Irmelin Drake (44 år)er en av våre fremste spesialister på feltet kvinner og ledelse. Hun er siviløkonom fra USA og har hovedfag i administrasjon fra NHH, Bergen. Drake har vært sentral i en rekke forsknings- og utviklingsprosjekter omkring kvinner som går nye veier, og var blant annet med på å utvikle det prisbelønte programmet "Female Future" for NHO i 2002/2003. I perioden 2003-2005 ledet hun KS’ Forsknings- og utviklingsprosjekt ”Gjennomslag – kvinner i kommunal toppledelse”. Sammen med Lisa Cooper er hun en av gründerne bak prosjektet Top 10 som kårer og profilerer fremragende internasjonale kvinner og menn i norsk arbeidsliv (se http://www.thetop10.no/).

Hun har skrevet en rekke faglige rapporter og medforfattet flere fagbøker, bl.a. Kvinner og ledelse - gjennom glasstaket? sammen med Anne Grethe Solberg og Norske ledere i omskiftelige tider sammen med professorene Tom Colbjørnsen og Willy Haukedal. Nylig var hun med i ressursgruppen bak boken Gjennomslag – for kvinner i kommunal toppledelse, utgitt på Kommuneforlaget. Hun er en mye brukt foredragsholder og kursholder, blant annet i strategisk nettverksbygging.

Hun har også brukt filmmediet for å skape fokus omkring moderne kvinner, og var medansvarlig for produksjonen av en seks episoders TV-serie ”Sang til moderne kvinner” som ble vist flere ganger på NRK 1 og NRK 2 i 2002. I 2005 produserte hun filmen ”Fast Car(e)” med Unni Wilhelmsen og Zap Mama, med regi av John-John Bruseth.
Hun tilbrakte et halvt år på Zanzibar sammen med familien fra nov 2005-mai 2006. Nå er hun klar for nye oppdrag og eventyr, og vil fra høsten av engasjere seg for fullt i Female Living.

References – previous work

Drake

• has co-authored two Leadership books (of which one has been translated to Swedish); 1995 and 2001.
• was a monthly contributor of the column Life and Leadership in the Norwegian newspaper ”Management” from 2000-2006.
• has been a key note speaker at conferences like Women on their way in Oslo Concert House, May 5, 2000
• has held presentations at numerous conferences & seminars such as Different genders, different expectations? At the Life time career planning” workshop at FEBS Special Meeting in Brussels, 5. July 2003
• entrepreneured the project Top 10 (with Lisa Cooper) a program aimed at profiling international women and men who have succeeded in Norwegian worklife (2003-)
• functioned as professional advisor for Benja Stig Fagerland (director of equality) and was highly involved in developing Female Future – mobilizing talent an award winning initative from NHO (Norwegian) to get more women into boards and management positions 2002-2005.
• Functioned as project leader of the R & D initative; Breakthrough – women in top management in the municipals, 2002-2005.
• Served as one of three researchers involved in the first large scale survey of Norwegian managers on leadership issues AFF’s Leadership Survey – (1998-2001)
• Song for a modern woman – a 6 episode TV-series for NRK 2002; idea, research & pre-production, Featured in the episode; ”modern women” which has been translated and aired at CCTV1 in China (spring, 2005)
• Female Living AS – co-founder and partner of website http://www.femaleliving.com/inspiring ambitious women to take leadership on their own terms and get more out of less. With adventurer Liv Arnsesen and strategist Benja Stig Fagerland.
• PhD Scholar at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. Dissertation title; Leadership needs and preferences in a Norwegian context. Is the recipe of the ”effective manager” in the eyes of the beholder? Norwegian only. Estimated time of completion; fall 2006.

Current Projects we are (particularly) proud of

• Larvik HK - an engagement involving the production of a weekly tv-magazine, a CD and other activities related to profiling this women's handball team who are among the world's best teams
• Medienettverket - a project aimed at exploring what works and what's needed to reach the goal of getting more women into management positions in the media industry
• Top 10 – project profiling the top ten international women and men in Norwegian worklife
• Volvo – film project documenting the making of a concept car made by an all women team
• Fast Car(e) - a documentary about circumzition featuring musicians Unni Wilhelmsen of Norway an Zap Mama of Kongo/Belgium for Care Norway. The film is available for screenings and have previously been screened at several festivals around the world (e.g., it opened the Volda film festival in 2005)
• Female Living – project (see http://www.femaleliving.com/) aimed at empowering modern women to take leadership on their own terms and get more out of less
• Life and Leadership – book project summarizing Irmelin’s columns and articles on the issue of women and leadership the last five years
• Networking in practice – workshops developed together with Bjørn Frode Jacobsen in relation to the network "Justitias Døtre" of the Norwegian Laywer’s Association
• Song for a modern woman – 6 episode tv-series, made for NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Television), aired in China for CCTV1, translated to Latvian and used in training programs, etc.This series is currently being translated for release to an English speaking audience.
• Fanny Film Festival - a yearly event organized in Larvik, Norway in celebration of films about and for women