April 24 — Cokie Roberts on "Ladies of Liberty"

Award-winning Journalist COKIE ROBERTS was the keynote speaker at this week's EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNMENT conference, held at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, DC. She talked about her new book, “Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation,” as well as President Obama’s initiative to increase public service. Indeed, Roberts impressed the crowd of several hundreds government executives with her wit and words. "President Obama wants to make government cool again," she said. "Do you all feel cool today?"

She went on to share her knowledge and depth of understanding of the nation's founding women — and later charmed them with stories about her own mother. "In the early 19th century, mean in politics were literally killing each other in the name of their beliefs," Roberts explained. "The women of the time were trying desperately to get them to put down their guns and pick up a glass of wine so they could, in a relaxed moment, discuss their differences."

These women — from Alexander Hamilton's wife Aliza to John Quincy Adams' wife Louisa, to the nation's darling Dolly Madison — kept tempers cool and showed the nation what it meant to be a first lady. "It's a total myth that the first ladies were sitting around pouring tea until Eleanor Roosevelt came along, then poured more tea until Hilary Clinton took the political stage," Roberts insisted. "These women were tough, smart, and incredibly clever."

What would the founding mothers say to us today?"They'd look us square in the eye and say, 'Honey relax, you got it easy," Roberts believes. "The truth of the matter is that this is so true. We are not pregnant every year. Typhoid hasn't just come through town and killed two of our children. We are not making candles and bread before we prepare the evening meal. I think this perspective is wonderful because it's true: We have it easy."

Further, the concept of "multitasking" is something Roberts says, "is a man's made-up word for something women have done since the beginning of time." She points to her own mother — former ambassador and long-time Democratic Congresswoman from Louisiana Lindy Boggs — who first took office in 1973 after the death of her husband (the late Hale Boggs, who was Majority Leader of the House of Representatives) from a plane crash.

"I remember coming home one day and my mother was standing in her big kitchen cooking a grand meal and stirring pickles that she'd made from her giant vegetable garden. In one arm was my nephew, who was fussing and needed to be constantly rocked from side to side, and under her neck she'd cricked the phone and was dictating a speech she was to give the following day to Congress. All the while she was monitoring the chicken in the oven and stirring those pickles. I said aloud, 'Mom, not only CAN you do it all — you can do it all AT THE SAME TIME."

LISTEN TO COKIE ROBERTS discuss "Ladies of Liberty" on to Federal News Radio at www.federalnewsradio.com.

April 14 — Fran Drescher's Powerful Role: Health Advocate for Women

“I am not glad that I got cancer, but I am better for it,” award-winning actress Fran Drescher told the National Press Club today when she came to DC to promote her new role as the U.S. State Department Special Envoy for Women's Health, and her nonprofit organization Cancer Schmancer (which is also the title of her second New York Times bestselling book).

The writer, director, co-producer, and star of the highly popular CBS television series The Nanny, Drescher was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2001. It had taken several years and eight doctors to find the tumor, and because it went undiagnosed for so long the disease had metastasized to Stage Four leaving Drescher no alternative but to undergo a radical hysterectomy.

“I was devastated,” Drescher admitted to the audience. “I remember standing in my bathroom after the surgery looking swollen and bruised, and feeling nothing like the Superwoman I had felt I was my whole life. I wished I could have been anyone but me in that moment.”

Not long after, she was having a family dinner with her cousin Susan, who in mid-sentence began to choke on a piece of chicken. “I had seen someone choking before in a restaurant, and knew I had to do the Heimlich maneuver,” explained Drescher, who said she stood behind her cousin and pushed on her chest until finally the chicken chunk popped out. “I admit it, I saved her life. But really, she saved mine because at that moment I felt like myself again.”

The experience gave her the idea to write her book, and on the book tour she talked to hundreds of other women who suffered through cancer and also experienced the drama of being misdiagnosed, allowing their cancers to reach the late stages.

“I knew that I had to something more than write a book — I had to start a movement,” exclaimed Drescher, who soon after founded her Reston, VA–based organization. “Eleanor Roosevelt said ‘women are like tea bags. We don’t know how strong we are until we are dipped in hot water.’ It is so incredibly true. I realize now that I got famous, and I got cancer, so I could stand here today and try to change lives.”

Since then, Drescher has been instrumental in winning passage of the first Gynecological Cancer Education and Awareness Act. Indeed, she believes that cancer diagnosed in stage one “is the cure,” and she’s doing everything in her power to encourage every woman to insist on getting all tests necessary to identify if disease is brewing.

“When you get that weird feeling that something inside you just isn’t right, go to the doctor and find out what’s up,” she said. “Find out what tests aren’t on the menu. Do research on the Internet. Ask your friends. You have to be your own medical advocate.”

Drescher said she’s enjoying her new role as an activist and philanthropist, and although she is happy to take the occasional acting role that inspires her, she’s considering the idea of running for political office in 2010 or 2012. Her decision, she said, will be determined by where she feels she is most able to impact the future of women’s health issues.

“I want to be part of a movement that shifts the negative paradigm in the world and make sure this is the century of the woman.” — Hope Katz Gibbs.

For more information, visit www.cancerschmancer.org.

To view the article on the National Press Club blog.

March 23 — Manners guru Anna Post on "The Etiquette Advantage in Business"

Etiquette expert Anna Post (great great granddaughter of the queen of good manners, Emily Post) charmed a room filled with dozens of businesswomen at a networking event on March 23 honoring past winners of the Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business awards.

Anna’s top tips included 7 Best Business Social Practices:

1. Arrive on time.
2. Avoid the temptation to socialize only with colleagues.
3. Commit to introducing yourself to at least three people at an event.
4. Don’t stuff your plate or over-imbibe (know your limit: follow the one drink rule, or don’t drink at all).
5. Include others who join your conversation. This is a Golden Rule.
6. Avoid dirty laundry and controversial topics.
7. Send a thank you note to the host within 24 hours of the event, if possible. Be gracious and be brief (3 to 5 sentences is appropriate).

Other useful tidbits came from Anna’s Tips on Proper Table Manners:

1. What do you do with your napkin when you are finished? Leave them on the left of your plate, not your chair. Why? “If the napkin is stained with lipstick or gravy and you are wearing light-colored pants the possibility of having a stain increases).
2. When do you start eating? “When the host begins, or when the host nods to you to begin.”
3. When do you start talking business? If it’s a social event, wait until after you order. If it’s a business dinner meeting, wait until the entrees have been cleared. “The goal of a business meeting is usually to get to know each other,” Anna explained. “But let the host be your guide. If he or she launches into a business discussion over the salad, go with it.”
4. Chew with your mouth closed. Period.
5. Who pays? The host, or the one who did the inviting. “But if you insist on treating the host to the meal, make it clear that this is your intention — before the check arrives.”

Anna also advised the audience to spend one night each year in their own guest room. “This allows you to test the box springs, see if there is a draft in the room, and basically get a real feel for what your guests are experiencing.”

And when you bump into a work colleague on personal time, be a 24/7 professional. “You always need to be prepared to switch gears, so don’t ignore your family to attend to your colleague — simply make warm, polite introductions. Your public life and work life are bound to collide, so handle the situation with grace.”

Indeed, being graceful, authentic, and polite is the key to having the etiquette advantage in business, Anna insists. “As today’s workplace becomes increasingly competitive, knowing how to behave can make the difference between getting ahead and getting left behind.”

For more information Anna Post, visit The Emily Post Institute: www.emilypost.com.

By Hope Katz Gibbs, founder Inkandescent Public Relations

By Hope Katz Gibbs

March 13 — Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Debbie Wasserman Schultz was raised to believe you can have it all. At 42, the attractive, active U.S. Congresswoman from the 20th Congressional District who represents Miami-Dade / Broward County Florida certainly seems to have hit the mark. With two kids, a husband who is incredibly supportive — he buys her clothes and is willing to put her career before his — and a plum seat on the House Committee on Appropriations and Committee on the Judiciary, she is determined to expand on her reputation as a fighter for families.

“It is said that I arrived in Washington with the reputation as a force to be reckoned with, someone who works hard on behalf of children, education, health care, Social Security, Medicare and the security of every American,” said Debbie, who was sworn in as a member of the House on January 4, 2005. “I hope to continue to be known as a person whose word is her bond and who knows that she was sworn in to work hard in Washington for her constituents.”

That said the Congresswoman opened up about the challenges of having it all when she spoke in February to a large crowd that gathered for the CEO Chick Chat, hosted by the DC women's networking group Success in the City. “Yes, I do believe you can have it all — but you can’t be afraid to ask for help,” she explained. “And you have to pick and choose your priorities. During the week, Congress is my priority. When I fly back home to Florida on the weekend, my family comes first. My staff knows they have to respect that, and they have to schedule in family time. It’s sacred, and it’s incredibly important to me to be as good a mother and wife as I am a legislator.”

And being a good legislator is very important to Debbie —the youngest elected to the Florida legislature in 1992 at age 26 (she won her seat with 53% of the vote in a six-way race), and the first Jewish Congresswoman ever elected from Florida. “I never expected to get into politics so young,” admits Debbie, who served in the Florida House of Representatives until 2000 and in the Florida State Senate from 2000-2004. “I had a mentor who encouraged me, and I gave it everything I could. When I was first running, I made up in shoe leather what I lacked in resources. I knocked on about 25,000 doors in my district and met as many voters as possible. And I learned early that to be an effective legislator you have to do more than just show up to vote. That is especially true in the U.S. Congress. My motto is: No task is too big. Most of the time it works out.”

Perhaps the hardest pill for her to swallow is learning the hard way that not everyone is happy for her success. “After 16 years in politics, I have developed a tough skin,” she insists. “But some of those nasty partisan blogs have weakened my defense for they don’t just focus on the issues like seasoned journalists do — they get personal. It’s distasteful, but I try to put it into perspective because it is very important to embrace new media. It’s the best way to engage young activists and voters, so I am simply learning to be more savvy about how to communicate effectively.”

For more information about Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, visit her website: http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/.

March 6 — Philanthropist and diversity advocate Edie Fraser

“A magical bumble bee” is what Success in the City’s founder Cynthia de Lorenzi called Edie Frasier, a philanthropist, businesswoman, and diversity advocate, who spoke to a room filled with professional women business owners at a recent CEO Chick Chat.

As the president, founder and CEO of Diversity Best Practices, Business Women’s Network and Best Practices in Corporate Communications — all part of the Public Affairs Group, an iVillage Company — Edie supports more than 170 organizations, corporate and government members. Most recently, she co-authored Do You Giving While You Are Living, with well-known TV and radio reporter Robyn Spizman. “This is not only a book, it's a mission,” Edie told the SITC crowd. “My forecast is that with the support of corporate and non-profit leaders, outstanding philanthropists, dedicated volunteers, celebrities, ambassadors for change, and innovative activists working to better humanity, Do You Giving While You Are Living will become a movement.”

The goal of the book, which hit the Business Week bestseller list weeks after it was published in November 2008, is to encourage people to seek out a personal approach to their own giving — and truly understand why it is important to give now. That process is one Edie began decades ago after watching her entrepreneurial parents who helped build the retail franchise Casual Corner in Atlanta, GA. “I knew it was important to be a leader, and took that commitment seriously when I became the president of my high school class, the president of my youth organization, and the president of my school,” Edie said. “In fact, I took it so seriously my parents took me to see a psychiatrist. He talked to me about moderation, but I knew I was here to accomplish something.”

Edie studied political science at Duke University where, for the first time, she encountered prejudice. “I am Jewish and when I got to college I wanted to be in a ‘popular’ sorority and not a Jewish one,” she admitted. “The one I liked had a charter saying it could not admit Jews. It hit me hard, but taught me an important lesson that I’d use in the years to come.”

She went on to volunteer for the Peace Corps, befriended Walter Cronkite (who told her to only do things she can give 100%, and ultimately launched several companies and organizations including a successful PR agency that she sold in 2007. That year, Edie was named as one of the Top 50 Pioneers in Diversity by Profiles in Diversity Journal and — along with Oprah Winfrey, Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton — was named one of America's Top Diversity Advocates by DiversityBusiness.com She is a founding member of the Committee of 200 and is in The Enterprising Women Hall of Fame.

“The one thing I have learned in my life is that you have to keep changing,” she concluded. “Get into things where you can be unique and then go for it. Walk the walk, and as Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’”

By Hope Katz Gibbs, founder, Inkandescent Public Relations and Success in the City's Director of Public Relations

March 2, 2009 — NPR President Vivian Schiller speaks at National Press Club

With only eight weeks under her belt as the head of one of the 39-year-old media organization, Vivian Schiller, the new president and CEO of National Public Radio, is to many an ideal choice to take NPR into the digital age. Since May 2006, she served as senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com. Prior to that, she was the senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times Channel, and before that senior vice president of CNN Productions.

As the head of NPR, Schiller - who took the helm on January 5 - will oversee all network operations, including partnerships with 800-plus member stations reaching more than 26 million listeners every week. It's a job the woman that Schiller, whose documentary and series productions have won multiple honors, including two Peabody Awards, two Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards and five Emmys, says she relishes.

"I have always worked for companies with a strong public mission, but NPR is the first company I've worked for that is not beholden to financial stakeholders," Schiller told the audience at the National Press Club on March 2. "It's not lost on me that both groups can learn from each other."

She went on to outline five lessons she believes NPR can learn from its commercial cousins:

1. More bottom-line thinking about return on investment
2. A sense of urgency — which will help it stay nimble in times of economic flux
3. A focus on what the audience truly wants and needs from NPR programs
4. Greater diversity of listeners and expand range of programming content so that it appeals to Generation Y and African-American customers
5. Shout from the hilltops about accomplishments and offerings. "It's not ego, it is good business," believes Schiller, who has come to embrace the title that MarketWatch Media Columnist Jon Friedman recently gave her: "Carnival-like barker."

Schiller then identified five other lessons she believes newspapers and other for-profit media outlets can learn from NPR:

1. Connection of head and heart. "After word got out that I had accepted this job, I received about 1000 emails from just about everyone I ever knew or worked with and it struck me how similar all the notes were," Schiller shared. "The first sentence offered congratulations, which I truly appreciated; and in the second sentence everyone consistently told me what NPR meant to them. That is powerful, because it shows me that this organization has the power to reach millions and touch them in a profound way."
2. Develop a strong brand loyalty.
3. Leverage the power of numbers. "All totaled, there are about 8,000 people working in public radio and another 15,000 in public TV," Schiller noted. "That's a large army of 23,000 people who are all motivated, not by money, but by a mission."
4. Study the non-profit financial model (although Schiller admitted adopting this model wouldn't likely save newspapers like the New York Times).
5. Build a national / local distribution network. "This is the secret sauce," she said.

As for the future of NPR, and for public broadcasting in general, Schiller said she believes the industry needs to rethink the business model. She noted that although in the next 18 months more jobs will likely be trimmed at NPR, but long-term and short-term goal is to increase NPR's collaboration with other public outlets, step up NPR's news-gathering efforts - especially in terms of investigative journalism, and become a network that reaches more people on every media platform that they enjoy, from listening on the car radio, to receiving broadcasts on cell phones and iPods.

"I want NPR to become a constellation of news programs that can be accessed in many ways," Schiller concluded. "The people own us anyway, so now is the perfect time to rally the American public and bring them into the conversation about what we report on and how they want to receive it. We need to embrace change."

Hope Katz Gibbs is a freelance writer in Northern Virginia who has been a member of the National Press Club since 2007. For more information visit www.hopegibbs.com and also visit the National Press Club's blog, The Wire.
Truly Amazing Women blog,www.trulyamazingwomen.com.
March 2, 2009

February 24, 2009 — How do you get to be a curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum? Ask Joanna Marsh

When Joanna Marsh was a child, the James Dicke curator of contemporary art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum dreamt of becoming a doctor. She reconsidered after one year as a biology major at Cornell. "It became very obvious, very quickly, that I was not cut out for a career in the sciences," admits the 32-year-old.

Several women on the Cornell faculty, however, inspired her to double major in English and art history — and once she found her passion success came quickly. Following graduation she spent a year and a half at the Sotheby's Institute of Art in London, where she received a master’s degree in post-war and contemporary art. "The Institute was minutes away from the British Museum and within walking distance of the National Gallery and Sotheby's auction house, as well as the University of London. It was an incredible place to learn and grow as student of art history."

She ventured back to her hometown of Washington, DC in 2000 and after a short stint as a volunteer at the museum, Joanna was hired to be the assistant curator for contemporary art by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT. "My boss left not two years after I got there, and at 26 I became the curator," she says. "I was young and somewhat terrified at first, but it was a tremendous opportunity, terrifying, and an invaluable terrific learning experience. Because I had so much autonomy, I was able to take my time and figure things out on my own."

By 2006, Joanna was ready for a new challenge. A new head curator — the Yale-educated art historian Dr. Eleanor Harvey — had taken over at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and was looking for a curator to help raise the profile of the contemporary art department. Soon after, Joanna landed the job.

"What I appreciate most about Joanna is her insight and energy,” shares Eleanor, seated next to Joanna on a warm February day under the elegant glass canopy of the newly renovated Kogod Courtyard at the Museum. “She has a keen appreciation for contemporary art and has made terrific contributions to the collection." One of Joanna’s first assignments was to create a five-year plan for her vision, Eleanor notes, which included bringing in new and emerging artists, and filling in the collection with artists whose work should have been part of the collection years before.

Plus, Eleanor believes, Joanna has helped breathe new life to the historical museum that some considered stogy. "Because contemporary artists are obviously still alive, we are able to bring them here for talks — and I'm always amazed that we fill up the auditorium with up to 350 art aficionados who are eager to listen to their perspectives and insights about how, and why, they created a certain piece. I credit Joanna with adding a new kind of energy and excitement to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and I am eager to see what else she'll discover next for our collection."

Joanna says: “What I love about working at the American Art Museum is the ability to show contemporary art within the context of an encyclopedic collection that is rich in history and tradition. There are so many contemporary artists whose work engages with other genres and periods, and it’s invigorating to make connections between their art and that of the past. People are fascinated by this sort of dialogue. The other exciting part of being a contemporary curator is the opportunity to work directly with artists. "I think people are simply fascinated by the process of making art. People want to know what artists such as Deborah Butterfield, Jenny Holzer, and James Rosenquist were thinking, and not only do we have the privilege of showing their work here, but we can actually talk to them about it."

What are some of Joanna's favorite pieces at the Smithsonian? Find out in an upcoming entry. In the coming weeks, we'll also profile Eleanor about how she came to become the head honcho at one of the nation’s most prestigious museums.

Don’t just read about these Truly Amazing Women. Meet Joanna and Eleanor in person when they host the Thursday, Feb. 26 annual fundraiser ARTrageous. You’ll savor a buffet dinner and wine & spirits while dancing to live music by Blues Alley Jazz and mingling with American artists in the museum's stunning Kogod Courtyard. The evening will also present the chance to preview the exhibition, "1934: A New Deal for Artists," which opens to the public Friday, Feb. 27.

This year's ARTrageous celebrates Dorothy Lichtenstein, Jeffrey and Julie Loria, and Sam Rose and Julie Walters, whose generous contributions made possible the museum's recent acquisition of Roy Lichtenstein's "Modern Head," an outdoor sculpture currently on view at the corner of Ninth and F streets N.W. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and First Lady Michelle Fenty of Washington, D.C., are the evening's honorary patrons.

Click here to buy tickets for ARTrageous!

By Hope Katz Gibbs, www.hopegibbs.com and a www.inkandescentpr.com.