Good morning, Broadsheet readers. It’s been three weeks since we started our daily newsletter and we’d love to get some feedback. What’s working? What isn’t? Email me at caroline.fairchild@fortune.com with your thoughts, and enjoy your Wednesday.
EVERYONE'S TALKING
• Gabrielle Giffords opposes death penalty for her shooter. It's been more than two and a half years since Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by Jared Lee Loughner and the Arizona Congresswoman was just now asked her opinion on the punishment for her shooter. She said: "No death penalty" for Loughner, who killed six people that same day he nearly took Giffords' life. Giffords used to be in favor of the death penalty, but she has changed her position since the shooting. "Spending the rest of his days locked up behind bars was worse punishment than execution," Giffords wrote in her book, Enough. HuffPo
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
• Pussy Riot is suing the Russian government. Members of the Russian feminist punk rock group were imprisoned for 21 months after performing anti-government music. Now the band is suing Russia for $175,000, a relatively small sum of money after involuntarily giving up nearly two years of their life because of outlawed self-expression. The Wire
• Christine Lagarde: Ukraine may need more aid. The IMF already approved a whopping $17 billion line of credit to Ukrainian relief efforts and $3.19 billion in funds was dispersed in May. The Economic Times
• The employee diversity data train continues. Software company VMWare revealed Tuesday that 19% of its engineers are women, a slightly more promising figure than Google's 17% of technical workers. CEO Pat Gelsinger says that all of his direct reports are responsible for recruiting and developing female talent and that at least one woman must sit in on every interview team for new hires. Bloomberg
• BaubleBar earns $10 million in funding. The online jewelry purveyor helmed by co-founders Amy Jain and Daniella Yacobovsky is joining a group of e-retailers that are diversifying into brick-and-mortar. BaubleBar, which sells fashion jewelry for as low as $24, will use its latest round of funding to open its first boutique in Manhattan. Fortune
• MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Former Pfizer general counsel Amy Schulman is joining Boston venture capital firm Polaris Partners as a venture partner working on healthcare and life sciences. Washington-based trial lawyer Michele Roberts is now executive director of the National Basketball Players Association and is the first woman to lead a major U.S. sports union. Emily Rafferty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's first female president, announced she will be retiring next spring.
BROADVIEW
Why American Apparel just hired a woman to its board
American Apparel is in a ton of hot water right now. Not only has the teen retailer lost roughly $270 million in the last four years, but it also is facing fallout from a series of sexual harassment allegations against its now ousted CEO.
What's a company to do when its performing poorly and facing a reputational crisis? Hiring a woman to the board is a good start, according to a new study.
Companies with demographically diverse boards tend to be more risk-averse, spend less on capital expenditures and show less volatility in stock performance than do companies with more homogeneous boards (which are more inclined to come to misguided consensus more quickly). Boards with more women and minority representation face a greater challenge communicating and accepting one shared decision, so the board is more likely to shy away from risk, says the study.
American Apparel announced last week that Colleen Brown, a longtime media executive who now is a managing director of professional services firm Newport Board Group, would become the first woman on its board. The retailer also announced the appointment of three other new board members. Judging by the company's recent performance, it's about time American Apparel got some fresh blood.
Click over to Fortune.com to read more about the new study.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
• Martha Stewart: Why I love my drone. There are a lot of things Martha Stewart could choose to speak out on, but drones seems to be what the celebrity homemaker wants to talk about these days. After purchasing a drone with a high-definition camera and posting about in on her blog, Stewart tells Time she thinks it's a useful tool that has applications that stretch far beyond surveillance and package delivery. Time
• Sabine Lisicki beats women's tennis serve record. The former Wimbledon finalist from Germany lost her match at the Bank of the West Classic yesterday, but she hit a 131 mph serve to break the record for fastest serve in women's tennis history. Sports Illustrated
• Being lonely at work is bad for business. Between 40% and 50% of all teachers will leave the classroom within their first five years on the job. One non-profit is tackling the high burnout rate in the "amazingly lonely profession” by offering stipends to teachers who foster community by completing professional development workshops every month. Fortune
ON MY RADAR
How to fix General Motors Slate
Wealthy judges make parenting while poor more challenging The Atlantic
Are female entrepreneurs whining too much about the gender gap? LinkedIn
Why Janet Yellen doesn't want you to get a raise Vox
The women Obama forgot NYTimes
QUOTE
They want this case to set a precedent that Russians can speak publicly on sensitive political issues, even if this speech is not supported by majority. This is a case about freedom of expression and fair trial first of all.
Pussy Riot lawyer Pavel Chikov speaks out on why the band is pressing changes against its government.
