Evaluate. Measure. Rewards positive outcomes.

- Fear of law-suits and the challenge in firing poor performers that are women and minorities. This is a big issue that is not being talked about. It is a chicken and the egg thing. Because there are so few women and minorites, if they end up not being good at their job ( and that may be because of bad management) it is hard to fire them. The are 'saved' as one manager said to me and this creates huge resentment by the manager and the team. The effect might well be that managers who have experienced this become reluctant to hire women and minorities unless they feel they are a "sure thing." It is just easier to fire men if they are not good, so why not hire just them to begin with? Think about this scenerio. You are a guy with good intentions who tries to hire the best talent for his team. Most of the hires are MBASs with no real experience and thus it is all about perceived potential. You have men and women candidates. They look the same. You had the experience with a prior hire, a woman, who proved not to be cut out for the job but despite your efforts to train her and HR would not allow you to fire her. You were told to pour more and more energy in to her success and it just was not working. Sure if she is great you get pats on the back and you have a great team member, but the downside is there. If you just hired the guy and he was great, great! If he did not work out, bye bye. It is at this level that we must think about as it is at the heart of WHY so few women I believe. We have to think hard about the personal and organizational incentives and disincentives around creating a more diverse workforce.

-Maternity Leave - Let's be real. This is a big issue. If you have a desk full of 20-30 year old women, they are going to have babies. As a manager if your employee is out on maternity leave, it means more work for the rest of team, likely without additional compensation. In an industry where all employees are worked to the bone, this is an issue. Again it is about incentives. Firms need to take a big look at this issue.

- Work-life Balance. This will always be more of an issue for women then men. Women have the kids and the pressures to be a 'good mom' are big. This may be the ultimate reason why we don't get to 50/50. That said, I have met PLENTY of women who choose not to have kids, have husbands with more flexibility and so on. This challenge can be addressed institutionally with more flexibility in roles, but the cultural issues remain. Men in finance have to want to be more then the funders of their families for things to really change. They have to want to be great dads in the same way that I think most women want to be great moms. It means being there for more then weekends and family vacations. I KNOW there are some amazing dads out there who are also senior organizational leaders, so this is a generalization. There is a win/win here for all if corporate America cared more about supporting families.

- CULTURE CULTURE CULTURE - First institutionally. I worked at Goldman Sachs for 14 years. Their culture prides itself on being a meritocracy. That belief is core to their being. I had this experience years ago at a management committee/partnerhship committee offsite on diversity. We were in a small group discussion about why so few women and minorities at the firm. At my table were 9 men and myself. I asked them "look around this room filled with our most senior leaders. Do you think this room is 90% white men because they are the best, the brightest, the hardest working?" They answered YES. They truly believed it. It was not long after that I left the firm. These are not bad people, in fact most of them are GREAT people. They do not know what they do not know and most of them walk around in the world as privileged, powerful, white men. ( I walk around as a privileged white woman)Most of them do not experience exclusion or discrimination and because of it they have no frame of reference for it. They are immune. They do not personally experience discrimination so it is easy for them to assume it does not exist. That classic well it did not happen to ME so I guess it does not happen at all. Catalyst did a GREAT report about getting men engaged in diversity initiatives and they said that the men most likely to be diversity champions have experienced BIAS PERSONALLY!!!

Our broader CULTURE. We still live in a world that values men and boys more then women and girls. This is the issue I will work on for the rest of my life. This manifests itself in a million different ways in our homes, in the media, in the workplace and in the world in general. We have focused a lot of energy towards building up girls self-esteem which is awesome. Increasingly the world recognizes the need to get financial resources in the hands of women, especially in the developed world. Again awesome. But.. we have a long way to go. We are talking about power and control and changing the status quo so it will be hard.

Bottom line is this. We all have to care about creating a workplace, a world, where access and opportunity is available for all. We have to digest that the world is not fair, and if we made it to a place of privilege we OWE it to others that they have their shot too. We have to recognize that gender discrimination is everywhere and we have to look for it so we can eliminate it. I believe with all my heart that a more gender balanced world is in the best interest of all. In that world there will be more women leading institutions and more men free to be in the home being amazing husbands and fathers. Men and women are suppose to be in it together.

Wonder Women TV SERIES!!!

2010-10-02T22:54:00.002-04:00

News just in. (click here to read from FB) Wonder Woman is going to be a TV series by David Kelley. Though I want to say IT IS ABOUT TIME, part of me wishes the big scream version would hit first. If you are regular reader you know that I am a huge WW fan. I collect WW memorabilia (note Bday coming up and I can always use more!!!!) and fantasize about being the screenwriter for the eventual movie. (yes I have an idea) A woman has to write the screenplay. With all due respect to so many incredibly talented men, PLEASE GOD let the script be written by a fantastic, amazing, brilliant feminist woman. PLEASE!!!! The very strange thing is that 8 years ago I started thinking about a female superhero story. That story is playing itself out in real life, my life. One day when I decide to write another 'let it rip blog entry' you might just hear all about it. Have a great weekend.

Fortune Most Powerful Women in Business - 2010

2010-09-29T14:58:00.003-04:00

The List is OUT - More on it soon! (click here )

Markets and the Economy - Who I go to

2010-09-28T11:10:00.004-04:00

I am sure you may have noticed that I have not been blogging that much about either the economy or the markets. (click here to link to my blog from facebook) The main reason is because there is just so much exceptional commentary ( and free!) that says it better then I can. In general I remain quite bearish on equities, and bonds. (see Rosenburg's comments) So rather then going on and on about what I think, here is SHORT list of the people and places I go to for information:

1) David Rosenburg of Gluskin Sheff - formerly of ML. Click here to subscribe to his free daily newsletter. Great for the big picture!

2) Bill Gross of PIMCO - click here to acccess his monthly commentaries. Big picture plus bond market commentaries.

3) Nouriel Roubini of RGE Monitor - Robust, global economic and market commentary. Detailed analysis requires a subscription.

4) Michael Cembalest - JP Morgan. Again, not alot free, but put him on your google alerts.

5) Publications - The Financial Times, The Economist Magazine, Wall Street Journal

6) Blogs/Aggregators - Naked Capitalism -check out their incredible blog roll.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

The Glass Hammer ...and the GS Lawsuit

2010-09-27T13:08:00.004-04:00

Nicki Gilmour is the founder of the GLASSHAMMER and one fantastic young women. If you do not know of this site please subscribe and better yet contact her to find out more about her business.

Nicki had this to say about the GS Lawsuit. She too sees the downside of litigation. There is no doubt that the low numbers of women on Wall Street, particularly in senior leadership positions, indicate that gender discrimination is still alive and well. That said it is not the ONLY reason and I truly believe there are a lot of well intending people who want to do better in the hiring, retention and promotion of women. What is needed is some open, honest and constructive dialog on WHY diversity programs and policies have failed to deliver the intended results. For a resource on this topic please download the research paper from the National Council for Research on Women.

BBC - Women's Hour - GS Class Action Suit

2010-09-27T10:32:00.003-04:00

Airing today is a segment where I spoke to the GS Class Action Suit. Click here to listen.