From Lucy to Leadership Part 2: Our Origins’ Central Question

Issue 252 — February 11, 2024

Last weekend, I went to see the movie I think should win Academy Awards in every category: Ava DuVernay’s rendition of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

After writing last week about the discovery of the 3.2 million year old hominid fossil Lucy in Hadar, Ethiopia 50 years ago by paleoanthropologist and founder of the Institute of Human Origins Donald Johanson, I wanted to explore further the question of why we humans are the way we are.

The SumGloria FeldtFebruary 12, 2024Lucy, Leadership Power Tools, equalityComment

See How She Runs: Emerge America President On Urgent Need For Women To Run For Office

As a young girl of 7, A’shanti Gholar discovered C-SPAN and was hooked on watching political discussions. Now president of Emerge America, Gholar says, “I didn’t see a lot of people who look like me—women, Black or Brown people.”

Her parents were not politically minded she says, though they voted. But she got encouragement at school. “I took an 11th grade government class and the teacher brought in the candidates to come speak to the class.”

Change Leadership, Gender Parity, Leadership/OrganizationalMichele WeldonFebruary 9, 2024Women In Politics, gender bias, ElectionsComment

From Lucy to Leadership, Part 1: We Are All Africans

Issue 251 — February 5, 2024

What is more fascinating to us humans than ourselves?

Don’t we check how we look when we pass a mirror? Didn’t we invent psychology, sociology, and anthropology because we are obsessed with understanding who we are and why we behave as we do? Don’t we love seeing our names mentioned, or being tagged on Instagram? Come on, admit it.

The SumGloria FeldtFebruary 5, 2024Leadership, LucyComment

Black History Month: 8 Black Women Leaders You Need To Know

In 1976, 50 years after the first celebrations, President Gerald R. Ford made Black History Month official. Ford said, It is time to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history," History.com reports.

This year, the Smithsonian Museum is celebrating Black History Month with leaders in the arts, highlighting the “art of resistance and the artists who used their crafts to uplift the race, speak truth to power and inspire a nation.”

Start Now: 5 Steps to Unleashing Your Peak Potential In 2024

Leadership in 2024 will require your next level of resilience, navigating challenges and uncertainty with a positive mindset, emotional strength and agility. McKinsey recently named Resilience as the top focus at The World Economic Forum’s 2024 conference in Davos in Switzerland.

Below are the 5 steps you need to take in order to overcome adversity in the workplace as a woman in leadership and navigate uncertainty and change with ease.

Amy LooperJanuary 28, 2024Comment

Pitch Perfect: Take The Lead’s Entrepreneur Winners Share Success

All they had was 90 seconds. The 11 women leaders who pitched their new ventures at the recent 50 Women Can Change The World in Entrepreneurship graduation event to a panel of judges kept it short and sweet.

Lisa Gates, CEO and founder of Concierge 4 B2B, won first place in the pitch competition.

“The pitch experience was a fantastic experience,” says Gates, who won the $2,500 prize for her company, Concierge 4 B2B, that she describes as a human resources, payroll strategy, executive support and recruiting business. With 160 full-time employees, Gates says she has a $1.5 million monthly payroll.

Women Career Success, EntrepreneurMichele WeldonJanuary 26, 202450 Women Can, EntrepreneurComment

Social Justice and Fairness: Author, Journalist on Journey to Tell Buried Truths

“You are your sibling’s keeper.”

Antonia Hylton says that growing up outside of Boston in Lincoln, Mass. (a half mile from where Paul Revere was arrested) as one of only a few Black families in a white town, her law school professor parents instilled in her and her six siblings a sense of responsibility, accountability and social justice.

Now an award-winning journalist, author, documentarian, podcaster and advocate, Hylton says, “I didn’t want to be a lawyer, but I was interested in justice and fairness. I feel I am responsible to those who come after me.”

In This Together: The Power of a Movement

Issue 250— January 15, 2024

Re-print: Originally Published January 21, 2019

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

The two movements that have shaped my life converged this long weekend.

The SumGloria FeldtJanuary 15, 2024Martin Luther King, Civil Rights, gender equality, Racial EquityComment

Where Are The Best Jobs? 5 Strategies for New Grads Landing Tech Careers

It’s job application season for those who are graduating this winter and spring.

The good news is newly minted students graduating now with undergraduate and graduate degrees are finding high paying jobs in engineering, computer and IT, plus transportation, according to new data from QRFY.

But for many women and those identifying as women, the work cultures of engineering and tech jobs are steeped in gender and racial bias.

But where there is disruption, there is opportunity to change the culture.

Career success, Career choices, Changing the WorkplaceMichele WeldonJanuary 12, 2024Women In Tech, careers, diversityComment

Transformation Time: 4 Ways To End Centuries of Gender, Race Bias in Leadership

Change the work culture, change the system, change the path forward for all female leaders and it is possible to change not only the workplace, but the world.

A new study in Nature outlines distinct patterns of attitudes and behaviors in organizations that prevent and stymie a fair and inclusive workplace for women of color, particularly Black women.

“Our findings suggest that the compound influence of racial and gender biases hinders the advancement of minority female leadership by perpetuating stereotypical behavioral schemas, leading to persistent discriminatory outcomes. We argue for the necessity of organizations to initiate a cultural transformation that fosters positive experiences for future generations of female leaders, recommending a shift in focus from improving outcomes for specific groups to creating an inclusive leadership culture,” the report shows.

Career success, Ambition / Intention, Career choicesMichele WeldonJanuary 5, 2024women of color, career pathComment

🚀 Fuel the Future: Champion Women’s Leadership in 2024

Issue 249— January 1, 2024

I loved this question posed on social media by Sophia Yen, a longtime friend and the founder of Pandia Health. She asked us to “Brag to me about one thing you did in 2023.”

Take a minute and think about your answer.

The SumGloria FeldtJanuary 1, 2024New Year, 2024, LeadershipComment

Pivot To 2024: 6 Tips for Leaders to Succeed in New Year

It’s time to strategize.

Looking to pivot to a successful 2024, here is the latest research on trends in social media, ecommerce, AI, workplace culture, and customer concerns that can help you shape your plans this year.

Put effort into social media content. A new study from StoryChief.io evaluating 44 U.S. firms, all are in the top 10 companies for sales in their industries, shows a mix of high engagement and poor engagement rates on social media platforms. Accenture seems to do it right with more than 913,000 Facebook likes per post.

Changing the Workplace, Leadership tools and tipsMichele WeldonDecember 29, 2023New Year, Tools and TipsComment

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