A number of Forum Members were listed in and contributed to a first ever report created by Catalyst Inc.,  C200, and Women Business Collaborative (WBC) titled “Women CEOs in America: Changing the Face of Business Leadership.” This first of its kind report tells a comprehensive story of women CEO leadership today in not only Fortune 500, S&P 500, and Russell 3000 companies, but in private companies including media and finance.

This in-depth report shares both data and the profiles of model women CEOs, as well as providing economic perspectives and analysis of how to address the scarcity of diversity within the pipeline. Report statistics include the findings that only 7.8% or 39 of Fortune 500 CEOs are women, and less than 1% identify as a person of color, making each appointment of a woman CEO critical. In February 2021, the number will increase to 40 women CEOs in the Fortune 500, or 8%, when Jane Fraser assumes control at Citi.

Forum member, LORRAINE HARITON, President and CEO of Catalyst was instrumental in spearheading this report. Lorraine leaves us with a call to action in this report – “Though we’ve seen an ‘incremental victory’ in the increased number of women running Fortune 500 firms, there is still much more work that needs to be done to create more equitable, inclusive and fulfilling opportunities and workplaces for everyone.”

Congratulations to our members featured in this report:

• ELLEN R. ALEMANY, Chairwoman and CEO, CIT Group
  • Ellen was recognized in the category of Russell 3000 Companies
• DEANNA MULLIGAN, Board Chair and Former CEO, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
  • Deanna was recognized in the category of Fortune 500 Companies
• ANN SARNOFF, Chairwoman and CEO, Warner Bros.
  • Ann was recognized in the category of Women CEOs in Media
• SUBHA BARRY, President, Working Mother Media
  • Subha contributed to this thorough report with her featured article “Fixing the Pipeline” (found under the “Solutions” section). In this article, Subha evaluates what keeps women from moving into CEO and feeder positions and women’s and men’s perceptions vs. reality in regards to the workplace.

To view the full 2020 “Women CEOs in America: Changing the Face of Business Leadership” report, please visit HERE.

Forum members DEANNA MULLIGAN, Board Chair and Former CEO, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and LIZ HILTON SEGEL, Senior Partner, Leader of the Americas Marketing & Sales Practice, McKinsey were featured in a Fortune webinar discussing the benefits of reskilling and retaining older workers to address labor shortages. To view the webinar, please visit HERE.

DANA ARDI, Managing Director, Corporate Anthropology Advisors LLC, was appointed to the Executive Committee of Working Nation. Working Nation is a nonprofit campaign founded in 2016 by venture capitalist, Art Bilger, to expose hard truths about the looming unemployment crisis and bring the country together to create and amplify solutions for a changing economy. Working Nation operates in partnership with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. The mission of the organization is to tell stories about solutions to the job skills gap that is threatening to disrupt our economy. Working Nation is raising this critical issue to the level of a national discussion to reach people and entities that can affect change, to connect the dots for companies and communities looking for solutions to their workforce issues, and to identify for workers and jobseekers where the jobs of the future will be. Dana is very excited to join the Working Nation team and to work on this critical and necessary mission. To learn more about Working nation, please visit HERE.

JANICE ELLIG, CEO, The Ellig Group LLC, was honored during the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) annual Global Conference, held virtually this year due to COVID-19. Janice was awarded the AESC Award of Excellence, which recognizes an individual who makes an outstanding impact in the executive search and leadership consulting profession, especially in reinforcing the AESC commitment to the highest professional standards through its Code of Professional Practice. To learn more about the AESC and it’s Award of Excellence, please visit HERE.

ANGELA BROCK KYLE, Founder and CEO of B.O.A.R.D.S., provided insight on her board journey through an online interview with Women in the Boardroom titled “Views from the Boardroom” where she explains why enhancing your brand can help you land a corporate board seat. Angela shared her keys to success:

• Integrity. The best governance practices have integrity at their core. Focus on the greater good. Be transparent, courageous, inclusive and a good listener.
• Balance interpersonal and technical skills, realism and optimism, long-term and short-term perspectives.
• Curate your personal brand—make sure that it’s consistently the best representation of you.

To read more on “Views from the Boardroom”, please visit HERE.

JESSICA LAPPIN, President, Alliance for Downtown New York, will be honored by City & State NY with “The Responsible 100” award this year! The Responsible 100 honors “New York’s most outstanding responsible executives, thought leaders, visionaries and influencers who are setting new standards of excellence, dedication and leadership in improving their communities and making transformative change. Honorees embody one or more of the Core Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility: Charity, Diversity, Environment & Sustainability, Equity, Ethics, Privacy, Sourcing, Transparency, Volunteerism and Community Engagement.” The honorees will be celebrated at an awards luncheon on December 16th at Sony Hall. Featured speakers will include Mary Stuart Masterson, Founder, Stockade Works, and Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President, National Action Network. To learn more about “The Responsible 100” Award, please visit HERE.

ARVA RICE, President & CEO, New York Urban League, in conjunction with Robin Hood Columbia University Poverty Tracker with support from United Way of New York City and New York Women’s Foundation, recently released the “State of Black New York” Report for the first time in over 15 years. The “State of Black New York” report covers vital, contemporary issues affecting African Americans in New York City. The report was commissioned by The New York Urban League to examine the position of Black households in the city’s growth economy and highlights disparities among Black New Yorkers and proposes solutions across the organization’s program areas: Economics, Education, Digital Divide, Civic Engagement, Social (Criminal) Justice, and Health. To learn more about this report, please visit HERE.

SUSAN E. SKERRITT, Former Chairwoman, CEO & President, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, was elected to the Board of Directors as a new independent director by Community Bank System, Inc. Susan has extensive experience in banking and financial services, having served in leadership positions at Deutsche Bank, BNY Mellon and RBC U.S. Group Holdings LLC. Susan is currently a Senior Advisor with Promontory Financial Group, an IBM company that provides consulting services to financial institutions on regulatory, governance, and risk management matters. To read more on Susan’s new appointment, please visit HERE.

BONITA STEWART, Vice President, Global Partnerships, Google Inc., and former CBS News correspondent Jacqueline Adams, released their book, “A Blessing: Women of Color Teaming Up to Lead, Empower and Thrive”, where these two industry leaders share valuable lessons to help women of color team up and thrive in business. Recognizing that they were each trailblazers, Bonita being the first African American woman to secure a VP role at Google and Jacqueline being the first African American woman to formally cover the White House for CBS News during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, both saw their positions not as a disadvantage, but as an opportunity to lead creatively and bring others up with them. Stewart and Adams conducted a “proprietary survey of 4,005 American female knowledge workers across four generations (Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers) and four races (Black, LatinX, Asian and Caucasian),” said Adams. The findings revealed statistics such as, 47 percent of Black women are frequently or always the only person of color in a professional situation. “By contrast, 73 percent of white women say they are rarely onlys.” To learn more about Bonita and Jacqueline’s new book, please visit HERE. If you would like to purchase “A Blessing: Women of Color Teaming Up to Lead, Empower and Thrive”, please visit HERE.

ALICIA SYRETT, Founder & CEO, Pantegrion Capital LLC, was a featured speaker in a showcase funded by the European Commission and supported by the World Bank Group on the rise of New York City as a leading technology ecosystem with transferable takeaways for the Romanian entrepreneurship ecosystem.

KARYN TWARONITE, Partner, Global Diversity & Inclusiveness Officer, EY, was recognized as a “Validated Ally” during the “Women of Color and Their Allies” event held by DiversityInc , whose mission is to bring education and clarity to the business benefits of diversity. DiversityInc CEO Carolynn Johnson, explained that “Validated Allies” have all demonstrated a dedication to using their influence to uplift women of color and other marginalized communities by advocating for them- even when they are not in the room. To learn more about DiversityInc’s “Validated Allies”, please visit HERE.

Women in Business Wednesdays

In October, the Women’s Forum of New York started a new a social series called “Women in Business Wednesdays” #WBW. We kicked off our first #WBW interviews in October with Women’s Forum members – Founder and Executive Chairwoman of S’well, Sarah Kauss and Chief Joy Officer of Joyful planet Inc., Patrice Tanaka. This November, we interviewed Forum members, Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder and CEO of Lafayette 148 and Mijong Lee, Founder and CEO of EMMELLE Design & MIJONGLEE.

All interviews provided great tips and valuable insight into each member’s journeys of entrepreneurship. Head on over to Instagram to view our interviews @womensforumnewyork and like our posts.

To read the full interviews with all of our members, please click on the profiles below.

Are you or someone you know interested in sharing experiences as a business owner or entrepreneur? If you are interested in sharing your story, please email najapazant@womensforumny.org . The Women’s Forum Credo is ”Women helping other women never gets tired.” Imagine how many women in our communities, and beyond, you may help just by sharing your experience!

We are always thankful to our outstanding members who participate in our virtual programs, keeping our community ever strong and connected especially during these times of great social challenges. In case you missed our most recent programs….

“Hire Purpose: How Smart Companies can Close the Skills Gap”

Held on October 29th, Forum member, DEANNA MULLIGAN, Board Chair and Former CEO, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, offered an inspiring analysis of how smart companies can close the skills gap while discussing her book “Hire Purpose: How Smart Companies can Close the Skills Gap.”. With COVID-19 accelerating workforce disruption, Deanna discussed how businesses can meet the employment challenges of the 2020s. Mulligan’s book is grounded in her nine years of experience overseeing a company that routinely helps people recover from disaster, including Hurricanes Sandy and Maria. In her last year as CEO (Mulligan moved to board chair in October 2020 and will retire from Guardian Life Insurance in December 2020), Mulligan applied the same compassion and practicality to navigating COVID-19 and the economic recovery.

Moderator and Panelists:

• Moderator: Forum member ANGELA BROCK KYLE, Corporate Board Director
• Forum member DEANNA MULLIGAN, Board Chair and Former CEO, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

To view the entire program, please visit HERE.

“The Honorable RBG: Personal Memories – Enduring Legacies”

Held on November 18th, Forum members, came together to share personal stories for inspiration, highlighting the beginning of RBG’s career and how the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg carries on. This story hour featured:

• Forum member, THE HONORABLE LORETTA A. PRESKA, United States District Court Judge
• Forum member, CAROL BALDWIN MOODY, President and CEO, Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Forum member, ELAINE WOOD, Former Federal Prosecutor and Pro Bono General Counsel, Legal Momentum; Vice President, Charles River Associates
• Lynn Hecht Shafran, former RBG Student and Colleague, Founder and Director of the National Judicial Education Program, Legal Momentum

To view the entire program, please visit HERE.

To view a complete list of our virtual programming, please visit HERE.

Please submit newsletter content before December 20th to be included in the next edition. Submissions and corresponding media/links can be submitted below, in your “My Participation” section of your member portal HERE, or you can reach out to Communications and Social Media Manager Naja Pazant at najapazant@womensforumNY.org. Also, if you’d like to share newsworthy accomplishments and updates with the IWF community, please reach out to Communications Manager Lauren Williams at lwilliams@iwforum.org.

Do you know an outstandingly accomplished woman with the potential to be a great addition to the Women’s Forum of New York? If you have someone in mind, Membership Committee Chair WENDY MENDENHALL, MBE encourages you to submit a nomination form. All submissions will be reviewed and considered for membership.

We appreciate your assistance with identifying noteworthy candidates interested in joining the Women’s Forum of New York.