Make Mine John Deere --

I walked into the bookstore yesterday to find a big "Women and Money" display at the front door. Books by Suzie Ormond everywhere. It made me think that corporate America had finally caught onto women's economic and financial power -- a force which has been sorely overlooked by marketing departments, nonprofits, and political campaigns alike for decades.

Perhaps we women don't always feel so powerful. The Maine Women's Fund launched its Economic Security Initiative to address the economic needs of women across the state PRECISELY because women are disproportionately affected by financial trends -- we make less money than men in equivalent positions; our medium income is significantly lower; and single women are more likely to live in poverty.

Our financial standing, however, may not be the same as our financial power. We make over 80% of all financial decisions (household and personal). (Guess who buys the most lawn mowers per capita? That would be us, ladies -- a trend that Home Depot has picked up on, leading to "Do It Herself" workshops, clinics, and products.) We control half the wealth in the country. We provide over 60% of all social investments -- giving to more organizations than men. More interestingly, a chunk of our financial power lies in our willingness to recommend products and services -- we're twice as likely as male customers to make referrals. Lisa Witter and Lisa Chen wrote a great book on the subject titled The SheSpot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them. I highly recommend it.

The incongruence between the reality of our financial standing and our understanding of our financial power is what makes for interesting conversations when it comes to women and money. January -- chock full New Year's resolutions and post holiday spending -- is a fine time to explore one of the most taboo topics for women: Money. Please join us in expanding the dialog:

·         How does your relationship to money impact your life?

·         What do you pretend not to know about money/finances?

·         How do women create more of what they don’t want when it comes to money?

·         How is the wage gap a metaphor for women’s relationship to money?

·         How does money impact our desire and ability to affect change?