Salt Lake City–Utah’s 40 Over 40 co-founders Robyn Cohen, Julia Deaver and Diane Acevedo believe representation Matters. It matters in age, race, skill, experience, opinion, and thought. 1 in 4 Americans is a woman over 40, that’s 25 percent of the country and 83 million women strong. We tend to celebrate success at younger ages, which is not the norm. Data shows that most success comes beyond our 40’s. 

Most national publications, such as Forbes, Inc, Fortune Magazine all feature 40 Under 40 and 30 Under 30 lists, never making a point to feature people over 40 yet 42 is the average age of a woman entrepreneur and 48 is the average age of a woman CEO. Clearly not reflected in today’s marketing, advertising, publishing, top company executives, movies or film, Utah’s 40 Over 40 celebrates women doing incredible things beyond 40.

Utah ranks 50th in the nation for gender equality. Utah also has the largest gender wage gap, women earn 30 percent less than men. Dead last in the nation for women’s rights. Our mission is to change that. To inspire people by showing women taking chances, changing lives, and making 

an impact later in life. We envision a growing community of women over 40, celebrated for their distinct accomplishments and success stories.

Utah’s 40 Over 40 Celebration Gala for the 40 Winners will be held on September 9th 11am-2pm at the Grand America Hotel, SLC. The 40 Over 40 podcast launches soon with quarterly events starting October, 2022. We’ve asked Utah companies to pledge to make a difference in hiring, promoting and educating women over 40.

Sponsors include: Eddy HR, Zions Bank, Gabb Wireless, Atomic, TAB Bank, KSL Digital, ABC4, Good Things Utah, Databank, The Buckner Company, Sumo Communications, She Suite, Atomic Financial, David Eccles School of Business, Cotopaxi, Kickstart Seed Fund, Clearlink, Women Who Succeed, Nexus IT, The Gateway, C.W. Urban, Comma Copywriters, Becky Pickle Family, San Diablo Churros, Franklin Covey, Babe Lash, Mixhers, McGees, Utah Business, Kendra Scott, Revity, Universal Media, Sole Toscana, AlphaLit, Slug Magazine and SheSuite.

Benefitting sponsor is the Huntsman Cancer Institute where a portion of sponsorship money will be donated. Mary Bekerle, CEO, will be giving a keynote at the celebration gala.