We are happy to announce that Jinks Curtis is the winner of our giveaway! She was randomly selected from 12 entries! She will be attending the LEXI Women's Leadership Summit in Seattle on May 2nd, 2014 and gets a free night stay at the Marriott. Thanks again to those who entered! And Jinks - we will see you at the conference!
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A key finding in our research "Turning Points in a Woman's Path to Leadership" was that opportunities matter for aspiring woman leaders. Opportunities to lead, to be mentored and most important to develop. My favorite finding and most useful for me as a nonprofit leader was that for women in nonprofits one of the most important factors to gaining leadership positions is getting opportunities for professional development. From that finding I have been inspired to seek out professional development opportunities for myself but also to advocate for and support women within my organization to continue their professional development. AND to expand our support to our amazing supporters (that's you) we want to extend the same advocacy and support for all women to take time to engage in your development as a leader. SO.... We are so excited to offer a professional development giveaway to one lucky lady this spring! With the help of amazing women leaders at LEXI (Leaders Engaging to Exchange Ideas) and the Pioneer Square Marriott Courtyard we are offering the chance to attend the LEXI Women's Leadership Summit on May 2nd, 2014 at The Impact Hub in Seattle and a one night stay at the Marriott Courtyard on May 2nd. It is a great way to connect with other women leaders, network and build your confidence and skills. Here's a bit more about the sponsors: Leaders Engaging to Exchange Ideas (LEXI) LEXI is about leading in all areas of your life: Business, Personal, Family and Community. They want to connect with you on every level and send you back to your organization ready to impact your sphere of influence. LEXI's mission is to connect, equip and mentor women both personally and professionally. Women at all life and career stages are invited to come and connect, be inspired, become equipped with practical tools, share experiences and find mentors to bring out the leader in each of us! More about the LEXI Women's Leadership Summit This year's summit theme is "Fearless". Each speaker is inspired to give her perspective on this powerful word by sharing real-life experiences and stories! They will deliver their topics in various formats; group share, keynote speeches, 15 minute talks, interactive breakouts and 5 minute inspirational readings to ignite your fire. May 2nd, 2014 - 8am-3:30pm Impact Hub Seattle 220 2nd Ave S Seattle, WA 98104 Of course you need a place to stay that night, so book your room at: The Pioneer Square Court Yard Marriott
This adaptive reuse of the beautiful 1904 Alaska Building is located in the historic Pioneer Square has water views of Elliott Bay. Hotel features 236 spacious guest rooms and 26 studios (residential units), luxurious bedding, free high speed internet access and a spacious work area. The energizing, multifunctional lobby makes it easy to switch seamlessly from work to downtime and back. The location is in the heart of Seattleās vibrant downtown and only blocks away from the LEXI Women's Leadership Summit. So enough about them...HOW do you enter? It's simple! Use the form below to enter the giveaway. The giveaway will end on Tuesday, April 15th at midnight. We will contact the winner with the information on how to redeem your prizes via email. We may even ask if you want to guest blog about the conference! So - enter away and good luck ladies! To mark the end of Women's History Month, the Washington State Historical Society hosted Senator Karen Fraser, former Lacey City Council Member and former TOGETHER! Executive Director Earlyse Swift, speaking in the photo at left, and former Representative and Public Lands Commissioner Jennifer Belcher in a discussion on the landmark 'Comparable Worth' implementation in Washington at the State Capital Museum on March 31.
Just what is comparable worth, you might ask? It's not as simple as equal pay for equal work. This wasn't about a man and woman who were both accountants being paid different wages, Earlyse Swift said. It was more complex than that. Unfortunately, jobs traditionally occupied predominately by women were paid much less than those traditionally by men, and a 1974 study confirmed this revealing "a 20 percent disparity between the average wages of traditionally male and female job classifications." In fact, the study found a woman in the 'Secretary III' role earned $723 less per month than a male Carpenter, though the knowledge, skill, risk and "value added" were deemed to be comparable using independent evaluative criteria. How did the public react to the study? At first, people were surprised. But then, 'it was hard to over come and make up for the stereotypes,' Senator Fraser said. "There used to be an attitude that 'women don't need the money," and women's good work was taken for granted. Frustrated at the lack of change, over 80 women's groups including the League of Women Voters, Washington State Nurses Association and many others banded together in 1979 to form Washington Women's United. This group mobilized to address the issue of comparable worth through public education and legislative action. The group worked extensively to educate elected officials and others, but traction was slow to build, and then governor Dixy Lee Ray publicly opposed comparable worth efforts, in spite of the fact that she was Washington's first female governor. Ray was so outspoken on the issue that she said comparable worth 'was like comparing apples with oranges and a can of worms.' Then, in 1981, the Washington Women's Federation (an affiliate of the powerful labor union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit "when the state legislature acted slowly and inadequately to eliminate the difference." "In 1983, a federal court found the State of Washington guilty of discrimination and required the state to implement a comparable worth program." Following this, then-Representative Jennifer Belcher and her colleague Rep. Shirley Galloway quietly passed a budget amendment for $1.5 million in the wee hours of the morning during the third lock down special legislative session while many of their colleagues slept. Then, the real work began to reconcile the gap. Unfortunately, the legal case was "reversed on appeal, and settled out of court when the state agreed 'voluntarily' to bring the wages of 'women's occupations' into line with 'men's occupations." Finally, in 1984, the legislature was able able to pass a bill establishing the the Joint Select Committee on Comparable Worth, which included many female elected officials from the House and Senate, as well as a few representatives of other stakeholder groups such as Washington Women's United. Job descriptions were evaluated based on a matrix of criteria and scored independently. Hundreds of job classifications were reviewed and updated, and while pay for jobs which might be considered 'overpaid' based on the scientific evaluative criteria were left alone, pay rose slowly and surely for those found to be underpaid. As the hour-long presentation wound down, former Representative Belcher reflected by asking the question: "so where are we now?" The panelists intuitively know women are better off than they were before, but none could conclusively say the disparity was gone within state government. "We know it's better now," said Earlyse Swift. But this left me wondering just how much better it is? What about sectors other than government? How much more work lies ahead to achieve the spirit of the comparable worth movement? Given the our recent Master of Public Administration Program research on women and leadership through The Evergreen State College, I can't help but think of the severe under-representation of women in leadership that still persists today. In spite of great progress, women still aren't emerging as leaders or achieving leadership positions at the rate of men. Though our state has a remarkable record for electing women to office--a decade ago, Washington boasted more women elected officials than ever before and many more than most states--the past 10 years are another story entirely. Fewer women hold office than men by leaps and bounds in our state, and unfortunately, fewer women emerge as CEOs in other sectors. This leaves me asking several questions: is the work of comparable worth done, or is there more to do? If there is more to do, who will do it? What can you and I do to improve the status of women in leadership? Let's put a spotlight on women's stories of success in leadership! To do this, we will be starting an interview series featuring local women leaders. Interviews will cover the following:
Name: Position: 1. Tell me a little about your background and career path, what do you think are some of the key events in your path to obtaining your current position? 2. Who in your life provided support to you, encouraged you, believed in you or helped you to become the leader you are today? 3. Were there (other) women (mentors, role models) who influenced your perceptions about female leadership and/or your aspiration to become a leader? 4. Do you think being a woman affected your career path? If so, how? 5. If you could have a chat with your younger self concerning leadership, what advice would you offer your younger self, or, what advice would you offer young women aspiring to be leaders? Do you know someone who would be a great candidate for our 'spotlight on women leaders' interview series? Comment here, or contact us by email or Facebook. I was listening to NPR today (surprise) and Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg was featured in an All Things Considered story "The Word Bossy Should be Banned". In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Sandberg called bossy "the other b-word". She explains in her interview the word bossy carries a strongly female and negative connotation. Research shows that by middle school, girls are much less likely to lead and that carriers on into adulthood. Sandberg believes this is because our society discourages girls and young women from speaking up by using words like "bossy". Using words like "bossy" undermines a young girl's confidence to speak up. Behind words like "bossy" lies deep-rooted stereotypes about gender. Boys are expected to be assertive, confident and opinionated, while girls should be kind, nurturing and compassionate. Our research pointed to the "emergence gap" as well. A lot of the research talked about women feeling less qualified despite the opposite being true. Girls and women are leading in academics - outpacing boys and men in educational outcomes including advanced college degrees. Still, men are more likely to apply for jobs that are outside of their qualifications and talk about and inflate their successes, where women feel less confident to do so. So what can be done? Sandberg says: CHANGE OUR LANGUAGE. She has partnered with Girl Scouts of America to do a public service campaign to ban the word "bossy"! Is the word bossy that bad? NPR listeners and readers think so! Check out this excerpt from their site today about a poll they are doing in response to the Sheryl Sandberg campaign:
"About 3,500 people had taken it by midafternoon on Monday. Of the respondents, 76 percent of women — who were much more likely to take the poll in the first place — thought 'bossy' was a bad word. On the other hand, 76 percent of men who chimed in said 'bossy' was not a bad word. Young men were also more likely than older men to say that 'bossy' is not a bad word." Let us know what you think by adding a comment below. Are you hopping on the #banBossy bandwagon? What word do you think should be ban to encourage girls and women to lead? Hello Wonder Women! Did you know March 8th is International Women’s Day & the month of March is Women’s History Month! Well it is and I think we need to know about it. The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1911. International Women's Day celebrates the social, political and economic achievements of women while focusing world attention on areas requiring further action. The theme of the 2014 International Women’s Day is “Inspiring Change” and encourages advocacy for women's advancement everywhere in every way. It calls for challenging the status quo for women's equality and vigilance inspiring positive change. National Women's History month originated in 1981. Our research on the "Turning Points in a Woman's Path to Leadership" pointed to strong organizational support as a key factor in women gaining leadership positions. Is your organization supportive of women leaders? Do you do anything to support and honor Women's History Month? To celebrate I made a yummy plate of sticky buns to share with my all women work team and made them all a special folder featuring the quotes: "Women are always at the front of revolutions." - Buthayna Kamel & "Well behaved women seldom make history." -Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. The folders will be a reminder of the great leadership and work women do to make our communities a better place. Check out what Google did to honor women across the world on March 8th! If you want to celebrate Women’s History Month in Olympia, TOGETHER!’s (Meagan and Meghan's agency) founder, Earlyse Swift is joining Senator Karen Fraser to host a discussion on Comparable Worth in Washington on March 31st @ 12pm at the State Capital Museum. May be a great lunch time event if you are interested.
Take time to celebrate the great accomplishments of women! And celebrate the amazing women in your life. Listen up ladies! We have a fabulous chance to learn from local women leaders from the private and public sectors this year with St. Martin's University School of Business Spring Leadership Lecture Series. Make it a ladies night: grab a friend, attend a lecture and go chat over a glass of wine afterwards!
St. Martin's will host two fabulous lectures this spring. The March lecture will take place from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. in the Norman Worthington Conference Center, 5300 Pacific Ave. SE, on the University’s Lacey campus. The April lecture will take place from 6p.m. - 7p.m. in the Trautman Union Building, also located on the Lacey campus. Tuesday, March 25: Kimberly J. Harris is president and chief executive officer of Washington-based Puget Sound Energy, a subsidiary of Puget Energy. Named president in 2010 and chief executive in 2011, Harris is focused on providing PSE customers with safe, dependable and efficient energy service. Tuesday, April 15: Phyllis Campbell is chairwoman of Pacific Northwest for JP Morgan Chase & Co. Previously, Campbell was the president and chief executive officer of The Seattle Foundation, the largest community foundation in Washington. Prior to that, Campbell served as president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Bank of Washington. The Leadership Lecture Series is free and open to the public. Those planning to attend are requested to R.S.V.P. via email to [email protected]. For more information: https://www.stmartin.edu/whatsnew/MediaReleases/2014/20140214WomenLeadershipLecture.aspx Have you read the book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg? Well, that is where it started. One of our group members, Meagan Darrow, got fired up about the idea of "leaning in" to a man's world. Is that really what makes women successful? It lead to us exploring other questions:
What makes women successful? Why are more men in leadership positions than women? How can we help young women to access leadership positions and succeed in them? These are a few of the questions we asked ourselves as we embarked upon our research in our second year of graduate studies in The Evergreen State College's Master of Public Administration program. To find out more about our research or learn more about the women behind this site, check out the "Our Research" and "Who We Are" pages of this blog. Interested in joining the conversation? Like our page on Facebook! Have special writing skills, unique knowledge, or valuable experience as a woman leader? Email us to discuss guest authoring a post on our page! |