The World’s Most Powerful Women: September 19

Last week, The Washington Post ran a fascinating story that documents the clever way women in the White House ensured their voices were heard. When one woman raised a point, other women would repeat it, crediting its author. The tactic, dubbed “amplification,” forced men to recognize the contribution of women and made sure they couldn’t claim the idea as their own.

Yesterday, the Financial Times published a story in that same women-helping-women vein. It highlights the achievements of the Women2Win organization that Theresa May and her collaborator Anne Jenkin established in 2005 to help get more women into British politics. The number of female Conservative MPs has increased from 13 in 1997 to 68 now, thanks in part to the group’s efforts, which include advising female candidates on how to win over the party’s notoriously stuffy MP candidate selection panels and providing tips on conducting media interviews.

Both stories show the “shine theory” at work. The theory dismisses the notion that women have limited seats at the table, which pits women against one another. Instead, it promotes the idea that when another woman shines, you shine too.

clairezillman

EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

Another female party leader
Britain's United Kingdom Independence Party party elected its first ever female leader by voting Diane James into the position on Friday. She's a former businesswoman and healthcare professional who's been the party's home affairs spokeswoman. She takes over for Nigel Farage, one of the biggest Brexit advocates, who resigned after the referendum vote.BBC

The face of Russia's opposition

Once a supporter of Vladimir Putin, 32-year-old Maria Baronova first came to prominence—and nearly went to prison—as an activist in the street protest movement sparked by electoral violations during the last parliamentary elections in 2011. Now, she’s a candidate herself.

Time

May's mission goes global

Theresa May is taking her crusade against modern slavery to the international community this week as she meets with senior politicians and U.S. business figures and addresses the UN general assembly in New York. The cause is said to be one of the closest to the prime minister’s heart.

Financial Times

THE AMERICAS

Female top cops

Cathy Lanier was police chief of Washington, D.C., and left that post to head security for the NFL. She says those two jobs in male-dominated fields prove there are no limitations to what women can do and where they can work. However, her retirement from policing means there are now just three female police chiefs in the nation's 25 largest cities.

NPR

Supporting women, but not Hillary

A new poll reveals that a broad majority of voters—men and women—say they are happy that a woman is a major party nominee for president this year, but fully half of them say they would have preferred that the first woman in that position not be Hillary Clinton.

New York Times

Pack your (nursing) bags

The law firm Latham & Watkins is the latest employer to pay to ship the breast milk of new moms while they travel on business. The hot perk is aimed at easing women back into full-time work after maternity leave, but it could also serve as a recruiting and retention tool.

Fortune

ASIA-PACIFIC

Foregoing 'feminism'

This story examines why some of Bollywood's biggest stars are eschewing the title "feminist" even as the buzzword gains traction in India's urban centers and in commercial advertising.

Quartz

A super discovery

In the course of her thesis research, 25-year-old Shu Lam, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, may have solved the problem of superbugs, which are projected to cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050.

South China Morning Post