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Exactly one month from today, I will be boarding a plane headed straight for Abu Dhabi—for the third annual Forbes and Know Your Value 30/50 Summit. If you’re new to this newsletter or missed our coverage of the (epic) event last year, the 30/50 Summit is a spectacular cross-generational and cross-cultural gathering of the female founders, leaders and investors from the Forbes 30 Under 30 and 50 Over 50 list (and all ages in between!) who are shaping the face of business, culture and politics across the globe.
The team and I are so excited about our speaker lineup for this year’s event: We’ll be joined on stage by megastar Shania Twain, former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and young climate activists Xiye Bastida and Vanessa Nakate. We’ll hear entrepreneurial insights from groundbreaking founders: Cloudflare cofounder and COO Michelle Zatlyn will be speaking (and will also talk about the state of cybersecurity in 2024), as will Ellevest founder and CEO Sallie Krawcheck and Mumzworld founder Mona Ataya, among many others.
Earlier today, 30/50 vice chair Huma Abedin and I sat down with Mika Brzezinski—the cohost of Morning Joe, our partner in all things 50 Over 50 and the chair of the Summit—to unveil two more Summit speakers: Sheertex founder and CEO Katherine Homuth, a 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree who wants to eliminate disposable pantyhose, and actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, a 2024 30 Under 30 lister who rocketed to stardom after standing out in a 15,000-person open casting call for Mindy Kaling’s “Never Have I Ever” sitcom. You can watch the full announcement here.
I'm pleased to also report that, as loyal ForbesWomen readers, you have access to a special 35% discount on tickets to the Summit. If the speakers and event I’ve described above sounds intriguing to you, I’d love to see your faces and meet you IRL!
Maggie
Exclusive Forbes Profile: These Women Are Selling Mary Kay Makeup From Bomb Shelters In War Torn Ukraine
Marichka Lukyanova has been selling Mary Kay cosmetics during the Ukraine-Russia war.
PROVIDED BY MARICHKA LUKYANOVAAmerican multi-level marketing company Mary Kay has shown surprising staying power during the war, with a growing Ukrainian salesforce of an estimated 70,000 women hawking its makeup—even if it means navigating frequent air siren alarms, shelling and blackouts. “I said to myself, Marichika, who will need your cosmetics if there is a war in your country?” recalled Lukyanova (pictured above). But one message surprised her: Even in those early weeks of the war, one of her clients wanted to buy more Mary Kay facial cream before she ran out.
ICYMI: News Of The Week
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 21: Filmmaker Ava Duvernay attends Film at Lincoln Center screening of "When They See Us" at Walter Reade Theater on May 21, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesWhen Ava DuVernay initially tried to get financing through traditional means for her film Origin, she hit a few roadblocks. And so, she worked alongside her producing partner, Paul Garnes, and her head of development, Regina Miller, to find another way. This is the story of how she raised $38 million for that film.
Female musicians and artists of color are earning a larger share of accolades than ever before: Solo female artists filled 40.6% of spots on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart in 2023, an increase from 34.8% in 2022, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at USC said Tuesday in its 2023 recording studio inclusion report.
This past week marked the 15th anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which helped to make equal pay laws more enforceable. However, the act’s real story actually begins three decades earlier.
According to a new report from the McKinsey Health Institute, closing the gaps in funding and treatment for women's health could add $1 trillion to the global economy while reducing the number of days women spend in poor health. Your trusty newsletter author sat down with Lucy Perez, the co-leader of MHI's health equity portfolio, to discuss what this means—and the entrepreneurial opportunities that exist in this arena.
The Checklist
1. Save hours worth of time in mid-year reviews. We’re entering review season—and if you’re worried about the time this will take from your other work, we have one simple acronym that will help you streamline the process: FOCUS.
2. Understand both sides of your brain. Are you right-brained (more inclined to creative, intuitive thinking and work) or left-brained (more inclined towards logical reasoning and analysis)? Understanding which is more dominant can help you make decisions, solve problems, and even change careers.
3. Embrace your greed. For far too long, women have been made to feel guilty about aspiring to make their own money. Society has some archaic views that paint women who express their desire for wealth as greedy or power-hungry. This could not be further from the truth.
The Quiz
When Snow White was released in 1937, nobody could have predicted the immense popularity that Disney princess movies would achieve. Who among the following, however, is not considered an official Disney princess?
A. Nala from ‘The Lion King’
B. Elsa from ‘Frozen’
C. Esmeralda from ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’
D. All of the above
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