So ambassador Melanne Verveer is founder of the seneca woman, and executive director of georgetown womens peace and security. In 2009 president obama appointed her as the first ever United States ambassador at large for global womens issues. She is cofounder of vital voices come an International Nonprofit that invest in emerging Women Leaders. Kim azzarelli is also a founder of the seneca women and is cofounder and chair of the cornell law schools Avon Global Center for women and justice. She is a legal corporate and Philanthropic Advisor and has held senior positions in Companies Including newsweek, babies, Goldman Sachs and avon. Moderating this evening we are very pleased and very excited to introduce jill abramson, lecture at harvard and former executive editor of the New York Times, and quite icon in journalism. She spent the last 17 years in the most senior editorial positions at the New York Times where she was the first woman to serve as Washington Bureau chief managing editor and executive editor. Before joining the times she spent nine years at the wall street journal and deputy Washington Bureau chief and an Investigative Reporter covering money and politics. Shes the author three books three books including strange justice which she coauthored. We are very excited to have the opportunity to have these wonderful women here tonight. Before we jump into the evenings discussion i would also like to recognize some of our sponsors. On behalf of the Kennedy Library foundation of her like to acknowledge the very generous underwriters at the Kennedy Library forum. Lead sponsor bank of america and the low institute. The Boston Foundation and the foundations and Media Partners the boston globe, xfinity and wbur. We would also like to acknowledge the mass womens forum, or form part of this evening. So thank you again and i hope you enjoy the evening. Before we start the discussion were going to have a short video so hopefully youll enjoy the evening. Thank you. We are at a point today where we know that women are the agents of change in economies in this country and around the world. We know that women are critical and try to economic and social progress. We are powerful. We are the majority in college, the majority of breadwinners, the majority of workforce. Women are influencing around 20 trillion in purchasing pow power. They are increasingly using to power for purpose. Women are in the process redefining what power means. When you say gain power, the idea of gaining practical abilities if we look to the continuum from gaining power to a happier life, ultimately to a more satisfactory a Meaningful Life. We want to translate that our into a purpose, and the purpose being to serve others. It is my duty, my obligation, but also my privilege to have other women to empower themselves. Everywoman, they can be the woman that they want to be. I think its important for women to network. You have to develop a cadre of people around you who face the same challenges you face. I call those groups than nourish your soul group. Group. Lets unlock the unlimited potential of everywoman. Young girls have their dreams. The more they can dream they more they can imagine. Empowering women to unleash their talents and perspectives is critical for our world. What weve got is a theres a formula. Its no your own power, find your purpose, what motivates you, what did you mean and then connect to others with likeminded people who share your passion and your goals. Investing in women and girls can fastforward us to the world we want to be. [applause] i want to begin just by thinking the john f. Kennedy library for hosting this event which is focused on women and their achievements, their power and purpose. And to say im thrilled, we have a large group of students here tonight. And i think that this book fast forward has a lot of practical advice in it about how you can find your power and your purpose. So its great to have a youth contingent with us. I wanted melanne to start with you, and if you could give us a little bit of background. Why did you want to write fast forward . If you can, tell us what the secret for achieving our power and purpose is. Before i do that, let me just say what a privilege it is for me to be here with you your jill come as a think everybody should know, is one of the great journalists of our time and certainly one of the greatest female journalists. And i have come to know her over the years, respect what she has achieved, but what touches me most is the young reporters i know, young women reporters who have told me what its like to be able to work with her, to walk in her office, to be inspired by her. So, joe, you are someone who has fast forwarded the next generation so thank you for that. [applause] i also want to mention since she didnt, that linda who introduce our evening as the head of Houghton Mifflin harcourt is the first woman to run that company and its 185 year history. So hopefully other progress will not take as long. [applause] ended a personal note. For me its very meaningful to come here to the Kennedy Library because when i was a youngster, younger than some of the girls in this room, or young women in this room, he was really my inspiration. I often feel for many in my generation the call to public service, the call to ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country, really inspired a whole generation of us. And so for me to come here tonight to talk about how we can fastforward purpose and we can fastforward meaning in many ways in making a difference, he had so much to do with with that in my own life. Why this book . I have had many years, opportunities to work with women at home and around the world, working with the private sector and government for the most part and in the nonprofit sector. Out of that has come accumulation of experiences that i thought were worth sharing, but particularly in recent years. One of them was when i first met trent you are obviously we spend two generations come and i was at the time running an Organization Called vital voices which invests in emerging Women Leaders but it was something that came out of the Clinton Administration what it was part of the state department in those years that Hillary Clinton had a major role in that it was going to end, and women around the globe with whom he worked said you cant end of this. Whats going to happen to us . We need to come together, we need to be able to have the kinds of opportunities and see the possibilities. I was raising money for the nonprofit as is common for nonprofits, and i went to new york and i went to a fun. And i met avon. I met a young leader who is a corporate secretary who was very close to the head of the company. And i started to tell her that i thought today companies really, a company like avon which had as its clientele mostly women, women employees, really increasingly should not be doing this kind of work as charity for philanthropy or even Corporate Social Responsibility but as a brand, as part of the brand, they are come in many ways a bond has been doing that. She completely agreed. A colleague with whom i went to this meeting said to me, shes one of us. And so her, kim coming out of the Corporate Legal sector and my spending much of my efforts in the Public Sector actually brought several perspectives together, but we working for the same ends, to advance women and girls in the work we were doing. And increasingly doing it not just been assigned the that but a very integrated way. And over the years of the bus have met extraordinary people, men and women, who have been part of this. Thats what the book is about the many ways. We also did some 50 additional interviews. Really understanding with the breakthroughs that are happening today, and thats the predicate for the book, which is that we have a chance today like never before, far more women in positions of responsibility at every level, not what we need to get, no. Is a still hard . Yes. But anyways that we have come a long way. We have an evidencebased case for why investing in women and girls have tremendous dividends for economic and social progress. We can talk about that but it is from the World Economic forum to the world bank to many of the companies are producing Massive Research and data on this. We can be connect to today through Technological Breakthroughs as we have never been. And so if you really care about advancing women and girls, not just because its a womens issue, and its really an issue for everybody because of what it means for each person and what it means for our world, we believe we should seize this moment and fastforward the progress if we all come together come if we understand each of us has power no matter where we set, if we find our purpose, what really makes as passionate, and then connect with others. Theres far more we can achieve and we can collectively make an enormous difference. Thats why we wanted to write this book and thats why we did. One of the things that i loved about your book is that its big picture in a lot of ways but its filled with wonderful sometimes wrenching stories about women around the world, and girls. And kim, i was very moved am so glad that you put it near the front of the book, the story of sophie, you know, the problem, attacks on women around the world, a terrible problem but in this case specifically acid attacks. Do you mind sharing that story . No, no. Im happy to share this or that also i had to say its a pleasure to be. To have a jewelry our book was a nerveracking thing but its one thing thats another for the executive editor, unbelievable powerhouse to reach a book. Thank you for being here with us. Linda, thank you for putting this book out. So that story for me really sums up the book. I think i which are part of this answer because i think sophie for me really changed my life. She is now almost 10 years of issues than a six week old baby who had been doused with acid while she was breastfeeding her mother in cambodia. I wont get the whole book away but there was some sort of marital dispute. A woman had come and wanted to move in to her mothers home with the father and a child. I guess she was maybe having an affair with the father. The mother said no, you cant live with us. She said, she kept coming back everyday and so she gave her some money to go away. The woman went to the market, bought some acid and came back and threw acid at the mother and the child while she was breastfeeding. The child was blinded and the mother was doused with acid and lost part of her ear. I at the time was working at avon, the company for women in the business of direct selling, in the business of empowering women through the direct selling model. I was born into the Womens Movement. My mother was involved. I went to Nursery School at the Liberty Syndicate i wasnt new to these issues i was invited by one of the doctors you saw in the video who just come back from cambodia. He is an ocular Plastic Surgeon was operating as a volunteer when he came across this. It wasnt just sophie. There was a whole board of acid of violence victims, most of them. Oftentimes women are doused with acid because they want to steal a womans beauty. It is so disfiguring and scarring. He had just come back and he was talking about this issue at Rockefeller University and i went to a panel much like this and i want to thank ask leaders of interesting anecdotes. I walked out progress on the image of that baby, my whole perspective changed and i thought how could this be happening . How could there be a six week old baby doused with acid and no penalty . Im a lawyer. I have this dedication to justice. I could not believe there is no penalty for the crime. The perpetrator was just out and about. I was at avon at the time and i felt i could use my platform for something. Clearly i am a lawyer. Theres got to be something i can do. One thing led to another which i will let you read in the book but this child created this Ripple Effect. A lot had to do with the doctor. Such a dedicated searching and doctor and philanthropist and he basically galvanized a group of people, mount sinai at all bunch of surgeons volunteered their time. Virtue foundation brought the child and mother over. I was able to bring a whole bunch of resources we brought the issue to the u. N. But what was amazing, this was in 2005, i tried to get someone to cover the issue at the u. N. We couldnt get one reporter. We did get one reporter from new york journalist. What happened as result of that experience was little by little a bunch of people came together and sort of the end of the story we are able to create a center for women and justice at cornell. Justice oconnor heard about the story. One thing led to another and it became a Ripple Effect of what we call a purpose coalition. So sofia so that like a precursor of moloch. Absolutely. I went in thinking, this is a personal level, thus helping sophie and i was hoping this issue. We were able to change laws in cambodia. Significant things happen. But i think al all of us got so much more out of it. I know for me to change the way i thought about my work and my life. I thought i was helping her and ultimately it was i was getting the most help from the whole thing. We talk to him about how would you go out there today to about why investing in women and girls make such incredible economic and social since the edison. And if you will talk about it from mckinsey to the world bank by the other thing in the book is the data on how to a Meaningful Life and how we get out of yourself and use your skills for something bigger than yourself that creates a level of meaning which can fulfill in any other way. For meet sophie was the beginning of the journey. An amazing story, but since you mentioned mckinsey, Sheryl Sandberg who of course some of you know from reading her book lean in, and shes a major executive at facebook, she worked with mckinsey and commissioned a study on women in the workplace. The introduction was written by cheryl, published in the wall street journal some months ago. She pointed out that you could send a woman into space and have her orbit jupiter 10 times, return to earth, and it would still take many, many decades for women to achieve parity in our society here in the United States, and certainly around the world. Kim, you said you grew up in the Womens Movement virtually. I am very taken by the title of your book, especially because sheryl is making the point that we really, the pace, it just seems that almost in every arena theres been a bit of a stall, like women rose but that are still what, 14 women ceos in the fortune 500. Half the sky and more than half the population of our country. Even with the number of women senators and the house members, it still relatively small percentage. So what happened . How can we get it back on track so we can fastforward . That is part of the reason that we wanted to do the book, because we know that we cant move forward at the pace we have moved. I think theres been a study says that at the rate we have women elected to our own congress it would take 100 years, over 100 years to reach parity. I think thats too long of a wait. You can call it a Glass Ceiling or a sticky floor as one of my friends calls it, a thick layer of men, its very hard to get through. But in so many places, and we tried to lay this out, theres a chapter on the unfinished agenda, and we cant cover all the issues, but we are plagued by many challenges still in the United States as well as women who are even farther behind on the journey in other places. And it has to do with a range of challenges, including culture, including the lack of political will, the lack of powersharing. And thats why i think the evidencebased case make such a difference. I can tell you from my own experience as ambassador when i would go and meet with ministers and leaders, so many times i had the sense, they have the ambassador for global womens issue, how nice. And perfectly cordial and courteous but usually i got the message that was very little time to talk about these issues which were somehow not the high power issues, not the issues of the day and yet so critical to outcomes here but if i would say to that leader, i really wish we could have some time because i would like to talk about how you can grow your economy or create jobs, all of a sudden the conversation changed. And put it in his, usually his selfinterest. There was a realization that, well, its in our own interest whether its growing economies or creating more profitable companies, whatever our interests are, women are absolutely essential for making that happen. No country can get ahead if it leaves half of its people behind. Similarly we can grow our economy and create jobs and have conclusive prosperity if women are not part of that solution. To make the point very forcefully that having women in all ranks of an organization or a company is smart business. You tell many success stories. Its taken too much time. It is absolutely true that this is the right thing to do. It certainly is what inspires and guides most of us. Fundamentally it is about womens rights but it is also the smart and strategic thing to do. A lot of the book focuses on why smart, why strategic, to win over the skeptics so we are not waiting 100 years or have to go to jupiter to really move forward in ways that critically we need to. It was just a study that was released in the last couple days that some of representatives of the u. N. Human Rights Council conducted in the United States about the situation for women. And, frankly, there are no surprises in it but its not a pretty picture in many ways because we are the only industrialized country in the World Without paid Maternity Leave. Women still lose 23 cents on every dollar. And imagine if you are struggling actually the single breadwinner or cobreadwinner whose work is essential and its bad enough that you dont have that equality at any level but imagine what losing 23 cents on every dollar represents, or the fact that weve got so many women in the workplace today, half of our workers, the great majority of mothers with children under one command with a hodgepodge a hodgepodge of child care. We really have not made this an issue that is viewed as critically important to this country. So whether its the unfinished agenda around the world or the unfinished agenda at home, clearly we have to do better, and i think we believe our collective action in ways that we perhaps have not tapped did before, arming ourselves with the data case, connecting them utilizing the power that every woman has and all of them in who share a commitment to progress, that we will get to a different place. That is the whole. It is an optimistic book, and a sea of bad news in many ways. I would just add that you think you are in a unique place in time. We talk a lot about seneca falls because were both obsessed with seneca falls. We think about susan b. Anthony. It took 70 years to get the right to vote. Explained to the students who youre talking about spent seneca falls was the first really large in this condition in the United States. It was the First Convention where they talk about women having rights, the right to try to vote, the right to own property, the right to divorce if you wanted to. It was the first equal Rights Convention and it took 70 years from the first meeting which is up in seneca falls, small town in upstate new york, 70 years to get the right to vote from that date. I always say that susan b. Anthony traveled every week giving speeches. She went to jail. For 50 years she gave a speech every week im giving women the right to vote. I always tease she didnt go by hoover. The point i is its been 100 yes since and i think you both made the point we have not made as much progress as we like to we are stuck in 18 edward in the world. Im optimistic because i know that this is will because women are storming the ranks and which is below the level ever. The reality is, most daytoday decisionmaking is done just below that level. A that level. The daytoday tradeoffs, strategy, women are in those positions. Weve never been there before. We been stuck in 18 for a long time but weve never been so close to the senior, senior position. Thats one reason were optimistic. The second is because we know World Leaders, not just women World Leaders, but men World Leaders as well. Weve never seen in the halls of power before womens rights being discussed. Its just never happened in history which different right now is that the men who are leading companies, the men who are leading countries are recognizing that what the countries to progress. They have got to unleash the talent of half the population. We talked a lot about davos, the World Economic forum for all the big Corporate Leaders go and World Leaders come together to talk about Economic Policy and things that World Leaders talk about, but the joke is that the shortest line at davos is the leisure because again at davos is less than 18 women. However, we were both there a few years ago and Prime Minister abe of japan came to davos and what does he talk about what he said if i want to provide economy i have to figure out a way to make the workforce accessible to women. I have to do with child care. I have to deal with things that Holding Women back in my country. Ive been around a while but im not that old. To think even in my lifetime to think the Prime Minister of japan would come to davos and talk about women, thats a sea change and thats in the last five years. Melanne has a lot to do with these World Leaders getting educated and releasing this research by the research is critical. So mckenzie put out a report a couple weeks ago that if women had equal access to the work environment, equal parity in the workplace, we could drill gdp by 18 28 trillion by 2020. Thats real money on the table. Thats what were talking about. If you dont believe in the rights raised case, doing to give up all that money . Thats the second. The third piece, we have a broker to the 18 for we are close. Second we have the data but the third thing is technology. We are at a reset moment right now. Everything is changing. We were on a panel with the president of Google America and she said something that has blown my mind. We have only used 1 of the technology that we would use in our lifetime. 1 . Think about a radically ever the is changing around us. If we can change everything, i talk about uber, until i learned about uber and lyft. We can do that for child care. We can do that for pretty much anything. If we are to signing with that in mind. So we can reset in ways weve never been able to. Those three forces converging is why we believe we could fast forward, we could leapfrog, accelerate the seven years susan b. Anthony had to travel to we could change everything if we have the right mindset. I think thats what we have been missing. Melanne, annemarie slaughter who has written on some of these issues is adamant that we cant fast forward unless new policies and Government Action is taken. You have been all around the world. The u. S. Lags in things like Maternity Leave and childcare, and one of the points that she makes in her new book i thought was interesting. You were talking about technical logical change technological change. Why are we still on the School Calendar we are that was invented for an agricultural economy . Maybe with a focus first, what will drive the politics to really get some new policies passed . D. You agree thats a necessary ingredient . Sheryl sandberg in some ways takes a little bit of a different take and says in lean in that there are things within women ourselves that are holding us back. So how do you is really all of the above. Government has to be a part of the solution, and many of these policy changes to cover large numbers of people or in citizens of our country is going to take Government Action. Several years ago when is working in the Clinton Administration we have the first ever childcare conference and i remember that the first lady at the time said we need bob rubin boost in the sector of treasure and a former Goldman Sachs person, we need them to open this conference. And when i went to bob, i said essentially that, and he said what do i know about childcare . But symbolically it was critically important because treasury oversees irs. Most of the ways that we do provide very minimal support for childcare expense, middle income or lower income is through the tax system. And it was a call to action both in terms of government policy but also in terms of the private sector. We write in the book about the First Law Firm that is providing paid leave, parental leave for its lawyers in terms of the kind of change they want to see. So private sector, government the problem sometimes with the policies that some companies do offer, and netflix recently announced that theyre going to give a year if you wanted or needed it of leave for anyone who had a new child. But something that a number of analysts have pointed out is theres a problem if these policies are seen as created for women. And at some Companies Even women are worried about staying out of work for a long time. Like men, they have to be policies that menus as well and that men have to, like joy, like bob rubin, men have to be involved in a serious conversations. In fact we see in the countries that are very progressive in this space, for example, the scandinavian countries, the World Economic forum we discussed the one of the things it does annual it has put out a gender gap report. What that report does is look at the gap between men and women in a given country on for metrics, access to health, education, economic participation, political participation. And they do it because i countries where the gap is closer to being closed are far more economically competitive and prosperous than you would say that i if you could unleash have the top of the population youre going to get better outcomes. The reason i mention it is because consistently at the top of the list, and this has gone on for more than a decade now, i the scandinavian countries who have very enlightened generalist policies in many ways, particularly when it comes to parental leave. What they have ensured is that fathers and mothers take advantage of these policies so you dont again silo them looking as though its im happy looking out that there are many men here tonight. Indeed. And what they also did to ensure that is basically work the policies in a way that the fathers had to take leave also. And whats interesting is how many so its mandatory speak with yes, to take advantage of the leave policy. Theres any question you can work out. At whats interesting is how many of the fathers said in the process as this has not evolved over a few years, i was depriving myself of one of the richest experiences in life because we were so trapped. And i think thats part of this as well. It does contribute to a social good and it is something that should happen but also it enriches life and theres a lot more to life than being a good employee. Its been a good parent as well if youre in a situation where youre in both categories. So men have a vital voice. They have a vital voice indeed. And the voices are saying today, visitors would make our lives that much better besides the fact that we are accommodated in the workplace. But the other thing is the extent to which these policies are increasingly being seen for the outcomes that they are producing. And we dont have enough experience over a long span, but they are doing what was intended in ways that really create wider social improvements. Mark zuckerberg recently came out that he is taking too much two months Maternity Leave. He is setting the tone, that family matters. I think again im super optimistic because i think more and more men and women, my generation and the generation beneath me are starting to recognize they dont understand why we have these issues. We talk about and about how its a design flaw that why is school day 93 and the work hours are nine to five. Its a design flaw. Way to think about policies that as you mentioned the Great Society but theres a lot of legacy policies that were modeled about a family that doesnt exist. Its not a model of how we work only. I think modern technology can change the. I do think, i do think men see things differently. I think were at that time for the next generation, honestly they dont see differences in gender. When they go to companies that like what do you mean you dont have a maternity policy . They demand that andy dement purpose in the work. We are at this unusual place in history now. I think were in a precarious place. Because the New York Times has had some recent articles about men who grew up with mothers who were involved in the Womens Movement, and they thought they were going to be, they vowed they would be an equal partner in marriage and an equal partner in raising the children, and found that because at work, we have such a 24 7 workaholic culture that it turned out, i remember the headline of one of the stories was we didnt turn out to be the main we thought we would be. Its a cultural issue. Its the way we work issue. I think Barry Schwartz book on how we work and why we were so important that the attack we can separate out the gender issues as the. I think nobody wants to work 24 7. Nobody wants to live the way we are living. We have to seize the moment and we have to not say walt disney and we havent made enough progress. Thats the underlying assumpti assumption. But theres also another issue here and that is choices that people make. Particularly respecting mothers choices that you want to spend more time at home after theyve had a child, maybe worked parttime, three quarters time for whatever the arrangement is, and whats happening increasingly and write up some of the innovative programs that some companies have adopted to accommodate that. People are living their lives longer today. Women are going to come back after a couple of years or so. They are going to be extremely come continue to be actually productive and they shouldnt be penalized in terms of partnerships or in terms of the kind of ascendancy taken out in their careers. What you find in some companies, for example, at an American Express visit program where we interviewed one of the key people there who said that she in this case was noticing that the women found it much easier to work four days a work instead of five, or three quarters time instead of fulltime. But in the process she figured out not less work, not marginalizing them, but creating what she calls almost a brain trust within the company were some of the most innovative work thats going on in terms of r d and other kinds of things is happening because of his cadre of special force will go back to working fulltime. Other companies are doing enlightened policies in terms of women who ramp off for a while and then ramp back on. What companies are realizing is this is our talent pool, weve invested immeasurably in these women. He will come back after not too long a period of time, and they make it possible for them to quickly immerse back into where they were and also accommodate them so they are not pulled back in terms of their careers and starting over. One of the attendant problems in all of this got its not just the lack of the leave policy. Its the fact that many places still with a woman does come back to work, she often quits before she continues because she is not promoted, not given the choice of assignments, treated somewhat differently, we just a couple years earlier even lesser but of time she was viewed as the top talent in the company or the firm. So again its changing and its changing because companies are seeing today this is in the interest and some of the more integrative innovative programs are aiding the process. Positions of Power Companies have used it, what we are seeing as women are ascended to power we say theyre using their power for purpose and redesigning things. Thats an important reason for womens leadership at the American Express example was put in place by a woman. Tell me about, you talk to and spent time with many fascinating women, some of those were on this screen in the introduction to our talk. Can you tell me a little bit about her commitment to these issues and our involvement or geena davis, suppose was the first woman right, right, right. Tell us about quite assuredly, i have been very lucky to have a friend seat next to a lot of incredible women. I grew up watching professionally and personally obviously but these are people who are using their power for purpose, life. I dont think i am biased. I feel so much more strongly about it now because i have seen her do things not in front of the cameras but do things behind the scenes that nobody knows about because she really believes that she can use her voice to something bigger. Her work is really about, shes involved in a lot of causes. I was with her in brazil and there was a woman whose daughter had been trafficked and she been looking for her daughter for five years, and her job was probably at that point about 20. There was a Court Hearing and the perpetrators were not convicted basically. It was a very dramatic think and very upsetting. We saw the story. We were backstage, some kind of conference and she literally took off her wedding ring the she didnt know i was there. She took off her wedding ring said im givin give you this bee this is the luckiest thing i have. Im giving you this for good luck to find her daughter. Of course, you see what she does in front of the camera but she is sincere. A lot of people have written about in the book are so sincere about the work. Geena davis started the Gene Davis Institute because she felt the media and particularly hollywood was not really treating women equally. You have a whole chapter about that in the book. We talk about this a lot. One of the things she found in her research was the only show 17 women generally speaking. Which is crazy. 50 of the population but only 17 which we can correlate speaking parts. That was even more glaring spirit the 17 correlates with a 17 of the leadership. I think geena davis has done a lot. Shes a celebrity and she has an Incredible Organization to the or so many incredible women in the book. I think for me thats why we think we can fast forward. Everybody has power. Every person in this room has power. We often say sometimes we dont feel we have power, sometimes we wake up, we didnt get the job and maybe we are not as powerful but we all have tremendous power. If we each think about our power and would try to use it to advance other women and girls, we can fast forward. If they are waiting for a top down strategy we are not going to fast forward. I finish are you of that right now. In each of us tried to unleash our own power i think we can do it. These women are showing us how to do it. You dont have to be Melinda Gates to make a difference. The book has a chapter devoted to women at the top who are doing it where they sit within the companies or and strategic roles the airplane but also has a chapter women in the middle and the grassroots. There are so many young women in this room. There are some wonderful stories i think that would inspire you. One is theres a company that many they have certainly, those a certain age they recognize more than others but Liz Claiborne was a very big Womens Apparel Company and retell the story in the book of the ceo who i attempted over the years, extraordinary, generous envision a person that was brought into the company when it was floundering and he really had to make all kinds of cats. And he had this imperative on him and it was not clear what was going to be on the chopping block. One of the things that that company had done with tremendous impact including on our own violence against women law that was violent past and the United States was to influence why this issue needed to be tackled, tough issue, violence against women, particularly for a company to get involved in. But the fact that one of the great elements of a brought to it was yes, its a human rights problem, yes, its a health problem, yes, its a series justice issues but its also a productivity issue. And really laying out what the economy was losing in terms of this piece. But there was a young woman who worked there and she had invested in this program. She went to the ceo. I mean, she was here, he was here. And she got a meeting with an of an appointment with them, and he told me years later that she came in passionate about why the company should not let this program go. What it had represented for the employers, what it had represented for the brand, what it had represented in terms of the general good of society. He said she made a case in such a compelling way, in many ways she educated him. He said its possible i would have cut this nice project because i had a bandaid, we had to go into series cost savings. But here she was. She had this incredible influence on the outcome, and the company went on to make astounding contributions in this space. She has gone on to really make her life in this field with another organization. Theres another young woman who has created an Organization Called girls who code. This is a big issue. The lack, certainly in numbers, girls and women who are not, who are falling off of the interest in science and technology and math and engineering and so on. And its really instructed because at some point you see this depreciation. We go into this and about how technology can be leveraged for progress and yet you have something happening where girls are not really inspired to stay in this field when the evidence a lot of interest in it. That was about 10 years ago, it was so distressing, addition of barbie that talked, and the thing that the company chose barbie to say was math class is hard. Not very helpful, was it . Not very helpful. But when you think today that the majority of graduates and undergraduates university and even more graduates, they are a huge number but only 20 are enrolled in this field. So if something happens there. We do talk about some of the people who have invested, when making a difference from where they sit. Wouldve been is this young woman who created a program called girls who code. In the next five years she will have gone on to 1 Million Girls enabling them come some of the poorest circumstances to be able to code. And what that will do to be able to channel them to give him viable opportunities in terms of their economic well being but to make a difference in ways that this country needs, innovation. Yes, you can be a wonderful person like regina davis. They are very good women who have committed so much of the work in this space. But its also about everybody else. We tried to do the everybody else in the book. It struck me in reading what you wrote about, vivid memory i have when i first became executive editor of the time is that she called the up and invited me to her house for dinner, was just the two of us. Because she wanted she shared her advice and it meant a lot to me. She was doing it because she knew its hard to be the first woman. Melanne, i have to say, melanne and tina brown and Justice Oconnor, all these women first. Theyve come across the aisle, come across corporate or government and those the original idea of the book was to show how women are cooperating in ways and Women Holding hands to move us forward. I think it is a difference womens leadership makes. Having these women were together, she had experience in government, branding and fashion. You in journalism. Come together and so what can we do together . They are doing it. One of the strongest motivators is the fact that her mother was a victim of the holocaust. Nobody knew issues going to survive. She came out of that wrenching situation as fragile as a human being can be. And she gave birth to a daughter that was unimaginable in terms of her condition. That daughter was the one who is now getting back. I have now worked with her over some years because she was deeply committed to vital voices in ways that have been profound from simple things like designing logos to designing, you know, the phrase would be that sums up the organization. Shes always giving. But she says one thing over and over which is the strength of women never leaves her because she understands what her mother was able to do in the worst of circumstances. She has seen women globally and at home. Com who she wants to support but who are struggling. She wants to somehow be able to help them. Just one quick story i dont want to tell too many stories from the book. We recently a few months ago had a great, great moment in washington that we were able to bring together which was to have the three female justice on the Supreme Court and the retired Justice Sandra day oconnor come together in a salute to Justice Oconnor. And in the process, Justice Ginsburg gave a tribute to Justice Oconnor here she remembered the moment when she had her first assignment on the bench but it was not the greatest case, but she got a note after she wrote her opinion and shepherded this process for the first time. The note came from her colleague who welcomed her as the second female on the bench, but the note was exactly what you described, basically say to Justice Ginsburg, well done, my friend. It may not in the best case but you did a great job. And Justice Ginsburg said she has now done the same thing with respect to Justice Sotomayor and justice kagan. And it is paying it forward. Thats one of the things thats always impressed me. I have been involved in so many programs either in government or outside of government that are mentoring programs. Where women of great significance and others who may not consider themselves of great significance but are equally giving. Had been involved as mentors. At each of them has always said the same thing which is i got far more out of being a mentor and the minty ever got from me. Because of that getting process that paying it forward was extraordinarily rewarding. And that in some and substance is what we are trying to convey in the book. I also vividly remember the first time i was introduced to you, which was that the dog of the Clinton Administration, early 1993 there was a womens event for all of the women that president clinton had appointed and other prominent women in washington, and the headline at that event was Hillary Clinton. She wrote a really nice forward about both of you in the book, but the last question i have before we open it up to our audience is what do you think of her president ial campaign and what it means . You know, i might even ask you to predict. Because shes been a different of yours for decades, i know. Something. The women in our country are disappearing. They are offered good jobs and we never hear from them again. We cant get anybody in the government to respond, not a law enforcement, local level, nor the top of the government. Normally i have known many a politician, and many a politician would hear that and offer consoling platitudes and this is a constant with her. What was that about, what was going on . We have got to do something about that and what it was was our first beginnings of the understanding of this massive criminal network around the world, 1 billion industry. And also men, and the first ever, to understand what this was, the phenomenon that it was. The changes that came from the end of the soviet union and a worldwide phenomenon. I say that because it is representative of how she sees to really address the kinds of challenges that confront us across the board. How did you first meet . She only says in the forward she has known you for decades. Guest little secret or not so secret is the fact that i was in college with her husband. He used to say to me for they years after you got to meet hillary, you got to meet hillary, maybe we would get along. The first conversation, the defense fund, the plight of children and the passion and the first time i met with her we talked for two hours nonstop and it could have gone on for days. I do think she is a formidable talents, deeply committed. Host you worked for her in the state department. Guest i worked with her when she was first lady and i worked with her again in the state department and i have seen her and i have seen the respect she commands. I have seen the reaction she illicit. I have seen the seriousness with which people take her and is so interesting today now that you have got the Political Campaign going on, to hear all of the attacks on her and as a senator she crossed the aisle repeatedly, the constant things one would hear about, and she is not what we thought she was and Work Together with colleagues on the other side and as secretary she got huge, huge praise and the desire to be a coke collaborator with her for many of the other parties. When pushed today, we did Work Together, that was then. As a woman, the fact the we have a formidable woman candidate, highly experienced and committed, speaks volumes. I am frankly happy there is a woman in the republican race as well. There is a lot of talent out there and the other half of our population in its time and the question one is asked over and over everywhere in the worlds to me and others in these positions is do you think america will ever have a woman president . Because others have managed to do it. [applause] host i would love to open it up to your questions. There are microphones towards the back in two miles. You have got questions about politics for the status of when and in this country or around the world please dont be shy. You have two fantastic experts here, two Women Leaders who know what they are talking about in the book. So please approach the microphone. Thank you so much for the sharing of your experiences, very interesting to hear many stories you told. I am curious, my question is based on the future and looking at the milestones we have to achieve based on Current Trends looking at regulatory or corporate needs. In your opinion, when do you think we will achieve these milestones . Some of them clearly have to do with what we know increasingly from the research and data that is everywhere. Look at the economy for example. We know that women entrepreneurs, women who own and run businesses are absolutely critical accelerants to grow economy is, small and mediumsized businesses of what the world bank calls the missing metal. We indeed than to drive economic growth. If women are entrepreneurs in the United States where a country, what they are providing to the economy would be almost comparable to germany. That is significant significant input into the economy. There is so much role in that kind of space that would be milestones in terms of that kind of growth but women face obstacles. Access to credit is a huge obstacle to the kind of training and mentoring they need so we devote time and space in the book to really look at some of the ways those obstacles are dealt with by government or by others in the private sector, Major Companies today, cocacola, walmart, Major Companies have made huge investments in using supply chains to buy for women and business or creating initiatives to create far more female entrepreneurs. They are not doing it for philanthropic reasons. They are doing it for the bottom line. It is the Business Investment. They now get that but that Business Investment has huge spillovers in terms of shared value as dr. Porter called it. That shared values lifting of women around the globe touched by those programs. Those are some of the kinds of things, when you look at progress into the future those are the kinds of things we need to measure and the need to understand what those outcomes have produced and how long it has taken to produce them. A milestone is having a woman president. We are ready for it and we needed. Whether it is hillary. I am a big believer in hillary. I have also seen not in front of the spotlight which what she cares about, we need a woman president but i also think two of the things would be big milestones. I really believe the whole world is going to be designed through technology. We dont have women and technology in the field. We wont have been put into the way the future is designed, not just about computer science, it is about the design of our future. In Silicon Valley, we addressed a bunch of people in Silicon Valley and there was one company very profitable and important that basically had lunch for us and one of them was a gentleman, i cant design products as if we were women, as if we were divers. I need to women and deckers candidate in the design process. So i think that mind set, seeing this as a competitiveness issue, a milestone would be more win in in technology and we have to change a great toy to counter love barbie hall will theblocks put out by a young Woman Entrepreneur and those who have not seen, fastforward 2015 video that was released last week i highly commend it. Fastforward 2015, you are going to love it. It shows all these young women and what they could be in the future. It is amazing. There is this momentum and the others thing that will be a milestone in the next generation is these guys will do things we have not even dreamed of so the next generation will be helpful. We are stuck in our own way of thinking. We are looking at things the same way for many years but these challenges to invent the future, 40 of the work force will be freelance for entrepreneurs by 2020. We can sort of redesign, these guys can do it for us. My money is on them because i think they i thinking things we havent thought of. Latka 3yearold kid, she is literally studying the outfit by two, she could read. The rate of acceleration is so fast i dont think we have any idea what is coming but it is the right principle. So many of the people we talk to see us in particular mention the millennials and how millennials are coming in in terms of talking about whether they want to come to a company and take a certain job and asking questions they were never asked. What is the purpose of your company in addition to making the widgets that you make . How else do you see yourself . How do you see diversity and inclusion . Not just diversity, which obviously has tremendous impact and outcomes, but how included that diverse population works in a company and isnt just silo by virtue of who they are. One of the ceos that we never confronted these kinds of questions and we know they are the talent pool of the future and if we dont we will not be able to innovate and be the driving force you want to be. There is change. The other thing you mentioned about that is they want purpose in their work. Is no longer where people want to do well during the weekend do good on the weekend. People want purpose in their work now. We can change the way we work and that is the big important part of our book which is this purpose, putting purpose and the center of we are doing because it changes the equation and millennials i demanding that. They dont want to go to work unless theres a purpose in their work. They are willing to give up the money for purpose. That is a different equation that we have seen before. You mentioned dr. Porter of harvard, shared value, the one that started the costs of shareholder value or shareholder value but he is talking about shared value. Companies cant compete unless theyre making a social contribution. The paradigm is shifting. Next question. This side. What is your advice on a Woman Working in a maledominated field . Obviously we want her to do that. Who knows . That field will be more diversified by virtue of her coming into and succeeding at it. It shouldnt be a put off. We talk in a book about issues like failure, fear, lack of confidence, and i think sometimes there are all of the above when it comes to a situation like you described. Be persistent. A great part of the book, fear of failure and folks are in technology, encouraged to fail fast. If you fail fast you course. If you are afraid of failing you dont move ahead as quickly so the women mentioned earlier, that started the organization, encourages failure, we or leasing to celebrate success but you have to fail to succeed is that idea of not being afraid to fail and not being afraid of the word know which is important, if you are afraid to hear know you wont ask for things. That is an important question and by the time you go into the workforce i hope there will be more diversity in the work force can you wont case the complete email environment. You have to be willing to put yourself out there and you did that by asking questions. So go for it. It is sad but it is 7 30 and we have to bring this to a close. We have copies of fast forward how women can achieve power and purpose for you right outside for purchase. Melanne verveer and Kim Azzarelli will autograph your book, thank you
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