Voice of Experience: Michelle Nyberg, Vice President, Services Division, Goldman Sachs

Michelle NybergIn our final profile covering Pride voices this June, Michelle Nyberg comments on the importance of diversity, her role as co-head of Australia & New Zealand affinity network Gays, Lesbians and Mates, and managing Australia and New Zealand’s Services footprint.

“Diversity is an asset and a valuable contribution to a large organization such as Goldman Sachs,” notes Michelle Nyberg, a vice president in the Services Division at Goldman Sachs’ Sydney office. “Junior women should not be swayed by misconceptions that the financial services industry is searching for ‘cookie-cutter’ candidates – it’s important to be yourself because everyone brings something new and different to the table.”

Over the course of her 16-year career at Goldman Sachs, Nyberg has sought to share her own unique views during a tenure that has spanned both the Operations and Services divisions. In 1997, Nyberg joined the Operations Division in Melbourne as an analyst. During that time period she worked for JBWere, an Australian and New Zealand stock brokerage firm that later formed a joint venture with Goldman Sachs and was fully acquired by the firm in 2011. Within six months, her manager was reassigned, and she took the initiative to express her interest in a leadership role.

“I didn’t have any experience managing a team, but I raised my hand to lead the team for a period of six months – to my surprise my request was approved,” says Nyberg. “What I learned through that experience is if you’re prepared to work hard and take risks, people will support you and provide you with new opportunities.”

Providing the Best Work Experience and Environment for Colleagues

Nyberg, who went on to lead the Operations team in Sydney before moving to the Services Division, then transitioned to overseeing a range of projects, including the JBWere integration and the renewal of the firm’s corporate leases in Sydney and Melbourne. “The opportunity to renew corporate leases for a firm like Goldman Sachs only occurs about every 10 years,” notes Nyberg. “I feel lucky to have been involved in such a complex project that affects our people’s day-to-day experience.”

Today, Nyberg’s role has expanded further and she is involved in evaluating and enhancing the region’s environmental, social and governance framework to support responsible operational practices and supply chain while increasing building efficiencies. This is in addition to real estate-related projects, such as providing Goldman Sachs people with modern workspaces. “My team is making tangible changes in people’s work environment, while fostering a culture of risk management to adjust business practices and driving commerciality, and it’s really exciting to lead these efforts,” says Nyberg. “Our division’s mission statement is to create the world’s best work experience and environment for the people of Goldman Sachs. I take that to heart and approach all my projects with that mindset.”

Furthering Diversity and Inclusion in Australia & New Zealand

In addition to managing the firm’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) real estate footprint and corporate services, Nyberg has served for the past eight years as co-head of the Gays, Lesbians and Mates (GLaM) affinity network in ANZ, which brings together members and allies of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community.

As co-head, Nyberg has overseen the growth of the network to include 55 percent of Goldman Sachs’ ANZ people, helped provide leadership with tools to develop inclusive teams, offered training for LGBTI allies and reverse mentoring and organized numerous educational external speaker sessions featuring individuals in the LGBTI community, including Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe. Nyberg notes that she is not afraid to push the boundaries to ensure challenging topics are discussed in order to educate Goldman Sachs people in ANZ, and says that one of her proudest professional achievements has been “seeing GLaM grow by fostering a sense of community for members and allies of the LGBTI community.” She also notes that Goldman Sachs’ receipt of the 2014 “Employer of the Year” award in the Australian Workplace Equality Index Awards was another exciting moment.

To that end, this year Nyberg was nominated for the Australian LGBTI Inclusion Awards “Network Leader of the Year” by senior leaders in Australia in recognition for her leadership of GLaM. “It was a big honor to be nominated for this award,” says Nyberg. “As someone who was not out at the office for more than a decade, I know how important it is to bring your whole self to work to perform your best.”

She notes that she was initially inspired to come out to her colleagues after attending a firmwide townhall that celebrated the launch of Goldman Sachs’ diversity program in ANZ. During the event a video was played featuring a female managing director in the Securities Division, who was openly gay at work. Nyberg ultimately connected with her over coffee, and as a result of their conversation says: “I felt comfortable enough to come out in the workplace however, there is still more work to be done. Today, I aim to serve as a role model and be accessible to folks across the firm as they navigate their own journey.”

Outside of the Office

Outside of the office, Nyberg enjoys wine tasting, and has installed a wine cellar in her basement. In addition, she loves to be active, making every effort to carve out time throughout the week to visit the gym. Nyberg, who recently married her partner of 15 years – after Australia allowed same sex marriage –is looking forward to honeymooning in Italy and Croatia this summer with her wife.

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The GlassHammer Is For Sale

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Dear Readers,

After 12 years of providing career advice and a platform for amazing women to tell their career stories, glasshammer2.wpengine.com is for sale.

This online career advice site and events business continues to stay loyal to the original mission stated as “inform, inspire and empower professional women.”

Editorially, we have tried to help women to navigate the terrain optimally by dissecting research, calling on experts and creating a platform for people to tell their story. Our past events have been truly interesting, educational and have served to connect women with each other and with allies and champions.

We would like to see someone else take the baton and run with it for 2020 and beyond as this is important work. It continues to be an important time for gender equity and inclusion in the workplace.

Nicki Gilmour, the founder and CEO, is continuing her work as an executive and organizational coach and consultant and comments:

“I am really grateful that this journey of founding and publishing glasshammer2.wpengine.com has taken me to a place where I can do deep work and affect individual and organizational change via coaching and consulting. The time has come to dedicate myself to one, not two, businesses. It will be a pleasure to see the next generation of advocates for equality publish this well-read and much-loved resource for professional women. Fresh energy and commitment from a new person/firm will no doubt take this website to new heights.”

If you interested in acquiring the site and you are a qualified prospect to buy the site, contact Nicki Gilmour, CEO and Founder of the site, at nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com or call 646-688-2318.

Learn more about our coaching business www.evolvedpeople.com

 

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Voice of Experience: Margie Archer, Financial Advisor, Wells Fargo Advisors

When Margie Archer attended the Wells Fargo Advisors Women’s Summit the first year she joined the firm, she watched in delight as the Spirit Award winner Marcia Tillotson, a branch manager in Charlotte, brought out her family, including her female partner.

Margie Archer “That just reinforced to me that I was in the right place,” Archer says. “I met her later, and she instilled in me the importance of being authentic.”

Building a Career on Advice—And Finding a Niche Serving LGBTQ+ Needs

Archer began her career at a regional firm and then moved to Smith Barney for 18 years. At that point she decided to move into a firm that she believed was more focused on planning, and found Wells Fargo Advisors to be a good fit, both professionally and personally. “I’ve been here 10 years and hope to stay here for many more,” she says.
A problem solver by nature, Archer joined the business to help people, but she’s learned that her financial background is not enough; it’s also crucial to be a good listener and know the right questions to ask.

“It comes down to knowing your clients and helping them achieve their goals and dreams,” Archer says. For example, with a quarter of her high-net-worth clients identifying as LGBTQ+, she focuses on creating strategies customized to the financial challenges of this underserved segment.

On that note, she worked with Wells Fargo Advisors to develop a certification called Accredited Domestic Partnership Advisor℠ (ADPA®). The firm partnered with the College of Financial Planning® to launch the program, which certified advisors who wanted to work with the community of LGBTQ+ clients to offer advice on topics such as beneficiary designations, trusts and more. While the marriage equality act helped level the playing field, Margie has continued her commitment to offering special guidance to LGBTQ+ clients as many issues specific to this segment persist.
Among the outreach and support, Wells Fargo Advisors offers regional roundtables and summits that allow its financial advisors to connect and share best practices, as well as bring in speakers to update advisors on the legal landscape, family planning or any issue that’s on an LGBTQ+ client’s mind.

“The firm does so much research on this topic, which I am fortunate to have access to, and while I work to understand needs across the board with all my clients, I am in a unique position for this segment, based on this commitment Wells Fargo Advisors has,” Archer says.

She uses her experience to speak at conferences and publish on the issue and has helped create a seminar about what to consider before you say “I do.” And she is passionate about helping financial advisors learn how to better communicate with LGBTQ+ clients.

Promoting Diversity in All Ways

Helping LGBTQ+ clients is not the only area where Archer is involved in diversity. She is excited about what the firm is doing to show that solving for this issue is not a “nice to have,” but a “must have.” And that is true for clients, too; as women are inheriting money in a huge wave, it’s important to see more women in the industry, given that the numbers haven’t changed significantly over two decades. Wells Fargo Advisors has been devoted to being a leader with its NextGen Talent program, which has strong diversity in age, gender and ethnicity. “This speaks volumes to the firm’s commitment,” Archer notes.

She wants young women to understand what an excellent career it can be, and says she wishes she had been more confident early on that women could excel as advisors. “Women want career paths that can be more autonomous, so it’s important to create a way for them to see the way forward,” she says. “There is so much opportunity, and while a financial background can be important, what this job entails is listening, and women shine at that. It also allows you to reap the benefits of flexibility as you juggle other responsibilities,” she notes.

Archer particularly sees doors opening for women as advisors as the field shifts from investment management to investment planning, which she believes makes excellent use of women’s skillsets.

Finding Time for Herself

A former college tennis player, Archer still loves a good match and also plays golf. With two dogs of her own, she says she will rescue any animal on the planet, but believes they rescued her with their unconditional love. She also loves to travel and has a big map in her office where she marks each new destination with a pin. She has an upcoming trip planned to Africa to help build wells which will provide clean water for towns without, which she predicts will be life-changing for herself as well.

Closer to home, Archer finds she gets some of her best ideas from visiting the mountains, hiking and recharging. “The business is rewarding but can be tough, and you’re always on, so you have to take care of yourself.”

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Mover & Shaker: Nicole Poteat, Vice President and Private Client Advisor, Bank of America Private Bank

Nicole PoteatBy Cathie Ericson

Before finding her current position, Nicole Poteat was unsure there was a career in finance that would allow her to truly bring her full self to the table.

Now, as a Private Client Advisor with Bank of America Private Bank she has a strong institution behind her, but also plays the role of entrepreneur, allowing her to combine her professional and intellectual drive with her personal interest in building relationships and helping others thrive.

“It’s important for young professionals to remain open to the idea that even if the seat they are currently in is not a fit, there is still a path out there that will capitalize on the different facets of their passions and abilities. They just have to remain vigilant about seeking it.”

Finding a Passion in Client Service

Fortunately Poteat was able to find that path. She studied government at Harvard and then graduated from Boston College Law School, starting her career in the government and non-profit space. At the same time, her wife Emilie was finishing a PhD and studying the sharing economy, which piqued Nicole’s interest in how companies thrive in today’s environment. That led her to look into a position with Goldman Sachs as a summer associate, subsequently joining the firm full-time after graduation. While her “bigger picture” enterprise strategy role offered lots of opportunity for growth, she realized she missed having a direct impact and forming client relationships; therefore, when she was approached by a recruiter from U.S. Trust, she transitioned to the private banking world where she has been for almost two years.

The position has been an ideal match for her talents and interest. “One of the reasons I love this role is that I can support the development and careers of people doing fascinating work without having to solely focus on one niche industry,” she says, noting that she works with professional such as doctors, founders and investors. “My clients are solving so many interesting problems—often with groundbreaking products—and it’s exciting to be able to support them and help them navigate their lives and their personal wealth as they experience professional success. Many of them are diverse, and it’s particularly satisfying to work with this population who hasn’t historically been in touch with the private banking world.”

Poteat says that one of the biggest looming assumptions when she left law school and started her career was that a transition into the corporate world meant an unsustainable lifestyle with unmanageable work hours. While she has experienced this at times in her career, she has also found a path to sustainability by “developing a career I’m passionate about where the work doesn’t feel like work—it’s a vocation. I love what I do so the time I am spending on it feels exciting and challenging rather than unmanageable.”

And, she says, the key is to be thoughtful about what you want to do—from impact to responsibilities—and then identify where your skills match up to those desires and how that can be applied professionally.

The Process of Finding a Mentor

Early in her career, Poteat would hear people talk about the end product of having great sponsors or mentors, without being explicit about what it took to develop those relationships. “It was a process to learn that there’s no ‘easy bake oven,’ one-size-fits-all strategy to getting the right mentor for you.” And, she points out, it seems especially daunting when all you’re hearing is the end result…the big difference that this one person made in a career.

Now, she has found, the journey to form those strong relationships has to begin with a context where people are ready to see you and what you can offer and even from there, other things need to line up. “Ultimately it’s about finding someone who wants to see you in that way (as a mentee) and cares about you and your career and wants to support you.”

And that can take a lot of conversations to find the people who are going to be willing to support you and fully see you. Poteat is proud that she has found such relationships by forging those conversations, which has led to a cadre of mentors at her current firm, including her manager and colleagues, as well as people from other contexts of her life, such as David Beatty, a friend and founder of Gaingels, an angel-investing group.

She is particularly appreciative of the opportunity to learn from women who blazed trails as the “first” women in the room; noting that her cousin, Jeannette, was one such trailblazer. Jeannette Loeb was the first female Partner at Goldman Sachs. Poteat has been fascinated by the tales she’s heard of those early days and what it was like to be effective in spaces that were built for, and up until that point had only been filled by, men.

She feels fortunate to work for a company like Bank of America that actively works to stay modern by putting diverse teams in place to serve a wide variety of clients. “It’s not the old-school bank of the past, but one that looks like the clients of today, and I’ve benefited from their efforts to be awake to that need.”

A Full Life Outside Work

Poteat is a member of Gaingels, an angel investing group focused on companies with LGBT representation at the C-suite level. She is an active philanthropist, having endowed the Michael Poteat Global Education Scholarship at Elon University in memory of her brother. The scholarship benefits students living with chronic illness, allowing them to experience internships and study abroad, thus hopefully setting them on a path to find a career “click” for their interests. She is also a board member of the Ackerman Institute for the Family, the family therapy non-profit.

She and her wife Emilie live in Westchester with their two golden retrievers, Charlie and Eliot, and recently announced that they will be joined by two more family members when their twins arrive this fall.

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Op-Ed: A journey from visibility to engagement and action

Kelly Widelska
In 2011, The Glass Hammer featured me in one of their articles as a rising star, I had realized then that the personal choice I had made to be out in the workplace was a critical part of my confidence; and that being authentic and bringing all of myself to work was part of my value proposition to an organization.

Eight years later, as my career has progressed into more senior positions, that value proposition remains a truth for me and for my success. My choice to be out – and having a supportive environment in which to be out – gave me one less thing to worry about, so I could focus my attentions on what mattered – managing the trials and tribulations of running global programs and their teams.

Out for others

I have always been an advocate for role models in organizations to help lead changes in approaches and attitudes. As a role model, I can be out for others, using my seniority to hopefully give people greater confidence to be themselves. I still believe that it is important to see yourself growing and developing within an organization and out visibility by senior leadership is critical to encouraging LBTI women as their career develops.

Working in an international organization, despite being in a bubble in Washington DC, I remain mindful of the reality of the challenges of being LGBTI in the 170 countries in which the World Bank Group is present around the world. Working as part of GLOBE (our LGBTI Employee Resource Group), we support our staff who may be working in countries where being LGBTI is criminalized or stigmatized. For example, we have worked with HR to ensure that LGBTI staff members who may be posted to challenging countries have i) a choice to discuss declining the position, without a negative impact on their career and ii) an understanding of how the World Bank Group will keep them and their family safe. We embrace the “Embassy model” of LGBTI inclusion meaning it doesn’t matter where in the world you are, we will implement and enforce protective policies and LGBTI-supportive measures, and we are working hard to make that a tangible reality for all our staff.

Out for global impact

It is an interesting time to be working in global development. The World Bank Group approaches exclusion based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) through its commitments on gender equality and social inclusion. The links between gender equality and development are well established in the World Development Report 2012. Social Inclusion is key to achieve the World Bank Groups twin goals of eradicating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Specifically, sexual and gender minorities are particularly important because they are likely overrepresented in the bottom 40%. While robust data is scarce, the existing evidence indicates that LGBTI groups have worse education outcomes due to bullying and stigma, higher unemployment rates, as well as lack of access to adequate health services, housing and financial services.

I now represent IFC on the World Bank Group SOGI taskforce. A multi-sectoral group set up to advance SOGI issues and to scale-up research, programs, and staff trainings. We are looking at ways that the IFC can support the private sector in this undertaking.

Joining the SOGI taskforce has been a great opportunity for me – outside of my day job – to understand at a deeper level the many issues and challenges that LGBTI people face in and outside of the workforce. My participation has helped me to develop new knowledge and skills.

I am only beginning to really understand how complicated human structures are – and how fragile organizations and economies are despite being the backbones of societies around the world. This fragility underlines my continued belief that role modelling is still critical to the implementation of changes that we want to see in the world for all. Ensuring that no person is left behind, as per the promise of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development goals.

About the Author:

Kelly Widelska is the Global Head of Knowledge & Learning for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. She is also a member of the World Bank Group Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Taskforce.

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Voice of Experience: Noriko Umeki, Partner, PwC Japan

Noriko Umekiby Cathie Ericson

When reflecting on her career, Noriko Umeki wishes she had known earlier the importance of communication, as well as using personal marketing to further her endeavors.

“One day I realized that I wouldn’t be evaluated highly just because I was working on the job in front of me. People who get chances for better positions display a high level of interpersonal abilities so it’s important to expand your network both inside and outside the company by letting people know about you,” she says.

“Each one of us has to seize our opportunities, and in Japan, women are less aware about this concept unfortunately.” However, she adds, over the past years, there have been small but significant strides with the ratio of female managers gradually improving from 2% when she started her career to 12% in Japan.

Increasing Her Profile at PwC and in the Accountant Community

Umeki started her career at PwC as a Japanese Certified Public Accountant (JCPA) and has engaged in accounting services for the past 25 years, becoming a partner in 2009. Her experience in audit services includes both Japanese and foreign companies in the financial service, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries.
As an ally, Umeki voluntarily became involved in Diversity & Inclusion activities for PwC Japan Group when she became a partner. In the past decade, she has expanded the firm’s D&I activities, improving D&I awareness and cultivating an inclusive culture at PwC Japan. She considers this an important achievement, given that the World Economic Forum has ranked Japan as 110th in the 2018 Gender Gap Report, highlighting that this issue is an ongoing challenge for Japanese companies.

To that end she has focused on producing female leaders, fostering female juniors and promoting support for LGBT+ members at PwC Japan.

In addition to her work with PwC, Umeki has assumed the post of director at Japan Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA) this coming summer. “I am getting very excited to work on whatever I can do to contribute to development of JICPA,” she says. “The job of experts in accounting should be of social significance, and I would very much like to appeal to society so that young brilliant people will know the attractiveness of J-CPAs and be willing to join us.” And, she says, that will include encouraging young female accountants to join the industry, given that the percentage of female J-CPAs is still very low—at only around 20% in Japan.

An Appealing Career

Umeki believes it’s important for young female professionals to realize that they can successfully continue an accounting career through lots of life events.

“One of the attractions in this profession is that we are able to enhance our value through work and to differentiate ourselves from others since we are required to have a deep knowledge and wide experience,” Umeki says. She recommends that women seek their own leadership style and find the work/life balance that works for them.

Sometimes she sees Japanese women hesitating to take higher positions, yet she notices that many males are becoming increasingly supportive. “We females should change our own awareness and try anything when we are given the opportunity, finding the courage to take the next step,” she says.

Fostering a More Inclusive Culture

The biggest value Umeki has received in becoming an ally for the LGBT+ community is that her perspective has become much wider. “I remember being deeply shocked when I realized that I myself, as a woman, had been discriminating against other minorities unconsciously,” she says. “I was astonished to realize how many people are bound by old stereotypes and customs, but after becoming an ally, I have come to think more about the true nature of the situation. Putting myself in somebody’s shoes is very helpful in my career, as well as in my private life,” Umeki says.

She urges others to deepen their understanding about the LGBT+ community by attending related events or seminars, which will bring D&I issues to light and encourage personal action.

Among some of the advances that have been taken by PwC Japan Group to foster an inclusive culture are establishing an internal network for LGBT+ colleagues and allies. “When companies provide a safe environment, people are able to fulfill their potential to be their best since they will feel safe to be accepted as they are. “ And, Umeki notes, it can help companies attract and retain talented personnel.

She recommends that companies make a point to create that inclusive culture, but also to establish the same benefits for LGBT+ couples as for same-sex marriage, even though Japan does not yet have the necessary legal system.

Trying One New Thing Every Year

Since turning 40, Umeki has made a policy to try one new thing every year; among the new activities she has tried are fishing, yoga, boxing, calligraphy and golf, and she plans to use her accounting acumen to add activities that contribute to issues on women and society.

“I believe that it is never too late to start something when we are supposed to live for 100 years,” she notes.

And although she already cites her most important personal achievement as becoming partner at PwC while raising her two children without suspending her career, she says that from now on, she intends to pursue her career and private life in her own way. “I will enjoy life more,” she says.

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Calling Great Writers- Guest Articles Welcome!

We are planning content for the Late Summer and Fall already here at glasshammer2.wpengine.com

Nicki GilmourWe get sent many requests from guests to contribute articles, but we turn many away because we are only accepting the best articles from guest writers who are experts or practitioners and can truly honor our mission to inform, inspire and empower professional women.

If you would like to be considered as a guest contributor, please send your pitch to jennifer@glasshammer2.wpengine.com and she can send you guidelines, deadlines and style tips.

We always appreciate academia dissected into useable advice when it comes to career advice for women in financial and professional services/big law/ Fortune 500.

We look forward to hearing from you.

We built the campfire so we can tell the stories that matter, together.

With Gratitude,

Nicki Gilmour – Founder and Publisher of glasshammer2.wpengine.com – smart women in numbers.

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Mover & Shaker: Helen Campbell, Management Consultant, Implement Consulting Group

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Helen Campbell_1209by Cathie Ericson

A career that allowed Helen Campbell to live and work in multiple countries gave her a unique view into culture and the way it should impact your working life.

For example she had always assumed that it was important to fit in and adhere to the company values, which was reinforced with her first professional role in Japan, where the culture was still then very much about dedicating yourself to a company for life.

“I realize now that especially in consulting, it should not be about signing up to a company’s way of working, but rather that by joining a company you should change and add to it and bring your own uniqueness to it,” she says.

A Career Spanning Multiple Countries and Roles

Campbell studied electrical engineering at Queen’s University of Belfast, as well as Japanese as she hoped to visit Japan. Her chance came at a career fair at the university, where she learned about an Irish government program that supported Irish graduates finding a job in Japan with companies that had a link with Ireland. She got a job with Fujikin, a Japanese manufacturing company, and flew to Japan with 16 other Irish graduates.

As the first female and non-Japanese engineer the company had hired, there was quite a bit of adjustment on both sides, but Campbell worked for them for six years—two in Japan, one in Dusseldorf in Germany and three in London, in a variety of roles that included engineer, key account manager and project manager. Realizing that was the role she enjoyed the most, she decided to look for another position where she could develop these skills and joined QinetiQ, a UK defense company, where she managed a range of defense and commercial projects and travelled to countries like Jordan and Brunei.

It was there that Campbell interacted with several consultants and became interested in the opportunity that consultancy provides to be part of transformational projects. She joined PwC in London in their Portfolio and Programme Management consulting practice and worked there for eight years, including transferring to Stockholm with them in December 2016.

Last year she decided it was time to try something new and left PwC to join Implement Consulting Group, a Nordic consultancy, as a senior consultant.

The company is growing rapidly and thus feels very entrepreneurial even with around 900 employees, Campbell notes. As it’s not as well-known in Sweden as Denmark, she is excited about growing the business, especially around supporting clients with the delivery of their largest and most complex transformations.

Starting an LGBT Network, Which Started a Movement

While her career has held an impressive mix of managing large efforts like a merger of two airlines’ finance functions and large-scale IT implementations, what Campbell is most proud of is the feedback she gets from junior consultants with whom she has worked. “I really enjoy teaching others and encouraging them to stretch themselves on projects, and because of that I’ve helped many consultants achieve promotions, which is extremely rewarding,” she says.

While working for PwC, Campbell co-founded the LGBT network for the UK; along with a small team she built a strong network—called GLEE@PwC (Gays, Lesbians and Everyone Else)—and developed a brand around it. That included hosting high-profile client events, where they got a majority of the UK employees wearing rainbow lanyards. Through running the network, she sat on several panel events and spoke at conferences about the value of being your true self at work.

In fact it was only when she joined PwC that she came truly out at work, and at that point there was a lack of LGBT role models and especially women. A turning point she remembers is when EY won the Stonewall LGBT Workplace of the Year Award, and Liz Bingham made a speech about her career at EY before and after she came out at work. “This was the first time I had heard a senior lesbian woman speak about the value of being herself at work,” Campbell says.

Developing GLEE generated a lot of attention internally in PwC with poster campaigns, a designated Twitter account, internal news articles and more, which meant that many on the committee were contacted by LGBT people across the country about coming out or about becoming more of an activist. Through those efforts, Campbell was able to mentor several LGBT men and women. “I have loved supporting them in their personal journey, both in and out of work,” she says.

Campbell believes there is still a big journey in the corporate world and in society around acceptance and normalizing trans-gender people. “Even in Sweden, which is fairly progressive, I am not sure I have seen any trans-supportive policies,” she says, although she notes that gender-neutral bathrooms are the norm.

For those reasons, it’s important to continue to be open and transparent—as a way to bring attention to LGBT issues and change hearts and minds.

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LGBTQ Update: Building A Rainbow Pipeline

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LGBT flag featured

By Aimee Hansen

In this month of a historic milestone towards LGBTQ rights in Congress, supported by an unprecedented number of business allies, theglasshammer explores the increasing business case for – and arguable inevitability of – greater LGBTQ executive leadership in the C-Suite.

Status: real progress amidst real discrimination.

According to Catalyst’s 2018 Quick Take, “72 countries prohibit discrimination in employment because of sexual orientation.” The U.S. has no federal protection for LGBT, no state-level protection for sexual orientation in 28 states and no gender identity protection in 30 states. 50% of the LGBTQ community lives in the 30 states that do not offer clear protection.

Policy wise at a corporate level, 91% of Fortune 500 companies have non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation. 83% include gender identity, 60% include domestic partner benefits and 58% include transgender-inclusive benefits. Interestingly as a comparable, only 21% of Fortune 500 firms offer paid family leave which is a very crucial topic that needs to be addressed regardless of who the primary caregiver is.

About a fifth of LGTBQ employees still experience discrimination when applying for jobs and have not been paid or promoted equally.

A recent study revealed that people who sounded ‘gay or lesbian’ (or gender a-typical) were less likely to be considered suitable for leadership positions, and were related to differently by heterosexual listeners.

Another study sent two virtually identical resumes to Fortune 100 companies that had both non-discrimination policies and LGBT ERGs, the only real difference in resumes being that one of the candidates indicated being president of a gay student alliance and the other president of a non-LGBT social club. The first resume was 40% less likely to get an interview.

According to Forbes and Todd Sears of Out Leadership, in 2019, “609 companies got a 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, yet ‘46% of LGBT employees in the US are still in the closet.’”

Outlook: a rainbow pipeline for LGBTQ leadership.

“Less than 0.5% of Fortune 500 CEOs are LGBT,” says Sears in Forbes. Yet he argues that while current C-Suite representation is underwhelming, it’s also on the cusp of a greater LGTBQ influx.

“If you look at the average age and tenure of CEOs in the Fortune 500, it’s in the mid to late-50s and their tenure is significant with a turnover of less than 2%,”says Sears. “So, if you’re looking for where the LGBT leaders are, there are a significant number of LGBT leaders one-level below the C-Suite.”

Sears emphasizes focusing on this level, at regional CEOs in Fortune 500 companies and at the higher number of “out” CEOs in mid-cap companies. These leaders are in the pipeline to take executive leadership, such as Beth Ford, the new CEO of Land O’Lakes, and the first openly gay woman CEO to run a Fortune 500 company.

In other words, it would appear there’s a rainbow pipeline on its way to displace the current ‘rainbow ceiling’.

Stanford’s LGBTQ Executive Leadership Program, now in its fourth year, has a a high profile for preparing executive bound LGBTQ senior professionals, with training including leading as your “genuine self” in “authentic leadership”. According to FT, the program has “spawned one of the school’s most active alumni networking groups.”

OutNEXT is also the first global talent development program for emerging LGBT in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. 1,100 young leaders have gone through this program in the last five years.

As part of the curriculum, Sears talks about helping emerging LGBT executives to comprehend their “gay vantage.” According to an Out study, 70% of tomorrow’s LGBT leaders see being gay as a positive influence on their careers (vs. less than 20% five years ago). Research has shown that LGBT people have a higher level of empathy, for example, an important quality in emotional intelligence and leadership.

Fact: businesses with LGBTQ representation in leadership perform better.

The business benefits of LGTBQ leadership are becoming increasingly clear, and Sear speaks to elevating the salience of “Return on Equality”, an economic benefit which “drives sustainable, bottom line growth.”

In a recent study by Marquette University, researchers looked at 88 companies that were members of the Wisconsin LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, of which 61% had one or more LGBT people in a top position.

The study found that businesses with LGBT senior leadership had higher overall “firm performance”, as well as noticeably higher scores in corporate social and environmental responsibility, high performance HR practices and workforce quality.

“This study supports what we have been saying for years: Having LGBT people in leadership positions, whether it’s as a CEO, a business owner, a part of senior management or on the board of directors, is good for a business’ bottom line,” said Jason Rae of the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce. “Simply put, diversity is good for business.”

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Intrepid Woman: Stephanie Sandberg, Executive Director, Team LPAC

Stephanie SandbergStephanie Sandberg is a fan of bringing your whole self to the lunch table, or anywhere.

“There’s so much energy that is consumed by not saying the things you are thinking,” she says. So right up front when she was at a business lunch and someone would ask what her husband does, she would blurt out early that she was with a woman. “It helped ease the conversation and provided me a sense of wholeness,” she says, in urging young gay people to be open with their reality.

A Career in Media As the Foundation for Her Current Work

Sandberg spent the first 25 years of her career in magazine publishing, working on marketing for titles like the L.A. Times, Newsweek and the New Yorker before becoming president and publisher of the New Republic and, later, executive publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review. Then she pivoted to consultant work.

After dabbling in a variety of projects, she realized she wanted to focus on one area and became interested in women’s leadership and the barriers to advancement women faced at the top echelons. Sandberg joined Out Leadership on a project basis, which aligned with her interests in diversity and inclusion.

But, she found, “inclusion” was often male-dominated.

“Lesbians are underrepresented, underleveraged and don’t have a voice at the table,” she says. “The gay world is very similar to the straight world in how gendered it is.”

So she helped the organization launch OutWOMEN, running discussion dinners to get people around the table.

“We realized that women don’t come together as intentionally around professional matters,” Sandberg notes, so they launched both formal and informal events. The satisfaction she derived from this work pointed her consulting in that direction, and she ended up at a holiday party for LPAC in 2018, where she learned they were looking for an executive director.

Leveraging the Voices of Gay Women

Today Sandberg heads LPAC as a political voice for the LGBTQ+ community. One of her first moves was officially shortening the name from “Lesbian Political Action Committee” to its acronym, as she found the name wasn’t embraced by everyone.

Then she began leveraging what she learned at OUTWomen about how women come together. Just as she had previously discovered that women prefer to socialize differently, she learned in her early days with LPAC that LGBTQ women’s political concerns are different, but rarely discussed as such. “Gay women don’t always have the same priorities as gay men,” she points out, adding that healthcare, choice and women’s equality are paramount to gay women. “We needed to carve out a place and build a voice for this subset from the LGBTQ community and address inequalities by championing candidates who support us.”

Right now her mission is to make sure the community knows about LPAC, particularly people who have the financial capacity to support the group. The biggest challenge, she finds, is building the group out to where potential donors not only know about it, but also choose it as a priority among so many worthy causes.

“If they understand that their investment is an investment in strengthening this community, and then convert that enthusiasm and awareness by including us in their giving, I will have done my job,” she says.

Sandberg believes that will come as they build empirical data about how they have amplified the effect for the candidates they endorse. To that end, they launched a nonprofit group Project LPAC and have a fundraising event—Levity and Justice for All –scheduled for June 25, the only official World Pride event specifically for women.

Sandberg has the benefit of knowing the work she does will benefit her personal life, too, including for her wife of 20 years and two daughters, ages 16 and 12, but she also knows the importance of making them the focal point of her life aside from work.

“While my work is important, a broader wholeness comes from have a balance; a lot of career people find themselves too deep in the work, and while it matters, it can’t at the expense of family,” she says. “You have to treasure being able to have family experiences at the end of the day; my main goal is to spend that time with my girls.”

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