Top Women to Follow on Twitter

iStock_000006561903XSmall_1_.jpgby Elizabeth Harrin (London)

Do you tweet? Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that allows you to ‘tweet’ anything – as long as it fits within 140 characters, which is the length of a standard text message. That is what has made it so popular, as you can send and receive messages by phone, or if you prefer via instant messaging or a website. People use it to update their friends with how they are and what they are doing. On the receiving end, you can choose people to receive updates from – your family, celebrities or interesting commentators.

Curious? Once you have a Twitter account you can both update your own status and receive updates from other people whom you have chosen to ‘follow’. Yes, Twitter comes with a whole new language. Since logging on for the first time recently I have learnt about following, tweeting and retweeting, hashtags, @ responses, direct messages. There isn’t space here to explain how to use Twitter to its full advantage, but there are plenty of websites dedicated to just that.

There is a lot of noise on Twitter. People send updates about their last cup of coffee, and British comedian and presenter Stephen Fry made headlines recently when he tweeted about being stuck in a lift. The information comes to you in real time format, but that doesn’t make it interesting. So how do you know who to follow? The best advice is to choose people who interest you and whom you have come across from another source. Bloggers, for example, may blog once or twice a week (like me) but tweet on a daily basis. Using Twitter you will get instant notification of new blog posts but also useful, short titbits more regularly: things that aren’t shared on the blog. I have wasted many an evening reading the profiles of the people being followed by someone I am following. If you follow my meaning.

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Voice of Experience: Kim Harris Jones, Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller Auditor, Chrysler Corporation

KimHarrisJones._copy_1_.jpgby Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

The “Motor City” as it’s affectionately called, is home to Motown, the American automobile industry, and to Kim Harris Jones, the first African-American female Vice President in Chrysler history. “I was born and raised in Detroit and when you’re born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, it’s not hard to be brought into the auto industry. My father retired from General Motors as an assembly line worker, my sister worked at Ford, and I’ve had many other family members who worked in the auto industry, so it wasn’t a big leap,” Jones said.

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Intrepid Women: Sense of Safety in My Own Skin

selfdefense.jpg by Kelley Vollmer (New York City)

Since moving to Manhattan, self defense had been something I’d always meant to learn, but I kept finding excuses as to why I couldn’t take a class: it didn’t fit into my schedule; I didn’t know which course to take; or it was just too expensive. I told myself that since I lived in a safe neighborhood and made smart choices, I was fine. But, routinely, I’d find myself in situations – from men walking by me with catcalls to walking by myself late at night after work – in which I would feel vulnerable and fearful. It was at those times that I would remind myself that I needed to take a self defense class.

One night last summer upped the ante for me. I responded to an ad on Craigslist for free concert tickets. Of course, I now recognize how supremely naive I was but, at the time, my only thought was that the tickets were third row center for one of my favorite bands. The guy even claimed to not be looking for a date, saying he was too old. Even though he gave me “uh-oh” feeling the moment I met him and kept his fists clenched throughout the evening (in addition to having a curious bulge near his ankle and asking inappropriate questions about my sexuality), I stuck out the concert because I didn’t want to be rude. At the end, I thanked him for his generosity and left or, rather, attempted to leave.

When I said I was heading to Brooklyn, he said he had a car and could drive me as he was going that way. When I said, “No, thanks I’ll take the subway,” he responded with, “I’ll go with you.” I was feeling very uncomfortable so I sprinted into the chaos that is Times Square after all the Broadway shows let out.

Without looking back, I ran into the subway and down to the train platform right as an express train was pulling up. I jumped onto the train and sat down in the only available seat in a packed car. As I was about to sigh with relief, I felt a presence. I discreetly looked up and saw the old man from the concert – he had followed me onto the train and was now hiding behind someone so I would not see him.

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Mover and Shaker: Maria Weaver Watson, Director of Strategic Marketing, Interactive One

MWeaverWatsonphoto3_1_.jpegby Anna Collins, Esq. (Portland, Maine)

As Director of Strategic Marketing at Interactive One, Maria Weaver Watson is responsible for leading all consumer and trade marketing and public relations for a company that provides the #1 online platform for a broad swath of the African American community. Watson is also the great-great grand daughter of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who has continued her family legacy by giving back to the community through an active involvement on boards and organizations including Standup for Kids, iMentor and Council of Urban Professionals.

Watson’s work at Interactive One, which serves more than 9 million users, is delicately connected to her community involvement. In fact, these two aspects of Watson’s accomplished life are openly inter-related. When Watson considered joining Interactive One, she found herself attracted to the company’s mission to serve the African American community through online content and social media. Today, she feels very strongly about her role at Interactive One, explaining “I’m actually making a difference to the community, and that is personally rewarding.”

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Board’s Eye View: African-American Women on Fortune 500 Corporate Boards

by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

As we reported last week, there are still significant barriers to African-American women rising in Corporate America’s ranks. Women of color—like many women—suffer from a lack of strong or existing strategic networks and work/life balance demands. Additionally, they are hampered by a lack of opportunity—the Catalyst Census of Women on Boards of December 2008 showed that the number of women in general and women of color in particular remained stagnant—and by inaccurate perceptions of African-American women’s capabilities.

Of the 471 companies surveyed, nearly one-fifth had at least one African-American woman on the board. Of the 15.2 percent of directorships held by women at Fortune 500 companies, only 3.2 percent are held by women of color.

If the truth expressed in past Catalyst studies—that the more women on corporate boards, the more likely there will be women in upper management of the organization—holds true for other under-represented groups, the following extraordinary African American women who sit on corporate boards will, by their presence and accomplishments, help create a climate conducive to including other women of color in the C-suite.

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Voice of Experience: Tay C. Via, Partner, Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP

Tay__Via_1_.jpgby Anna T. Collins, Esquire (Portland, Maine)

Tay C. Via, partner at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP in San Francisco, entered the legal profession in part due to advice from one of her professors at the University of California, Berkeley, where she received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Economics in 1987. Peter T. Jones, a lawyer who specialized in international trade, encouraged her to pursue graduate education “in anything,” regardless of whether she was clear on her ultimate career path. Professor Jones was not the first mentor to emphasize the importance of higher education to Via. Her grandfather, a blue collar worker, also believed that higher education was vital to success. He taught her to not be “in awe of anyone,” since anyone can succeed with education and hard work.

Via followed the advice of these two mentors, gaining not only a higher education, but an impressive work ethic. After receiving her law degree from University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1991, Via got her start at Morrison & Foerster, where she gained expertise in real estate development and land use law while working on the San Francisco International Airport Expansion Project. Over time, Via aimed to focus on large public/private projects in and around San Francisco, which led her to Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP in 1994.

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Women in the City Winner: Kathryn Britten of BDO Stoy Hayward LLP

Kathryn_Britten_sml.jpgby Elizabeth Harrin (London)

What does a forensic accountant do all day? It’s a specialised – and largely male dominated – field, but Kathryn Britten has risen to the top of her profession as National Head of Forensic Accounting at BDO Stoy Hayward LLP. Kathryn won the Accountancy Category of the 2008 Women in the City Awards which recognizes her achievement in her field.

So, what is her field again? “A forensic accountant is an investigator who is trained to look beyond the numbers to interpret financial issues and assess their impact,” Kathryn explains. “We analyze, distill and present complex information in a way that is accessible and understandable, often in court.” Kathryn has acted as an accounting expert witness in over 200 commercial disputes, giving evidence under oath. In this role she is often aggressively cross-examined. She also works on cases that don’t go to court. “I favor meeting other experts to narrow the issues in disputes and to advise on settlement negotiations including mediation, which often leads to the successful settlement of disputes outside the courts,” she says. “The types of work that I have been involved with include allegations of accountant’s negligence, loss of profits calculations, contractual disputes and complex accounting investigations.”

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Voice of Experience: Ana Duarte-McCarthy, Chief Diversity Officer, Citigroup Inc.

duarteMccarthy_1_.jpgby Paige Churchman (New York City)

One April morning in 1994, Ana Duarte-McCarthy put on a brand new suit, rode the train down to Wall Street and joined the flow of rushing pedestrians. She may have looked like any other commuter, but for Ana this was a banner day. She was on her way to her first day of corporate life – a new job at Kidder, Peabody & Co. A meringue band played in her head (who needs an iPod?), and headlines like “Dominican Makes It to Wall Street” flashed through her brain. It was clear and sunny, just another Monday morning for the other workers. They didn’t look up at the young woman in the snappy khaki suit with the navy pinstripes. (It still hangs in her closet.)

Ana was in for some major culture shock. Not too many art school deans end up in investment banking. Ana had been assistant dean at Parsons The New School for Design. There she had learned how to scrounge for even the smallest resources. At Kidder, Ana’s eyes grew big when the morning coffee came on elegant silver tea services. “I think I was at Kidder three weeks when they gave me $3000 to take eight minority interns to Yankee Stadium,” she laughed. “And then they asked what else I wanted.” Art students don’t wear suits, and neither do their deans. Art students and their deans wear black. Also, at Kidder, she was suddenly back in middle management – smaller office, no longer running the show – but she expected that. She was eager to learn.

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Network of Executive Women

girlsholdinghands.jpgBy Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

“The need for the network is real,” says Alison Paul, head of the Network for Executive Women (NEW), in her President’s Message posted on the organization’s website. NEW is the largest diversity group in the retail and consumer packaged good (CPG) industries. The group has approximately 2,000 members representing more than 400 companies, 15 regional groups, and 53 corporate sponsors. Their mission is clear: to attract, retain and advance women in the retail and consumer products industry through education, leadership and business development.

Paul, who is also a principal at Deloitte & Touche, LLC, where she manages strategic relationships with retailers and consumer goods companies, has been involved with NEW almost since the beginning. The organization started in a living room and was officially formed in 2001. “Women were leaving the industry for more female-friendly companies or they were starting their own businesses,” says Paul.

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Intrepid Women: The White Continent (a/k/a Bonding with Penguins)

Antarctica_165.JPGby Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

When I told friends and family that I was planning to go to Antarctica (one of the”to do’s” on my “400 before 40” list), the overwhelming response was: “why would you want to do that?” My response was to wonder how someone could NOT want to go. The penguins, exquisite ice formations, penguins, raw natural landscapes…and did I mention the penguins?

“But it is so cold! And dangerous!” Well, not really. I mean, these are not the days of Shackelton. I knew from the start that it was pretty unlikely that I would get trapped on an Antarctic island with no shelter or provisions waiting for the captain to return to rescue us (like the crew of the Endurance). But, still, it is far from “civilization”; the jumping off point of Ushuaia, Argentina, is about 1200 km (approximately 746 miles) from Antarctica. And, right as I was preparing to head down to South America to catch my ship, a different cruise ship hit some ice and sank (although all the passengers were rescued without incident).

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