A newspaper publisher shows why it's time women take reins of leadership, and her interviews with female leaders show how.

It's time for women to take charge, says successful businesswoman Vicki Donlan. In a spirited call to action, she covers the challenges, opportunities, prospects, and emerging roles for female leaders in a wide spectrum of fields including business, politics, education, healthcare, law, and nonprofits. Best, she buttresses her points through original interviews with women leaders in many fields—including Teresa Heinz Kerry, Chairman, Heinz Family Philanthropies; Gail Deegan, Board Member, TJX Companies and EMC; and Ann Caldwell, Chair, Commission on Women in Higher Education, American Council on Education. This book, both guide and manifesto, offers both women and men a blueprint for establishing a new model of leadership that can take advantage of the skill, passion, and wisdom of women everywhere.

Familiar statistics demonstrate the continued inequality in pay between women and men, the dearth of women on the boards and in the executive suites of major corporations, and the challenges that women face in breaking down barriers in politics, science, law, healthcare, and other male-dominated professions. As Donlan reminds us, women have always had to fight to gain access to basic privileges, such as education and the right to vote. And yet, dig deeper, and the numbers are beginning to tell a different story. For example, women currently start two out of every three new businesses. Once started, women-owned businesses are more likely to be in operation at the crucial make-or-break five-year mark and less likely to be in debt than those established by men. A recent study finds that the most profitable Fortune 100 companies are those with women on the board, and networks are developing to raise funds for women political candidates, who are beating their male opponents with increasing regularity. In short, women have the numbers, talents, determination, and willingness to lead, and a groundswell that has the potential to result in dramatic change is building. Drawing from interviews with dozens of pioneers in business, politics, education, healthcare, philanthropy, and other fields, Donlan argues that women are poised to shatter the glass ceiling, but only if they start working together to make it happen.

This is a historic time: As this book argues, if women organize more effectively, the emergence of a new model of leadership—one that includes women at the highest reaches of society—is inevitable.

Highlights
Interviewees include:
Corinne Broderick, Executive Director, Massachusetts Medical Society
Ann Caldwell, President, American Council on Education
Gail Deegan, Board Member, TJX Companies and EMC
Marty Evans, former president and CEO of the American Red Cross and Girl Scouts of America
Marsha Firestone, President, National Women's Presidents' Organization
Sharon Hadary, Executive Director, Center for Women's Business Research
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor, Harvard Business School
Teresa Heinz Kerry, Chairman, Heinz Family Philanthropies
Ilene Lang, President, Catalyst
Barbara Lee, Principal, Barbara Lee Foundation
Margaret Marshall, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court
Ellyn McColgan, President of Fidelity Investments Distribution & Operations
Tom Peters, author
Marie Wilson, founder and president, The White House Project
Ellen Zane, President and CEO, Tufts New England Medical Center

Endorsements
"Vicki Donlan's passionate and enlightened advocacy, based on years of commitment to women's business success, will surely inspire numerous women to stretch their goals and encourage many others to welcome women into even-higher offices."—Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School professor, best-selling author of Confidence and America the Principled

"Read and ingest and act on Her Turn. This is the real deal."—Tom Peters

"Her Turn echoes what The White House Project has found in our eight years of work advancing women into leadership across the US: Women are ready to take their turn leading alongside men. And as this book demonstrates, it's also our nation's turn to see what could happen if we finally decide to use all our resources. As we like to say, 'Add Women, Change Everything."—Marie Wilson, President and Founder, The White House Project

"The argument for having more women in leadership positions has been made before, but seldom as effectively. Her Turn takes that argument several steps further, addressing how men will benefit from greater equality, how America will benefit as a nation, and how imperative it is that we address this problem immediately."—Swanee Hunt, Director of the Women and Public Policy Program, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government

"I believe that this is a book whose time has come-Her Turn gives an A-to-Z picture of where women in business were, are and should/will be. The book is easy to read and peels away the many layers of prejudice, rejection and roadblocks that women have had to contend with as they take their legitimate place at the top levels of American business. Let's hope American business takes this book to heart and gets over the old boys' syndrome."—Clint Allen, Founder and President, The Corporate Directors Club

"It is imperative to raise the issues on why few women serve in politics as Her Turn has done. Books like this one broach the barriers that need to be overcome in order to see significant progress for women gaining political power."—Barbara Lee, Principal, The Barbara Lee Family Foundation

"What an enticing future this book offers! Anyone who understands--and perhaps especially those who don't--that gender equity is a matter of equality for two genders should read this book from cover to cover."—Donna Burns Phillips, Ph.D., Director, Office of Women in Higher Education, American Council on Education

"Her Turn gives us a fresh perspective on gender issues in society and the workplace. More important, this book gives women--and men, too--specific action steps that, when taken, will change the culture...and that's what's needed, culture change, for all women to achieve their true potential and contribute their full abilities and talents to the country. It's a must read for everyone!"—Rear Admiral Marsha J. Marty Evans (retired), former President and CEO of the American Red Cross and National Executive Director of Girl Scouts of the USA

"This is a book for our mothers, our grandmothers and our daughters. It's for women of all ages who have skills, talents, and believe they shouldn't be held back because of their gender. AAUW believes equity is still an issue. This book inspires women to look at the progress they've made and the work that still needs to be done."—Michele Warholic Wetherald, Executive Director, American Association of University Women

"At last, a book that energizes women to lead AND a nation to embrace women leaders-NOW! That's the brilliance of Her Turn and its urgency for change on both accounts. The indomitable spirit infused throughout these pages galvanizes the passionate yet keenly analytic case that this nation needs as many women as men in leadership if we are to maintain influence and stature in the 21st century world. This is an inspiring, important must-read for all Americans in order to understand why our nation should be a bellwether of enlightened, gender-blind leadership."—Evelyn Murphy, President, The WAGE Project

"Just imagine!' With these words, Her Turn posits a world in which gender inequality has largely disappeared. Eschewing wishful thinking, this book sets forth a series of hard-hitting challenges: to the easy explanations offered by those who benefit from the status quo, to the complacency of those who are prepared to settle for the modest progress that women have achieved over the past decade, to the passivity of those who too readily give up trying to bring about meaningful change, and to the strength of the commitment of those of us who share this vision. As Her Turn repeatedly asks: 'If not now, when?' The answer is clear, and it is a welcome one indeed."—Toni G. Wolfman, Executive in Residence, Women's Leadership Institute, Bentley College and President, ION

"This book is a well-documented and passionate call for change in the home and the work place, in government and society, in order for women's leadership capacity to be fully realized. The author's message is both urgent and timely, even as women ascend to the top spots from Harvard to the White House!"—Ann W. Caldwell, President, MGH Institute of Health Professions

"Her Turn understands that society benefits when women succeed. Its spirited call to action sets forth a compelling rationale for immediate change. This book should galvanize men and women to respond to its recommendations."—Attorney Lauren Stiller Rikleen, Executive Director of the Bowditch Institute for Women's Success, author of Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law