Pitch Presentation
Donna Miller with Purse Power
It's never too late to live your dream. Our dream is to make a difference for women. A few years ago the three Babcock sisters (Donna Miller, Dr. Karen Nern and Dr. Phyllis (Freddi) Pennington) were on vacation in Miami. We were discussing our frustration with the lack of women in senior leadership positions and the 1 out of 4 women impacted by domestic violence and/or sexual assault. Our mother was a brilliant, beautiful nursing professor, author and activist who was also a survivor. All three of us have MBAs and two are medical doctors. Our mother raised us to be strong, independent women. Her battle cry was “To whom much is given, much is expected.” We have all taken this to heart and want to make a difference in this world.
Even though women make between 73 and 85% of all purchasing decisions, have trillions of dollars in spending power, control 51% of the private wealth and make or influence 67% of investment decisions, we hold less than 5% of the CEO jobs and around 21% of the board seats. The gap between our spending power and our representation in senior leadership is indefensible particularly since research has proven that companies perform better when there are more women in leadership roles.
When we began to discuss what could be done to drive positive change, we realized that the power was already in women’s hands. If we could get women to use their enormous economic power to buy from companies that actively create opportunities for women, we could shatter glass ceilings in a matter of quarters rather than decades. If we could also use a portion of the proceeds to create a funding stream that supported battered women’s shelters and programs that keep women safer, we could make this world a better place for all of us. Purse Power was born.
Purse Power is now working to become the primary source to find and buy from women-owned and women-led companies in the United States. We dream of playing a part in creating a day when our daughters, granddaughters, sons and grandsons can achieve their dreams irrespective of gender.
