Women in Academia

I recently read an article that highlighted the achievements of several Harvard women from the Women and Public Policy Program's class of 2009. These women are standouts for their extraordinary work involving women. They were recognized by their superiors and peers for being leaders. It's encouraging to see such positive women in an age where being "a lady" is often lost in the wind.

Wivina Belmonte was awarded the Barbara Jordan Leadership Award, which highlights women who are committed to being positive role models for other women. In 1966 Barbara Johnson, a well-known public-servant and politician, was the first Black woman selected as a member of the Texas Senate. Wivina was deserving of this award for her ability to bridge the gap between her classmates of difference backgrounds.

Working directly to ignite the women of Harvard, Erica Lewis, received the Holly Taylor Sargent Prize for Women's Advancement. Erica was determined to positively affect the lives of women she interacted with daily at Harvard.

And finally, Shanza Khan, originally from Pakistan, was the recipient of the Jane Mansbridge Research Award. Shanza received this honor through nominations from her advisors. Her exceptional research paper, "An Evaluation of the Capacity Building Component of the Punjab Safe Motherhood Initiative," made her a stand-out among other students in her program. The paper focused on healthcare issues in rural Pakistan.

It's extremely encouraging for myself and future generations of young ladies, to see such great examples of women making outstanding achievements in their fields. These three stand-out because they're directly affecting other women. Kudos to their awesome achievements.

Women, start making your Moves today!

Farrah Fawcett

By now we're all aware of Farrah Fawcett's passing. On Thursday, June 25, she succumbed to cancer, which she battled for three years. It's an extremely unfortunate situation, but one I know she was prepared for. Her family and friends are now making preparations to pay their last respects on Tuesday, June 30 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. The funeral will be a private event, one where those who loved her most will surely celebrate Farrah's life.

Fawcett's career spans from the ultimate pin-up girl to more serious roles such as The Burning Bed that focused on domestic violence. Diving head-on into the character of Francine Hughes, Fawcett gave a face to the violence that millions of women encounter everyday. For this Fawcett joins the ranks of other Women Making Moves. She also went against the naysayers who refused to take her seriously as an actress.

As Farrah Fawcett is laid to rest, I will forever remember her as a woman who created her own path instead of traveling one that was already well-worn. Rest in Peace Farrah.

Women, start making your Moves today!

Rachel Sklar's Charitini

Several weeks ago New York City celebrated Internet Week. The week-long celebration featured tons of activities from cocktail events, a Webutante Ball and Social Media Camp. The first event I attended was New York City Ignite. Ignite brings together "geeks" for five minute presentations featuring topics of their choice.

In it's fourth installment, hosts Tikva Morowati and Brady Forrest, gave the floor to eight presenters including a satirical skit about Swine Flu to the first annual 15 Second Ignite Film Festival. My favorite speaker was Rachel Sklar who discussed her Charitini cause. It's designed to provide monetary gifts to nonprofit organizations. Rachel receives donations from her friends, family and anyone else willing to give. What started as a way to celebrate Rachel's birthday has snowballed into a continuous effort to help nonprofits in need. Kudos to Rachel for forgoing birthday drinks to ensure the need of charitable organizations are taken of!

Women start making your Moves today!

Neri Oxam "#43 on Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People"

(Neri Oxam: Picture courtesy of Fast Company's June 2009 issue)

I was fortunate to have attended a reception celebrating The 100 Most Creative People in Business hosted by Fast Company Magazine. Those who received this honor ranged from a SVP with the Apple uber brand, to fashion icon Stella McCartney and music maven Lisa Ellis. While these are stellar names, I was extremely impressed by the everyday people making extraordinary strides in their professions.

One of the honorees that stood out the most was Neri Oxman who serves as a Presidential Fellow for the MIT Media Lab. Neri's background includes work as an architecture, computer scientist and artist. She considers herself a professional student, having spent a number of years completing various degrees, but in 10 months she'll receive her Ph.D. Neri's portfolio is impressive. She's known for combining her knowledge of sustainable materials and design to create unique master pieces.

Neri is doing awesome work in her field. Fast Company reports she's currently seeking a patent for a one of the kind 3-D printer. It's refreshing to see a women in a non-conventional field stand-out as Neri does. All 100 honorees are featured on Fast Company's website, but I encourage you to buy the print version because it includes a more indepth profile of everyone. Congrats to all who made the list!

Women, start making your Moves today!

The Women of the T3PR Conference

The Technology Section of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) held its annual T3PR Conference in NYC on June 9. I attended for the first time and this year's program confirmed that I'll attend again. The event was well planned and attended by a variety of PR professionals in the technology field. There were a number of prominent speakers from the tech and social media field present, but what amazed me the most is that half of the speakers were women. I was super excited when I realized that a full day of tech talk would include women!

I've blogged on several occasions about the need for more women involvement in the tech field. And I fully believe providing PR representation to a tech company equates to working in the field. As a PR professional, you have to fully understand how a client's business works before providing them with publicity services. My final count consisted of eight women who presented at the conference.

I have to recognize Sandra Fathi, Debra Dixon and Robin Lane. These three women served as Co-Chairs of the event. Each has a unique background in the technology field and due to their efforts, the conference went on without any major hitches. Other speakers included: Beth Murphy-Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for Digg; Dawn Marie Yankeelov-President of Kentucky based ASPectx; Shonali Burke-Owner of Shonali Burke Consulting; Caroline McCarthy-Staff Writer for CNET; and Deirdre Brenkenridge-President and Director of Communications at PFS Marketwyse. Most of these women are active on Twitter. I encourage you to reach out and thank them for their work in the technology field. T3PR Twitter updates are also available. Start there to find out what was discussed and consider attending next year. You'll certainly see me there.

Women, start making your Moves today!

Ariane de Bonvoisin

I'm sure some of you can relate to me. I'm reevaluating my goals and changing the way I approach life. It's now or never. We've entered the half-way point of 2009 and now is the perfect time to see if you're on the right track. As I was going through this process, it just so happened that I came across an uplifting book by author Ariane de Bonvoisin. As the Founder and CEO of http://www.first30days.com/, Ariane's passion involves helping people achieve the change in their life they deserve. She refers to herself as the Chief Change Optimist. A title that's sure to bring forth positive outcomes.

Ariane recently authored "The First 30 Days: Your Guide to Any Change (and Loving Your Life More)." Change can't be avoided. It's happening today more than ever. People are reconsidering what's important as they experience layoffs and foreclosures due to the current economy. The First 30 Days is designed to show readers how to confront change head-on. The first chapter begins: "Change Your View of Change" and the last chapter encourages readers to: "Get Unstuck." You've heard of the power of positive thinking, I'm sure. This is exactly what Ariane suggests as she tells us to change the way our mind works. Positive thoughts normally lead to positive outcomes. And most of the time when a person thinks negatively, they can't open themselves up for the good things that are sure to come.

I encourage women who are looking to jump-start a change in their life to read The First 30 Days or connect with Ariane via Twitter to receive her up-to-date thoughts on creating a new you. Don't wait until tomorrow to do what can be done today. One of my changes involves growing as an independent public relations consultant. Please share in the comments section the changes occurring in your life.

Women, start making your Moves today!