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SM&: "WOMEN ON TOP IN BOSTON: THE NEW POWERBROKERS"
November 2004
The third in our series of regular events that bring together topical issues
and challenging aspects of our industry, "Women on Top", co-sposored
by The Commonwealth Institute, featured three women who head some of the largest
institutions in the city, all with bottom lines over $40 million: Joanne Handy,
president and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston, Joan Wallace-Benjamin,
Ph.D., president and CEO of The Home for Little Wanderers, and Ellen M. Zane,
president & CEO of Tufts-New England Medical Center and Floating Hospital
for Childeren, SM& President and CEO Helene Solomon moderated. Some of
the threads that kept reappearing were the impact of mentors; the need for
risk taking ("If your're not willing to take a risk, you can be good,"
said Zane. "But I don't think you can be great"); the importance
of thoughtful mergers ("There is such strength of feeling behind mergers,"
said Handy. I think there needs to be more mergers...but there is a downside
when they detract from your inner focus"); and the growing power of nonprofits
in our region ("Nonprofit organizations are the leading employer in six
New England states with a payrol of $660 million in 2000," said Wallace-Benjamin.
"The sector has tremendous power. We have a real opportunity to shape
our city.") Participants left full of ideas about the changing world
and escalating power represented by the nonprofit
sector — inspired by the women who run these important organizations.
