A Celebration of Women™

is elated to Celebrate the Life of this woman leader, one that is now leading our world’s largest online tool: eBay. Through her journey to successful leadership, she stands as a bright beacon for all women with families to Take Action, reach for the stars, working to increase a co-ed environment in all the business world, seriously addressing the global issue of CHILDCARE: THE REAL STORY.

 
 
 

WOMAN of ACTION™

 
 
 

 

Sharon Meers

 

Sharon Meers is the co-author of Getting to 50/50, a book about how men and women find common ground and share power so that men can be full parents and women can have full careers. She works at eBay, running business development for the new x.commerce platform.

Sharon Meers leads Magento Enterprise Strategy. She is responsible for opening up new markets and bringing merchants and businesses to the Magento ecosystem. Prior to joining Magento, Sharon was a Managing Director at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

In her 16-year career at Goldman, Sharon ran several businesses. With her husband, Sharon founded the Partnership for Parity at the Stanford Graduate School of Business School which supports Stanford’s work on workplace parity and a similar effort at Harvard University called the Dual-Career Initiative. Sharon also serves on the board of the National Women’s Law Center.

Who We Are
Since 1972, the Center has expanded the possibilities for women and girls in this country. We have succeeded in getting new laws on the books and enforced; litigating ground-breaking cases all the way to the Supreme Court, and educating the public about ways to make laws and public policies work for women and their families. Today, an experienced staff of nearly 60 continues to advance the issues that cut to the core of women’s lives in education, employment, family and economic security, and health and reproductive rights—with special attention given to the needs of low-income women and their families.

About the National Women’s Law Center
The Center has worked for 40 years to expand, protect, and promote opportunity and advancement for women and girls at every stage of their lives—from education to employment to retirement security, and everything in between.

The Center’s research, analysis, and advocacy take place when legislatures are enacting or amending laws, the executive branch and its agencies are writing regulations or otherwise enforcing laws and policies, and the courts are reviewing actions. The Center also conducts campaigns and public awareness efforts to educate and mobilize the public to press for policy changes to improve women’s lives.

Today, the Center has an experienced staff of about 70 who identify and address the most important issues facing women and their families. Because of the Center’s work, a woman in a downtown office building or an Army tank overseas has more protection against discrimination and more opportunity for advancement than ever before; a high school girl has many more chances to play sports and benefit from courses in math and science; a single mother is more likely to find and be able to afford child care so she can earn a living; and a woman is more likely to have her prescription birth control covered by insurance and less likely to encounter a pharmacy unwilling to provide it. The areas the Center focuses on are described in more detail below, and staff with specific expertise are listed for each issue.

… and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Sharon holds a B.A. in History from Harvard College and an M.A. in Economics from New York University.

When she first joined Goldman, Meers worked in Fixed Income Sales and then spent five years as part of a team restructuring financial institutions following the S & L crisis. In 1996, Sharon moved to San Francisco to re-establish Goldman’s equity derivative business on the West Coast. In 1999, she opened a private banking office in Menlo Park to address the fast-growing Silicon Valley business.

From 2002-2004, Sharon ran the national product management team in Goldman Sachs Asset Management focused on the private banking business, and in 2005 she moved to equity research in San Francisco. While at Goldman, Sharon co-chaired the Women’s Network in the Investment Management Division, served on the diversity committees of two of the firm’s divisions, and developed a mentorship program that linked high-potential women to senior male advisors.

CHILDCARE: THE REAL STORY

Mom and Dad: How Kids Can Get More from Two Working Parents

Why count sheep when you can count your worries?

Your child . . . your job . . . your spouse . . . his job . . . your marriage . . . your child . . . your job . . .

Will getting to 50/50 let you sleep carefree? For us, that hasn’t happened yet. But we toss and turn much less because we have good company, spouses who are equal players in the parent game.

The many couples we’ve interviewed say the same: “It’s worth it-especially for the kids.”

The thoughts that keep you up at night start early. On a popular morning show, a parenting guru shakes his head. “You need to be there when your kids get home from school.” (Does he mean you?) As you kiss your kids good-bye, you see a flier from the library: “Children’s Story Hour: 11 a.m. on Mondays.” You’ve never gone. “Would my daughter enjoy that? What is she missing?” you wonder as you shut the front door.

Midday, there’s an e-mail from school. “Your son writes numbers backwards. Please practice at home.” How, you wonder, will you wedge that in on weeknights? Your 3 p.m. meeting started forty minutes late and the Little League game is at 5. You said you’d be there and, as your son likes to say, “a promise is a promise.” You arrive at 5:45 and the game is in progress. You sit down as your son goes to bat. The ball soars and he runs all the way to third base. He sees you and smiles-but you wonder why every day feels like such a fire drill. What about that guy on TV this morning: Are your kids getting shortchanged? You start calculating how your family could get by on one income (not yours).

Then your husband grabs your hand and whispers: “Don’t worry, I got here early. See what a little batting practice will do?” He smiles proudly as your son’s foot hits home plate. Yes, your kids sometimes bring store-bought treats for the bake sale. But if you craft family life to give your children what they need . . . does it matter? —read more here (PDF)

In 2005 she left Goldman to do the research and writing for the book, Getting to 50/50. A game-changing read that’s set to do for the cultural dialogue around working families what Lean In did for working women. In Getting to 50/50, Sharon Meers and Joanna Strober share personal stories, compelling social science and a practical roadmap to help women – and men – stay engaged with their kids without sacrificing their careers. Getting to 50/50 offers encouragement, hope, and confidence to any parent who has ever questioned their choices regarding career and family.

Sharon and her husband created the Partnership for Parity at Stanford Business School and the Dual-Career Initiative at Harvard University to help shift the dialog about work-making it more fact-based, co-ed, and fun.

Sharon lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband Steve, a commercial real estate developer, and their son (10) and daughter (7).

Sharon Meers and Joanna Strober visit Google’s Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss “Getting to 50/50: How Working Couples Can Have It All by Sharing It All.” This event took place on March 5, 2009, as part of the Authors@Google series.

After interviewing hundreds of parents and employers, surveying more than a thousand working mothers, and combing through the latest government and social science research, the authors have discovered that kids, husbands, and wives all reap huge benefits when couples commit to share equally as breadwinners and caregivers. Mothers work without guilt, fathers bond with their kids, and children blossom with the attention of two involved parents.

The starting point? An attitude shift that puts you on the road to 50/50—plus the positive step-by-step advice in this book. Here are real-world solutions for parents who want to get ahead in their careers and still get to their childrens soccer games; strategies for working mothers facing gender bias in the workplace; advice to fathers new to the homefront; and tips for finding 50/50 solutions to deal with issues of money, time, and much more.

Sharon Meers is a former managing director at Goldman Sachs. Joanna Strober is managing director of a private equity firm in Silicon Valley. They live with their families in the Bay Area and speak frequently on work-life balance at universities and professional organizations nationwide.
 

 

 
 
 

Sharon Meers – Twitter

Sharon Meers – THE CLAYMON INSTITUTE for GENDER RESEARCH

Sharon Meers – Linked In

Sharon Meers – NEWS RELEASE

Sharon Meers BLOG- MomsRising
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

A Celebration of Women™

welcomes this woman leaders of education and powerhouse to the mission of women moving forward into our global alumni with open arms, looking forward to amazing future collaborations in the education of all women; balance in the workplace.

 

 

Brava Sharon!