{"id":4017,"date":"2014-08-15T06:35:49","date_gmt":"2014-08-15T10:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=4017"},"modified":"2014-08-15T06:35:49","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T10:35:49","slug":"are-you-one-of-the-40-women-to-watch-over-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=4017","title":{"rendered":"Are You One of The 40 Women To Watch Over 40?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"women-over-40-making-impacts\"<\/a>
Photos provided by fortyover40.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are you one of The 40 Women To Watch Over 40?<\/span>
\u00a0<\/span>
Don\u2019t stress if you\u2019re the right sex and in the demo but didn\u2019t make the cut this year. I\u2019m not on it either.<\/span>
\u00a0<\/span>I generally roll my eyes at these kinds of honor rolls. Unless of course it\u2019s People Magazine\u2019s 2014\u00a0World\u2019s Most Beautiful List<\/a>or\u00a0Hollywood\u2019s Hottest Bachelors!<\/a>\u00a0Just kidding. Sort of.<\/p>\n

But the\u00a0Forty Over 40 list<\/a>, which just came out, is certainly worth checking out.<\/p>\n

(MORE<\/strong>:\u00a0What Works for Women at Work Today<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Origins of Forty Over 40<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was whipped up by two sharp women:\u00a0Christina Vuleta<\/a>, a marketing whiz and founder of the women’s career advice forum 40:20 Vision, and\u00a0Whitney Johnson<\/a>, the author of\u00a0Dare, Dream, Do<\/em><\/a>, who is a\u00a0Harvard Business Review<\/em>\u00a0blogger and co-founder with Clayton Christensen of the investment firm Rose Park Advisors. I admire both of them for their moxie, smarts and success.<\/p>\n

Forty Over 40 began, in 2013, with the mission to change the idea that mid-life means a woman is past her prime and on the downhill slide of her career and sphere of influence.<\/p>\n

To prove that\u2019s clearly not so, this year\u2019s honorees range from age 40 to 72 and come from a wide swath of fields including the arts, finance, law, retail, real estate, health care and tech.<\/p>\n

READ COLUMN on FORBES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The goal of the roster, Vuleta told me, is \u201cto create awareness that innovation gets even better with age and to change the stereotype that creativity and disruption are reserved for the young.\u201d<\/p>\n

(MORE<\/strong>:\u00a0Purpose Prize Winners: Changing the World After 60<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Response to 30 Under 30 Lists<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vuleta said that she and Johnson saw the 40 Under 40 lists down-aging to 30 Under 30 lists. \u201cThere was a sense of \u2018Yes, that is great, but what about all the great things that women over 40 are doing that just goes unnoticed?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Forbes\u2019\u00a030 Under 30<\/a>\u00a0list, for example, which bills itself as \u201ca tally of the brightest stars in 15 different fields under the age of 30\u201d says: \u201cThis is the time to be young and ambitious. Never before has youth been such an advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re over 40 and read that (and even moreso when you\u2019re over 50), you simply have to shake your head. The truth is: This is the time to be experienced and ambitious. Never before has\u00a0wisdom\u00a0<\/em>been such an advantage.<\/p>\n

To create their list, the 40 Over 40 founders set out to applaud what Vuleta calls the \u201cunder the radar women who were quietly changing the world who weren’t at the top of their achievement curve, but rather still had more in front of them and were creating momentum and impact in their work.\u201d<\/p>\n

(MORE<\/strong>:\u00a0What It Takes to Become a Woman of Influence<\/a>)<\/p>\n

40 Inspiring Honorees<\/strong><\/p>\n

In truth, I didn\u2019t recognize many of the names on the list. So just scrolling through the honorees and taking the time to read their bios was inspiring to me.<\/p>\n

No, these are not the Sheryl Sandbergs of the world, capturing media headlines, but they are just as influential in my mind. Many of the women feted here have had successful careers and are still at it, while also working to embolden women of all ages.<\/p>\n

The list of\u00a02014 honorees<\/a>\u00a0includes Sallie Krawcheck, 49, founder of the PAX Ellevate Global Women\u2019s Index Fund; Ellen Galinsky, 72, President and Co-founder of Families and Work Institute; Alissa Johnson, early 40s, Deputy Chief Information Officer, Executive Office of the President\/White House; Carol Fishman Cohen, 54, Co-Founder of iRelaunch; Cindy Gallop, 54, Founder of If We Ran The World and Make Love Not Porn; Farah Mohamed, 44, Founder and CEO, G(irls)20 and Denise Restauri, 60, CEO of GirlQuake and a\u00a0Forbes.com contributor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vuleta and Johnson aren\u2019t declaring that these are the most powerful women on the planet. Instead, these 40 are leading and disrupting, professionally and personally. \u201cThese are the role models that young women need to see to keep moving forward and see new possibilities. And of course to give 40+ women on the verge\u2026motivation to keep going,\u201d said Vuleta.<\/p>\n

The pair define \u201cdisrupting\u201d as \u201cdeveloping new-to-the-world ideas, products and services \u2014 playing where no one is playing, creating growth or making an impact in their field of work, community and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

The honorees were selected by a panel of 18 judges (male and female) including Wharton professor and author,\u00a0Adam Grant<\/a>, and\u00a0Cali Williams Yost<\/a>, founder of Flex+Strategy Group\/Work+Life Fit (and a 40 Over 40 winner in 2013). They were chosen from a pool of more than 500 nominees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what it says about women today is that they are not seeing age as a barrier,\u201d said Vuleta. \u201cThey are not only supported by other women but they are supportive of the women behind them. These are not women that want to be the only woman in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spark From One Winner\u2019s Daughter<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m grateful the list introduced me to some amazing women over 40.<\/p>\n

For example, if 40 Over 40 hadn\u2019t hit my radar via the social media noise on my Twitter feed, I might never have learned about the extraordinary work of\u00a0Kimberly Bryant<\/a>, 47, a biotech engineer who is the Founder and Executive Director of\u00a0Black Girls CODE<\/a>. And 40 Over 40 isn\u2019t the only one honoring Bryant. Last year,\u00a0The White House<\/a>\u00a0named her one of 11 \u201cChampions of Change\u201d in tech.<\/p>\n

Bryant\u2019s group is a three-year-old nonprofit dedicated to introducing girls of color (ages 7 to 17) to technology and computer programming through after-school programs and workshops. It teaches girls the skills, and gives them the self-confidence, to pursue careers in robotics, game design and app development.<\/p>\n

Bryant was spurred to start Black Girls CODE after her daughter Kai told her that at middle-school computer science camp (where Kai was one of a handful of girls and the only black girl), the teachers seemed to pay more attention to the boys. Bryant herself was struck by the paucity of minorities in the start-up world in San Francisco, where she was considering moving.<\/p>\n

Her Black Girls CODE startup was a risk and is probably nowhere near as profitable as a biotech business she might have launched. But it\u2019s one of the most rewarding things she\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

I asked Bryant how the 40 Over 40 honor made her feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cOftentimes, as women leaders, the expectation persists that our glory days as innovators and creators end either after our kids leave the nest or after we hit 30.” she noted. “I’ve been blessed to pursue and follow my passion well past that age and firmly believe I have much more to contribute to making the world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant added: \u201cI’m happy that Christina and Whitney continue to highlight women like me who are just reaching our stride and who continue to defy the odds of what success after 40 looks and feels like.”<\/p>\n

My One Problem With The List<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do have one bone to pick 40 Over 40. It\u2019s the \u201cOver 40 part.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the list says it \u201caims to reward the achievements of women over 40 who are not ready to rest on their laurels,\u201d there were only eight honorees in their 50s, just three in their 60s and only one (Galinsky) in her 70s.<\/p>\n

In other words: just 12 of the women were 50+. I would’ve thought there\u2019d be more and, frankly, would’ve liked to have seen that.<\/p>\n

I asked Vuleta whether she and Johnson wished they had more women in their 50s and 60s on their list. She indicated that perhaps this was a glitch in the marketing for nominations which was blasted out mostly via social media contacts and outreach to corporations they knew.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, people think we mean 40 to 49, but it’s for all ages. We\u2019re happy to have\u00a0some<\/em>\u00a060s and 70s, but would love to see more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Maybe next year.<\/p>\n

The Importance of Mentoring<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the main takeaways from the 40 Over 40 list is the refrain of mentorship that runs through these women\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n

I believe that\u00a0having mentors<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 women or men \u2014 to help guide your path (whatever your age) makes a huge difference in your ultimate success in life.<\/p>\n

We all need support to achieve our full potential. Having someone you trust and respect to cheer you on and offer smart advice can make your goals achievable and make the failures somehow not as harsh.<\/p>\n


posted by\u00a0Kerry Hannon<\/a>, More by this author<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Women<\/p>\n

Kerry Hannon has spent more than 25 years covering personal finance for Forbes, Money, U.S. News & World Report and USA Today. She is the author of\u00a0What’s Next? Follow Your Passion<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>and Find Your Dream Job in Your Forties, Fifties and Beyond<\/a>;<\/em>\u00a0Great Jobs for Everyone 50+<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Suddenly Single: Money Skills for Divorcees and Widows<\/em><\/a>. Her website iskerryhannon.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0@kerryhannon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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