Laura Liswood
Laura Ann Liswood | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1950 |
| Occupation(s) | Author, speaker, consultant |
| Known for | Secretary General of the Council of Women World Leaders; author of Women World Leaders; co-founder of The White House Project |
| Notable work | Women World Leaders; Serving Them Right; The Loudest Duck |
Laura Ann Liswood (born March 8, 1950) is an accomplished author, speaker, and consultant focusing on leadership and diversity issues related to women. She holds the position of Secretary General at the Council of Women World Leaders, an organization that includes 72 female presidents, prime ministers, and government leaders worldwide.
Education
Liswood obtained a B.A. degree from California State University, San Diego, followed by a J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law. She also earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1976.
Career
Throughout her professional journey, Liswood has served as CEO and President of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), worked as an executive consultant at Boston Consulting Group advising Fortune 500 companies and multinational corporations, and held leadership positions at Rainier National Bank as well as Group W Cable, a subsidiary of Westinghouse Broadcasting. She was honored with the Westinghouse Award of Excellence in recognition of her efforts to promote workplace inclusion for women and minorities. Her experience also extends to airline management roles, including general manager responsibilities for the Pacific Northwest region and at TWA.
Between 1992 and 1996, Liswood directed the Women's Leadership Project, conducting interviews with 15 current and former women presidents and prime ministers. This research was featured in her book and accompanying video documentary titled Women World Leaders (published in 1996, 2007, and 2009 by HarperCollins), exploring how women can ascend to the role of President of the United States.
In August 1996, together with President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, Liswood co-established the Council of Women World Leaders—the only international network exclusively for female heads of state and government.
The following year, she co-founded The White House Project, an initiative dedicated to increasing women's election to political offices by transforming societal views on female leadership within the United States.
Appointed in 2000 by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Liswood served a three-year term on the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS).
In 2001, she took on the role of Managing Director for Global Leadership and Diversity at Goldman Sachs, later transitioning to Senior Advisor from 2002 until 2015.
After the events of September 11, 2001, Liswood joined the reserve force of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, concluding her service as a sergeant in 2014.
She has also contributed as a commissioner on Seattle's Women's Commission, owned and published Seattle Woman magazine, and founded May's List—a bipartisan political donor group supporting women's advancement in politics.
Publications
Liswood is the author of Serving Them Right (Harper Business, 1991) and The Loudest Duck (Wiley & Sons, 2009), a business-oriented book that provides actionable approaches to fostering workplace diversity aimed at improving organizational performance through inclusive methods.
External links
- Laura Liswood official website
- Council of Women World Leaders at the Aspen Institute