Good morning, Broadsheet readers. What is the Women’s Equality Party and why do certain New Yorkers think the state needs it? Read on to find out, and to learn why comedian Amy Poehler is advising young women to lean out, not in. Have a great Thursday!
EVERYONE'S TALKING
• Ebola in the maternity ward. Ebola-infected pregnant women are being shunned at treatment centers in West Africa. “The hospitals are neglecting them [pregnant women]—they won’t even allow them in,” a nurse in Sierra Leone told The New Yorker. Hospitals are prioritizing patients whom health-care workers believe are safer to care for and more likely to survive. The New Yorker
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
• P&G's Mel Healey: Not having it all is liberating. The group president for North America and No. 18 on Fortune‘s 2014 ranking of the Most Powerful Women in Business announced her retirement from P&G last week as the company undergoes dramatic change. She told Fortune she’s considering everything from writing a book to working in a startup. “The choice not to have it all, far from being defeatist, is extremely liberating,” she said. “Slugging through a decade of work but losing touch with your family and friends or with your community creates its own sense of failure." Fortune
• The education of Buffett’s protégé. As Warren Buffett's financial assistant, Tracy Britt Cool has spent the last five years learning how to spot talent and run businesses. Now she’s the newest female CEO in Buffett's portfolio. Fortune has the inside story of how the 30-year-old juggernaut landed her first big operating role. Fortune
• The woman waging a quiet war in tech. Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani is partnering with big Silicon Valley companies to reduce the tech industry's gender gap. "To me it’s not about gender parity for the sake of gender parity. But there are problems that girls want to solve [with code], and they’re very different," the onetime hedge fund lawyer told Fortune. Fortune
• Anne-Marie Slaughter on men. "We're not going to get anywhere unless there's a men's movement," the former director of policy planning for the U.S. State Department said. "You can't have half of a gender revolution. Think of it as a humanist movement. That's the next step." BizWomen
• More money, but no profits. Rent The Runway is seeking $50 million in new funding, according to Fortune's Erin Griffith. The company’s service is popular, with five million users who rented dresses and accessories in the first half of this year, but prospective investors are concerned about its seasonality and lack of profits. Fortune
BROADVIEW
Does New York really need a Women’s Equality Party?
There isn't a political party in the U.S. that’s all about women's rights. Former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn thinks we need to change that.
Quinn is working with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and lieutenant governor candidate Kathy Hochul to make the Women's Equality Party an official political party recognized by the state of New York. To do so, they need 50,000 votes on Tuesday for Democratic candidates running under the WEP line - Gov. Cuomo is standing in as a figurehead - so that the party can be permanently included on future ballots. The party's first order of business would be to get the Women's Equality Act passed, which, among other things, would guarantee equal pay for women across the state.
In an interview with Fortune, Quinn explained why she thinks New York must create an entirely new party in order to get pro-women legislation passed.
Why does New York need a Women’s Equality Party?
If you ask most New Yorkers, even most female New Yorkers, they would think there is a state law that codifies Roe vs. Wade. They would think that we had statewide protections against discrimination if you’re pregnant. They would think we had required pay equity in New York. But that’s not true. The efforts to get these things into law have failed in Albany. We need more political muscle, more tools and a bigger team pushing on behalf of the needs of women. I am under no illusion that legislation is a silver bullet. I know it’s not, but I know it’s a first and critical step to bring full equality for women and girls.
How are you encouraging younger voters -- particularly young women -- to vote for this party?
If you are a young woman, you don’t want to think about the fact that you are working your tail off and maybe not getting paid as much as the young man sitting next to you. Or maybe you are today, but in the long run you won’t be. Who wants to think about that when it’s midnight and you are at work? No one wants to think about that, but it’s the truth and you have to think about it. Hopefully having this conversation will get young women to talk about it in a way that is energizing.
Click over to Fortune.com to read my full interview.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
• Amy Poehler leans out. Toward the end of her new book Yes, Please, the actress jokes that her best strategy for dealing with pushy male producers was to do the opposite of what Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg would advise. “I leaned back … I uncrossed my legs and I made eye contact. I immediately decided this was not my problem, and the relief of that decision spread across my chest like hot cocoa.” The Daily Beast
• The best mistake ever. Initially turning down a job interview at IBM was the best mistake she ever made, Gerri Elliott told Fortune's MPW Insider network. Her mistake turned into a "comedy of errors" where Elliot became quite close with the manager she initially turned down, and it launched her into a 22-year career at IBM and later success at Juniper Networks. Fortune
• Heiress leaves $40 million to all-girls boarding school. Ruth Bedford, the heir to part of Standard Oil's fortune, died in June at the age of 99. This week, it was announced that she had gifted $40 million to her alma mater, the Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia, upon her death. The donation marks the largest-ever gift to a girls secondary school. Charlotte Observer
ON MY RADAR
Emma Watson nabs the cover of ELLE's feminism issue The Guardian
Is 'woman' an acceptable adjective? The Guardian
Helena Morrissey: Boardroom revolution has a long way to go Bloomberg
Life as an Indian woman is worse than you think Quartz
Meet the first woman to fly solo around the world The Atlantic
QUOTE
My advice to young people is if you find yourself in a company where you’re being asked to do something that you don’t think is right or you’re feeling uncomfortable about the leadership and the direction of the company, run, do not walk, for the doors.Hewlett-Packard Chairman, President and CEO Meg Whitman shares with Fortune her best advice.