I have a vision. I desire to make a difference in the world. For the greater good of us all, I want to hijack the capitalist system and turn it on its head! I want to publicly and purposefully embrace and share how we can all thrive through living a practice of simple abundance. I want us to experience and know that there is enough, that we have enough and that we can give enough to make a difference in what matters most to us. I want us to make a difference every time we work together. Our work will benefit your leadership and at the same time we will be supporting worthy fundraising efforts and charities that will further women’s equality and women’s leadership. Together we will make a difference for other women who will then be able to join us in helping to make a difference for everyone.

Everyday we hear of about a new corporate corruption; increased poverty and starvation; decreased availability of clean air and water; the gluttony of consumerism; the devastation of wars; the impacts of global warming; and we also hear how people are losing hope and turning in greater numbers to drugs, suicide, crime, and violence. All of these conditions have a huge impact on our environment, on humanity and, disproportionately, on women and children. Amongst these relentless and mind-numbing observations about our global condition, there is a whisper drifting through the anxiety, fear and hopelessness. The whisper goes like this “We need new ways of leading. We must have women equally participating in all areas of leadership if we are going to make a real difference – if humanity is to survive.” My heart rejoices and sings to hear these soft hopeful declarations. However, this whisper of global recognition about the need to increase women’s leadership has so far had little impact on increasing the number of women leaders in key corporate, business, public service, political and not-for-profit arenas. For example Catalyst Research found that there has been a decrease in women’s leadership in Fortune 500 companies in the United States between 2006 and 2007:

In 2007, women held 15.4 percent of corporate officer positions at Fortune 500 companies. This number was 15.6 percent in 2006. Women held 6.7 percent of top earner positions. This number was the same in 2006. Alternatively, the number of companies without women corporate officers increased from 64 in 2006 to 74 in 2007. The number of companies with three or more women board directors also decreased from 234 in 2006 to 203 in 2007.

What is shocking is that these percent declines have come after Catalyst’s ground breaking 2004 research “The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity” that found that there were strong financial rewards for those companies with women in their top management teams:

Companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams experienced better financial performance than companies with the lowest women’s representation. This finding holds for both financial measures analyzed: Return on Equity (ROE), which is 35 percent higher, and Total Return to Shareholders (TRS), which is 34 percent higher. In each of the five industries analyzed, the companies with the highest women’s representation on their top management teams experienced a higher ROE than the companies with the lowest women’s representation. In four out of five industries, the companies with the highest women’s representation on their top management teams experienced a higher TRS than the companies with the lowest women’s representation.

Women’s economic conditions and influence in global decision-making are still far below equity with their male counter parts. Amnesty International in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) and Women - A Fact Sheet states the following:

Today, women represent approximately 70% of the 1.2 billion people living in poverty throughout the world…[and] they own only 1% of the world's wealth. Poverty, particularly for women, is more than income deficiency. The World Health Organization has noted that women continue to lag behind men in control over essential resources including cash, credit, property, land, wealth and access to material goods. They are also disadvantaged by other forms of impoverishment in areas such as literacy, education, skills, employment opportunities, mobility, political representation, and pressures on their available time and energy linked to gender role responsibilities. For these reasons, women are often poorer relative to men of the same household and social group.

Drastic and extreme action is required to support and increase global women’s leadership participation. If women are to increase their participation in leadership, we need to find a way to separate the power of money from access to leadership and global influence and decision-making. And that is how By-Donation was conceived. With By-Donation I can offer you elite executive leadership services at a price that more women leaders can afford. By-Donation makes a difference every time.

To learn more go to my website at Terrill Welch - A Woman Behind Women.