On the Brink

In two days, hundreds of us will come together to change the world of work for women at the Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum. The speakers are incredible and what we will accomplish will be groundbreaking. Listen, learn, share, connect. See you there.

For several weeks now I've been telling you about the Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative (WBC) and Rethinking Women, coming up soon on May 11th. So what is Women Business Collaborative and what does it do, you might be asking? As a matter of fact, it does a whole lot!

What does it take to really change the role of women in business? Vision, leadership and collaboration. That's the purpose of the 2nd annual Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative and Rethinking Women. It takes place May 11th and we really hope you'll join us. Just read who is coming to speak and I think you'll agree that this is a gamechanging, one-of-a-kind event. Big things are going to happen—register now! 

It really is amazing—the number of high-powered, extremely accomplished women and men thought leaders we have assembled to speak at the 2nd annual Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative and Rethinking Women. It all happens on one day and one day only, May 11th, which is coming up fast. Don't wait, register now! 

It's getting closer! Edie Fraser, Gwen Young and myself would like to personally invite you to join us and hundreds of others at the 2nd annual Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative and Rethinking Women on May 11th. Our mission is to achieve equal pay, power and position for all women, everywhere. Join the movement!

For the past 24 months, we have been operating in a virtual environment for the most part. We have all had experiences trying to work this way, good, bad or indifferent. A recent NY Times article, "A Two-Year 50-Million-Person Experiment in Changing How We Work" talks about some of the issues associated with this strange new environment.

We are still sorting out the impact of a hybrid workplace

It's almost here! The 2nd annual Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative and Rethinking Women. Please join us May 11th from 11:00am-2:30pm ET and bring along others who will love the conversation. These are amazing trailblazers who are transforming the place of women in business so we all can thrive, here in the US and around the world.

Christine Grant, center, with Lisa Bluder, right, coach of Iowa women’s basketball, and Jaime Printy Brandt, a former Iowa player and teacher
at an elementary school named for Grant in North Liberty, Iowa. Credit...Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen /USA TODAY NETWORK

Recently on January 6, 2022, the NY Times published an article honoring the recently deceased Christine Grant, the University of Iowa’s first women’s athletic director and a pioneer who helped shape the 1972 Title IX legislation, tirelessly advocating for the fair treatment of women in sports.

It’s easy to gloss over how tough it was for trailblazing women like Christine Grant to make a difference in what had been (and too often, still is), a man’s world. Without a doubt, it’s due to their lifelong resolve and refusal to accept sub-standard treatment that women’s sports are where they are today, and where they are going tomorrow. And yet, we’re so far from where we need to be.

My favorite quote from Grant in the article:

“We cannot continue as a nation to continue discarding the dreams and the talents of half of our population.”

Did you know that today, women own 40% of businesses in the US, which amounts to 12 million businesses? One way of looking at this is to say, wow, 12 million is a lot of businesses. But I am tempted to look at it another way. Why only 40%? Along the same lines, only 20% of funded companies have women founders, according to a 2019 EoY Diversity Report. Again, I question why only 20%? What is holding women back from founding companies? To try to get at some answers, I talked about all this and more when I was recently interviewed by Authority magazine for its interview series, “Why We Need More Women Founders.” You can find the interview here.

Do you find yourself taking care of everyone else in your life before you? Do you feel guilty when you do something for yourself? Would you like to re-set your life's direction but you're not sure where to start? Now there's a way to do that, and all it takes is a few minutes a day for 30 days.

Introducing Time to Take Care of You: 30-Day Challenge.