When you think of a woman on a passionate mission to support budding women entrepreneurs globally, you naturally envision a successful and accomplished woman herself, right? Shelly Porges is just that woman!
Porges knows what it means to be a business woman in the predominantly male-driven corporate world and what it takes to succeed, sometimes against all odds. She doesn’t only talk the talk, she has walked the walk through the halls of determination, and her list of major achievements is over-the-top impressive.
Porges openly shares her vision for a future where women succeed without still having to break through the glass ceiling — because it’s gone! Next generations of girls and young women globally will be able to embrace their entrepreneurial dreams with fresh enthusiasm and support, financially and with gender equality.
Porges is the National Finance Co-Chair for the Ready for Hillary PAC, President of the North American Jury for the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards, and is on the Advisory Board for Global Entrepreneurship Week!
She shares her present goals, inspirational work, and vast achievements.
My top goal is to see Hillary Clinton elected President of the United States in 2016. I believe the impact of her presidency would be profound and there is nothing more important that I can do to have an impact on the world. As such, I am working to raise money for the campaign and mobilize others to support her. After leaving the State Department, I became one of the co-founders of Ready for Hillary and we began this work, raising millions of dollars and mobilizing millions to support her potential candidacy.
On the entrepreneurship and women’s leadership front, I advise over a dozen organizations around the world on these issues and opportunities including in Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cyprus, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the U.S. among others.
During my career in the private sector, I launched many new products during a 10-year career with American Express and I was part of the executive team that led Bank of America’s historic turn-around in the late 80’s. I then was a serial entrepreneur and founded or co-founded 6 companies with 5 successful exits. Beyond that, as a board member of the Financial Women’s Association, I led the launch of a scholarship fund for women that have given over $2 million in scholarships over 20 years. When I was the Director of the Global Entrepreneurship Program at the State Department, we grew the program to almost 150 countries.
Porges has absolutely no doubt that Hillary Clinton is the right person to become president in 2016, and sees her as a pivotal role model for all women worldwide. Porges explains why,
Imagine if Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs had been born in Africa or Asia or Latin America. Do you think they would have realized their potential? Sec. Clinton always says: ‘Talent is universal but opportunity is not’ and as a great supporter of global entrepreneurship, she began to address the opportunity issue during her time at the State Department. Her issues are my issues: as a former serial entrepreneur myself and the former Director of the Global Entrepreneurship Program at the State Department under Clinton’s leadership, I saw how much impact we could have in fostering improved environments for entrepreneurs everywhere. Beyond that, our success reinforced another key tenet and cause I have long believed in and that is that ‘Some leaders are born women’ and the more we support the advancement of women, the better off we will all be.
Cheers to that!
There’s a promising gateway for global entrepreneurs and women leadership that will provide a much needed economic world expansion, and Porges supports exactly why!
The world will need to create tens of millions of jobs as the population expands on most continents and in most countries. Small businesses create all net new jobs and provide opportunities that traditional big private sector companies and the public sector can no longer provide. Entrepreneurship can be one key answer and implementing best practices can accelerate the advancement of entrepreneurs and job creation in a community. Entrepreneurs are often the ones to solve some of the most critical problems we have.
She elaborates,
A lot of research now shows that diverse teams and leadership structures leads to the most effective and profitable results for organizations and companies. Today, women hold a small fraction of leadership positions in any sector or any country. Where women have made advances, research shows that those companies and countries are more successful and prosperous. As Sec. Clinton would say ‘Achieving gender equality is the unfinished business of the 21st century.’
Who doesn’t want to be immortalized on the big screen, as a heroic figure fighting for the underdog (underwomen)? When Porges was asked which actress should play her life in a featured film, she humbly replies, “It would never occur to me to consider my life being played on the screen. Actresses I admire for their ability to play strong, accomplished women are Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren or Julianne Moore.”
Nothing spells success, more than success. Porges is an influential powerhouse, and a true inspiration for women looking to prosper, and make a difference in their world. A new motto for women entrepreneurs everywhere; Behind every good women, there is a good women. With Shelly Porges acting as Co-Chair for the Ready for Hillarycampaign, we all might witness the very first U.S. woman president sitting in the White House … wonder what Donald Trump would think about that?
This revealing interview was conducted by Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED) Founder & Pioneer, Wendy Diamond, and is a part of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and CORE: Club Breakfast Series. WED celebrates, empowers and inspires women entrepreneurs, and aspires to elevate the 250 million girls living in poverty worldwide. For more information visit: www.womenseday.org.
Follow Wendy Diamond on Twitter: www.twitter.com/wendydiamond
