“Too black.” Apparently actress Gabrielle Union was fired from her position as a judge on “America’s Got Talent” because as an African-American woman, her hairstyles were deemed not appropriate or comfortable for some audiences to watch, according to reports.
Read More“Remember the ladies,” future First Lady Abigail Adams implored her husband, John, in March 1776 as the Continental Congress was crafting the U.S. Constitution.
“All men would be tyrants if they could,” she wrote. “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
Read MoreTaylor Swift had it right. In her performance at the recent American Music Awards, where she won Artist of The Decade as well as Artist of The Year, she sang, “The Man,” with particularly fitting lyrics. “If I was the man, I’d be the man,” she sang, surrounded by a choir of young girls. Alas, she is not. And the gender gap in all music is wide.
Read MoreVirginia Woolf famously said, “For most of history, anonymous was a woman.” A new effort launched by Take The Lead’s 50 Women in Journalism Can Change The World cohort, Women Do News, is out to give credit to women journalists where credit is due, particularly in the pages of Wikipedia.
Read MoreThe Merriam Webster dictionary defines badass as “informal + sometimes offensive : ready to cause or get into trouble” as a noun. As an adjective, informal + sometimes offensive as in “of formidable strength or skill such a badass guitar player.”
Read MoreI have been secretary of almost every organization I’ve ever belonged to. It started with when I was a Girl Scout. I suppose I was chosen to be secretary because throughout elementary school I carried around a notebook and pencil to write stories. And I quickly learned that she who holds the pencil gets to tell the story of the meeting her way, even with the constrictions of Roberts Rules of Order.
Read MoreFor anyone who has been told she is “difficult,” “tough,” “has a big personality,” and needs to tone it down, calm down, be a little less whatever, all this popular rhetoric on being your authentic self at work can be, well, inauthentic and not true. Research shows that authentic works at the top, perhaps, and in some company cultures where inclusion is a value, not a hiring tool.
Read MoreIt was the first of many smart choices for the team that created Unqork, a software development app, that recently raised $80 million in venture capital and has grown to 160 employees in two years. Jane Tran, vice president of strategy, says that the url name “Uncorked.com” costs $500,000, and the url “uncorq” cost $14.99 on GoDaddy.com.
Read MoreThe last seven days have been nothing short of amazing. So my column this week is largely a pictorial with brief commentary on several categories of advances for women and gender equality unrolling before our eyes if we can only see and appreciate them. Yes, I know the news is full of narratives about difficulties and disparities women face, and they are real.
Read MoreVery few women have the resources of Melinda Gates to commit billions to causes they believe in. But every woman can have a cause to believe in and commit to it. That commitment can include pooling together small donations for a larger impact, donating valuable time and services and volunteering time to be a board advisor, mentor or someone who gives her professional acumen and services to help the cause and organization for free.
Read MoreIf you suggest something to Abigail Ingram, she will follow through and do it. The director of The Women in Entrepreneurship Institute, at DePaul University in Chicago, since its launch in July 2018 heads the first comprehensive institute for women founders that integrates academic learning, research, incubation, funding and public policy.
Read MoreImagine for a moment what the world would be like if men and women held fair and equal shares of top leadership positions across every sector. What are the words you would use to describe such a world? Last weekend, I got to do one of the things that keeps me so powerfully committed to this mission of gender parity in leadership by 2025.
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