Action: Your Antidote to Anxiety and Other Ills

Madeleine moved to a new state with her husband who got a great job there, but she felt the loss of grounding without family and friends and the stimulation of a large city. She approached me to volunteer for Take The Lead and we began to work on a plan.

“I’m feeling alive again,” she said.

In our fast-paced, often overwhelming world, anxiety, fear, and depression can creep in like shadows at dusk — persistent, heavy, and seemingly insurmountable. Yet, hidden in the very act of taking a step forward is a powerful remedy. Action, even in its smallest form, can serve as the antidote to these pervasive feelings.

Learn & Earn: Stay Tuned to Economics Trends, Forecasts to Succeed as Leaders and Entrepreneurs

You cannot escape the impact economics has on every aspect of your life. Understanding the rapid changes today in employment trends, tariffs, labor, opportunities, consumer needs, inflation, behavioral economics as well as the laws of supply and demand in the U.S. and globally will make you a better leader and wiser entrepreneur.

“Economics has something to say about whatever you are talking about,” says Professor Kim Holder, managing director of the Center for Economics Education at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Finance/Money, Gender ParityMichele WeldonFebruary 21, 2025Economics, Gender Parity, Womens Leadership, EquityComment

Thank Heaven For 11: Take The Lead Celebrates 11 Years Working Toward Mission of Equity

Take The Lead is 11 years old this week on February 19. Eleven years ago, Gloria Feldt and Amy Litzenberger co-founded the organization with the bold mission of society reaching leadership gender parity across all sectors by 2025—this year.

For the past 11 years, Take The Lead has been working towards achieving gender and race equity in leadership across all sectors and industries. In that time, Take The Lead has been making enormous impact affecting hundreds of thousands of women in their careers and lives.

On Banning Ideas, Finding Your Tribe and Winning the Prize

Picture this: It is 1972. I am a student in a relatively progressive suburban public school system, one in which the chorus sang excerpts from “Hair,” (I still know all the words to “Age of Aquarius”), but Home Economics was only for girls and Wood Shop for boys.

Along comes a new magazine: Ms. It challenges the patriarchy and traditional roles. It shakes up the status quo. It does not conform to “expectations.”

Inspire: Take The Lead...Take The LeadFebruary 13, 2025Leadership, Gender Parity, Equality, Anniversary, Womens Equality, Ms. MagazineComment

Ragan Communications Announces Winners of its Video, Visual & Virtual Awards: Take The Lead Women Wins Interview/Q&A Category

Ragan Communications proudly unveils the winners of its Video, Visual & Virtual Awards, recognizing the most outstanding achievements in visual storytelling and virtual experiences across the communications, marketing and PR industries. These winners represent creative excellence in video production, design innovation and virtual event execution. Their work captivated audiences, elevated brand narratives and delivered results that advanced their organizations' or client's communications strategies.

Self-promotion, MediaTake The LeadFebruary 13, 2025Press Release, Gloria Steinem, Gloria Feldt, Gender Parity, AwardsComment

Know Your History: Kendrick Lamar Makes Legacy During Black History Month

It’s heresy, I know, but you don’t normally find me watching the Super Bowl.

However, dinner at a friend’s home during the annual Big Game was served around a television with the game on. It turns out I am glad.

Sorry, Kansas City Chiefs. Congratulations, Philadelphia Eagles. But thanks to you both for providing the perfect kickoff, as it were, for the connection to Black History Month.

The Sum, Change LeadershipGloria FeldtFebruary 11, 2025Black History Month, Leadership, Womens Leadership, Parity, Social JusticeComment

The Good, The Bad, and The Promising For Women in Generative AI Workforce

The historic and ongoing tech workforce gender gap is replicated in the Generative AI field, with the latest introduction of global giant DeepSeek competing with Chat GPT and other players. Today, only 22% of the AI workforce is women.

The possibility is that as GenAI expands its reach, access and innovation, the roles of women in AI leadership can blossom to equity.

Parity, Changing the WorkplaceMichele WeldonFebruary 7, 2025AI, Technology, Parity, Leadership, Womens LeadershipComment

How to Unlock Potential: The Key to Thriving Business Success

You are incredibly, beautifully diverse.

Think about it. A friend once observed to me that we are all made up of many tribes, each of which brings a piece of our identity to life.

How many tribes do you belong to? What characteristics of yourself do you identify with?

I didn’t always appreciate the richness of this concept, but over time, I’ve come to love and embrace the reality of the multifaceted elements that form the whole of who I am.

Change LeadershipGloria FeldtFebruary 3, 2025Leadership, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, DEIComment

The “D” Word: How To Lead So Everyone Can Thrive In DEI-Restricted Workplace

A movement by any other name would be just as crucial.

New presidential assertions claim diversity is immoral and has led to reverse discrimination, so the D word for diversity is banned.

The recent White House executive order calling for the elimination of Diversity Equity and Inclusion efforts, programs and initiatives in federal agencies, as well as foundations, businesses, the U.S. Airforce, corporations, universities, legal and medical associations, non-profits and more organizations and companies across industries has prompted different largescale responses.

Changing the Workplace, ParityMichele WeldonJanuary 31, 2025DEI, diversity, Equity, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Inclusion, Gender EquityComment

Good Grief: Assist Colleagues, Customers, Clients, Friends, Family After Disasters

It’s the signature of Susan B. Anthony that Ellen Snortland cannot replace, along with so much else lost in the devastation brought by the California wildfires that destroyed her home in Altadena.

But it is the support and comfort she has received from her friends in her 50 Women Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment, a Take The Lead cohort in 2017, that uplifts her.

“The 50 women should be called 50 angels,” says Snortland, a journalist, author, actor, writer, producer, director, lawyer, coach, advocate and counselor. After her home was completely destroyed, Snortland says, “They stepped right up, with Nancy de Los Santos leading the charge; They Venmo’d me a nice chunk of cash immediately.” De Los Santos is a screenwriter and member of the 50 Women cohort.

Community Building, Inspire: Take The Lead...Michele WeldonJanuary 24, 2025Disaster Relief, LA WildfiresComment

Equal Rights for All: On MLK Day, How RBG Logic Can Advance the ERA

On this long weekend when MLK day falls on inauguration day, and much of the country faces a big chill, a long overdue step forward for women’s rights was announced by President Biden: the ratification into the U.S. Constitution of the Equal Rights Amendment.

The Sum, Community BuildingGloria FeldtJanuary 20, 2025MLK, Martin Luther King, Leadership Tools, Equal Rights Amendment, ERAComment

What’s Essential? Author, CEO, Founder on What Leaders Need To Do Now

“The pace of change is greater than ever,” says Christie Smith, Ph.D., founder and CEO of The Humanitiy Studio, and co-author with Kelly Monahan of Essential: How Distributed Teams, Generative AI and Global Shifts Arte Creating A New Human-Powered Leadership,

“Technology is outpacing leader capabilities. The paradign has shifted dramatically. There is a skills scarcity,” says Smith, whose more than three-decade career including leader Global Talent & Organization consulting at Accenture, after her role as Managing Principle of Deloitte Consulting, and developer of the Deloitte University Centers for Inclusion and Community Impact.

Women Career SuccessMichele WeldonJanuary 17, 2025DEI, AI, Leadership PositionsComment

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