As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation and BPW/USA honor today’s trailblazing women as they lead the way in creating successful workplaces.
This Misbehavin’ interview is one in a series as BPW commemorates Women’s History Month.
Polly Pinney is the Executive Director of Facilities Management at Arizona State University, one of the nation’s largest public research universities located in Phoenix, AZ serving some 67,000 students. In addition, she is the President-Elect of APPA; an international association dedicated to elevating facilities professionals into influential leaders in education. In her role at ASU, she has responsibility for a multi-campus organization maintaining some 10 million square feet of space on more than 1500 acres in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
As APPA President-Elect, she provides leadership for an organization serving over 5,000 facilities professionals at more than 1500 learning institutions in the US, Canada and abroad. Units which she has managed have garnered six Governors Awards for Excellence, she was named twice to the Outstanding Young Women of America, and she is the recipient of the APPA Meritorious Service Award.
My favorite woman in history is…I have 2! The first is Margaret Thatcher because she proved power, grace and toughness are not mutually exclusive terms. The second is Hilary Clinton because she exhibits fearlessness and grace in the face of absolutely anything. She refuses to acknowledge, much less be deterred by barriers. She has power with “heart.”
Women have helped me succeed in my career by…I have been fortunate to have role models both female and male. As I developed my career many women impacted me from many different sources. The women in our lives, both professionally and personally, are our best support.
Early in my career I attended the HERS Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration at Bryn Mawr College. Here I was fortunate to be instructed by the ultimate role models for higher education, female University Presidents and Vice Presidents. This is the ground where ambitions are seeded! As seeing these women inspired me, I hope that my presence in both my roles will be a model for young women entering my profession.
I support Business and Professional Women’s Foundation because…I have lived with the effects and triumphs of issues like salary equity and opportunity for women. I believed in these principles when I became a member of BPW/USA, I continue to believe in them, and I will continue to support these ideals until they are part and parcel of the fabric of our world.
BPW is one of the few voices left that is supporting important women’s issues and bringing them forward actively. I have a 25 year old daughter and I would not want her to experience the things that my generation worked to put to rest.
I’m proud to be a Misbehavin’ Woman by…Never saying “I can’t do that” in reference to a workplace challenge. We grow when we stretch our boundaries and comfort level. We must firmly grasp each opportunity to excel.
As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation and BPW/USA honor today’s trailblazing women as they lead the way in creating successful workplaces.
This Misbehavin’ interview is one in a series as BPW commemorates Women’s History Month.
I have spent much of my life working for causes and candidates I believe in and have the meager retirement savings to prove it.
Prior to joining BPW, I served as Deputy Political Director for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. I have done stints at Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the NEA (the teachers, not the arts) and cut my teeth on campaigns in Missouri, Colorado, and Arizona. I took a brief detour to advocate for another one of my passions – the performing arts. I got my BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado (Go Buffs!) and my MA in Philosophy and Social Policy from George Washington University.
My favorite woman in history is… Representative Pat Schroeder (D-CO). Former Representative Pat Schroeder was a trailblazing woman. She was the first woman to sit on the House Armed Services Committee, a prime mover behind the Family Medical Leave Act and briefly ran for President. My favorite Pat quote is, “When people ask me why I am running as a woman, I always answer, “What choice do I have?”
I support Business and Professional Women’s Foundation because… It is not enough that all the women we know are struggling to balance their professional and personal responsibilities or that women veterans routinely tell us that their hard won skills are not valued or that many companies are succeeding because of, not in-spite of, their flexible, family-friendly workplaces – we need data to prove it. We need the research and leadership of BPW Foundation to convince the policymakers and opinion leaders that things need to change and they need to change now.
I’m proud to be a Misbehavin’ Woman by… Speaking truth to power.
On April 8th, 2008, Congress enacted the resolution to make April the Month of the Military Child. The legislation, originally introduced in March of 2007, urges Americans to join with the military community in observing this resolution. And just recently, Congress declared 2009 as the Year of the Military Family. But what does this all mean?
As a military spouse, I am glad that our politicians are trying to ensure that civilians take note the sacrifices our military families make. Accordingly, our children deal with some of the biggest stresses concerning their parents returning from OIF and OEF. PSTD, TBI, and other injuries are very difficult to handle; the military community deals with these issues regularly. I believe that there has been an atmosphere of indifference from civilians who don’t know our struggles, and who therefore go on living their daily lives, some sporting Support our Troops yellow ribbons on their cars. Perhaps these Congressional resolutions will motivate civilians to actually do something, get involved, and ask their military neighbors how they can help them.
I am involved with several military and veterans organizations. One of those is Blue Star Families. The organization is gearing up for the year, and specifically for this April, the month of the Military Child. BSF has posted a survey for military families on their website to get some feedback on concerns of the military spouse and children of military families.
I encourage all those involved with the military, as well as veterans, to join (membership is free) and complete the short survey posted on the website. BSF will provide the results of the survey to top policy makers and the media. The survey will close on March 31st, so hurry!
There are other organizations, like the National Military Family Association and the USOthat consistently sponsor activities and events for military families. Many organizations like these, in service for the military community, have been critical to the military family. I would hope that this political recognition of the military community as a whole will shed more light on the life of the military family.
Policy & Action 2009 is taking multitasking to a whole new level.Live a day in the life of Gen Y-ers, who can effectively conduct a conference call, e-mail, read work notes, and update their facebook status about how busy they are – all at one time. Can you read, watch, and listen? P&A will feature a live twitter feed during the presentations (A-list just announced), so bring your laptops and bberrys to stream your feedback.Or, tweet from home and tell us what you’re doing for the Day of Action.Tweet about it, talk about it.Join BPW/USA virtually or in person on March 31.
Online reg ends Wednesday, March 25, on-site reg is $25 more.
This is one in a series of articles from BPW Foundation’s Successful Workplace Digest, a collection of the best work-life and progressive workplace practices from corporations, non-profits and government entities.
Between 1980 and 2007 the number of women veteran increased from 1.1 million to 1.7 million. And as more women join up this number is only going to grow. When these women leave the military they are often highly-skilled but civilian employers don’t know how to utilize these top performers.
One reason is that there are myths and misinformation about women veterans. While in the military women have a high rate of success with opportunities to advance and hold high-ranking positions, but many misconceptions negatively influence women veterans’ capacity to transition successfully into civilian life.
While most veterans face similar problems as they transition from the military to the new world of civilian work, women veterans must deal with a different set of stereotypes and ignorance. The training, skills, discipline, team building and leadership experience cultivated within the military are all valuable to civilian employers, and women veterans can be as great an asset to employers as their male counterparts.
Here are some myths debunked by Business and Professional Women’s Foundation’s Research project, “Women Veterans in Transition.” The facts should encourage employers to actively recruit and engage women veterans in their organizations.
MYTH Women are less capable than men of carrying out the physical tasks demanded by military work.
FACTThe Defense Women’s Health Research Program (DWHRP) demonstrates conclusively that women are equal to men in the physical and cognitive aspects of military readiness, including meeting such physical challenges as the tolerance of gravity forces, the ability to respond to stress and the ability to survive in extremes of heat and cold.”1
MYTH Women have a hard time achieving success in the military.
FACTApproximately 95 percent of all jobs in the military are open to women.
›› The percentage of women serving on active duty in the military has more than doubled since 1978.
›› Women account for close to 20 percent of the U.S. Military.
›› Women account for the largest increase in enlistment.2
MYTH Women compromise the military’s efficiency and success because of on-duty days lost due to pregnancy and maternal leave.
FACTStatistically, men spend even more time away from active duty. For male soldiers, this is almost exclusively due to behavioral issues such as desertion, drug and alcohol abuse, incarceration or being AWOL.3
MYTH Most veterans are middle-aged.
FACTThirty percent of female veterans are under the age of 35, compared to only 10 percent of male veterans.4 Read the rest of this entry »
BPW Foundation has extended the deadline for TWO FREE REGISTRATIONS to attend Policy and Action.
We want Capitol Hill to hear your voice.
Send us 500 words or less about what you would say to your member of Congress on issues important to working women. Especially sassy entries will be posted on the blog.
Submissions due this Friday, March 27.
Email foundation@bpwfoundation.org
As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation and BPW/USA honor today’s trailblazing women as they lead the way in creating successful workplaces.
This Misbehavin’ interview is one in a series as BPW commemorates Women’s History Month.
Name: Jennifer J. Jones
Title: It depends on the day
Jennifer has a background in health and the sciences. She uses those interests to support the health of women and marginalized populations through volunteer work and community organizations. She understands that promoting health for women starts at home so she runs regularly and takes modern dance classes.
My favorite woman in history is…Madam C.J. Walker and Marie Curie: Scientists, women, entrepreneurs.
Women have helped me succeed in my career by…serving as role models, even when they didn’t know I was watching.
I support Business and Professional Women’s Foundation because…creating successful workplaces and modeling the practices BPWF supports is integral to any company’s success.
I’m proud to be a Misbehavin’ Woman by…saying what others are thinking, but are afraid to say, if it is for the greater good of the cause.
Many people don’t want to think about what happens behind closed doors. That is until celebrities make headline news and force us to re-look at the ugly reality facing far too many women in this country.
One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime and females who are 20-24 years old are at the greatest risk of intimate partner violence.
The situation between Rihanna and Chris Brown is a classic case of abuse through his acts of violence and attempts to isolate her from her family and friends. Domestic violence remains too prevalent in our society and sociologists are now saying that the economic downturn will make it worse.
It is hard to gauge the human side of the financial crisis, but it’s something worth noting because the emotional and physical toll it will have on women will be detrimental and in some cases irreversible.
In the Huffington Post, Peter Dreier writes about how as the economy worsens more people will die, get physically hurt, suffer emotional hardships and be victimized. This recession will not only be costly in a financial sense, but the human toll could be pervasive and long lasting. Dreier also cites some terrifying stats: “for every one percent increase in the unemployment rate (an additional 1.5 million people out of work), we can expect an additional 47,000 deaths, including 26,000 deaths from heart attacks, about 1,200 from suicide, 831 murders, and 635 deaths related to alcohol consumption.”
As the economic downturn deepens, the new challenges faced by many people will be translated into increased stress, anxiety, anger and frustration. This will also lead to an increase in domestic violence and child abuse. The article also mentions that “a 2004 study by the National Institute of Justice found that the rate of violence against women increases as male unemployment increases. When a woman’s male partner is employed, the rate of violence is 4.7%. It is 7.5% when the male partner experiences one period of unemployment. It increases to 12.3% when the male experiences two or more periods of unemployment”.
These are staggering statistics that should make us realize there’s more to this crisis than home foreclosures and plummeting stocks. However during a time when mental health professionals, police, nonprofits, call centers and other human service providers are increasingly needed they too feel the strain of less money and fewer resources. It’s a downward spiral that feeds off each other as more women lose their health insurance and can’t afford the help they need, or fear leaving their violent partner because of strapped financial resources and an inability to find a new job.
The national dialogue that has been sparked by the abuse of Rihanna is sadly needed because domestic violence can be a very taboo and uncomfortable topic that is not discussed enough by schools, parents and policymakers.
The current economic crisis could be the catalyst for a new wave of violence and abuse. It’s more important than ever to confront this problem.
As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation and BPW/USA honor today’s trailblazing women as they lead the way in creating successful workplaces.
This Misbehavin’ interview is one in a series as BPW commemorates Women’s History Month.
Name: Ayoka Blandford
Title: Communications Director
Organization: BPW
Ayoka Blandford is a writer with a background in PR and Communications. As a working mother, Blandford is passionate about her community, children and education.
My favorite woman in history is…Sojourner Truth. When I was little, my mother had a framed poster that hung in our dining room of Truth giving her famous speech dubbed “Ain’t I a woman?” An abolitionist and women’s rights advocate, she was waaaaaaay before her time. Born around 1797, she gave herself the name Sojourner Truth.
Women have helped me succeed in my career by… serving as role models. Women within my family and inner circle have helped me become self-confident and offered support and strength through their example. I always tell women in particular to be aware of their actions because there are young people watching.
I support Business and Professional Women’s Foundation because…women and girls still need organizations dedicated to equity and creating leaders for tomorrow.
I’m proud to be a Misbehavin’ Woman by…talking to my daughter about anything and everything…and telling her the truth about it. And I will do the same for my son.
Women have helped me succeed in my career by…I have been fortunate to have role models both female and male. As I developed my career many women impacted me from many different sources. The women in our lives, both professionally and personally, are our best support.
Name: Rachel Lyons
On April 8th, 2008, Congress enacted the resolution to make April the 
I am involved with several military and veterans organizations. One of those is 
As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, 
It is hard to gauge the 
As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, 
Women have helped me succeed in my career by… serving as role models. Women within my family and inner circle have helped me become self-confident and offered support and strength through their example. I always tell women in particular to be aware of their actions because there are young people watching.