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Is 2019 a turning point for women executives?

On International Women's Day today I find myself asking could it be that the momentum is finally building to escape velocity? Escape from a world where the majority of corporate power is held by white men? It feels like it. The new California legislation requiring the boards of companies who have their headquarters in California to have women on their boards may or may not be constitutional but for the first time it is absolutely forcing the conversation. I've been raising this issue for many years now and for the [...]

By |2019-03-08T15:50:39-08:00March 8, 2019|Equality|Comments Off on Is 2019 a turning point for women executives?
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Equality as an ingredient for peace: from Gaza to Ramallah to Tel Aviv

It’s hard to know if you can make a difference. Small actions, personal actions, can they in some small way change the path to peace? Who knows, but why not do them anyway just in case? Here’s the story of our efforts; the story of WE2, women for economic equality, and our mentoring mission in January 2018. Early this year I led a delegation of Silicon Valley executive women to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank to mentor women entrepreneurs. As I posted before we left:  “I am more deeply [...]

By |2019-01-04T10:05:05-08:00February 7, 2018|Equality|Comments Off on Equality as an ingredient for peace: from Gaza to Ramallah to Tel Aviv
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It’s time for economic equality for women: WE2

Sometimes it’s just time. I am more deeply convinced now in 2018, than ever before, that the long-term path to a more sane, peaceful world is equality for women in society. The research is conclusive. Investing in girls and women transforms economies, and healthy, growing economies are more peaceful. But I am not a politician, I am not a Sociologist, I am a tech executive and so I need to practice what I know in order to do my part. Women, and men, need to invest in women. Invest in [...]

By |2018-01-05T22:51:54-08:00January 4, 2018|Equality, Leadership|Comments Off on It’s time for economic equality for women: WE2
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Why, what and really? Yet another surreal week of sexual harassment in Silicon Valley

Yet another scandal of sexual harassment is unfolding in Silicon Valley this week, and after several nights lying awake, angry, thinking about the last 30 years, and expressing my ongoing frustration to a group of friends over dinner I was asked by a friend to answer 3 questions: 1. Why this still happens? 2. Are we really surprised that it does? 3. What does speaking up accomplish any more? First to the news. As has happened thousands of times before a venture capitalist, Justin Calbeck of Binary Capital, sexually harassed [...]

By |2017-12-07T11:30:55-08:00June 27, 2017|Equality|2 Comments
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Stop talking over me – or Living in the world of Mansplaining

I am not a shrinking violet. I am confident and speak my mind. And yet there is a behavior that, unless I am really determined, makes me go quiet: men aggressively, deliberately talking over me. I’m in a meeting making a point the prospect does not like. He raises his hand (shows me the palm) and starts to talk in a loud, dominant fashion. He mansplains to me. I listen for a while, then try to politely interrupt, but it’s useless. He’s aggressive, determined to dominate, and rude. The bully [...]

By |2017-12-12T18:34:55-08:00May 13, 2016|Equality|0 Comments
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Do I need to look nice for you?

 I’ve been conditioned from an early age that what I look like to men matters. My mother was one who would put on lipstick at the time she knew my father was coming home from work and, based on 50+ years of conditioning, I have a part of my brain which worries all the time about what men think of how I look. I had a chance a few days ago to remind myself of just how ridiculous this brainwashing is. It was Sunday and I had spent the whole [...]

By |2017-12-12T18:13:56-08:00December 17, 2015|Equality|0 Comments
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Do stereotypes keep women out of tech?

A friend sent me a NY Times article this weekend titled "What Really Keeps Women Out of Tech" and I was struck by how different the current experience of young women is from when I read Maths at Cambridge in 1979. Yes, then it was unusual. Less than 5% of the Maths class were women in my year. But beyond that it never felt hostile. I never felt like I didn't belong, or Maths was too hard for girls, or I shouldn't be doing it. And when I graduated I [...]

By |2017-12-12T18:27:24-08:00October 12, 2015|Equality|0 Comments
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5 Practical Ways You Can Keep More Women On Your Team

Published in Inc on Oct 5, 2015 At long last, the world is paying attention to the issue of gender diversity. In May 2014, top tech companies started reporting the dismal numbers of women in their workforces. When these statistics were released to the public, a spotlight shone on this disparity, sparking a conversation on the need for gender equality amongst corporate America. While this conversation has been discussed at length in the media and exhausted by panels at conferences all over the world, the fact remains that little change [...]

By |2017-12-06T09:45:35-08:00October 9, 2015|Equality|0 Comments
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Is this the “Ultimate CMO” – or poor research on your target?

See the Ken doll? He was sent to me as the  "Ultimate CMO" - "Every CEO's dream come true" in a fancy box designed to get me to take a meeting and learn about a marketing service. Blue eyes, blond hair and khakis - what a silicon valley stereotype! He is male and so he wears "winged oxfords" and an "untucked dress shirt" and his box says "all CMOs contain nuts". He came in a box from a marketing agency who claim they are category creators. A small firm run [...]

By |2017-12-03T02:44:23-08:00June 23, 2015|Equality|0 Comments
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