Denise Berger · Women's Rights and Economic Development Expert

There are windows of opportunity in life that pass us by unless we seize them. WomenThrive is working hard to push I-VAWA (International Violence Against Women Act) through Congress during this month’s lame duck session. Now – this month of November – is that window and there is every reason in the world to support this, with no down-side. And it takes LESS THAN 5 minutes… [passivawa.org]

Be sure to scroll down the page and click on “contact your representatives” to fill out the online form. Then pass along to friends and family!

Members of Congress have a uni…

Picking up on an earlier theme of mine – the power of networking, I have lately been struck by just how impactful this “art of building a network” can be and how many of us take it for granted and, dare I say, poopoo it. Indulge me to share with you networking in practice: when my family moved to California, we visited potential schools and were fortunate to meet one of the Principals. She gave us the name of an experienced realtor in town whose children had attended the school. We engaged him to find our house and gladly became friends with him and his wife. Upon learning that we needed…

I recently attended my college reunion. I won’t say which one. Suffice to say, it was not my 5th or the 10th! Naturally, this event caused me to reflect on my younger days and, in particular, those where I was fresh in the workforce and life seemed…well, it was…simpler. Work-life balance wasn’t even a topic, let alone on my mind! We moved more effortlessly between work and leisure, even if the work hours were the same or longer. Was it because I was younger? Was it because I was single with no responsibilities? Was it because I didn’t have children or pets? Maybe it was because work moved a…

It is a classic scenario: I walk into a car dealership to inquire about trading in my car that is coming off lease for a new vehicle. First, the salesman strolls over and gives the twinkle-in-the-eye grin which I can only interpret as his assuming I will be an easy sale. Why? Because women are notorious for not knowing how to negotiate financial terms. I straighten up and put on my serious face. As we get to talking, he begins to s..l..o..w.. d…o…w…n h…i…s… s….p….e….e….c….h…. to explain to me that the bank (where I have been paying each month’s bill) is the owner of my lease. Of course, the…

My good friend, Jill Diamond of Lanartco, is an entrepreneur, business owner and consultant on topics of presence, communication and language. She recently posed this question on her LinkedIn profile: “Are You Doing Enough?” My initial reaction was a defensive one: of course I don’t think I am doing enough! Ugh. Why can’t I be doing more? better? stronger? broader? I need to get out there and do more, be more, live more, see more, experience more, please more, feel more, learn more, and impact more!!!! It all just makes me want to go back to bed…

Fellow writer for mommytrackd.com, Jennif…

Who watched the Desperate Housewives recent episode in which Tom Scavo returns from a marketing job interview… dejected? When asked the reason, he explains that he was competing against one-hundred 30-year olds who “Twitter,” and that he’s over the hill… because he doesn’t even know what “Twitter” is!

Everywhere you look these days, networking – and having a network – is the flavor du jour, especially in any kind of online form. Twitter me, post it on Facebook, get LinkedIn, see it on My Space, join an online community, be a virtual member of an organization, follow this, subscribe to t…