Women Move Up in February in Finance, Media and Technology

Media companies had high visibility appointments in the television, newspaper, and magazine businesses this month. The women of Fox Business Network continue to generate interest with Jenna Lee, Nicole Petallides and Tracy Byrnes all among the top women searched for in February on NewsonWomen.com. Other happenings - Orly Adelson was made President of Dick Clark Productions, Lori Conkling was made EVP at Lifetime Networks, and Pamela Parker was made SVP at Sony Pictures Television. Lynne Constantini was made EVP at Scripps Network, and Caroline Waxler was chosen as Managing Editor of TheStreet.com’s new website, Mainstreet.com. On the publishing side, Jessica Sibley was made Worldwide Publisher of Business Week, Katherine Weymouth was made Publisher of the Washington Post, and Danielle Yuen was made Marketing Director of "The Week". It is great to see an industry faced with such a challenging and changing business environment turning to so many women. TheStreet.com’s new venture plans to give traditional financial issues an everyday spin with a splash of celebrity. This seems to be the hiring trend as well, traditional jobs backed up by marketing talent and some media splash.

The Finance Industry gave Media a run for its money this month with insurance companies and banks putting a number of women in important positions like Nancy Foster made Chief Risk Officer at CIT, Irene Esteves made CFO at Regions Financial, and Lizabeth Zlatkus made CFO at The Hartford.

Technology also comes to the front in February with Michele Goins made Chief Information Officer at Juniper Networks and Cara Schnaper made EVP Tech at TIAA-CREF. The new opportunities created by the internet in business development continue to produce important jobs for women like Elinor Hirschhorn, made Chief Digital Officer at Simon & Schuster, and Elaine O'Gorman, made SVP at Silverpop. Gretchen McClain was made SVP at ITT. Her accomplishments in technology are amazing, including overseeing the development and launch of the International Space Station.

Stephanie Rosenbloom’s article in The New York Times about teenage girls being the “Cyberpioneers of the Moment” demonstrates that the ranks of young women interested in technology are swelling. Girls becoming our cyberheroes is an important step forward in developing future leaders. I don't think the meaning of why teenage girls are now the “cyberpioneers” can be completely understood using historical measures. While it may not have a precedent, I think we should capitalize on this trend. Stephanie’s article had it right – “the girls are into putting something up and getting responses”. That should give us some insight into how to make science and technology interesting for them.

Technolgy, Media and Finance offered many accomplished women new opportunities this month. As these industries move us in new directions, more women are at the forefront and more young girls will follow if we encourage them.