Praise for Closing the Leadership Gap
“Sharp, compelling, and completely on the mark. Every woman who has ever though about running for office, running an organization, or running a Fortune 500 company should read this book.”
~ Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
“We need new voices and new perspectives at this time in our country’s history. Marie Wilson has hit upon something powerful here—the need to use all our leadership resources, particularly in a time of war.”
~ Jay Garner, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Retired
“Every man who’s in despair over world leadership—and every woman who fears her gender is a barrier to leadership—will find hope and help in [this book].”
~ Gloria Steinem
About the Book, Closing the Leadership Gap
Despite the common view that women already permeate every level of leadership in this country, the United States in fact ranks 67th in the world in terms of women's political representation, and women lead only thirteen Fortune 500 companies. In this inspiring call to action, Marie Wilson explains why we need more women at the top alongside men, not just for the sake of fairness, but for the larger social good. Compelling research shows that when women sit at the table, they enhance the decision-making process dramatically. And yet, even as our nation sits on a world spinning with crises, we have barely begun to tap our most critical natural resource--women. Re-released in January 2008, Closing the Leadership Gap now includes a timely new afterword entitled "No More Waiting: Women in Politics and in Time of War" in which Wilson argues for the importance of including women in the security debate.
About the Author, Marie Wilson
An advocate of women’s issues for more than 30 years, Marie C. Wilson is founder and President Emeritus of The White House Project, co-creator of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work ® Day and author of Closing the Leadership Gap: Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World (Penguin 2004, 2007).
In 1998, Wilson founded The White House Project in recognition of the need to build a truly representative democracy – one where women lead alongside men in all spheres. Since its inception, The White House Project has been a leading advocate and voice on women’s leadership.
Before she took the helm at The White House Project, Wilson was, for nearly two decades, the President of the Ms. Foundation for Women. She is an honorary “founding mother” of the Ms. Foundation. In honor of her work, the Ms. Foundation has created The Marie C. Wilson Leadership Fund.
Over the last thirty years, Wilson’s accomplishments span becoming the first woman elected to the Des Moines City Council as a member-at-large in 1983, co-authoring the critically acclaimed Mother Daughter Revolution (1993, Bantam Books), and serving as an official government delegate to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China in 1995.
Wilson has been profiled in The New York Times “Public Lives” column, has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, National Public Radio and other national programs and is quoted widely for her expertise. Born and raised in Georgia, Wilson has five children and six grandchildren. She resides in New York City.
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