Tampa's most powerful female CEOs share advice | News

Tampa, Florida - Nearly 75 percent of Florida's top 100 public companies have no female leaders in their executive suites, according to WEL's 2010 Florida Census. But on Monday, some of the most powerful women in the Tampa Bay area came together in hopes of changing that.

130 people gathered at the Renaissance Hotel in Tampa at 4200 Jim Walter Boulevard. Among the crowd was Florida's former candidate for Governor, Alex Sink.

She says, "These types of events are important, because they're inspirational. We're hearing from three tremendous women... CEOs of big companies in our area."

The crowd listened to a panel discussion and asked questions of the three Chief Executive Officers. Mindy Grossman is the CEO for HSN, Incorporated. Liz Smith is the CEO for OSI Restaurant Partners and Eileen Auen is the Chairman and CEO of PMSI, Incorporated.

The event was put together by Women Executive Leadership, WEL, which is a non-profit organization whose primary purpose is to increase the number of women serving on corporate boards.

Katherine Young is the Vice President of WEL for the Tampa area. She is also the Managing Partner for Young Search Partners. Young says, "They're talking about what challenges they face as a woman, as a mother, as a spouse partner in their roles as CEOs - what's made them particularly successful - what have been pivotal moments for them in their careers and how they define leadership."

Young adds, "The mission of WEL is to advocate, educate and connect women and once again the mission of encouraging the promotion of women to public board seats as well as to leadership roles and to connect them with each other from a networking perspective, an educational perspective around women leadership issues and an opportunity to network them to potential opportunities to join corporate boards."

Click here to learn more about WEL.

10 News Weekend Anchor Tammie Fields was deeply honored to be able to serve as the moderator of the panel discussion.