A conversation with Leslie Pitterson, Head of Corporate Communications, Block

Why every business is now a global business

Before diving into Q4, executives should consider these seven questions.

WIE Suite members who are making an impact across industries.

For years, "product thinking" belonged to product managers, but now it's becoming an expectation for leaders across nearly every function.

The ideas, patterns, and conversations we heard at Cannes Lions and beyond.

A Conversation with HSBC's Ida Liu and Gingerbread Capital's Ita Ekpoudom, Moderated by Alyse Nelson.

From mental health to holistic care, these seven founders are creating the spaces, products, and conversations that center Black women's healing.

Our founder, Dee Poku, shares her powerful message for Black History Month.

We asked eight female entrepreneurs what they've learned about building sustainable, successful businesses.

Sam Reetz is a filmmaker, performer, and founder at Millennial Ethics Productions, creating narrative solutions to complex issues.

What women leaders are rethinking, reshaping, and mastering as influence becomes the defining currency of 2026.

What we learned from The WIE Suite and Scope3's intimate dinner with pioneers reshaping business, technology, and the future of work

Why women now dominate global collecting, and what that means for long-term value and cultural influence.

How executives can build the mental flexibility needed to lead through change.

Dawn Huckelbridge is the Founding Director of Paid Leave for All, a national campaign of organizations fighting to win paid family and medical leave for all working people.

Why the world’s most recognizable cause is entering its next evolution.

Jes Wolfe is the CEO and Chairwoman of Rebel Girls (43 million girls reached and counting) and an active angel investor in female founded companies.

Susan McPherson is the founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, a communications consultancy focused on the intersection of brands and social impact, and the author of The Lost Art of Connecting.

Leslie Forde is a leading voice in working moms’ well-being, workplace equity, and the future of work. She helps organizations understand what working parents and caregivers need to thrive. Her core message: self-care is not a luxury—it’s essential.

We live in the age of auto-generated thought. AI can draft your memos, summarize your meetings, even write your thank-you notes. But it can’t do the hard work of original thinking or developing a point of view. That’s where writing comes in — and why every leader should be doing more of it.

Carolyn Monaco is a publishing strategist who works with leading experts to launch their books to drive their revenues. Over the past 18 years, starting with her stint as Marketing Director at Harvard Business Review’s imprint, Carolyn has become the industry’s premiere publishing strategist. Veronica Kido is an award-winning publicist and writer, who specializes in publicizing business and technology books, authors and their firms—to help them rise above the noise and get noticed. Kido Communications.

As we pass the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 quarantine lock-downs and the continuing challenges, especially at the intersection of women and business, good compassionate, forward thinking leadership matters more than ever.

How do you manage teams and create cohesion? How do you navigate productivity and emotions and all the nuances, especially in today’s virtual work landscape? Dr. Esther Sackett has some answers.

Chrisa Zindros Boyce is the Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Executive Coach at the Handel Group, a renowned executive life coaching company. Her work helps support growing companies and industry conglomerates to design cultures and structures that lead to increased employee retention, engagement and profitability.

Women's careers rarely follow along a narrow, pre-determined path, but often veer off on different trajectories, including for some, time OOO to raise and take care of families. Now that the pandemic has upended all that was normal and perhaps even cost you your job, is it time to consider getting a new one, or even switching careers? Because most businesses are undergoing radical change, now could be opportune.

No matter what stage they're at in their careers, women continue to be bombarded with well intentioned but overused advice about how to make it in business.

What does it really mean to be productive and what is the difference between being busy and actually producing desired results?Lisa Skeete Tatum is the founder and CEO of LandIt, a personalized career pathing platform designed to increase the success and engagement of women and diverse groups in the workplace.

With risk comes reward but also the potential for failure. When we take on an entrepreneurial role or ascend to corporate positions with greater responsibility, they often go hand-in-hand .

Lisa Skeete Tatum has had many career highlights: she broke into the world of venture capitalism and became a general in two years; she serves on boards in a variety of industries; and started Landit a company that unlocks the talent and brings to fruition the dreams of others.

Megan Hellerer is the founder of Coaching for Underfulfilled Overachievers and the author of the forthcoming book, Directional Living: The Underfulfilled Overachiever’s Path to Fulfillment in Work and Life (2022).

Daisy Auger Dominguez is Chief People Officer at Vice Media Group. She has also designed and executed organizational transformations at the likes of Moody’s Investors Service, Disney, and Google.

Despite 8 hour workdays being the norm, studies show that the average person only focuses for four to five hours throughout the day. According to behavioral neurologist Borna Bonakdarpour, most people get by because even though we are mentally fatigued, most jobs do not require 100% focus for the entire workday.

Artists are not the only stewards of creativity. Leaders exercise it regularly to solve challenging problems, develop new technology, and find better ways to communicate. The old explanation of “right-brain thinkers” versus “left-brain thinkers” has been debunked as an oversimplified view of the relationship between the brain and creativity.

There are many benefits to working from home, but one downside has been what Harvard Business Review refers to as collaboration overload and there are two main culprits.

How many situations have we been in where we felt hurt, neglected, or offended by another person? During those moments of what seems like betrayal, it often boils down to ego.

We've all heard about (and most likely discussed) how the work model has changed with the pandemic and what it will look like going forward.

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Kisha Imani Cameron has walked the walk as an accomplished content producer, studio executive, champion of talent, and most recently, an accredited professional executive coach.

Researching via the internet has become the default method for expanding our knowledge and exploring new areas of interest. However there's a wealth of unexplored knowledge right at our fingertips and it sits within our networks.Eilon Reshef, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Gong has created a 5-step personal growth tool called the Spiral Method that utilizes informational conversations with people in and adjacent to our networks, to help facilitate excellent depth of learning and allowing anyone to become an expert in any subject at a rapid pace.

Thanks to modern medicine, people are living longer than ever though while it is wonderful to have more time to watch your family grow, it also means being in the workforce longer. At least a 50-year career is wholly plausible. That’s a long time.

Set up a specific, separate place to do your work at home.' This is the advice many were given when we first started working remotely. It stems from the idea of replicating the one desk, one person model most offices implement.

Every year we debate the value of setting New Year's Resolutions but time management coach, Elizabeth Grace Saunders, believes they’re very much worth your time, even in the midst of uncertainty.

Debbie Perelman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Revlon and a member of its Board of Directors. Debbie is breaking paradigms to compete in today's digital and consumer-first environment.

Karen Edwards has 30 years of experience consulting with boards, CEOs and government on a range of strategic matters. She draws on her experience serving as a public company director and as a C-level executive to help clients build diverse, high-performing leadership teams and boards of directors.

As a founder running a busy company and what feels like a million responsibilities, you might be forgiven for seeing board meetings as a distraction. Pete Flint, a General Partner at venture firm NFX, believes that’s only the case when they’re not well managed and focused. There’s actually huge value to be found in board meetings if you run a tight process.

Kweilin Ellingrud is a Senior Partner and the leader of the life insurance practice in North America at McKinsey & Company. She has broad experience designing and implementing global performance transformations.

What is our role as leaders within companies to ensure that our worlds are places of inclusion? First, we should understand that our organizations are microcosms of society, affording leaders control over cultural norms, procedural rules and levels of incentives and investments.

Rachel Hodgdon is President and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), a public benefit corporation with a mission to improve human health and well-being through people-first places.

In Karl Marx's essay 'Estranged Labor,' he described capitalism as a machine that made people deeply unhappy because it removed the personality from the person and reduced them to what they were able to produce.

“No discomfort, no growth” is a mindful approach to the popular expression “no pain, no gain.” Author and professor of behavioral science and marketing, Ayelet Fishbach, came to that conclusion after taking a class at The Second City, Chicago’s famous improvisational club.

Karen Cahn, a veteran of Google and YouTube, has had a career of ups--being a Google Intrapreneur for 10 years and launching the branded entertainment portion of YouTube (her team was the first to connect brands with content creators--ie what we call native video advertising today), and downs--getting fired for making too much money (yes, you read that correctly), and, launching a company post Google that was a bust.

This week for our Masterclass Moment we are going to discuss the trajectory of Carol’s Daughter. Founder, Lisa Price’s story is a shining example of building at one’s own pace.

Julia Collins is a serial entrepreneur who has spent her career building food companies. In 2015 she co-founded Zume Pizza, and became the first Black woman to co-found a unicorn company.

Melanie Goldey is the COO & CFO at TMRW Life Sciences, Inc. She was previously CFO at Refinery 29, where she was instrumental in the company’s merger with VICE Media Group.

Meena Harris is an American lawyer, children's book author, producer, and founder of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, a company that creates statement fashion to support charitable causes.

Marina Khidekel is the founder of Hugimals, a TIME Best Inventions- winning line of weighted stuffed animals for kids & adults that 'hug you back' to ease anxiety, which has been recognized in Goop, People, NBC News, Real Simple, and many more.

One of the most sought-after minds in strategic communications, Rakia Reynolds is a thought leader, tastemaker, and branding expert who advises name brands on creative strategy.

Anne Fulenwider is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Alloy Women’s Health. She is a former magazine editor and a believer in the power of storytelling. She began her career at the literary magazine The Paris Review, spent ten years at Vanity Fair editing such writers as Carl Bernstein and Dominick Dunne, and in 2009, was named editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, overseeing all content and brand extensions in the United States.

Marianna Sachse is the founder and CEO of Jackalo—America’s first circular children’s clothing brand. Jackalo makes long-lasting essentials for little change-makers. Prior to launching Jackalo, Marianna spent over a decade advising national and global foundations and nonprofits on communications to support health and environmental change. She is a mother of two active kids, a dog lover, and a cancer survivor.

Joy is currently co-founder and Managing Director of Brilliant Friends Investing, an early stage venture group that invests in women-led, tech enabled businesses. She is a Lecturer at Princeton University, where she teaches the foundational entrepreneurship classes and also serves as a Venture Fellow at JVP, a large venture capital firm. Previously Joy was Executive Vice President and General Manager Digital Video at Condé Nast Entertainment (CNE), a subsidiary of Conde Nast, the publishing giant whose properties include Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair.

Jing Gao is a chef, entrepreneur, and renowned expert on Chinese cuisine, and she’s on a mission to bring uncensored Chinese flavors to the global table. She was born in Chengdu, Sichuan.

Sarah has over 15 years of experience in accounting and financial leadership roles including leading large-scale transformations programs, adoptions of new accounting pronouncements, and targeted close acceleration/cycle reduction projects focused on the record-to-report process.

Christina Stembel is the CEO of Farmgirl Flowers, Inc., the only large-scale, female-founded (and 80% female run!), direct to consumer e-commerce floral delivery company in the US.

Stephanie Nadi Olson is an innovator and disruptor, aiming to change the world's perspective on the future of work and what it means to be inclusive in the workplace. Olson, a former advertising executive, founded We Are Rosie in 2018, before the pandemic made remote and flexible work mainstream.

Aishwarya Iyer attended New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study where she graduated with a degree in Media and Globalization with an emphasis on South Asian Gender Studies. Following graduation, Aishwarya spent many years working for various startup and tech firms in New York while indulging in the diverse culture of the city during her evenings and weekends.

Chloe Harrouche is a Co-Founder of The Lanby, a wellness-forward primary care members club.

Rachel Johnson is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of J&O Law, a firm focused on representing high-growth companies as they scale. Since founding J&O in 2014 with her Co-Founder, Christina Oshan, the firm has grown to a team of 20 with offices in both New York City and South Florida.

Cindy Gallop is an advertising veteran, equality rights activist, and the founder of MakeLoveNotPorn.

Introducing the first in The WIE Suite’s Course series, focusing on Board preparedness.

Last week, our founder Dee Poku and founder and CEO of Moms First, Reshma Saujani, gathered to host a Talking Circle with the legendary Gloria Steinem at her home. Together, the group held space for an honest look at where we stand on equity and inclusion and what it will take to move forward together.

Ida Liu is the CEO of HSBC Private Bank and former Global Head of Citi Private Bank, renowned for pioneering a holistic, multi-generational approach to wealth.

Wie Suite Founder Dee Poku shares a powerful message for what companies can and must do to support black women in the workplace.

Ashley Flukes and Nneka Ukpai are making waves, moving needles, and shifting narratives by leveraging the power of community and collective investment.

Updated learning on generative AI, AI and the use cases in your business.

The data on equal pay for women is appalling.

On the release of Aliza Licht's book On Brand in paperback, we share an excerpt on how to think about the development of your own brand.

The WIE Suite founder, Dee Poku, shares leadership advice for allies.

Denise Hamilton is a nationally recognized workplace culture and DEI expert.

The WIE Suite founder, Dee Poku on why every woman should learn to trust her instincts.

Karena Kilcoyne is a former trial lawyer who specialized in criminal defense, including complex white-collar and civil litigation in federal and state courts. Later in her practice, she worked as in-house counsel for a publicly traded worldwide manufacturing company.

Laurie has spent over two decades revolutionizing the world of work through her candid storytelling, innovative solutions, and passion for driving better employment experiences.

While it’s crystal clear that a successful transition to a new CEO is key to a corporation’s success, history tells us that even with the best of intentions and efforts on the part of a Board of Directors—who are collectively responsible for managing that succession—it’s not always a slam dunk.

Our Fall Table For Eight dinner series added Washington DC and Chicago to an already expansive list of host cities.

This holiday, the WIE Suite asked tastemaker members for their holiday shopping must-haves.

The jury is out. Depending on your experience a board course or certification may help you but it's also possible that you don't need one.

Getting a spot on a board of directors—especially a major for-profit company—has long been considered as mark of success and acumen, an emblem of power within the business community, a way of amplifying your achievements, a route to cementing old contacts and establishing new ones, and, of course, another way of making money.

Mona Patel is an expert in helping people reframe the way they think by understanding and empathizing with other people’s points of view. For over 23 years, Mona's worked with brands like Nike, Facebook, Capital One, First Republic Bank and Pfizer. She teaches organizations how to listen for what people really want. She has started and built a series of 7-figure companies, is a published author, award winning researcher, and keynote speaker. Her latest company, Gray Zones, produces online immersive experiences to inspire leaders to have more empathy, awareness and understanding for different points of view.

Alexis Grant is founder of They Got Acquired, a media company that features acquisitions of online businesses and the founders behind them. Previously, she was EVP of The Penny Hoarder, a personal finance media brand that acqui-hired her content marketing agency. She also founded The Write Life, an online community for writers she sold in 2021.

Leveraging a nonprofit board seat to secure a corporate board seat can be a strategic career move. Nonprofit board experience can provide valuable skills and networking opportunities that make you a more attractive candidate for corporate board positions. Here's how to go about it.

And, what decision criteria would you think about using when you're considering leaving a board?

Thasunda Brown Duckett, the former CEO of JP Morgan Chase consumer banking, who led a network of 40,000 employees and 4900 branches, was recently named the CEO of TIAA, becoming the second Black woman currently leading a Fortune 500 company.

Debra Lee spent 13 years as the chairman and CEO of BET Networks, has more than 20 years of board service across seven different public boards, and currently serves on boards of AT&T, Burberry, Marriott, and Procter and Gamble.

The Girl's Who Code founder who worked to bring girls to the forefront of STEM, has stepped back from the day-to-day running of the company she created, to focus her energy on helping one of the hardest hit demographics of the pandemic, stay-at-home mothers, with her Marshall Plan for Moms.

Rebecca Minkoff has a lucrative accessories and clothing business, a podcast--Superwomen with Rebecca Minkoff, a network--the Female Founder Collective, that supports women owned businesses, and in her spare time, has written her first book, Fearless: The New Rule for Unlocking Creativity, Courage and Success, which comes out this summer.

Deirdre Findlay is the global CMO and Chief Revenue at Conde Nast, where she oversees all consumer marketing efforts and is focused on driving consumer revenue, brand development, audience insights and growth, digital strategy, and increasing subscriptions and memberships.

Dawn Davis, the new Editor-in-Chief at Conde Nast's Bon Appetit, was most recently at Simon & Schuster, where she founded boutique imprint 37Ink. Her successes have included The Butler, by Wil Haygood, made into a movie by Lee Daniels, and The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl​, by Issa Rae.

Many of us mean to get more financially savvy, but put it off for various reasons - the concept is overwhelming, someone else in the family has been handling ( eg a partner), or it just feels too late in the game to dive in.

You might think that if you'd built a game-changing business into large global brand and successfully sold it to a powerful conglomerate, you'd sit back, put your feet up and bask in your success, rather than launch a parallel business in a now saturated market-place with a smaller team.

With their enormous spending power and a specific set of ingrained but evolving values, Gen Z is changing the way companies do business. How do you scale commerce with them, build meaningful communities and embrace their approach to culture?

Company (and personal brand) crises are on the rise, but waiting until one happens is not an optimal path.

Tyrona Heath is the global lead at LinkedIn b2b Institute, a think tank within professional networking platform LinkedIn. She delivers educational content to help marketers stay on top of the latest digital marketing strategy.

Poppy Harlow is an Emmy nominated journalist and an anchor in the CNN Newsroom. Based in New York City, Harlow is also a correspondent for CNN, covering breaking news and reporting features and investigative stories.

The US government just released data showing significant increases in the Hispanic, Asian and multiracial populations, making Sheila Marmon’s masterclass particularly timely.

Sarah Hurwitz had an illustrious career working for the White House, working as senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and then head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama.

Robbie Myers is a seasoned media and fashion executive who for eighteen years served as Editor-in-Chief of ELLE, the #1 fashion magazine brand in the world. She reached over 28 million monthly readers across print, digital, mobile and social in the US alone. Today, Robbie brings 30+ years of creative, managerial and entrepreneurial experience to her current roles as a board member, consultant and advisor to companies in the world of tech, media and fashion.

Karen Robinovitz is a pioneer in the social media space. She was one of the first to create an influencer marketing agency, Digital Brand Architects, and see the potential in representing influencers and helping them to build their brands through social media. Now Robinovitz has turned her attention to TikTok and has done incredibly well on the platform.

Kimberly Evans Paige, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Black Entertainment Television (BET)Kimberly Evans Paige is the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of BET.

Dawn Davis is the editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit, where she is the 3rd person of color to head one of Conde Nast’s American publications. Prior to that, she was the Vice President at Simon & Schuster, where she was the founder and publisher of 37 Ink, an imprint for historically marginalized voices.

Alana Mayo is the President of Orion Pictures, where she was hired to relaunch the MGM label to focus on underrepresented voices. She was previously Head of Production for Michael B. Jordan's production company, Outlier Society, where she oversaw the production of movies and TV shows including Just Mercy, Without Remorse, Fahrenheit 451, David Makes Man and Raising Dion.

Tina Wells author, marketing expert and business strategist. Tina Wells is an author, marketing expert and business strategist recognized by Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, Essence's 40 Under 40 and more.

Shannon Washington is Group Executive Creative Director of R/GA New York where she co-leads creative teams and opportunities for Google, Uber, MailChimp, Cigna, ESPN, and more.

Danielle DuBoise is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Sakara Life, the wellness brand on a mission to nourish and transform lives through the power of plants as medicine.

Aya Kanai is Head of Content and Creator Partnerships at Pinterest. She was previously Editor-In-Chief of the U.S. edition of Marie Claire magazine. Before her appointment at Marie Claire, Kanai was Hearst Magazines Chief Fashion Director since 2016, overseeing the fashion content for Cosmopolitan, Women's Health, Seventeen, and many more Hearst brands.

Bethanie Baynes is the Director of Corporate Partnerships at Amazon. Prior to that she spent 16 years at Google in a variety of roles including overseeing strategic partnerships and driving new business development, revenue management and analytical insights. She is a tireless women's advocate and recognized leader on the topic of breadwinning women.

Naomi Seligman is a nationally recognized strategic communications leader, a social innovator and an expert in high-stakes communication. She transforms organizations into powerhouses of influence. She has led successful local, state, national and international campaigns for advocacy organizations, elected officials, mission-driven corporations, tech innovators and entertainment industry luminaries through robust partnerships, cutting-edge tactics, creative marketing and media buzz.

Tamara Gruzbarg is a senior analytics and insights executive with 20 years of experience spanning diverse industries such as finance, consulting, Ecommerce, fashion retail and media. She previously led Data Analytics and Consumer Insights within Time Inc. Her team focused on harvesting a deep understanding of the consumer from both – subscriber and advertising standpoints.

The new brand rules are changing engagement strategies.

Anna is the CEO and Founder of Perx Technologies, a category-creating Lifestyle Marketing SaaS startup based out of Singapore. With over 20 years of global experience in enterprise software, Anna has held senior leadership positions across startups and global companies.

Sara Tervo has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer since September 2019. She joined Express from Justice where she was Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer from 2016 to 2019. From 1998 to 2016, she held multiple leadership positions at L Brands across marketing, creative services and public relations, including Executive Vice President, Marketing for Victoria’s Secret and Senior Vice President, Marketing for PINK.

Christina Blacken is a public speaker, performer, and founder of The New Quo. The New Quo is a leadership development and equity consultancy, helping leaders create inclusive practices, habits, and goals through their narrative intelligence, which is the psychological power of story to change behavior.

Richelle Fredson, book publishing consultant and the “six-figure book deal coach,” knows all the angles of the publishing biz.

If a Gen Z’er shares your household - or if you’re also chronically online - you might already be familiar with “panini” and “panorama” as synonyms for “pandemic,” and that “accountant” might mean something other than the professional who manages your books.

Retailers were hustling to drive sales this holiday season. The New York Times reported merchants weren’t only competing against each other, but against the clock as Americans continued to be buoyed by savings from the “pandemic era” (the Fed estimates about $1.7 trillion in extra savings) and a still-hot labor market, but were - and are - facing quickly-rising prices and increasing costs of borrowing.

Marcy is Chief Marketing Officer, Commercial Group at EagleView, Prior to EagleView, Marcy held leadership marketing roles at Spruce and as employee #3 at Austin based start-up Dosh (acquired) where she claimed the top spot on the App Store and secured $97M in VC funding. Prior to Dosh, Marcy was a senior marketer at Amazon, where she launched Amazon Supply (now Amazon Business), built marketing traffic for Woot (an Amazon subsidiary), and led a team to drive branding, promotion, traffic and analytics.

Elizabeth Rees is the founder of Chasing Paper, a pioneer and leader in the home decor industry, innovating beautiful, clever solutions for the modern home. As third generation in her family’s printing company, she grew up learning the ins and outs of ink, paper and patterns. With the belief that printing is not only a family tradition, but also a craft, Elizabeth carved out her own path in paper with Chasing Paper.

Lesley Pinckney is an accomplished marketing and digital transformation expert with a track record of building successful brands and businesses. With a focus on youth and diverse audiences, she has been a driver of marketing innovation for Fortune 500 brands across multiple categories. She’s held leadership positions in both public companies and start-ups.

Diana Pessin is an award-winning marketer with extensive senior leadership and management experience in product, direct-to-consumer, and data-driven marketing. Diana is the founder of NextPhase Advisors, which provides marketing, media, and data strategy consulting to companies looking to accelerate their growth.

Amanda Jedeikin is the cofounder of Revel (thisisrevel.com), an award-winning, strategy-first brand editorial agency producing high-quality, multimedia content for brands that are dedicated to improving people’s lives.