Women running the boardroom: 5 female CEOs to watch

How the female perspective is reinventing traditional leadership and reinvigorating the boardroom

In 2012, 18 Fortune 500 firms were run by women. That’s a pitifully small number… a paltry 3.6 percent. As brilliant and brazen as we know we are, why aren’t more women scoring those top jobs? Some have suggested that perhaps women aren’t aggressive enough. Or dedicated enough. Or willing to make the right kinds of sacrifices.
Maybe, but we think not. Indeed, women who are in those top executive jobs are proving ‘em all wrong. They’re playing hard – and winning. Here are five such CEOs to watch…

Celebrating Women's History

Sonia Sotomayor

 
Sonia Sotomayor was born in The Bronx, New York City and is of Puerto Rican descent. Her father died when she was nine, and she was subsequently raised by her mother. Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. She was an advocate for the hiring of Latino faculty at both schools. She worked as an assistant district attorney in New York for four and a half years before entering private practice in 1984. She played an active role on the boards of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency, and the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush in 1991, and her nomination was confirmed in 1992. In 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Her nomination was slowed by the Republican majority in the United States Senate, but she was eventually confirmed in 1998. On the Second Circuit, Sotomayor heard appeals in more than 3,000 cases and wrote about 380 opinions. Sotomayor has taught at the New York University School of Law and Columbia Law School.
In May 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to the Supreme Court to replace retired Justice David Souter. Her nomination was confirmed by the Senate in August 2009 by a vote of 68–31. On the court, Sotomayor has been a reliable member of the liberal bloc when the justices divide along the commonly perceived ideological lines.



Posted by:Georgie

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai

 

 

Malala Yousafzai, teenager, political activist, writer, journalist, fighter for the education of girl’s right to education in Pakistan, she publicly spoke out against the Taliban regime and because of her boldness in action the Pakistani Taliban unanimously agreed to orchestrate her assignation, stating that they were “forced” to act because previous death threat to silence her would not work.
These events t were to later unfold on the 9th of October 2012 when returning home from school on a, Taliban gunman stormed the bus shouting “Which one of you is Malala? Speak up otherwise I will shoot you all!” Malala was identified and she was shot in both the head and neck along with two other girls on the bus.
Malala unconscious but not dead, even though a bullet had entered and passed through her head and another bullet lodged in her shoulder After three hours of surgery the doctors treating her they successful stabilized her brain from terminal swelling and she is on the road to recovery.
Described by the US President Barack Obama going on record to saying the news of the shooting is “reprehensible” and Ban Ki-Moon the United Nations National Secretary calling it “a heinous and cowardly act”.
Malala passion for politics and girls rights to education was initially inspired by her father when she witnessed the actions of her him putting his life on the line for a cause he believed in. This experience changed history and Malala’s dream of one of becoming a doctor to become a politician, and fighting for the rights of girls and access to schools and education in Pakistan.
From the age of nine years old Malala was blogging to the BBC under the alias “Gul Mukai” telling real life encounters of the oppression from the ruling Taliban. By eleven years old she founded a foundation to help poor women obtain education. By fourteen years old she was heading school rallies and events for girls rights to education and received awards such awards as the International Children's Peace Prize, National Youth Peace Prize, and the Game changers 2011 Award in addition to holding national media speeches and support for her crusade.
Malala's crusade for the rights of education for girls in Pakistan in the face of such oppression, fear, and death threats and her unwavering commitment to stand up to powerful leaders for something she believe is a right, and doing so at such a young age is extraordinary.
Her passion and courage for what she believes, serves as an inspiration for those that need the courage motivation and inspiration to go against oppressive forces, too stand up and fight for the greater good because it’s the right thing to do.


Posted by:Georgie


Credit:thextraordinary.org

 

Woman of change

Tawakkul Karman the third recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has emerged as a critical figure among the youth activists who began camping out at Change Square in Central Sana'a in early February, demanding the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's three decade rule.  Karman was catapulted into the international spotlight last January after being seized from her car and sling into prison.  Thousands of people poured on the streets calling for her release.  It was a key moment in Yemen's uprising.

Credit: the guardian
Photo: Getty Images

Woman of change

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Liberian president and the first woman elected head of an African nation is the second of three 2011 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.  Affectionately called The Iron Lady, Shirleaf holds a master's degree in public administration from Harvard but was jailed more than once by her political opponents.  She defied patriarchal convention to help rebuild her nation, enlisting women to serve in her Cabinet, including nontraditional positions such as ministers of Commerce and Justice.

Credit: Essence magazine

Women of change

Leyman Gbowee is one of three women awarded with the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. A social worker and trauma counselor Gbowee gained national attention in 2003 after she organized Liberian women to end the country's 14-year civil war.  The conflict took the lives of a quarter million, with women often left as the most vulnerable and victimized.  Gbowee unified Muslim and Christian for the first time with one goal: endind the war.

Credit: Essence magazine 
Photo: John Styer/EMU