1. The first female President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on deadlocked Brexit negotiations. Johnson hopes that von der Leyen will be the catalyst to reopen the conversation around EU disagreements in order to confirm a deal.
2. Melinda Gates has pledged an additional $250 million towards the efforts bringing coronavirus to an end. This brings the total amount provided by the Gates Foundation to $1.75 billion.
3. Delivery food service start up DoorDash listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday 9th, with the IPO already doubling its stock price offering an initial raise of $3.37 billion. AirBnB’s IPO listing has also been well received, with the original valuation set at $68 per stock but the listing taking off to around $146.
4. On this day in 1863, Annie Jump Cannon was born. Cannon was an American astronomer who is responsible for classifying over 225,000 stars in the galaxy. Cannon was the first woman to earn an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford and the Henry Draper Medal for her service to the National Academy of Science.
5. A start up fund, All Raise, focused on driving women’s equality, has raised $11 million towards their target of$15 million. The fund provides much-needed venture capital for female founders in tech while also diversifying their own board with female investors.
