Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Amy Pascal is stepping away from her leadership role at Sony, and GM added its fifth female board member. Read on to learn how one female winemaker turned an afterthought into an award-winning vineyard.
EVERYONE'S TALKING
• Pascal the producer. Months after a massive data hack rocked Sony and exposed embarrassing and offensive emails from Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal, she's leaving her job. Pascal will "launch a new production venture" within Sony in May. “I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home,” Pascal said in a statement. Fortune
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
• Another one bites the dust. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamberg is stepping down in March. Although Hamberg presided over a few FDA scandals -- including one involving unsafe medical devices -- it remains largely unclear why she is leaving the role. Time
• Then there were five. General Motors, led by CEO Mary Barra, appointed its fifth female board member on Thursday. Linda Gooden, a former executive vice president of Lockheed Martin, also will be the Detroit automaker's second African-American director. Bloomberg
• Let's talk about race. Code2040, a nonprofit that aims to improve the representation of minorities in the tech sector, just secured $775,000 in grants from Google. "It feels like people are more comfortable and ready to talk about gender issues than race issues in the workplace," Laura Weidman Powers, co-founder and CEO of Code2040, told Fortune's Michal Lev-Ram. Fortune
• It keeps getting weirder. The Argentine prosecutor who had potentially damaging information about President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner died suddenly, and now Argentine authorities can’t find the former spy chief in charge of the investigation into his death. Bloomberg
• #BringBackOurGirls. Fortune's Nina Easton reminds us that most of the kidnapped Nigerian school girls are still being held—and being sexually assaulted—by Boko Haram. The #BringBackOurGirls campaign is organizing events to mark the one-year anniversary of the girls’ kidnapping. Fortune
#FoodWineWomen Fridays
This #FoodWineWomen series highlighting powerful women working in the wine industry is in partnership with Food & Wine and A Woman's Palate.
Three women run one of Napa Valley's renowned wineries
In 1972, Beth Milliken's family stumbled upon some of Napa Valley's best land for wine-making. Literally.
Milliken was 11 years old and her father—an emergency room doctor named Jack—made an impulse decision to move his family from southern California to the then-undiscovered Napa Valley. Land prices were about $4,000 an acre. Now they go for around 100 times that.
Beth, along with her parents and four siblings, settled into a 45-acre estate called Spottswoode on the western edge of St. Helena, CA. The property came with a vineyard, which was more or less an afterthought.
Milliken's parents knew very little about grape growing. "It was not like they were grabbing the soil and looking out into the distance and saying, 'This will be great for Cabernet Sauvignon,'" Milliken laughs during an interview with Fortune. "It was a lifestyle change that was very lucky."
Five years after acquiring the property, Jack Milliken suddenly passed away from a heart attack. Beth, along with her mother Mary and sister Lindy, stepped up to look after the land and grow the budding family business. Despite their lack of experience, the trio grew Spottswoode into a renowned winery with an award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon.
Beth—now the president and CEO of Spottswoode and the former president of the Napa Valley Vintners Association—spoke with Fortune about what it's like to be one of the few women in charge in Napa's wine industry.
To read by full interview with Milliken, click here.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
• Women in Islam. The launch of a women's-only mosque in Los Angeles has created a debate on the role women play in the Muslim community. “The old establishment will not accept change easily, but I think gradually it will happen as women assert themselves. Things are changing. Women cannot play second fiddle any more," an expert told the Wall Street Journal. WSJ
• 150 deals. With $240 million in sales in 2013 and $261 million in 2014, Tami Pardee is LA's top-selling female realtor. Last year, she closed on 150 deals -- basically one every other day. Her secret? Tons of Internet marketing. Fortune
• Tweet away. Women who use Twitter to express public instances of sexism have higher levels of well-being than do peers who experience their frustrations privately, according to a new study. Mic
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ON MY RADAR
The perks of being a 'work at home' mom Fortune
Female entrepreneurs 'Crack the Code' PBS
A red carpet revolt NYTimes
How an NBC drama is rethinking the female spy The Atlantic
The end of calling women the B word? Fast Company
QUOTE
I no longer want to let a single, unfortunate incident overshadow all the great memories that my family has created there. I'd like my return to Indian Wells to positively impact the lives of countless others.
Serena Williams hasn't played at the Indian Wells tournament in California for 14 years because her family experienced racist taunts at the tournament in 2001. She explains in a video why she has decided to return.
