Happy Friday:
As you may be aware, our Houston chapter is hosting its annual Boots & Blackjack event on Wednesday, October 11th. Given the devastation Harvey has wrought on Houston, we have updated the use of proceeds raised at the event to include disaster relief for the students and staff of the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy of Houston. I want to thank our raffle, silent auction and wine pull sponsors: MM LaFleur, Maid in the Shade, Pure Barre, JuiceLand, Soul Cycle, Elaine Turner, Motherhood Center, Discover Gymnastics, Kendra Scott, Equinox, Saint Street Swim, Total Wine, Main Street Theater, Amy’s Ice Cream, Alley Theater, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Nothing Bundt Cakes and the Houston Wine Merchant.
Austin will be hosting its Boots & Blackjack on Friday October 27th so grab your spouse, friends and colleagues and join us in supporting both the Houston and Austin Boots & Blackjack this Fall!
To begin, what do Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift and Amber Tamblyn have in common besides their very high public profiles? In the face of sexual harassment and assault, these three very successful, accomplished, and powerful women said nothing. At trial, Taylor Swift was accused of making up the fact that a DJ put his hand under her skirt because she kept going with a photo shoot in spite of it. Donald Trump spent one debate looming behind Hillary Clinton invading her personal space and breathing down her neck. Amber Tamblyn was accused of lying when she shared her story that actor James Woods had tried to pick her up when she was just 16. And why is this? Because when women speak up, not only are they not believed, they are seen as unpleasant, aggressive and less competent. And this harassment is not about sex; it is about power and domination. In Amber Tamblyn’s essay, she notes that if it happened to you, it has happened to more than one woman and speaking up is owning our power. When a “single voice becomes a choir, the more the tune is forced to change.”
On the subject of speaking up, the recent Silicon Valley scandals served to open a dialogue between male VCs and female founders. “Women founders of startups say they often confront sexist behavior, including condescending remarks and questions that call their intellect into doubt, that wears on them personally and professionally.” The good news is that prominent venture capitalists are now examining their behavior and unconscious biases. Sounds like progress to me. The full article can be found here.
Finally, from the good news file, some of the largest Canadian institutional investors who control more than $1.6 trillion in assets have announced that they intend to join the 30% Club. For those of you not familiar, this is a group that was founded in the UK in 2010 with the stated goal of having no less than 30% of seats on boards of directors and senior management roles at listed companies filled by women by 2022. This 30% Is not a quota, but rather a recognition that without at least 30% representation by women, a board or management team is not diverse and therefore less effective. Kudos to the Canadians for taking this on. Hopefully the US is not far behind. The full article can be found here.
We have some terrific events lined up for you this Fall and look forward to seeing you all at an event in 2017! To learn more about our 2017 events, please visit www.txwsw.com
Kind regards,
Christine
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