Voice of Experience: Laura Rogers, Director, Executive Business Manager, Information Technology, TIAA-CREF

You have to be your own best advocate,” says Laura Rogers. “Sometimes women can shy away from opportunities that they don’t feel ideally suit them, but when you take assignments that are good for your company in the short-term, they can end up being great for your career in the long-term.”

With degrees from University of California at Berkeley, New York University and an MBA from Wharton, Rogers chose a career path in financial services. She has worked for firms such as Merrill Lynch, Citibank, and Cognizant Technologies focusing on leading internal teams make smart decisions based on strong financials and metrics.

Own Your Opinion

Working in the financial services industry after recently graduating can be difficult, especially given its competitive nature. However, earlier in her career, Rogers learned a critical lesson on holding her ground that has enabled her to be successful to this day.

In the period leading up to the financial crisis, when markets were especially frothy, many business units were taking on more risk. Though many in her company at the time wanted to expand into different types of trading, she didn’t believe the right risk management systems were in place in her business unit and advised against some trading they weren’t prepared for, ultimately saving the company millions of dollars in potential lawsuits.

“You have to think about the full vision and take ownership of your position rather than going the easy way,” she says. “I was able to make a significant difference for our division and our clients even though my stance was unpopular at the time.”

Rogers believes that this is a great time for women’s careers, since there is a real drive to engage them and help them succeed. Her advice for women is to have an opinion and own it.

Managing Change through Technology

By owning her opinion, Rogers has continued to carve a successful career path. She joined TIAA-CREF in 2013 and was recently named executive business manager for the production services group, overseeing business management and metrics, the project management office, software licensing and continuous improvement efforts. “TIAA -CREF feels like home to me,” she says, citing the open environment and the company’s mission, unchanged since 1918, to serve those who serve others – focusing primarily on institutions and individuals in the academic, medical, cultural, research and governmental communities. “Its motto of ‘Created to Serve. Built to Perform.’ is a great match for my personality and beliefs.”

In her new expanded executive business manager role, Rogers leads a cross functional IT team which is focusing on analyzing software spend and identifying opportunities for the company to reduce costs. “It’s a role that will allow me to look outside my day-to-day functions and help make a significant difference to our cost structure.”

Rogers says that as IT moves to cloud technology, it will be a game changer in terms of how people engage within the firm. “We are increasingly using the cloud as a complement to our current infrastructure, and incorporating it in such a way that it is seamless to the client.”

Networking for Career Success

Aside from leading cross-functional working groups, Rogers is a strong proponent of cross-functional mentoring. She encourages women at all stages of their career to set up peer networks – both within the company and also outside their particular division and company.

She finds that women have different questions in different stages of their career. This makes it vital to have a group that you can rely on to ask how they handled something, or what worked or what didn’t given a certain situation. “It’s about more than networking,” she says, adding that it’s important to be open and ask for advice, because people want to give it.

She herself has engaged in formal peer-to-peer networking and found it to be a game changer because of the accountability factor. She cites a friend in a similar position in a different company who was reluctant to seek a new opportunity and how Rogers was able to counsel her to try it. “Select someone you trust and seek their advice,” she says. “The further you get in your career, the more reluctant we are to be vulnerable but we still need that guidance.”

Benefits of Women’s Groups

Rogers does not just employ these practices herself, she shares her experiences with her colleagues. At TIAA-CREF, Rogers is involved in three key women’s initiatives.

First, she co-leads a mentoring group that launched in April which has received excellent feedback. It consists of two tracks – women only and mixed groups – with each group having two mentors who work with a group of eight to discuss topics that are both industry-specific and company-related.

Secondly, Rogers is active in the firm’s women’s ERG (Employee Resource Group), which she values because it allows her to get to know others in a wide variety of departments around the company.

And finally, she is excited about TIAA-CREF’s Woman2Woman: Financial Living, an online community where women can connect with both experts and peers to ask questions and share stories and tips related a range of financial topics and goals. “It fits in well with our mission of being created to serve,” Rogers says.

An Advocate for Bone Marrow Donation

Rogers, who is married with three children, enjoys spending time with her family and also is a passionate advocate for bone marrow transplants. While just out of school she volunteered in the pediatric cancer ward of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and saw firsthand the immediate benefits of bone marrow donation.

She is a involved with charities focused on this effort including both Gift of Life and Be the Match, and has encouraged family and friends to register for the national bone marrow matching site. “Becoming registered essentially takes no effort,” she says. “If you could save someone’s life, why wouldn’t you?”

Rogers was extremely gratified that her mom in New Jersey was matched with George, a 43-year-old man who lived in England, and was able to save his life.

No matter whether its work related or her personal interests Rogers is a passionate advocate for anything she believes in, owns her opinions and encourages other women to do the same.