100th Anniversary of International Women's Day

Lead ON!
Susan
Susan Colantuono is CEO of Leading Women and author of No Ceiling, No Walls.
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Thank You FORTUNE!

This year, FORTUNE's Most Powerful Women conference ran virtually thanks to Unisfair.com and so from the comfort of my office, between calls, I was able to listen and watch to women who are among the most powerful in the country.

I've been searching for videos of those who spoke and here are some you will be able to watch. The entire conference is supposed to be up "on demand" but isn't yet.

• Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State a wide-ranging look at the ways the U.S. is using foreign policy to increase opportunities for women and girls here and globally.
• President Barack Obama who speaks about the important women in his life and administration, his grandmother's glass ceiling, the CEO partnership to bring science and math education to girls called "Change the Equation" and more.

Among the many other clips I hope to share with you are those of

• Ursula Burns, CEO Xerox
• Ellen Kullman, CEO Dupont
• Patricia Woertz, CEO Archer Daniels Midland

 Why? Because the more exposure we have to these virtual role models who have made it to the highest levels in business, the more we benefit from the lessons we can learn about how they got there, how they manage being there, how they view the world and how they speak about business.

Lead ON!
Susan
Susan Colantuono is CEO of Leading Women and author of No Ceiling, No Walls.  Follow her on Twitter.

Happy International Women's Day

The statistics are stunning! Watch this slideshow to learn:

• There is no country in the world where women’s wages are equal to those of men.
• The value of women’s unpaid housework and community work is estimated at between 10 to 35% of the world’s gross domestic product — amounting to between US $4.7 trillion and $15 trillion in 2005.
• AND more...
  

Brought to you by the International Development Research Centre.

As Hillary Clinton said during her confirmation hearing:

"If half of the world's population remains vulnerable to economic, political, legal and social marginalization, our hope of advancing democracy and prosperity will remain in serious jeopardy. We still have a long way to go and the United States must remain an unambiguous and unequivocal voice in support of women's rights in every country, every region, on every continent."

This is why the World Economic Forum issues its Gender Gap report (see earlier post). This is why women's history month is worth celebrating - the history of women's experience must remain in our awareness.

We Got The Entire Cabinet!
I'm happy to report that President Obama created an interagency Council on Women and Girls. President Kennedy created the first Commission on the Status of Women. President Clinton created a White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach, which was abolished by President Bush. From NOW.

I follow the Women's Museum on Twitter and they sent a link to their International Women's Day blog. It's worth a look.

Lead ON!
Susan
Susan Colantuono is CEO of Leading Women. She blogs on networking for PINK Magazine. Follow her on Twitter.

Women Advancing Women

On the WOMEN-omics website I found an article that demonstrates the power of women to advance other women. It illustrates that having a woman CEO is good for the advancement of women to senior positions. Check it out here.

Why does this happen? My experience indicates that it's not because women are giving free rides to other women, but because women don't wear the blinders about women's capabilities that many men wear. It is statistically obvious that if there were no blinders, no stereotypes, fewer mis-applied perceptions and assumptions, the numbers of women executive officers, CEOs and board members would be much closer to 50% than they are.

Another example of how women in positions of power are able to advance other women came in Hillary Clinton's prepared statement for her confirmation hearing for Secretary of State. She said,

“Of particular concern to me is the plight of women and girls who comprise the majority of the world’s unhealthy, unschooled, unfed, and unpaid. If half of the world’s population remains vulnerable to economic, political, legal and social marginalization, our hope of advancing democracy and prosperity will remain in serious jeopardy. We still have a long way to go and the United States must remain an unambiguous and unequivocal voice in support of women’s rights in every country, every region, on every continent.”

She went on to describe the significant benefits to women and families that derive from microcredit programs and Ann Dunham's (President Obama's mother's) commitment to economic justice for women.

I know neither Madeleine Albright nor Condoleeza Rice's stands on advancing the interest of women or on micro-credit. I like to think they actively supported both. But for Hillary Clinton the status of women has been an ever-present concern and my hope is that she will continue to be both a voice and an instrument for advancing women around the world...and here at home.

Posted by: Susan Colantuono, CEO and Founder of Leading Women
Follow her at Twitter