Few Women Make List of Movers and Shakers

Informal polls, while not scientific, are often good at pointing out interesting phenomena and highlighting things that make you go “Hmmmm . . . “

For example, last week we asked about a dozen key San Fernando Valley business leaders to list the most powerful women in the local business community. In nearly every case the list tapered off after just a few names. And in nearly every case, it was the same few names.

“When we have 50,000 businesses in the Valley, and 1 1/2 million people, that’s a short list, isn’t it,” mused Bill Allen, president of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. “We can only think of three or four [women] that have clout.”

Hmmmm. Why is that, I wonder?

For one thing, people tended to list the women who are most visible in established Valley business circles and regional business organizations.

Some women clearly have clout within their own companies or industries--commanding multimillion-dollar budgets--but may not be very visible in the broader business community.

Think Marcy Carsey, co-founder of Studio City-based Carsey-Werner Co. and one of the most successful independent television producers in the business.

“She doesn’t throw her name around,” said one source. “She’s somebody who you may not see on a lot of lists, but is highly influential.”

And there are women like Cora Tellez, president and chief executive officer of HealthNet, one of the largest health-care companies in the state and a subsidiary of Foundation Health Systems Inc.

Also, our definition was fairly narrow: Someone who has a business agenda and the muscle to move it forward. Someone whose phone calls get returned quickly. Someone who makes people pay attention. Someone perceived as having power by those who clearly have power.

We paid the most attention to names that were mentioned more than once.

By definition, we wanted to focus strictly on business. That leaves out movers and shakers in education, like Tyree Wieder, president of Valley College, and community action, like Irene Tovar, who heads the Latin American Civic Assn. It also leaves out politicians.

Given those narrow parameters, everyone we queried agreed that the list was startlingly short. But, (here’s the good news) they acknowledged that the collective business community needs to do better.

To that end, there are some positive signs on the horizon.

In January, Cathy Maguire takes over as board chair of the Valley Industry & Commerce Assn., one of the oldest and most influential business organizations in the region.

She will be only the second woman to hold that title in the 50-year history of the group, which also has a woman president.

Also, in an effort to find more women and people of color to move through the leadership pipeline, the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley has added the Valley Leadership Institute as its new “strategic partner.” The nonprofit organization trains diverse groups of Valley residents on important local issues.

“We felt it was important to have a more proactive effort to diversify the leadership,” said Allen, whose 110-member board includes 30 women.

“I think we’d gain a lot if that list [of movers and shakers] were longer,” Allen added. “A lot of issues in our community need everyone’s voice. Having more influential women in our community couldn’t be anything but a good thing.”

Among the women currently on the Alliance board is Maguire, whose name was mentioned often as being among the power players in the Valley.

Maguire, public affairs manager for the Southern California Gas Co., has served on the boards of the Chatsworth, Mid Valley and Santa Clarita Chambers of Commerce as well as the Valley Economic Development Center.

She thinks the Valley’s perplexing gender puzzler may be, at least in part, a perception thing.

“The men are always out there; they’re the one’s that are making the statements, they’re the ones that have been visible,” said Maguire. “Women tend to be more behind the scenes.”

One of the most visible women in Valley business circles is Bonny Herman, VICA’s longtime president, whose name was also mentioned.

She counts herself among the area’s influential women “because of the power and prestige that VICA has. And because of the chair that I occupy. When I leave this chair [the power] will stay with the chair.”

Like others we talked with, Herman was at a loss to come up with more than a few names.

“The sad part is, there aren’t that many women,” she said. “Why is that? You have to ask the men.”

We did.

“I’ll tell you very frankly, there is a glass ceiling, there is no question in my mind,” said David Fleming, chairman of the Economic Alliance. “If it hadn’t been for a lot of political pressure, there wouldn’t be the numbers there are. I think we’ve got a long, long way to go.”

Similar comments were made by Sandy Miller Goldman, a consultant with Browning-Ferris Industries, who helped drum up business support for the controversial expansion of Sunshine Canyon Landfill.

“Women have come a tremendously long distance,” said Miller Goldman, whose name was mentioned most often as being among the Valley’s movers and shakers. “But we haven’t broken through the ceiling, that’s reality.

“We’re getting there, but it’s baby steps.”

Several people mentioned lifestyle and personal preferences as being a major factor in the lack of women in visible leadership rolls.

“Women still have a lot of obligations that make it difficult to be at 7:30 [a.m.] board meetings,” said Ross Hopkins, chairman of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley. “They still have primary responsibility for the home, especially with younger women.”

Also, in Hopkins’ view, power is tied to political contributions, a game he said women don’t play as well as men.

“Women don’t give political contributions,” said Hopkins, a Republican candidate for the 38th Assembly District seat.

*

“That’s the way power gets acquired, it’s bought. You don’t think people pay attention to [Valley auto dealer and Police Commissioner] Bert Boeckmann because he’s a nice guy?” he said. “The fact that Bert happens to be a nice guy is almost secondary to the fact that he knows how to use money to gain clout.”

Most people we talked with mentioned Boeckmann’s wife, Jane--the first woman to receive the Fernando Award, and president and publisher of Valley magazine--as being someone who can make things happen.

Still, some had trouble deciphering where Bert Boeckmann’s influence ends and Jane’s begins. Of about a dozen stories published about Jane Boeckmann in The Times since 1996, only three mentioned her without her husband.

“Frankly, my list would begin and end with Jane Boeckmann,” said one business leader. “People go to her when they think they want to start something or get something going in the Valley.

“Obviously, they think that if she comes along, Bert comes along. That’s where it’s hard to separate the two.”

Others see Jane Boeckmann as a power broker in her own right, with one observer noting, “If this is Darwinism, she’s going to survive.”

*

We’ll confess that there are, no doubt, powerful women out there who were not mentioned here. Our survey was less than scientific.

But here’s the bottom line. If this many of the Valley’s movers and shakers can’t think of but a handful of women that they count as movers and shakers, that’s an issue.

So when we have this discussion five years from now, will the list be dramatically longer?

Hmmmm. I wonder.

Valley @ Work runs each Tuesday. Karen Robinson-Jacobs can be reached at Karen.Robinson@latimes.com.

WEB LINKS

Sites of note related to women in business

www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness: Small Business Administration’s site for women in business.

www.onlinewbc.org: SBA’s interactive business training Web site for women.

www.nfwbo.org: National Foundation of Women Business Owners. Research, Web links for women entrepreneurs.

www.netcenter.women.com/smallbusiness: Business advice, resources, finance and research.

www.advancingwomen.com: Free online magazine for business women.

www.electrapages.com: Online directory of women’s organizations.

www.digital-women.com: Online international networking site.

www.womenconnect.com: News on business, career, money and politics.

* Sites are subject to change.