Leadership in Civil Society

 From CNN:

What's the connection? We live in a sexualized society where the gap between fantasy and reality is vast and harmful.

"Women are aspiring to do great things in leadership, yet the glass ceiling is still there because of the way media depict women," director and activist Jennifer Siebel-Newsom said. "It influences our culture and dictates our gender norms and values."

Siebel-Newsom's documentary, Miss Representation, is the latest cinematic foray in the movement to challenge portrayals of beauty in "the media," a term used to describe all forms of mass communication, from the internet, TV, film, magazines, radio and advertising.

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 From Women's eNews:

While American women still earn about 77 cents for every dollar men earn and continue to work hard to close the salary gap, women in other parts of the world earn a mere 30 to 40 percent of what men do.

These are the women who never made it to a classroom, who often forgo already scarce food for themselves to feed other family members, who are unable to start their own businesses and who are likely to die in childbirth or from a preventable disease due to lack of basic health care.

The ability of families worldwide to pull themselves out of poverty -- through education, health and food security -- disproportionately rests on the shoulders of women.

Just ask Barbara Ayisa of Ghana. In her village of Affumkrom, she spends her day growing onions and maize, while taking care of her children. Her husband provides some economic support, but is engaged in other activities, leaving Barbara to manage the household. She benefitted from assistance that teaches her how to store her maize until she can sell it at the best price, earning the most she can for her family.

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 From Women Deliver:

Out of hundreds of submissions from 103 countries around the world, a selection committee of experts and advocates from leading global non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and foundations narrowed the applications to 125 nominees. These were then posted online and more than 6,000 individual voted to select the 50 winners.

We would like to thank all the members of the selection committee, our partner organizations, and the voters who made the Women Deliver 50 such a success. Continue reading below to learn more about the inspiring organizations and initiatives—from the grassroots to the global–that are pioneering real and lasting social change. We hope it gives you a renewed energy to work toward building a better world for girls and women.

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 From The Daily Beast:

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The recession further undermined many efforts to develop women’s leadership, particularly in the corporate world, where diversity initiatives were often seen as an optional luxury whose budgets were the first to be slashed when financial cutbacks were imposed. “With the economic downturn, it has become okay not to focus on practices and invest in programs that support women,” says Linda Basch, president of the National Council for Research on Women.

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 From MSNBC: