NewsonWomen

NewsonWomen reports on 2012 - What did Women Accomplish? Over $1 Billion in Funding for Women-led Startups. Women show the Power to see things Differently.

December saw very few major corporate jobs go to women, but women entrepreneurs raised over $140 million. Women entrepreneurs raised money all through 2012 including Leila Jonah (pictured), who raised $7.5 million for Samasource, which brings our total for the year of money raised by women entrepreneurs and women ceos for their startups to over $1 billion.

In reviewing 2012, the total number of big corporate appointments of women is disappointing, but there were some stand out jobs that demonstrate the power women built up this past year. Microsoft chose Julie Larson-Green to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering. Microsoft also chose former CBS Network Television Entertainment Group President Nancy Tellem to be their Entertainment & Digital Media President. Microsoft recognized these powerful women and put them in powerful jobs. What can we learn from this? Every woman needs to increase her power footprint by building up her power skills. But women do need support and companies must clear the path to power for women by providing appropriate training, proper mentoring, flexibility and above all, succession planning. While women engineers move up at Microsoft and get put on corporate boards in large numbers, all women need to take advantage of the tools technology offers to build their power footprint. Social Media has become our golf course. Twitter, Linkedin, and other social media sites are where women can find partners, investors, mentors, industry contacts just like men do on the golf course. Women are at the center of social media, and the appointment of Marissa Mayer this year as CEO of Yahoo! only demonstrates this further. Her being a new mother didn't scare anyone anymore, and in fact may have made her the perfect candidate in many ways. In the 21st century women need to be innovative and tech savvy, flexible, able to change with the times, and able to take a global approach to business. Women have shown the power to see things differently in 2012, women like Leila Janah, who raised $7.5 million in a philanthropic funding for her company Samasource which connects women and youth living in poverty around the world to work opportunities. These women entrepreneurs and all the corporate women appointed in 2012 featured on NewsonWomen are good examples of women who understand the power of innovation.

Women in science have been successful this year at raising awareness and funds for their ideas as seen in the many women-led healthcare and biotech startups funded this past year. Also, GE appointed Sue Siegel CEO of "Healthymagination", GE’s $6 billion global commitment to help people have better health at lower costs. Healthcare is a leading growth industry for future jobs and women are taking advantage of that, raising awareness for health screenings, and better applications. We need more women in science and here's why.

Another group of women demonstratring their powerful skills this year were the female athletes at the London 2012 Olympics, women who set records, won gold medals, and provided us with many role models for the future. The Olympics were important for another reason - organizers refused any list of candidates for major jobs there that did not include women. Bravo! More executives should follow this lead.

NewsonWomen reports Powerful Jobs Given to Powerful Women in November 2012. Women Entrepreneurs on their Way to Raising $1 Billion in 2012.

Women were given several powerful jobs in November even though the total number of big jobs going to women in November was disappointing. Some of the goods news - Microsoft appointed Julie Larson-Green (pictured) to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering. Women running Windows - amazing! There were also several important c-suite appointments in November. Marillyn Hewson was appointed CEO of Lockheed Martin and Kimberly Snyder was made CEO of Panavision. JPMorgan Chase appointed Marianne Lake its Chief Financial Officer. Other major companies appointing women to big jobs included Best Buy, Scripps Networks, NBCUniversal, General Dynamics, Allianz Life Insurance, Cox Media, Jones Lang LaSalle, Nutrisystem, and United Health.

NewsonWomen reported on women entrepreneurs raising $78 million in new funding in November, bringing our year to date total of funds raised by women entrepreneurs and CEO's for their startups to $966 million.

November shows that women are no longer excluded from power in today's economy. It is now there for the taking so women need to increase their power footprint by building their power skills. But companies need to clear the path to power for women by providing appropriate training, proper mentoring, flexibility and above all, succession planning. And women need to take advantage of all the tools technology offers. Social Media has become our golf course. Twitter, Linkedin, and other social media sites are where women can find partners, investors, mentors, industry contacts and all the things men do on the golf courses where women have been excluded for years. A recent report by Booz & Company shows that women can equal the economic power of China and India in the future. That day will be here sooner if we work together.

NewsonWomen reports on List of Women Entrepreneurs who raised $888 million so far in 2012. Corporate Jobs Improve over Last Month. Hot Topics in October - Skills of 21st Century Women, Gamification of Fundraising, and Health Screening.

The number 0f women appointed to big jobs in October improved slightly over September 2012 but is still less than ideal. Major companies appointing women to big jobs included Celanese Corp, Eli Lilly, Kroger Co, American Media, SUPERVALU, Synovus Bank, Family Dollar Stores, Amgen, Visa, Time Warner Cable, CalPERS and Girl Scouts of the USA. New economy companies like Daily Candy, 23andME, FashionPlaytes and RegisterPatient.com, Inc., who made Jana Skewes (pictured) CEO, also appointed women to big jobs.

The list of women entrepreneurs getting their new ventures funded continues to grow, with them raising $33 million in October, 2012 bringing our total year to date to $888 million. These 21st century women know the future of America depends on women entrepreneurs as well as those interested in corporate careers. The skills needed by 21st century women were discussed this month on NewsonWomen, as was the gamification of fundraising, innovation in fashion and the benefits of getting screened for health issues.

NewsonWomen reports Women Entrepreneurs Raise $855 Million Venture Capital so far in 2012. Economy Lags but Trend of Women Appointed for Focus of Corporate Strategy Seen. Say Goodbye to 20th Century Tokenism!

Women entrepreneurs raised over $81 Million for their companies in September, bringing our total for the first nine months of 2012 to $855 million! Women of all experiences are succeeding as entrepreneurs, from women in science, (the bulk of the $85 million in September went to healthcare / science companies like MyoKardia, one of whose founders is Christine Seidman, MD - pictured above), to women in media and women in education. An interesting example of women taking advantage of the new economy is Deanna Jump, featured on EdSurge, who made history becoming the "first teacher selling classroom materials on TeachersPayTeachers.com to top $1 million in sales"! 

Corporate appointments of women to big jobs this month were disappointing due to the low number - less than 40 in September, but interesting because of the trend to choose women for how they fit into the companies' corporate strategy. No longer are women filling slots to increase gender equity. The women appointed in September clearly represent a move away from the 20th century game of catch up, to 21st century women chosen for their talent and experience and their ability to influence corporate vision. Examples of companies who chose women this month who will have a huge impact on the future business of the company include Microsoft, who appointed former president of CBS Network Television Entertainment Group Nancy Tellem (pictured right)to be their Entertainment & Digital Media President (will we see Microsoft TV soon?). Other companies strategically appointing women this month included Yahoo!, Nordstrom, Bristol-Myers Squibb, The Gap, Mattel, and Johnson & Johnson. Say goodbye to the 20th century "women as tokens" attitude!

Moving from 20th century attitudes to 21st century committments was also discussed this month with suggestions of how to update women's conferences so they can stay in tune with what's happening in business today. Another new wave to help women is the "Wits On" online mentoring program announced this month, a new approach to the 20th century problem of few role models and a lack of women in science and technology. "WitsOn" was launched by Harvey Mudd College and Piazza, founded by Pooja Sankar. Let's extend that concept to business women as well!

List of Women Entrepreneurs on NewsonWomen Raises $774 Million so far in 2012. Women Corp Execs Impress with Great Jobs. Women Athletes Win Gold.

NewsonWomen tracks the list of women entrepreneurs, and so far in 2012, $774 million has been raised by women Founders and CEO's! These women raising capital demonstrate a great depth of talent and experience, operating in diverse industries from finance - with CEO Priha Haji (pictured left) and her site SaveUp, to healthcare - with Atterocor, founded by Dr. Julia Owens, to education and media - with EdSurge, co-founded by Betsy Corcoran. Read more on these and other amazing women entrepreneurs.

Despite a record number of women entrepreneurs getting funded, the Corporate world is still slow with only 40 big jobs going to women in August, about the same as July. New Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer made an interesting choice for the Chief Marketing Officer at Yahoo! this month, appointing Kathy Savitt (pictured right) to the job. Kathy is the Founder and CEO of Lockerz and comes with extensive background in retail and ecommerce. In fact big marketing and brand management jobs went to women in a number of companies including Gannett, Aeropostale, Kaiser Permanente, Virtual Piggy and Outdoor Channel. Women were also put in charge of operating companies or lines of business with several CEO's and presidents appointed including Irene Chang Britt made President of Pepperidge Farm at Campbell Soup; Eileen Serra made Chief Executive Officer of Chase Card Services at JPMorgan Chase; Sarah Robb O'Hagan made President of Fitness Company Equinox; and Sarah Chubb made President of Gilt City, part of Gilt Groupe. Sally Ride, who cared so much for women in science, will be remembered with great appreciation for all she did for us, and her education company lives on with Sheryle Bolton being made Chief Executive Officer of "Sally Ride Science".

So will August be remembered for money records, or big jobs? Or will it be remembered for the 2012 Women's Olympic team who won more gold medals than we can count, and included athletes like Missy Franklin (pictured above left) and Gabby Douglas (pictured right), among many others! My guess is that we will remember August for everything! Cheers for the progress women made on all fronts!

List of Women Entrepreneurs Raising Money Grows in July. Top Corporate Jobs still Scarce for Women Executives.

The List of Women Entrepreneurs raising venture capital continues to grow with almost $600 million raised by women founders and women ceo's so far this year. Women corporate executives have not fared as well with only about 40 big corporate jobs given to women in July 2012, continuing a downward trend. Companies appointing women to big jobs in July included Tapjoy, the mobile advertising and publishing platform, which appointed Claire Hough (pictured) Senior Vice President of Engineering. Claire, who had been Chief Technology Officer for Citrus Lane which she co-founded in 2011, and before that had been an engineering executive at Nextag, Napster and Netscape, is just one example of the many talented women in the workforce featured on Newsonwomen. Another engineer making it big this month is Google exec Marissa Mayer, made President and CEO of Yahoo! Other companies appointing women to big jobs in July were Dunkin' Brands, PwC, Shopko, Procter & Gamble, Alcoa, AOL, Harris Corp, Carribou Coffee, Occidental Petroleum, Estee Lauder, NASA, Kraft Foods, and Petsmart.

49 Women given big corporate jobs in June 2012. $45 Million raised by Women Entrepreneurs, most of which went to Healthcare Startups.

Only 49 Women were given big jobs in June 2012 by major corporations, and though about 20% of those were c-suite jobs, it continues to be a lackluster year for women executives. March 2012 is the only month this year that exceeded 50 jobs. Major companies appointing women to big jobs in June included Aetna, who appointed Karen S. Rohan (pictured) Executive Vice President and Head of Specialty Products. Also appointing women were Cigna, Everyday Health, New York & Co, Citi, Korn/Ferry, Caterpillar, Blackrock, AIG, GE, Toyota, Aetna, PwC, Wells Fargo, General Dynamics, Gannett, Hershey, and Allstate.

Women entrepreneurs raised almost $45 million in seed funding for their startups, the lowest monthly total of funds raised so far this year. The bulk of the June money raised went to healthcare related startups. For the first six months of 2012, women entrepreneurs raised a total of $379 million.

3 Studies Imply Impending Disaster if Women are Not Included in the Economy. 43 Women Given Big Jobs in May 2012, Continuing the Slide of the Past Year.

43 women were given big jobs in May, 2012, continuing the disappointment since May 2011 when we saw 65 women get great jobs. It's been downhill ever since. Companies giving women big jobs this May included GE who appointed Sue Siegel (pictured left) CEO of "healthymagination", GE’s $6 billion global commitment for better health. Other major companies appointing women to big jobs in May were Starbucks, Jet Blue, Mastercard, Perella Weinberg, Washington Post Company, SAP, and American Express. Women entrepreneurs and women startup CEO's raised $74.9 million in funding for their startups, bringing the total funding raised this year and reported on NewsonWomen.com to $334 million.

Given those less than stellar numbers, 3 studies released in May 2012 should cause some outrage. The first study conducted at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School found that only 11% of those responding to the survey believe their organizations are extremely effective in recruiting women executives, but the more senior the respondent the more positive the view on their company's recruiting efforts! 53% of C-suite executives said firms were extremely or moderately effective, compared to 28% of managers. This "perception gap" most surely would hinder women's efforts to get ahead in a company. The second study, led by Lyda Bigelow, Assistant Professor at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business, looked into the ability of women to raise capital, and found a "gender-based capital gap" for new ventures. In their study, despite identical personal qualifications and firm financials, female founders/CEOs were perceived as less capable than their male counterparts, and IPOs led by female founders/CEOs were considered less attractive investments. The third study, done by Michelle Duguid, (pictured right) Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Olin Business School at Washington University St Louis found that women do not do enough to help each other get ahead. Her research shows that one woman, as a token, does not necessarily support adding more women to her group, and also that the token woman feels she will be thought of as showing favoritism to a woman candidate and so doesn't necessarily support her when the opportunity arises.

These studies individually are disappointing, but taken together are a disaster. C-suite managers think they're doing a good job hiring and retaining women executives even though statistics show them to be wrong; women entrepreneurs are "perceived as less capable" and not a good investment; and women don't help each other because they don't want to appear biased. What is this - the seventies all over again?? (Am I also seeing women wearing long skirts!?! Fashion has always been a reflection of our times - eerie.)

My answer to all this is education. Eliminate the "perception gap" by showing the c-suite executives some statisitcs, hard facts that can't be disputed, that show their company's actual performance in this area, how many women are at each level, how many women have left and why, and what the company is doing about it. And don't forget to show them how many of their customers are women! This is a must. Eliminating the perception gap should be easy enough. Getting venture capitalists to support women is harder, but also an issue of education. Remind these people who the customers are of their investments (women dominate on facebook and pinterest for example), and why women are a force in the future of the economy on which their success rests. And third, women need to help each other. There are many sites now dedicated to educating women about finance, entrepreneurship, career planning and more. This is great. A rising tide lifts all boats. We are all better off seeing more women in executive jobs and starting up companies. The products will be more to our liking, more jobs will be created, and the economy will improve.

40 Women get Big Jobs in April 2012 and Women Entrepreneurs Raise $94 million in Funding.

More than 40 women got big jobs in April 2012, less than the 50+ job appointments seen in March of this year reported on NewsonWomen. Major companies appointing women to big jobs in April included Family Dollar Stores, who appointed Mary A. Winston (pictured) Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Other companies giving women big jobs included Lockheed Martin, Jersey Central Power & Light, Deloitte, CBS, Business Wire, HSN, Yahoo, NCR, Cracker Barrel, CIT, Everyday Health, Avon Products, Wausau Paper, Alcoa and UGI Corp.

Women entrepreneurs raised $94 million in funding for their companies, much higher than the $58 million raised in March, 2012. Other big news in April included the Marine Corps expanding their opportunities for women, and MIT Economist Amy Finkelstein winning the John Bates Clark Medal awarded to an economist under 40 years old who makes a significant contribution to the science.   

March 2012 a Month of New Jobs, New Starts, and New Accomplishments. Women Entrepreneurs Raise $58.4 million in New Funding

Over 50 women were given big jobs in March 2012, ending the downward slide we have seen in job appointments since last November. Major companies appointing women to big jobs in March include Dunkin' Brands, J.M. Smucker, Kimberly-Clark, J.P. Morgan Chase, Constant Contact, Reader's Digest, Comcast, Campbell Soup, Warnaco, Boston Market, New York Life, Williams-Sonoma, General Dynamics, Mastercard, Scholastic, J.C. Penney, and VF Corporation. It's great to see six women made CEOs of online companies this month including Blip, The Street, Virtual Piggy, Oversee.net, WikiLoan, and Cravebox. And in March, women entrepreneurs raised $58.4million in new funding, and The LevoLeague and QuincyApparel launched new sites. Women Innovate Mobile, the the first startup accelerator and mentorship-driven program designed for women-founded companies in the mobile space, announced the winners of their incubator pitch event. Fanzooloo, a fan based sports travel tool, won the LAVA pitch. Elizabeth Iorns, Ph.D. (pictured), Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Science Exchange and a breast cancer scientist, was named the 2012 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Emerging Postdoctoral Entrepreneur. March was an exciting month of new jobs, new starts and great accomplishments.

Fewer Corporate Jobs in February but Women Entrepreneurs Raise $59 Million and Women Expand their Influence through Dynamic "Continuing Conferences"

Women were appointed to less than 40 major jobs in February 2012, a poor performance compared to February 2011 when over 60 women were given big jobs. Companies who did appoint women in February 2012 to big jobs included Lockheed Martin, who appointed Stephanie Hill (pictured) President, Information Systems & Global Solutions/Civil. Other companies appointing women included Guess Inc?, Jamba Inc, Gannett, Google, Time Inc., Gap, American Apparel, Comcast, Glam Media, PwC, Time Warner, Macy's Gilt Groupe, AOL, GE, and Navigant. We've now had several months of disappointing results. We need corporate excutives to be "a bit braver " to get us back to the early 2011 levels. This was done by the London Olympics management team who would not accept a list of potential candidates for a job opening unless there was a woman on it. This simple approach had an amazing impact on the gender hiring statistics for the summer event.

Women entrepreneurs raised over $59 million in financing in February 2012, higher than the $46 million raised in the previous month. Women entrepreneurs were expanding through acquisition as well with Aristotle Circle, founded by CEO Suzanne Rheault, acquiring Peer2Peer Tutors, Inc.

Another important step forward in February was the effort by women running conferences to expand their influence forward. We all know one/two day conferences are good but after they are over we rarely see followup publicized. All that knowledge that could have been spread to others unable to attend the events is generally lost. Women 2.0 changed all that with their series of articles by attendees and additional events that move forward their efforts beyond the one/two day conference to help women entrepreneurs. Also working to expand their influence was the Dare2BDigital Conference meant to encourage young women to study engineering, science, technology, and innovation. This conference expanded their day to include a followup Dare2BDigital Monday encouraging people to continue to spread the word about exciting careers for women in these fields. Young women use so much technology (facebook, cell phones, twitter, itunes etc), but rarely do they consider the career possibilities these technologies present for them. The 21st century conference should always include follow-up and ways to extend its influence. The era of the one day conference is over. Expand and Influence is the future.

Innovation is the New Black! Can it Solve the Issues facing Women?

Less than 40 women were given big corporate jobs in January, 2012, a disappointing start to the year and a continuation of the downward trend we have seen since last November. Companies who did appoint women to big jobs included IBM who appointed Bridget Van Kralingen (pictured) Senior Vice President of IBM Global Business Services, their consulting group. Also appointing women to big jobs were Walgreens, KPMG, Vanguard, Netflix, JCPenney, ALlianz Life Insurance, Wells Fargo, Dell, QVC, Rite Aid, PWC, Virgin America, and Xerox.

Women entrepreneurs fared better, with 9 companies raising $46.8 million in new funding during January. I was also impressed with the variety of companies where innovative thinking led to these new business opportunities. With Fashion Week in New York, we are reminded of the tradition of women being innovative. Innovation is the new black!

We need to apply some of that innovative thinking to the corporate world. Innovation leads to new jobs, new kinds of companies, and more productivity. It also leads to new approaches in education, and healthcare. Innovation is the solution to all our economic woes and to the issues facing women today. Year after year we see the same old studies that give us disappointing stats on executive advancement, we read the same old power lists, and the same old best company to work for lists. These tools were important in the past, but are they having an impact now? Do we have proof that anyone read them and took action? We need action! We need to innovate in our approach to these issues to get more progress. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in a recent speech pointed out that fewer women in top jobs is undermining Britain’s economic recovery and he thinks Britain can learn from Europe's use of quotas. I believe innovation is a better answer than quotas, although I am not opposed to quotas if they get the job done. After the financial crisis, noone can argue that men do the jobs better!

December a Disappointment for Women Seeking Big Corporate Jobs, but Women Entrepreneurs Raise $123 Million in New Funding and See New Horizons

The number of corporate jobs given to women in December 2011 continued the downward trend of the previous month causing a disappointing end to 2011 which had started out strong. Major companies appointing women to big jobs in December included American Airlines, who appointed Maya Leibman (pictured) Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of American Airlines, and she will oversee all aspects of the Company’s information technology strategy and operations. Also appointing women to big jobs in December were Boeing, Viacom, MassMutual, Eastman Kodak, Meredith Corp, Bloomberg TV, PwC, Warnaco, Cosi Inc, Move Inc, Ford Direct and Staples.

And even though the corporate world showed fewer opportunities for women, women entrepreneurs continued to break ground, raising $123 million in new funding in December 2011, significantly higher than the 42 million raised in November. This gives us a total of almost $500 million raised by women entrepreneurs in the past six months. Also in December, Samasource, founded by Leila Janah to connect people living in poverty to work via the Internet, received a grant of $1.5 million from Google for its efforts to bring work to needed areas, and Kelly Hoey, Deborah Jackson, and Veronika Sonsev started up  Women Innovate Mobile, the new accelerator and mentorship program for women-founded companies involved in the mobile technology industry. 

November Disappoints with few Corporate Jobs, but Women Entrepreneurs Raise over $42 Million in New Funding

Someone hit the brakes on corporate jobs in Novemebr 2011, a stunning disappointment after the tremendous October 2011 results. The few major companies appointing women to big jobs in November included Roche who appointed Pamela Carroll the "Nutley Oncology Discovery Site" Head and Global Head, "Pathways Biology within Pharma Research and Early Development" (pRED). Other companies appointing women included Time Inc., PWC, Sara Lee, Roche, Citi, Gannett, Sterling Construction, and American Express. But I found women entrepreneurs continuing to find success, raising over $42 million in new funding. Also in November was the IPO of Angie's List. So far, 2011 has been a year that's showing progress despite the November numbers, and I'm hoping to see a strong finish, so send me any exciting news you have in December.

History is made as Three Women are Named CEO of Fortune 500 Companies in One Month. Women Entrepreneurs Raise $50 Million in Venture Capital

57 women were appointed to big jobs in October, 2011. Three of those women were appointed to be CEO of Fortune 500 companies, Ginny Rometty (pictured), made CEO of IBM; Gracia Martore, made CEO of Gannett; and Heather Bresch, made CEO of Mylan Inc. October goes down in history as the first time three women were appointed to head fortune 500 companies in one month. Other major companies appointing women to big jobs included MetLife, About.com, Meredith Corp, CVS Caremark, H.B. Fuller, Virgin America, First Energy, Bloomberg, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AOL, Comcast Ventures, Reader's Digest, Morton Salt, Rockefeller Financial, Eli Lilly, Cantor Fitzgerald, KKR, International Paper, HP, and the Walmart Foundation. Also in October, companies founded or co-founded by women raised $50 million dollars in venture capital as reported on NewsonWomen.com.

Summer Doldrums End as Over 60 Women get Big Jobs in September 2011. Women Entrepreneurs Raise $250 Million in Venture Captial in Third Quarter

Over 60 women were given big jobs in September 2011, far better than the August summer low, when we dropped below 40. It's great to return to the high levels we saw in May of 2011. This may be an early indicator of a good fourth quarter and an improving jobs picture. Major companies giving women big jobs in September included JPMorgan Chase, Family Dollar Stores, Glam Media, Google, Janus Capital, KPMG, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Bausch + Lomb, Citi, Novelis, NBCUniversal, Saks Fifth Avenue, Comcast, Adobe Systems, AT&T, Wells Fargo Insurance, Deloitte, HP, Staples, Dynegy, Subaru of America, and The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City appointed Esther George (pictured) as its President, an important position in today's economy. 

Women entrepreneurs were also busy. They announced $69 million of venture capital funding in September, giving us a total of $250 million in venture capital raised by companies founded or co-founded by women in the third quarter reported on NewsonWomen.com. Entrepreneurship was definitely centerstage this month with Citi Foundation announcing their "Asset Building Through Credit" review to examine a multi-dimensional approach to building credit and financial opportunities for aspiring low-income entrepreneurs. And Smart Girls' Way initiated their "100x100" project, the stories of women entrepreneurs and how they got started, one each day for 100 days in a row which should inspire every woman who wants to start her own company.

Women in government were not to be outdone, with two women announcing this month they will be candidates for the United States Senate, Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts and Linda McMahon in Connecticut. And Michelle Obama announced Judith S. Palfrey, M.D., will become the Executive Director of the Let’s Move! childhood obesity initiative.

Few Jobs in Corporate America but Women Aren't Waiting - Raise $145 Million in Venture Captial

The Jobs numbers continue to disappoint as less than 40 big jobs were given to women in August 2011, lower than the 45 seen in July which had been the lowest month so far this year - an infamous honor that now goes to the month of August. Major companies appointing women to big jobs this August included Citi, Alaska Air, Mesa Energy, Liberty Life Insurance, MWW Group, Credit Suisse, Cracker Barrel, Western Union, Wells Fargo, Miramax, Dow Chemical, Rodale, Motown Records and MasterCard. 

But Women aren't waiting for corporate America to call. NewsonWomen reported in August that women entrepreneurs announced venture capital funding for companies they founded or co-founded totalling $145 million, increasing from the $36 million NewsonWomen reported on in July. This total includes Sandra Kurtzig (pictured), Founder and CEO of Kenandy, Inc., who announced the closing of a $10.5 million Series A round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

July Jobs for Women Worst Monthly Total to Date in 2011 on NewsonWomen.com

Less than 45 big jobs were given to women in July, 2011, the worst monthly total so far this year. Jobs have been dropping since May. Companies that were giving women big jobs included Comerica, who appointed Karen L. Parkhill (pictured) a Vice Chairman and a Member of Comerica's Management Policy Committee. Also appointing women to big jobs were Coach, Coca-Cola, Gilt Groupe, Johnson Publishing, Staples, Oshkosh Corp, CNBC, Starbucks, HSBC, Krispy Kreme, Hilton Worldwide, Cabot Corp, BAE Systems, Dynegy, OWN Network, Fireman's Fund Insurance, Toro, Sara Lee, Aetna, and Gannett Company.

On the positive side, NewsonWomen reported on $30 million in venture capital obtained by women entrepreneurs. And in the NewsonWomen in Science section, three young women won the Google Science Fair prizes, and several women scientists were included in the USA Science Festival's "Nifty Fifty" List. A number of articles were written with ways to lead a healthier life, encouraging women to be proactive with their health. And Michelle Obama got some retailers to commit to more stores and better produce for Underserved Families, including Walmart and Walgreens.

Fewer Jobs for Women in June Matches Poor Jobs Report. Are there any Bright Spots?

After a stellar first quarter where almost 200 major jobs were given to women, June was a disappointment with less than 55 jobs for women, down from 65 given in May, 2011. This matches the disappointing June jobs report from the government which showed poor job creation in June overall. Companies hiring women for big jobs in June included Campbell Soup, who appointed Denise Morrison (pictured) its President and Chief Executive Officer. Also appointing women in June were Procter & Gamble, News Corp, Talbots, Ernst & Young, Specta Energy, AT&T, NBC Universal, LATimes Media, NYTimes, ING, U.S.Steel, Sempra Energy, Libbey Inc., Chico's, Fannie Mae, Coinstar, Allstate, BET Networks, CSX, Union Pacific, Meredith Corp, Korn/Ferry, and General Motors. 

In addition to fewer jobs, there was more bad news for women in the jobs market in June. The Supreme Court ruled against the women seeking a class action suit against Walmart, saying there was not enough "Glue" holding their claims of lack of promotion and equal pay together. Bloomberg BusinessWeek writes in June about almost 30 S&P companies who still have no women among their highest paid executives. And the Skills for America's Future, a national initiative to connect employers with community colleges to provide 21st century skills to American workers, announced an Advisory Board with only two women out of the eight initial members. I still don't get why government initiatives do not reflect gender equity since women are half of the workforce and need equal representation. What are they thinking?

There was some good news in June. Christine Lagarde was chosen to head the International Montetary Fund, the first woman to hold that important position. The women in business pipeline was expanded with several ceo and cfo appointments in June. In addition to the media jobs listed above, Katie Couric was given the chance to produce and host a syndicated daytime talk show for Disney/ABC Television Group after her departure as Anchor for CBS Evening news. And in education, both Harvard Business School and Wharton increased the percentage of women in their new business school class of 2013 over previous years, with Wharton's class increasing to 45% women. Hopefully there will be plenty of opportunity for these women when they join the ranks in corporate America.

Number of Women Getting Big Jobs in May 2011 Bounces Back from April

Over 65 women got big jobs in May, a bounce back form the disappointing April numbers and a return to the over 60 trend of 2011. Major companies appointing women to big jobs include Coca-Cola, making Beatriz Perez (pictured) the Company's Chief Sustainability Officer. Other companies appointing women to big jobs in May 2011 included AOL, Ziff Davis, Panasonic, Lockheed Martin, The Travelers, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, PwC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Constellation Energy, MAC Cosmetics, Time Inc, Levi Strauss, KeyCorp, NBCUniversal, Cincinatti Financial, LATimes Media Group, Linkedin, Ford Direct, Cigna, and Hilton Worlwide. Like April, there were a number of women made Chief Financial Officers of major companies including Time Warner Cable and Avon Products, a good sign for the future talent pool of ceo's and board members.

April Takes a Dive with Less than 55 women Getting Big Jobs

April, 2011 disappointed as the number of women getting big jobs took a dive from last month's 75 to less than 55. This is the lowest month to date in 2011. Major companies that did appoint women to big jobs included Groupon, who appointed Margo Georgiadis (pictured) its Chief Operating Officer, and also Mastercard, CNN, WellPoint, General Motors, Comcast. AOL, Invesco Ltd, HSN, Thomson Reuters, 3M, Alcoa, Western Union, Google, Frontier Communications, Bank of America, QLogic, Citigroup, and BNYMellon. Looking inside the disappointing numbers for good news, we see not only Margo's appointment as COO of Groupon, but  Susan Wojcicki's appointment as Senior Vice President of Ads at Google, a major position at the tech giant. Could it be that tech companies are realizing that women are critical to their businesses? Also there were five CFO appointments, a good indication of women moving into senior management, as well as several top marketing jobs going to women. In the Arts, women were well represented at the Tribeca Film Festival, not only as actors but as producers, writers and directors.

The Importance of Women to the Economy Shines Through in March 2011 as Women Get 75 of the Big Jobs

March was amazing with over 75 women getting big jobs - really great jobs! This gives a us a blockbuster first quarter in 2011 with January and February both at 60. Major companies giving women big jobs in March included UPS, which appointed Kate Gutmann (pictured) President of Worldwide Sales; and also companies like Pepsico, CVSCaremark, Kleiner Perkins, Hormel Foods, News Corp, Cargill, MeadWestvaco, Lionsgate, HP, Walmart Stores, Entergy, Mercedes-Benz, Anthropologie, Bloomberg Television, Givenchy Couture, Levi's, NYLife Insurance, AOL, Gannett, Tupperware Brands, UPS, Comcast, Martha Stewart Living, Bank of America, GE, Guess?, Wellpoint, and BNYMellon.

Not only was the number of jobs impressive, but also the jobs themselves were great and the companies were diverse, indicating the impact and importance of women in all areas of the economy. Kleiner Perkins Partner Aileen Lee in March wrote about the importance of women to the internet with women accounting for a majority of the users, purchasers, and social gamers across the web. Great jobs, social media mavens- is there work left to be done? Yes. An MIT study released in March showed that childcare is still seen as a woman's issue rather than a family issue. Mariko Chang wrote about the "wealth gap" for women, where being paid less along with holding jobs which traditionally don't offer extensive benefits and being charged higher interest rates on debt than men all contribute to the fact that women have only 36% of the wealth of a typical man! Add these issues to the "Cupcake challenge" of women entrepreneurs not getting adequate funding from venture capital, and the recipe still falls short of gender equity. But I still believe - this could be the year!

February 2011 Continues the Dream with over 60 Women Getting Big Jobs at Big Companies

February continues the dream as more than 60 women were given big jobs in big companies in February 2011 - no dip from the January levels! Companies putting women in big jobs this month included Bayer HealthCare LLC, who appointed Erica L. Mann (pictured) President of its Consumer Care Division, Wal-Mart Stores, Eli Lilly & Co, Lowe's, Nike, MTV Networks, Demand Media, GE, Williams-Sonoma, J.P. Morgan Chase, Twitter, Accenture, Gap, Georgia Power, Comerica, Direct Brands, AIG, Green Mountain Coffee, Avon Products, PwC, TGIF Friday's, Nissan Americas, and AOL. Speaking of AOL, February was the month of the blockbuster deal for Arianna Huffington who sold her company to AOL for over $3o0 million and becomes Editor-In-Chief of their Media Group. It was also the first anniversay for Michelle Obama's Let's Move Initiative which in one year has brought together coporate, government, education and entertainment to improve children's health in a big way. February also included discussions on stereotypes and the terrible impact they have keeping women down, and the descrimination seen in getting venture capital. Raising awareness on these issues will help eliminate them. By the way, I hope someone is insisting that the AP courses remove the male/female check box at the front of the test (which contributes to a lowereing of scores for young women) before the next test. Is anyone working on getting this done?? It seems a pretty easy thing to do to give young women a chance to achieve their highest score possible.

January 2011 the Start of Something Big? Women Get More than 60 Big Jobs at Big Companies!

January saw a strong rebound in jobs for women after a slow fourth quarter, a great way to start off the new decade. The jobs were as diverse as they were important, with a number of big jobs at industrial companies which we haven't seen much of before, like Boeing, Northrop Grumann, Lockheed Martin, and General Motors, who appointed Mary Barra (pictured) Senior Vice President, Global Product Development to lead the design, engineering, program management and quality of vehicles for General Motors' 11 brands around the world. Wow! I was also impressed with the higher than usual number of CEO's, CIO's, CMO's, EVP's, SVP's, Presidents, CFO's and General Counsels appointed during the month. More major companies appointing women to big jobs included Pfizer, Chevron, Allianz Life, Target, Waste Management,  Prudential Retirement, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Union Bank, BlackRock, Ingersoll Rand, Discovery Communications, Qualcomm, Entergy, Aetna, McCormick & Co., Sears Holdings, Business Wire, QVC, Gurwitch Partners, Wet Seal, and  Brown Shoe Company.

Other interesting happenings during January 2011 included New York City appointing its first Chief Digital Officer (Rachel Sterne); Wal-Mart introducing its Nutrition Charter, and agreeing to work with Michelle Obama's Let's Move Campaign and improve the nutrition of its packaged products; The Global Marathon about Women in Engineering and Technology to encourage girls in science announced it has expanded to six days from 24 hours and will start March 7, 2011; Foodspotting was able to procure a Series A funding despite a new study that shows women have a harder time getting venture capital; and several women were given new appointments at the White House.

January women definitely came out of the gate at a fast pace. Let's hope this is the year that we have been waiting for, where women will get even more big jobs at the big companies and bring us closer to gender equity at the management level. This month shows it's possible!

Sheri McCoy Leads the Way as 38 Women are appointed to Big Jobs in December 2010

December 2010 saw 38 women get appointed to major jobs, a welcome increase over the December 2009 levels. Companies putting women in important jobs included Johnson & Johnson, who appointed Sheri McCoy (pictured) Vice Chairman of their Executive Committee; and also Comerica, Verizon Wireless, Aeropostale, AOL, HSBC Bank, RealNetworks, GE, Sony Corp, New York & Co., Arby's Restaurant Group, TDBank, Alcoa, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, and Hasbro.

Other news of interest in December: Women 2.o, put out their 2010 Female Founders Success List, and Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, offered her opinion on women making it to the top in the workplace. Her advice is great, but I disagree with her conclusion that women will not gain gender equity with her generation. I strongly believe these women - "her generation" - are more than capable and in sufficient numbers to effect the changes that are needed to bring gender equality to upper management. Let's get it done in 2011!

November 2010 - Lots of Awards - Not Many Jobs

November was slow for women in corporate America with less than forty women being given big jobs this past month, following the October downward trend from the more than fifty appointed in previous months. Some major companies did put women in big jobs in November, including Kodak, who appointed Laura G. Quatela (pictured) the company’s General Counsel, Kleiner Perkins, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Barney's New York, AOL, Central Pacific, Mastercard, McDonalds, Glam, lululemon, New York Life Insurance Company, KKR Financial Holdings, the Air Force Academy, and Campbell Soup.

Women in other arenas were honored in November. The National Book Awards gave three women writers their 2010 Awards for fiction, nonfiction and young people's liturature. The Stevie Awards, which recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding women entrepreneurs, gave their awards out in November including  their Women Helping Women Award which went to Carolyn Kepcher, President of Carolyn & Co. Media, and their Lifetime Achievement Award which went to Julia Homer, Founding Editor of CFO Magazine. We also honored women in November who make a difference including Rebecca Onie and  her organization Project HEALTH, Patti Patton-Bader who started Soldiers' Angels to support our troops, and the women at Equal Justice Works.  It is clear that women aren't waiting for corporate America to make a difference in the world and the economy.

October 2010 - More about Ideas than Individuals - Fewer Jobs for Women

October 2010 jobs for women slowed with less than fifty women getting important jobs during the month. This stops the steady climb of over fifty jobs per month for the last nine months. Major corporations appointing women to big jobs in October included JP Morgan, Scripps Networks, Bloomberg News, Coinstar, HP, Nielsen, Weyerhaeuser, Westinghouse, BNY Mellon, Apache, Wellpoint, AOL, Novelis, Penn Mutual, Neustar, and Kodak, who appointed Antoinette (Ann) P. McCorvey (pictured) Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President. 

Fewer jobs did not mean less attention, as October was more about issues than individuals. A conference, "Closing the Gender Gap: The Business Case for Organizations, Politics and Society,"  held in October at Harvard University, concluded that "there is strong evidence for a diversity premium, with diverse teams performing better than homogenous teams", and that with women now being better educated than men in many countries, the opportunity cost of not hiring and retaining talented women has increased. Leadership remains key, and the Athena Leadership Lab at Barnard College started new leadership courses for women in October. The Healthy Media for Youth Summit, a partnership of Girl Scouts of the USA, the National Association of Broadcasters and others, was held in Washington in October to discuss women and media and television and to encourage media presentations that inspire and empower young women. A new study was released in October by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media which discusses the need to eliminate negative stereotypes in film. While the report shows a media dominated by men, women are not just standing by. Springboard Enterprises held its "All Things Media" Venture Capital Forum in October, where amazing women entrepreneurs presented their companies to a variety of funding sources to help expand their media businesses. And Forbes expanded its Most Powerful Women List to include women in the media,  redefining how it sees power, deciding that it's not only about corporate and political power, but also about influencing the world's agenda through media. Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca Cola, made a speech in October about how women would be the third or fourth largest economy in the world if we measured contributions across borders rather than within nation states, reinforcing the claim that a climate of success for women is good for business. October may not have been full of individual jobs, but it was full of ideas that should be communicated.

September Keeps Up the Pace as Over 50 Women Get Big Jobs

September saw over fifty women appointed to big jobs, keeping up the trend seen over the past nine months on NewsonWomen.com. Major companies appointing women to important jobs in September included Campbell Soup, Citigroup, Estee Lauder, Dell, Scripps Networks, The Hartford Financial Services Group, BNY Mellon, GE, USA Today, Jet Blue, Shopko, Viacom, Central Parking, Korn/Ferry International, Hilton Worldwide, McCormick & Co, Warnaco, Comcast, Aetna, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and About.com (part of the New York Times) which appointed  Darline Jean (pictured) Chief Operating Officer, About.com and Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, the About Group.

Also in September, Autonews issued its "100 Leading Women List" in the Auto Business, and Jaclyn Smith was honored for her 25 years of collaboration with Kmart.  Family Day, created by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University based on their research that found the more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs, was celebrated in September across the country, with Maria Shriver, California's First Lady  joined for dinner by hundreds of families at the Santa Monica Family YMCA. Families and individual consumers were on the minds of government as well, as President Obama appointed Elizabeth Warren as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get the new Consumer Protection Agency up and running.

In August, 2010, Online Companies and Banks Continue Putting Women in Big Jobs

August was slightly slower than June or July when we saw over 60 women appointed to big jobs, but still above the fifty mark we have  had each month so far this year. Major companies appointing women to big jobs in August included Bank of America (who appointed Bridget O’Connor - pictured - Chief Technology Officer for Consumer and Small Business Banking and Home Loans and Insurance), and Best Buy, GE, Borders Group, USA Today, Freddie Mac, Cigna, HP, BofA Merrill Lynch, Citizens Financial, eBay, Guardian Life Insurance, Friendly Ice Cream Corporation, Citizens Republic, Westinghouse, Boeing, BNY Mellon, CIT, Johnson Publishing, Celgene, Albemarle and ITT. Also, it was great to see online companies Likelist, ideeli, Mail.com, Kaboodle, Tribune Interactive, Lending Club, and Zillow.com all appoint women to important jobs.

Women Continue their "Push for Power" in July 2010 in the Workplace, in Politics and in Education

Over 60 women were appointed to big jobs in July 2010, the third month in a row with over 60 appointments made. Major companies appointing women to big jobs included JP Morgan, J.Crew, Monster.com, Pimco, Roche, Duke Energy, Warner Bros. Pictures, Men's Warehouse, Iconix Brands, PPG Industries, Estee Lauder Companies, Sterling Bank, Citizens Financial, Tribune Interactive, Zales, MWW Group, CIT, Allianz Life Insurance, and TIAA-CREF.

There were some important appointments in Philanthropy and Education in July including Marie Groark (pictured) being made Executive Director of the Get Schooled Foundation. In addition to Get Schooled, STEM was a hot topic with new national recommendations being made on how to encourage women and girls to study math and science. Also, Michelle Obama added Let's Read to her Let's Move campaign. Financial education was discussed in July on NewsonWomen.com by Linda Descano of Citi's Women & Co. Her advice is clear and simple and covers what to do in each decade of your life - definitely worth the read.

What else happened in July? Policy and Politics were front and center. Some women look to the new financial reform bill to increase diversity on Wall Street. Other women push for power in politics with The 2012 Project and movements like the SCGap.

So where do we go from here? Will another 60 women (or more!) get big jobs in August? Will women's social media skills give them an advantage in the workplace of the future? It's clear women are engaged in their careers, their communities and their government. Summer used to be a time for R&R. For us R&R is no longer Rest and Recreation - it's Re-engineer the workplace and Revolutionize the future! I'm ready if you are.