85 Broads has the honor to welcome Laura Liswood for a special event, Leadership in a Diverse World, to better understand the advancement of women leadership in an increasingly diverse marketplace and global community. As an organization dedicated to widening the network of women ‘trailblazers’, we seek to understand what is needed to advance women leadership, while creating greater platforms of change to inspire, connect, and empower women around the world.

Much of Laura Liswood’s life work has been outlined by a commitment to the advancement of women and understanding of leadership. In previous roles as Director of the Women’s Leadership Project from 1992-1996, Ms. Liswood identified global leadership contributions by women heads of state, women presidents, prime ministers, and heads of government to gain greater understanding for what it would take for a woman to become President of the United States.

In 1997, she co-founded The White House Project, dedicated to electing a woman President of the United States with a belief that by “filling the leadership pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women, we make American institutions, businesses, and government truly representative.” (1)

In light of the visibility gained from Hillary Clinton’s campaign and later encapsulated with the Obama ‘Change’ campaign and present administration, it seems we stand uniquely positioned to reevaluate and ask the question. What will it take to see a women President of the United States in this diverse world? What are the attributes needed, leadership qualities to ascertain, understanding/insight to glean?

For the last five years, Laura Liswood has assisted Forbes in compiling the list of the world’s most powerful women. In 1996, she co-founded the Council of Women World Leaders, seeking “to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women” (2) and as members of 85 Broads, we seek to not only empower each other, but look for the advancement of leadership through our own lens, ability, and call to action with an understanding of diversity and the effectiveness of leadership.

As Laura Liswood mentioned in her ‘Run Women Run’ talk in San Diego, CA in June 2009, because “now it is up to us to create that new vision, to create that new job if you will (for us), because we have everything it takes to be leaders and now it is up to us to create the new vision of the change for where we want to go.” (3)

Thank you, Ms. Liswood, for taking the time to speak. We look forward to learning from you.

Morgan Adams

1.[thewhitehouseproject.org]

2.[cwwl.org]

3.‘Women World Leaders’, Run Women Run Talk in San Diego, CA, June 2009.

To register for Leadership in a Diverse World: [regonline.com]