As AWESOME gears up for its sixth annual Symposium with the theme of “Making a Difference,” two other women’s leadership groups have been in the news recently for their action-oriented plans. Paradigm for Parity (P4P), a coalition of business leaders (of which AWESOME’s founder Ann Drake is a member), was featured recently on CBS’ 60 Minutes. An article on forbes.com highlights ALL Raise, a group of over 120 women in the venture industry and 30 women founders that has launched a mentoring initiative they’ve named “Female Founders Office Hours.”
In the 60 Minutes segment about P4P, one of the women quoted was Ellen Kullman, former chair and CEO of DuPont who was interviewed in an Up-Close Conversation at the 2017 AWESOME Symposium. In describing the impetus for P4P taking action, she said, “Unless people like us did something about it, who would?” The goal of P4P is gender equality in corporate leadership by the year 2030.
The data about women also spurred the launch of ALL Raise. According to an article on forbes.com, the goal of ALL Raise is to double the number of female partners and increase the percentage of funding going to female founders in the next few years. The group points to the fact that only 15% of funding goes to female founders.
Explaining how AWESOME is ready to go forward, AWESOME’s Executive Director Heather Sheehan said, “The past five AWESOME Symposiums have given us a clear understanding of what issues women in our field face, what needs to change, and what’s NOT going to change on its own. This year, we’re going to come away with specific strategies and steps. We’re ready to make some waves.”