The tips her guests share are practical, often based on their own life experiences. For example, Bethenny Frankel, the reality TV star and founder of the Skinnygirl brand, emphasized the importance of being financially independent and always prepared for the unexpected.

“She went through a very public and difficult divorce, but because she knew what she owned, learned about investing, and kept working, she came through that experience quite well,” Dagher says.

Real estate mogul and Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran told listeners to buy only those investments they fully understand. With many complex products out there, it’s important for women to be clear about where they are putting their money. Another guest, comedian Sandra Bernhard, spoke about the importance of living beneath your means and saving.

“She’s been able to do well financially despite the ups and downs that often come with a career in entertainment,” Dagher says. “She never felt the need to keep up with the Joneses or what’s often the very ‘spendy’ Hollywood/NYC celebrity lifestyle.”

A Holistic View of Wealth

Dagher says the idea for the podcast came to her at a time when more and more women are seeking guidance on how to manage their money.

“There’s an estimated $33 trillion wealth transfer happening in America, and women stand to control a large portion of those assets,” she explains. “Women are inheriting, earning more, and many are generating wealth from their own businesses. They are understanding that they need to take greater ownership of their money and careers.” They generally live longer than their husbands and often assume more control over their finances after a divorce. What’s more, women view wealth differently than men, seeing it more holistically—related to their career, family, and health—and as a way to achieve specific goals, like putting a child through college.

Though most of Dagher’s guests focus on earning and investing, some share stories of personal challenges and triumphs. Bonnie St. John, for example, urged listeners to keep pushing forward when facing life’s difficult obstacles. She spoke from experience: She won silver and bronze medals in the 1984 Winter Paralympics for ski racing despite the fact that her leg was amputated when she was a child.

Meditation expert and author Sharon Salzberg suggested that women take a deeper look at what wealth and happiness really mean. “She led us through a meditation to figure out what we are really striving for,” Dagher says. “She also gave tips on how to come to greater peace with our current financial situations.”

The Alumni Network

Dagher says she was honored to host fellow Fordham alumnae Mary Higgins Clark, FCLC ’79, and Liz Ann Sonders, GABELLI ’90, on the podcast, calling them two of the most “down-to-earth women” she’s interviewed. “Mary is 90 and still writing page-turners, and Liz Ann travels extensively to teach people how to be smart investors. The fact that both still have such a strong work ethic inspires me.”

Although she always wanted to be a writer, a career in journalism wasn’t what Dagher envisioned when she started out at Fordham. Instead, she pursued business, inspired by her late father, William T. Dagher LAW ’54, and grandfather who both had their own businesses, and she also earned an M.B.A. at Fordham.

As an undergraduate, Dagher contributed to The Fordham Ram and later freelanced for Ms. Magazine and Newsday while holding down 9-to-5 jobs. But after taking a career class at her church, she decided to follow her heart and transition from business to writing full time. She landed a position as a reporting assistant at The Wall Street Journal after networking with alumnus Scott Stearns, GABELLI ’02, who was an editor there.

Dagher, a Long Island native, credits her alma mater not only for connecting her with great mentors and lifelong friends but also for meeting her husband. She and Patrick Mormino met at the wedding of mutual friends Deanna Rytell, FCRH ’00, and Bryan Connelly, FCRH ’11, and married five years ago.

An Advocate for Women

In her spare time, Dagher enjoys traveling—some favorite destinations include Iceland, Haiti, Israel, and Turkey—and often her travels are service trips organized by churches, such as a trip to Tanzania, where she volunteered with AIDS orphans. Service is important to Dagher, who also volunteers with LifeWay Network, a Queens-based organization that provides safe houses for survivors of sex trafficking. She became interested in the issue after seeing a documentary on it.

“Human trafficking is a several billion-dollar global business, the second fastest-growing criminal enterprise after drugs,” she says. “There are brothels full of trafficking victims right in midtown and in private residences in Brooklyn. I was appalled and felt I needed to do something.” Dagher speaks to various groups to raise awareness about the crisis, and also does special projects, such as visiting New York City hotels, which are hot spots for trafficking, to educate staff members about warning signs and how they can help.

In addition to hosting the podcast, Dagher is a wealth management columnist at wsj.com and frequently appears on Fox Business, Fox News Channel, and nationally syndicated radio to speak about personal finance. In October, she was a panelist a Fordham’s second annual Women’s Philanthropy Summit.

She says there’s a personal connection to the work she does related to women and wealth. Her mother, Monica Dagher, faced a life-changing experience when she was widowed at a very young age.

“She wasn’t financially savvy when it happened and she had to learn at the worst possible time,” Dagher says. “To her credit, she learned about managing investments and made sure I learned, too.”

What secret to success does Dagher wish to share with other women?

“Follow your dreams sooner than later,” she says. “I’ve found that you have a better chance of success if you follow your passions.”

—Claire Curry

The all-day summit drew about 250 alumnae, students, faculty, and friends to Fordham Law School for a series of keynote speeches, forums, pep talks, networking breaks, and even a five-minute yoga session. But more than that, it was a chance for them to gather in the same room and discuss something they all had in common: how much Fordham meant to them.

The Power of Philanthropy

One of the first speakers was Gabelli School junior Arnell Stewart, who explained how alumnae donations directly impacted her life.

When Stewart’s older brother died suddenly last year, the family faced financial hardship. But with the help of two women—Stewart’s CSTEP counselor Tiffany House and Christina Seix Dow, TMC ’72, who established the Fordham scholarship Stewart received—she knew she could continue to attend college.

“This was the first good thing to happen to my family since the tragedy,” Stewart said, fighting back tears.

“Because of this blessing and Ms. Seix Dow’s generosity, I can stand here before you today as a member of the Fordham community, but also as one of the strong leading ladies here in this room today.”

How Do You Begin?

Many of the day’s speakers acknowledged that for women, pride in one’s wealth and success—and the power they bring—has not always come naturally.

“Some women feel uncomfortable with the idea of wealth. For men, for generations, it’s been culturally and socially acceptable—generally speaking—to be okay with that idea of, ‘I’m wealthy. I’m rich,’” said Veronica Dagher, GABELLI ’00, ’05, a senior wealth management reporter at The Wall Street Journal and a panelist at the summit. “For women though, in general, that’s been frowned upon.”

So for many, thinking about philanthropy has not been top of mind. But guests gained some insight on how to take their first steps toward giving from the day’s first keynote speaker, Harriet Edelman, GABELLI ’80, Vice Chair of Emigrant Bank—the largest privately held, family-owned-and-run community bank in the nation. Her advice: first pinpoint what you’re passionate about, consider how you want to donate—alone versus with “like-minded souls,” establish a budget, learn how to say no, and research possible organizations through sources like Charity Navigator.

And while she acknowledged that differences between men and women may be part of the day’s discussions, it wasn’t a critical point of focus for her.

“What matters,” Edelman said, “is why you give—why one gives; and, based on the fact that you are here, it means we have a common desire to be intentional and responsible, and share a common interest in the success and sustainability of Fordham.”

Kirsten N. Swinth, Ph.D., associate professor of history and American studies at Fordham, spoke about societal challenges for women in her keynote, “Women Organizing for Change: Feminism’s Forgotten Fight for Work and Family.”

“We are one of two nations in the entire world that does not have [mandatory] paid maternity leave,” Swinth. “Our companion in that status is Papua New Guinea.”

Swinth said that women can take action by joining or creating groups like giving circles, building workplace networks and unions, getting more involved with the government, protesting when necessary, and, perhaps most difficult of all, prioritizing the “collective restructuring of society.”

At the keynote panel session Women’s Giving: How Women Accumulate and Distribute Wealth, panelists discussed how women are achieving parity in the United States.

“Right now, in the United States, 39 percent of the top wealth holders are women. Forty percent of U.S. households have a female breadwinner. And 45 percent of the millionaires in the United States are women,” said the panel’s moderator, Elizabeth S. Zeigler, GSE ’00, CEO of Graham-Pelton Consulting.

And at Fordham, thousands of women possess potential financial power—perhaps more than we think.

“More than half of Fordham’s living alumni are women,” said Martha K. Hirst, Fordham’s senior vice president, CFO, and treasurer. “Which means together with the women among the University’s friends, faculty, administrators, staff, and other supporters, our collective impact potential on the University we love is boundless.”

Having It All: A Career, Love, Family, and Happiness

One of the day’s most popular panels was Work/Life Balance at Every Stage of Your Life, a forum where women traded stories about how they balance their careers with everything else: motherhood, romance, and “me time.” They acknowledged that women often feel that others have a better handle on the balancing act than they do.

“We live in a day and age where you can constantly be bombarded with the ‘perfect’ [on social media] and somebody else who appears to be doing it better than you’re doing it. You have some sort of imposter syndrome. And why is that? You’re doing so well. You’ve achieved so much so early in your career. Why would you think that that’s not success?” said Beth Savino, GABELLI ’03, a partner in asset management practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Marianne Cooper, FCRH ’77, a managing director at IBM who is a breast cancer survivor and the mother of a child with special needs, noted that priorities shift with age. And, she said, it’s important to take stock of what you will leave behind.

“What do you want to get out of your life?” asked Cooper. “When you go on, hopefully, up to heaven, how do you want to be remembered by your family, friends, and colleagues?”

Finding Meaning in Giving

Alumnae held a candid conversation about the spirituality behind giving at Keeping the Faith: Engaging the Next Generation in Conversations of Spirituality and Service, a panel moderated by Christine Firer Hinze, professor of Christian ethics and director of the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies at Fordham. 

“Beyond the huge terrible things that are going on in the world today, there are day-to-day tragedies and heartbreaks. You can feel overwhelmed, like nothing you can do makes a difference,” said Anne Conroy, FCRH ’79, director of development and communications at the Center for Family Representation. “By being involved—whether it’s a faith community, a social justice opportunity, whether it’s giving to nonprofits or volunteering—my experience has been doing those things makes me feel less alone; it gives me a sense of hope and optimism. And as a Christian, I feel more connected to God.”

The day’s closing keynote speaker, Anne L. Williams-Isom, FCLC ’86, CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, talked about meaningful opportunities that giving can provide. She urged all the women in the room to consider how they could help others achieve the American dream. Williams-Isom, the daughter of a single mother from Trinidad and Tobago, acknowledged that it’s difficult—but not impossible.

“I know you guys don’t want to hear about ‘stretching beyond your reach’ because everybody feels like they’re pulled to their limit,” said Williams-Isom, who serves on the University’s President’s Council and works to end generational poverty in Harlem by providing high-quality education and social services to children and families. “I’m here to tell you that you haven’t even begun to touch all the potential that is inside of you.”

Honoring the Past, Looking Toward the Future

The summit honored a group of women who have supported Fordham students in various ways. Receiving the Pioneering Woman in Philanthropy Award were Mary Higgins Clark, FCLC ’79; Rosemary Santana Cooney; Eugenie F. Doyle, M.D., MC ’43; Christine Driessen, GABELLI ’77; Brenda L. Gill, LAW ’95; Alice Lehman Murphy; Frances K. Reid; Margaret Mary (Peggy) Smyth, FCRH ’85; and Valerie Torres, FCRH ’83, GRE ’01, ’08.

Doyle, a retired professor of pediatrics and director of the division of pediatric cardiology at the New York University Medical Center, was a pioneering practitioner of using open-heart surgery to save babies with a rare disorder: “blue baby syndrome.” She and her late husband, Joseph, established two scholarships that benefit pre-health students at Fordham.

“You have quite literally changed the world, one baby and one student at a time,” Justine Franklin, senior director of development at Fordham, said to Doyle. “And have shown all of us how working for the common good is truly life-giving.”

The second summit also recognized Fordham’s six new giving circles—groups of individuals who donate money to a pooled fund and collectively decide how the money should be spent—that were established at last year’s summit. In just a year, the circles have raised more than $400,000 in Fordham scholarship funds.

“Joining a giving circle is a great first step in the start of your charitable giving journey,” said Susan Conley Salice, FCRH ’82, a University trustee and co-chair of Fordham’s Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid. “By raising money as part of a fundraising group, your giving impact is that much more powerful and allows for you to connect with others who share your unique passion for helping Fordham educate more deserving students.”

Last year’s inaugural Women’s Philanthropy Summit raised almost half a million dollars. Donations for this year’s summit are just starting to come in. But perhaps more important than dollar amounts is the question of how to educate the next generation of philanthropists, said one alumna.

“How are we ensuring that the next generation of leaders are being cultivated with a love of community, a heart for justice, and a heart for servant leadership and love of neighbor?” asked Laura Risimini, FCLC ’10, GSAS ’13, foundation manager of the Sister Fund. “And what are we doing to make sure that the next generation—which is going to be taking the reins of leadership soon in the next couple of decades—is prepared?

“Our future literally depends on it.”

Complete bios of all speakers, panelists, and honorees can be found here.

In fact, in her role as chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, clarifying seemingly impenetrable financial topics for the average person is a big part of her day.

“Too often with people who are pundits, it seems that their number one goal is to sound like the smartest girl or guy in the room, and more often than not they’re going to turn people off,” she says.

At Schwab, Sonders keeps a lot of plates spinning, providing market and economic analysis as well as spearheading investor education initiatives. She often shares her views as an expert guest on a range of television programs on CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg TV and Radio, and CNN, to name a few.

“We’re all time constrained, and there is an appreciation for [experts] to get to the point and to take complex [financial] topics and explain them in a way that’s easier to understand,” she says.

She maintains that investing is about more than just facts and figures, a widely held false impression that turns many people off before they even get started.

“I don’t use math to any significant degree in anything that I do on a day-to-day basis,” she says, emphasizing that strategy and analysis often are more at play. “There is this misperception [that this business] is all about stats and accounting.”

A Process, Not a Gamble

When it comes to investing, the 1990 Gabelli School of Business MBA graduate wants people to know that following the hot tip of the moment (or the trending topic on Twitter) is hardly wise.

In fact, there’s one question she’s asked often that she hates: Should investors “get in” or “get out” of the market right now?

“I have a love-hate relationship with that question,” she says. “I hate it because it’s a ridiculous question, but I love it because it gives me an opportunity to pontificate on why it’s a ridiculous question.

“Neither get in nor get out is an investing strategy,” she says. “That’s simply gambling on a moment in time. Investing should never be about a moment in time, it should always be about a process over time.”

And one-size-fits-all advice just doesn’t cut it in her view.

“I hate the cookie-cutter approach,” says Sonders, who adds that a 24-year-old with an appetite for risk warrants a far different investing strategy than a 70-year-old retiree.

Moving Beyond Gordon Gekko

In addition to slicing through what she calls a cacophony of financial advice due to social media and a 24-hour news cycle, Sonders is also adamant about clearing up some misperceptions about Wall Street—and the role that women can play there.

“One of the biggest shames of the aftermath of the financial crisis is how big of a black eye the industry has gotten,” Sonders says.

Wall Street and the broader financial services space are not brimming with Gordon Gekko-type clones, she says, referring to the fictional corporate raider who argued that “greed … is good.” She says that such a view discounts what a positive impact the industry has on so many individuals’ lives, and it overlooks opportunities that exist there for those who don’t fit that stereotype. “[Some people] may not understand what the broader industry does for investors, and for companies and our economy,” she says.

And that brings her to another myth about financial services: that it’s solely a boys’ club.

Women in Finance—a Bull Market

Sonders posits that the boys’-club culture likely dates back to a time when the typical path to Wall Street was through training programs set up by wire houses, which eventually funneled young professionals onto trading floors.

“There’s no question that’s kind of the classic boys’ network,” she says. “That sense of [women] feeling out of place [in the industry] might have been greater in that era. That’s not the path I took. I had a very different set of experiences.”

In addition to working with many women at the start of her career—she began at the Zweig/Avatar Group before moving in 1999 to U.S. Trust, which was acquired by Schwab a year later—she says the firms she worked for believed in promoting from within and rewarding workers based on their merit, not their gender.

“My only two jobs have been at firms that have been blind to gender,” she says.

Today, she emphasizes that there are so many “different and unique opportunities [for women] to start out in the business,” with the wealth management and private client spaces being particularly ripe for opportunity.

“We crossed the chasm where more than half the wealth in the U.S. is controlled by women,” she says. “It’s an awesome time for women,” she adds.

Looking back at her career, Sonders has no regrets.

“I have kind of a creed or motto that I think about in my life,” she says. “When I’m asked, what would you change? In general, my response is I wouldn’t change a thing. … The slightest little change would have put [me] on a completely different path.”

—Kelsey Butler, FCLC ’10

For more of Liz Ann Sonders’ thoughts on her career and opportunities for women on Wall Street, listen to her November 2017 conversation with fellow Fordham alumna Veronica Dagher, GABELLI ’00, ’05, host of The Wall Street Journal’s podcast Secrets of Wealthy Women.