Silicon Valley vet to head women’s advocacy group Catalyst

NEW YORK (AP) — A former Silicon Valley CEO will lead one of the oldest organizations dedicated to promoting women in the workplace.

Lorraine Hariton becomes CEO at
Catalyst
in an era when the #MeToo movement has ensnared major corporations and, with exit of PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi serving as a reminder, the top jobs at the nation’s largest companies remain elusive for women.

She says the “timing is fantastic.” She said #MeToo has created a level of awareness of gender equality that she’s not seen since she began her business career at IBM in the 1970s.

Hariton has been the CEO at two tech startups, Beatnik and Apptera. She served in the State Department under President Barack Obama and most recently was a senior vice president at the New York Academy of Sciences.