Women in the Game: City Club Activities  

Women in the Lead: A Critical Business Advantage

CLEVELAND: Sharon Allen, board chairman of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, will share strategic insights about diversity, leadership and the importance of values for competitive success at noon on Friday, March 23, 2007, at The City Club of Cleveland.

Fostering diversity throughout an organization is critical to business success today. Part of that imperative includes the creation of successful programs to attract and retain talented women. What are the best practices and principals that support a successful women's initiative and what do they mean for the success of an organization? What role do an organization's leaders play in contributing to the shaping of a culture that is inclusive and which encourages the development of high-potential women for leadership roles?

Allen discusses her pathway from her roots in Boise, Idaho to the boardroom of one of the country’s largest accounting and consulting firms, where she oversees an $8-billion organization of nearly 40,000 people in the United States.

In 2003, Allen was the first woman elected as chairman of the board of a major U.S. accounting firm. She currently serves on the President’s Export Council and is a member of the Women’s Leadership Board at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Allen was recently named by Forbes Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world and is a past designee as one of the “50 Women to Watch” by the Wall Street Journal.

Allen’s appearance is part of the Women in the Game series, in partnership with YWCA Greater Cleveland. Women in the Game celebrates Women’s History Month and the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland.

Finding Strength from Our Communities

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, will give a personal account of her breast cancer diagnosis, treatments and recovery, which she has accounted in her new book Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers, at noon on Monday, March 26, 2007.

During the presidential campaign, Edwards was in Wisconsin 12 days prior to Election Day 2004 when she found the lump in her breast, and the day John Kerry conceded the election to Bush, she had a biopsy. She began cancer treatment almost immediately after the confirmation of breast cancer.

Saving Graces offers descriptions of her husband’s campaigns for Senate, president, and vice president in a fascinating perspective on the groups—great and small—that sustain our democracy. Her years as a mother focus on the support she and other parents offered one another, from everyday favors to the ultimate test of her own community’s strength-—their compassionate response to the death of their 16-year-old son Wade.

A passionate advocate for children and families, as well as an accomplished attorney, Edwards has been a tireless advocate for many important causes. In 1996, she and her husband helped establish the Wade Edwards Foundation, and build a free computer lab—-the Wade Edwards Learning Lab—for high school students in Raleigh. Edwards volunteered at the lab nearly every day, until the family moved to D.C. following her husband’s 1998 election to the U.S. Senate.

Edwards’ appearance is part of the Women in the Game series, in partnership with YWCA Greater Cleveland. Women in the Game celebrates Women’s History Month and the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland. The final speaker in the series is sports pioneer Billie Jean King on March 30.

You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!

Sports Legend Billie Jean King, who has long been a champion for social change and equality, speask about equality of women and girls in athletics at noon on Friday, March 30, 2007, to The City Club of Cleveland. This Friday Forum will be held at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University, 2000 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland.

King is recognized for spearheading the women's movement in tennis, and she empowered women and educated men when she defeated Bobby Riggs in one of the greatest moments in sports history—the Battle of the Sexes in 1973. She founded the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1974 to advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity.

In 1998, King became the first athlete to receive the Elizabeth Blackwell Award, and in February 1999, she won the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for her fight to bring equality to women's sports. King remains active in a number of important causes. She serves as a director on several boards including the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

King co-founded World TeamTennis in 1974. In August 2006, the National Tennis Center, home of the US Open, was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, in honor of King’s contributions to tennis, sports and society both on and off the court.

In 1990, Life magazine named her one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.” In 1994, she ranked No. 5 on Sports Illustrated’s “Top 40 Athletes” list for significantly altering or elevating sports the last four decades.

King’s appearance, in partnership with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, is the last program in the Women in the Game series. Women in the Game, in partnership with YWCA Greater Cleveland, celebrates Women’s History Month and the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland. This Forum is sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and National City.

Tickets for the City Club Forums are $18 each for members and $30 each for non-members, except the King appearance at Cleveland State University on March 30, where tickets are $35 for members and $45 for non-members. Lunch is included. Reservations are required at least 24 hours in advance of the event. They can be purchased by calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at www.cityclub.org.