Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/161202
ASk the eXpertS Eve Galanter balances her role as board of director's chair for the Madison-based Wisconsin Women's Network with responsibilities of helping care for two grandchildren. In her lifetime, she's seen women make extraordinary advances in the workplace, but cautions that those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. That's why she thinks Sandberg's advice is more relevant than ever. "Two years ago, the Wisconsin Women's Network started the Women's Policy Institute to train women to be leaders in their communities," Galanter says. "Talk about leaning in… What we have seen in recent decades is a dramatic increase in two-wage-earner families, much more than the time when I was growing up, for instance. Many more women now are raising families and working at the top of their field and giving back to their communities." She says the debate about a woman's role in career and family is nothing new."When I was a young mother in the late 1960s and early 1970s, we made the decision to have a third child, and it was interesting among my friends and colleagues at the time who expressed surprise that since I was moving forward in my career that I would choose to have another child. "I think that the number of women business leaders who are chosen for their skills and expertise and experience has increased dramatically over my work lifetime. And I anticipate that will continue. I think what's important for the current generation of women moving up in their fields is that they recognize that when they run through that hole that others have created in that barrier, that they remember what those previous women leaders accomplished to make that happen. I'm pleased that the discussion over 'Lean In' is coming at the same time as we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of [Betty Friedan's] 'The Feminine Mystique.' I hope the different generations of successful women can begin a dialogue that can feed what happens in the future," she says. "i tHink WHat's important For tHe CUrrent generation oF Women moving Up in tHeir FieLDs is tHat tHeY reCognize tHat WHen tHeY rUn tHroUgH tHat HoLe tHat otHers Have CreateD in tHat barrier, tHat tHeY remember WHat tHose previoUs Women LeaDers aCCompLisHeD to make tHat Happen." — eve gaLanter 48 brava magazine | september 2013