Walmart announces Kathryn McLay as new Sam's Club CEO

Shoptalk event to include an all-women panel of speakers | Walmart announces Kathryn McLay as new Sam's Club CEO | Rectifying gender imbalance a struggle for Wikipedia Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( November 19, 2019 CONNECT WITH NEW  [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( €‰ [NEW SmartBrief]( [NEW SmartBrief]( Gender equality news for retail, CPG, financial services and tech [SIGN UP]( â‹… [FORWARD]( ADVERTISEMENT Top of the week [] [Shoptalk event to include an all-women panel of speakers]( Representatives for Shoptalk announced last week that the organization's main conference in March 2020 will feature an all-female line-up of speakers as part of an effort to address women's underrepresentation in the retail industry. Simran Rekhi Aggarwal, Shoptalk founder and president, acknowledges the approach is an extreme one, but says "we think extreme problems require extreme solutions." [Retail Dive]( (11/13) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Move Forward On Your Leadership Journey Wherever you are on your leadership journey, Kellogg Executive Education has the right program to meet your professional development needs. [LEARN MORE]( ADVERTISEMENT [] Women's leadership [] [Walmart announces Kathryn McLay as new Sam's Club CEO]( [Walmart announces Kathryn McLay as new Sam's Club CEO]( (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images) Kathryn McLay has been named CEO of Sam's Club, following former CEO John Furner's promotion to CEO of Walmart US earlier this month. McLay previously led the food and drug division at Walmart's Neighborhood Market. [Winsight Grocery Business]( (11/15) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Rectifying gender imbalance a struggle for Wikipedia]( Gender imbalance is a two-fold issue for Wikipedia and its parent organization, the Wikimedia Foundation, as the organization struggles to increase contributions from women and reflect the diverse viewpoints of women of color and those from developing nations, says CEO and Executive Director Katherine Maher. Wikimedia didn't foresee the issue when launching Wikipedia and has used a variety of initiatives to attract more female contributors, but policing the issue is difficult given Wikimedia's small size, she says. [Fast Company online]( (11/13) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Opinion: Gender parity in leadership depends on fixes at all levels]( The recent assertion in a LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company report that women are underrepresented in business leadership because of a "broken rung" at the bottom of the management ladder ignores the fact that women make up less than their share of management at all levels, writes Andie Kramer. Gender biases and affinities on every step of the corporate ladder must be addressed to achieve equality, Kramer warns. [Forbes]( (11/15) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] SmartBrief Originals [] Read the latest food and travel coverage in [SmartBrief Originals](: [] - [Agtech solutions allow farming to move indoors]( [] - [The rise of natural winemaking means more accidentally vegan vintages]( [] - [Sustainability 2019: Evolving consumer priorities around purchasing and packaging]( [] Talent trends [] [Execs ask shareholders to push for boardroom diversity]( Shareholders should demand boardroom diversity from the companies they invest in, both for moral and practical reasons, says TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson, noting that boards made up of diverse members tend to produce better results. Data from BoardEx shows that, although progress has been made toward gender parity in the corporate world, women hold an average of 25% of board seats at S&P 500 firms. [CNN]( (11/15) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [B-schools attracting higher percentage of female students]( Forté data shows that business schools have made progress in recruiting women even as the overall number of applicants has declined. "Every year we see women's enrollment inch up at business schools," Forté CEO Elissa Sangster says. "The progress over five-year intervals, in particular, demonstrates a significant shift in gender parity at top business schools." [The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model)]( (11/6), [The Business Journals (tiered subscription model)/Bizwomen]( (11/12), [CNBC]( (11/11), [Financial Times (subscription required)]( (11/5) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [To get men on board, make gender diversity a business issue]( Companies should focus on the business benefits of a diverse workforce and avoid characterizing men on their teams as "champions" or "allies" for supporting gender equity, writes 20-first CEO Avivah Wittenberg-Cox. Normalizing gender balance and rewarding managers for building diverse teams can help avoid making male staff feel defensive about issues relating to bias, Wittenberg-Cox adds. [Harvard Business Review online (tiered subscription model)]( (11/15) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [] For I am not so enamored of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them. Nicolaus Copernicus, early modern astronomer, mathematician [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Learn more about NEWâ„¢: [About Us]( | [Events]( | [Regions]( | [Partners]( | [Learning]( [Sign Up]( [SmartBrief offers 200+ newsletters]( [Advertise]( [Learn more about the SmartBrief audience]( Subscriber Tools: [Manage Subscriptions]( [Update Your Profile]( [Unsubscribe]( [Send Feedback](mailto:new@smartbrief.com) [Archive]( [Search]( Contact Us: Advertising - [Chris Warne](mailto:cwarne@smartbrief.com) P: 845.209.3049 Editor - [Emily Crowe](mailto:new@smartbrief.com) Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 © 1999-2019 SmartBrief, Inc.® [Privacy Policy (updated May 25, 2018)]( | [Legal Information]( Â