Janet Cowell is used to being the only woman in the room. She was the first female state treasurer for North Carolina from 2009 to 2017, after serving two terms in both the Raleigh City Council and the state senate. Her public sector experiences inspired her second act as CEO of Girls Who Invest, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the number of women in portfolio management and executive leadership in the asset management industry. She participated in the recent Wharton Global Forum in New York, where she joined the Knowledge at Wharton radio show, which airs on  Wharton Business Radio on SiriusXM channel 111 , to discuss why it’s important to get more women and minorities involved in finance — and other areas where they are underrepresented. An edited transcript of the conversation follows. Knowledge at Wharton: How did Girls Who Invest get started? Janet Cowell: It was founded by a friend of mine, Seema Hingorani.…