Laura Liswood | |
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 Liswood in 2012 | |
| Born | Laura Ann Liswood[1] (1950-03-08)March 8, 1950 (age 75)[1] |
| Education | California State University, San Diego (BA) University of California, Davis (JD) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Occupation(s) | lawyer,author |
| Known for | co-founder,Council of Women World Leaders |
| Website | www |
Laura Ann Liswood[2] (born March 8, 1950) is a speaker, author, and advisor focused on leadership and diversity in the women's community. She is Secretary General of theCouncil of Women World Leaders, which is composed of 95 women presidents, prime ministers, and heads of government.
Liswood holds aB.A. fromCalifornia State University, San Diego, aJ.D. from theUniversity of California, Davis School of Law, and anM.B.A. (1976[3]) fromHarvard Business School,[4]
Liswood's professional experience includes CEO/President of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), executive-level consulting at the Boston Consulting Group toFortune 500 and international companies, and executive positions at Rainier National Bank and at Group W Cable, a subsidiary ofWestinghouse Broadcasting and Cable. She received the Westinghouse Award of Excellence for her contributions to women and minorities in the workplace. She has held management positions[clarification needed] in the airline industry, including general manager for Pacific Northwest and forTWA.
From 1992-1996, as director of the Women's Leadership Project, Liswood identified global leadership contributions by women heads of state. She interviewed 15 current and former women presidents and prime ministers, which is chronicled in her book and video documentary,Women World Leaders (1996, 2007 and 2009,HarperCollins). Her quest was to find out what it would take for a woman to becomePresident of the United States.
In August 1996, she co-founded the Council of Women World leaders with PresidentVigdís Finnbogadóttir ofIceland. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government.
In 1997, Liswood co-foundedThe White House Project, which is dedicated to electing a woman to political office. Her work with women presidents and prime ministers was the inspiration for the Project, which seeks to change the cultural message in theUnited States about women as leaders.
In 2000, theU.S. Secretary of Defense appointed her to a three-year term on theDefense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS).
In 2001, Liswood was named Managing Director, Global Leadership and Diversity forGoldman Sachs, a premier global investment bank. Then from 2002 to 2015, Liswood held the position of Senior Advisor at Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank.
After the events ofSeptember 11, 2001, Liswood joined the Washington, D.C.Metropolitan Police Department reserve police force, and retired as a sergeant in 2014.[4][5]
A former commissioner of the City ofSeattle's Women's Commission, Liswood was the owner/publisher ofSeattle Woman and is the founder of May's List, a bipartisan political donor network emphasizing women's leadership in the political arena.
Liswood is the author ofServing Them Right (Harper Business 1991). Liswood's latest book,The Loudest Duck, is a business guide that explores workplace diversity and uses practical stories to offer an alternate, nuanced approach todiversity to create a truly effective workplace for all (Wiley & Sons, November 2009).
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