|
Secretary General, Council of Women World Leaders
In August 1997, Laura Liswood co-founded the Council of Women World Leaders
with President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland and located it at the
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Ms. Liswood is the Secretary
General of the Council, which is composed of women presidents, prime ministers,
and heads of government. The work of the Council expands the understanding
of leadership, establishes a network of resources for high-level women
leaders, and provides a forum for the group to contribute input and shape
the international issues important to all people. Individual leaders are
also an important resource to students pursuing public service degrees
at the Kennedy School of Government.
In 1997, Liswood co-founded The White House Project dedicated to electing
a woman President in the United States. Her work with women presidents
and prime ministers was the inspiration for the Project to change the
cultural message in the United States about women as leaders.
From 1992 - 1996, as director of the Women's Leadership Project, Liswood
identified global leadership contributions by women heads of state. She
interviewed 15 current and former women presidents and prime ministers,
which is chronicled in her most recent book and video documentary, Women
World Leaders. Her quest was to find out what it would take for a woman
to become President of the United States.
Liswood's professional experience includes CEO/President of the American
Society for Training and Development, executive-level consulting to Fortune
500 and international companies, executive positions at Rainier National
Bank and Group W Cable, a subsidiary of Westinghouse Broadcasting and
Cable. She received the Westinghouse Award of Excellence for her contribution
to women and minorities in the work place. She is also the author of a
book on service quality, Serving Them Right.
Liswood, a nationally recognized speaker, author, and advisor, has contributed
to leadership in the women's community for more than twenty years as a
member of the International Women's Forum, Leadership America, the board
of the First Women's Bank of California, and the Washington Women's Political
Caucus. Former commissioner of the City of Seattle Women's Commission,
Liswood was the owner/publisher of Seattle Woman and is the founder of
May's List, a bipartisan political donor network emphasizing women's leadership
in the political arena. In 2000, the Secretary of Defense appointed her
to a three-year term of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the
Services (DACOWITS).
Liswood has also held management positions in the airline industry, including
general manager for the Pacific Northwest, for TWA, and was a consultant
for the Boston Consulting Group. She holds a M.B.A. from Harvard Business
School and a B.A. from California State University, San Diego. She holds
a J.D. degree from the University of California, Davis, School of Law,
and is admitted to practice law in California and Massachusetts.
Read interview here
|
