Women in Business, Jobs, Women Entrepreneurs, Women in the News: News On Women

Innovation is the New Black! Can it Solve the Issues facing Women?

Less than 40 women were given big corporate jobs in January, 2012, a dissappointing start to the year and a continuation of the downward trend we have seen since last November. Companies who did appoint women to big jobs included IBM who appointed Bridget Van Kralingen (pictured) Senior Vice President of IBM Global Business Services, their consulting group. Also appointing women to big jobs were Walgreens, KPMG, Vanguard, Netflix, JCPenney, ALlianz Life Insurance, Wells Fargo, Dell, QVC, Rite Aid, PWC, Virgin America, and Xerox.

Women entrepreneurs fared better, with 9 companies raising $46.8 million in new funding during January. I was also impressed with the variety of companies where innovative thinking led to these new business opportunities. With Fashion Week in New York, we are reminded of the tradition of women being innovative. Innovation is the new black!

We need to apply some of that innovative thinking to the corporate world. Innovation leads to new jobs, new kinds of companies, and more productivity. It also leads to new approaches in education, and healthcare. Innovation is the solution to all our economic woes and to the issues facing women today. Year after year we see the same old studies that give us disappointing stats on executive advancement, we read the same old power lists, and the same old best company to work for lists. These tools were important in the past, but are they having an impact now? Do we have proof that anyone read them and took action? We need action! We need to innovate in our approach to these issues to get more progress. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in a recent speech pointed out that fewer women in top jobs is undermining Britain’s economic recovery and he thinks Britain can learn from Europe's use of quotas. I believe innovation is a better answer than quotas, although I am not opposed to quotas if they get the job done. After the financial crisis, noone can argue that men do the jobs better!

December a Disappointment for Women Seeking Big Corporate Jobs, but Women Entrepreneurs Raise $123 Million in New Funding and See New Horizons

The number of corporate jobs given to women in December 2011 continued the downward trend of the previous month causing a disappointing end to 2011 which had started out strong. Major companies appointing women to big jobs in December included American Airlines, who appointed Maya Leibman (pictured) Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of American Airlines, and she will oversee all aspects of the Company’s information technology strategy and operations. Also appointing women to big jobs in December were Boeing, Viacom, MassMutual, Eastman Kodak, Meredith Corp, Bloomberg TV, PwC, Warnaco, Cosi Inc, Move Inc, Ford Direct and Staples.

And even though the corporate world showed fewer opportunities for women, women entrepreneurs continued to break ground, raising $123 million in new funding in December 2011, significantly higher than the 42 million raised in November. This gives us a total of almost $500 million raised by women entrepreneurs in the past six months. Also in December, Samasource, founded by Leila Janah to connect people living in poverty to work via the Internet, received a grant of $1.5 million from Google for its efforts to bring work to needed areas, and Kelly Hoey, Deborah Jackson, and Veronika Sonsev started up  Women Innovate Mobile, the new accelerator and mentorship program for women-founded companies involved in the mobile technology industry. 

November Disappoints with few Corporate Jobs, but Women Entrepreneurs Raise over $42 Million in New Funding

Someone hit the brakes on corporate jobs in Novemebr 2011, a stunning disappointment after the tremendous October 2011 results. The few major companies appointing women to big jobs in November included Roche who appointed Pamela Carroll the "Nutley Oncology Discovery Site" Head and Global Head, "Pathways Biology within Pharma Research and Early Development" (pRED). Other companies appointing women included Time Inc., PWC, Sara Lee, Roche, Citi, Gannett, Sterling Construction, and American Express. But I found women entrepreneurs continuing to find success, raising over $42 million in new funding. Also in November was the IPO of Angie's List. So far, 2011 has been a year that's showing progress despite the November numbers, and I'm hoping to see a strong finish, so send me any exciting news you have in December.

History is made as Three Women are Named CEO of Fortune 500 Companies in One Month. Women Entrepreneurs Raise $50 Million in Venture Capital

57 women were appointed to big jobs in October, 2011. Three of those women were appointed to be CEO of Fortune 500 companies, Ginny Rometty (pictured), made CEO of IBM; Gracia Martore, made CEO of Gannett; and Heather Bresch, made CEO of Mylan Inc. October goes down in history as the first time three women were appointed to head fortune 500 companies in one month. Other major companies appointing women to big jobs included MetLife, About.com, Meredith Corp, CVS Caremark, H.B. Fuller, Virgin America, First Energy, Bloomberg, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AOL, Comcast Ventures, Reader's Digest, Morton Salt, Rockefeller Financial, Eli Lilly, Cantor Fitzgerald, KKR, International Paper, HP, and the Walmart Foundation. Also in October, companies founded or co-founded by women raised $50 million dollars in venture capital as reported on NewsonWomen.com.

Summer Doldrums End as Over 60 Women get Big Jobs in September 2011. Women Entrepreneurs Raise $250 Million in Venture Captial in Third Quarter

Over 60 women were given big jobs in September 2011, far better than the August summer low, when we dropped below 40. It's great to return to the high levels we saw in May of 2011. This may be an early indicator of a good fourth quarter and an improving jobs picture. Major companies giving women big jobs in September included JPMorgan Chase, Family Dollar Stores, Glam Media, Google, Janus Capital, KPMG, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Bausch + Lomb, Citi, Novelis, NBCUniversal, Saks Fifth Avenue, Comcast, Adobe Systems, AT&T, Wells Fargo Insurance, Deloitte, HP, Staples, Dynegy, Subaru of America, and The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City appointed Esther George (pictured) as its President, an important position in today's economy. 

Women entrepreneurs were also busy. They announced $69 million of venture capital funding in September, giving us a total of $250 million in venture capital raised by companies founded or co-founded by women in the third quarter reported on NewsonWomen.com. Entrepreneurship was definitely centerstage this month with Citi Foundation announcing their "Asset Building Through Credit" review to examine a multi-dimensional approach to building credit and financial opportunities for aspiring low-income entrepreneurs. And Smart Girls' Way initiated their "100x100" project, the stories of women entrepreneurs and how they got started, one each day for 100 days in a row which should inspire every woman who wants to start her own company.

Women in government were not to be outdone, with two women announcing this month they will be candidates for the United States Senate, Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts and Linda McMahon in Connecticut. And Michelle Obama announced Judith S. Palfrey, M.D., will become the Executive Director of the Let’s Move! childhood obesity initiative.

Few Jobs in Corporate America but Women Aren't Waiting - Raise $145 Million in Venture Captial

The Jobs numbers continue to disappoint as less than 40 big jobs were given to women in August 2011, lower than the 45 seen in July which had been the lowest month so far this year - an infamous honor that now goes to the month of August. Major companies appointing women to big jobs this August included Citi, Alaska Air, Mesa Energy, Liberty Life Insurance, MWW Group, Credit Suisse, Cracker Barrel, Western Union, Wells Fargo, Miramax, Dow Chemical, Rodale, Motown Records and MasterCard. 

But Women aren't waiting for corporate America to call. NewsonWomen reported in August that women entrepreneurs announced venture capital funding for companies they founded or co-founded totalling $145 million, increasing from the $36 million NewsonWomen reported on in July. This total includes Sandra Kurtzig (pictured), Founder and CEO of Kenandy, Inc., who announced the closing of a $10.5 million Series A round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

July Jobs for Women Worst Monthly Total to Date in 2011 on NewsonWomen.com

Less than 45 big jobs were given to women in July, 2011, the worst monthly total so far this year. Jobs have been dropping since May. Companies that were giving women big jobs included Comerica, who appointed Karen L. Parkhill (pictured) a Vice Chairman and a Member of Comerica's Management Policy Committee. Also appointing women to big jobs were Coach, Coca-Cola, Gilt Groupe, Johnson Publishing, Staples, Oshkosh Corp, CNBC, Starbucks, HSBC, Krispy Kreme, Hilton Worldwide, Cabot Corp, BAE Systems, Dynegy, OWN Network, Fireman's Fund Insurance, Toro, Sara Lee, Aetna, and Gannett Company.

On the positive side, NewsonWomen reported on $30 million in venture capital obtained by women entrepreneurs. And in the NewsonWomen in Science section, three young women won the Google Science Fair prizes, and several women scientists were included in the USA Science Festival's "Nifty Fifty" List. A number of articles were written with ways to lead a healthier life, encouraging women to be proactive with their health. And Michelle Obama got some retailers to commit to more stores and better produce for Underserved Families, including Walmart and Walgreens.

Fewer Jobs for Women in June Matches Poor Jobs Report. Are there any Bright Spots?

After a stellar first quarter where almost 200 major jobs were given to women, June was a disappointment with less than 55 jobs for women, down from 65 given in May, 2011. This matches the disappointing June jobs report from the government which showed poor job creation in June overall. Companies hiring women for big jobs in June included Campbell Soup, who appointed Denise Morrison (pictured) its President and Chief Executive Officer. Also appointing women in June were Procter & Gamble, News Corp, Talbots, Ernst & Young, Specta Energy, AT&T, NBC Universal, LATimes Media, NYTimes, ING, U.S.Steel, Sempra Energy, Libbey Inc., Chico's, Fannie Mae, Coinstar, Allstate, BET Networks, CSX, Union Pacific, Meredith Corp, Korn/Ferry, and General Motors. 

In addition to fewer jobs, there was more bad news for women in the jobs market in June. The Supreme Court ruled against the women seeking a class action suit against Walmart, saying there was not enough "Glue" holding their claims of lack of promotion and equal pay together. Bloomberg BusinessWeek writes in June about almost 30 S&P companies who still have no women among their highest paid executives. And the Skills for America's Future, a national initiative to connect employers with community colleges to provide 21st century skills to American workers, announced an Advisory Board with only two women out of the eight initial members. I still don't get why government initiatives do not reflect gender equity since women are half of the workforce and need equal representation. What are they thinking?

There was some good news in June. Christine Lagarde was chosen to head the International Montetary Fund, the first woman to hold that important position. The women in business pipeline was expanded with several ceo and cfo appointments in June. In addition to the media jobs listed above, Katie Couric was given the chance to produce and host a syndicated daytime talk show for Disney/ABC Television Group after her departure as Anchor for CBS Evening news. And in education, both Harvard Business School and Wharton increased the percentage of women in their new business school class of 2013 over previous years, with Wharton's class increasing to 45% women. Hopefully there will be plenty of opportunity for these women when they join the ranks in corporate America.

Number of Women Getting Big Jobs in May 2011 Bounces Back from April

Over 65 women got big jobs in May, a bounce back form the disappointing April numbers and a return to the over 60 trend of 2011. Major companies appointing women to big jobs include Coca-Cola, making Beatriz Perez (pictured) the Company's Chief Sustainability Officer. Other companies appointing women to big jobs in May 2011 included AOL, Ziff Davis, Panasonic, Lockheed Martin, The Travelers, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, PwC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Constellation Energy, MAC Cosmetics, Time Inc, Levi Strauss, KeyCorp, NBCUniversal, Cincinatti Financial, LATimes Media Group, Linkedin, Ford Direct, Cigna, and Hilton Worlwide. Like April, there were a number of women made Chief Financial Officers of major companies including Time Warner Cable and Avon Products, a good sign for the future talent pool of ceo's and board members.

April Takes a Dive with Less than 55 women Getting Big Jobs

April, 2011 disappointed as the number of women getting big jobs took a dive from last month's 75 to less than 55. This is the lowest month to date in 2011. Major companies that did appoint women to big jobs included Groupon, who appointed Margo Georgiadis (pictured) its Chief Operating Officer, and also Mastercard, CNN, WellPoint, General Motors, Comcast. AOL, Invesco Ltd, HSN, Thomson Reuters, 3M, Alcoa, Western Union, Google, Frontier Communications, Bank of America, QLogic, Citigroup, and BNYMellon. Looking inside the disappointing numbers for good news, we see not only Margo's appointment as COO of Groupon, but  Susan Wojcicki's appointment as Senior Vice President of Ads at Google, a major position at the tech giant. Could it be that tech companies are realizing that women are critical to their businesses? Also there were five CFO appointments, a good indication of women moving into senior management, as well as several top marketing jobs going to women. In the Arts, women were well represented at the Tribeca Film Festival, not only as actors but as producers, writers and directors.

The Importance of Women to the Economy Shines Through in March 2011 as Women Get 75 of the Big Jobs

March was amazing with over 75 women getting big jobs - really great jobs! This gives a us a blockbuster first quarter in 2011 with January and February both at 60. Major companies giving women big jobs in March included UPS, which appointed Kate Gutmann (pictured) President of Worldwide Sales; and also companies like Pepsico, CVSCaremark, Kleiner Perkins, Hormel Foods, News Corp, Cargill, MeadWestvaco, Lionsgate, HP, Walmart Stores, Entergy, Mercedes-Benz, Anthropologie, Bloomberg Television, Givenchy Couture, Levi's, NYLife Insurance, AOL, Gannett, Tupperware Brands, UPS, Comcast, Martha Stewart Living, Bank of America, GE, Guess?, Wellpoint, and BNYMellon.

Not only was the number of jobs impressive, but also the jobs themselves were great and the companies were diverse, indicating the impact and importance of women in all areas of the economy. Kleiner Perkins Partner Aileen Lee in March wrote about the importance of women to the internet with women accounting for a majority of the users, purchasers, and social gamers across the web. Great jobs, social media mavens- is there work left to be done? Yes. An MIT study released in March showed that childcare is still seen as a woman's issue rather than a family issue. Mariko Chang wrote about the "wealth gap" for women, where being paid less along with holding jobs which traditionally don't offer extensive benefits and being charged higher interest rates on debt than men all contribute to the fact that women have only 36% of the wealth of a typical man! Add these issues to the "Cupcake challenge" of women entrepreneurs not getting adequate funding from venture capital, and the recipe still falls short of gender equity. But I still believe - this could be the year!

February 2011 Continues the Dream with over 60 Women Getting Big Jobs at Big Companies

February continues the dream as more than 60 women were given big jobs in big companies in February 2011 - no dip from the January levels! Companies putting women in big jobs this month included Bayer HealthCare LLC, who appointed Erica L. Mann (pictured) President of its Consumer Care Division, Wal-Mart Stores, Eli Lilly & Co, Lowe's, Nike, MTV Networks, Demand Media, GE, Williams-Sonoma, J.P. Morgan Chase, Twitter, Accenture, Gap, Georgia Power, Comerica, Direct Brands, AIG, Green Mountain Coffee, Avon Products, PwC, TGIF Friday's, Nissan Americas, and AOL. Speaking of AOL, February was the month of the blockbuster deal for Arianna Huffington who sold her company to AOL for over $3o0 million and becomes Editor-In-Chief of their Media Group. It was also the first anniversay for Michelle Obama's Let's Move Initiative which in one year has brought together coporate, government, education and entertainment to improve children's health in a big way. February also included discussions on stereotypes and the terrible impact they have keeping women down, and the descrimination seen in getting venture capital. Raising awareness on these issues will help eliminate them. By the way, I hope someone is insisting that the AP courses remove the male/female check box at the front of the test (which contributes to a lowereing of scores for young women) before the next test. Is anyone working on getting this done?? It seems a pretty easy thing to do to give young women a chance to achieve their highest score possible.

January 2011 the Start of Something Big? Women Get More than 60 Big Jobs at Big Companies!

January saw a strong rebound in jobs for women after a slow fourth quarter, a great way to start off the new decade. The jobs were as diverse as they were important, with a number of big jobs at industrial companies which we haven't seen much of before, like Boeing, Northrop Grumann, Lockheed Martin, and General Motors, who appointed Mary Barra (pictured) Senior Vice President, Global Product Development to lead the design, engineering, program management and quality of vehicles for General Motors' 11 brands around the world. Wow! I was also impressed with the higher than usual number of CEO's, CIO's, CMO's, EVP's, SVP's, Presidents, CFO's and General Counsels appointed during the month. More major companies appointing women to big jobs included Pfizer, Chevron, Allianz Life, Target, Waste Management,  Prudential Retirement, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Union Bank, BlackRock, Ingersoll Rand, Discovery Communications, Qualcomm, Entergy, Aetna, McCormick & Co., Sears Holdings, Business Wire, QVC, Gurwitch Partners, Wet Seal, and  Brown Shoe Company.

Other interesting happenings during January 2011 included New York City appointing its first Chief Digital Officer (Rachel Sterne); Wal-Mart introducing its Nutrition Charter, and agreeing to work with Michelle Obama's Let's Move Campaign and improve the nutrition of its packaged products; The Global Marathon about Women in Engineering and Technology to encourage girls in science announced it has expanded to six days from 24 hours and will start March 7, 2011; Foodspotting was able to procure a Series A funding despite a new study that shows women have a harder time getting venture capital; and several women were given new appointments at the White House.

January women definitely came out of the gate at a fast pace. Let's hope this is the year that we have been waiting for, where women will get even more big jobs at the big companies and bring us closer to gender equity at the management level. This month shows it's possible!

Sheri McCoy Leads the Way as 38 Women are appointed to Big Jobs in December 2010

December 2010 saw 38 women get appointed to major jobs, a welcome increase over the December 2009 levels. Companies putting women in important jobs included Johnson & Johnson, who appointed Sheri McCoy (pictured) Vice Chairman of their Executive Committee; and also Comerica, Verizon Wireless, Aeropostale, AOL, HSBC Bank, RealNetworks, GE, Sony Corp, New York & Co., Arby's Restaurant Group, TDBank, Alcoa, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, and Hasbro.

Other news of interest in December: Women 2.o, put out their 2010 Female Founders Success List, and Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, offered her opinion on women making it to the top in the workplace. Her advice is great, but I disagree with her conclusion that women will not gain gender equity with her generation. I strongly believe these women - "her generation" - are more than capable and in sufficient numbers to effect the changes that are needed to bring gender equality to upper management. Let's get it done in 2011!

November 2010 - Lots of Awards - Not Many Jobs

November was slow for women in corporate America with less than forty women being given big jobs this past month, following the October downward trend from the more than fifty appointed in previous months. Some major companies did put women in big jobs in November, including Kodak, who appointed Laura G. Quatela (pictured) the company’s General Counsel, Kleiner Perkins, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Barney's New York, AOL, Central Pacific, Mastercard, McDonalds, Glam, lululemon, New York Life Insurance Company, KKR Financial Holdings, the Air Force Academy, and Campbell Soup.

Women in other arenas were honored in November. The National Book Awards gave three women writers their 2010 Awards for fiction, nonfiction and young people's liturature. The Stevie Awards, which recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding women entrepreneurs, gave their awards out in November including  their Women Helping Women Award which went to Carolyn Kepcher, President of Carolyn & Co. Media, and their Lifetime Achievement Award which went to Julia Homer, Founding Editor of CFO Magazine. We also honored women in November who make a difference including Rebecca Onie and  her organization Project HEALTH, Patti Patton-Bader who started Soldiers' Angels to support our troops, and the women at Equal Justice Works.  It is clear that women aren't waiting for corporate America to make a difference in the world and the economy.

October 2010 - More about Ideas than Individuals - Fewer Jobs for Women

October 2010 jobs for women slowed with less than fifty women getting important jobs during the month. This stops the steady climb of over fifty jobs per month for the last nine months. Major corporations appointing women to big jobs in October included JP Morgan, Scripps Networks, Bloomberg News, Coinstar, HP, Nielsen, Weyerhaeuser, Westinghouse, BNY Mellon, Apache, Wellpoint, AOL, Novelis, Penn Mutual, Neustar, and Kodak, who appointed Antoinette (Ann) P. McCorvey (pictured) Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President. 

Fewer jobs did not mean less attention, as October was more about issues than individuals. A conference, "Closing the Gender Gap: The Business Case for Organizations, Politics and Society,"  held in October at Harvard University, concluded that "there is strong evidence for a diversity premium, with diverse teams performing better than homogenous teams", and that with women now being better educated than men in many countries, the opportunity cost of not hiring and retaining talented women has increased. Leadership remains key, and the Athena Leadership Lab at Barnard College started new leadership courses for women in October. The Healthy Media for Youth Summit, a partnership of Girl Scouts of the USA, the National Association of Broadcasters and others, was held in Washington in October to discuss women and media and television and to encourage media presentations that inspire and empower young women. A new study was released in October by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media which discusses the need to eliminate negative stereotypes in film. While the report shows a media dominated by men, women are not just standing by. Springboard Enterprises held its "All Things Media" Venture Capital Forum in October, where amazing women entrepreneurs presented their companies to a variety of funding sources to help expand their media businesses. And Forbes expanded its Most Powerful Women List to include women in the media,  redefining how it sees power, deciding that it's not only about corporate and political power, but also about influencing the world's agenda through media. Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca Cola, made a speech in October about how women would be the third or fourth largest economy in the world if we measured contributions across borders rather than within nation states, reinforcing the claim that a climate of success for women is good for business. October may not have been full of individual jobs, but it was full of ideas that should be communicated.

September Keeps Up the Pace as Over 50 Women Get Big Jobs

September saw over fifty women appointed to big jobs, keeping up the trend seen over the past nine months on NewsonWomen.com. Major companies appointing women to important jobs in September included Campbell Soup, Citigroup, Estee Lauder, Dell, Scripps Networks, The Hartford Financial Services Group, BNY Mellon, GE, USA Today, Jet Blue, Shopko, Viacom, Central Parking, Korn/Ferry International, Hilton Worldwide, McCormick & Co, Warnaco, Comcast, Aetna, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and About.com (part of the New York Times) which appointed  Darline Jean (pictured) Chief Operating Officer, About.com and Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, the About Group.

Also in September, Autonews issued its "100 Leading Women List" in the Auto Business, and Jaclyn Smith was honored for her 25 years of collaboration with Kmart.  Family Day, created by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University based on their research that found the more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs, was celebrated in September across the country, with Maria Shriver, California's First Lady  joined for dinner by hundreds of families at the Santa Monica Family YMCA. Families and individual consumers were on the minds of government as well, as President Obama appointed Elizabeth Warren as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get the new Consumer Protection Agency up and running.

In August, 2010, Online Companies and Banks Continue Putting Women in Big Jobs

August was slightly slower than June or July when we saw over 60 women appointed to big jobs, but still above the fifty mark we have  had each month so far this year. Major companies appointing women to big jobs in August included Bank of America (who appointed Bridget O’Connor - pictured - Chief Technology Officer for Consumer and Small Business Banking and Home Loans and Insurance), and Best Buy, GE, Borders Group, USA Today, Freddie Mac, Cigna, HP, BofA Merrill Lynch, Citizens Financial, eBay, Guardian Life Insurance, Friendly Ice Cream Corporation, Citizens Republic, Westinghouse, Boeing, BNY Mellon, CIT, Johnson Publishing, Celgene, Albemarle and ITT. Also, it was great to see online companies Likelist, ideeli, Mail.com, Kaboodle, Tribune Interactive, Lending Club, and Zillow.com all appoint women to important jobs.

Women Continue their "Push for Power" in July 2010 in the Workplace, in Politics and in Education

Over 60 women were appointed to big jobs in July 2010, the third month in a row with over 60 appointments made. Major companies appointing women to big jobs included JP Morgan, J.Crew, Monster.com, Pimco, Roche, Duke Energy, Warner Bros. Pictures, Men's Warehouse, Iconix Brands, PPG Industries, Estee Lauder Companies, Sterling Bank, Citizens Financial, Tribune Interactive, Zales, MWW Group, CIT, Allianz Life Insurance, and TIAA-CREF.

There were some important appointments in Philanthropy and Education in July including Marie Groark (pictured) being made Executive Director of the Get Schooled Foundation. In addition to Get Schooled, STEM was a hot topic with new national recommendations being made on how to encourage women and girls to study math and science. Also, Michelle Obama added Let's Read to her Let's Move campaign. Financial education was discussed in July on NewsonWomen.com by Linda Descano of Citi's Women & Co. Her advice is clear and simple and covers what to do in each decade of your life - definitely worth the read.

What else happened in July? Policy and Politics were front and center. Some women look to the new financial reform bill to increase diversity on Wall Street. Other women push for power in politics with The 2012 Project and movements like the SCGap.

So where do we go from here? Will another 60 women (or more!) get big jobs in August? Will women's social media skills give them an advantage in the workplace of the future? It's clear women are engaged in their careers, their communities and their government. Summer used to be a time for R&R. For us R&R is no longer Rest and Recreation - it's Re-engineer the workplace and Revolutionize the future! I'm ready if you are.

June Hall of Heroes - Women Winning Big Jobs, Primary Elections and #1 Spots!

This month continued the hiring trend I've seen over the past six months with over 60 women getting major jobs in June. Companies appointing women to big jobs included JPMorgan Chase (Heidi Miller pictured), Microsoft, Shopko, Sonic Corp, Capstone Advisory, Kimberly-Clark, Borders, Pitney Bowes, Estee Lauder Companies, Radioshack, Charming Shoppes, Deloitte, Hilton Worldwide, Hallmark Channels, Discovery Channel, Legg Mason, Elle Group, PrivateBank, Shutterfly, Korn/Ferry, Warner Bros. Television, Houlihan Lokey, Staples, Lockheed Martin, Hyatt Hotels, El Paso Electric, Northrup Grumman, and Potlatch. Each of the first six months of this year had more than 50 important job appointments for women, a big improvement over the first six months of last year. Barron's Top 100 Women Financial Advisors were featured in June, with Morgan Stanley executives taking the top two spots.

Women in government made news this month with four republican women winning primary elections, two for governor and two for senate runs. The media called it "ladies day", I call it smart women winning!

Also in June, while Wonder Woman was given a makeover by men, we had some SuperWomen of our own making history during the month -  Cristie Kerr becoming the first American to be #1 in the women's golf world rankings, two women voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for the first time, and Basketball great Rebecca Lobo voted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. If you're asking what's all the fuss about sports, make sure you check out the research on Title IX by Professor Betsey Stevenson which shows playing sports in high school leads to more education, better jobs and higher wages!