by James Edward Mills

Nancy Chen began her remarks to more than 140 female executives Thursday with information that was news to no one. “I am here to confirm what we have been talking about all day,” she said. “There is a glass ceiling and we need to take steps to get beyond it.”

Chen is the regional administrator of the Women’s Bureau, an agency designated by Congress to address the needs of working women through the U.S. Department of Labor. As one of several speakers at the second annual Women’s Executive Leadership Summit at the Fluno Center on the UW- Madison campus, Chen provided statistical and historical information on the state of working women in America. The people at the conference represented companies and institutions from across the state.