Empowering Women to Lead

What are you doing in your current position to empower women, and perhaps other groups that are under-represented, at top executive levels in news, and perhaps in other industries as well?

You know, it's so funny, because when I became editor, the first thing that came in to my office was this flood of bouquets from all the other women editors. And I thought, oh there's this sorority I didn't know existed, cuz there weren't very many of us and I think there are fewer now so, getting women into news, as you know, is really difficult, especially daily journalism, because it's 24 hours a day.

Women are still generally expected to do the majority of child care, so if you want to get pregnant and have a baby, it's hard to stay in that, so I think it starts at the very beginning. The funnel. You know, we've had women's organizations in colleges over to my house. I think it's really great to have them here, and talk about what their career might look like, and show them there's lots of different kinds of news.

I attended one of those gatherings.

Yes you did. That was so awesome of you. But it was really, I mean it was so great for them to see you, and younger reporters, and photographers, and all these other careers that they could have. And I think sometimes just seeing the possibility is really important. Sticking together as women I think is really important as well, and making sure that people are okay with staying in the business when they get pregnant. That's really important to me. I was 6 months pregnant before I told my bosses that I was going to have a baby.

Why? Why did you wait so long?

I mean I was scared that they wouldn't promote me. I was up for a promotion at the time. And, you know, that turned out to be unfounded, but it was still a fear of mine. So now, you know, the women in the office who have babies, we talk a lot about how it's possible to do that. So I think it's really important to keep that pipeline as open as possible, so that I'm not the last female editor of the Chronicle.