Roseanne Barr Tells her Story - Thank you

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

"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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

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

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..

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

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

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

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!

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

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"

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

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

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.

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

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 ??

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!

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!

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!

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.