Postcards

On the road in South Africa

by Patricia Sellers

I constantly remind myself how lucky I am, as an editor at large at Fortune, to meet amazing people pretty much every day.

Yesterday I arrived in South Africa. It's my first visit here, and it's beautiful. Later this week, I'll be in Cape Town with Bill Clinton, Katie Couric , Charlie Rose, former Viacom (VIAB), CEO Tom Freston, former Coca-Cola (KO) CEO Neville Isdell and such stars of MORE

Fortune MPWomen in NYC: a photo gallery

by Patricia Sellers

Fortune convened more than 100 U.S.-based women leaders plus 33 rising-star women from the developing world for last week's "Most Powerful Women Evening With..." in New York City. Some of the best photos from the dinner gathering come from one of our guests: Kathi Lutton, who heads global litigation for the law firm Fish and Richardson.

Lutton, who lives in Silicon Valley, is a powerhouse in multiple ways. MORE

Most Powerful Women convene tonight

Today is a big day for Most Powerful Women, as we at Fortune call women leaders. Today I had lunch at Google's (GOOG) New York offices with 33 rising-star women from around the world who are completing their month-long Fortune-U.S. State Department Mentoring program.

And tonight, these mentees--who have been shadowing top female execs at U.S.-based companies like American Express (AXP), Goldman Sachs (GS), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Time Warner (TWX)--will MORE

Career counseling goes global in Silicon Valley

Guest Post by Katherine Kelly Lutton, Principal and Global Head of Litigation, Fish & Richardson PC

At last week's Fortune Most Powerful Women dinner in Washington, I found myself sandwiched between CNN National Political Correspondent Jessica Yellin and Jane Roberts, former litigator and law firm leader and wife of Chief Justice John Roberts. Jessica and Jane, meanwhile, were sitting between two mentees from Haiti—two courageous women among 33 who are part of MORE

Powerful Women hit Washington

I'm just back from a whirlwind week in Washington, D.C., where we held Fortune's Most Powerful Women Evening With... dinner on Wednesday.

The State Department's historic Benjamin Franklin room was done up in majestic purple for 155 guests including FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, SEC Chair Mary Schapiro, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Dianne Feinstein, and top women from Goldman Sachs (GS), Thomson Reuters (TRI), Exxon-Mobil (XOM), Fidelity Investments, Deutsche Bank (DB) MORE

Career advice on the move, globally

by Patricia Sellers

Gerry Laybourne likes to stake out new ground.

As a cable-TV pioneer in the '80s, she built Nickelodeon for Viacom (VIAB).

Later, she founded Oxygen Media to fill a female void in media.

In the past two years since she sold Oxygen to NBC Universal (GE) for nearly $1 billion, Laybourne has been advising a few small businesses and serving on boards--Symantec (SYMC), Electronic Arts (ERTS), and, pending her nomination,  MORE

Ex-White House Press Secretary: Straight talk on careers

by Jessica Shambora

Dana Perino is only 37 years old and already has the title "White House Press Secretary" on her resume.

But at age 25, after working on Capitol Hill for two and a half years, she was saying to herself, "I thought I'd be further along than this."

All around her, it seemed, men were leap-frogging into higher positions. She wasn't sure which path would help her advance her own career.

That MORE

Career advice in a minute--or 10

by Patricia Sellers

What good is having power unless you give it away?

The quickest and easiest way of dispensing power--and career advice--might be what I saw one night last week in Washington, D.C. It's called Minute Mentoring. It's speed dating applied to mentoring.

This pairing of role models and wannabes was beautifully orchestrated chaos. Last Thursday evening, 15 high-powered D.C. women parked themselves inside 15 offices at law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, MORE

Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein gives global women leaders award

Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein was one of the few men in attendance Monday night for the opening of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. He had a special role to play: Presenting $25,000 to each of the two recipients of this year's Goldman Sachs-Fortune Global Women Leaders Award.

The award recognizes women from developing countries for making a difference in their own communities, using the skills, knowledge and experience MORE

Guest Post: The value of volunteerism

Train your People and Do Good
by Barry Salzburg, CEO, Deloitte
Recently, I was sitting with several dozen inner-city teens, talking with them about college and careers. It was a free-wheeling conversation. I was peppered with questions—including, "How can I get your job?"
I left absolutely convinced that as a result of that session, at least one kid who otherwise would have missed going to college will, in fact, be going. Let me MORE