Issue 2847— May 19, 2025
This was the No. 1 lesson I learned when I joined with civil rights advocates in Odessa, Texas, as they achieved school desegregation and housing restrictions.
People working together, even if they have little formal power, can make change happen if they have a strategy, discipline, and the courage to lead to the goal despite barriers and even setbacks along the way.
It was exactly this observation that has driven my work for social justice ever since.
Read MoreHow are you feeling today?
If you responded “anxious,” “unsure of the future,” or “immobilized,” you aren’t alone.
We live in an era of permanent disruption — economic shocks, political upheaval, technological leaps, and personal curveballs that throw even the best plans into disarray. It seems like every day, there is a new threat to job security or the cost of necessities. There’s constant talk about the price of eggs and the looming price increases on almost everything as a result of tariffs, or maybe the threat of tariffs is just that, a threat, and everything will be fine.
Read MoreSometimes, what you want to say is better said by others.
And sometimes articles write themselves as a result. That’s the case with my “Sum of the Week” blogpost today. My heart is so full of joy and appreciation for the powerful film “Lilly,” about the long fight for equal pay, written and directed by Rachel Feldman and produced by many investors, including Jyoti Sarda, who graced the panel with her experience bringing forth the independent film.
Read MoreTrue confession. Like many women, early in my career, I felt so lucky to get work that was meaningful to me that I typically said, “Thank you,” got right to work, and never even thought about negotiating based on what the marketplace would bear.
The first time I remember being conscious that the pay level could actually be a factor impacting my future—as well as my present ability to pay the bills—I knew the position I had interviewed for paid 20% more than the teaching job I had intended to seek.
So I thought I was being pretty smart to take it. Didn’t do my research. Never even considered negotiating. Gave no thought to how all my future pay levels would build off of that one.
Read MoreThe delicately sweet aroma of citrus blossoms brought back a powerful sensation as I stepped outside of my Arizona home this April Fools’ Day.
It was the scent I’d first experienced on this exact date: April 1, 1978.
I had taken a late evening flight from my Odessa, Texas home to Phoenix the night before, following a quick trip to a department store to buy a proper suit for an interview that had come a year sooner than my intentions.
On the morning of April 1, I stepped out into the bright Arizona sun.
The unfamiliar scent permeated the air. It wasn’t harsh or cloying, more like a softly perfumed pillow around me. I thought I had landed in some sort of paradise.
Little did I know my life would take a pivotal turn, which I have ever since associated with the aroma of citrus blossoms.
Read MoreOn the third day of #womenshistorymonth, I’m reflecting on promises fulfilled and unfulfilled of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. I attended it in Beijing in 1995.
I was in the room where it happened 30 years ago. Two rooms where it happened, actually.
The experience was life changing. World changing. But that was then.
Read MoreIt’s heresy, I know, but you don’t normally find me watching the Super Bowl.
However, dinner at a friend’s home during the annual Big Game was served around a television with the game on. It turns out I am glad.
Sorry, Kansas City Chiefs. Congratulations, Philadelphia Eagles. But thanks to you both for providing the perfect kickoff, as it were, for the connection to Black History Month.
Read MoreOn this long weekend when MLK day falls on inauguration day, and much of the country faces a big chill, a long overdue step forward for women’s rights was announced by President Biden: the ratification into the U.S. Constitution of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Read MoreMost weeks in my “Sum” column, I write about women, power, and leadership. But this week something personal took over my thinking and I decided to go with it. I hope it will resonate with you and perhaps even help someone who needs to hear it this time of year, when it is often difficult if you’re missing loved ones.
Read MoreOur editorial director and newsletter writer Michele Weldon is taking Thanksgiving week off, so I’m taking this space to say THANK YOU to each and every one of you. Many thanks for your support — whether as a donor, a participant in one of our leadership development programs, an attendee at an event, even talking with us on social media, or reading this newsletter. Your support has enabled Take The Lead to celebrate 10 years of impact. See what we have accomplished below.
Read MoreThis is a nonpartisan statement, and I believe it to the core of my being.
Voting is #leadership.
Do you agree? Or does it sound far-fetched?
Let me tell you three reasons why I say voting is leadership, and indeed part of our obligation as leaders.
Read MoreI was so sad to learn of the death of Lilly Ledbetter, a leader of the movement for pay equity. She was moved by her own story to fight for equal pay regardless of gender first for herself, and then for all women.
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