How to gather with purpose in 2021

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February 19, 2021

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Rose Marcario talks about leaving Patagonia, VP Kamala Harris convenes women leaders to address a crisis, and we’re ready to gather—with purpose—in 2021.
Today’s guest essay comes to us from Fortune senior writer Michal Lev-Ram:
– Let’s get together. One of my favorite newsletters to read during the pandemic (other than the Broadsheet, of course) has been Priya Parker’s Art of Gathering. Parker literally wrote the book on how to make meetings and celebrations and all sorts of get-togethers more meaningful, and her monthly newsletter is a compilation of her own musings and other articles on the subject.
According to Parker, an effective gathering starts with a clear sense of purpose. Why are we coming together? Answering that question is harder than it sounds, whether you apply it to family reunions, sports events, or a company all-hands. But in many ways, the pandemic has clarified the “why” of various in-person traditions. Perhaps the absence of something makes it easier for us to understand its value.
This might be why the purpose for this year’s Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit is so clear to me. (Yes, we loved gathering virtually in 2020, but we are very excited to return safely to an in-person conference later this fall.) The past year of isolation and social unrest and political division has highlighted the importance of collaboration more than ever, that we need to work together to build a more inclusive and more sustainable society. That’s what I think this year’s MPW Summit is all about: Bringing leaders together to work toward a better future and emerging from the pandemic stronger than ever. (Our 2021 theme, very apropos, is “Emerging Stronger.”)
It’s in that spirit that we’ve added two guest co-chairs to this year’s Summit programming team: Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments, and Poppy Harlow, anchor at CNN. We are so thrilled and grateful to have these two incredible women, who have long been part of the MPW community, on board to help us bring this year’s event to life.
Speaking of which, as I mentioned above, we do plan to be back to IRL (in real life) in the fall. The 2021 MPW Summit is scheduled for Oct. 11-13 at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington D.C. To apply for MPW membership, please see this link. We hope to see you there and at other meaningful gatherings in the near future.
Michal Lev-Ram
michal.levram@fortune.com
@mlevram
Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.

A note from Fortune

You’re Invited: Getting women back to work in 2021

Join the No7 Unstoppable Together Job Summit to hear from powerful female leaders including Maria Shriver, Arianna Huffington, and Padma Lakshmi and moderators including Fortune’s own Ellen McGirt. The free and virtual summit is held in partnership with Fortune, Hello Sunshine and The Female Quotient. Sign up for the sessions on Wednesday, February 24, 4:00 - 8:00 PM EST.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- A.I. ethics. Google restructured its ethical artificial intelligence teams under exec Marian Croak. Croak takes over following the ouster of researcher Timnit Gebru. She's also a Black woman, and acknowledges she's taking on a controversial task. "There’s quite a lot of conflict right now within the field, and it can be polarizing at times," she said in a video announcing her new role. Fortune
- Cruzes take Cancún. Sen. Ted Cruz is caught up in a political scandal after traveling to Cancún, Mexico while Texans are stranded without power and water in freezing temperatures. Cruz responded to critics by saying his two daughters asked to take a trip and he wanted "to be a good dad" and escort them there quickly. But the NYT got text messages that Heidi Cruz, the Texas senator's wife, sent to neighbors inviting them to accompany the family to Mexico through Sunday. New York Times
- The great outdoors. Rose Marcario stepped down as CEO of Patagonia abruptly in June. In a new interview, she reflects on leaving because she'd "accomplished everything that [she] wanted to accomplish as a leader" and passing up other CEO jobs. Those companies contributed too much to the environmental crisis, she said. New York Times
- Emergency meeting. Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday convened a gathering of women leaders, from experts from Time's Up and the National Women's Law Center to fellow lawmakers, to discuss the crisis facing working women. Harris called the numbers of women forced out of the workforce during the pandemic a "national emergency." New York Times
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Malia Obama will reportedly join the writers' room for a Donald Glover TV series at Amazon. Bain & Company named Julie Coffman, a partner in the firm’s Chicago office, chief diversity officer. Klaviyo hired SAP's Jenny Dearborn as chief people officer and Owlet Baby Care's Kady Srinivasan as head of global marketing. Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty promoted Katie Fioretti to regional head of portfolio steering for financial lines in North America. Transformation Capital hired M33 Growth's Jenna Ciotti as VP. Workiva promoted chief accounting officer Jill Klindt to CFO.

CONTENT FROM PWC

What’s keeping companies from doing better?

Sixty-eight percent of leaders believe their business serves the greater good, but only 15% of the wider public agrees. We need to act to help close the gap. We recently surveyed US business leaders, employees and the public to understand what fosters and inhibits trust. These findings shaped actionable steps to help companies fight for social justice and take action, Now.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

- Walking away. Halima Aden broke barriers as a hijabi supermodel, modeling for everyone from Sports Illustrated to Vogue. But she walked away from her career in modeling because she felt used by the industry. She'd wanted to be a role model for young girls, but found that modeling didn't allow her to accomplish that. "I want to be the reason why girls have confidence within themselves, not the reason for their insecurity," she said. NPR
- Detailed reviews. Glassdoor will now break down employee review data by race and gender, allowing readers to see not just how any employees review their workplaces, but how employees of color or female workers rate their time with a company. The disclosures will apply to metrics like workplace culture ratings and salary data. Fortune
- News you can't use. Facebook VP of global news partnerships Campbell Brown has been the exec tasked with communicating why the tech giant chose to block news coverage from being shared within Australia. The company made the drastic decision in protest of proposed legislation in the country, which would require social platforms to pay news publishers for content shared. Brown called the move an "incredibly difficult decision." NPR
- Thanks for the offer. Tennessee lawmakers proposed building a statue of Dolly Parton at the state capitol, but the music legend asked them to table the idea. "Given all that's going on in the world, I don't think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time," Parton said. The statue would have gone up where Confederate monuments have been torn down. Parton's open to the honor, though, at another time, including posthumously. CNN

ON MY RADAR

Carlyle inks $4.1 billion credit line linked to board diversity Bloomberg
Figure skating is on thin ice. Here's how to fix it Vox
All New Zealand schools to offer free period products as part of poverty drive Guardian

PARTING WORDS

"It's three middle-aged men. It's truly embarrassing."
-Cybozu, a Japanese software developer, on its board of directors. The company took out a full-page newspaper ad to apologize for the composition of its board in the wake of Japan's Olympics controversy.