Highest Leaf Awards Expand to Chicago

The Women’s Venture Fund held their first Chicago-based Highest Leaf Award ceremony on July 9th at the offices of Goldman Sachs. The event awarded four exceptional women for their willingness to take risks, leverage resources and for their commitment to helping women succeed.

The Women’s Venture Fund was founded over a decade ago by Maria Otero and has since grown into one of the leading organizations in the New York metropolitan area. Since then, WVF has helped over 13,000 women meet the various needs of their growing businesses. WVF offers informational courses, financial support, and mentorship opportunities, and educates women on how to think like entrepreneurs, read financial statements, and develop HR, management and marketing skills. Read more

/by

Women Hurt Worse by Economic Downturn?

In this bad economy, people are getting used to certain truths. Among them, gas prices are up, economic growth is down, and unemployment is on the rise. According to the newest statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for June 2008, the unemployment rate, which had been declining in recent months, held steady at 5.5% nationwide, while the economy as a whole lost 62,000 non-farm jobs, particularly in construction, manufacturing, and employment services. The financial sector, in light of continued multi-billion dollar write-downs of bad debt, has been increasingly vulnerable to another round of layoffs.

Read more

/by

Happy 30th Anniversary – Time to Change the Pregnancy Discrimination Act?

by Sima Matthes

Although 2007 showed an increase in reported pregnancy discrimination complaints to the EEOC (up 14 percent from the previous year and up 40 percent from 10 years ago), it is only certain recent case in the UK and a pending case before the US Supreme Court that have brought the issue front and center for public debate.

According to the Sunday Times in the UK, Sarah Vince-Caine won £120,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination from her former employer, the Giorgio Armani group. She sued the company after she was pushed into a lower-level role and eventually fired after her second maternity leave.

Although this represents a victory for Ms. Vince-Caine, Nicola Brewer, chief executive of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, in a separate statement, remarked “If the world of work is premised on the assumption that a woman will take a year off, that loads the dice against her.”

Read more

/by

Golf Outing with 85 Broads and the Women’s Bond Club

Sign up for the Golfing and Golf Workshop at the beautiful Harbor Links Golf Course – either play 18 holes of golf or take a day of lessons to learn to play golf. A half-day of lessons and play is also available.

The workshop consists of 6 students for each instructor. Learn the basic swing techniques, chipping and putting as well as the rules, etiquette and language of golf. Practice your lessons with unlimited balls on the driving range.

Golf clubs may be rented at Harbor Links, if needed, for an additional cost. The day also includes lunch and cocktails and networking opportunities with members of 85 Broads and the Women’s Bond Club.

The day gets started at 11:00 am with check-in and lunch starts at 11:30. Play begins at 12:45 p.m. for those playing 18 holes. Instruction begins at 1:00 pm followed by 9-hole play at 2:45 pm. The day ends with a cocktail reception from 5:30 – 6:30 pm.

To Register

(Please bring photo I.D)

/by

WSTA 2008 Summer Magic

WSTA Socials afford industry professionals the opportunity to socialize in a relaxed atmosphere.

Ticket Price Includes: 4-hour open bar, hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, buffet and music all at a spectacular venue.

For more information on WSTA

For tickets to this WSTA Social Event

*After July 11th all tickets will be $195 plus shipping and handling charges.

*Ticket sales close July 16, 2008 4:00 PM EST.

/by

Facilitating Social Intelligence: A Woman Thing?

An Interactive Workshop in Social Awareness and Social Facility.

This learning event will unveil your inner capacity to create humanwealth through creativity, empathy, generosity and curiosity.

How can we best produce a healthy and intelligent community… Are womenleading the way in facilitating social intelligence? Is it a genderneutral issue? (And does it matter…) The audience will have theopportunity to listen to practitionners’ short interventions andactively take part in experience-based discussions and challenges.

For more information

/by

Women Rule the Executive Suites at These Top 10 Corporations

by Heather Cassell

The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) recently released their list of corporations that are particularly good for executive-level women. Of these, the following 10 corporations from a variety of industries including banking and finance, personal care, technology, insurance, fashion and media stand out. In alphabetical order, these corporations are a cut above the rest when it comes to women’s leadership:
Read more

/by

The Dynamics of Career Development

Please join 100 Women in Hedge Funds as we welcome our distinguished speaker Elizabeth Coffey, founder of Spark Leadership. Elizabeth advises board executives on developing their organizations by leading change. She lectures frequently on change, leadership and organization development on academic and professional platforms in the UK and internationally and won ‘Mentor of the Year’ at the Women of the Future Awards 2007.

Her latest book on leadership was published by McGraw Hill in 2002, entitled “10 Things That Keep CEOs Awake – and How to Put Them to Bed”.

We will begin promptly at 6:30 PM; please arrive early.

Networking and cocktails before and after session.

* Admissions to these events are free, but space is limited so please RSVP immediately

/by

Wachovia Helps Women Rise to the Top

Leaving a troubled history of discrimination behind (2004’s $5.5 million settlement on unfair labor practices), Wachovia is now regularly recognized as one of the top places to work as a woman, mother, or as someone from a non-traditional background.

Working Mother, Essence, and Military Spouse magazines have all lauded Wachovia for the company’s progressive policies toward women and minorities including the disabled. Former CEO Ken Thomson spearheaded this effort by creating a mission statement that centers on inclusiveness and work/life balance, as well as policies that ensure that women who want to return to work after maternity leave can do so without losing their seniority or status. Some of Wachovia’s other best practices include use of flexible work options such as telecommuting and flexible hours, support for working parents through in-house and partner childcare centers, and long leave for infant and critical care.
Read more

/by

Women@Work Network Meeting

Women@Work Network is hosting a networking meeting for returning professionals.

Earlier this year, Women@Work Network launched a networking meeting for returning professionals. Our definition of a returning professional is a woman who opted to leave the paid workforce for a period of time to raise a family, care for ill or aging relatives or pursue personal interests. At the meeting we will identify your particular interests and divide attendees into smaller discussion groups. Most likely there will be one group of women not quite ready to dive back into the work world (who keep thinking that “at some point” they want to get back to work, but have actually been saying that for months or even years). Another group will be less interested a full-fledged “career” but ready to look for for a full-time or part-time “minimum commitment”, low stress “job”. Still another group may be actively engaged in a job search and looking to return to the career they once left behind. Whatever your particular situation might be, this networking meeting will be an opportunity to share insights and ideas about the return to work process.

Registration Deadline:
July 9th, 10:00 a.m.

To participate contact Kim Britto at kbritto@womenatworknetwork.com

/by