Good morning, Broadsheet readers. For the first time in the 16-year history of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list, we examined the political campaign contributions of top female executives. Also, read on to hear why activist investors may be waging an unintentional war on women.
EVERYONE'S TALKING
• America's most powerful women lean left. Compared to their wealthy male peers, America's top female execs send a majority of their personal political donations to Democratic candidates. The ten most generous donors from Fortune's Most Powerful Women list have given more than $680,000 to Democrats over the past ten years — 68% of their total. The top ten male CEOs from the Fortune 500, on the other hand, forked over $642,000 to Republicans over that same time period — 67% of their overall giving. Fortune
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
• Sheryl Sandberg talks targeted ads. Facebook will start using profile data to send you personalized ads, but the social giant won't share that information with advertisers, the company's chief operating officer said on Monday at the International Advertising Bureau's MIXX conference in New York. Sandberg added that targeted ads are a way to avoid the "terrible experience" of being forced to watch marketing content that doesn't fit your tastes. She also will be interviewed by Fortune editor Alan Murray tonight at Fortune's Brainstorm TECH dinner in New York. International Business Times
• Why women are tough on bad behavior. A whistleblower named Carmen Segarra is at the center of a ProPublica story about an improper relationship between the New York Fed and Goldman Sachs. The Fed and Goldman has denied wrongdoing, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for an investigation. Are women more likely to call out corporate misconduct? Perhaps, writes Fortune's Pattie Sellers. Fortune
• Penny Pritzker goes to Kiev. U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker met with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev to talk about tax reform and anti-corruption strategies. "Another purpose of this trip is to say the world is watching, and the enthusiasm that exists today for the potential of Ukraine is not going to be present forever if they don’t take action. There’s a limit to what we can do, frankly," says Pritzker. Businessweek
• The most famous architect you've never heard of. Nicole Dosso has been responsible since 2006 for the day-to-day execution of building 1 World Trade Center. Dosso doesn’t claim ownership of the project as a whole, but she was the single-most senior technical director in charge from the start. "Anyone who knows the first thing about architecture understands that today’s buildings are always collaborative efforts," she says. Fast Company
• Beyoncé, the class? In 2013, the pop icon made the unheard of decision to release her entire album in one day without doing any marketing or advertising. The unexpected move was a bit hit among her gigantic fan base, and now Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse's case study will detail whether Beyoncé’s unconventional strategy was a smart business idea.“She’s clearly among the most powerful people in the music industry at the moment," says Elberse. Businessweek
BROADVIEW
Activist investors' unintentional war on women
Activist investors are calling for change. DuPont and Hess are just two of several Fortune 500 companies that recently heeded activist demands to recruit board members with industry-specific experience. Those sorts of appointees, say firms like Starboard Value, are more equipped to deal with competition.
But there is one possible loser in this setup: women. By placing these sorts of restrictions on future directors’ resumes, activist investors are shrinking the pool of attractive female board candidates.
“A woman could meet every one of the tests to get on the board, but now, if they don’t come out of the same or similar industry vertical, many times the activist will say, ‘She looks great, but she doesn’t have the right experience,’” says Dennis Carey, a vice chairman at executive recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International. “Historically, before all this activist pressure, she probably would have gotten appointed.”
Roughly 36% of directors who joined Fortune 500 company boards since August 2013 have experience in the companies’ industries, according to data from Korn/Ferry. A year earlier, that number was just 30%.
Click over to Fortune.com to read my full story.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
• The word every boss should ban. Forget banning bossy. Managers need to stop calling their female direct reports "kiddo." Fortune's Leigh Gallagher reflects on the term and how its use has evolved. "Kiddo can also be patronizing and condescending, and while the person using the term may think of it as an expression of benign affection, it doesn’t always come across that way," she writes. Fortune
• Recession can postpone motherhood... forever. About 151,000 women who were in their early 20's in 2008 will never have children, according to the authors of a new study about the Great Recession. WSJ
ON MY RADAR
Former Malawi President: How to empower women in Africa Bloomberg
26 best tweets in response to Viola Davis critic Policy Mic
Chloé founder dies Fast Company
Sarah Silverman talks female comedians Makers
QUOTE
I wish when I was 12 years old I would've been able to watch a video of my favorite actress explaining in such an intellectual, beautiful, poignant way the definition of feminism because I would've understood it, and then earlier on in my life I would have proudly claimed that I was a feminist because I would have understood what the word means. Taylor Swift talks about Emma Watson's gender equality speech to the United Nations.