Happy Friday!
Celebrating our Limitless Leaders: today we honor Kristen Cobb. Kristen is an Executive Director of the Private Bank at J.P. Morgan and a TXWSW Board Member. Read more about why she gives back: https://txwsw.com/limitless-leaders/
A recent Wall Street Journal article on women bringing home more and more of the bacon notes that “as of 2017, 31% of women earned as much or more than their husbands, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. That compares to 25% in 2000 and just 13% in 1980.” And given that three quarters of women aged 25 to 54 are now in the workforce and are earning more college degrees than men, the balance of power is expected to shift over time. This shift will also dramatically change both spending and investing patterns in the decades to come. The full article can be found here.
Pensions & Investments released the results of a recent study noting that institutional investors demonstrated racial bias when evaluating investment firms led by black men. To quote from the paper “even when funds led by people of color possess identical, strong credentials as white male-led funds, they are judged more harshly. In contrast, white male fund managers are advantaged by these biases, which perpetuate their disproportionate representation in the industry and the association between whiteness and investment success.” Certainly, our industry can do better than this. The full article can be found here.
Serena Williams’ husband, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, published an opinion piece noting the importance of men taking parental leave. Obviously, Mr. Ohanian can afford to take time off from work, but the parental leave policy had been recommended to him by his head of HR, Katelin Holloway, and he adopted it never thinking he would need to use it personally. The fact that his wife suffered life-threatening complications during childbirth forced him to take leave with eye opening results. To quote from the article “nearly one in four employed women giving birth in the United States is back at work within two weeks. Only 9 percent of work sites in the United States offer paid paternity leave to all male employees, and 76 percent of fathers are back to work within a week after the birth or adoption of a child.” He cites stigma and lack of workplace support as the reason most men don’t take leave, and studies have shown that women are also harmed by men not taking leave. When parental leave becomes part of our national culture, as something that is important to us as a society, then both women and men can take time off without damaging their career prospects. The full article can be found here.
Finally, with horrific mass shootings in the news lately, I wanted to share an article which uncovers a common thread between these men: misogyny. The article notes that all of these mass shootings are committed by men and most mass shooters have a history of domestic violence or family violence in their background. The full article can be found here.
You may notice a new addition to our homepage. We have created the Limitless jewelry line to both inspire women and help us in our philanthropy mission of supporting the Young Women’s Preparatory network. Proceeds from the purchase of the Limitless charm go directly to the Young Women’s Preparatory Network. Designed for us by one of the nation’s preeminent jewelry manufacturers, this beautiful, inspirational charm comes in both silver and 14 carat gold and can be worn every day on a bracelet or necklace. Please help us support these deserving students while inspiring all the wonderful women in your life.
I would ask each of you to consider corporate sponsorship of TXWSW. Benefits include attendance at our flagship events and recognition for your firm. To learn more, you may find our sponsor information here. Additionally, we would be happy to create a custom sponsorship for you. Please contact Bianca King at developmentdirector@txwsw.com
Kind regards
Christine
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