Feeding the Homeless on Thanksgiving In NYC

soupkitchen_1.jpgby Nicki Gilmour (New York City)

As a Brit with 5 years under my belt as a New Yorker, I am still getting used to the Thanksgiving extravaganza here in US, which, for those of you who don’t know, is a bit like Christmas in the UK but a month early with no gifts, and less talk about “The Greatest Story Ever Told”.

So when my best gay boyfriend invited me to join him to volunteer on Thanksgiving to feed the homeless their turkey dinner rather than go to a fancy dinner party replete with the food coma that generally follows, I was happy to sign up.

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Top Ten Things for Which We Are Grateful

thanksgiving.jpgby Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

The cubicles and corner offices in the U.S. are empty today, as people take the day to eat turkey and cranberry sauce (and pumpkin pie – yum!) with their families, while giving thanks for all the good things in their lives.

We know that 2008 has not been the best year for many of us. And, with the worsening financial crisis, diminishing 401Ks, and rising unemployment, there are some who may be wonder whether there really is anything for which to be thankful.

However, we at The Glass Hammer recognize that many good things have come to us and to all women this year and have gathered but a few of those great things on our list of:

The Top 10 Things for Which We Are Grateful This Thanksgiving Day:

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Women Who Make It Work: The Secrets of Success for Female Leaders

ALMbookpic.jpgContributed by Alison Maitland, journalist and co-author of “Why Women Mean Business“

Amid the mass job cuts and wall-to-wall gloom, it’s a welcome relief to hear some positive stories about successful women.

Typically, such stories take the form of interviews with CEOs or entrepreneurs whose careers may or may not resonate with other ambitious women. Bring together the success tips of nearly 600 women, and you have a feast of ideas on which everyone can feed.

That’s what Aspire, a UK coaching and leadership development company for senior women, has done in its latest survey, Women Who Make It Work: The secrets of success for female leaders.

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Ask-A-Recruiter: Keep Your Lunch Dates

istock_000005168521xsmall1.jpgContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

Given the bad market, I feel like I should be taking shorter lunches and less personal time. Do employers even notice that type of sacrifice?

If employers notice, are these the ones you want?

Seriously though, I once made a lunch date with a colleague who like myself is a busy working mom. About five minutes before our appointed meeting time, she was hovering outside my office trying to get my attention. Extreme punctuality? Actually, she was canceling at the last-minute. She had an all-morning meeting and came back to a stack of emails, so surely she couldn’t lunch.

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Top 50 Women to Watch

by Ellen Armstrong (New York City)

These days, we look for the bright spots in finance and the economy anywhere we can find them. Fortunately, in the case of the Wall Street Journal’s 50 Women to Watch, there are plenty of bright stars on whom we can focus our attention.

First on the list is Sheila Bair, the Chairwoman of the FDIC, who has been in the headlines of late, between her cogent testimony on Capitol Hill on the roots of the financial crisis and her key role in negotiations of various federal bailout packages. She has been an outspoken advocate of protecting homeowners facing foreclosure, as well as protecting America’s bank accounts in the wake of one bank failure after another.

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Staying Power

workingwoman_1_.jpgBy Paige Churchman (New York City)

There are plenty of stories and statistics about the women who leave high-powered careers, but The Glass Hammer decided to look at the other side of the picture—who’s staying in the game, how do they do it and why? We talked to four women to find out what keeps them growing, motivated, happy and unstuck in their careers. All are mothers. One tried life as a stay-at-home mom but came back. All have high positions at major corporations. They’re located in New York, Chicago and Washington, DC.

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Voice of Experience: Laura Palomino de Forbes, Director and Head of Business Development, DIAM International

Laura_Palomino_de_Forbes.jpgBy Pirkko Juntunen (London)

It is difficult not to fall quickly into clichés such as ‘superwoman’ when describing Laura Palomino de Forbes. In her mid-thirties, married and a mother to a 15-month old daughter, Palomino de Forbes heads up DIAM International’s business development and client services efforts in the EMEA Region from her London office. She has, through hard work and dedication, put DIAM on the map in Europe and Middle East by acquiring new assets of over $3bn in the past four years. Read more

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In Case You Missed It: Weekend Round-up

martin.jpgContributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group

In case you were too busy enjoying your weekend to have kept up with the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has been kind enough to gather some important market events from this past weekend (and week) so that you can start this week well informed:

Saturday, November 22nd
Financial Institutions

  • The difficulties for Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit continued as shares in the universal bank fell to $3.77, meaning the shares have lost half their value in 3 days. Mr Pandit denied any plans to sell Smith Barney, its US wealth management business.
  • The two Scottish bankers campaigning to keep UK bank HBOS independent, rather than allowing it to be taken over by Lloyds TSB gave up their fight. The plan was dropped because the government had made it ‘crystal clear’ that it did not want HBOS to be independent, according to the two men.

Credit

  • UK retailer Woolworths is running out of time to save itself from administration. The group is in talks with lenders GMAC (the consumer lender part-owned by General Motors) and Burdale, and a potential purchaser of its retail stores, Hilco UK. The group hopes to be able to structure a deal that will see the 800 stores sold to Hilco UK for assuming £265m of debt plus a nominal £1. The deal would leave behind two profitable business divisions holding the balance of £120m of debt, EUK ,a wholesale distribution business, and a DVD joint venture with the BBC called 2entertain. To be successful, the deal needs to gain the support of the group’s lenders.

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Women’s Leadership Exchange East Coast Summit

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by Zoe Cruz (New York City)

“One would think that in this time of stresses, the little things wouldn’t bother us too much. But they do.” So said by Mimi Donaldson, empowerment expert and co-author of Bless Your Stress, as she began her workshop entitled “Tactics to Triumph In Tough Times”. The workshop was one of the many available during the Women’s Leadership Exchange East Coast Summit held on November 12th in New York City.

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Sustainability – The Best Defense Against Recession

Kevin_Photo__website_.JPGContributed by Kevin Wilhelm, CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting

In these uncertain economic times, companies often gravitate towards budget cuts, scaling back sustainability or “green” programs on the mistaken belief that such programs take away from the bottom-line. In reality, this thinking is the exact opposite of what business leaders need to do. Sustainability may actually be the best defense against market volatility during these difficult times.

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