Voice of Experience: Efrat Ravid, CMO, ContentSquare

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By Louise Magrathefrat

I’m a great believer that women have what it takes to be great engineers, says ContentSquare’s Efrat Ravid. “It’s imperative that more woman study engineering and technology to ensure that more women enter the field and become technology leaders. Women should be represented at least at a 50% ratio in engineering schools, in engineering companies, and in every aspect of the technology world.”

Encouraging Women to Enter the World of Technology

As an engineering student, Ravid was in a small class with 22 other students and only four of them were women. Many years later when she went for her MBA, she was in a class with 56 students, and still only six of them were women. Fifteen years later, and nothing had changed. Ravid was determined to play her part in changing this. “I wanted to make a difference, to encourage and support women in the world of technology to try and address this imbalance,” she says

She sees the demand in the market for engineers, and she knows that if women get their degree in engineering, they will be able to find great jobs and add value to their companies from day one.

Ravid began her career as an engineer, where she was sent to inland China to work directly with manufacturers and factories. Although a very young engineer at the time, she wanted to take the next step with her product and interact directly with customers to make better product versions. It was in doing this that she found her passion for the customer experience. She spent her time traveling around China and Korea and developed products that customers appreciated and got value from. “I was determined from the start to be successful, and through hard work, commitment and enthusiasm, I saw the business grow,” she comments.

Sponsorship and Mentoring of Women in Technology

Today, Ravid is the Chief Marketing Officer of an exciting SaaS company, and uses her position to mentor and sponsor other women. “I believe it is up to us as women to empower other women to become leaders in the technology industry,” she says

Ravid is passionate about hiring ambitious women who promise to do a fantastic job for ContentSquare. She believes that if women are capable and engaged that they will be successful no matter what their circumstances are (she employed the first female sales person for the US when she was six months pregnant) and comments, “When you are engaged, you are engaged. A woman can be amazing at many things at a time, and someone who is dedicated in one area can easily be dedicated in another.”

A week after this sales person was hired, she traveled with ContentSquare to a trade show in Las Vegas and she was amazing. She was the first one to show up, the last one to leave. This was a very successful woman who cared about her career, cared about her kids, and cared about her family. “I look for the value and talent in each person I hire, and take this mindset and apply it to everything that ContentSquare and I do,” she says.

Motivation for a Career in Technology Starts at Home

Ravid encourages her own children to enter in to a career in technology. Although she tells them that they can be whatever they want to be, she encourages them to study math and science.

Ravid’s daughter has accompanied her to work and was fascinated by all the successful women in the company (the head of product is a woman, many of the customer success managers are women and there are female operations managers as well). “She was so caught up with all the female role models she saw that she simply said at the end of the day ‘I’m in’,” she comments.

When Janine Tesori won her Tony Award in 2015 for Best Original Score, she told the crowd that as a young woman she didn’t realize she could have a career in music until she saw a woman act on Broadway. Holding up her Tony, she said, “For girls, you have to see it to be it. We stand on the shoulders of other women who have come before us.”

So to all the tech-women out there, Ravid thinks it’s time to bare our shoulders to the world, and give women a positive vision for success in technology.

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Voice of Experience: Kerone Vatel, Managing Director, Risk Division, Goldman Sachs

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KeroneBy Cathie Ericson

“When you have a seat at the table, use it,” advises Goldman Sachs’ Kerone Vatel. “In my 20s I often had an opportunity to interact with executives as part of strategic conversations, but I was reluctant to share my point of view. I know now that in each of those moments I missed an opportunity to influence the organization. I was more focused on my neuroses rather than on the value I could add, but recognizing this has helped to sharpen my focus and my approach in the workplace.”

Adventures in Careers: From Engineering to Business Success

Kerone studied chemical engineering at MIT, a field she pursued and was interested in as her father had been an engineer. While she was drawn to the way engineers are trained to review, evaluate and solve problems, she ultimately realized that rather than publishing research in academic journals – a career many of her classmates were pursuing – she was motivated to use her skills to disrupt existing processes.

She parlayed that interest into a career in business, initially seeking a private equity role. However, just three days before she was supposed to begin her new position, came “Career Stumbling Block Number One,” as the firm let go her entire analyst group.

Undaunted, Kerone sought the counsel of MIT’s career department, which directed her towards Capital One. The company was pioneering a novel approach to leveraging analytics and data, which interested her. Kerone joined as an analyst in the business development group, where she leveraged her math and coding skills to help grow the portfolio of low-risk credit card assets. She also attributes her six and a half years at Capital One with providing her the platform to understand strategy and analyze consumer needs.

Kerone soon relocated to New York, where her husband worked on Wall Street. They were starting a family, which made her commute to Virginia difficult. While on maternity leave, her husband was supportive and encouraged her to consider every option. She soon realized that she couldn’t leave her baby and commute up and down the East Coast, and subsequently made the difficult decision to leave Capital One.

Soon the time was right to investigate new options, and she applied for a role in Derivatives Operations Risk at Goldman Sachs, which she assumed would be a 9- to-5 type job. While her new position proved to be far more immersive, she enjoyed the challenge of a new role, and then decided to pivot her career even further, leveraging her experience in writing code. She found analytics projects to “tinker with,” as she describes it. Under the leadership of a female managing director, she helped to improve efficiencies and highlight high-risk issues in the Operations Division.

From there she moved into a new role, where her team partnered with the Strategist group, many of whom had quantum math and science backgrounds. She eventually transferred to the Operational Risk group in a firmwide role, where she was brought in to support strategy and help develop a more centralized construct when thinking about the full range of operational risk exposure, from technology issues to natural disasters. It’s a position she finds particularly fascinating as she has helped grow the team significantly and developed strong partnerships and collaborations as the firm reframed its approach to Operational Risk management.

Looking ahead, Kerone is excited about Goldman Sachs’ launch into the consumer market, and the opportunity to increase purchasing power and bring the firm’s best-in-class fiduciary services to Main Street.

Words of Wisdom Gleaned Along the Way – And Passed Along

Kerone has learned a number of valuable lessons during her journey; chief among them is to bring your whole self to work. “I felt relatively unsure of myself until I hit my mid-30s and always tried to morph myself into the styles of the people around me,” she says. “Today, I just focus on being my best self and no longer feel pressure to adapt a style that is foreign to me.”

For example, she recently had a colleague comment that she looked particularly serious one morning. “I’d had a tough morning with the kids, which I shared with my colleague. It’s ok to bring yourself to work and to show vulnerability, but it’s very important to provide team members with the context for what’s happening and why.”

In a similar vein, Kerone recommends that women never worry alone. She believes that it is important to leverage the collective ideas and history of the organization to ensure success. When she’s asked to take on a difficult new project, she will always say “yes,” but now realizes the importance of soliciting advice upfront to tease out pitfalls and key enablers and to collect diverse points of view to shape the solution. “Earlier in my career, I kept my head down and worked extremely long hours – in retrospect, I wish that I had harnessed the power of the broader group or advocated for more resources.”

And finally, her work at Goldman Sachs has cemented the important lesson of, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, bring others with you.” Being named managing director was a defining moment as she reflected on the people who had mentored and sponsored her, in addition to junior colleagues from whom she’d learned along the way. “In that moment when I learned I was being named a managing director, it was so clear that everything is due to the effort of a group, all of us pushing things through together by working toward common goals.”

Kerone currently serves as the Risk Division sponsor for Goldman Sachs’ Women’s Career Strategies Initiative (WCSI), a group whose emphasis is on advocating for women who are on the cusp of being promoted to vice president. The purpose is to help women form connections throughout the firm and in their divisions, as well as learn the rules of the road from senior professionals.

“It’s important to me to help younger people get a head start as they begin their careers,” she says.

Taking Time For Herself and Her Family

Last year, Kerone committed to taking at least one short vacation each month to recharge, which she has enjoyed. She also recently took up snowboarding, a big step after a skiing accident early in her 20s.

But most importantly, Kerone savors the time she spends with her husband and her children, ages 11 and 7, gardening with others on their block in Bedford Stuyvesant. They have replanted trees that had been ravaged by storms and brightened the neighborhood with flowers, efforts that paid off after recently being named “The Greenest Block in Brooklyn.”

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Voice of Experience: Helen Cook, Counsel, Shearman & Sterling

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 By Cathie EricsonHelen Cook

Helen Cook describes her career as a jagged line veering all over the place. A native Australian, she first started at a law firm there, but took a job in Dubai sight unseen after being bit by the travel bug. Working on energy and infrastructure projects in the Middle East region, she developed a specialty in nuclear energy, which she took to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and then to Shearman & Sterling, where she is a counsel in the Washington, DC office. Today she focuses on international nuclear law, a field she never dreamed of entering, particularly given that Australia has no nuclear power plants.

Harnessing the Opportunities in Nuclear

“Had I known I would eventually enter this field, I might have combined my law degree with an engineering or science degree; because as a nuclear lawyer you have to understand the basic technicalities of nuclear energy, but I’ve done my best to learn on the job and from people in the industry,” she says.

In fact, along the way she even wrote a legal textbook, The Law of Nuclear Energy, not long after she had ventured into the nuclear sector. After complaining that there were few useful resources available for lawyers starting out in the area, a former mentor encouraged her to write the book she would have found useful. The resulting piece was published in 2013, and a second edition is currently in the works.

Since there are relatively few new nuclear new build projects in the world today, she considers herself extremely privileged to be working on the largest – a deal that is close to being finalized after a two-year investment of time in the Middle East. In addition, she is working on two in the UK and one in Turkey.

Nuclear is a complicated industry, but despite its challenges she believes that the focus on climate change in global energy policy should see enhanced recognition of the benefits of nuclear energy. “The nuclear industry also needs to more clearly and credibly articulate the potential of nuclear energy to help achieve global warming goals,” she says, adding that its emissions are comparable to those of wind power and hydroelectric power.

Challenges and Opportunities in Conquering the Industry as a Younger Woman

The generational imbalance in nuclear industry started around in the 1990s when people left the industry after Chernobyl, so she says there’s a lot of gray hair at most major nuclear conferences – and it’s mostly on men. “It’s probably hard to find a more male-dominated sector out there,” she says. And, a lot of her work is in the Middle East, where being a professional female can be more challenging.

Her hope is that more young women will be interested in a career in the sector, but she acknowledges they have to be willing to be bold and challenge themselves to do things that might seem out of step – citing the book she authored as an example. “If my boss hadn’t suggested I write it, it wouldn’t have occurred to me, but it helped establish my personal brand and reputation in the market,” she notes.

At Shearman & Sterling, she considers herself fortunate that there are many strong women leaders in the project development and finance practice and throughout the firm, as well as male mentors, who are willing to push you forward. “It’s crucial that men will put you in a room full of other men and not hesitate to give you the lead negotiating role. There have been a number of male partners who have been instrumental in pushing me into leadership roles, which have had tremendous impact on my success as a woman,” she says.

Since her work most often entails a weekly grueling international flight or two, she realizes more than most the value of coming home, where it feels like a vacation as soon as she walks in the door. Her ideal vacation at home? Going for a run around the Georgetown waterfront and cooking a meal with her partner in the evening.

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Mover and Shaker: Michelle Pokrzywinski, Vice President of IT, WEX

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 By Cathie EricsonMichelle

Mentors and sponsors are the glue that holds a career together, says WEX’s Michelle Pokrzywinski. “Throughout my career, my needs have been different and I find role models and mentors all over – within my team, in the company and outside in the general professional world,” she says. “Whatever qualities or skills you are looking for at any given time can be found if you look around.”

Expanding From Technical Skills to Managerial Activities

At the time Pokrzywinski started her career in technology, she understood very little about what career paths could look like with a computer science major. Her education had been focused on technical topics, rather than how to use that knowledge to drive business, but after starting in software development, she immediately knew her interest extended to the management arena. At that point, she proactively broadened her experience with assignments in project management, IT service management and quality management. For close to 15 years she’s been a part of companies that were precursors to WEX, where she currently serves as vice president of IT.

“I now know a career has to be managed, and you have to know how your efforts create value in the business,” she says. “There are many fulfilling paths to success so you have to continuously define what that means to you.” And her role, where she can try new technology and tools and help the company be more efficient with its resources, is a perfect fit.

Teamwork Makes the Difference

Along the way she has benefitted from sponsors who advocated for her, some behind the scenes so she wasn’t even aware. One who had a meaningful impact was a manager who recommended her for the masters of science program in the Management of Technology (MOT) early in her career. The company only sponsored one applicant every two years, and when she expressed interest, he went to bat for her and assisted throughout the application process. “I was so grateful he invested in me as I benefitted so much,” she says, adding that while that was a visible example, she knows there are many others who have helped create the opportunities she has had.

While Pokrzywinski is proud of her many technical achievements, one of her most noteworthy moments was when she was able to take a disparate group of individuals and quickly create a team atmosphere that allowed them to function cohesively and consistently for a large software development project she was operating.

“When you have the right team, it has a ripple effect as they all come together,” she says, noting that managers should focus their efforts on determining what each member needs, so that all those smaller components will coalesce. “You’ll gain collaboration, efficiency and unlimited success when you do the right thing by your team members by putting them in roles where they can succeed.”

And that is a key ingredient in what she considers her recipe for success: Surrounding yourself with good people, who feel they can be honest because you are attuned to listening to them and helping them deliver results.

Pokrzywinski believes in the importance of mentoring, and early in her career was part of the Menttium 100 program, which is focused on helping women gain the strategies needed for success.  About five years ago she also participated in an IT mentoring program through Think IT, a service of York Solutions.

An active community volunteer, Pokrzywinski enjoys her time working in a local non-profit resale shop that serves both the general public with high-quality, low-cost merchandise, and local families in need with free clothing, household goods and furniture. She especially loves her role working directly with families and matching their specific needs with the appropriate donated items.

“Everyone should give back when they can,” she says. “It broadens your perspective and is an enriching way to get out of your day-to-day routine by helping others.”

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Voice of Experience: Sheridan Ash, Technology and Investments Director, PwC UK; Women in Technology Leader for PwC UK

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By Cathie Ericson

It can be intimidating to be faced with a male-dominated culture, notes PwC’s Sheridan Ash. While she has learned to be resilient, she stresses she didn’t always feel that way, struggling with worry that was disproportionate. While she has since become proactive about managing her career, she believes she could have reached her potential sooner if she’d done that earlier. “I help myself by helping others,” she says, adding that her drive comes from helping other people avoid some of the road blocks she encountered.

From Model to Tech Leader

Ash is proud of the winding road her career has taken, from school dropout to a catwalk model to her current post as technology and investments director.

Schoolwork was a challenge, as she suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia, so she left at age 15 and launched a modeling career in London, with a specialty of catwalk modeling that allowed her to travel from Milan to Paris. After having a son at a young age, she realised she needed a more stable career path and went back to school while her son was a baby to earn her degree, landing a position in the pharmaceutical business.

Although she knew she wanted to pursue additional studying, she approached it with trepidation, since schoolwork wasn’t easy given her dyslexia: Nevertheless Ash found a way to compensate and overcame the challenge to earn her MBA at Imperial College. That’s where she began looking at technology from a health perspective, working with the National Health Service and private health care providers. Winning an award for having the best dissertation gave her an excellent boost of confidence, further augmented by her work as a research assistant for some professors writing a book on technology and innovation.

“I was hooked,” she says, joining consulting firm Accenture in the health tech team and then moving to PwC first with the health team, but then ascending as she saw an opportunity to grow the business, ultimately working for the head of technology and investments across the entire firm.

Nurturing the Next Generation

Ash is particularly proud of the Women in Tech group she helped launch when she realized there was clearly a diversity issue in the technology team. Celebrating its fourth anniversary in November, it has been successful in attracting and retaining women as they address what she calls a societal problem with not enough young women choosing to pursue tech careers.

Her work with the group has also raised her own profile within the firm, in part leading to her current role where she is helping implement what she calls “massive change” within PwC. “We want to be the leading tech-enabled professional services firm, and while we already do a lot of great work in technology, I am proud to be leading the strategy work on developing our capabilities in technology innovation and how emerging technologies are converging to create new businesses utilising such advances as blockchain and drones.”

She sees the two goals intersecting, as they develop new businesses and ways of working while at the same time focusing on how to attract women into those types of jobs. One opportunity she sees is in demonstrating to women how tech has a positive impact on the world. “Women need to feel that what they do has a large impact,” she notes.

While there is considerable bias given the primarily male-dominated workplace, she says that 90 percent of the time it’s not intentional but inevitable that behaviors and cultures develop around specific types of people and what they like.

“Tackling that unconscious bias is one of the key challenges we need to overcome,” she says, and more role models is an important place to start.

On that note, she encourages women to be observant when they apply for a job about whether the company has a well-publicized and open program around diversity and gender. “Think about whether they put a female in front of you for an interview or had diversity represented at recruiting events,” she says, as that will tell you what their culture is truly like.

And women at her stage need to be actively involved in helping to develop the next generation, as more than mentors but as champions and proactive ambassadors for at least one person to help them develop and get promoted.

To that end, she has formed a group with some external partners and together they have developed a manifesto to work together as a group of companies to tackle the issue of women in technology.

Her passion for helping women has extended to small investments she has recently made to help women in developing countries become capable of running their own businesses, as part of a focus to help women in other countries become independent.

Even with her busy career and passion for supporting women, Ash takes time to travel. “Because I had my son young and didn’t get together with my partner until later in life, we have been making up for lost time over the past seven years,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Elizabeth Byrnes, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Engineering

Liz By Cathie Ericson

Elizabeth Byrnes knows that you have to find your voice to be successful in your career. “You can have a great idea but unless you share it by confidently speaking up in the workplace, you won’t be able to effectively influence people and shape outcomes. Engineering is an interactive process — every day teams come up with new ideas and brainstorm together to refine them. When you exhibit passion and enthusiasm for your work, others are excited to work alongside you.”

She says that it took her awhile to find a leadership style that worked well and was consistent with her personality and values. “When I was young, I thought I needed to mimic how others led, but over time I figured out that while I could incorporate qualities I admired in others, I needed to stay true to who I am and incorporate them into my own personal leadership style, which I continue to refine and improve to this day.”

Building a strong, diverse network of colleagues and friends has also been an essential ingredient in Byrnes’ success. “I am more effective when I have people to bounce ideas off and people who have perspectives and skills different than my own. Relationships across our firm and throughout the industry and community at large are super valuable. These are people I can call on to provide advice and help think through and solve hard problems.”

Artificial Intelligence Paves the Way to Wall Street

Byrnes knows first-hand that you’re not always going to be aware of all existing job possibilities initially upon entering the workforce. For example, when she was pursuing her PhD in psychology, she developed an expertise in artificial intelligence and expert systems after analyzing ways to have computers interpret and summarize psychological tests. At the time, most of her colleagues saw computers as number-crunching machines not well suited to the human sciences. But, Byrnes saw an opportunity for computers to help with patient care and speed diagnosis. Not everyone in the psychology industry agreed, she says, and resistance to change was high. “I learned that it’s not enough just to have a great idea, you have to understand how to drive adoption and influence change—a very important lesson!”

After completing her PhD, she joined her professor’s software start-up in the healthcare field before eventually joining Wall Street.

“Wall Street and the financial services industry are very open-minded to technological innovation, which is refreshing and exciting,” she says. “I realized this was an industry I could grow and thrive in, and I have. There is never a shortage of complicated problems to solve and super smart and motivated people to help solve them, which means I am never bored and love my work.”

Upon joining the financial services industry, she initially worked at Manufacturers Hanover and Bankers Trust before joining Merrill Lynch, where she spent 11 years in various technology and leadership roles. She moved to Goldman Sachs in 2007 and today leads the Global Investment Research Technology group.

“When I think about what’s important now in the industry, most roads lead to data. You can’t make decisions without good data, and there has been an increase in appreciation for data modelling, analytics, entitlements and governance,” Byrnes said. “A common thread is ensuring individuals have timely access to the information they need to make informed decisions, while at the same time protecting and safeguarding this data.”

Building a Pipeline by Reaching Girls Before They Opt Out

As co-head of the Americas Women in Technology Network (WIT), Byrnes is committed to growing diverse talent and reaching and inspiring the next generation of women computer engineers. She knows firsthand the importance of building a pipeline – women only comprise 17 percent of computer science graduates in the United States. “We have to build a foundation, and the numbers aren’t where we need them to be. We have to reach back into the junior high schools and high schools to encourage girls to learn to code and to pursue studies in computer science at university,” she says. Meeting this need spurred her to champion Goldman Sachs’ partnership with Girls who Code (GWC).

Goldman Sachs was the first financial services firm to partner with GWC in 2013. Since that initial partnership, Goldman Sachs hosts 40 high school girls each summer at the firm’s New York headquarters. Over 100 WIT volunteers serve as mentors, curriculum advisors, event coordinators and speakers over the summer. “It is a true team effort,” says Byrnes. But this engagement doesn’t stop once the summer program ends. “We can’t just teach them when they’re 16 and then step back, because there are too many opportunities for them to get discouraged along the way,” Byrnes points out.

With her WIT colleagues, she helped create an alumni program to host quarterly meet-ups so the girls have an opportunity to stay connected via a supportive community of friends and role models and continuously learn about technical topics and careers. Over the summer, 80 girls attended an alumni event that focused on cybersecurity.

“Having these students see other women in technical roles is a very powerful way to give young women confidence and introduce them to the community, which is good for the industry overall. We need to reach these girls before they opt out.” Once girls enter the engineering workforce, she encourages them to stay technical. Often, women join the workforce with communications and people skills, and then are routed into project management or business analyst roles too early, which can short circuit their technical learning.

She encourages her colleagues to mentor young women, which she believes is critically important to success and retention. “We have to link arms as a community and help the next generation,” she says. “I felt like I had to make a go of it on my own and it doesn’t have to be that way. We can change the industry by encouraging more young women to enter computer science and then offering the coaching and support system to retain them.”

Byrnes is also active with organizations such as Columbia Girls in STEM and Lesbians Who Tech. She recently attended the annual Grace Hopper conference, which convenes female engineers and students to discuss updates in the industry.

Outside of work, Byrnes enjoys horseback riding with her daughters, playing with her golden retrievers and cooking and entertaining with her husband. “Being with family and friends is the best,” she says.

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Intrepid Woman: Nikki Barua, CEO, BeyondCurious

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Fear is imaginary, says entrepreneur Nikki Barua. “The more you focus on it, the more it grows, and the only way to overcome fear is to replace it with faith. I have always had faith in myself, my team and my purpose and that’s what fuels my confidence.”Nicki B

She finds that most people go through their lives worrying about losing love, money or job security. “That fear can keep you from taking risks. Imagine the life you could create if you weren’t gripped by fear. Imagine doing what you love and not worrying about how people view you or not being defined by other people’s expectations of you.”

A Career Built on Helping Companies Thrive in Disruption

Barua knows all too well the importance of moving past those fears. An immigrant from India, she came to America in 1997 for business school. After graduation, she built her career first in management consulting, and then in digital marketing, honing her skills as a digital innovator and a business leader in the corporate world.

As she helped global brands transform their business with digital solutions, she noticed that many clients struggled with the pace of change in technology, competition and customer expectations. Big brands needed to be more agile and adapt quickly to change and needed to think and act with the agility of a startup, she found. “They needed an entrepreneurial culture designed for change. That challenge fascinated me, and I was obsessed with a singular question, ‘How do you make elephants run?’”

That question led to her entrepreneurial journey: She left her corporate career and the prestige and security that accompanies that territory and started her business with no clients, no case studies and barely any capital.

“All I had was a clear purpose — to unlock the limitless potential of people and organizations. That clarity gave me the courage to take the steps forward despite my fears, learning to navigate through unknown territory,” she says.

Although she had managed P&Ls and led people, she nevertheless felt unprepared for the challenges of building a business from scratch. As she describes it, each day was filled with untold challenges and gut- wrenching setbacks, followed by big successes and unexpected victories. As she kept learning and adapting, BeyondCurious soon became a successful business, and Barua reveled in her successful transition from corporate leader to entrepreneur.

Along the way, she discovered an important truth that has been the foundation of her success: Whether you work in a big corporation or run your own business, the fundamentals are the same — delight your customer, inspire your team and keep innovating.

Bold Dreams Will Define Your Success

Barua remembers daydreaming about her future as a young girl in India, and how big the dreams seemed at the time. But eventually those dreams came true so she dreamed bigger and bigger. “The lesson I learned is that you only achieve what you dream of, so if your dreams aren’t big, your achievements won’t be either,” Barua notes. “When you dream big, your creativity is unleashed; your confidence grows; your potential is unlocked; and you break barriers of what you thought was possible for yourself and for the world.”

As her company has succeeded, she has found that her biggest challenge is growing herself along with the organization. She advises other entrepreneurs to stay hungry, keep learning and get comfortable being uncomfortable. “When you embrace the discomfort of not knowing, you are able to learn at an exponential rate,” she says.

Along with dreams comes action, and Barua believes firmly you have to stand for what you believe in. “Be authentic in your culture and leadership, and build a tribe of believers that have a shared sense of purpose and core values,” she says. “A movement is more powerful than any organization.”

Proving Herself as a Change Agent

Today’s world is experiencing disruption across the board — in society, government, technology and culture. “When the things we believed in and the rules we lived by no longer hold true, it presents an opportunity to create something better and more meaningful,” Barua says, adding that leaders have the privilege and the responsibility of shaping the world the way they wish it to be.

That’s why it’s so important not to just be business leaders or entrepreneurs, but to be inspiring role models and purpose-driven change agents.

She believes the ultimate purpose of leadership is to unlock the potential in others by giving people a platform to be their best and creating an environment where people thrive because they are constantly learning, growing and breaking barriers. She has found that when people are aligned around shared values and connections, they are more fulfilled.

She herself has a mission to unlock the potential of a billion people – talk about dreaming big!

“I believe we are all limitless, but we are held back when we lack the clarity, courage or conviction to go beyond our barriers,” she says.

“I am deeply passionate about being a catalyst that helps people unlock that limitless potential. It’s what I love to do above all else and what has fueled all my career success,” she says.

“As an entrepreneur, educator, public speaker, author and social activist, everything I do is aligned to that singular mission. Every day is about taking courageous action, learning, adapting and never giving up.”

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Voice of Experience: Mary O’Hara, Partner, Human Resource Services, PwC Ireland

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By Cathie Ericsonmary

There is great value in being able to simplify complex problems, says PwC’s Mary O’Hara, but it’s something you might not realize when you’re starting out and are impressed by technical talk and “consultancy speak.”

“Technical excellence is a prerequisite in my role, but the trick is you have to be able to talk about it in simple terms so that you bring everyone in the room along with you so they feel like they can engage with the issue and aren’t excluded. You have to learn to eliminate jargon to get your message across.”

One Firm, Many Roles

And certainly her technical expertise is vast. During her younger years, O’Hara developed a love of STEM subjects, studying applied mathematics, physics and accountancy. Upon graduation she looked into options in engineering, actuarial and accounting, and was delighted to receive a job offer from PwC to join its training program.

Although she has spent her entire career there, she notes there’s never a feeling of sameness, as both the firm and her role have transformed immeasurably and been reinvented numerous times over the years.

Since she built her career there, being named partner is the professional achievement she is most proud of so far, along with raising a family. And she has overseen remarkable growth in her business division, which started with just a handful of people and has since grown to more than 120 professionals. She’s also proud of the gender balance – of the six partners in her division, half are women.

Her work now entails supporting multinational companies in rewarding and mobilizing their workforces — work that is changing along with the ability to work anywhere and be connected by technology. But while technology assists in many kinds of work, it can block engagement with coworkers and clients if you’re not thoughtful about it. “Email is great, but you still need to breathe the air with them,” she says. “You have to make technology work for you without interfering with relationships.”

As with most industries, her clients are affected by megatrends and technological breakthroughs, such as robotics and AI, as well as the proliferation of data and the importance of leveraging analytics to help companies to make better business decisions.

These advances, which are fundamentally changing the environment in which we all work, will be especially important to the coming generations and will present both great challenges and great opportunities, she notes. “To succeed, businesses must adapt to the changing ways that people work and help companies navigate them to have an engaged workforce.”

As the speed of change has accelerated over the past five years, it has instilled a desire in younger generations to know the purpose they serve and focus on development, through new experiences in new places. And, these new generations want to be part of an organization that has strong value systems, so she finds it an exciting challenge to help employers navigate these new waters.

Helping Women Achieve and Advance

O’Hara believes that any conversation about gender equity starts with making sure that the business case is properly understood — for all stakeholders to realize why a diverse gender pool is important. Then you can examine the culture in your organization and identify what biases exist.

While it can appear to be a benign bias, if women are not given opportunities to advance their careers, you have to break down what the issues are.

Sometimes it’s a need for a sponsor who can accelerate exposure for women. It’s important to embrace the effect that sponsorship can play in a career trajectory, when women have someone early in their career advocating for them and bolstering their career progression.

“You have to take ownership of your career from day one, and seek out opportunities to enhance your experiences, build a strong professional network and collect and act on feedback,” she says.

She believes it’s important for women in her position to talk about issues and get them out in the open. “It’s not a mystery how we got to where we are, but those of us in senior positions need to remember that the climb itself can be so hard that it might dissuade talented women. While our senior roles might be challenging, they are often more doable because of the autonomy we now have, which is often a well-kept secret that might encourage others.”

O’Hara is heartened by the fact that gender diversity is on the PwC agenda, starting from the top. If they are not bringing through equal numbers of men and women, they have a conversation about why and how to fix it.

PwC in Ireland has also established a diversity council around four pillars: international, gender, GLEE and generational, with people throughout the organization at different levels helping to figure out what can make a difference on the ground. “Our focus is on engaging with our people, valuing differences and helping everyone to be the best they can be” she says.

Outside of work, her time is devoted to her family, which includes her husband, young son, and five step children, as well as a close-knit circle of friends.

And she brings her focus on gender diversity outside of her immediate firm, serving on the steering committee of the 30% Club in Ireland as one of the founding members in 2014. The 30% Club is a group of Chairs and CEOs committed to better gender balance at all levels of their organisations through voluntary actions.

“It’s been a phenomenal journey to see what can be done within leading organisations, including professional services firms, to promote gender balances as we share ideas and best practices.” But she notes that while it’s been a way she can give back to the wider business community, she ends up being as much a receiver, given the wide network she’s earned through her time with the group. “It’s very rewarding to be part of something that’s making a difference,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Vidya Lakshmi, Managing Director, Head of Human Capital Management, Goldman Sachs, Bengaluru

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Lakshmi

By Cathie Ericson

“A senior leader once asked me asked me about which seat I would choose when I enter a conference room and I promptly responded that I’d like to be seated in a quiet corner. The advice I received was to take a central position in the conference room to ensure that I was heard.” Vidya Lakshmi says she encourages women to be deliberate about their career by building technical expertise and firmly being rooted in one’s passion.

An Illustrious Career Spanning Functions and Locations

Born in India, Vidya spent a large part of her childhood in Kenya. She moved back to India and enrolled in college to complete her bachelor’s degree in economics.  She then earned her Chartered Accountancy degree (CPA equivalent), and began her journey in the corporate world.

In her first job as an auditor with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Vidya gained exposure to clients across different industries, had the opportunity to travel and strengthened her technical skillset as an auditor.

Vidya joined Goldman Sachs in 2004 and with no background in banking, her foray into the world of investment banking was one of the risks she took early on in her career that paid healthy dividends. Looking back on this decision, she encourages women to step out of their comfort zone, learn to say an emphatic ‘yes’ to opportunities and be vocal about their ambitions.  

She spent her first five years at Goldman Sachs in banking, initially in India and then relocated to New York in 2007. Working in investment banking in the middle of the financial crisis in New York was a key learning moment in her career. “The New York stint taught me resilience, the need to make tough decisions and pushed me to strive for excellence in everything I do,” says Vidya.

Since then, Vidya has relocated back to India and has held multiple roles, including serving as the Chief of Staff to the CEO of Goldman Sachs Bengaluru, building the analytic and quantitative capabilities in the Securities Division and running a myriad of functions within Human Capital Management.

In 2016, Vidya assumed her current role as head of Human Capital Management in Bengaluru. Currently, she is excited about engaging and hiring top engineering talent from engineering campuses across India to address cutting-edge areas such as machine learning, process automation and workflow digitization. Another key aspect of her role is responding to the needs of a millennial talent pool, as 85 percent of the Bengaluru office is composed of millennials.

Helping Overcome Cultural Norms and Other Challenges for Women

 Vidya observes that Indian women typically step back from their careers in order to balance family life, and are likely to quit jobs mid-career due to the “double burden syndrome,” a culture in which both men and women feel family and household duties are primarily a woman’s responsibility. Due to these social norms, she says organizations play a critical role in fostering an environment that supports and retains women in the workforce.

“My husband is a CPA, and given the strong career trajectories we both have had, the traditional roles expected to be played by husband and wife have become blurred. We have supported each other through the highs and lows of our careers. For example, my children recently spent two years in Zurich with my husband while he was on assignment, while I stayed in Bengaluru to continue working at Goldman Sachs.”  She believes that one of the biggest decisions a woman makes in her life is the partner she chooses to spend her life with.

  In her career, Vidya has learned that women need to be wary of understating their own abilities and that one way to bolster their career is through sponsorship. “Unlike mentors, sponsors go beyond career advice and are invested in one’s career,” she notes. “Finding sponsors for women within an organization and investing in those relationships can help create a strong pipeline.”

Vidya is involved in a number of initiatives, including Women Emerging in Finance, which aims to dispel myths young Indian women may have about the financial services industry, particularly regarding work/life balance, that may keep them from pursuing a finance career. Every year, they aspire to speak with at least 1,000 young women across engineering and management campuses, to provide them with more information to make an informed decision and encourage them to join the financial services industry – and ideally — Goldman Sachs.

Vidya understands the challenges women face in the workplace throughout various life stages.  She has experienced the benefits of leveraging the infrastructure the firm provides to continue to pursue her career. An example that stands out is Goldman Sachs’ on-site Children’s center, which she is proud to oversee in her current role.

“Life throws us many curveballs. I have learned to stay the course, build resilience and in moments of doubt, to reflect on my own journey,” Vidya recommends.

A Full Life Outside of Work

Vidya loves learning new languages and is currently learning German on the weekends. “It was a passion I left behind when I got busy in the corporate world, and I am thrilled that I have intentionally carved out time to do something I enjoy,” she says.

She also loves spending time with her two boys, Harsh and Aditya, and enjoys traveling with them. In the last two years Vidya and her family have traveled extensively across Europe.

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Mover and Shaker: Katherine Ferguson, Vice President, Marketing, WEX

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By Cathie EricsonKatherine Ferguson

When considering the path of your career, one factor that WEX’s Katherine Ferguson always suggests younger women focus on is sponsorship. She says it’s vital not only to have someone who is supportive of your path, but is willing to take risks to advocate for you and pull you up. “Find that person and build a relationship, and it will serve you well throughout your career,” she says.

For her part, she says she has been fortunate to have had experience working with amazing leaders who have served as models as she attempts to emulate the qualities she admires, including a calm presence, authenticity and supportive leadership.

“I have learned how important relationships are, and how you have to take the time to nurture them, whether they are colleagues, peers, team members or those in senior roles,” she says. “Often when you enter your career, you are focused on getting the work done, but you have to remember to take the time to network and develop relationships that will be instrumental in your path for years to come.”

Searching For and Finding Her Passion

After completing degrees in art history and accounting, Ferguson began a career in accounting, including a stint at the Smithsonian that tied her two interests together. She soon decided that she wanted to move out of accounting and realized marketing appealed to her, with the balance of creativity, data and analytics.

Ferguson joined American Express out of graduate school and spent 14 years there serving different customer and geographic segments. She then decided she wanted to take her experience to a company that was smaller, but growing fast, where she would have an impactful role transforming the brand and customer experiences.

WEX was a perfect fit, particularly due to its culture. Having grown up with a father who was an executive, she had some sense of what the corporate world would be like, but over her career she has grown to appreciate the fact that each company has a different culture that impacts your career and working environment. That has helped inform her path along the way, as she assesses the culture of various roles and then strives to build a great culture among her team.

Right now, she is enjoying challenging her team as they elevate marketing into a best-in-class organization, including launching new products, new partnerships and new customer journeys.

One of her secrets to success is to hire people who are smarter than you, set them up for success, then get out of their way, she says.

A Focus on Mentoring Women

Currently, Ferguson is working with two senior executives on a recently launched women’s network. “I’ve been so impressed by WEX in general and the importance it places on supporting women, from our female CEO, cascading down to numerous senior female executives and beyond. This emphasis really speaks to our community and culture,” she says.

The network is designed to help build a community of women throughout the organization who will support each other and collaborate through common challenges. “It’s a concept that’s near and dear to my heart,” Ferguson says.

Aside from the many hats she wears at work, Ferguson makes time to find balance in her life — from spending time with her family to nurturing friendships and giving back to the community.

A recent newcomer to the Portland area, she has jumped right in, joining the boards of the Portland Museum of Art and United Way. She is also very proud of the time she spent mentoring a refugee student from Somalia at Portland High School last year. Although the woman spoke four languages, English was not one of them until she arrived in the United States, so Ferguson helped her with her school work and the college application process, celebrating the fact that she is now a student at the University of Southern Maine.

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