Kerisma

An article last year in eWeek,“Why Are There so Few Women Tech Entrepreneurs?” featured a report from Business Week showcasing the best young entrepreneurs in tech most likely to shape the world’s digital future. Of the 45 entrepreneurs, only three were women. It still rings true today, where I’ve noticed a gap with many online start-ups dominated by men with engineering backgrounds who continue to gain the attention and support by the media and venture firms. There are a select group of women professionals who have gone out on a limb and have been noted for their accomplishments in technology and digital developments. Well, maybe it’s a matter of time more women come together highlighting the accomplishments of other women.

Joan of Arc was a peasant girl, who despite her circumstances and an army of men, felt obligated to help lead the people of France to defeat the English. At a time of battle, she was capable of raising the spirits of the French troops securing control of Orleans.

Many times, women are the brainchild for new ideas and unfortunately still aren’t given the recognition or taken seriously for their work as some men. Center for Women’s Business Research (CWBR), reported that 10.1 million businesses are owned by women and this accounts for 40% of all privately held firms in the United States. These women run operations attribute to generating 1.1 trillion dollars in sales.

Is it really still a boys club and can’t the gals play with the venture capitalist crowd? I’ve thought it would be a great alternative to create a women owned VC firm that supports women driven businesses. Forbes magazine selected some of the top women with the Midas Touch to support the growth of new businesses after going out on their own to create their own firms. Many were tired of playing only with the boys club and decided it was best to be entrepreneurial as well. Myra Hart, a retired Harvard professor, conducted a report alongside Patricia Greene of Babson College, and other notable women researchers called The Diana Project. They reviewed many of the myths for women entrepreneurs seeking venture capital funding. In the report, “there was a noticeable trend where women received a disproportionately low amount of the venture capital available in the United States,” as reported in eWeek. During these tough economic times, it has created new challenges for both men and women entrepreneurs to seek the necessary funding for the growth of their business where new sources of financial support will be in need.

Why is it some men work together and become mentors for one another, while for the most part some women compete often against one another? Women need to bond together as much as men to move the army of talented individuals to the forefront of the battleground to win. I was considering today that there are few resources that promote the success stories, as well as hearing the challenges for women in the digital space. It would be great to share these experiences first-hand with others, or help connect people that want to make a contribution to new developments. It always interests me to create programs that can cultivate new talent to thrive, brings together people of different backgrounds and different areas of expertise to help new ideas, inspire entrepreneurship, or provide the proper tools to individuals about marketing, sales, and creating further awareness. I would like to join the ranks of women in leadership for making a remarkable and memorable change to empower people, while celebrating our similarities and embracing our differences.

I continue to work towards leading others, or learning from other leaders which include both men and women. It’s about time in 2009 that more organizations such as Girls in Tech have started to develop local chapters to support women of all ages seeking advancement and resources.

For some reason the competition between certain women in power remains strong and not supportive, while men look beyond that with their colleagues in the workforce. New programs for women is a positive thing, however, there is much needed focus at an earlier age for young girls and older women to change the old attitudes about competition and be in touch with collaboration and mentoring one another.

Are you a Joan of Arc in the Making? Or, do you know of one? Let me know!