Women’s Health: Long-Acting Birth Control Becomes More Popular

Women’s Health: Long-Acting Birth Control Becomes More Popular

Inspirational Woman Of The Day: Dame Ellen MacArthur

Inspirational Woman Of The Day: Dame Ellen MacArthur

Women’s News: Women Heroes in Tech: The Best Kept Secrets of Silicon Valley

Women’s News: Women Heroes in Tech: The Best Kept Secrets of Silicon Valley

A Message From The Creator

A Message From The Creator

Women’s News: Women Heroes in Tech: The Best Kept Secrets of Silicon Valley

Marilyn Nagel

CEO, Watermark

If you Google “women in tech,” it’s likely that the same 5-10 women will pop up in your search results. These hyper-visible women (Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer, Susan Wojcicki, to name a few) have become the poster girls of women leaders in Silicon Valley. They’re great at what they do, and they certainly act as role models for women interested in breaking into tech. While creating a group of superstars serves its purpose, I fear that seeing the same faces repeatedly gives the impression that they’re the only women succeeding in Silicon Valley, when in reality, exceptional women leaders are not as hard to find as one might think!

As CEO of Watermark, I’m constantly surrounded by powerful, razor-sharp women who support one another as well as the women within their organizations by encouraging them to advance, take advantage of opportunities, and make the right career choices.

In highlighting the women below, I seek to widen the pool of female heroes in tech. They might not have a huge PR machine behind them, but these women have truly made their mark on the professional landscape in Silicon Valley. They’re role models in terms of what they’ve achieved for their businesses, themselves and in terms of their support for other women. Each of these women has a unique approach to championing women in their industry, but they all share something in common: the ability to contribute and foster positive, inclusive cultures in the companies theywork for.

Kimberly DeCarlis, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Citrix Systems

“The Citrix culture is one based on inclusion and opportunity for everyone — women and men across diverse backgrounds are what make Citrix unique and special. In fact, in speaking with many of the women here, it is no surprise that they want to stand on their merits, not their high heels! Women at all levels want to be recognized not because they are women, but because they are really great at what they do, whether that’s marketing, product design, engineering, finance or HR. At the end of the day, we all want opportunity. It’s so motivating and inspiring to see that rewards, recognition and advancement are based on merit, and on driving great outcomes for Citrix.

One of the key ways to support this culture is embrace it every day. For example, the recognition programs on my team are based on merit… we share publicly what people have done to support the company’s goals, and we focus on outcomes. It’s also important to lead by example. My leadership team and I socialize ideas with stakeholders across the company, and share this approach with the broader team. This includes asking for help — ranging from getting a new project moving, to dealing with constraints, to solving a problem — and when leadership shows they don’t always have the answers and need help, it makes it acceptable for others to do the same. When we hire, we look to find the best person for the job and as a result have built a team that has incredible diversity, along a number of spectrums — gender, ethnicity, lifestyle, age. Our culture thrives because there is opportunity for everyone.”

Judith Sim, Chief Marketing Officer, Oracle

“A major part of our company culture here at Oracle is allowing employees to drive and take responsibility for initiatives that matter to them. The Oracle Women’s Leadership (OWL) group actually started as a grassroots organization — employees developed it as an organization they could leverage, and it’s been astounding to watch it develop into a global corporate program in such a short amount of time.

Being active in groups like OWL sets a positive example for everyone in the organization to work toward diversity and overall accountability. Participating in those conversations and being visible are very important when you’re leading. When there’s an OWL program coming up, I send personal email notes to teammates and peers, letting them know about the program and that I’ll be there. Encouraging others to join in makes it easier for them to participate, and it does a lot to boost confidence levels.

Often, half the room is from my own organization because I’ve sent those invitations out. I get so much satisfaction out of seeing them speaking out and participating, getting a chance to be visible in that dialogue. The first thing I see is their confidence grow, and over time, I hope this sets an example for other organizations.

Sometimes it seems difficult to maintain this behavior because — let’s face it — we’re all super busy! However, it’s so important to keep building that ‘pay it forward’ culture. I continuously see the leadership at Oracle do it, which makes it easier for me to do to maintain. My hope is that in turn, it becomes easier for other managers as well.”

Maya Strelar-Migotti, Vice President of IP and Broadband Development, Ericsson

“One of the key principles of our culture at Ericsson is diversity. To us, diversity means male and female, people of all nationalities, backgrounds, and beliefs. It’s critical for us to strengthen that, and I’m pleased to see that more and more companies in Silicon Valley are starting to pay attention and take steps toward a better balance. Research shows that more diverse teams lead to better governance and a higher return on investment, which is exactly what we want here at Ericsson.

I couldn’t be more excited to observe that since I arrived here about two and half years ago, the leadership at Ericsson in Silicon Valley has increased greatly. We now have six female vice presidents, not to mention several director-level women leaders.

For a long time, I’ve been an active mentor for talented director-level women within Ericsson who want to move further up. It’s important to take a hands-on approach, giving upcoming women the tools and advice necessary to get them to the next level. At Ericsson, we’ve begun a program called “Women in Leadership” to help members achieve their career goals through networking, best practices, career development, and balancing their work and personal lives.

Often, women executives have such a busy schedule — sometimes helping others goes to the bottom of the priority list. You have to keep in mind that by helping develop women leaders in your company, you’re making it stronger. More women at the top — and more diversity overall — is a goal we should constantly reach for, especially in our industry.”

Company Culture Is Key

Each of these women are supported by the companies they work for, and it’s important to keep in mind that they don’t take that support for granted — they work hard to shape it, contribute to it, and lead by example. Maya, Kim, and Judy are true champions of talent, diversity, and merit — they would bring these qualities to the table at any organization!

Who are the role models in your company? What do they do to champion other women leaders in tech? How do they support and contribute to a positive company culture?

Inspirational Woman Of The Day: Dame Ellen MacArthur

Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur, DBE (born 8 July 1976) is an English sailor, up until 2009, from Whatstandwell nearMatlock in Derbyshire, now based in West Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. She is best known as a solo long-distanceyachtswoman. On 7 February 2005 she broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, a feat which gained her international renown. Francis Joyon, the Frenchman who had held the record before MacArthur, recovered the record again in early 2008, beating MacArthur’s record by nearly two weeks. Following her retirement from professional sailing on 2 September 2010, MacArthur announced the launch of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity set up to inspire people to re-think, re-design and build a sustainable future.

Ellen MacArthur was born in Derbyshire where she lived with her parents who were both teachers and two brothers, Fergus and Lewis. She acquired her early interest in sailing, firstly by her desire to emulate her idol at the time, Sophie Burke and, secondly by reading Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series of books. She has since become the Patron of the Nancy Blackett Trust which owns and operates Ransome’s yacht, Nancy Blackett. Her first experience of sailing was on a boat owned by her Aunt Thea MacArthur on the east coast of England. She saved her school dinner money for eight years in order to buy her first boat, an eight foot dinghy, which she named Threp’ny Bit even though decimalisation had taken place before she was born. She sellotaped a real Threp’ny Bit onto the bow. MacArthur attended Wirksworth County Infants and Junior Schools and the Anthony Gell Community School and also worked at a sailing school in Hull. When she was 17, MacArthur bought a Corribee named Iduna, she described the first moment she saw it as “love at first sight”. In 1995 she sailed Iduna single-handed on a circumnavigation of Great Britain.

In 1997 she finished 17th in the Mini Transat solo transatlantic race after fitting out her 21 ft (6.4 m) yacht Le Poisson herself while living in a French boatyard.

She was named 1998 British Telecom/Royal Yachting Association “Yachtsman of The Year” in the UK and “Sailing’s Young Hope” in France.

Asteroid 20043 EllenMacArthur is named after her.

She first came to general prominence in 2001 when she came second in the Vendée Globe solo round-the-world sailing race in her Owen Clarke/Rob Humphreys designedKingfisher (named after her sponsors, Kingfisher plc), and subsequently MacArthur was appointed MBE for services to sport.

In 2003 she captained a round-the-world record attempt for a crewed yacht in Kingfisher 2 (a catamaran formerly owned by Bruno Peyron and known as Orange), but was thwarted by a broken mast in the Southern Ocean.

Ellen MacArthur on her arrival in 2005.

A trimaran named B&Q/Castorama (after two companies in the Kingfisher group) unveiled in January 2004, was specially designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret for her to break solo records. The 75-foot (23 m) trimaran was built in Australia, with many of the components specifically arranged to take into account MacArthur’s 5 foot 2 inch (1.57 m) height.

Using the yacht, her first significant record attempt in 2004 to break the west–east transatlantic crossing time failed by around one and a quarter hours, after over seven days of sailing.

She began her attempt to break the solo record for sailing non-stop around the world on 28 November 2004. During her circumnavigation, she set records for the fastest solo voyage to the equator, past the Cape of Good Hope, past Cape Horn and back to the equator again. She crossed the finishing line near the French coast at Ushant at 22:29 UTC on 7 February 2005 beating the previous record set by French sailor Francis Joyon by 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes, 49 seconds. Her time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds is world record for the 27,354 nautical miles (50,660 km) covered. This is an average speed of 15.9 knots (29.4 km/h).

On 8 February 2005, following her return to England, it was announced that she was to be appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her achievement. It is believed that she is the youngest ever recipient of this honour. Coming immediately after the event being recognised, rather than appearing in due course in the New Year’s or Birthday honours lists, this recognition was reminiscent of the knighthoods conferred upon Francis Drake and Francis Chichester upon arrival home after their respective circumnavigations in 1580 and 1967. MacArthur was also made an honorary Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Naval Reserve on the same day.

In recognition of her achievement she was awarded the French Légion d’Honneur Knight by Nicolas Sarkozy in March 2008. She is a fluent French speaker.

In 2007 MacArthur headed up BT Team Ellen, a three-person sailing team which includes Australian Nick Moloney and Frenchman Sébastien Josse.

In October 2009 MacArthur announced her intention to retire from competitive racing to concentrate on sustainability.

On 2 September 2010, she launched the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity focusing on providing a positive framework for sustainable innovation using insights from living systems to re-think the future. The Foundation works primarily in Education for 14–19 years and Higher Education and investigates the opportunities for young people in a future sustainable economy.

In June 2000, MacArthur sailed the monohull Kingfisher from Plymouth, UK to Newport, Rhode Island, USA in 14 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes. This is the current record for a single-handed monohull east-to-west passage, and also the record for a single-handed woman in any vessel.

MacArthur’s second place in the 2000-2001 edition of the Vendée Globe, with a time of 94 days, 4 hours and 25 minutes, is the world record for a single-handed, non-stop, monohull circumnavigation by a woman.

In June 2004, MacArthur sailed her trimaran B&Q/Castorama from Ambrose Light, Lower New York Bay, USA to Lizard Point, Cornwall, UK in 7 days, 3 hours, 50 minutes. This set a new world record for a transatlantic crossing by women, beating the previous crewed record as well as the singlehanded version.

In 2005, MacArthur beat Francis Joyon’s existing world record for a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation. MacArthur in the trimaran B&Q/Castorama sailed 27,354 nautical miles (50,660 km) at an average speed of 15.9 knots. Her time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds beat Joyon’s then world record time by 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds. She had no more than 20 minutes’ sleep at a time during the voyage, having to be on constant lookout day and night. On 23 November 2007 Joyon set off in IDEC II in an attempt to beat MacArthur’s current world record for a single handed circumnavigation. He achieved his goal in 57 days, 13 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds.

Critics of MacArthur’s voyage emphasise the differences in the technological capabilities of present-day sailing vessels against those used by previous record holders.

A Message From The Creator

 

 

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lives”

-Mother Theresa

Women’s Health: Long-Acting Birth Control Becomes More Popular

By: MyHealthNewsDaily Staff
Published: 07/17/2012 04:57 PM EDT on MyHealthNewsDaily

Women in the U.S. are increasingly using long-acting methods of birth control, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), while the use of short-term contraception, such as birth control pills, as well as sterilization procedures have slightly decreased, according to a new study.

The percentage of U.S. women using birth control who reported using a long-acting method rose from 2.4 percent in 2002 to 3.7 percent in 2007 and to 8.5 percent in 2009. Over this same time, the percentages of women who reported using either permanent or short-term methods of birth control decreased.

“The average age at first sex is around 17, and the average age at first birth close to 25. As a result, the period during which women are at risk for unplanned pregnancy is much longer than it used to be,” said study author Dr. Lawrence Finer, of the Guttmacher Institute.

This means that protecting against pregnancy for a longer time, without requiring a woman’s frequent attention, could greatly benefit women — especially young women, who have the highest rates of unintended pregnancy, Finer said.

The researchers used data gathered during the National Survey of Family Growth, which includes U.S. women ages 15 to 44. Women completed the surveys in their homes, and all information was self-reported. The researchers surveyed 4,600 women in 2002, 3,400 in 2007 and 3,900 women in 2009.

Women between ages 25 and 39 and women who already had one or more children were more likely to use long-acting contraception, the results showed. This supports the idea that most people consider long-acting contraception to be a method that should be used after child-bearing.

Long-acting contraception also has higher up-front costs than other methods, which may deter younger women, according to the researchers. IUDs can cost up to $500, according to Planned Parenthood.

However, although women younger than 25 were less likely to use long-acting methods than other groups, there was still an increase in use among women of this age, from 1 percent of all women ages 15 to 19 in 2007, to 4 percent in 2009.

Despite the rise in use of long-acting methods, the most common form of birth control used by women over age 35 was sterilization, and among women under age 35, other methods such as the pill remained more common.

The study was published Monday (July 16) in Fertility and Sterility.

Pass it on: Long-reversible contraception methods, such as IUDs, are on the rise, though sterilization and other means, such as birth control pills, are the most commonly used.

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