Looking Forward to 2010: A Letter from the Founder

What a year 2009 has been! The markets hit a deep low in March and then incredulously the Dow Jones index has bounced back to over 10,000 points to end the year on a better note for investing confidence here in the U.S., and the U.K. is fighting hard to see similar gains on the FTSE.

2009 has been an important year for The Glass Hammer in furthering our mission to inform, inspire and empower professional women. One of the highlights for me personally was putting together an invitation-only breakfast networking club for senior women from the fund management industry to come together around specific relevant topics in panel discussion. The debate on the new business model for the Buy-Side can be seen here. Around the discussion we conducted a survey which resulted in a whitepaper produced in conjunction with Stone House Consulting on the future of the fund management industry. Interesting reading for both genders and a powerful guide to what 2010 may bring for players in that industry.

The mission of theglasshammer.com is to create opportunities for professional women to advance to the corner office, to stay in the game and win it. We will be continuing our breakfast networking club for senior executives in NY and plan to extend that to London in Quarter 2.

We are embarking upon very exciting ideas to help you realize your professional goals and to help you identify the best employers work for: “Evolved Employers” who will take the time to implement initiatives that will ensure your success.

The editorial will continue to be excellent. We have Melissa Anderson stepping into the editor seat and the big shoes of Pamela Weinsaft who is returning to the legal profession full time. Many thanks to Pam for all she has done this year in producing an interesting lineup of useful and insightful articles. Look out for her contributions on the site in 2010.

Thank you to our founding sponsors, PwC and Goldman Sachs, both truly progressive firms which show the way to their peers on the topic of implementing real measures to improve gender equality in the workplace.

Finally, without readers and community members we would not need to exist, so thank you for being loyal and enthusiastic participants in this online and offline community.

On behalf of myself and the small team here at theglasshammer.com, I wish you a safe and happy New Year and a fun-filled Christmas holiday break. It’s been a long year so enjoy the time off and get ready for a good year ahead. We are practicing what we preach and are having a week off from publishing to ensure we enjoy time with our families and friends and have some much desired work-life balance! See you back here on the 4th January.

Cheers,
Nicki Gilmour
CEO and Founder
The Glass Hammer