3 Reasons To Have #CourageToLead With Optimism in Chaotic Times

Issue 2852— July 15, 2025

When you are confronted with disruption or chaos, which of these is your reaction?

1. I ❤️ to create chaos & run away.

2. I embrace chaos to advance new ideas and achieve my goals 🏆.

3. It stresses me but I calm myself down 😌 and press on.

4. I hide under my desk until it passes.

5. I put my head in the sand and pretend it isn’t happening.

If you are already in a leadership role, the obligation to calm the waves for others, providing a unifying optimistic vision of where the organization needs to go next, weighs heavily on your shoulders.

The Sum, EventGloria FeldtJuly 14, 2025womens leadership, leadership, power, gender parity, lilly ledbetterComment

Power, Music, and the Courage to Lead: An Evening with Marina Arsenijević

Issue 2851— July 1, 2025

You know I talk a lot about power—not as something to seize, but something to embrace. Power as presence. As voice. As vision. The power TO, not over.

That’s why I’m so thrilled to share a rare experience that brings all of that to life in a way words alone never could.

On August 25 in Washington, DC, we’re hosting an intimate VIP dinner and concert with internationally acclaimed composer and pianist Dame Marina Arsenijević.

The Sum, EventGloria FeldtJune 30, 2025womens leadership, leadership, power, gender parity, lilly ledbetterComment

How Do You Have the Courage to Lead in Times Like These?

Issue 2850— June 23, 2025

You feel it.

The air is thick—not just with summer heat but with anxiety, injustice, and uncertainty.

Wars. Layoffs. Leaders assassinated. Families torn apart. Rights rolled back. Bombardment from the news cycle that leaves us breathless.

I don’t know about you, but I find myself flipping the news on to stay informed—and off to stay sane.

The Sum, EventGloria FeldtJune 23, 2025womens leadership, leadership, power, gender parity, lilly ledbetterComment

Media Shift: What Jane Fonda Might Say to George Clooney

Issue 2849— June 9, 2025

Twenty years ago, I sat at a crowded table in a basement in midtown Manhattan. I can’t remember where, nor did I have any idea what I was getting myself into—but when Gloria Steinem asks you to a meeting, you tend to go.

Carol Jenkins, Pat Mitchell, Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and a half dozen other prominent women in various aspects of media were there.

The Sum, EventGloria FeldtJune 9, 2025womens leadership, leadership, power, gender parity, lilly ledbetterComment

Mark Your Calendar: Have the Courage to Lead Every Month, All Year

Issue 2848— June 2, 2025

May holds multitudes of identities.

It’s Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Older Americans Month. Jewish American Heritage Month. Mental Health Awareness Month. Victorious Women Month. Military Appreciation Month. And—yes—Respect for Chickens Month.

June? It’s Pride Month. Also, National Iced Tea Month. Caribbean American Heritage Month. Men’s Health Month. Dairy Month. And don’t forget National Black Bear Month.

The Sum, EventGloria FeldtJune 2, 2025womens leadership, leadership, power, gender parity, lilly ledbetterComment

Yes, You Can: People Working Together Can Change Anything

Issue 2847— May 19, 2025

This was the No. 1 lesson I learned when I joined with civil rights advocates in Odessa, Texas, as they achieved school desegregation and housing restrictions.

People working together, even if they have little formal power, can make change happen if they have a strategy, discipline, and the courage to lead to the goal despite barriers and even setbacks along the way.

It was exactly this observation that has driven my work for social justice ever since.

The Sum, EventGloria FeldtMay 19, 2025womens leadership, leadership, power, gender parity, lilly ledbetterComment

Chaos to Catalyst: How To Make Disruption Your Leadership Superpower

How are you feeling today?

If you responded “anxious,” “unsure of the future,” or “immobilized,” you aren’t alone.

We live in an era of permanent disruption — economic shocks, political upheaval, technological leaps, and personal curveballs that throw even the best plans into disarray. It seems like every day, there is a new threat to job security or the cost of necessities. There’s constant talk about the price of eggs and the looming price increases on almost everything as a result of tariffs, or maybe the threat of tariffs is just that, a threat, and everything will be fine.

The Sum, EventGloria FeldtMay 5, 2025womens leadership, leadership, power, gender parity, lilly ledbetterComment

Early Signs: Seeing Successful Role Models Plus Mentorship Helps Young Girls, Women

When they see it, they can not only be it, they can succeed.

A new global study of nearly one million people from adolescence to adulthood shows that teenage girls 13-16 more often become successful entrepreneurs by the time they are 35-40 than boys do. They also are more successful than girls that same age who are not seeing successful entrepreneurs in these formative years.

Gender Parity, Mentors and SponsorsMichele WeldonApril 25, 2025womens leadership, equity, gender parity, leadership, mentorshipComment

Women, Wealth, and Power: What We Can Learn from Lilly Ledbetter’s Courage

Sometimes, what you want to say is better said by others.

And sometimes articles write themselves as a result. That’s the case with my “Sum of the Week” blogpost today. My heart is so full of joy and appreciation for the powerful film “Lilly,” about the long fight for equal pay, written and directed by Rachel Feldman and produced by many investors, including Jyoti Sarda, who graced the panel with her experience bringing forth the independent film.

The Sum, EventGloria FeldtApril 21, 2025womens leadership, leadership, power, gender parity, lilly ledbetterComment

Survival to Success: Stay Solvent, Financially Secure Leading In Scary Times

This is real life.

So there is no cause to get panicked that because of recent economic shakeups, tariffs, threats of a recession, and wild market fluctuations, you will end up in financial ruin.

Your life will not mimic that of the fictional Victory Ratliff (so perfectly played by Parker Posey) in the recent finale episode of “The White Lotus,” when her husband, Timothy, says their lives are about to change because they have lost all semblance of wealth and prosperity.

“Nooooo.”

Not an April Fools’ Joke: 😇 Smell the Pivotal Blessing

The delicately sweet aroma of citrus blossoms brought back a powerful sensation as I stepped outside of my Arizona home this April Fools’ Day.

It was the scent I’d first experienced on this exact date: April 1, 1978.

I had taken a late evening flight from my Odessa, Texas home to Phoenix the night before, following a quick trip to a department store to buy a proper suit for an interview that had come a year sooner than my intentions.

On the morning of April 1, I stepped out into the bright Arizona sun.

The unfamiliar scent permeated the air. It wasn’t harsh or cloying, more like a softly perfumed pillow around me. I thought I had landed in some sort of paradise.

Little did I know my life would take a pivotal turn, which I have ever since associated with the aroma of citrus blossoms.

Super Stress in Chaos: How to Manage Your Team and Yourself With Care

This is not an April Fool’s joke: Women are more stressed than men at work now. Maybe that is not even a surprise.

Yes, the stress you feel is real and most everybody in America right now is feeling it at work and home—it is just apparently affecting women more. Denying the stress is counterproductive; how you handle it is key to reducing its impact on you and the entire workplace culture.

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