Corporate Circle

Past Corporate Circle Meetings

June 10, 2009
Women and the Economic Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities –
Hosted by Accenture (click here for full summary) - The panel explored the challenges and opportunities facing women in the current economic crisis. The crisis has brought about higher levels of stress due to increased workloads, decreased compensation, and escalating worries about job security and personal finances. But the reduction of the workforce and subsequent restructuring has also created real opportunities for women who are willing to improvise, innovate and take on new responsibilities and assignments. While tightening budgets threaten the sustainability of diversity initiatives, there is an opening for creative solutions that can lead to more flexible work arrangements, increased work/life balance and job satisfaction.

January 29, 2008
Diversity Driving Corporate Social Responsibility – Hosted by Weil Gotshal & Manges, the program highlighted the strategic implications for business, from the bottom line to recruiting and retaining top talent. The convening gathered researchers and business leaders to explore the latest trends and identify best practices in promoting Corporate Social Responsibility with a focus on how diversity, and women leaders in particular, drive CSR efforts.

November 6, 2007
Flex Practices as Strategic Imperative: Issues and Challenges Today – Hosted by Lehman Brothers, this convening examined flexible work policies as a strategic imperative for companies, as necessary to the companies' bottom lines as they are to individuals who make use of them. Panelists and participants discussed some of the deep structural and attitudinal challenges to the general acceptance of flexibility as a basic value in the workplace and in successful career planning.

May 1, 2007
Developing and Retaining Talent: Working Across Generations – Hosted by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, this convening examined successful practices and challenges for developing and retaining different generations, and working across generations. Important goals of the panel were to provide insights for this work and “take-aways” that will be useful to corporations and talent managers.

February 13, 2007
Strategically Managing Global Talent – This panel discussion was hosted by American Express to discuss both international relocation assignments and managing the global careers of women in the corporate world. Moderated by Melinda Wolfe of American Express, the panel included representatives from Catalyst, UBS AG, Cartus International, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Link to Shattered article, July 2007

October 10, 2006
Latinas and Hispanic Women in the Corporation This meeting was convened in collaboration with Merrill Lynch’s Hispanic Awareness month and brought together representatives of the corporate, academic, and legal professions. Panelists emphasized the importance of recruiting, retaining, and advancing women with a Hispanic background.

January 24, 2006
Gender Identity and Expression in the Workplace (click here for full summary) – This panel discussion focused on gender identity, expression, and discrimination in the workplace and their implications for policy and practices as well as the legal issues surrounding this topic and the broader socio-cultural contexts.

November 1, 2005
Religion in the Workplace (click here for full summary) - This meeting featured a panel discussion focusing on religious groups and individuals in companies, legal issues surrounding the often contentious topic, and conceptual approaches to dealing with the issue.

June 17, 2005
The Power of Accountability – The Calvert Women’s Principles -- Panelists discussed the Calvert Women’s Principles, launched in partnership with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which is a new global code of conduct companies can adopt to show their employees, customers and the world that they are committed to women’s advancement  

June 6, 2005
NCRW Annual Conference Panel “Opting Different: Reframing the Work/Life Debate” – As a follow up to the February 1 st meeting, panelists were asked to reframe the work/life debate by filling in the gaps, outline strategies for creating change in the work environment, look at how different populations – including men – are affected by and are approaching this issue, and provide perspective in shaping work-life effectiveness  

February 1, 2005
“Opting Out – Myth, Viable Option, or Media Spin?” Panelists discussed the phenomenon of “opting out” as it relates to the actual options women perceive they have, their sense of satisfaction, their career aspirations, and their realities – and how this varies across race, class, and generation. The panelists also examined the research and information lacking in the public debate, and provided tools to help participants play a role in reframing the issue in a broader context.

 November 5, 2004
“The ABC’s of creating inclusive environments that maximize intellectual and leadership potential” Dr. Beverly Tatum , President of Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, joined us to discuss the ABC’s of maximizing intellectual and leadership potential – Affirming identity, Building community, and Cultivating leadership.

April 30, 2004
“The Hidden Brain Drain: Women and Minorities as Underutilized Assets”
Sylvia Hewlett , Senior Scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and a lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School , Princeton University and Carolyn Buck-Luce, Partner in the Global Accounts Group at Ernst & Young, led a discussion about the Task Force that they recently initiated.  

January 30, 2004
Ella Bell, co-author of Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity , led a special interactive workshop for a full afternoon around issues of race, class, sexual orientation, and gender in the workplace.  

October 10, 2003
Women’s Leadership Forums
Harriet Edelman , Senior Vice President, Avon presented goals and challenges of the Leadership Summit that she spearheaded and helped to shape at Avon . Mary Hartman – Director, Institute for Women’s Leadership, Rutgers University was a respondent.

May 8, 2003
Partnerships in Developing an Ethical Approach to Globalization
A presentation by NCRW Human Security Fellows about their work focusing on issues of global violence against women and corporate citizenship. Laura Liswood, Senior Advisor and former Managing Director, Global Leadership and Diversity at Goldman, Sachs and co-founder of the World Economic Forum’s Women Leaders Initiative, The White House Project, and Council of Women World Leaders, moderated the discussion.  

January 17, 2003
Ella L.J. Edmondson Bell , co-author of OUR SEPARATE Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity discussed findings in her book that compare and contrast the experiences of 120 black and white women managers in the American business arena. In her presentation she discussed the ways race continues to influence professional relationships between black and white women despite their shared status as women.

November 8, 2002
Work-Life Integration: The “Win-Win Agenda” & the Radcliff/Fleet Project
Anne Szostak , Executive VP and Director of Corporate Human Resources, FleetBoston Financial and Dr. Paula Rayman, discussed the “Radcliffe-Fleet Project” and its implications for creating positive changes to attract and retain a diverse and competent workforce and enhance productivity. The “Radcliffe-Fleet Project” was a joint venture developed by Rayman and Szostak in 1996 to enhance the well-being of Fleet employees and their families, and more effectively achieve Fleet’s business goals.

December 5, 2001
Advancing Women into Leadership: What does it take?
Deborah Merrill-Sands , Associate Dean, Simmons School of Management, discussed stubborn micro-inequities that can accumulate to create uncomfortable, and even hostile work environments, and strategies for addressing these inequities.  

May 11, 2001
Why Corporate Women Leave Corporate Positions
Myra Strober, labor economist and Professor at Stanford University ’s School of Education and a former chair of NCRW’s Board, discussed the research from her book The Road Winds Uphill all the Way: Gender, Work, and Family in the United States and Japan as well as her consulting work in the corporate sector.

 February 9, 2001
Crossing Sectors: Moving between the For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Arenas
Joyce Roche, President and CEO, Girls Inc. and Wayne Winborne, Director, Strategic Data Analysis, Prudential Financial and NCRW Board Member, discussed the common ground between sectors, where one can have the greatest impact, how diversity fits into each arena, and the motivation behind their decisions to move.