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Women are making a splash in politics private industry and Fortune 500 companies, TFW searched the most unlikely places for successful women and that making a splash starts with finding your drive, passion and enthusiasm for your career

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Page 1: TFW - The Splash - Summer 2010
Page 2: TFW - The Splash - Summer 2010

This space provided as a public service.©2010 Susan G. Komen for the Cure® The Running Ribbon is a registered trademark of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

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Komen Tissue Bank volunteer and Purdue University graduate student, Rebecca Fega, helps process breast tissue samples November 2009 in West Lafayette, Ind.

Page 3: TFW - The Splash - Summer 2010

About TFW – Today’s Financial Women

In This Issue – Women are making a splash in politics, private industry and Fortune 500 companies. TFW searched the most unlikely places for successful women and found that making a splash starts with find-ing your drive, passion and enthusiasm for your career.

Melissa CurzonPublisher of TFW and President, Triumph Solutions, Inc.

Contact Us: phone 949.837.9154 • fax [email protected].

Subscriptions:www.shop.tritfw.com

Triumph Solutions, Inc., Mission Viejo, CA

Postmaster changes to: [email protected]

TFW Staff:Editor in Chief – Melissa CurzonExecutive Editor – Nancy EverittEditor at Large – Ann KvaalEditor – Cindy HaasCreative Director – Bryan BollingerContributing Design Director – Geoff CurzonContributing Writer – Becky Nelson Summer 2010: Vol 4 No 3, ©2010Triumph Solutions Inc. All Rights Reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in whole or in part. Editorial content does not necessarily reflect the views of Triumph Solutions Inc. or its officer, agents, and employees. Today’s Financial Women (ISSN 1935-7842) is published four times a year by Triumph Solutions, Inc., 23031 Cecelia, Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Table of Contents

4 | The SplashKris McMasters, first female CEO of a top 25 accounting firm, dove into a job of a changing culture and created initiatives to hire, retain, promote and grow more women leaders.

6 | Executive Haberdashery Want to increase your confidence and skills sets without expensive credentials or unnecessary detours? Josh Kaufman offers five secrets that will help you grow - on your own terms.

8 | A Man’s World? Some industries may still be considered a “man’s world,” but Suzie Mills, Lidia Bozhevolnaya and Sue Peterson have found their niche and defied the myths.

10 | Remove the Chains that Bind If you have asked yourself, “Isn’t there suppose to be more than this?” you may be stuck. Marcy Blochowiak provides a personal story to inspire us to get out of the rut.

12 | Gear to Get: The 10 Essentials Find new favorite gadgets and goodies for the office and at home.

14 | How to Stand Out at Work Executive coach, Regina Barr, asks “Are you just another shade of green or are you the purple that stands-out in the crowd?” and answers with ideas to be considered a high-potential employee.

TFWTM

Today’s Financial Women

On The Cover The Splash, photographed by Geoffrey Curzon

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By Becky Nelson

An interview with Krista McMastersChief Executive OfficerClifton Gunderson LLPMilwaukee, Wis. Krista McMasters was a young partner at Clifton Gunderson in the late 1980s when a more senior manager recommended that she seek a position on the Accounting Standards Executive Committee of their national trade association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). “Honestly, I did not want to do it. I didn’t say it, but I felt like it would be over my head,” McMasters said.

“There are many things that I did that I wasn’t comfortable with doing that I learned and gained so much from,” she said.

In June 2009 she became the CEO of Clifton Gunderson, becoming the first and only female CEO within the nation’s top 25 public accounting firms. She brings 30 years of experience at the company and a mission to develop more

women leaders. In an interview with TFW, she shares some of her experiences as a standout in her field.

Show of confidence: McMasters had other offers on the table after graduating from college, but Clifton Gunderson was where she really wanted to work. She called partner Carl George directly to ask why she had not heard from him. Years later, George was the CEO and mentor who handed the reins to McMasters. In an AICPA video, he recalled that one of the reasons he hired her was because she had the moxie to make that call.

Problem solver: McMasters moved up from staff CPA to practice partner at a particular office. In that role, she recognized a need to increase centralization of the company’s manual system. She credits that project for earning her a promotion to director of assurance services for the firm, which then led to another big project that changed Clifton Gunderson’s human resource structure.

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Splash photos by Geoffrey Curzon

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TFW Magazine | Summer 2010 | Page 5

Still learning and adapting: McMasters said the most important soft skills she has had to develop over the years have been listening and communicating. “Technical people have a tendency to communicate in technical, detailed ways. I continue to learn ways to speak concisely and to make it real,” she said. “I’ve seen that if I provide feedback or indicate direction, everybody works very hard in that direction immediately. I’ve really learned to exercise caution in how I’m communicating, making sure I’m gathering information and understanding other priorities.”

Advantages of being female: “I’ve had the same opportunities as anyone would have,” McMasters said. “There were experiences earlier in my career where clients were potentially more comfortable with men than women, but I worked through those issues. If anything, I gained opportunities as a result of being a woman. It allowed me to get involved with national associations because there were fewer females available to bring diversity to the committees.”

Faith in her abilities: Asked about the biggest factors that have contributed to her success, McMasters is quick to credit her company’s leaders for making an investment in her, for putting her in positions that extended her skills initially, but allowed her to take on projects and run with them. “When I did the white paper on Priority One, they had the confidence to let me execute on those activities,” she said. “I was also able to gain experience outside of our firm, to get perspective from many different places and bring the best of that back into the firm.”

Inspiration: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do,” Eleanor Roosevelt once said, and for McMasters, those are words to live by. She adds, “That’s really how you grow and develop – I really believe in that. You have to take chances, take risks, do the best you can and gain experience from it.”

Recently read: McMasters tends to switch between at least two books at a time on her Kindle, which lately included The Help by Kathryn Stockett, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, and On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System by Henry M. Paulson.

Most influential person: McMasters says her mother shaped how she approaches her career and life: “She always gives her best at anything she does, and she demonstrated that through actions rather than words,” she said.

Becky Nelson is a freelance writer based in Madison, Wisconsin.

The right priorities: When McMasters voiced her concerns about the company’s almost 30 percent turnover rate to the CEO in the late 1992, he asked her to write a strategic paper describing the problem and identifying possible solutions. The result was the HR initiative Priority One, which emphasized new recruiting, training and mentoring programs. Within three years, the turnover rate dropped to 15 percent. McMasters earned a promotion to chief practice officer.

Cultivating leaders: In 2008, she introduced a new program, WIN@CG: Women’s Initiative Now, to significantly increase the number of women leaders within the firm, particularly at the partner level. Currently Clifton Gunderson’s new hires are about 55 percent male, 45 percent female, yet just 14 percent of the company’s partners are women – a figure slightly lower than the industry average. “We recognize it’s a goal that is going to take time; it’s really a culture we’re changing. We also recognize that there are no silver bullets, just like with Priority One. There were many initiatives that we took on, and it’s the same with the women’s initiative,” McMasters said.

What women need: Clifton Gunderson has a formal mentoring and coaching program and offers flexible work arrangements. However, a company-wide survey uncovered three areas that could use further improvement to help women move up. Women employees said they needed a better understanding of the expectations and requirements for promotion; more client development opportunities; and more ways in which to network.

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by Josh Kaufman

For the past six years, I’ve been helping entrepreneurs and business owners improve their skills and increase their confidence without expensive credentials or unnecessary detours. Here are five secrets

that will help you grow on your own terms. 1. You Don’t Need Permission It’s often easier to feel confident about what you’re doing when you have a credential. (Example: “When I have my MBA, people will take me seriously as a manager/entrepreneur...”) Here’s the secret: you don’t need the credential. For many, formalized education is less about learning new things and more about feeling insecure. Instead of moving forward, you’re relying

on some outside authority to proclaim that you’re now “good enough” to do what you want to do. That’s baloney - you’re already good enough. True story: there once was a doctoral student named Joseph Campbell who wanted to study world mythology for his dissertation. His professors told him to study something else. Instead of accepting his fate and choosing another (less interesting) topic, he left school completely, lived in a small cabin in upstate New York, and spent 12 hours a day studying and writing about what he was interested in. After six years, Campbell was offered a full professorship at Sarah Lawrence College (sans doctorate), and quickly became the world’s leading expert in world mythology. You don’t need anyone else’s permission to do what you want to do – begin today.

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2. Do It Yourself = Better Results My wife, Kelsey, is a phenomenal cook. She’s never taken a course, but she has an amazing repertoire of skills and knowledge gained over time through reading and playing in the kitchen. Every once in a while, a recipe will flop, but that’s okay – it’s always a learning experience. More often, it’ll be a masterpiece. (Our friends still talk about the pumpkin curry bowls.) The Personal MBA is a DIY approach to business education – it’s taking responsibility for taking learning into your own hands. The best way to learn about business is to spend time gathering the most useful concepts you can, then putting them to use in the real world. Experience teaches better than any professor can. Sure, you’ll make a few mistakes as you go along; everyone does. The important distinction is that, instead of doing meaningless homework, you’re actively building on improving an actual business. You can learn more (and have more fun) by doing it yourself. 3. You Learn What You Care About When I was in junior high, we were required to take a home economics class. Most of the classes involved cooking and sewing. I viewed home ec as a waste of time, and as a result, I spent most of that time messing around and doing other projects. Sadly, I didn’t retain much from that class. A few years later, I was in college, and I was suddenly 100% responsible for my own housekeeping. All of a sudden, I cared very much about how to cook and how to iron – and I learned what to do (and what not to do) very quickly. The same goes for personal growth. When it comes to learning, you will always learn and retain information concerning subjects you care about most effectively. The best reason to learn something is not because someone else says it’s important: it’s because you need it to accomplish something you have your heart set on. If you don’t care, you won’t learn. If you don’t learn, you won’t grow. 4. There’s ALWAYS a Better Way The world, for better or worse, is a suboptimal place. Things break. Meetings take too long. Projects get delayed. Products are hard to use. Businesses underperform. Careers go off track. Here’s the good news: everything in your world can be improved,

if you choose to spend time and effort improving it. Every single business that exists survives and thrives by improving the suboptimal. What are you trying to improve? In the immortal words of Thomas Edison: “There’s ALWAYS a better way – find it!” 5. Personal Growth is a Path, Not a Destination Personal growth, whether it involves business or anything else, is a never-ending process. There’s never a point where you’ll say, “Okay, I’m done – no more learning for me.” Every new concept you come across is a gateway to thousands of other opportunities. That’s what makes personal growth so fun and rewarding... there’s always something new to explore. Learning about anything is a path. There’s no end to the process. Sure, there will be milestones: reading a book; mastering a new skill; launching a business. Eventually, however, you’ll find there’s a new path for you to take, and the journey continues. There’s never a limit to how much you can grow.

TFW Magazine | Summer 2010 | Page 7

Josh Kaufman is an independent business professor and author of the upcoming book “The Personal MBA: A World-Class Business Education in a Single Volume.” You can find more of his work at personalmba.com, and you can take his 12-week “Business Crash Course” at crashcourse.personalmba.com.

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by Becky Nelson

Myth: ‘Women aren’t effective as managers’

Suzie Mills found her dream job at an early age, first by helping her mother and stepfather at their country inn in Wales, then by landing a job at the Savoy Hotel in London while attending college.

She moved to New York in her 20’s, again seeking a job at a prestigious hotel. “I didn’t think I was going to get it. I was at a young age and not that experienced,” Mills said of applying for the job of front office manager as part of the pre-opening team at the brand-new Trump International Hotel in 1996.

In 2007, Mills became the youngest woman general manager of a New York City luxury hotel and immediately began working toward her goal of regaining the hotel’s five-star status in the former Mobil Travel Guide (now the Forbes Travel Guide). It was a feat that she and her staff accomplished in just 18 months.

Conducting monthly meetings with all

staff members helped to keep motivation levels high. Small gestures – like punching a time clock herself, mentioning an employee by name and writing personal thank-you notes to staff – also earned her respect.

“We’re so lucky to have such an engaged team,” she said. In fact, 60 percent of the pre-opening staff from 1996 remain with the hotel, dealing with extra time off during the recession and the challenges of the hotel’s $30 million renovation of its 167 rooms.

Mills is one of just three female general managers of the world’s 54 five-star luxury hotels. “In the past, women have tended to steer toward sales and the HR side of the industry; they haven’t steered toward the operations side. But we’re starting to see a change in that,” she said.

Often recognized as a standout leader in her industry – she was named one of Crain’s 40 Under Forty for New York and received the Silver Plume Award for Best Supporting Manager of the Year from the Hotel Excellence Awards in 2009 – Mills said that her success “comes down to the fact that I really love what I do, and I really care about the people that I work with. The property is not successful because of just me, but because of the efforts of all of the team.”

It also helps that she has as mentors none other than Donald Trump, his family and close associates. What has she learned from them? “I’ll narrow it down: passion, drive and enthusiasm,” she said.

Myth: ‘Certain cultures/industries hold women back.’For Lidia Bozhevolnaya, working in the radically different cultural environment of the Middle East has not been as daunting as it might sound.

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“Being a professional woman in the Middle East turned out to be relatively easy; all I have to do is to remain professional, respectful and discrete,” she said. “I have learned to listen, observe and keep a low profile so as to figure out how to behave, what to say and what not to say. Having a close local friend is also really helpful.”

At 33, Bozhevolnaya is a partner at Source Integral, a firm co-founded by two women that specializes in strategy for global challenges. She has already worked internationally for more than a decade after earning an advanced degree in engineering in Denmark.

Her first job, as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, provided experience working with governments and global businesses in the energy sector in her native Russia, across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Wanting more ‘real world’ business experience, she left for a job with the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, managing a portfolio of business development projects, hiring contractors and negotiating deals.

Next, Bozhevolnaya joined the staff of Standard Chartered Bank in Dubai, where she held three separate director-level positions. In these roles she handled strategic planning for wholesale banking, managed the investor client portfolio, and developed the project financing practice in Abu Dhabi.

Although the two organizations were completely different, she gained a key insight: “The ‘soft side’ matters just as much as the ‘hard side’ does,” she said, realizing that she had focused more on numbers than on people as a consultant.

Succeeding in a traditionally male industry has come from “matching their level of energy, their level of aggressiveness, and their level of emotional detachment,” said Bozhevolnaya, mother of a 5-year-old son.

Women who want to stand out need to push themselves to think from a higher level, she said. That means thinking in longer timeframes (five to ten years, instead of just next year); broaden the scope of what you look at (think about the entire industry rather than just your organization); and

TFW Magazine | Summer 2010 | Page 9

look at issues from more than one angle (consider the point of view of other relevant disciplines rather than just looking at numbers).

“This ‘longer, bigger and broader’ view will produce a totally different outlook on your role and the future of your organization and this foresight will get you ahead of those confined to traditional boundaries of thinking,” she said.

Myth: ‘It takes a certain type of woman to succeed in that job’

As the executive director for the Giants Community Fund, an award-winning non-profit charity connected to the San Francisco Giants, Sue Petersen works with athletes, spends a lot of her time at the stadium and knows what’s new with the team day by day – but her job is really about serving the community and helping people.

“You don’t have to know the game inside and out to be part of things. That’s not what I do on a daily basis,” Petersen said.

Petersen had earned a liberal arts degree, taught students in the Diocese of Oakland and worked with the San Francisco Education Fund before joining the Giants Community Fund in 1993. The Fund serves 13,000 kids in summer leaguesin California, Nevada and Oregon through its Junior Giants program and provides grants for education, violence prevention and health projects.

“The professional sports industry offers excellent opportunities for women”, Petersen said. While women only hold about 10 percent of the management jobs within the Giants’ front office, they hold 40 percent of all jobs for the team. “Many skill sets are transferable to professional sports”, she explained.

As the mother of two teenage sons, Petersen said she “can’t imagine spending eight to 12 hours a day doing anything other than community work” – a role she could not have envisioned when she first set out in the education field.

Becky Nelson is a freelance writer based in Madison, Wisconsin.

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by Marcy Blochowiak

Have you ever made the statement, “I really thought I would be further along by now?” Or, have you ever asked yourself, “Isn’t there suppose to be more than this?” Well, if you have, you are not alone. I think there are so many powerful women out there that have asked those questions at different times in their life. I was one of them. I grew up very middle class and was very average in high school. I went to college briefly and was on a path of mediocrity. I worked for my father in the custom tailoring business, went on to leasing apartments, and then flew for the airlines. I lived with five flight attendants in a three-bedroom apartment and was living paycheck to paycheck. I had slowly started shrinking my dreams to fit my paychecks. My parents were helping me financially because I was living way above my means. One day my mother called me and said, “Why don’t you come to this financial services meeting today?” I said, “Mom, I don’t want to. It’s my only day off.” She said, “Do you want me to continue to help you financially?” I said sheepishly, “Yes.” I ended up going to this financial services meeting with my mom and all I saw were older, well-established men in the room. At that point I thought to myself, “Who is going to listen to a flight attendant about their money? Coffee, tea or mutual fund?” I wanted to make more money, but I did not know if I could transition from being a flight attendant to financial services. I decided to learn more and went to another meeting. At this point, it took a lot of courage for me to do this. I had that little voice saying, “You have no experience in this field. What are you doing? Go back to what you know and are comfortable with.” Instead, I took a leap of faith. I started working in financial services part time while I was still full time in the airline industry. Within eight months, I was

making more money part time in the financial field than full time in the airline field. So I said goodbye to the airlines and went full time into financial services. The reason I was able to leave the airlines so soon was because I became exposed to an environment that started changing my belief level. We all have set of beliefs or rules that are ingrained in us. That, so many times, determines the direction in which we move. If you feel you are “stuck” in your career or personal life, here are six ways to help change limiting beliefs: 1. Let go of personal baggage. This is easier said than done, but so many times we become a victim of our past experiences. We use those times to justify why things are the way they are. That type of thinking does not allow us to move forward. The way you release that 100 lb. weight off your back is by focusing on where you want to go and what you want to achieve and not looking backwards. 2. Create a new set of beliefs that empower you. It is hard to think of a negative thing and a positive thing at the same time. When we take 100% personal responsibility for our lives, we can move to the next level. It creates a space of hope and excitement of what our life or career could actually become. 3. Control your associations. I think we have all heard the “crabs in the bucket story.” The story says that if you are a crab with other crabs in a bucket and you try to climb out, the other crabs will pull you back down. Unfortunately, it is the same with negative people. It is very hard to bring negative people “up.” More than likely, they bring us down. So what do we do? Make sure you do not associate with people that bring you down.

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Remove the Chains That BindRemove the Chains That Bind

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4. Be in constant communication with people you aspire to be like. There is something to be said about hanging around the “right” people. You become the books you read and the people with whom you associate. You gain insight and wisdom from being around them. 5. Be bold. Be ready. When you start focusing on what you want, opportunities will pop up in the most unique ways. Be prepared with what you want to say to produce the outcome you desire. 6. Have an attitude of gratitude. At the end of the day, it is all about being grateful. Grateful for what? Grateful for everything, whether it is good or bad. Why be grateful for something not so great? It allows you to be in the right frame of mind for good things to come. It is the law of attraction. If you expect good things to happen, they will.

TFW Magazine | Summer 2010 | Page 11

Marcy Blochowiak is a bestselling author of No Glass Ceiling Just Blue Sky (a woman’s guide to building great teams), public speaker, and a mentor and coach to women in the financial field. Contact Marcy at www.marcyblochowiak.com or 404-273-9287.

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Most Influential People

We are shaped by those who have inspired, challenged and guided us through the success and failures of our life experiences. TFW readers share those individuals who have influenced them to become the fabulous women they are.

My paternal grandmother encouraged me to get an education. I (finally) attained my bachelor’s degree in management in 2003, some 30 years after my high school graduation! This in turn led to my applying for and being awarded a FWI/GSB scholarship to the Graduate School of Banking at University of Wisconsin-Madison. I completed that course study in 2005.

My mother was way ahead of her time. In a time when moms stayed home, she went to college, worked, took care of her family and was involved in a women’s charitable organization. She told me I could do and be whatever I wanted to be and to always reach for the stars.

My father was a simple farmer who became a very successful man. He was a leader in his church and in his community. He shared what he had with his large family and many other people. His insight and wisdom had no end. He was an incredible man who always put other people first.

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I was walking in my neighborhood recently and noticed that most of the trees sported leaves in various shades of green. That is, all but one. This one particular tree had leaves that were so purple that they almost looked black. I had a Sesame Street moment where I thought: just which one of these trees doesn’t belong? Then I did a complete flip-flop and thought, no, just which one of these trees really stands out? Obviously, it was the one with the unusual colored leaves. When you think about how you’re viewed at work, are you just another shade of green or are you the purple stand-out in the crowd? Here’s a news flash: if you want to be considered a high-poten-tial employee earmarked for advancement, then it’s your job to figure out how to stand out in a sea of green and do it without looking like a sore thumb. Here are some ideas to get you started: Do more than is expected. You’d be amazed at how many em-ployees are not doing much of anything (although they always manage to look busy) or are doing only the bare minimum of what they need to do to get by. Simply doing a bit more than expected will get you noticed faster than greased lightning. Complete work in a timely fashion. Even better, complete it ahead of your deadline. Everyone is working at capacity, so missing even one deadline can wreak havoc on organizational initiatives -- let alone your organizational relationships. Raise your hand first for work assignments. That means the good, the bad and the ugly. Be ready to take on plum assign-ments when available but remember those are often few and far between. Don’t wait to be asked or worse, volunteered, for the mundane projects. Never underestimate the value of taking on assignments that no one else wants. Focus on solutions. Everyone has problems they need help with but it’s the rare employee that also comes prepared with solutions. Even if your solutions aren’t used you’ll still earn points for showing that you took the initiative to develop your own ideas.

Pay attention to details. We’ve all heard the saying that the devil is in the details. What’s the difference between a pot of rice cooked with a teaspoon of salt and one cooked without? One simple ingredient. The outcome? Edible versus inedible. Remember to pay attention to details, no matter how large or small. Those who pay attention to details are often the most successful. Why? Because details managed well can mean the difference between success and failure or profit and loss for your company. Help others look good. Sometimes the best recognition we can receive comes by way of what we do to help others look good. Think of it like making deposits in a bank account. One day you may need to make a withdrawal, and those that you have helped look good along the way will likely be willing to return the favor when you need it. Be known for the right things. You’re going to be known for something, so you may as well be known for something that is important to the success of your company and ultimately, the success of your career. Is it flexibility in getting your work done? Is it resiliency in the face of obstacles? Is it your ability to manage or lead people? Whatever it is you want to be known for, be sure not only to showcase it but to showcase it to the right people. No matter how large or small your company is, if you select even one or two of these ideas and implement them well, you will be on your way to standing out in the crowd. Implement all of them and you will likely find yourself leader of the pack.

Regina Barr is a leadership development consultant, executive coach, speaker and writer. Follow Regina at www.twitter.com/reginabarr or connect with her at www.linkedin.com/in/reginabarr. Contact Regina at [email protected] or at 651-453-1007.

Women at the Top is a trademark of Red Ladder, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Encourage a healthy learning

environment for yourself and others. Together, we’re

setting higher standards and goals.MF L E Xuscles

Stay strong in a competitive workforce: make professional development

a personal commitment with measurable results. By working

smarter, women like you gain influence and earn more.

Financial WomEn inTErnaTional proudly honors three organizations

that promote excellence through continuing education: Financial Women

in Texas, Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota, and the Graduate School of

Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each receives a grant to

support their mission of helping women achieve success.

your

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