The 67th Tony Awards was a very big night for “Pippin,” and for Boston-area theater.

For Diane Paulus, the third time was the charm. The American Repertory Theater artistic director won her first Tony for directing tonight, collecting the trophy for her popular revival of “Pippin,” which won the Tony for best revival of a musical. Paulus had previously been nominated for her revivals of “Hair” and “The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess.”

In her acceptance speech, Paulus gave thanks to all at the ART where the show was created, the Boston audiences who saw it first, and Harvard president Drew Faust, whom she quoted as saying “creativity is a form of knowledge.”

Patina Miller of “Pippin” also won the award for leading actress, saying it was a childhood dream come true. She thanked Paulus and called her “a visionary.” And veteran actress Andrea Martin won the Tony for featured actress in a musical for her role as Berthe in “Pippin,” bringing the show’s total number of awards to four. The excited Martin thanked the “extraordinary” Paulus for giving her the opportunity.

                                                                                http://www.boston.com/diane-paulus-wins-tony-award-for-pippin

3 Fly Aviators Meet From Across the World

(From left to right: Valentina Tereshkova, Barbara Barrett and Ludmila Shvetsova)

Barbara Barrett, Past IWF President & IWF Member of Arizona and Montana, paid a brief visit to Ludmila Shvetsova, IWF Vice President and President of IWF-Russia.  While there, she met Shvetsova’s colleague and friend, Valentina Tereshkova.

Each of these three women has an extraordinary aviation origin story. Barrett earned her distinction as the first civilian woman to land in an F/A-18 on an aircraft carrier. Since then she has served as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and received cosmonaut certification from her training from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.  

As a retired Astronaut, Tereshkova is the first woman to have flown in space in the Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. Coincidentally, next month will be the 50^th milestone since her flight into space.

Shvetsova herself early in her career, worked on the wing of the Antonov (An-225) Mryiva (meaning ‘Dream’ in Ukrainian) strategic airlift cargo aircraft. One day while working on the aircraft, a leader told her that she would do much bigger things in her life. Today, she serves as Deputy & Co- Speaker for the State of Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

Three women from across the world met for a brief moment in time and forged a connection between their parallel pasts and their remarkable successes thereafter. 

On May 5^th, 2013 the Lieutenant Governor of Québec, the Honorable Pierre Duschesne, awarded Françoise Lyon, Senior Vice-President at Pembroke Private Wealth Ltd., with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her years  of dedication to philanthropic efforts and work with Women in Finance. The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal  is a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of the crowing of Queen Elizabeth II. The medal honours significant contributions and achievements by Commonwealth country citizens and was awarded in Canada to citizens who made a significant contribution to their fellow countrymen, their community, or to Canada.

Mme Lyon was also the recipient of the 2013 AFFQ Bursary of the Collège des administrateurs du Québec, a grant which is given on an annual basis to a member of the Association des femmes en finance du Québec (Quebec’s Women in Finance Association) whose professional contribution has stood out amongst committee and board members.

                                     A TRIBUTE TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MARGARET THATCHER -

                     IWF Hall of Fame Honoree

On the passing of The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister (1979-1990), the International Women’s Forum pays tribute to our own honorary member and one of the first inductees into the inaugural International Hall of Fame. 

Mrs. Thatcher’s induction into the Hall of Fame took place at the British Embassy Residence in Washington, DC in 1986 when the International Women’s Forum was still the “National Women’s Forum”.  Please follow the link to relive a distinctive moment in IWF history as she addresses IWF members:

Johannesburg, South Africa, March 2013
A New Program of the IWF Leadership Foundation

The International Women’s Forum is proud to announce the successful launch of the Inaugural Global Executives Leadership Symposium (ExSL) in Johannesburg on March 18-19, 2013. A new program line of the IWF Leadership Foundation, the launch was conducted in partnership with IWF South Africa and with funding provided by JSC International Potash Company of Russia and South Africa, for a targeted audience of rising South African women leaders of high potential. Under the theme Growing South Africa: Women on the Agenda, this historic symposium was an important step in outlining key challenges and strategies for the generation of women leaders rising to make a positive impact in their careers and the future of development of South Africa. See the highlights video of the inspirational program here.

 Please click on the icon in the lower right corner next to HD button to expand to full screen.

The mission and success of the International Women’s Forum and its Leadership Foundation are highlighted in an article on The Huffington Post – Advancing the World’s Leading Women, posted by Claudia Fritelli, Program Officer for the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  With Carnegie Corporation support, the Leadership Foundation has placed specific focus on women in Higher Education in Africa through its inclusion of over 20 participants from African Universities in the Fellows Program since 2002; helping them to step up in their careers, aspirations and goals.  Read the full text of the article here. 

IWF President, the Honorable Deedee Corradini, Addressed a Sold-Out Audience on International Women’s Day in Denver, Colorado  on March 8, 2013 in an event sponsored by World Denver and Denver Eclectics, LLC.

The Honorable Deedee Corradini with Team Canada  in Denver, Colorado for the International Women’s Day Celebration.

Sodexo, known for its best practices in diversity and inclusion, recognizes global women leaders. Each year on March 8, Sodexo celebrates International Women’s Day. This day provides the opportunity to highlight the past, current and future achievements of women.

Dr. Adis Maria Vila, the Chief Diversity Officer at the US Air Force Academy, was recognized for her leadership. She is  lauded for her mission to attract, retain, and develop a diverse workforce as well as fully integrating work-life balance policies into her organization.

Please follow the link to view   Dr. Adis Maria Vila’s profile. Click on the “Learn More” tab to watch a short 2-minuteillustrated video of her story and mission :

http://womensinsight.sodexo.com/

Claudia Fritelli, Program Officer for the Carnegie Corporation of New York, recently spent time with the 2012-2013 Fellows Class at Harvard Business School (HBS). The Carnegie Corporation is a long-time supporter of the IWF Leadership Foundation’s Fellows Program, and has sponsored the participation of 20 Fellows from 6 universities in 4 different African countries since 2002.  Fritelli visited HBS to observe the executive education and leadership training component of the Fellows Program, and to meet with the two current Fellows being sponsored by Carnegie Corporation grant funding, Nana Aba Amfo from University of Ghana and Florence Tushabe from Makerere University in Uganda. She talks about her key take-away and the unique benefits the Fellows Program has to offer. Read the full article here.

The 2012-2013 Fellows Class came together for a full week of executive education and leadership training at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts March 3-7. The sessions followed the well-proven case-study model, with a focus on issues including personal branding, non-verbal communication, leading and managing change, integrating work-life balance and disruptive innovation.  The Fellows also participated in small-group coaching and advising sessions throughout the week, each focusing on a particular challenge or opportunity they are facing.