A Look Back At 20 Years of Women’s Advancement For Women Of Influence, Canada And The World

1994 – THE WORLD POPULATION IS 5.6 BILLION PEOPLE

• Former First lady, editor and fashion icon Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies.
• U.S. Supreme Court approves limits on anti-abortion protests. President Clinton signs into law “Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.”

← Chatelaine is first to present the Women of Influence Luncheon Series.

1995

A TRAILBLAZER EMERGES

“When women are excluded from the political process, they become even more vulnerable to abuse. I believe that now, on the eve of a new millennium, it is time to break the silence. It is time for us to say, here in Beijing, and for the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women’s rights as separate from human rights.”

–HILLARY CLINTON, FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN BEIJING

1996 – FOR THE FIRST TIME…

← Madeleine Albright becomes the first female U.S. Secretary of State.

Which milestone in 1996 was a first for Canadian women?

For the first time, more women than men make up the Canadian Olympic team!

At the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, the Canadian team was comprised of 154 WOMEN to 153 MEN

1997 – GOODBYE ENGLAND’S ROSE

• The first Harry Potter book is published. J.K. Rowling will become the world’s first billionaire author.

← The People’s Princess, Princess Diana, dies in Paris.

• Ellen DeGeneres comes out to the world! She is the first openly gay woman to have her own sitcom. Ellen launches her talk show in 2003 and will earn 35 Daytime Emmy Awards by 2014.

1998 – REMEMBER WHEN…

← Tina Brown resigns as editor of The New Yorker. She will later create the Women in the World Foundation.

1999 – THE EVE OF A NEW MILLENIUM

← Nearly 48.5 million people watch Monica Lewinsky’s interview with Barbara Walters. Another exclusive for Walters – the first woman co-anchor of any network evening news show.

• Julie Payette is the first Canadian to take part in an International Space Station assembly mission.
• Catalyst’s Census reports that 39% of FORTUNE 500 companies have multiple women board directors (a 10% rise since 1994)
• The number of Internet users worldwide reaches 150 million; more than half live in the U.S. FAST FORWARD Today there are more than 2.92 billion Internet users worldwide. Over 600 million of them live in China.

2000 – PROGRESS, BUT STILL ROOM FOR GROWTH

• Hillary Clinton becomes the only First Lady ever elected to the U.S. Senate.
• 72% of U.K. women are employed; 22% have management jobs; 9.6% are executive directors

← Beverley McLachlin becomes the first female Chief Justice of Canada.

2001 – NEVER FORGET

← Terrorists down the World Trade Centre. It will take 10 years for CNN to produce the documentary Beyond Bravery: The Women of 9/11 to shine a spotlight on the women rescue workers, firefighters and law enforcers who saved lives that day.

2002 – FINALLY!!

← Halle Berry becomes first African American woman to win an Oscar for Best Leading Actress.

• California becomes the first American state to authorize paid family leave (6 weeks). It won’t be implemented until 2004.

2003 – NOT GOOD ENOUGH

← Andrea Jung, Avon, is one of eight female CEOs running FORTUNE 500 companies.

• 8 Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.
• In Canada, 25% of women hold senior management positions. This number will “grow” to 29% in 2013.

2004 – A DECADE AGO…

• TheFacebook.com launches with a target audience of university students. What did we ever do without it?!
• Forbes premiers its 100 World’s Most Powerful Women list…

Who tops the lists?

Condoleezza Rice, U.S. National Security Advisor

Followed by:

2. Wu Yi, Vice Premier, China

3. Sonia Gandhi, President, Congress Party, India

2005 – A YEAR OF GREAT BEGINNINGS

• Women of Influence and RBC partner to take on the Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.

← Angela Merkel becomes the first female chancellor of Germany, Europe’s largest national economy.

• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka becomes the Deputy President of South Africa. She will go on to become the Executive Director of UN Women in 2013.
• Michaelle Jean becomes Canada’s first Afro-Caribbean governor general.

2006 – “ONE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD WITH 140 CHARACTERS”

• Twitter is launched. FORTUNE TELLING The pound key symbol will be known to Generation Y and Z members as a “hashtag.” #believeitornot
• World Economic Forum’s first annual Global Gender Gap Report is released. Canada is ranked 14th out of 115 countries.

2007 – NEW WORLD LEADERS

• First iPhone goes on sale in U.S. – BlackBerry (who launched in 1999) has a tough competitor…
• Pratibha Patil becomes the first female President of India – the largest democracy in the world. She is 72 when elected.

← Argentina elects its first female President, Fernandez de Kirchner.

• WHAT’S GOING ON? Women make up 3% of enrolments in Canadian skilled trades programs, but only 1.5% complete their programs.

2008  – WE “LIKE” THIS

← Sheryl Sandberg becomes COO of Facebook – the first woman on the company’s board.

• Deloitte becomes the title sponsor for Women of Influence’s Luncheon series.

2009 – ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

← Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo, Inc. is one of 15 female CEOS running FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES, almost double the 2003 number. In 2014 this number will grow to 24.

• 15 women CEOs run Fortune 500 companies, almost double the 2003 number. In 2014 this number will grow to 24.
• BACK SLIDE World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Report ranks Canada 25th out of 135 countries.

2010 – A REVOLUTION BEGINS OVERSEAS

← First issue of Women of Influence Magazine is published. Who’s on the cover? Bonnie Fuller, Canadian-born media executive, President and Editor-in-Chief of hollywoodlife.com. Fuller has led several publications including: YM, Flare, Star, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Us Weekly and Marie Claire.

• Kathy Dunderdaole is sworn in as the first female premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.
• The Arab Spring revolution begins, overthrowing leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, giving Arab women hope that their rights and freedoms will improve.

A leader steps forward…

← Broadcaster and activist Bothaina Kamel becomes Egypt’s first female presidential candidate in 2011. She will run and lose again in 2014.

2011 – WE’RE KILLING IT!

← Christine Lagarde becomes the first female Director of the International Monetary Fund.

• Jill Abramson becomes the first female executive editor of the New York Times.
• 76 Canadian women are elected to the House of Commons – the highest number of women elected in one year.
• Women of Influence launches the Top 25, an annual ranking of the most influential women in Canada.

2012 – PROGESS ON A GLOBAL SCALE

← >Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi becomes leader of the opposition after several years of house arrest and fighting for rights in Burma.

• In Hong Kong, 9% of board positions are held by women. (A measly increase of 0.1% from 2009.)
• After the president is ousted in 2011, Tunisia’s National Constitutional Assembly drafts a new constitution declaring women “complementary to men.” Thousands protest and in January 2014, Tunisia adopts a new constitution declaring “equal rights and duties” for women and men.

In Brazil, Maria Das Gracas Silva Foster becomes the world’s first CEO of a major oil company.

SUCCESS STORY

Maria is a chemical engineer who began as an intern as Petrobras over 30 years ago. Today, the company generates $140 billion in annual revenues.

2013 – THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF WOMEN

• Angelina Jolie reveals she underwent a double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer. The growing number of women pursuing genetic testing is later dubbed “the “Angelina effect.”

← Kathleen Wynne becomes Ontario’s first female premier and Canada’s first openly gay premier.

• There are 6 women premiers managing 84% of the population of Canada.

2014 – THE WORLD POPULATION IS 7.16 BILLION PEOPLE

← Gloria Steinem, leading activist in the women’s liberation movement, turns 80.

• 20th anniversary of Women of Influence! Over 400 inspirational speakers, over 30 professional development courses, 10 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award Galas, 100 Top 25 winners, 1 white paper, and countless passionate women inspired to advance.