International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world to recognize women’s achievements, raise awareness about women’s equality, and advocate for expedited gender parity. This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge,” which promotes healthy change by challenging norms and expectations placed on women. While International Women’s Day has passed, we recognize and celebrate the great accomplishments of women every day.
We admire today’s strong female leaders who overcame great challenges to get to where they are. So many female business leaders have exemplified what it means to challenge societal standards and garner impactful change for themselves, their business, and for the many people looking up to them. Today, we’re recognizing 9 who have done just that.
Carla Harris
Vice Chairman, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley
Harris was one of the first women and first women of color on Wall Street, breaking into a male-dominated industry and ascended to the top to become a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley. She is also a public speaker and author of “Strategize To Win,” a book on career strategies and proven tools for successful change learned from her years of experience on Wall Street. Harris offers many business tips and resources for women, deemed “Carla’s Pearls,” available on her website. You can also listen to her keynote on how to get ahead at work, here.
Follow Harris on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Mellody Hobson
Co-CEO & President at Ariel Investments
In addition to her responsibility for firm-wide management, strategic planning and growth at Ariel Investments, Hobson is also a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investor education. She is a regular contributor and analyst on finance and economic trends for CBS News and is a columnist for Black Enterprise magazine. She has been the driving force behind the Ariel/Hewitt Study: 401(k) Plans in “Living Color” and the “Ariel Black Investor Survey,” both of which examine investing patterns among minorities. She is a former chairperson of DreamWorks Animation and the first African American woman to head The Economic Club of Chicago, advocating frequently for diversity in leadership roles within the business world. To hear watch her popular TED Talk on diversity in hiring, click here.
Follow Hobson on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Indra Nooyi
Former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo / Board of Directors at Amazon
Nooyi is consistently ranked among the world’s most powerful people, including Forbes’ “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women,” Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women,” and TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Beyond her incredible success of growing PepsiCo’s revenues by more than 80%, Nooyi is the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, a legacy that encourages PepsiCo to do what’s right for the business by being responsive to the needs of the world. She also serves as a chairperson for the U.S.–India economic council and as a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum. To hear her story about coming to the United States with $500 to her name and how she made her way to CEO of PepsiCo, click here.
Follow Nooyi on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Irene Rosenfeld
Former CEO of Kraft Foods and Mondelēz International
Rosenfeld has been repeatedly ranked among The Wall Street Journal’s “50 Women to Watch” and Forbes’ “Most Powerful Women” As a 36-year veteran of big food companies, she led the restructuring of Kraft Foods, creating Mondelēz International and spearheading $27 billion in acquisitions. As CEO, Rosenfeld was responsible for reinvigorating the organization through key acquisitions and new product developments, entering expanding markets abroad and reorganizing the selling of mature American brands. Her ambitious strategies for growth played a key role in her success and made her among the most successful and respected business leaders.
Listen to her interview on how she grew the company through prudent risk–taking here.
Sarah Blakely
Founder and CEO of Spanx
Spanx Founder and Owner, Sarah Blakely, started the company with $5,000 in personal savings and now has her brand in more than 50 countries worldwide. She launched the Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation where donations are made to charities around the world, specifically those that empower underserved women and girls. Blakely became the first self-made, female billionaire to sign the Melinda and Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, promising to give more than half of her wealth to charitable causes. Recently, she has taken matters into her own hands to help female entrepreneurs during COVID-19 by giving 1,000 females $5,000 in funding each. Blakely was named one of the world’s youngest, self-made female billionaires by Forbes magazine and one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People.” Listen to her one-hour interview on her journey from door-to-door salesperson to one of the most influential entrepreneurs here.
Follow Blakely on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Angela Duckworth
Founder and CEO of Character Lab
As a MacArthur Fellow, Duckworth has advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, and Fortune 500 CEOs on creating strong teams through behavior change. After her former career developing summer schools for low-income children, she founded Character Lab, a nonprofit with a mission to advance scientific insights that help children thrive. She is also a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, faculty co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative, and faculty co-director of Wharton People Analytics. Duckworth’s TED talk about the power of perseverance is one of the most-viewed videos of all time. You can also read her #1 New York Times best seller, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance to learn more about how to achieve your career goals.
Follow Duckworth on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Whitney Wolfe Herd
Founder and CEO of Bumble
Herd was an early executive at Tinder, until she decided to create a similar product with women’s empowerment in mind. Herd founded Bumble to allow a safe space for women to make the first move and encourage authentic connections. She has been a public advocate for equal treatment and opportunity for women, starting social campaigns and using her platform to promote legislative protection against digital forms of harassment. Herd was the world’s youngest woman to take a company public, the youngest female self-made billionaire, and was listed among Forbes’ “30 under 30 in Consumer Technology.” Listen to her interview with CNBC on achieving success here.
Follow Herd on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Whitney Johnson
CEO and Founder of WLJ Advisors
An innovation and disruption theorist, Johnson is the author of the bestselling book, Build an “A” Team: Play To Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve, and the critically acclaimed Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work. Johnson was named by Thinkers50 as one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world for helping high-growth organizations develop sustainable growth. She is also a world-class keynote speaker, lecturer for Harvard Business School’s Corporate Learning program, and an executive coach and advisor to CEOs. In her former career as a Wall Street stock analyst, Johnson was ranked as a top equity research analyst for eight consecutive years by the StarMine Global Analyst Awards. Listen to her weekly Disrupt Yourself podcast for advice on becoming more agile and creative within the business world.
Follow Johnson on LinkedIn and Twitter and visit her website.
Carol M. Meyrowitz
President and CEO of The TJX Companies
Meyrowitz is a prime example of how hard work and diligence can lead to success in climbing the corporate ladder. From starting out as an assistant buyer at Saks to becoming one of the world’s most powerful and successful businesswomen, Meyrowitz’s innovative ideas and determination helped her to grow her career and the business substantially. Meyrowitz has worked to develop TJX’s retail brands including TJ Maxx, Home Goods, and Marshalls to triple the organization’s revenue and expand its store base by 60%. She has been ranked as one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes and among CNN’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business.” Listen to her talk with Boston College on entrepreneurship here.
Follow Meyrowitz on LinkedIn.
At LaSalle Network, 70% of our management team are women, many starting as entry-level employees and working their way up, with some recognized nationally for their work and leadership. If you’re looking to work alongside strong female leadership at one of the fastest–growing companies, we’re hiring! View our open roles here.
