 Advancing
Women’s Health Research — Phyllis Greenberger, MSW
By Lynn K. Jones, DSW
Social Work Today
Vol. 6 No. 5 P. 34
Talent, persistence, and passion combine
to make this dynamic social worker a leader in a growing healthcare
specialty.
Phyllis Greenberger, MSW, sounds amused that
she has been named one of “The 100 Most Powerful Women”
by Washingtonian magazine. “Imagine!” she says,
chuckling at the notion that she shares the honor with Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
quickly demurring, “I am in a different category, though,”
as if that diminishes the distinction. The list is a who’s
who of women with power and influence in Washington, DC.
Greenberger is the first president and CEO of
the Society for Women’s Health Research, the nation’s
only nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of
women’s health through research, education, and advocacy.
Since its founding in 1990, the organization has revolutionized
medical research about women. Major policy shifts and treatment
innovations have resulted. (See sidebar for more information
about the Society for Women’s Health Research.)
Early Social Work Career
The 62-year-old grandmother has been a social worker for nearly
30 years. As a young mother, she decided to go to social work
school at Catholic University for her MSW. Going back to school
with three children under the age of 5—she had her three
children in 31/2 years—epitomizes how Greenberger does
things. Like the person who doesn’t hesitate before jumping
into a cold pool, Greenberger doesn’t seem to think twice
about what she is getting into; she is invigorated by being
fully engaged, even if she is in a little over her head.
She was drawn to social work by her interest
in mental health issues and she thought a clinical practice
would give her the flexibility to raise her children the way
she wanted. But her plan to be a clinician didn’t last
past one of her first internships with the American Psychiatric
Association (APA). She began championing social justice issues
and developed her passion for policy work. “When I was
at the APA, I didn’t feel that they were interested in
women’s issues, such as parental leave, reproductive issues,
and the Equal Rights Amendment, which was big in the early ’80s.
I believed that they should be interested because these issues
affected women psychologically and emotionally and what affected
them emotionally affected their mental health; I thought that
the APA should be involved in that. They didn’t disagree.
They said, ‘OK. Fine. You do it.’” By this
time, Greenberger had gone from being an intern to an employee
and so she set out to accomplish that goal.
Her work with the APA evolved into her being
in charge of the APA’s political action committee as associate
director of government relations. “I became very interested
in politics. I took it upon myself to find a lot of women who
were running for Congress. At that time, there were very few
women in Congress and it was not easy to do. I had a lot of
push back because the prevailing wisdom of the time was that
women didn’t win. Of course, they didn’t win because
they weren’t given money. It was a vicious cycle.”
Her strong belief that women are not considered in important
issues, along with her tenacious will to make those issues heard,
has become her motivation.
Greenberger acknowledges that her work in political
action probably was inspired by being so close to Capitol Hill.
She also benefited from a family of journalists. Her husband,
Robert S. Greenberger, just retired from a career as a journalist
for The Wall Street Journal. Greenberger has been able to leverage
her husband’s close contacts in the media—both print
and TV—for her causes. And until recently, the oldest
of her three sons and his wife were journalists for The Boston
Globe. They have relocated to Washington, which thrills Greenberger,
who relishes the contact with her grandchildren.
Love Affair With
the Society
Greenberger refers to the Society for Women’s Health Research
as “the Society.” Just the way a lover shortens
a name as a term of endearment, it is an indication of the love
affair she has with the work. Her board chair, Nanette Wenger,
MD, speaks about the passion Greenberger has for women’s
health issues and her organization, and how that has become
part of her identity: “Now, the society is part of who
Phyllis is today. She has been so inextricably intertwined with
it.”
Passion, not planning, charts the course for
Greenberger in her life and work. “Sometimes it is better
not to have an exact plan, I think. Let life, if you are lucky,
take you where you want to go—take you some place where
you are pleased that you have ended up.” Reflecting on
the role she stepped into as the first CEO for the society,
she says, “I knew that I wanted to do something like this
and I was very excited when the possibility presented itself.
It’s not something that you plan in advance. A lot of
times you have to seize an opportunity; you don’t know
if it’s going to work, but when it does, it is very gratifying.
I look back at some of the things that I did and some of the
chances that I took and I’m surprised. And what can I
say? I guess I am proud of myself for what I did.”
Starting the society as the first CEO was a
monumental task. As she describes it: “We had no money;
we had no office; I had no staff. We just had an idea.”
The story of how she turned an idea into a stunning success
story defies business wisdom. “I fought having a strategic
plan. Everyone was nervous that I was taking on too much and
trying to work with too many different organizations or people
trying to get things started. I didn’t think that I had
the luxury of picking and choosing because I didn’t know
what would really work. Without pursuing a lot of different
things at the same time, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity.
Some things just happen and you have to take advantage of them
and take risks.” My feeling was that I should throw a
lot of balls in the air and hope that some of them would land.
The balls did land. Because of the society’s
work concerning sex differences in medical research, women are
now included. That has led the way for minorities, pediatrics,
and geriatrics to also be included. “Until we fought for
this, it was one size fits all—you had a drug and you
tested it on white, healthy young men—and that was it.”
Thanks to the work of the society, there is recognition that
it is not enough. As Greenberger points out, barely a day goes
by when the outcome of this paradigm shift is not felt, when
research is released announcing, for example, as happened recently,
that there is a sex difference in the kind of lung cancer women
can develop and the treatments they should receive for it. The
same is true for cardiovascular disease and depression. And
the list goes on.
Chalice Power
in Action
Greenberger is a model of what Riane Eisler has described as
“chalice power.” Eisler, author of The Power of
Partnerships and The Chalice and the Blade, discusses the need
for power to be redefined from a model based on domination to
one of partnership. Eisler believes partnership relies heavily
on collaboration and draws on the idea that all relationships
should be nurturing and caring, attributes that come more naturally
to women, but as Eisler is quick to point out, are not exclusive
to women.
Greenberger, of course, doesn’t refer
to her style as chalice power, but listening to Wenger tell
how Greenberger pulls off the society’s annual gala is
a description of chalice power at its best. Wenger likens what
Greenberger does to an orchestra leader. She is able to enlist
a wide range of stakeholders, including members of Congress,
business leaders, community leaders, scientists, and people
from the arts and the media to all become engaged in the society’s
vision. Everyone in the room has a role, according to Wenger.
Everyone has a contribution to make, and each person is able
to step up in a way that calls on the best they have to give.
“That is the secret, I think, of the success
of the organization,” Wenger says. “Phyllis instantly
convinces people about the importance of their contribution,
no matter what the contribution is. She has a skilled way of
making people realize that what they contributed—whether
it is money, advice, time, advocacy, or skill—is a contribution
to women’s health.”
Perhaps the most telling outcome of Greenberger’s
chalice power is that in the politically charged atmosphere
of Washington, she does not seem to have created any enemies
along the way. After she was named one of the “100 Most
Powerful Women,” the high regard others felt for her became
apparent. She received cards that said: “We have always
enjoyed working with you.” “We always knew it!”
“You are finally being recognized.”
Greenberger confesses, “I think I was
actually really good in not creating enemies. If we didn’t
work and play well with others, we wouldn’t be successful.”
Greenberger gives examples of friendship-building
activities in which she has engaged: helping scores of organizations
set up committees on women or focus on women’s health
issues; including other organizations when the society holds
briefings or events; inclusiveness with the experts from the
institutes, actively seeking their advice and giving them recognition;
and participating on other organizations’ boards.
Inspired Future
The challenge and fun for Greenberger is always doing new, creative,
and innovative projects. She reels off a daunting list of projects
the society is launching. The society’s work is spreading
around the world and a new international society is in the incubator.
They are raising money for a database that matches qualified
women scientists and engineers with major awards “because
we feel that women scientists have not been given the recognition
that they deserve,” to elevate the status of women scientists.
They hope to fund research regarding sex differences in musculoskeletal
issues.
Greenberger is everything the social work profession
could ask for as a representative on the “100 Most Powerful
Women” list. As social workers, we believe effective leaders
cultivate relationships, live by their values, share information
widely, and welcome participation in decision making. Most importantly,
we believe a leader has responsibility toward the greater good.
Greenberger does all that and more. Best of all, she has fun
doing it on the power field in Washington, DC.
— Lynn K. Jones, DSW, is a freelance
writer and an executive coach and organizational consultant
in Santa Barbara, CA. As a specialist in organizational culture,
she supports leaders and organizations in developing mission-driven
cultures.
Women’s Health Resources
• Her Healthy Life: A public education campaign to let
women know about steps they can take to improve their health.
By eating right, exercising, and not smoking, you can reduce
your risk for many diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease,
and lung cancer. You can begin these health improvement steps
on your own. Available at www.HerHealthyLife.org
• HerCancer.com: Provides valuable information
about important differences between women and men in lung cancer
and tobacco addiction, as well as what women should know about
medical research. Available at www.HerCancer.com
• Life ABC: Designed to raise awareness
of the risk of recurrence for women with early breast cancer
and encourage an ongoing dialogue about this risk between these
women and their healthcare professionals. Available at www.lifeabc.org
• Society of Women’s Health Research
(SWHR), www.womenshealthresearch.org
• Some Things Only a Woman Can Do: An
education campaign launched by the SWHR to provide women with
accurate information about volunteering for medical research.
Available at www.womancando.org
• Talk IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
is an often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and undertreated condition
that affects up to 20%, or one in five Americans. Talk IBS is
designed to educate women about the condition, its symptoms,
options for healthcare and management of IBS with constipation,
and to arm them with tools to work with their doctor to get
proper diagnosis and care sooner. Available at www.talkibs.org
Book
The Savvy Woman Patient: How and Why Sex Differences
Affect Your Health, Ed. Phyllis Greenberger, MSW, and Jennifer
Wider, MD
The Savvy Woman Patient covers sex-based biology; family histories;
women’s special nutrition, exercise, preventive measures,
and the aging process; and diseases and conditions that affect
women differently than men. Also includes information on addiction;
asthma and other lung problems; auto-immune diseases; bone health;
brain and degenerative diseases; cancer; cardiovascular disease;
diabetes; digestive disorders; eating disorders; eye health;
kidney, bladder, and urinary tract health; menopause; mental
health; oral health; pain; pharmaceuticals; sleep; and sexually
transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.
— Source: Society of Women’s
Health Research
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