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Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Time’s Person of the Year is Greta Thunberg, YouTube enacts stricter ant-harassment policies, and Meena Harris talks about the end of Kamala’s campaign. Have a terrific Thursday.
EVERYONE'S TALKING
- Harris on Harris. When Meena Harris took the stage at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit yesterday, the end of Sen. Kamala Harris's presidential campaign last week was, for her, still raw. Meena, who works at Uber as head of strategy and leadership and founded the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, is also the senator's niece, the daughter of Kamala's sister and campaign chair Maya Harris.
"To see one of my closest family members do something so incredibly courageous," Meena reflected, shows what's possible on the national stage. Harris weighed in on politics in an interview with Fortune's Beth Kowitt—including some of the frustrations she had with how her aunt's campaign ended. "There will be more billionaires than black people on the stage [at the December debate]," Harris said. "The only woman of color to poll in the top five, who had a real shot is no longer there because of money." The old question of "electability"—one that this year's female candidates all faced—came up too. Harris's definition of the qualifier: "who the hell knows" what it means.
Harris applauded her aunt's bravery—and said she was thrilled to see the senator back in action in Congress this week; courage was on display from other Next Gen panelists, too. Kristin Dahlquist, director of operations at the Institute of Addiction Science at the University of Southern California; Laura Hutfless, co-founder of FlyteVu; and Katelyn Johnson, senior integrated health manager for global benefits at Cisco shared their personal experiences with family and friends and addiction, experiences that inspired them to tackle the opioid epidemic through their work. Huftless said her partner, who had been prescribed opioids after he was injured in the Columbine shooting two decades ago, relapsed and lost his battle with addiction this year.
It was a day full of candid insights on politics, tragedy, and more. Those of you who joined us at Next Gen—we loved having you! Read on for more highlights from the Summit—and see you next year.
Emma Hinchliffe
@_emmahinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
MORE FROM MPW NEXT GEN
- Cool as a cucumber. Tracy Britt Cool worked for Warren Buffett for a decade, leading the turnaround at Pampered Chef. She says her most crucial lesson in engineering a turnaround is who you hire. "You have to find" the right ones to be successful. Fortune
- Unicorn, shmunicorn. Ankiti Bose founded Zilingo and the company is a near-unicorn—and Bose is only 28. But Bose doesn't put too much stock in unicorn or fundraising numbers, preferring to pay attention to more business-centric metrics. Fortune
- Next gen. Gen Z is radically different from millennials. After witnessing the 2008 economic crash mostly as children, they crave stability at work. And after millennials brought social justice issues to the forefront of conversation, Gen Z demands action from companies, panelists said. Fortune
- Making 'em Thinx. Maria Molland runs Thinx, the period underwear company. The brand recently debuted its first TV ad, and it was going for more than "shock and awe." Instead, Molland wanted viewers to talk—and to get them to talk, Thinx had to make them, well, think. Fortune
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Person of the Year. Time's Person of the Year is climate activist Greta Thunberg. The reasoning behind the choice: "She is an ordinary teenage girl who, in summoning the courage to speak truth to power, became the icon of a generation. By clarifying an abstract danger with piercing outrage, Thunberg became the most compelling voice on the most important issue facing the planet." In a bit of good timing, the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen yesterday revealed its European Green Deal, an economic strategy that takes into account the climate emergency.
- Second chance? Fortune's Jen Wieczner examines the willingness of the crypto and blockchain industry to tolerate sexual misconduct or rehabilitate men accused of such conduct. Mike Cagney, the former CEO of SoFi who resigned after being accused of harassment, co-founded the startup Figure. Figure just raised $103 million with a unicorn valuation of $1.2 billion. "At SoFi is it was a very much performance-oriented culture, and unfortunately it was a performance-at-all-costs culture, and I in particular tolerated some bad behavior," Cagney said in an interview. Fortune
- Not quite settled. Harvey Weinstein and the dozens of women who accused him of sexual assault and misconduct reached a tentative settlement deal, $25 million of which would go to survivors. The deal would bring to a close nearly all civil lawsuits against Weinstein. The money would be paid by insurers—not by Weinstein directly—and $12 million of the overall $47 million would go toward paying Weinstein's legal fees. New York Times
- Content warning. YouTube, led by CEO Susan Wojcicki, introduced broader anti-harassment policies that will remove videos that include threats and insults about gender, race, and sexual orientation. YouTube has faced criticism over its reluctance to remove homophobic and racist videos and for allowing misogynistic content to be shared. Washington Post
ON MY RADAR
What to wear when you’re 28 and running for office The Cut
How Reese Witherspoon took charge of her career and changed Hollywood The Hollywood Reporter
Library of Congress adds record seven female-directed films to national registry Guardian
Aung San Suu Kyi defends Myanmar against Rohingya genocide accusations New York Times
QUOTE
"The package is the person telling the story."
-Nisha Dua, general partner at BBG Ventures, speaking at Fortune's MPW Next Gen Summit about how the founder is more important than the pitch desk when raising funding
