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How Nicole Shanahan, RFK’s VP Pick, Got Rich. Plus: Reclaim Your Financial Power

This is this week’s ForbesWomen newsletter, which every Thursday brings news about the world’s top female entrepreneurs, leaders and investors straight to your inbox. Click here to get on the newsletter list!

Late last year, accounting firm EY announced that longtime EY executive Janet Truncale will become its global chair and CEO in 2024. The news was particularly notable because this marks the first time that a “Big Four'' accounting firm will have a woman at its head. But as Truncale revealed during an event this week cohosted by Forbes and Women’s World Banking (an organization working to help female financial inclusion and on whose board Truncale serves), she did not initially love the attention on the designation of being “the first.”

“The press release did not say [“the first”], but then the media picked it up,” Truncale said during an on-stage conversation with Women’s World Banking CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian. “I’ll be honest with you, it made me uncomfortable in the beginning.” Truncale went on to say that the encouragement of her EY colleagues, many of them women, helped her change her mind. “They said, ‘make sure you say it, because it matters. Don’t be afraid to talk about your journey.’”

I think this is fitting advice to close Women’s History Month out on. As longtime readers of this note well know, we at ForbesWomen believe in the power of storytelling—and we believe in that power all year round, not just in March. According to data from the World Economic Forum, we are still 169 years away from having economic parity with men and 162 years away from having political parity with men… so there remains a lot of work to be done to foster true gender equality in this world. We look forward to covering that work.

Cheers!

Maggie McGrath

P.S.: Women’s World Banking CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was one of the inaugural listees on the Forbes 50 Over 50 list in 2021. Nominations for the 2024 list are officially open, so if you—like Iskenderian and her fellow members of the 50 Over 50—are creating your greatest professional impact after the age of 50, please head to this link here to nominate yourself today!

Featured Forbes Analysis: How Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s VP Pick, Got So Rich

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley lawyer, as his running mate at a rally on Tuesday. Shanahan, who has no prior background in politics, told the Oakland, California crowd that her goals as vice president are “to serve peace and to help those in poverty.” She brings something else to the ticket, though: cash. She is the richest VP candidate in half a century.



ICYMI: News Of The Week

Netflix's release of the biopic Shirley, starring Regina King as political groundbreaker Shirley Chisholm, is shining a light on Chisholm’s historic run for President of the United States in 1972. There are “far too many people” who still don’t know her name, King has said during the press tour for the film.

Speaking of women who are important to history: Dr. Liz Harmon, the Digital Curator at the American Smithsonian Women's History Museum, joined Brittany Lewis on “Forbes Talks” to discuss how the museum is finding untold stories of female entrepreneurs. "We know women have been making history for centuries, but their stories are still missing from popular narratives,” Harmon says.

As a postdoctoral researcher at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Nicole Gaudelli was the co-inventor of a breakthrough in gene editing: the ability to target a single misspelling in DNA code. This week, GV (formerly known as Google Ventures) announced Gaudelli will be the firm’s latest entrepreneur-in-residence in life sciences.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in the first major abortion case to reach its docket since it overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. In this case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, plaintiffs challenged access to the abortion pill mifepristone—but the court’s justices, including conservative members of the bench, suggested their case lacks the standing to proceed.

While the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine’s case may lack standing, comments by conservative justices highlighted another tactic anti-abortion advocates could soon take to curb access to the procedure: relying on a long-dormant 19th century law known as the Comstock Act. Here’s everything you need to know about this law—and why Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), this week became the first lawmaker to call for its repeal.



The Checklist

1. Shout into the void. No, seriously: Scream therapy can be a tool for those dealing with challenges at work, turbulent career changes, or any other type of intense stress that needs releasing.

2. Track your spending, at least for a little. Thanks to digital wallets and “tap to pay” technologies, so much of the flow of our money is invisible now, says personal finance journalist and Her Money cofounder and CEO Jean Chatzky. To take back your financial power, spend some time really analyzing exactly where your money is going.

3. Admit your mistakes. “Leadership” does not have to mean unfailing confidence and infallibility. Instead, acknowledging your mistakes can foster a culture of humility, learning, and adaptability within your organization. Here’s how to do this effectively.


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