Happy Tuesday:
From the career advice file, a recent article from the Wall Street Journal is one of the most worthwhile reads this week. The article examines the effect of cell phone usage on our intellect. While there is no doubt that cell phones have made our lives more convenient and productive, there is a price to be paid for the device’s grip on our attention. The full article can be found here.
The Wall Street Journal also profiled VC Kirsten Green. Green was the first backer of Warby Parker and Dollar Shave Club, and she has become one of the most prominent players in venture capital. The full article can be foundhere.
On the hedge fund front, long-time Millennium portfolio manager, Sara Nainzahdeh is forming her own fund, Centenus Global. Centenus is set to launch late this year. The full article can be found here.
The next two articles tackle the notion that racism is not easy to prove. In the first study, a team of economists found pervasive evidence that local government officials across the United States are less responsive to African Americans than they are to whites. These economists sent 20,000 emails with simple questions such as “what are your hours?” to local government employees in almost every US county. To quote: “most inquiries yielded a timely and polite response. But emails with black-sounding names were 13 percent more likely to go unanswered than those with white-sounding names. This difference, which appeared in all regions of the country, was large enough that it was statistically unlikely to have been a matter of mere chance.” The article makes for eye-opening reading and can be found here.
And on the hiring front, researchers from Northwestern University, Harvard and 2 European research institutes analyzed hiring data from studies from 1989 to 2015. The study found that whites were one third more likely to receive invitations for interviews than African-Americans, a statistic that has not changed in 25 years. The full article can be found here.
From the gender discrimination file, the press was full of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual harassment. It seems that this was a poorly kept secret in Hollywood for years. The NY Times author who broke the story first tried to publish it back in 2004, but the paper was afraid of being sued because at that point so few women had come forward, shades of Anita Hill, a he said/she said against one of Hollywood’s power brokers was not a battle the paper felt they could fight. The power of the internet makes it easier for all those affected to come forward. The full article can be found here.
Finally, our hearts go out to the victims and families of the Las Vegas massacre last week. In an Op Ed in the Journal, Peggy Noonan asks the question why do Americans have so many guns? According to Noonan it has to do with the growing chasm caused by income inequality and the breakdown of our cultural infrastructure. She notes that people living less privileged lives are fearful for their futures. The full article can be found here.
Our Houston chapter is hosting its annual Boots & Blackjack event this Wednesday, October 11th and I look forward to seeing many of you there! 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. To learn more about the Young Women’s Preparatory Network and the amazing life changing work they are doing, please take a moment to watch this video.
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 Please also scroll to the end of this newsletter to check out some interesting jobs from our network.
If you live in DFW, catch TXWSW on 5 Talk Street NBC 5 – Saturday, 10/14/17 at 5:00 p.m. and Cozi TV – Sunday, 10/22/17 at 5:00 p.m.
Kind regards
Christine
