Cracking the Glass Ceiling and Raising the Roof (Innovations Case Narrative: Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence)

Abstract

more visible, and enhancing their economic opportunities. In 1992, I created Take our Daughters to Work Day (TDWD); in 1999, I launched Count Me in for Women’s Economic Independence (CMI), to reach women and girls with messages and programs that promote economic empowerment. CMI is the leading national not-for-profit provider of resources, business education, and community support for women entrepreneurs seeking to grow micro-businesses into million-dollar enterprises. To me, these efforts are a natural progression in the women’s movement. Once we won human and legal rights for ourselves, financial independence was the logical next step. This is because girls learn everything from watching women, including watching them be active, successful players in the economy. These decades of momentous change in women’s economic lives have been exhilarating. Quite simply, women and girls are now critical players in the global economy; as a 2009 report from Boston Consulting notes, the $20 trillion of consumer spending currently controlled by females could reach $28 trillion over the next five years. The economy relies on women’s ability to make and spend money. And that is why women must do everything in our power to show girls by example how to make, save, give, and invest money. The issue is no longer cracking the proverbial glass ceiling; we’ve done that mightily. Now we must raise the roof altogether and expand the pie to make room for all the innovation and creativity that women and girls can bring to the global marketplace. The four women I profile here are examples of how we do that, and their stories embody several crucial themes: growing one’s self-esteem after being abused, drawing on military experience to succeed in business, and the importance to women of role models, mutual support, inspiration, publicity, and financial guidance.