Fresh Mountain Air, Stale Problems
News-makers, movers & the oddball story
Happy Sunday! Let me apologise for the Chief Brief being a tad late today.
I spent my Friday and Saturday in a gorgeous untouched part of Europe, high up in the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. Aspiring to be a Jackson Hole-like event, the Tatra Summit is organised by think tank Globsec and focusses on Central and Eastern Europe’s (CEE) place in the EU.
To me the CEE is a fascinating and under-appreciated part of the world where young women and men are driving growth and innovation. So, every year I make my annual pilgrimage to breathe the crisp mountain air and find out what’s new from the business leaders in the region, and talk to European policymakers and heads of government.
This year the chatter was all about Europe’s recovery and resilience plans. Unsurprisingly the dichotomy in experiences and opinions were starkly visible. Businesses are grappling with the headwinds of energy prices and inflation, not to mention global supply chain disruptions and onerous bureaucratic red tape (to comply with EU and national regulations). Governments in the meantime are desperately trying to play down the headwinds’ impact on recovery plans. It does center around everything green after all - but not everyone in the room was buying the urgency of a ‘green recovery,’ despite COP26 being around the corner.
The other thing that struck me as I hosted the summit (for what felt like the n’th time) was the continuing lack of women’s voices. Both at the summit, and in CEE’s economic recovery. A McKinsey Report Win-win: How empowering women can benefit Central and Eastern Europe was the theme for Globsec’s CEEHER breakfast on day 2 of the summit. But what was starkly obvious to the women leaders in that room was not much had changed over the years.
First off, day 1 of the summit itself had been a literal man-fest. And an old man fest at that! The ratio of those in attendance was 35:65 approximately (despite the efforts of the organising team whom I know well, and they know my stand on representation and manels too!). The organising team (majority women) told me, their main challenge like every year (Covid not withstanding) had been to convince women leaders (in the region and across Europe and the U.S.) to travel, give up their time with families - to show up and be heard.
Seeing the ratio upended at breakfast might have heartening. The men who showed up were definitely allies, looking for constructive solutions. But frankly the make-up of that room said more about how diversity has become just another checkbox, rather than be considered a critical economic issue. The men who didn’t show, made that obvious.
Ingrid Brockova may have broken glass ceilings in Slovakia in the policy world, Helena Sarkanova may have driven McKinsey’s CEE study to point out how much women could contribute, Beata Javorcik may drive much of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) resource decision making, Elsa Pilchowski may be the glue that fixes OECD members’ public governance, and Bridget Brink maybe the first female U.S Ambassador to Slovakia — But even as the women talked about sponsorships and mentorships as tools to make a dent in dismal numbers - it was pointed out by a Spanish Ambassador to the region it was really up to the women to solve for this. She said ‘it would be naive to believe people with power will want to give it up to another group’. Beata also pointed out the obvious — that until we change cultural norms, we’ll be talking about setbacks (like Covid) for women in the workforce or leadership forever. It is up to us, Ambassador Brink pointed out —to challenge decisions, and change perceptions so men can understand why somethings in the workplace may be different or difficult for women.
It really is time to stop talking about the ‘What & Why’ of women being critical to a business or the economy. It’s time to stop passing the buck to others in leadership of why the funnel narrows dramatically (so many, many reasons) as women rise in the ranks. We need an inward look at what we are doing individually, to ensure that doesn’t happen. But most importantly, in order to stop constantly wondering why we as women aren’t being seen or heard — women leaders need to show up.
Here are also a few tips for those organising these kind of high-profile events to make them impactful — If you say you can’t find a woman to talk about a specific topic - a) you aren’t thinking outside the box and b) you simply aren’t looking hard enough. Period. Don’t put the onus on the women moderating to make up for that — it doesn’t count. And maybe try putting serious topics related to women’s contribution to business and the economy on your main stage, and not make it an optional side event. You might be surprised at the result.
This is The Chief Brief. Every Sunday, I spotlight global, diverse, and innovative female leaders impacting the world around them. I curate and break down stories from across the world that caught my eye and help you connect with the women you should know, if you don’t already! Welcome to my passion project of building a globally aware and connected community of women leaders.
News-Makers to know
In Government & Policy
Janet’s landmark win
More than 130 countries on Friday backed a landmark agreement to set a new minimum tax rate for companies around the world. Brokered by the OECD it sets a minimum tax rate of 15% from 2023, and has the potential to transform the global business landscape by cracking down on tax havens. The deal also calls for technology companies like Amazon and Facebook to be taxed in countries where they sell their goods or services, regardless of whether they are physically present there. The OECD projects this new global rate could raise $150 billion in revenues each year.
The agreement is being hailed as a massive win for the Biden administration and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen who is credited with spearheading the proposal. But observers of the winding, long journey of this agreement, say — it took the EU initiating and pushing for its recent years, for such a deal to be reached within months.
As one woman leader (who shall remain anonymous) said to me when the news broke — “who cares who takes the credit, as long as it gets done!” Next comes the actual hard work of implementation. The agreement needs to be passed by a divided U.S. Congress and also be approved by each of the countries.
Nadia’s energy plan
What was supposed to be an EU ministers meeting this week, to discuss the critical implementation of the bloc’s big Covid recovery package — ended up highjacked by a ballooning energy crisis and inflation. But worry not, Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calviño has a plan. She’s even got a paper with all the potential solutions/options researched and ready to go - all she (and Spain) need is the rest of the EU to get on board.
“What we see is an unprecedented spike in energy prices. This is not an issue that we can tackle at national level. We need a European co-ordinated response.” - Nadia Calviño
Her French counterpart Bruno Le Maire’s on the same page. But Bruno and his French ministry of finance have their very own paper of options ready to go too! It sounds like the first of many typical EU stumbling blocks when hunting for a plan or solution. But the positive here is that both countries are essentially demanding changes to the rules governing the EU’s energy markets. These are critical (they both agree) to protecting the cost of living of the Bloc’s poorest residents, competitiveness of businesses and critically protecting the EU’s plans to reach net zero by 2050.
All Nadia and Bruno have to do now is a) figure out a compromise regarding their respective proposed solutions and then b) get the rest of the 25 EU countries on board. Shouldn’t take long at all!
Kristalina still under fire
The ongoing saga of what really happened with China continues! The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board ended a five-hour meeting about the future of Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on a cliff-hanger and without a decision on Friday, saying it needed ‘more information’.
If you somehow missed this diplomatic drama that is the World Bank data-rigging scandal over the past weeks - Kristalina has been accused of pressuring World Bank staff to alter data to benefit China in her previous role as World Bank’s boss (back in 2017). Some European governments have stood behind her, while others want more time to review discrepancies between the accounts provided by Kristalina and those by the WilmerHale law firm hired by the World Bank to investigate data irregularities in its flagship ‘Doing Business reports’.
Kristalina has strongly denied the allegations, and her lawyer claims that the WilmerHale probe violated World Bank staff rules, in part by denying her an opportunity to respond to the accusations. The IMF left it all hanging on Friday saying the board had made "significant progress" in its review but agreed to request "more clarifying details with a view to very soon concluding its consideration of the matter."
It isn’t clear if the board will meet again before the start of next week's high-profile meetings of the IMF and World Bank, where Kristalina is due to play a prominent role in presenting the global lender's newest economic forecasts.
She’s leading Morocco
Morocco’s new government (formed after nearly 24 days of negotiations) has 7 women in cabinet positions holding some pretty high-profile portfolios. 7 out of 24 new cabinet posts may not sound like much, but it’s a significant jump from the 4 women in the last government. It is also a welcome development in a country that ranked 143 out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Index. You can read more about them here but here’s a quick intro to the new power players in North Africa:
1. Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Economy and Finance
2. Fatima Zahra Ammor, Minister of Tourism and Handicraft
3. Nabila Rmili, Minister of Health and Social Protection
4. Fatima-Zahra Mansouri, Minister of Housing
5. Ghita Mezzour, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform
6. Aouatif Hayar, Minister of Women, Family, and Social Integration
7. Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development
In Business & Tech
FB’s Haug-en problem
Last Sunday, a few hours after the Chief Brief hit your in-box, we all found out who the Facebook whistle-blower was.
Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old former Facebook product manager who worked on civic integrity issues at the company released tens of thousands of pages of internal research and documents to the WSJ. This week she faced questions from a commerce subcommittee in the U.S Congress about what Facebook-owned Instagram knew and called on Congress to take action against the social media platform.
“I am here today because I believe that Facebook's products harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy. The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people. Congressional action is needed. They won't solve this crisis without your help.”
Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t having any of it! In a blog post he hit back at Frances’ testimony and the WSJ reporting based on her documents. He says her claims of the company putting profit over people’s safety are “just not true” and “don’t make any sense”.
“At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritise profit over safety and wellbeing. That’s just not true. The argument that we deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit is deeply illogical. We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don’t want their ads next to harmful or angry content.”
You can read Mark’s post here. Let me know what you think.
The Elizabethan diaries
“Becoming Steve jobs”
“Board statement – independent look at accusations by board – making statements – no independent opinion. Unwise board – enter – without judgement”
“Point by point refutation statements”
“Weak accusations - endorses everything - happened - if - true - raise doubt - want - board looks into it - finds nothing to any of it - looked into it - have not looked at it independently” “Fudge it – if don’t understand – want clarified – stop – explore – reserve done – may get to it”
“Really smart people picked off mado Not you”
These are just a few of the cryptic notes Elizabeth Holmes wrote herself as the rocket that was Theranos took off into investor and public attention stratosphere, spluttered with a WSJ expose, and then crashed and burnt.
There is only one mention in Elizabeth’s notes referring to Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, COO and her boyfriend at the time.
“Balwani - stopped submitting Edison - off others”
He is central to her current defence strategy where she claims her biggest mistake was putting her faith in “Sunny” CNBC exclusively obtained these notes which seem to clearly rubbish that defence. The notes in their lack of mention of ‘Sunny’ also seem to negate her claims that sexual and mental abuse by him impaired her mental state and decision-making at Theranos.
She is uber critical for Saudi
Uber claims it has seen a 50 percent year-on-year increase in female drivers in Saudi Arabia working for the ride-hailing company. It put in place some very specific policies to compete for the female passengers who wouldn’t otherwise use it’s services and to continue the efforts initiated by Careem (a regional competitor which Uber bought in 2020 for $3.1 billion).
The company’s “Women Preferred View” was rolled out in 2020 and allows female drivers in the country to select women-only riders. That choice sparked a 79 percent year-on-year increase in the average weekly female trips taken in the Kingdom.
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Caught My Eye
The Good to know
Awarding facts
“It is a battle for facts. When you’re in a battle for facts, journalism is activism.”- Maria Ressa
That’s the clear message that the Nobel committee have sent out to authoritarian governments who have suppressed free speech by awarding the 2021 Peace Prize to two journalists. It’s also the first-time journalists have won the prize since 1935. Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, has been the voice for facts in the Philippines, speaking out bravely about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial and violent war on drugs. She is also the first woman to be awarded a Nobel this year.
Joining her as a co-recipient is Dmitry Muratov of Russia. He founded the Russian paper Novaya Gazeta in 1993 and has been its editor-in-chief for 24 years. Today, it is one of the very few independent media outlets in Russia and has seen six of its own journalists murdered for writing about facts.
Afghanistan Watch
Invisible but not silent
Radio Begum 90.1 FM, part of the privately run Awaz Media Group, fell quiet and its staff raced home to safety as reports of Taliban fighters entering Kabul emerged on August 15. But in the weeks since, the radio station run by women for women managed to convince the Taliban to allow it to continue to operate. Radio Begum’s staff hope the station’s ability to broadcast will improve girls’ access to education across the country.
Portugal, you hero you!
Portugal’s already home to the Afghan women’s soccer team and their families. The country is now set to receive another 101 female Afghan refugees – living up to its pledge to provide shelter to women and girls fleeing the Taliban regime. The country’s minister for Interior Administration Eduardo Cabrita has said Portugal’s ‘priorities’ will be women, children, human rights activists and female judges and journalists.
These new arrivals are members of the internationally renowned orchestra called Zohra, as well as members of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. The musicians (as young as 13) were left stranded just yards away from Kabul Airport during the final days of evacuations. But with the help of the Qatari government and backers in the U.S., negotiations with the Taliban have allowed them to get to Doha. Next stop - hopefully somewhere peaceful in gorgeous Portugal.
Sport
Cricket Wars
Australia beat India in the second women’s T20 international. The hosts won by four wickets to secure the multi-format series
Footie beat down
Barcelona gave Arsenal a proper beat down (4-1) in the Women’s Champions League. A second half consolation goal was all Arsenal had to show for their efforts. They were totally outclassed by the European champions. Here are the highlights!
Oddball stuff
It’s evolution, stupid!
If Israeli scientists are to be believed, the squabbles over air conditioning between men and women is down to evolution. They monitored 40 years of data on the behaviour of bats and birds in Israel. Turns out - just as women tend to feel colder than men, other species are split over temperature too. The driving factor seems to be that species stand the best chance of surviving when males and females keep their distance from each other.
For example, male bats tend to head to higher elevations, females stay in warmer valleys. Male mice live in colder places than females. One factor influencing temperature sensitivity is —females tend to care for offspring, who in many cases need the temperature to be regulated for them. When females are more sensitive to cold, they are prompted to warm the young. But critically, the findings indicate that across species many ensure that they stay apart outside of breeding season. The reasoning - It reduces competition between males over females and decreases male aggression toward females and their children. This evolutionary push (researchers claim in their study) can be extrapolated to humans -i.e., to give men and women space from one another. Who would’ve thought it?
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Have you met?
Elsa Pilichowski, Director for Public Governance, OECD
A Canadian/French national — Elsa’s been a leading voice at the OECD for more than 20 years and has dedicated most of that time to public governance. She was instrumental in the design of the first set of indicators on government human resource management and on the production costs of governments, as well as in the implementation of the first Public Governance Review of France. If her face looks familiar, you’ve probably come across her over the years advising and counselling former OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria on critical issues — until his departure.
Elsa became the woman in charge of the organisation’s public governance division last year. She will be one to watch as the implementation phase of the global tax accords begin. Why? Elsa’s job is to help strengthen government capacities in regulatory policy, budgeting, public expenditure, anti-corruption and integrity, transparency, policy coherence and digital and open government processes. A challenge indeed! ((Connect with Elsa))
On the move
In the Netherlands
Karin van Baardwijk has been appointed CEO at Dutch asset manager Robeco, starting 1 January 2022. Karin is currently deputy CEO and COO and has been with Robeco since 2006. She will be the firm’s first ever female CEO. ((Connect with Karin))
In New Zealand
Carrie Hurihanganui has been appointed CEO of Auckland International Airport, the first woman to hold the position. Carrie was previously COO of Air New Zealand, where she rose through the ranks — starting off as an international cabin crew member more than 22 years ago. ((Connect with Carrie))
In Canada
Alina Martin is the new CEO of Calgary based SaaS start-up Waitwell. Alina will lead WaitWell’s growth phase in its business of eliminating lines by allowing customers to join a virtual queue using their mobile devices. Alina was previously CEO of Danatec Educational Services — Canada’s largest digital safety training company. ((Connect with Alina))
In South Africa
Mpumi Zikalala has been named by Anglo American Plc as CEO of its South African iron ore business, Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. A woman at the helm of the South African firm is a first for Anglo, as the mining giant reshuffles its top bulk commodities management. Mpumi is currently managing director of De Beers managed operations, and will take over as Kumba’s CEO on January 1, 2022. ((Connect with Mpumi))
In the U.K.
Xamira Groves is the new head of insurance of London-headquartered specialty (re)insurance group Chaucer. Xamira was most recently the deputy global head of title insurance at AXA XL. She has also worked at Willis and Cooper Gay Steel, as well as having worked in Bogotá, Columbia as insurer Catlin’s South America managing director. ((Connect with Xamira))
Tip of the week
Since so many of you found last weekend’s Finsta & Rinsta explanation useful I thought I’d put together a few more tips —to help figure out what that Gen Z’er on your team, or the teen in your house is ACTUALLY saying!
GOAT - Greatest of All Time
Gucci - Good, cool, or going well
Lit - Amazing, cool, or exciting
Salty - Bitter, angry, agitated
Snatched - Looks good, perfect, or fashionable; the new "on fleek"
TBH - To be honest
Tea - Gossip, situation, story, or news
Thirsty - Trying to get attention
YOLO - "You Only Live Once" (often used ironically)
Flex - To show off
Bae - "Before anyone else," babe, or baby — used to describe a boyfriend, girlfriend, or good friend
Let me know your thoughts and feedback, amplify a woman The Chief Brief community needs to know, or drop me a line just to say hello!