Women + Business = Peace

africainhand.JPG by Paige Churchman (New York City)

The Business Council for Peace, affectionately known as Bpeace (“Be Peace”) to its members, is a couple of hundred businesswomen and a few men who work with women in regions of conflict to build businesses and thus foster peace.

Bpeace describes itself as apolitical, but its members do share the belief that entrepreneurship can be a foundation for hope and stability in areas ripped apart by violence. This idea of “women + business = peace” came from Anne Glauber, a senior vice president at the public relations agency Ruder Finn, and Dr. Noeleen Heyser, who at that time was the executive director of UNIFEM, the UN’s development fund for women. The year was 2002, and Glauber and Heyser were two of 700 women who had gathered in Geneva for the first summit of the Global Peace Initiative of Women.

“The conflicts fueled by men,” said Glauber, “Must be countered by a new process of peace fashioned and implemented by women. It is time and it is critical for women to assume a larger role and responsibility.” Women’s natural and practiced skills in mediation, compromise, relationship building, Glauber felt, could be put to use to build a different paradigm for conflict resolution and peace building in war-torn areas. A way for women to start claiming their power could be through the economy, and women where Glauber comes from knew something about that.

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Intrepid Women: The Language of Currency

greatwall.jpgby Kate St. Vincent Vogl (New York City)

Traveling to another country is a bit like traveling to an alien planet. “Assume laws of gravity won’t apply,” international marketing guru Christin Walth says, “and just roll with it.”

With this attitude, no matter how strange the land, Walth has always landed on her feet. In charge of marketing for Microsoft in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, she’s worked in Stockholm, London, Paris and Shanghai. In all her travels, Walth has found one universal truth, even in the remotest reaches of China: the common language of currency. Even street vendors pull out foreign phrases as if another of their most precious wares. “Beautiful lady,” they’ll say, “for you special deal.” It’s small talk that’ll get shoppers to buy, these micro-entrepreneurs know.

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Geneva Summer Garden Party

“Hats and Pimms” will be held on Thursday, September 4 to benefit Wellbeing of Women, the beneficiary of all 100 Women in Hedge Funds’ philanthropic efforts in Europe in 2008. A cocktail buffet, showcasing the new science of “cuisine moleculaire” will be served, with entertainment throughout the evening and the chance to bid for exclusive auction items.

6.30 PM Registration and Cocktails; 7 PM Buffet Served

Men: Business or blazers
Women: Summer cocktail dresses

This event is open to non-members, both men and women.

To Purchase tickets

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Change Your Attitude!

optomism.JPGBy Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro ®

Attitude, whether positive or negative, is contagious; so what type are you spreading? Being negative takes extra energy you could otherwise be channeling into your favorite pursuits. Instead of sowing discord wherever you go, learn how to cultivate tolerance instead of impatience; optimism rather than pessimism; and gratitude versus an ungrateful spirit.

Here’s how to get started:

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Forbes Lists Top 100 Most Powerful Women

worldinherhands.JPGBy Erin Abrams (New York City)

This week, Forbes magazine released its annual ranking of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World. There were a few newcomers and surprises this year on the list, along with some women with staying power near the top of the list. Read more

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Merrill Lynch Providing Professional Women an Opportunity for Greater Returns

by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

The management team at Merrill Lynch was puzzled. While it was clear that Merrill Lynch was recruiting its fair share of the most promising women from campuses around the world and developing that talent, the number of women dropped at each successive level up the corporate ladder. Moreover, there was a recognition of the large pool of talented women looking to re-enter the workforce and an opportunity to tap into it. The management at ML set out to figure out how and why.

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Ask-A-Recruiter: Manage the Crush of Fall

istock_000005168521xsmall1.jpgContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

I am dreading getting back into fall, when my kids are back in school so the morning routine is crazy, the pace is faster as everyone returns from vacation and needs things yesterday, and the days seem shorter. What are some ways to take back control?

Knowing that things will be more hectic, block out time now while you have a moment to choose your priorities. Take out your daily planner or log into Outlook and actually block out the following:

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Engage the Power of Practice for a Balanced Life

Contributed by Sylvia Warren of SimplytheBestCoaching.com
breathing.JPG

According to award-winning author David Shenk, “The glut of information no longer adds to our quality of life, but instead begins to cultivate stress, confusion, and even ignorance.” When the overwhelming pressures of work and life accelerate faster than you can deal with them, does it feel like you don’t have space to breathe? If so, what you’re experiencing may be normal. Super-achieving women in business, finance and law often challenge themselves to the max and then wonder how they are going to cope with it all. As the song goes, it just takes your breath away.

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Work-Life Effectiveness

wroklifebalancescale.JPGby Caroline Shannon (Pittsburg)

Joyce DeLucca is a mom of two living in the Big Apple, where she works as the managing principal of Kingsland Capital Management LLC . When she first started out, she struggled on a daily basis with balancing the competing demands of her family life and work life until finding a creative way to avoid missing out on the once-in-a-lifetime moments with her children.

DeAnne Merey is a single mom and founder of a public relations firm, DM Public Relations. But despite the success of her Manhattan-based firm, Merey’s biggest and most important client is a five-year-old. And that’s because he’s her son.

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The Cracks Seen Around The World

crackedglass.JPGby Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)

With most Americans away from their desks for Labor Day, celebrating the waning days of summer with barbeques, burgers, and beach outings, we at The Glass Hammer felt the need for a brief respite of our own. It’s in this vein that we veer slightly from our usual realm of coverage to examine how the glass ceiling (or the breaking of it) is faring around the world.

We begin in the States, where there’s been lots of talk of late about the glass ceiling in politics and government. Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin claim to exemplify the disappearance of the glass ceiling in US politics. That said, America still lags far behind other countries when it comes to women in at the top of government. In the country’s 238 year history, we can now name only two women named as vice presidential candidates; Ms. Clinton’s missed chance at the top of the ticket keeps the number of women nominated for President at an easy to manage, if embarrassing, zero.

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