News / Events

You’re Invited for An Evening of Conversation on Unlocking Women’s Economic Power

Date: Thursday, March 27, 2025
Time: 5:30 pm (doors open at 5pm)
Location: Luminary, New York City

While women control $31.8 trillion in worldwide wealth, they are not activating their economic power.

Join us for an engaging evening of conversation on unlocking women’s economic power as we discuss the bold solutions needed to create a better future for all.

Featuring:

– Josie Cox, author of Women, Money, Power
– Francesca Donner, former Gender Director, The New York Times, and Founder, The Persistent
– Beth Bengtson, Founder & CEO, Working for Women

Why attend?

1. Women still earn just 82 cents for every dollar men make—and for women of color, it’s even less.
2. Female-founded startups receive only 2% of venture capital funding—despite delivering higher returns.
3. Women live longer than men but retire with one-third less wealth, putting financial security at risk.

We look forward to seeing you there! Books will be available for a donation.

Hosted by Working for Women and Luminary

Register here: https://link.weareluminary.com/events/119576

Meet the Speakers:

Josie Cox is a journalist, author, and broadcaster, and is a founding editor of The Persistent—a new journalism platform committed to aplifying women’s voices. Josie has worked on staff for Reuters, The Independent and The Wall Street Journal. As a freelancer, she’s written for Bloomberg, Business Insider, Salon, The Washington Post, Guardian, Fortune, Forbes and many other publications. Josie has appeared on CNN, ABC, PBS and CNBC, and is a regular contributor to the BBC. She was a 2020/2021 Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia Journalism School in New York, and holds a BA from the University of Bath in the U.K. and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She’s an Associate Instructor within the Strategic Communications program at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies. WOMEN MONEY POWER is her first book. 

Beth Bengtson is a “badass” changemaker on a mission to reshape how business participates in our society. As the founder and CEO of Working for Women, she helps companies turn good intentions into meaningful action, directing resources to organizations that uplift women into the workforce and to better economic outcomes.

With a career spanning finance, marketing, corporate social responsibility, and entrepreneurship, Beth believes in the power of business as a force for good. Whether she’s speaking on stage, leading strategy sessions, or sparking lively discussions, she brings fresh ideas, practical insights, and a dash of humor to every interaction.

Francesca Donner is the founder of The Persistent, a women-focused media company, working with journalists and illustrators to amplify women’s voices, stories, perspectives and ideas. Launched in 2024, The Persistent, which is delivered twice-weekly as a newsletter, examines politics, economics, business, art and culture through a gender lens.

The Persistent is one answer to the vast and complex work that remains to be done to elevate women in the world at large. It will persist as long as it takes for women to be heard, seen, and valued.

Prior to launching The Persistent, Francesca spent many years working in mainstream news including at The New York Times where she was editor of ‘In Her Words’—a newsletter centered on women with a subscriber base of 300,000—and The Wall Street Journal where she focused on women and the future of work.

As an editor focused on women and gender, Francesca reserves the right to laugh and cry at the same time.