05/25/2018
Keep on keeping on ...ridiculous to still be having this conversation in 2018, never stop...equal needs to really be equal.
For the first time in the 226-year history of the New York Stock Exchange, a woman will lead the prestigious financial institution! Stacey Cunningham, who is currently the NYSE's chief operating officer, will become the exchange's 67th president this Friday. As Cunningham recently pointed out in an interview, however, her story wouldn't have been possible without a previous trailblazer: Muriel Siebert, who fought tooth and nail to become the first woman to own a seat on the NYSE in 1967. "I have to give Muriel props, because she had a profound impact on my life personally," says Cunningham. "I think it's just really important to recognize that any time a woman pushes the boundaries and redefines the boundaries, she’s redefining them for everyone else that follows her."
When Siebert decided to try for a seat on the exchange floor, the exchange put many obstacles in her path, including requiring her to get a loan of $300,000 from a bank, something that had never been required before. It took Siebert two years to get the loan, and nine out of the ten men she asked to sponsor her application for a seat turned her down. While thrilled to finally get her trader seat in 1967, she was dismayed that it took another decade before any other women were elected to the exchange, observing that "it was 1,365 men and me." It also took 20 years before a women's restroom was added to the NYSE's seventh floor, where the lunch club was located, and then only after Siebert threatened to have a portable toilet brought in.
Cunningham, who started working at the exchange in 1994 as a summer intern, remembers that restroom that was installed inside an old phone booth, and while the bathrooms today are comparable, she says the exchange has a long way to go to reach gender parity. "We still struggle to get a lot of women into finance," she says, "and while we have a lot of senior women in our organization, we still struggle to get the equal ration of women into finance generally." She hopes that her public example leading the NYSE -- and that of Adena Friedman leading Nasdaq -- will encourage other girls and women to join the business that she loves. "Since the moment I stepped onto the trading floor, the NYSE has always held a special place in my heart," she wrote on Twitter when her promotion was announced. "I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to lead this organization."
Congratulations to Stacey Cunningham on her historic appointment! To read more on NPR, visit https://n.pr/2KNLzuN
For books and resources for teaching kids of all ages about money management, check out our blog post, "30 Resources to Teach Kids Financial Literacy," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14495
A fantastic way to teach kids about the importance of saving and investing is with a divided piggy bank such as the Moonjar Moneybox (https://www.amightygirl.com/moonjar-classic) and the Money Savvy Pig (https://www.amightygirl.com/money-savvy-pig)
For two excellent guides on money management for girls ages 9 to 12, we recommend "A Smart Girl's Guide: Money" (https://www.amightygirl.com/smart-girls-money) and "A Smart Girl's Guide: Making Money" (https://www.amightygirl.com/making-money)
And, for hundreds of books about trailblazing girls and women in all fields, visit A Mighty Girl’s "Role Models" biography section at https://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography
