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SPEAKING FEE RANGE ** Please note that while this speaker’s specific speaking fee falls within the range posted above (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change. For current fee information or international event fees (which are generally 50-75% more than U.S based event fees), please contact us. $15,000 to $20,000 |
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BOOK CONNIE DUCKWORTH speakers@coreagency.com |
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SPEAKING FEE RANGE* $15,000 to $20,000 |
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Book Connie Duckworth speakers@coreagency.com |
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- Founder, chairwoman, and CEO of ARZU, Inc., a nonprofit changing the lives of Afghan women through employment, education, and access to healthcare.
- Pioneering businesswoman and retired partner and managing director of Goldman, Sachs, and Co.
- Author of The Old Girls Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man’s World.
- Skoll Foundation honoree for her accomplishments as a social entrepreneur.
Connie Duckworth is the founder, chairwoman, and CEO of ARZU, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that seeks to transform the lives of Afghan women by providing ethical, artisan-based employment, education, and access to healthcare. “Arzu” means “hope,” and hope is what Duckworth and her organization aim to provide for the women who find employment, and communities that achieve sustainable alleviation of poverty, through partnership with ARZU. Women earn fair wages for their labor producing rugs and “Peace Cord” bracelets. ARZU also provides innovative social benefit programs that deliver grassroots access to healthcare, education, clean water, and sustainable community development.
Duckworth’s path to ARZU started in a more conventional business realm; she is a retired partner and managing director of Goldman, Sachs, & Co., where she was the firm’s first female sales and trading partner. Eager to share her experiences and the lessons she learned with other women, she co-authored The Old Girls Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man’s World (2003). She is a trustee of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and a director on the boards of both Russell Investment Group and Steelcase Inc.
Duckworth serves on the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, a public/private partnership that is aligned with the U.S. State Department. She also serves on the boards of the Wharton School, the Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago, and NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Illinois, where she continued her pioneering reputation by becoming the first woman to be named chair of the board. In 2012 Duckworth received the UNICEF Chicago Humanitarian Award, and the Chicago International Women Associates honored her as Woman Extraordinaire in 2012. A graduate of the Wharton School of Business and the University of Texas, she was awarded the Wharton School Dean’s Medal in 2011. In 2008, the Skoll Foundation honored Duckworth for her accomplishments as a social entrepreneur.
Connie Duckworth offers remarkable business insight with a deeper moral purpose. Not content to confine her business acumen to the for-profit world, she has expanded her mission to generate opportunities for economic growth and advancement in Afghanistan – and a model for others to follow elsewhere in the world. Duckworth’s seasoned observations and clear-eyed exposition of the opportunities and obstacles inherent to social entrepreneurship make her a compelling and inspiring speaker.
The developing world has long struggled against what Duckworth refers to as the “global trifecta”: extreme poverty, illiteracy, and maternal death. Over the years, ARZU has become a “learning laboratory,” testing innovative responses to these enduring problems and developing holistic tools for delivering the basic services we so often take for granted. Duckworth’s advice is borne of real-world experience geared toward both solving problems and creating sustainable local growth networks.
Duckworth’s pioneering experience as the first female sales and trading partner at Goldman, Sachs, & Co. instilled important life lessons she seeks to share with her audiences. She recognizes the importance of female mentors and networks, and is proud to serve in this capacity for others.
Suggested Keynote Speeches & Programs:
- Betting Against the Global Trifecta
- Social Entrepreneurship
The Old Girls' Network: Insider Advice For Women Building Businesses In A Man's World
Why is it that 95 percent of all investor financing for new businesses goes to men? Women certainly don't lack viable business ideas or the leadership skills to make them soar, but-as the authors, four highly successful entrepreneurs and investors, explain-female creativity and heartfelt commitment alone don't inspire seed-money decision makers. To persuade these mostly-male panels, a woman needs to present her idea in ways that are proven to "speak to" men. Alas, there is as yet a lack of mentors for would-be female entrepreneurs, no "old girls'" network in place to teach them these skills.Stopping this gap with wit and hard-won wisdom, The Old Girls' Network divulges the secrets to start-up and funding success and connects women to the resources they'll need along the way. Written with you-can-do-it attitude, The Old Girls' Network includes inspirational and instructive women-in-business stories, self-assessment quizzes, and recommended strategies for every stage of the entrepreneurial process. A veritable start-up Bible, The Old Girls' Network comes complete with a "tool kit" of sample forms, documents, letters, and templates for necessary agreements, ensuring that the next generation of female entrepreneurs will be admitted to the proverbial locker room of business success.
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