Aliza Sherman
"It's a man's world out there in cyberspace - but not if Aliza Sherman has anything to say about it. Her mission: empower women and girls through technology." -- The Wall Street Journal
Aliza Sherman is the Original Cybergrrl - an Internet thought leader, highly sought-after online marketing expert and passionate evangelist for the Internet, particularly as a valuable and useful tool for our personal and professional lives. She is a motivational and inspirational speaker who has spoken around the world about the Internet, entrepreneurship and women's empowerment.
Named by Newsweek as one of the "Top 50 People Who Matter Most on the Internet," Aliza Sherman is a Web pioneer, online marketing expert, published author, international speaker and regular contributor to national magazines and web sites.
Today, she speaks about all things Web 2.0, integrating social media development from content to community, and other Internet and business topics as well as women's issues.
Pioneering Work:
Sherman founded the first woman-owned, full-service Internet company - Cybergrrl, Inc. - in the early days of the World Wide Web,. She also founded Webgrrls International, the first women's Internet networking group that grew to over 100 chapters worldwide in its first year. She has been building online communities for women since the early 1990s. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her innovative work on the Internet including the prestigious Avon Spirit of Enterprise Award.
In 1995, she built the first 3 websites for women (Cybergrrl.com, Webgrrls.com, Femina.com), preceding both Women.com and iVillage.com, and is considered the pioneer who helped pave the way on the Web and in the New Media industry for women.
New Directions:
In 2005, Sherman moved from new media to "old media," producing, writing and narrating an original 12-part documentary series for Wyoming Public Television - "Wyoming Families First." She and her husband started a production company - Moonbow Productions, Inc. - to develop film projects, publish books and create art with a purpose. Her first independent film is about miscarriage.
She has produced radio segments for "Marketplace" heard on NPR as well as for Wyoming Public Radio and Alaska Public Radio Network.
She is a regular freelance contributor to ENTREPRENEUR, WOMENENTREPRENEUR.COM, HOME BUSINESS, PINK MAGAZINE, PROFESSIONAL WOMAN, MINORITY ENGINEER, and many others. Her 7th book - a business guide to the Internet for late adopters called "Streetwise Ecommerce" will be published by Adams Media November 2007. She is working on her 8th book - for entrepreneurial moms and moms-to-be.
She continues to work on a variety of multimedia projects including a book about her year-long solo travels across the country in an old RV and a handbook about miscarriage to help bring much needed information to women.
Consulting & Advising:
While with Cybergrrl, Inc., she was a highly regarded Internet strategy consultant for major corporations seeking to reach women online including Avon Products, Inc. and Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. for whom her company built the first web sites for the Jane Cosmetics and Origins brands. She also built the first breast cancer awareness resource online for Avon's Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade.
Her company pioneered one of the first custom shopping carts on the Web for another client - Dr. Atkins. She also consulted non-profit organizations including Girls, Inc., the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations, the Bone Marrow Foundation, and NYC Planned Parenthood on their Internet strategies.
In addition to serving on the Advisory Board for Wyndham's "Women on Their Way" program, the "Frank About Women" program and Oxygen/Markle Pulse, she has beenan advisor to several nonprofit organizations for girls including GenAustin and numerous websites and women-owned businesses such as HipGuide and College Broadband. She was part of the American Association of University Women's gender and technology task force and has served on the SBA Braintrust for women-owned businesses.
Extensive Press Coverage:
She has been profiled internationally as well as in U.S. publications such as PEOPLE, USA TODAY, WALL STREET JOURNAL, US NEWS and WORLD REPORT, TIME DIGITAL, and ELLE magazine. She has been featured on CBS News with Dan Rather, CBS "This Morning," Fox "Good Day New York," Lifetime TV's "New Attitudes," and has had frequent appearances as an Internet expert and book author on CNN, CNN-FN, MSNBC, and CNBC. Radio credits include NPR, CBS Radio, Newsweek Radio and numerous local radio talk shows and Internet radio shows.
In 1999, she appeared on the cover of USA TODAY as part of a technology summit and was the only woman and the only small business owner on the panel of today's technology leaders including Michael Dell of Dell Computers and the CEOs of Lucent Technologies, 3Com and Comcast.
Book Credits:
She is the author of:
The Everything Blogging Book (ADAMS MEDIA, 2006)
PowerTools for Women in Business: 10 Ways to Succeed in Life and Work (ENTREPRENEUR PRESS, 2001),
Cybergrrl @ Work: Tips and Inspiration for the Professional You (PENGUIN PUTNAM, 2001) and
Cybergrrl: A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web (BALLANTINE, 1998) among other books...