Huzzah!
Stonks, Yolo, Electric cars, Michelin stars & rocket fuel to Mars!
Welcome to The Chief Brief. A weekly spotlight on global, diverse, and innovative female leaders, and the news influencing them to change the world.
The Chief Brief is my first step in a passion project to build a globally connected community of women leaders. Email me if you have an amazing story to share, or you/someone you know is doing fabulous things. The community should be in the know! And if you enjoy reading the brief, please spread the word!
The Chief Brief Note
Happy Sunday you lovely people!
Russia’s messy weekend
Over the weekend, the ‘First Lady’ of the Russian opposition Yulia Nalvanaya was hauled away to prison, along with others protesting her husband Alexei Navalny’s arrest. At the time of writing this brief, there was no news of her release.
Huzzah!
The week though thankfully provided a distraction from the constant barrage of Covid headlines. The post-Trump entertainment courtesy the U.S. has been provided non-stop by RobinHood, Reddit, GameStop, and AMC.
‘The millennials are at war with Wall Street!’ ‘Politicisation of surreal GameStop Saga!’ ‘Global watchdogs sound alarm as shares frenzy!’ ‘Reddit traders take on Wall Street!’
I’ve compiled some pretty clear explainers of why any of this malarkey matters to you and your investments : 1) What it means 2) Why a bunch of reddit sub thread folks are attacking Wall Street 3) Global fallout from silver to Malaysia 4) And why Mohamed El-Arian says, it has the potential to become a much, much bigger problem.
Insane market moves aside, this saga has taught us brand spanking new Reddit stock market phraseology: ‘Stonks,’ ‘Yolo,’ ‘Diamond Hands,’ ‘Bagholder',’ ‘To the moon 🚀’ And ‘Tendies’!? The digital native generation are not just creating a new language but finding new ways to make money. Young women in the UK are jumping on that bandwagon too. What choice do they have? Income generating opportunities have dried up. They’re bored of the distractions available in lockdowns, and their frustrations are being justifiably aimed at the establishment. The main issue Janet Yellen, her global contemporaries and regulators will have to grapple with, is how to balance democratic access to the markets, with controlling the behaviour of the inexperienced. Market complexity will end up burning many. If this spreads, we could be facing El-Arian’s warning of economic instability or collapse.
Electrifying
All this Sherwood Forest business also distracted attention from Mary Barra’s shock announcement that General Motors is going all electric by 2035. With climate change back on the table at the White House, the GM announcement will be massive for oil companies, car manufacturers, and every other industry in the global supply chain.
Policy Matters
Vaccine wars & backtracking
The race to secure vaccines is getting ugly! This week Ursula von der Leyen got her EU strategy very, very wrong. Europe (nay Brussels) has been scrambling to get its vaccination supply and rollout policy on track. It has liberally traded insults, jibes and even accusations with AstraZeneca. But von der Leyen’s threat to the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol in a move to block the vaccine’s movement into the U.K. (from the open NI border) was one step too far. Dublin, Belfast, and London cried foul. She had to backtrack, and fast!
(Story by France24)
Special visas
From Sunday (Jan 31st) a new visa route to settle in the U.K. has become an option for Hong Kong residents with a British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) status. It’s a way out of the territory for an estimated 300,000 people worried by the Chinese government’s imposition of the National Security Law last year. HK Chief Executive Carrie Lam has warned of Chinese retaliation for the BNO visa in the past. More recently, she declared gaps in the HK labour market would be filled by migrants from mainland China. U.K. Home secretary Priti Patel in the meantime has said, the visa is a fulfilment of the historical commitment made by the U.K. to the HK people.
(Story by BBC)
Every scarf has a story
Major Fatima Isaacs wanted to have the right to wear her hijab while in uniform. She got an exemption. But the South African Defence Force didn’t change their dress code for everyone. So, she took the army to court. They’ve finally bent, and will now allow all Muslim women to cover their heads while on duty, if they so choose.
(Story by Al Jazeera)
Tech stuff
AI’s religion problem
There is so much talk about AI. Its usefulness, its inevitability, the cursed doomsday scenarios (rise of the machines and all that Elon Musk stuff). There are the problematic features we focus on finding solutions for, like gender and race bias influencing the AI currently under development. But rarely do we talk about the religious and cultural biases in AI, considering its development is concentrated mainly in the West. Dr. Amana Raquib is one of two Muslim researchers in Pakistan working on a solve for that 2 billion people problem.
(Story by Wired)
Uterus privacy
Ever worry about your most private data being used or shared by period-tracking/fertility apps? ‘Flo’ had to recently settled with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused of sharing sensitive user data with third parties including Facebook and Google. Privacy International in December published an analysis of how five of these apps behaved with users' data. Some shockers (or not!) - stored information include user notes on masturbation habits and how frequently they go to the bathroom. So, should you still use them?
(Story by Business Insider)
Fund raise watch
CityBlock has raised $160 million in its latest series C round. That takes the primary care start-up’s into Unicorn territory with a valuation over $1 billion. Founded by Dr. Toyin Ajayi, along with co-founders Iyah Romm and Bay Gross, CityBlock focuses on the needs of the most underserved in society.
(Story by Bloomberg)
Have you met
Clare Smyth, Chef extraordinaire
Clare Smyth’s cooked for Harry & Megan’s wedding feast, worked for Gordon Ramsey, and thinks fine dining needs to be made cool again! She’s also become the first and only British female chef to be awarded 3 Michelin Stars for her debut restaurant ‘Core’ (in Notting Hill). The one upside to the decimation Covid has wrought on the restaurant industry? You don’t have to wait months for a table (in the usual tradition of new and hot 3 Michelin places) to taste her food. Just order it in (if you are in London, of course)!
(Story by The Guardian)
Kavitha Kuruganti, Voice of India’s women farmers
Social activism runs in Kavitha Kuruganti’s blood. Her voice has been one of the loudest, in the world’s largest democratic protest which is shaking the very foundation of India’s Modi government. She has become the voice of the silent majority of female (and the louder male) farmers fighting the Indian government’s Agri-reform laws. Kavitha, is the Founder Convenor of the Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), a pan-Indian alliance of more than 400 organisations that have come together to secure India’s ‘Food, Farmers & Freedom’.
(Stories by The Hindu & BBC)
On the move
In the U.S.
Roz Brewer’s appointment as CEO of Walgreens is no doubt the big global corporate move story of the week. The former COO of Starbucks becomes the only black female CEO of the Fortune 500 at a time when the healthcare company is grappling with Covid-19 issues. She starts March 15th.
Jane Gilson, a former Google, and Microsoft exec has become the first woman CEO of CloudSphere. CloudSphere provides governance across migration planning, security posture, identity, compliance, and cost management in the cloud.
In Nigeria
Nigeria has appointed its first female Ambassador to the United States. Dr. Uzoma Emenike is headed to Washington D.C, from her current post in Ireland. This as countries around the world adjust their diplomacy to take advantage of the feminist wave in the District.
In the U.A.E.
Hana Al Rostamani has been made First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)’s Group CEO. Al Rostamani, currently the chairperson of FAB Private Bank Suisse, will be the first female CEO of the $44 billion lender. (Yes, I’m kind of taken by that FAB acronym too!)
In Australia
Annabelle Herd will become the first female CEO of the Australian Recording Industry Association (better known as ARIA) and PPCA, Australia's labels’ copyright collecting society on Monday (Feb 1st).
Caught my eye
Conquering the final frontier
Dr Fatima Ebrahimi has invented a new fusion rocket thruster concept which could power humans to Mars and beyond. We might be living the reality of the Amazon show ‘Expanse,’ sooner than we thought.
(Story by Sky News)
Turn back time
This U.K. government advert for encouraging people to stay home (& probably made in the 1950’s) came down as quickly as it went up. British women are still seething!
(Story by BBC)
Pile on the depressing Covid & Women headlines
It seems women’s setbacks in a Covid economy extends to even the wealthy.
(Story by Bloomberg)
But keep calm & carry on
It’s not all gloom and doom! It turns out 4 POSITIVE trends for women HAVE actually emerged for women during Covid. (1) Corporate diversity mandates (2) Gender lens funds (3) Women in tech potentially getting a boost from WFH (4) Women investors - Looks like we’re all getting more involved in our finances and careers, this crisis!
(Story by City A.M)
Be a sport
F1 dreams
16-year-old Maya Weug is winner of the ‘Girls on Track’ initiative, founded by the FIA and Ferrari and becomes the first female to join the Ferrari Driver Academy.
(Story by Planet F1)
Skating on ice
The Dutch have ruled the International Skating Union (ISU) Speed Skating World Cup. Irene Schouten set a new track record in the women's 3,000m, while Femke Kok claimed the women's 500 metres gold medal.
(Story by Inside The Games)
The art of words
Feminism & Couture
Maria Grazia Chiuri joined Christian Dior in 2016 and since then the brand has been flying the feminist flag high. Showcasing her work from 2017 to 2021, her new book puts together 160 images by leading female photographers, alongside the poems and essays of the women she finds most inspirational. The book is aptly titled ‘Her Dior.’
Everyone is making video content now
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s book ‘The Daughters of Kobani,’ is out next month. A TV drama based on it is already in the works by production company ‘Hidden Light’ (The company was set up in 2020 by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, and Sam Branson (Richard Branson’s youngest)). The drama will tell the story of the YPJ - the fierce women’s wing of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), made globally famous by their fight against ISIS in Syria. But put together the Clinton family’s complicated history with the Kurds, and the PKK’s fight against Turkey since the mid-80s; and resulting Turkish media accusations of whitewashing by the Clintons’ isn’t at all surprising.
(Story by the Middle East Eye)
Myth-busting authoring
Sarah Jaffe’s new book, ‘Work Won’t Love You Back’ is next on my reading list!
Must Watch
Management lessons from Chinese philosophy
Chinese companies are innovating, and we can learn from them. After 2,000 years of Confucianism many seem to be returning to the tenets of Taoism, and it’s working. While Confucianism promotes a devotion to family and thereby submission to authority, the more ancient Taoism believes in the connection of everything and everyone (Yin-Yang). Here’s the head of Boston Consulting Group’s China Academy Fang Ruan’s take on how an ancient Chinese philosophy can help you be the leader of today: (Talk by TED)
Tip of the week
If you/your company are on social media and have any remote connection/reference to hedges, forests, stocks, finance or Robin Hood take a cue from the folks below - add in a caveat to save yourself a migraine. Of course, if all those added angsty followers are just what you needed.. As Robin Hood would say… Huzzah!!
