Where Are the Women in the Green Stratosphere?

(cross-post from La Marguerite blog)

By now, I have become accustomed to the sight. Lots of men, and a few lost souls in skirts. I am referring to the various clean tech events I am fond of attending in the Bay Area. Green being a new field, you would think women would have seized the opportunity, quick. Last year, earth2tech had a hard time coming up with a list of The Top 10 Women in Cleantech. Nancy Floyd, founder and managing director of cleantech VC Nth Power, and the woman who made it to the top of the list, knows this firsthand:

Since founding Nth Power in 1993, she has sat on more than 15 boards -- and only one of her fellow directors was a woman. When we asked her if she's ever felt intimidated by the male dominance in the field, she first replied, "No," and then added, "but I do over prepare."

In the green blogosphere, the landscape is not that much different. Of the top 15 green blogs, according to Technorati authority rankings, only three are the creation of sisters. Jill Fehrenbacher, at Inhabitat. Rebecca Carter, at Ecorazzi. And Heather Stephenson, with Jennifer Boulden, at Ideal Bite.

I was hoping women would shine in green nonprofits. I am familiar with Frances Beinecke, the head of NRDChttp://www.nrdc.org/, and assumed, wrongly, that she was the norm. Based on a review of executive teams for Charity Navigator's 10 best managed environmental nonprofits, only one, Sustainable Harvest International, is led by a woman, Florence Reed.

It appears, that 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling are not enough. Never mind, we shall be like ants, patiently building a different world, one tiny green step at a time.

Comments

[JuneHolley]

I suspect that women's leadership is vast but under the radar.... hundreds, likely thousands, of green mama blogs, twittering gals, women quietly organizing local actions. Women convincing other women to change buying patterns. Networks in action!

The problem is that we need to be more richly connected, able to aggregate to impact policy or morph into larger actions. How can the missing platforms and skills for this emerge?

[HarvestFlo]

Thanks for noticing me. I look forward to seeing more women join me in the ranks of environmental nonprofit CEOs. Regards, Florence Reed

[carrieanna]

This is an excellent point! I've had a hard time deciding how I will re-enter the workforce next year. I hadn't considered the opportunities of getting in on the ground floor...I tend to go for the more stable, dependable jobs. But I'm trying to push myself to take risks and am definitely wanting to try something more progressive the next time around.

[Marguerite Manteau-Rao - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks Koann, thanks, Sandy, thanks tcagle for all you do to embody the feminine spirit, and let it do its work in our midst. Every day, I hear news of more women making more waves. Today is the Women's Conference, with Maria Shriver in LA, and also the marketing2women conference. In my Twitter stream, I can no longer keep up with all the green, women led initiatives. Women are catching up, and working from their unique strengths, as gatherers and nurturers. It's going to take a while, and it's happening.

[tcagle]

I announced on a personal webpage that a contractor and I would be launching a wind turbine company soon. That very day, a young woman I took college classes with told me she wants in on the business, excited. It would be great to see a lot of that. I would like to see both genders well represented in this new industry.

[SandySkees]

One of the best women in sustainability is the CEO of Sustainable Life Media, KoAnn Skrzyniarz. With her Sustainable Brands conferences, newsletters, etc, she is creating a deeply interconnected community of game-changing companies and individuals who are building the new integrity economy.

Sandy Skees
President and Founder
Communications4Good

[KoAnn]

You're kind, Sandy! I admit, never once during my 18 year corporate career did I feel conscious of my gender. Only since joining the "green" arena have I found myself feeling at times like the 'odd woman out.'

While the 'green/clean tech'' space certainly does feel reminiscent of past technology markets crowded with men who seem uninterested, or unable to find value in the contribution of women, sustainability, by contrast, offers a rich, systems-oriented approach to re-imaging the future on all fronts -- not just in one or two. There are many fantastic men AND woman leading progressive, profitable, groundbreaking innovation for sustainability in businesses large and small, such as Kindley Walsh-Lawlor at GAP to Erin Carlson at Yahoo and Erin Meezen at Interface to Suzanne Dawson at Aveda to Marci Zaroff at Under the Canopy and so many more.

It will take the unique strengths of both men and women to recreate new ways of profitably engaging business in the world around us. I'm thrilled to know that we women, with our natural inclination toward integration, are particularly needed -- and equipped to contribute at this time in history. Hopefully we can help build bridges across the aisle where we encounter our counterparts who still view business as a zero sum game where someone must loose if someone else is winning. This, in and of itself would be an enormously value contribution from our gender...

Shoot me a note to discuss! sustainablelifemedia.comia.com