Down Arrow Button Icon

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Women (and men!) around the world march for equality, more proof that diversity is a money-maker, and Davos tries to get in touch with its feminine side. Have a productive Monday.

EVERYONE'S TALKING

• The dames of Davos. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum—a.k.a Davos—kicks off today in its namesake Swiss ski town.

The gathering has a poor record when it comes to women, notes my colleague Claire Zillman, who will be on-site and reporting in for Fortune this week. But in a year when the #MeToo conversation has become too big for even the global elite to ignore, the WEF is clearly making an effort to diversify. For the first time ever, all seven of the Davos 2018 co-chairs are women (the list includes IBM chief Ginni Rometty and IMF head Christine Lagarde) and, less impressively, a couple of the 150 or so events planned for the week will tackle issues of sexual harassment.

Yet Claire notes that the share of female delegates attending the confab appears to be all but flat; it hit 21% in 2017, and organizers only confirm that it's "over 21%" this year.

So, while we hope to see women playing a larger role at this week's gathering, Pat Milligan, global leader of multinational client services at Mercer and head of its "When Women Thrive" initiative, reminded Claire that we shouldn't get too caught up in the incremental improvements, saying: "Let’s not get lost; the underlying data is horrific." Fortune

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

• Marching on. On the first anniversary of the Women’s March, people all over the world gathered this weekend to once again march, chant, and demand equality for all. The New York Times has a fascinating look at what marchers across the U.S. hope to see in 2018, while The Cut examines the ways in which organizers are hoping to transform the energy of the protests into electoral results.

• SAGs take the stage. Last night's SAG Awards gave plenty of air time to Time's Up and #MeToo—and pointedly put women center stage. The show was emceed by first-ever host Kristen Bell and featured an all-female roster of awards presenters. For a complete list of the winners, click here. The Hollywood Reporter

• Proof positive. A new study by McKinsey finds that companies with diverse executive teams posted higher profits than those with more homogeneous leadership. To those of you who thought, "duh!" while reading the last sentence, there is one thing that makes this research unique—and important: scale. McKinsey examined the financial data of more than 1,000 major companies across 12 countries. WSJ

• The power of survivors. On Friday, Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman delivered a stunningly powerful statement at the week-long sentencing hearing of former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted last year of sexual abuse. Rather than excerpt it, I'm going to urge you to watch the full video of Raisman addressing her abuser—and calling for an investigation to expose his enablers—here: Fortune

• The woman behind the curtain. Wired's Jessi Hempel profiles Margit Wennmachers, an operating partner at Andreessen Horowitz and one of the "most skilled spin masters in Silicon Valley." Wired

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• No regrets. In an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher and MSNBC’s Ari Melber, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he has no regrets about firing James Damore, author of an infamous memo criticizing Google’s pro-diversity policies and culture. Damore, of course, is now suing the company, alleging that the (overwhelmingly white and male) tech giant discriminates against white men. Fortune

• On deadline. Nicolle Wallace, former comms director for George W. Bush and a campaign strategist for John McCain’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid, is now helming her own MSNBC show, Deadline: White House. She's the first former White House aide since George Stephanopoulos to be named solo anchor of a network news program. New York Times

• A new direction? Director Reed Morano—perhaps best known for her work on The Handmaid's Tale—says she's considering a potential collaboration with Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy. Could the mystery project rhyme with Scar Shmoars? The Hollywood Reporter

Share today's Broadsheet with a friend.
Looking for previous Broadsheets? Click here.