Voice of Experience: Michelle Gadsden-Williams, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Credit Suisse

michellegadsdenwilliamsBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

As Global head of Diversity and Inclusion at Credit Suisse, Michelle Gadsden-Williams says she is the person ultimately responsible for ensuring the Bank fulfills its commitment to building a culture of inclusion for high-performing, engaged, diverse employees. She explained, “Early in my career, I found the subject of diversity to be extremely powerful on a number of levels.”

She continued, “Diversity is strategically important for a number of reasons. It provides organizations with the opportunity to attract, develop, and retain the best talent, creates an inclusive culture for employees to thrive and, most importantly, addresses the needs and wants of a diverse customer base. There aren’t many positions that can have an impact across the critical areas of talent, culture, and customers.”

Gadsden-Williams spent more than 17 years working in the pharmaceutical industry and several years in the consumer goods industry before transitioning to her current role in financial services. She began her career working in product development and marketing then pursued a career in human resources a few years later. She transitioned to Merck & Co., assuming various positions of increased responsibility in human resources. She joined Novartis Pharmaceuticals in 2002 and became the Vice President and Global Chief Diversity Officer before joining Credit Suisse in January of 2011.

She recalled, “I spent a good portion of my career in the pharmaceutical industry and got to know the industry extremely well. I knew that if I wanted to continue to stretch, grow and develop as a Chief Diversity Officer, I would have to step outside of my comfort zone and purse the work that I love in another industry. “

“Credit Suisse is a company that I have always respected and one I was familiar with living and working in Switzerland. When the opportunity presented itself to join Credit Suisse, it was not a hard decision to make the transition,” she continued.

One of Gadsden-Williams’ proudest moments was receiving the 2010 Leadership in Diversity Award from the See Forever Foundation and Maya Angelou Public Charter Schools in the presence of two women that she idolized and held in high regard, Dr. Maya Angelou and Dr. Dorothy I. Height.

“I received the award in the presence of two of my heroines, the incomparable Dr. Maya Angelou and Dr. Dorothy Height. Unfortunately, Dr. Height, a highly regarded social activist, passed away two weeks after I received the award. Dr. Angelou is a national treasure in the United States and a global icon but a renowned and revered voice of our time. I have had the grand opportunity to meet her on several occasions through my work in diversity over the years. Every time I am in her presence, I am humbled by her wisdom, her strength, and her ability to make each individual that she encounters feels special,” she said.

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Intrepid Woman: Bonnie St. John, Former Director for Human Capital Issues at the White House National Economic Council, Paralympic Champion

BonnieStJohnBy Hua Wang (Kansas City)

“I remember the moment when this idea was planted in me,” says Bonnie St. John, Former Director for Human Capital Issues at the White House National Economic Council and Paralympic Champion. “When I was ten, my mom brought home a picture of a silhouette of an amputee on skis. The picture had the words, if I can do this, I can do anything.”

St. John said her initial reaction was: “Ski?! It doesn’t snow in San Diego! Black people don’t like cold weather!” But at that moment, her mother planted the seed without knowing how it would work. She was “a single mother who had more time left at the end of the month than money. But she knew how to dream and believe in things that don’t seem possible,” she explained. That crazy vision propelled Bonnie to fundraise, go to Denver and Vermont, find coaches, ski in the Paralympics and overcome all the subsequent challenges to win bronze and silver medals at the 1984 Winter Paralympics.

In addition to her multiple medals, St. John has led a distinguished career, graduating magna cum laude from Harvard, and winning a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. After earning her master’s degree in economics, she joined the Clinton administration as Director of the White House National Economic Council. Today, she explained, she is CEO of her own company Courageous Spirit. She has also published three books, and has another due out in April which she wrote with her daughter: How Great Women Lead: A Mother-Daughter Adventure into the Lives of Women Shaping the World.

“Sometimes you have to break through all the barriers and figuratively build your own runway,” she said.

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Crossing the Gender Line: Why Mentor Men?

Business woman with hands folded smilingBy Jacey Fortin (New York City)

Can senior women promote workplace equality by proactively mentoring junior men?

It’s about big-picture, long-term benefits. A man in an entry-level position can learn much from a female superior, and it goes far beyond professional tips, insights or even sponsorship. It’s about appreciating the value of diversity and learning to respect a different point of view.

Just 42 percent of men with exclusively male mentors have a high awareness of gender bias, according to a 2009 study by Catalyst. But of men with mentors of both genders, a full 65 percent have a high awareness of gender bias. And those with a high awareness are much more likely to champion women’s equality during their career, which is good for everyone. It seems that female mentorship can go a long way toward changing attitudes about workplace inequality.

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Voice of Experience: Pat David, Managing Director and Global Diversity Officer, JP Morgan Chase

PatDavidBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“I’m not interested in diversity as it’s commonly known,” said Pat David, Managing Director and Global Diversity Officer at JPMorgan Chase. “I’m interested in using my life experiences in the context of helping people get to where they want – particularly underrepresented groups.”

She continued, “The way I was raised, my mother said ‘you’ve got to give more than you get.’ And when I look at my career, I’ve had an insatiable appetite to help people. My job enables me to help people 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

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Engaging CEOs in Gender Diversity

CurtRiceContributed by Curt Rice

Everything we know about improving gender diversity points to one uniquely important success factor. Great programs notwithstanding, brilliant arguments in abundance, the pursuit of enhanced gender equality flourishes or flounders with the interest and investment of an organization’s top leadership.

It could be the CEO of your company, the president of your university, or the director of your institute. Whoever is at the top has to care and has to support action. If we can’t get our top leadership engaged, we probably won’t succeed.

But people who have made it to the top are creative. They might have different ideas about achieving diversity — ideas that sound good, but that probably won’t work. How would that happen? What could we do in that situation?

To get CEOs on board, they need to believe in the cause themselves; they need to believe that gender diversity matters. We must provide the best arguments we can so the people at the top will care.

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Voice of Experience: Chloe Barzey, Senior Executive, Management Consulting, Supply Chain Strategy, CHT North America, Accenture

ChloeBarzeyBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to Chloe Barzey, Senior Executive at Accenture, one of the most important things professional women can do, especially as they advance, is make sure they are actively managing their career.

She explained, “As you move up in your career, it’s important to take steps to receive more education or training. You must continuously fine tune yourself in order to remain relevant in the marketplace. Being aware of your strengths and limitations and how others perceive you is key to advancing in your career path.”

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Movers and Shakers: Jamila Piracci, Vice President of OTC Derivatives, National Futures Association

JPiracciBy Sophie Fletcher (Chicago)

Jamila Piracci believes in a combination of serendipity and making the best of opportunities.  Previously a lawyer with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, she was looking for a new challenge when she was directed by an interviewer to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), a global financial trade association that represents participants in the privately negotiated derivatives industry, also known as the Over-the-Counter (OTC) markets.

She had been keeping up with ISDA activity and following the progress they were making related to documentation standards and, based on this person’s suggestion, decided to pick up the phone and call ISDA’s General Counsel.

It happened to be a brilliant time to call because it turned out they were looking to hire outside lawyers. The General Counsel was acquainted with Piracci through industry events and asked her to come in for an interview. “I am still in awe of how I got a job there,” remarks Piracci.

Before working at ISDA, Piracci spent a number of years at various law firms, having started her practice as a lawyer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. While ISDA and the New York Fed were her favorite places to work, Piracci credits her diverse professional background in getting her to where she is now – Vice President of OTC Derivatives at the National Futures Association.

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Voice of Experience: Nicole Pullen Ross, Managing Director, Mid-Atlantic Region Head, Private Wealth Management, Goldman Sachs

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Nicole Pullen Ross“We all have the responsibility to be advocates for more junior women,” said Nicole Pullen Ross, Managing Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region for Goldman Sachs’ Private Wealth Management business.

“And it is a greater responsibility behind closed doors than when in the presence of the people we are mentoring.” She explained, “That advocacy means really pulling someone up behind you in a proactive way, the same way others have done for you.”

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Young Women Speak Up on Changing the World

young black businesswomanBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Despite the World Economic Forum’s controversial “quota” system of inviting one woman for every four men to its annual meeting at Davos, the ratio of women in attendance remained small this year. Only 17% of those in attendance last month were female, and, only 20% of those invited to speak on panels were women.

But according to The Guardian’s Jane Martinson, the WEF is standing by its quota system, and hopes that time will bring more women to the table. The organization believes that by engaging more women in top-level decision-making, the economic situation around the world will improve. She wrote, “This idea plays into one theme of this year’s Davos: that as the current economic and political crisis was made by men, the inclusion of more women can only help matters.”

She also quoted Cherie Blair, who had a more pointed take on the situation. “If the world doesn’t start giving a proper platform for women, then it will fall flat on its face.”

While Davos struggled to increase its percentage of establishment women, a group of dynamic young women presented big ideas to leading under-30 change agents at last month’s Sandbox Global Summit in Lisbon, Portugal (where 31% of conference participants were women).

Waiting for change at the top is no longer an option, remarked Kelly Calvin, winner of one of six Bloomberg Businssweek fellowships to the Lisbon conference. She believes it is critical for leaders to pay attention to young women when it comes to our global future, and, she said, many global leaders have not yet realized why.

“I think it should be clear, but unfortunately it’s obviously not clear to today’s leaders. There are more young women going to college and graduate school than ever before, and, in America, more women than men. We are entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers, we are starting businesses like never before, and in a very short time it will no longer be an oddity to see a female global leader, but an expectation.”

She added, “They need to pay attention to us now because our voices are the voices of the very near future.”

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Being Out at Work: Challenges and Benefits

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Business meeting“I learned the importance of sponsorship along the way,” said Lisa Davis, Director and Global Product Manager at Citi Global Transaction Services. “And I didn’t realize what a sponsor was until I didn’t have one.”

She recalled a year when she didn’t get a promotion she was expecting. “I had the whole package – on paper – but when I asked why I wasn’t promoted, my manager said, ‘well, nobody knows you.’”

Davis was speaking at The Glass Hammer’s recent event for lesbian professionals on “being out at work.” Moderated by Jill Schlesinger, Editor-at-Large of CBSMoneyWatch.com, the panelists included Jennifer Barbetta, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Alternative Investments & Manager Selection, Goldman Sachs; Lisa Davis, Director and Global Product Manager, Citi Global Transaction Services; Lee A. Merkle-Raymond, Strategic Solutions Executive, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; and Marion Regnier, Senior Associate, PwC. They discussed issues like coming out at work, the importance of sponsors and networking, and the value of top-level support for LGBT issues.

Davis, who is co-chair of Citi’s Metro NYC Pride network, said she spent the following year making sure everyone knew who she was.

Sponsorship and Networking

“A sponsor is someone who says, ‘I’m going to vouch for this person,’” Davis explained.

Merkle-Raymond continued, “As a sponsor, you have to put yourself on the line and it comes back to your own credibility.” If the person you vouched for fails, she explained, that makes you look bad too. So, she continued, if you’re seeking a sponsor, make sure you have the skills to follow through on your responsibilities. “It means building up your own credibility so that people want to sponsor you.”

Regnier said she has met sponsors by strengthening relationships with people she has worked with internally and externally. “I’ve found sponsors in different ways – by leveraging the networking relationships that I have outside the firm, and in the firm, leveraging relationships I have with the people I’ve worked with.”

“I’ve never sought out LGBT sponsors specifically,” interjected Barbetta. “But LGBT networking can only be additive to your career development. And as you get more senior, the network of relationships you build becomes increasingly important. Having those relationships enables me to draw upon the expertise of other people in the firm – to know who to call when a new challenge or opportunity arises.”

Merkle-Raymond agreed. “BAML has a significant number of networks. And, for me, they have been critical if I end up with a problem and need to know how to solve it.”

Davis added, “Affinity networks are absolutely important and key for the business. Especially in the financial services industry.”

Coming Out

Schlesinger asked the panelists to discuss how they came out at work. Regnier began, “For me, it was a decision. At my previous firm, I was in the closet for two years, and I kind of felt like I was lying, or just avoiding the truth. When I joined PwC, they had a great event on National Coming Out Day and I was like, ‘Wow – all of these senior people are out. What am I afraid of?’”

She continued, “Counting people who knew and didn’t know and keeping a list takes a lot of energy.”

Barbetta agreed. “Work is stressful enough. To expend any energy or effort on hiding who you are – at some point for me, it just wasn’t worth it.” She said she gradually came out to colleagues. “When I first joined the firm, I never lied about who I was, but I just sort of withheld information about my personal life. It was a process that took time. I think for me it was about becoming more comfortable with myself, becoming more confident and mature.”

Davis said she never had an actual “coming out” event either. “When we had events, I just thought it would be okay if I showed up with my partner. I never had the notion that I needed to be strategic about it. If people found out, they found out.”

Merkle-Raymond said she had been out since starting her career. She was initially warned against it, but, in fact, being out actually provided her a boost. “I came to orientation with a pink triangle pin on my lapel, and my senior manager said, ‘You’re never going to get promoted if you tell people you’re out.’ And I said, ‘What about the five other guys who are out in our group?’”

She decided to come out at work anyway. And in fact, she continued, working on a task force to secure partner benefits at the bank in the ‘90s enabled her to meet senior executives she never would have had access to. “I was even asked to drive our CEO to the airport as a junior person,” she recalled, explaining how she discussed LGBT issues with him in the car.

Working in a Supportive Culture

“Support in the financial services for LGBT is astounding – we have come so far,” said Schlesinger. “A long way since having my bra snapped on the floor of the Commodities Exchange of New York [COMEX],” added the former trader with a laugh.

For an example of meaningful support, Barbetta pointed to the new HRC television ad featuring Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein declaring his support for marriage equality. “It’s fantastic that he’s doing that and putting himself out there on a personal level.”

Barbetta also mentioned the importance of straight allies for building a culture of inclusion. “The Ally Program has had a huge impact. We started inviting straight allies to join the network, and now there are gay members and straight members and you don’t know who’s LGBT or who’s an Ally, which is the entire goal of this – that it shouldn’t matter – no one cares who’s straight or who’s gay.”

She added, “From the diversity office, Lloyd himself, and various other senior members at the Firm, the support has been amazing.”

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

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