Voice of Experience: Jeannie Diefenderfer, Senior Vice President-Global Engineering and Planning, Verizon

By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

Verizon’s Jeannie Diefenderfer, Senior Vice President-Global Engineering and Planning for wireline business, has only been in her current role for eight months, but she already has a strong opinion concerning her favorite—and least favorite—aspects of her job. “The best part of my job thus far is accomplishing seemingly impossible and tough challenges through a group of people across organizations,” said the mother of two. “My least favorite is going to meetings with no real objectives or deliverables.” Being productive is a major concern for the Tufts University graduate, as she’s come a long way both in the world and professionally.

Diefenderfer is originally from Seoul, South Korea. At thirteen, she immigrated to the U.S. with her father and siblings, with no idea of what the future, let alone her career, would hold. “I don’t ever recall actually thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Diefenderfer said. “I had to learn a whole new language and culture as a teenager, so I think I was mostly focused on mastering the language and excelling in school, despite my obvious language barriers.”

And excel she did. Diefenderfer eventually graduated from Tufts School of Engineering and took a position as a management trainee at New England Telephone at the age of twenty-three. She worked her way up in the company, holding positions of increasing responsibility on operations and technical side of the business, until ultimately being named executive director of equipment installation.

Diefenderfer later left the company for Verizon, where she held several key positions before being named the company’s new SVP of global engineering and planning in December 2008. With this new title came a lot of responsibility, including the planning and design of Verizon’s global data, voice, and IP wireline networks, which span 150 countries in six continents. and the engineering of the company’s fiber to the premises platform, which supports award-winning FiOS data and T.V. service.

While proud of her career success, Diefenderfer is quick to point out that her concept of success is larger. “I find definitions of success and failure somewhat personal. Having two children who are healthy and well-grounded is a huge success in my view,” Diefenderfer said.

She, of course, is referring to her son, Derek, and daughter, Mia. Aside from her job at Verizon, Diefenderfer also sits on the boards of Tufts University and the Ms. Foundation for Women. One can only imagine how difficult it would be to manage work and civic responsibilities while raising two children, but Diefenderfer manages with the help of her husband, George. “Work/life balance is a daily challenge, no matter how well one believes she can do it. I am fortunate to have my husband, who retired early so he could stay at home with the kids. This has made all the difference in the world for me and my family,” the forty-eight-year-old said. “Still, there are certain events I don’t miss: first and last days of school, doctor visits, parent-teacher conferences, concerts. The rest, I try to pick and choose to make sure I’m there for my kids when they want and need me.”

Many women struggle with the balancing act necessary to be successful both in their careers and family life; one area often suffers while the other soars. Diefenderfer asserts that the right company can make all the difference. “Generally, a woman’s success in the corporate world can depend greatly on the company and the culture it embodies. At Verizon, women have had more successes in reaching higher levels than in other places. It’s also true that more can and should be done to encourage women to do even better,” Diefenderfer said.

Verizon is often cited as one of the best companies for multicultural women because of the number of ethnic women holding high-ranking positions outside of traditional female jobs such as PR and administration. Despite its admirable traits as a progressive company with diversity at its core, all of the credit for Diefenderfer’s success can’t be given to the IT giant. Diefenderfer has worked incredibly hard and paid her dues.

She credits her mother as a source of her determination and tenacity. “It’s hard to figure out how I got to be who I am. I’ve had some adversities in my life, but I can’t say they were any worse than those experienced by others. My mother is a strong figure in my life and in the lives of my siblings. I suspect I have a lot of her in me,” Diefenderfer said. “As long as I remember I’ve always wanted to excel in everything I did. I’m not sure exactly what the future holds for me, but I am confident it will be what I create it to be. I have this innate belief that whatever I touch, I will make it better.”