Issue No. LXXXII, March 8, 2011   THIS ISSUE’S HIGHLIGHTS: I.      OPENING THE DOORS OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE II.     SALUTING COURAGE IN LEADERSHIP III.    THE WORK OF FIRST LADIES IV.   THE WORK OF CORPORATE CEOS V.   THE GIFT OF DAUGHTERS _______________________________________________________________________________________ I.   OPENING THE DOORS OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE                    One hundred sixty Spanish women business leaders joined Global Summit of Women President Irene Natividad in opening the Madrid Stock Exchange (La Bolsa) on Friday, February 11th.  This was not only the first time that women as a group have opened the market in Madrid, but it was also the first time in any European country.  “If you do not see women in traditional business events such as Market Open, it’s as if they do not belong there.  Optics matter,” states Natividad, who initiated the event in her capacity as Chair of Corporate Women Directors International, which conducts research and convenes women board directors globally.                 This is the fourth stock exchange opened through CWDI auspices.  Prior Market Opens were held at NASDAQ in New York (2006), Toronto Stock Exchange (2010) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (2010).  The Madrid Market Open was sponsored by the City of Madrid – La Comunidad de Madrid – and the Instituto de Estudios Bursatiles.  “It was an exciting event for women to open La Bolsa together for the first time.  We know it will not be the last time either, “ said Margarita de Cos, member of the Summit’s International Planning Committee and the primary organizer of the event.

Rosa Otunbayeva President of Kyrgyzstan Hon. Emine Erdogan First Lady, Turkey Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor First Lady, Turkey Alison Smale Executive Editor, International Herald Tribune   Anna Sienko Managing Director, IBM Poland Carina Szpilka CEO, ING Direct Spain Serpil Timuray CEO, Vodafone Turkey                   II.        SALUTING COURAGE IN LEADERSHIP               To mark International Women’s Day, the US State Department headed by Secretary Hillary Clinton recognized the leadership and courage of ten women from different parts of the world.  The event was marked by two heads of state who happen to be women – the Prime Minister of Australia, the first woman to head up her country and the President of Kyrgyzstan, the interim head of a government in the making.  Rosa Otunbayeva, the Kyrgyz President, was also one of the ten awardees.                 In introducing President Otunbayeva, Secretary Clinton spoke of the courage of this President in persisting in the creation of a democratic government.  A former Foreign Minister and Ambassador, President Otunbeyeva was one of the leaders of the Tulip Revolution, which overthrew a corrupt regime.  She is leading the interim government, while promising elections and the creation of a new constitution.  She also declared that she would not lead the new government that emerges.  Secretary Clinton declared that President Otunbayeva is both an example and a challenge to the world’s leaders, some of whom cling to power long after their tenure is warranted.  In acknowledging the award, the Kyrgyz President said:  “Women must take risks, because change does not happen without risks.” III.    THE WORK OF FIRST LADIES                US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she had a special place in her heart for First Ladies, because it was one of the toughest roles she ever had.  Unelected but expected to lead nowadays and not just plan state banquets, First Ladies now play pivotal roles in many countries as they use the bully pulpit of their positions to call attention to issues that may not gain currency otherwise without the glare of the spotlight that they bring.                 The role of First Ladies will be explored in a special First Ladies Forum that will be part of the program of the 2011 Global Summit of Women, which will be hosted by Turkey from May 5-7th in Istanbul.  The Host Country’s First Lady Emine Erdogan has spoken out against violence against women in all parts of the world.  A recent recipient of the “Prix de Fondation” in Brussels, she declared that “Rights of women in our geography should not be sacrificed for balance of power and security concerns of some regimes…..We have seen many women who were abused both in the West and in the East.  They all have one thing in common, which is  being a human and a woman.”  Malaysia’s First Lady, Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor is an equally outspoken advocate for women, but her heart is with the children of her country, whom she sees as the investment in human capital that will yield long term benefits for her country.  She leads numerous organizations focused on children’s welfare and health issues.  She has been a driver for early childhood education in Malaysia, the vehicle for which are PERMATA centers, 600 of which have been set up around the country. IV.     THE WORK OF CORPORATE CEOS                 Women leading companies will be featured at the annual CEO Forum in the Global Summit of Women.  This year’s forum will be chaired by Alison Smale, Executive Editor of the International Herald Tribune, who has held previous leadership posts in the New York Times and Associated Press.  Participants in the forum include Anna Sienko, who serves as General Manager of IBM Poland.  She is a 13-year veteran of IBM, where she initially served as Director of Outsourcing for IBM’s Global Services.  Joining her is Carina Szpilka, recently appointed CEO of ING Direct Spain, after serving as CEO of ING Direct France.  In addition to leading the company in Spain, she is also on the Advisory Boards of Interhyp AG and ING Bank Romania.  From Turkey, Serpil Timuray, CEO of Vodafone, will participate in the forum.  Credited with turning the company around since becoming its leader in 2009,, Ms. Timiray is credited with making Vodafone Turkey the fastest growing market in the Vodafone group of companies..  From the U.S., Cathy Martin leads the European Operations, Training and Equipment Teams for McDonald’s Corporation.  She is a 23-year veteran of the company, where she began as a Restaurant Manager right after graduating from university studies.                  These four outstanding executives will look at “Trends Affecting the 21st Century Workplace,”  while sharing lessons learned from their own career paths.  How will the Internet impact on the workplace culture going forward?  What role will social media play in their marketing strategies?  What advice would they give to women moving up the corporate ranks for successful 21st century careers?  These are some of the questions that will be explored in this exciting dialogue among four very accomplished women. V.   THE GIFT OF DAUGHTERS                When a CEO has a daughter, the gender pay gap is reduced in his company.  That is a key finding from a very thorough Danish study by three economists who examined 734,200 employees in 6,320 companies from 1995 to 2006.  Their data included the CEOs of these companies, along with the birthdates of their children.                 While Danish women earn 21.5% less than men do, that pay gap closes by 0.5% when a daughter is born to a male CEO.  “Breaking the data down further, the birth of a first daughter caused the gap to close by 0.8 percentage points. If the first daughter was also a first child, the gap closed by 2.8 percentage points (representing 13% of the gap…. The researchers proposed that “a switch flips” in the male CEO’s mind, making him more sensitive to gender issues, when they have daughters.”  Women with college degrees benefitted the most from this reduced gap, but women with only high school education did not.                 There was no change in wages between men and women when female CEOs had children.  (Wall Street Journal online, 3/3/11). A special Youth Forum featuring young women business leaders will be part of the Global Summit of Women’s program that will be open to youth participating at the Summit and university business students from Istanbul-based universities.