In honor of Business Women’s Day, which took place on September 22nd, our CEO, Alisée de Tonnac, has chosen three powerful women who inspire and motivate her. From a French woman who took over monetary policy in the US, to the COO of a billion-dollar company and the CEO of one of the fastest growing video-sharing websites, here are the role models of our very own CEO!
1) Christine Lagarde — Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
Like Alisée, Lagarde is French and proud of it. This did not prevent her from moving across the Atlantic and setting camp at one of the leading international institutions of the world. She was appointed Managing Director of The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2011, working hard to (among other things) promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. She also insists on viewing emerging markets as unique locals rather than a single entity. Very similar to what we are doing at Seedstars World!
2) Sheryl Sandberg — Chief Operating Officer of Facebook
After being an executive at Google, Sandberg joined Facebook in 2008, where she helped the social network scale globally, go public and expand digital revenue. A self-made woman, Sandberg is also the author of bestseller “Lean In.” Today, she is asking both men and women to “Lean In Together” to further gender equality. Alisée respects that and is also trying to promote gender equality across her international startup competition by encouraging all women to become entrepreneurs!
3) Susan Wojcicki — Chief Executive Officer of YouTube
Wojcicki is Google employee number 16. One of the most famous anecdotes is that she lent her Menlo Park garage to the company as their initial headquarters! Not surprising therefore that she is still with them today. Wojcicki became CEO of Google-owned YouTube in 2014, a video platform that is now being valued at some $20 billion. Wojcicki clearly demonstrates some impressive leadership and management skills, something that Alisée aspires to develop as a young CEO!
All three women are in the top 10 of Forbes’ 2015 list “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women”!
