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The past years have seen a tremendous mobilization of women, from #MeToo and Time’s Up to climate strikes and marches for political freedom. The potential to shift women’s political, economic, and social power is profound, so how will this activism be harnessed to fundamentally change our nation’s course? What is the agenda for women going into the 2020 elections? Hear fro...
In the US marketplace,11.6 million businesses are owned by women. Growth in this sector has increased by 114 percent since 1997 — 2.5 times the national average — but male-led firms are still more likely to get start-up funding. That’s not simply unfair, it’s stupid, because it turns out firms started by women regularly outperform those founded by men. In this session, suc...
It’s no secret that money in the hands of women is money well taken care of — with copious evidence to prove it. The question is how to get more money into those hands, especially now. An estimated 1.2 million women left the workforce between 2020 and 2022 — thanks largely to the pandemic’s demand for caretakers at home — effecting an enormous economic setback for women an...
Untapped market opportunities, coupled with the recognition that many diseases exclusively affect women, or affect them differently than men, are drawing venture capitalists into women’s health. These private equity investors, often entrepreneurial women, are motivated by a commitment to gender equity, a supportive regulatory environment, and awareness that there are profi...
From advocacy and social impact to growing a global footprint, these women have redefined what it means to create a mission-driven company. Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble, and Jessica Alba, founder and chief creative officer of The Honest Company, paved their own paths from start-up to success by staying true to their founding principles — and not listening...
In every field — business, politics, science, tech, and sport — women are breaking barriers in unprecedented numbers. Women CEOs frequently outpace their male counterparts in delivering profits, women are at the forefront of scientific research (CRISPR, anyone?), and women coaches exceed expectations for leading teams … of men. As more women have taken up posts in DC than...
In 2018, economic activity was accelerating in almost all regions of the world. One year later, much has changed. The escalation of US-China trade tensions, credit tightening in China, and macroeconomic stress in key G20 economies have all contributed to a weakened global expansion. As the US trade war with China deepens, what are the biggest risks at this delicate moment?...
What if the next great idea for transforming the lives of homeless people, restoring neighborhood economies, or moving people into middle-wage jobs, could be prototyped, tested, deployed, and funded like a Silicon Valley start-up? Simply put, that is the promise of urban innovation in America. This promise is only partially realized, however, because urban innovators strug...
How can we unlock the power of entrepreneurship to widen access to health care, close gender disparity, and increase prosperity in the global South? Hear from expert voices and innovators on tools to address social, economic, and environmental challenges in developing economies.
Stuart Weitzman is one of America’s most famous shoe designers, known for outfitting countless celebrities (think Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Kate Moss) but — perhaps more importantly — women across the globe who aspire to quality, class, and style. Here, he shares the lessons of his entrepreneurial adventure — which concluded with the 2015 sale of the company for $574 mil...
Wife to one president, mother to another, Barbara Bush may be one of the most influential and underappreciated women in American political history. Join the biographer whose recent portrait — based on extensive interviews and even access to Mrs. Bush’s diary — brings to life this formidable and complicated American icon famous for her candor, her wit, her fearlessness, and...
With the power of a text message, the advice of a health worker fits in the palm of your hand. With innovative entrepreneurship, care becomes accessible where it previously was not. With the skill of a midwife, the pregnant woman in need of a champion thrives. Health systems may be complex, but what powers them is simple—the human beings at their backbone who are critical...
In April of 2018, two black men walked into a Starbucks in Philadelphia for a business meeting. Ten minutes later, while waiting for their colleague to arrive, a manager called the police and they were arrested. Rosalind Brewer, one of the most accomplished African American women in business had just become COO of Starbucks. In navigating how the company should respond to...
How did an Iranian-born single mom make her way to the “room where it happened,” ultimately serving as one of the closest advisors to the president of the United States? Join Valerie Jarrett as she tells her story, from breaking race and gender barriers in the 1970s and 1980s to working on equality for women and girls, civil rights, and our criminal justice system — along...
No one is immune from the catastrophic storms, wildfires, heat waves, and drought that accompany climate change, but the risks are far greater for some populations than for others. Unstable housing, food insecurity, inadequate access to care, lack of tree canopy, and proximity to toxic emissions and other environmental hazards all intensify the health consequences. People...
It’s easy, in the United States, to talk about China as a monolith. But the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. As in the West, Chinese society is divided by inequality, geography, gender, and generation — after all, China is home to more than one billion people. As we seek to understand China’s role in the 21st century, we do well to consider where change is comin...
America has always meant business. We’re a nation of self-starters, strivers, and entrepreneurs — with the courage to take big risks and the confidence to determine our own destiny. Entrepreneurs are seen as the beating heart of our economy, generating the jobs, wealth, and innovation that keep the American Dream alive. But what are the conditions that small businesses nee...
Featured Ideas Festival Scholars include Lashon Amado, María Teresa Kumar, Michael McAfee, and Eshauna Smith. Fueling today’s highly charged political environment is the growing sense that opportunity is elusive and inequality is rising because our national economic policies unfairly disadvantage the middle class. Millions of Americans believe they’re pawns in a game they...