For the 14th year, Forbes hosted the annual Power Women’s Summit in New York City this week. Led by Executive Vice President Moira Forbes, the summit was initially launched on the premise that “power” can be a touchy subject for some, Forbes said—especially women. Throughout the day-long event, some of today’s most revered women sparked conversations on activism, AI and navigating the industries that are still largely dominated by men—like healthcare, sports and tech. Many of these conversations came down to one thing: money. After all, there’s no denying that money is power.
Melinda French Gates and Regina Dugan, the first woman director of DARPA, opened the summit with an announcement about how they’re set to disrupt the healthcare space: The two will be investing $100 million toward research and development in women’s health issues like cardiovascular, autoimmune and mental health issues. Gates, a notable philanthropist, was encouraged to focus on the healthcare industry because without their health, women will have no chance to take their place in education, governments, media and society in general, she said.
The increasing value of sports was another hot topic at the summit. For reference, the women’s sports industry was estimated to be worth approximately $700 million two years ago. Today, that number tops $2 billion. New York Liberty CEO Keia Clarke spoke to the new normal she’s seeing across the WNBA. That includes record-breaking attendance, increased fan engagement, and tech innovation she’s pairing with this growth (like a new mobile app that allows Liberty fans to take part in loyalty programs, read web articles, stream local games, and more).
But with the new finances backing female athletes, other sports leaders like Stephanie Marciano, Ally Financial’s head of brand and sports marketing, said slow and steady wins the race: “We’re getting to a point now that we’re so hot, the industry is so hot, that we’ve overcorrected a bit,” Marciano said. “I just don't want us to grow too fast in how we’re pricing things. We need sustainable, long term growth” so that new entrants—whether they’re fans, marketers or others—aren’t priced out.
Meanwhile, Brother Vellies founder Aurora James is pushing for more money to make its way to Black founders. Along with her accessories brand, she launched the Fifteen Percent Pledge in 2020, a movement to get corporations to dedicate at least 15% of shelf space to Black-owned businesses. It was met with enthusiasm for the first few years, but that’s changed recently, James said.
“We went from a general understanding across the board that supporting small businesses, including Black-owned businesses, was what was best for everyone,” she told the crowd. “The idea now that somehow that’s untrue is pretty crazy. The way that the current administration is going about things is making it harder for a lot of our partners to even continue to support DEI.”
James wasn’t the only speaker to hold corporations accountable for what is undoubtedly an uncertain time. Journalist Kara Swisher has been holding the tech industry accountable for decades, and she didn’t hold back on this stage.
“I want to ask the question people actually want to know,” she told ForbesWomen Editor Maggie McGrath. That’s led to contentious conversations with those like Mark Zuckerberg (who she says won’t speak to her anymore, and she doesn’t blame him) and Elon Musk, among others. But in the end, it all comes down to capitalism, she says.
She tells the story of a scoop she published after President Donald Trump’s first election, after tech leaders like Zuckerberg had attended a meeting at the White House. “What they wanted was tax repatriation, no regulation, and a bunch of other things,” she said of their asks to Trump. “And in exchange they were willing to be obsequious.”
It’s a story that led to the intro of her memoir, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, “As it turned out, it was capitalism after all,” she writes.
See you next week,
Alex & Zoya |
