Sherry Lansing, Former CEO, Paramount Studios

April 8, 2005 - Hollywood legend Sherry Lansing was joined by award-winning Chicago journalist Carol Marin in a conversation at The Chicago Network's 16th annual Women in the Forefront Luncheon, held on April 8, 2005 at the Hilton Chicago. A Chicago native, and until March 1 2005, chairman of the Motion Picture Group of Paramount Pictures, Ms. Lansing saw three of Paramount's films win Academy Awards for best picture: Forrest Gump (1994), Braveheart (1995) and Titanic (1997). Alcoa, Deloitte, Huron Consulting, and Sara Lee Corporation were this year's corporate sponsors. The program included a report on the 6th annual Chicago Network Census, which monitors the progress of women in senior executive and board positions in Chicago's largest public corporations.

"Sherry Lansing is a great example of what can be achieved when there's a woman at the helm," said Susan Sher, chair of The Chicago Network. At Paramount, Lansing oversaw such box office hits as "Forest Gump, "Titanic," and "Saving Private Ryan."

Lansing, who knew from the age of 13 that she wanted to be in the movies, stressed that her most important piece of advice for young people is to believe in what you do and not take no for an answer. "Achieving success is a process that is part of each and every day," she said. "Don't ever let anyone tell you can't achieve your goals and, just as importantly, don't be afraid to change your mind."

The Women in the Forefront Luncheon is a signature event of The Chicago Network, a group of more than 300 leading Chicago area women executives committed to the success and advancement of women. The Network hailed Lansing as yet another stellar example of the value women leaders bring to organizations, including diversity in style that promotes working together to achieve goals. In contrast to the historical, iron-fisted leadership of male studio bosses who "owned" the talent, Lansing said, "I believe the studio and the talent (producers, directors and actors) must work together because we all want the film to succeed. It's a win-win for all of us." Driven by this philosophy, Lansing was responsible for Paramount being profitable every year under her leadership, a fact that was not true for her competitors.

This case in point followed findings in this year's Chicago Network Census Report. "The recent study of Fortune 500 companies conducted by Catalyst is the latest to confirm what scores of previous studies spanning three decades have shown: The more women in high positions, the more profitable the company," said Erin McInerney, chair of the 2004 annual Chicago Network Census Report.

McInerney presented an update on The Network's sixth annual Census Report, published in January and which tracks progress of women in senior executive and board positions at the Chicago area's largest 50 public companies. A key finding of The 2004 Census: Best in class companies have close to 40% representation of women in leadership positions. Yet, as McInerney noted, with the exception of a few standout companies, such as Abbott Laboratories, Alberto-Culver, Bank One (now part of JPMorgan Chase), CDW, Hewitt, and Kraft, the most recent results show a glacial rate of improvement for women in the executive suite and in the board room. Results included:

• 32 companies still had zero women top earners
• A less than one percent increase in women executive officers (from 13.5% to 14.4%)
• Three Chicago companies still had no women directors or executives and there was a less than one percent increase in women directors overall (from 12.2% to 13.0%)
• A 7-year trend shows that, at the current rate, it will take another 25 years to reach 40% representation in the Chicago 50.

"Clearly, it's time for change," said McInerney who encouraged those at the luncheon to fill out the CEO Scorecard (available at www.thechicagonetwork.org) to determine how their organizations compare against those with best-in-class policies that foster opportunities for women and to push for change.

Since 1989, The Chicago Network has hosted the Women in the Forefront luncheon to honor the leadership role of women. The 2005 Luncheon was sponsored by Alcoa, Deloitte, Huron Consulting, and Sara Lee Corporation.