While the ill winds of the financial crisis pummeled the global economy, women executives seem to have held fast, losing little ground in their steady climb to the C-suite of the enterprise hierarchy. Data from research firm Catalyst shows that 15.7% of corporate officers were women last year, almost unchanged from the level in 2007. The gap between women's and men's wages is holding steady as well, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, which found full-time female employees earned 77.1% of what full-time male employees did in 2008, versus 77.8% in 2007. Perhaps new opportunities engendered by the recovery will provide a needed boost in women's somewhat stalled progress. Surely, as this list once again proves, there is no shortage of female talent in finance departments. And while 61% of the women surveyed by Treasury & Risk say women executives do face a glass ceiling in corporate America, 30% describe their own career prospects as very good or excellent, and another 35% say their prospects are good.

Janet Yeomans
Treasurer and vice president, 3M
Yeomans started her career at 3M as its pension fund manager, and is in her second stint as treasurer, after an interlude spent running the diversified manufacturer's mergers and acquisitions team.

Laurel Meissner
Global controller and senior vice president, Aon
Meissner's expertise in accounting, reporting and controls is facilitating Aon's ability to make the best decisions. Before joining Aon, she served as chief accounting officer at Motorola.