Butterly-from Ariana Pharma Website

Our Cambridge Innovation Center colleague Ariana Pharma reports that it has joined the WIN consortium as an official technology partner. Congrats! Here’s the release. 

Paris, France, and Cambridge, Massachusetts USA, 29 October 2014 – Ariana Pharma, developer of innovative clinical data analysis and diagnostic solutions for the healthcare sector, today announced it has joined the WIN Consortium as an official technology partner. The Consortium (Worldwide Innovative Networking in personalized cancer medicine) is a global collaboration of 40 leading organizations whose aim is to develop more effective cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, shorten clinical trial timelines and reduce the overall cost of cancer care.

The new WIN/Ariana partnership is expected to accelerate the translation of personalized medicine discoveries into widely available new standards of care for all cancer patients, leading to significantly improved clinical outcomes and a higher quality of life for cancer patients.

As a technology partner of the WIN Consortium, Ariana will have early access to the latest research, key opinion leaders, leading academic groups and personalized medicine clinical trials. Ariana uses OncoKEM^®, a proprietary clinical decision support platform for personalized medicine, to transform big data into better therapeutic decisions for cancer patients.

Ariana Pharma Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mohammad Afshar said: “We are delighted to be an official technology partner of the WIN Consortium where we can continue to leverage our expertise in patient stratification, multi-marker diagnostic optimization and data mining to transform complex clinical data into actionable information. Our expanded access to the leading global stakeholders in personalized medicine will allow us to test new hypotheses, to enhance interaction to yield valuable feedback and thus accelerate the development process and commercialisation of these critical new services for the global cancer community.”

“We are delighted to welcome Ariana Pharma in our consortium. Ariana Pharma provides outstanding computational skills enabling the translation of academic projects into commercial tools to support the therapeutic decision for cancer patients,” said Dr. John Mendelsohn, Chairman of the WIN Consortium.

WIN is recognized for pioneering the evolution of next-generation clinical trials, which test personalized treatment selection strategies rather than single drugs. These strategies are driven by algorithms that match targeted therapies or combination therapies to individual tumor biological profiles based on diagnostic analysis of genomic data and other information.

In 2013 the WIN Consortium chose Ariana Pharma to develop and globally commercialize ground-breaking decision support software in WIN’s WINTHER trial, the first state of the art clinical trial in personalized cancer medicine to help clinicians choose the best therapies for cancer patients. Ariana retains exclusive global rights to commercialize software and algorithms validated by the WINTHER clinical trial through Ariana’s OncoKEM^® platform.

About Ariana Pharma

Ariana Pharma develops innovative clinical data analysis and diagnostic testing solutions to help the healthcare sector better adapt patient treatments to individual biological characteristics. Ariana Pharma’s KEM^® technology enables personalization of therapies, improves the efficacy and safety of patient treatment, reduces risks and drug development costs, and accelerates time to market. KEM^® is the only FDA tested technology that systematically explores combinations of biomarkers, producing more effective biomarker signatures for personalized medicine. Founded in 2003 as a spin-off of the Institut Pasteur, Paris, France, the company opened a subsidiary in the United States in 2012.For more information, please visit www.arianapharma.com

About the WIN Consortium

Founded in 2010, WIN is an initiative from the Institut Gustave Roussy (France) and University of Texas MD Anderson cancer center (USA). WIN is unique structurally in that it brings together organizations from academia, business and not-for-profits to focus on translating the latest advances in personalized cancer medicine into the standard of care. WIN is built on the recognition that all stakeholders in personalized cancer therapy must collaborate and share information, in order to effectively bring the latest innovations in personalized cancer care to the patient. WIN is a non-profit organization formed by 40 renowned members: Academic cancer centres (25 centres in 16 countries), companies (Blue Cross Blue Shield, Agilent Technologies, GE Healthcare, Oracle Health Services, Foundation Medicine, Millennium Takeda, AstraZeneca and Pfizer), non-profit organizations such as EORTC, Fondation ARC and Sage Bionetworks. WIN organizes an annual symposium in Paris dedicated to personalized medicine. For further information, please visit www.winconsortium.org  and www.winsymposium.org.

–Anita M Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning pr and marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA. {Ariana is not our client]. AMH.

With three days to go, the kickstarter campaign for BTW (Behind the Walls)  –a multi-platform media company devoted to beautiful, healthy, energy efficient and sustainable home, .is 85% funded.  Led by our friend and Cambridge Innovation Center colleague Harold Simansky, BTW needs $3K to get to $25K tor will take in nothing at all. I hope you’ll support the project. Here’s a link to the kickstarter site:

Harold writes:

Environmentally sound, healthy homes can be as stylish as they are sustainable; as beautifully designed as they are responsible; as glam as they are green… and a lot less expensive than you might think.

Now that eco-awareness is (finally and thankfully) skyrocketing, the country has exploded with new ideas for the home—everything from innovative, energy-saving technologies and home automation systems to products, decors, and furnishings that are toxin-free, sustainable and beautiful. Now you can live a green life at home without having to choose between what’s eco-friendly and what’s style-friendly, what’s efficient and what’s expensive.

BTW is here to keep homeowners on the cutting edge, building a community that shares our vision of healthy, energy-efficient and sustainable building and renovation practices, met with beautiful design. We’re also here to educate the community about service providers and funding—in the form of thousands of rebates and incentive programs—to make that possibility a reality. We want to make it clear that living a healthy, energy-efficient, and happy green lifestyle is within reach… and it all begins in the home.

What We Do

We’re creating a vibrant community of forward-thinking homeowners with BTW: Behind the Walls, a multi-platform media company that combines a magazine (both print and online), a website, social media, videos, blog posts, creative events, and—soon to come—podcasts and ecommerce, to help consumers envision and create a new kind of home and lifestyle.

Our goal is to help all homeowners understand, as they undertake some 20 million home improvement projects every year, how to do it more efficiently, more stylishly, greener, and healthier, using the best products, services and funding.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/959029715/btw-the-magazine-of-beautiful-healthy-and-sustaina?ref=home_featured

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant in Cambridge, MA.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and digital marketing firm based at the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Cambridge, MA.

On Wednesday, October 8, a “nano road show” highlighting tiny technologies and expansive R&D capabilities of the Czech Republic came to Boston.

Sponsored by “CzechInvest,” the  Czech Republic’s investment and business development agency, and by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic, the “road show” featured six companies and research institutions with expertise in nanotechnology–a branch of engineering focused on the design and manufacture of extremely small devices built at the molecular level of matter.

At an evening reception, Stanislav Benes, Head of the Economic Section of the Consulate General in New York, told me that the goals of the road show are to promote Czech companies, products and technologies; joint research, and student exchanges. “We also want to let nanotechnology centers in the US know that the Czech Republic can provide highly sophisticated, cost-effective research and development for US companies,” he said.  In addition to Boston, the road show offered presentations in Albany and New York City.

Featured companies included:

• Nano Iron, founded in 2008, which produces tiny iron particles used to treat ground water contaminated by chlorinated hydrocarbons from industrial waste. “Our nano particles are “very reactive” and may clear an area of pollutants in months-to-years—unlike other ‘in-situ’ reagents that can take 10-to-20 years to reduce contaminants,” said Jan Slunsky, the Nano Iron CEO. “And because Nano Iron particles are composed of a naturally occurring mineral, they do not add toxicity when injected into a substrate.”  Other remediating processes may involve the costly transport of polluted water to distant filtration plants, he added. Nano Iron currently partners with environmental consultants and remediation companies in the Czech Republic, France, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Nano Iron recently launched a pilot project in South Carolina.
• Advanced Materials -JTJ, which  introduced its own industrial process of manufacturing ofphotocatalytic multifunctional paints for air purification. A number of patents protect the technology in the Czech Republic, Canada, China, South Africa, USA and many others are pending. Simultaneously, the company has developed a patented large-scale technology to produceTiO2nanoparticles withhigh efficiency.Working with several universities and international companies on variety of R&D and commercial projects, Advanced Materials – JTJ has delivered many revolutionary technologies in the field of material science, photocatalysis and energy accumulation and participates in two EC grant consortia on photocatalytic water decontamination.

  

• SYNPO, a commercially-oriented, privately held R&D center which arose in 1992 from a government-owned research center. Today, SYNPO offers new technologies and products such as coatings adhesives, composites and binders based on applied polymer science.   It focuses on contract research and development, manufacturing, process development, and nanostructured polymers and polymers from renewable raw materials. It also provides specialized analytic services, helps client companies scale up production, and trains students. Board Chairman Martin Navratil said SYNPO’s clients range from small Czech and European companies to some of the world’s largest multinational chemical companies, including DuPont, in the US.

Featured educational and research and development institutions included:

• The Central European University of Technology (CEITEC) — a multidisciplinary science center focused on life sciences and advanced materials and technologies. CEITEC offers state-of-the-art infrastructure for research in 64 groups and 7 programs. 
• The Technical University of LIberec Department of Nonwovens, which has a strong position in nanotechnology research thanks to its patented process of industrial-scale production of nanofibers (including nanofiber scaffolds for use in tissue engineering, and composite nanofibers).
• The Technical University of Liberec – Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation (CxI), which provides long-term support of industrial research activities and utilization of new technologies and technological production methods. Its foci include competitive engineering, robotics and mechatronics, and applications of nanofiber materials.

After the meeting, Abi Barrow, director of the Boston-based Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center, said: “Nanotechnology is changing the world. It will change the way everything operates, because of the new materials people are now developing. The Czech’s have exhibited some ‘very interesting’ technology and research skills in the nanotech arena. And New England, with its own great nanotech base, has real interest in finding cost-effective ways to contract out research development and testing.”

The “Nano Road Show” is one of several presentations organized by CzechInvest and the Consulate General to promote Czech prowess in a variety of fields”, said Jiri Fusek, CzechInvest’s Sector Specialist in Nanotechnology and Materials.  The Czech Republic is particularly strong in the automotive, aerospace, information and communication technologies and life science arenas, he said.

Before the event, I hadn’t realized that in the 1930´s Czechoslovakia was ranked among 10 most developed countries in the world, or that Czech scientists were instrumental in developing contact lenses and anti-HIV drugs.

Or that today,  “the Czech Republic offers the best conditions in Central and Eastern Europe  for international partnership, with US firms major investors in Czech companies,” in the words of Jan Fried, director of East Coast operations for CzechInvest. What is more,  to facilitate the entry of innovative Czech companies into the US market,  CzechInvest has sponsored   “CzechAccelerator”  for the past three years. One such program, was based in Silicon Valley; the other at the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Kendall Square.
. “As an official government organization, CzechInvest will continue to promote international investment, serve our clients, and to help Czech companies develop their businesses in the US and globally,” Fried said.

–Anita M.Harris
Anita M. Harris, an author, blogger and communications consultant,  is managing director of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and Marketing firm based in Kendall Square, Cambridge. This post was sponsored by CzechInvest.

As an author, I’m having trouble getting my head around an email I received this morning from Amazon Kindle Direct publishing–charging Hachette Publishing Company with illegal collusion and asking me (and all authors) to demand that Hachette lower its ebook prices. Evidently, due to anti-trust settlement, Amazon can’t undercut Hachette e-book prices and is trying to renegotiate.  I ask you (and Amazon and Hachette): Are books a commodity? An art form? Something in-between? Does Hachette, with high-ish book prices, value the written word or is the company just out for high margins, of which most authors receive little?  Now, the New York Times reports, Amazon is calling on readers to pressure Hachette,  some best-selling authors are fighting Amazon,  and, as the following email shows, Amazon wants other authors to fight back.  I feel caught in the crossfire. Are we pawns in a battle between publishing giants? What is a  (literally) poor author to do? –Anita Harris, author, Broken Patterns, Professional Women and the Quest for a New Feminine Identity  and Ithaca Diaries.   Here’s this morning’s email from Amazon Kindle: Dear KDP Author,

Just ahead of World War II, there was a radical invention that shook the foundations of book publishing. It was the paperback book. This was a time when movie tickets cost 10 or 20 cents, and books cost $2.50. The new paperback cost 25 cents – it was ten times cheaper. Readers loved the paperback and millions of copies were sold in just the first year.

With it being so inexpensive and with so many more people able to afford to buy and read books, you would think the literary establishment of the day would have celebrated the invention of the paperback, yes? Nope. Instead, they dug in and circled the wagons. They believed low cost paperbacks would destroy literary culture and harm the industry (not to mention their own bank accounts). Many bookstores refused to stock them, and the early paperback publishers had to use unconventional methods of distribution – places like newsstands and drugstores. The famous author George Orwell came out publicly and said about the new paperback format, if “publishers had any sense, they would combine against them and suppress them.” Yes, George Orwell was suggesting collusion. 

Well… history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

Fast forward to today, and it’s the e-book’s turn to be opposed by the literary establishment. Amazon and Hachette – a big US publisher and part of a $10 billion media conglomerate – are in the middle of a business dispute about e-books. We want lower e-book prices. Hachette does not. Many e-books are being released at $14.99 and even $19.99. That is unjustifiably high for an e-book. With an e-book, there’s no printing, no over-printing, no need to forecast, no returns, no lost sales due to out of stock, no warehousing costs, no transportation costs, and there is no secondary market – e-books cannot be resold as used books. E-books can and should be less expensive.

Perhaps channeling Orwell’s decades old suggestion, Hachette has already been caught illegally colluding with its competitors to raise e-book prices. So far those parties have paid $166 million in penalties and restitution. Colluding with its competitors to raise prices wasn’t only illegal, it was also highly disrespectful to Hachette’s readers.

The fact is many established incumbents in the industry have taken the position that lower e-book prices will “devalue books” and hurt “Arts and Letters.” They’re wrong. Just as paperbacks did not destroy book culture despite being ten times cheaper, neither will e-books. On the contrary, paperbacks ended up rejuvenating the book industry and making it stronger. The same will happen with e-books.

Many inside the echo-chamber of the industry often draw the box too small. They think books only compete against books. But in reality, books compete against mobile games, television, movies, Facebook, blogs, free news sites and more. If we want a healthy reading culture, we have to work hard to be sure books actually are competitive against these other media types, and a big part of that is working hard to make books less expensive.

Moreover, e-books are highly price elastic. This means that when the price goes down, customers buy much more. We’ve quantified the price elasticity of e-books from repeated measurements across many titles. For every copy an e-book would sell at $14.99, it would sell 1.74 copies if priced at $9.99. So, for example, if customers would buy 100,000 copies of a particular e-book at $14.99, then customers would buy 174,000 copies of that same e-book at $9.99. Total revenue at $14.99 would be $1,499,000. Total revenue at $9.99 is $1,738,000. The important thing to note here is that the lower price is good for all parties involved: the customer is paying 33% less and the author is getting a royalty check 16% larger and being read by an audience that’s 74% larger. The pie is simply bigger.

But when a thing has been done a certain way for a long time, resisting change can be a reflexive instinct, and the powerful interests of the status quo are hard to move. It was never in George Orwell’s interest to suppress paperback books – he was wrong about that.

And despite what some would have you believe, authors are not united on this issue. When the Authors Guild recently wrote on this, they titled their post: “Amazon-Hachette Debate Yields Diverse Opinions Among Authors” (the comments to this post are worth a read).  A petition started by another group of authors and aimed at Hachette, titled “Stop Fighting Low Prices and Fair Wages,” garnered over 7,600 signatures.  And there are myriad articles and posts, by authors and readers alike, supporting us in our effort to keep prices low and build a healthy reading culture. Author David Gaughran’s recent interview is another piece worth reading.

We recognize that writers reasonably want to be left out of a dispute between large companies. Some have suggested that we “just talk.” We tried that. Hachette spent three months stonewalling and only grudgingly began to even acknowledge our concerns when we took action to reduce sales of their titles in our store. Since then Amazon has made three separate offers to Hachette to take authors out of the middle. We first suggested that we (Amazon and Hachette) jointly make author royalties whole during the term of the dispute. Then we suggested that authors receive 100% of all sales of their titles until this dispute is resolved. Then we suggested that we would return to normal business operations if Amazon and Hachette’s normal share of revenue went to a literacy charity. But Hachette, and their parent company Lagardere, have quickly and repeatedly dismissed these offers even though e-books represent 1% of their revenues and they could easily agree to do so. They believe they get leverage from keeping their authors in the middle.

We will never give up our fight for reasonable e-book prices. We know making books more affordable is good for book culture. We’d like your help. Please email Hachette and copy us.

Hachette CEO, Michael Pietsch: Michael.Pietsch@hbgusa.com

Copy us at: readers-united@amazon.com

Please consider including these points:

– We have noted your illegal collusion. Please stop working so hard to overcharge for ebooks. They can and should be less expensive.
– Lowering e-book prices will help – not hurt – the reading culture, just like paperbacks did.
– Stop using your authors as leverage and accept one of Amazon’s offers to take them out of the middle.
– Especially if you’re an author yourself: Remind them that authors are not united on this issue.

Thanks for your support.
 
The Amazon Books Team

P.S. You can also find this letter at www.readersunited.com   New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and Marketing firm located in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA.

Boston children’s book author Irene Smalls has joined forces with artist/illustrator Cathy Ann Johnson and publicist Ayanna Najuma to establish 2GoGlobal Marketing--an agency to promote independent authors and small publishers at the Frankfurt International Book Fair, in October of 2014.

Frankfurt, the world’s oldest and largest book fair, is attended by some 300,000 publishers, buyers and authors seeking to purchase and sell international rights to books. Approximately 120 countries are represented, at some 1750 booths.

Typically, independent authors and publishers are not represented in Frankfurt.

But 2GoGlobalMarketing will exhibit books in a Frankfurt Book Fair front row booth, “hand sell” and actively search for international sales opportunities for select books, “ according to Smalls.

Smalls, an award-winning author who writes primarily for “diverse” or minority children, was told by her publishers there was “no interest” in her books internationally. But she found that was not true.  “Publishers from Lebanon and China expressed interest in my titles. I would not have known that without pursuing international rights sales on my own.”

According to Johnson: “Authors and illustrators must be entrepreneurs.  Being represented in Frankfurt is the next step in developing our brands and literary businesses.”

Najuma, who will direct 2GoGlobalMarketing’s promotion at the show, said: “Many representatives merely place books on a shelf in a booth. 2GOGlobalMarketing will showcase individual books and seek out buyers at events and venues throughout the show.”

2GoGLOBALMarketing is currently accepting a small number of select titles to showcase, for a $500 fee.  Authors  and small publishers may apply through August 31, 2014 via the 2GoGLOBAL website www.frankfurt2014.com.

Authors represented by 2GoGLOBAL  are also welcome to hold book signings at the 2GoGlobalMarketing booth.

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is the author of Broken Patterns, Professional Women and the Quest for a New Feminine Identity (2014) and Ithaca Diaries (forthcoming, 2015).

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group--an award-winning PR and marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA.

Pleased to post this July 30, 2014 release from our Cambridge Innovation Center Colleagues at  EnergySage, Inc., who have launched a partnership with Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy, a national network of local chambers of commerce,   to help local Chambers and their member businesses install solar energy systems.

According to the July 30, 2014 release:

Under the partnership, businesses that are members of a local chamber can use an innovative and user-friendly online solar marketplace at no cost. Users receive quick and easy options for putting solar on their commercial or residential buildings.

The Metro South Chamber of Commerce in Massachusetts is the first local chamber to take advantage of the new partnership. “Lowering costs, saving time, and creating local jobs is a winning combination that strengthens business and increases profits,” said Christopher Cooney, president and CEO of the Metro South Chamber. “The EnergySage process makes it easy for our chamber members to receive multiple quotes, learn about tax credits, and gauge potential long-term gains.”

 “The EnergySage process makes it easy for our chamber members to receive multiple quotes, learn about tax credits, and gauge potential long-term gains.”

Through the partnership, chamber members will have access to robust solar options, an instant estimate of the costs, savings, and financial options and the ability to include local companies in the price comparisons. Chamber businesses that create a free account on the EnergySage Solar Marketplace will receive quotes from multiple pre-screened and high-quality solar installers, easing the process of shopping for the right solar system. EnergySage will make a donation – ranging from $250 for residential systems to up to $5,000 for large commercial systems – to the local chamber of commerce whose members go solar through the EnergySage Marketplace.

“EnergySage is excited about this national partnership with Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy,” said John Gingrich, Head of Corporate Development for EnergySage. “We understand that solar can be complex for business owners and this partnership offers a great opportunity to help these decision-makers choose solar with ease.”

Diane Doucette, Executive Director of Chambers for Innovation & Clean Energy, called the partnership a “win-win” for local chambers and their member companies. “Chambers are always on the lookout for valuable no-cost services for member companies,” Doucette said. “Our EnergySage partnership offers the added benefit of providing chambers with additional revenue for helping their member companies go solar.”

ABOUT CHAMBERS FOR INNOVATION AND CLEAN ENERGY

Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is a national network of local chambers of commerce that recognize the economic development opportunity of clean energy. CICE works with local chambers to offer programs that help them and their member companies successfully navigate and prosper in the clean energy space. Through their clean energy information hub, CICE provides easy access to clean energy information, incentives, best practices, and an opportunity for local chambers to connect with clean energy experts throughout the country. www.chambersforinnovation.com

ABOUT ENERGYSAGE, INC.

The EnergySage Solar Marketplace, a comprehensive national consumer destination site for solar photovoltaics (PV) systems. The EnergySage Marketplace transforms the complex Solar PV shopping process into a simple online comparison-shopping experience, by enabling consumers to compare quotes from multiple pre-screened installers in an apples-to-apples format across all financing options. The unique, innovative platform provides unprecedented levels of simplicity, choice and transparency, all at no cost to consumers.

The EnergySage platform helps to reduce prices and make solar PV systems more accessible to a larger portion of the population. Its goal is to drive exponential increases in market adoption of solar. EnergySage’s benefits extend to providers such as manufacturers, installers, financiers and other professionals involved in the solar PV sales process as well, through increased consumer awareness, knowledge and demand for their services. By creating efficiencies in both the buying and selling processes, EnergySage slashes the time and effort required by consumers and installers, significantly reducing customer acquisition costs, boosting consumer confidence, and ultimately accelerating mass-market solar adoption.

EnergySage has received two prestigious SunShot Awards from the Department of Energy to develop and commercialize the Solar Marketplace. www.energysage.com

—Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of  the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and marketing firm based in Kendall Square, Cambridge.

Governor Deval Patrick spoke yesterday at the Cambridge Innovation Center–emphasizing the importance of entrepreneurs to the Commonwealth’s economy and crediting them with being instrumental in the advent of late-night MBTA service.  Patrick was introduced by Carlos Martinez-Velam Executive Director of the Venture Cafe Foundation. 

—Anita M. Harris

–New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning pr and marketing firm based at the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Cambridge, MA. 

I’m a great fan of Sheryl Sandberg and her inspirational book, Lean In.  I’m glad she’s  embarked on a campaign to encourage girls to become leaders: girls are too often dissuaded from standing up for themselves and from saying what they think.

But I’m concerned about two facets of the campaign.

The campaign is heavily focused on expunging the term “bossy” from our vocabulary, suggesting  that we call forceful girls “leaders,”  instead.  But it’s a mistake to equate being “bossy” (which one dictionary defines as “fond of giving people orders, domineering”) with “leadership.” 

To me,  a  good leader brings out the best in others and encourages them to excel, in reaching common goals.  Rather than call girls (or boys)  who order others around “leaders,” we should consider them  candidates for leadership training.  Because some of them are bossy–(pushy, cocky, tyrannical, draconian, oppressive, dictatorial or anti-democratic). And there’s a fine line between “bossy” and   “bully,” regardless of gender.

What’s more, there’s a danger that too much focus on corporate leadership will diminish the confidence of  girls who are not inclined to head companies,  enter politics, or become “bigwigs” in highly visible ways. There  are many ways and realms in which to  lead—not just in business and government, but in sports, the arts; education, nonprofits, at all levels, in any job, community, school, or family. We should encourage girls to be authentic, to follow their own paths, and to assume leadership in ways that will positively impact their own lives and worlds.

Anita M. Harris is the author of Broken Patterns, Professional Women and the Quest for a New Feminine Identity and the President of the Harris Communications Group, a PR and marketing firm in Cambridge, MA.