The Juggling Act Continues

May 1, 2022

The cri de coeur from U.S.  Supreme Court nominee Kentanji Brown Jackson at her confirmation hearings earlier this spring pierced my heart, too. “I’m saving a special moment in this introduction for my daughters, Talia and Leila,” now-Justice-Elect Jackson said.  “Girls, I know it has not been easy as I’ve tried to navigate the challenges of juggling…

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Ask a Woman to Run

March 2, 2022

One of my granddaughters is a topnotch volleyball and basketball player at her middle school.  Her younger sister is a crackerjack softball player and also a superlative gymnast.  Does this mean these girls might be more interested in running for public office one day than their not-so-athletic friends?   Perhaps — particularly if they continue playing…

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Play Ball!

February 1, 2022

When I was a kid growing up in suburban Detroit, I loved to watch my Detroit Tigers play baseball.  I couldn’t wait to tune in to their games on television or listen to them on the radio. My father, a true sports fan, often took me to see “the Boys of Summer” at the team’s…

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Women’s Voices in the New Year

January 2, 2022

Traditionally, the new year is viewed as a time of rebirth.  We’ve taken stock of our losses and are ready to begin our lives anew – with vim, vigor, and vitality.  And hope. Except that, after enduring two years of death and disruption caused by the coronavirus, a new, extremely contagious variant called Omicron has…

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2021: Win, Lose, or Draw?

December 9, 2021

The year 2021 was a mixed bag for women, with momentous gains notched alongside disheartening losses.   On the plus side, we saw the first woman – who is also the first woman of color – sworn in as Vice President of the United States. We saw a historic number of women take their seats in…

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Thanks to Our Mentors

November 6, 2021

The poet Maya Angelou mentored Oprah.  At her Chicago law firm, Michelle Robinson mentored the young Barack Obama, who later married her.  In Hollywood, Audrey Hepburn mentored Elizabeth Taylor. I don’t remember ever hearing the word “mentor” when I was growing up in the 1950s Midwest. Sister Deodata, though, my high-school social studies teacher, certainly…

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Taking a Look at Women’s Parity

September 26, 2021

Women are 51 percent of the population, yet we are still less than one-quarter of our country’s leaders.  Ms. Magazine has done a compilation of fascinating articles (see the section here) that details the quest to increase the number of women in leadership positions in the U.S.  Head here to read about Kathy Hochul, the…

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What Does a Leader Look Like?

August 27, 2021

What does a leader look like?   Organizational psychologists will point to well-known workshop exercises where executives are asked to draw a picture of an effective leader. In terms of gender, the results are nearly always the same.  Both men and women almost always draw men. This apparently unconscious assumption is downright depressing.  Still, as more…

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And the Numbers Are…

August 17, 2021

After a four-month delay caused by the pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau last week released detailed 2020 population data for all 50 states and certain U.S. territories.  These numbers are crucially important. They will be used to decide how federal funds are distributed to our communities for things like roads, bridges, hospitals, and daycare centers. …

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Pin-Stripe Suits and Fedoras

June 17, 2021

There is an old saying in journalism that goes like this: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” This is amusing to journalists because it is precisely what we are trained to do—be skeptical and double check everything. We’re supposed to look with a jaundiced eye at every story we have been…

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