2008 Woodie Awards
Money Talks, Women Walk
Boycott encourages people, especially women, to cease shopping in protest the lack of women in executive positions.
Maggie Ownbey
Issue date: 10/13/04 Section: News
Imagine what would happen to the economy if, for an entire day, women did not shop. On Oct. 19 the 85 Broads Global Network is going to test that idea. Its 4,500 members will join thousands of other women around the world in a boycott against corporate America.
Dubbing it a Buycott, the network is asking women to leave their checkbooks and credit cards at home for one day as a symbolic gesture that they "don't buy" the glacial pace of change for working women around the world.
The goal of Buycott is to raise awareness and show women the effect that their individual purchasing decisions have on the economy, according to the website
"They should do it once a month," said Pat Allen, professor of sociology at Valley College. "We would then have the money to spend on things that are important, like books."
Janet Hanson founded 85 Broads in 1999 as an independent global network for current and former Goldman Sachs women professionals. The name is a play on the address of Goldman Sachs, the investment banking firm that Hanson worked at for 14 years, which is at 85 Broad St. in New York.
According to the 85 Broads website, in the United States alone, women currently control almost $4 trillion in annual consumer spending, take 50 percent of all business trips, purchase two out of every three cars and control half of all the personal wealth in the country. However, women's economic power is not reflected in CEO executive suites and boardrooms, even though women-owned businesses are the fastest growing.
Also, according to the Center for Women's Business Research, women-owned firms employ 19.1 million people and generate $2.5 trillion in sales.
Authorities of 85 Broads also state that despite these figures, only eight CEOs in the Fortune 500 are women, less than 15 percent are board directors and only 5 percent are top- earning corporate officers. In addition, women's access to investment capital still represents only a fraction of the total funds being invested in start-up companies globally.
Some students believe that participating in the Buycott is a personal choice for each woman. They state that the women who do join will be sending a powerful message.
"Yes definitely, I'll go for it," said Josefina Torres, a senior office assistant in academic affairs. "All businesses will realize that they won't have any business if we [women] are not out there buying. She is going to encourage her 15-year-old daughter to participate in the Buycott also.
"I think it's a good message" said Torres.
"[It's] making waves to be honest," said math tutor, Dede Smallberg. "Executives make a lot, [it's] not entirely equal, but women have come a long way."
Dubbing it a Buycott, the network is asking women to leave their checkbooks and credit cards at home for one day as a symbolic gesture that they "don't buy" the glacial pace of change for working women around the world.
The goal of Buycott is to raise awareness and show women the effect that their individual purchasing decisions have on the economy, according to the website
"They should do it once a month," said Pat Allen, professor of sociology at Valley College. "We would then have the money to spend on things that are important, like books."
Janet Hanson founded 85 Broads in 1999 as an independent global network for current and former Goldman Sachs women professionals. The name is a play on the address of Goldman Sachs, the investment banking firm that Hanson worked at for 14 years, which is at 85 Broad St. in New York.
According to the 85 Broads website, in the United States alone, women currently control almost $4 trillion in annual consumer spending, take 50 percent of all business trips, purchase two out of every three cars and control half of all the personal wealth in the country. However, women's economic power is not reflected in CEO executive suites and boardrooms, even though women-owned businesses are the fastest growing.
Also, according to the Center for Women's Business Research, women-owned firms employ 19.1 million people and generate $2.5 trillion in sales.
Authorities of 85 Broads also state that despite these figures, only eight CEOs in the Fortune 500 are women, less than 15 percent are board directors and only 5 percent are top- earning corporate officers. In addition, women's access to investment capital still represents only a fraction of the total funds being invested in start-up companies globally.
Some students believe that participating in the Buycott is a personal choice for each woman. They state that the women who do join will be sending a powerful message.
"Yes definitely, I'll go for it," said Josefina Torres, a senior office assistant in academic affairs. "All businesses will realize that they won't have any business if we [women] are not out there buying. She is going to encourage her 15-year-old daughter to participate in the Buycott also.
"I think it's a good message" said Torres.
"[It's] making waves to be honest," said math tutor, Dede Smallberg. "Executives make a lot, [it's] not entirely equal, but women have come a long way."
