If you\u2019re trying to hit an end-of-year reading goal or going holiday shopping for a girl in your life who wants to get into the tech industry, I have a recommendation for you. <\/p>\n
The new coffee table book Opulis<\/a> is a project from the organization Women in Cloud<\/a> with Journey Ink Publishing. It\u2019s a celebration of the women who built Microsoft<\/a> into a trillion-dollar company. I was honored to play a small part in its publication by writing the foreword to this project. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a bit of a departure for me and for Fortune MPW. Typically, we\u2019re covering the women at the top, those whose names we all know or will soon. This project is about the unsung women behind the scenes, without whom Microsoft wouldn\u2019t exist as we know it today. (Although it does include Melinda French Gates!) As I wrote in my foreword: <\/p>\n As AI transforms society, it\u2019s often the leaders at the top who get the credit, from Fortune 500 CEOs to the best-known researchers. But it\u2019s not only those at the top who decide our future, it\u2019s the people doing the work, discovering breakthroughs, and dedicating themselves to a future that is truly transformed by technology for the better. <\/p>\n There are 50 women highlighted in the book, too many to mention them all here, but parsing through its pages will introduce you to engineers, C-suite executives, marketers, academics, and more. It\u2019s a really special project that reminds us of how critical women are to all of the world\u2019s greatest achievements\u2014whether or not we get the credit. <\/p>\n You can order Opulis online here<\/a>. <\/p>\n Emma Hinchliffe The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune\u2019s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n ALSO IN THE HEADLINES<\/p>\n From PR to VC.\u00a0Lulu Cheng Meservey has transcended her own field of tech PR with the mantra to “go direct” among other advice. Now she’s raised $40 million for her own VC fund. She’ll still advise on communications and branding. Axios<\/a><\/p>\n White men might be hurt by the elimination of DEI in college admissions.\u00a0With women earning more college degrees, “gender-balancing” efforts at universities have often benefitted men. Brown, for example, got twice as many female applicants but admitted an equal share of men and women. Washington Post<\/a><\/p>\n Apple is losing two of its top women. General counsel Kate Adams and VP for environment, policy, and social initiatives Lisa Jackson are both retiring. Meta chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead will step in as Apple\u2019s GC.\u00a0CNBC<\/a><\/p>\n How Sephora plans to stay ahead.\u00a0Beauty is cutthroat, and Sephora has been designing next-gen stores. Sephora’s CMO says its recently-redesigned Champs-Elys\u00e9es store in Paris “gets more visits than the Eiffel Tower.”\u00a0WSJ<\/a><\/p>\n ON MY RADAR<\/p>\n How Olivia Dean ended up everywhere\u00a0Washington Post<\/a><\/p>\n Sarah Sherman is grosser than you think\u00a0New Yorker<\/a><\/p>\n ‘Weaponized incompetence\u2019 can harm relationships. Here\u2019s how to counter it\u00a0Washington Post<\/a><\/p>\n PARTING WORDS<\/p>\n “Performance is inherently vulnerable and therefore quite embarrassing and unmasculine. There\u2019s no bravado in suggesting that you\u2019re a mouthpiece for someone else\u2019s ideas.”<\/p>\n
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n