North America | United States | Business

The Fortune 500 has a new woman CEO: Accenture’s Julie Sweet

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Accenture has named Julie Sweet as its next CEO, adding to the few woman who run major companies. The consulting company said Thursday that Sweet, 51, will take the top job in September. She's currently the head of Accenture's North America business, which accounts for almost 50% of the company's global revenues. Sweet joined Accenture (ACN) in 2010. She served as the company's general counsel after 10 years as a partner at the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. There are more women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies than ever before. The latest Fortune list, publ
Asia | Kyrgyzstan | Career

Kyrgyzstan’s space women blast off from male dominance

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Having grown up in one of the poorest and most conservative regions in Kyrgyzstan, 17-year-old Begaiym Isaakova never imagined she would work in tech, let alone be part of a team of young women building the country's first spacecraft. By age 15, Isaakova was shocked to see her peers in Jalal-Abad being married off, but not too surprised. The message that girls should prioritise knowing how to serve men started early and was everywhere, including in schools and homes. Instead of being sent down the aisle in a country where early and forced marriage - including by bride kidnap - is common
Latin America | Guatemala | Law

2 Guatemalan Women Win Civil Courage Prize for Human Rights Work

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Two internationally renowned Guatemalan women who spent years prosecuting and adjudicating organized crime and corruption cases at great personal risk will receive the 16th annual Civil Courage Prize on Oct. 14 in New York City. Dr. Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey, who became Guatemala's first female attorney general in 2010, and Judge Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar, who presides over one of Guatemala's High Risk Tribunals, will share the award and the $50,000 prize. The Civil Courage Prize has been awarded annually since 2000 by the New York-based Train Foundation. The two women are well known i
North America | United States | History

Delta’s first female pilot inspiring girls to fly

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On Saturday, Delta’s first female pilot, retired Captain Joy Walker, will take to the skies again to mark another “first” in the airline’s history book. She, along with more than 130 girls ages 12-18, will board a Boeing 737-800 and fly from Minneapolis to Seattle to celebrate the first National Girls in Aviation Day. From charter planning to catering, meteorology to dispatching, every detail of the flight is being supported by women aviation professionals. In the air and on the ground in Seattle, the girls will spend the day with Walker and other Delta employees learning abou
Caribbean | Leadership

UWI Mona students selected for global youth leadership programme

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University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, students Kizanne James and Necesia McNab have made the final list of 200 young leaders from 94 countries to be a part of a three-year global advocacy fellowship led by Women Deliver. Women Deliver is an international advocacy organisation that works towards the health, rights and well-being of women and girls globally. The group also brings together diverse voices and interests to drive progress in maternal, sexual, and reproductive health and rights. James and McNab have been integral in promoting the welfare of women and girls in their
Africa | Somalia | Leadership

12 Trailblazing Somali Women

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Horn is a new publication featuring trailblazing women from the Horn of Africa. Issue 1 of the magazine, which launched last month, shines a special spotlight on Somali women. According to Horn‘s editor and founder, Sumaya, the project arose from a question of where the “carefree Somali girls” were being portrayed. “They most often self-identify as Muslim and African, yet are rarely ever represented in both arenas,” says Sumaya. “Within their communities and households, they basically run things, but are usually behind the scenes. They are in the unique position of being black
International | Leadership

Meet two women who are the first female pilots in their countries

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Niloofar Rahmani is a 23 year-old pilot in the Afghan Air Force — the first woman to serve in the Afghan military since 2001. She flies cargo planes used to transport dead and wounded soldiers and bring supplies to conflict zones. “Some people get injured; we are carrying them to the capital to get them into good medication hospitals,” Rahmani says. The young woman inherited her dreams of flight from her father, who was unable to pursue them himself. But flying with the Air Force wasn’t her first choice: “I really wanted to be a commercial pilot. I really searched for it.” Unfort
Europe | U.K. | Education

Baroness Amos: I was taken aback when I found out I was the first black female head of a university

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Making history as the first black woman to lead a British university causes mixed emotions for Valerie Amos, who is honoured by her appointment but dismayed that the breakthrough has taken so long. The baroness, a former Labour minister, expresses concern at the lack of diversity in higher education, referring to the scarcity of black academics and the struggle of students of African and Caribbean heritage to succeed at university. Figures showing that only 85 of the UK’s 18,500 professors are black are alarming, she says. “I was taken aback when I found out I’d be the first black
Middle East | Palestine | Entrepreneurship

How Gaza Sky Geeks Increased Women’s Leadership In The Gaza Startup Sector

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In April 2014, my team and I at Gaza Sky Geeks launched a new pipeline activity with a grant from Google for Entrepreneurs. Our goal was to increase the number of women startup founders in Gaza. We had seen a high percentage of women’s participation in the startup sector in Gaza since we began our work: often, 30% of the attendees at our events are women. But when we first presented our startups to investors in November 2013, only male-led teams received investment. It was too early to determine whether this was a trend or not, but we had a sense that it was and we wanted to nip it in the
Europe | U.K. | Education

Oxford University To Appoint First Female Vice-Chancellor In Nearly 800 Years

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Oxford University announced this week its nomination of Professor Louise Richardson for the school’s most senior role of vice-chancellor, who, if approved, will be the first woman to hold the position in the university’s nearly 800-year history. Should the Oxford Congregation approve Richardson, she will take over from Professor Andrew Hamilton on January 1, 2016, and retain the position for seven years. Richardson, currently the vice-chancellor of Scotland’s St. Andrews University, told the Guardian that she was honored by the nomination. “I look forward to the day when a woman bei
Africa | Entrepreneurship

Start-Up Stories: Solar Sister

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Africa’s economic growth and quality of life are hindered by a lack of power. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that over 585 million people across the continent lack access to power. That’s where Solar Sister comes in. Since 2009, Solar Sister has empowered a network of women clean energy entrepreneurs. With light comes hope and opportunity. Using an Avon-style distribution model, Solar Sister recruits and supports women to sell affordable solar lighting in an effort to create clean energy access and help them these women gain a steady income. Ayiba’s Akinyi Ochieng spoke
Middle East | UAE | Activism

Abu Dhabi women set up first female Emirati leadership group

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When a group of high-flying Emirati women wanted to network with like-minded females, they struggled to find the right platform. Existing organisations focused on learning how to strike deals, so the group decided to set up their own. Qiyadiyat (meaning “female leaders” in Arabic), is Abu Dhabi’s first Emirati female leadership platform. It was created last year by a group of friends in management positions to develop, inspire and provide networking opportunities for fellow Emirati working women. “In the past when Emirati working women got together, they’d have what I call the
Middle East | Dubai | Leadership

Leading women’s triumphs awarded at Dubai ceremony

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Outstanding achievements by UAE women in fields as diverse as civil aviation, business strategy, technology and social enterprise were recognised on Monday night. Laila Al Muhairi, assistant director general for strategy and international affairs at the General Civil Aviation Authority, won the first award in the professional category at the Emirates Women Awards. The ceremony was organised by the Dubai Quality Group under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Emirates airline. Participants were judged on the basis of leadership skills, financial planning, career a