Melinda Cora: Principal, Head of Product Implementation and Project Management at PGIM Quantitative Solutions

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Melinda Cora“I’m a firm believer in the power of personal brand. When you see a particular logo – like Apple, Starbucks or Nike – you immediately have feelings associated with that entity,” says Melinda Cora. “When someone sees my name appear on their phone or in an email, my desire has always been that the brand I’ve developed makes them want to answer my call or read my message and engage with me. My hope is that they have positive feelings and thoughts, based on my work and experiences with them.”

Carving Her Own Trajectory

Growing up in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a low-income and predominantly Hispanic and Black community, Melinda recognized the lack of resources around her (vacations often meant opening a fire hydrant on hot summer days) and how it contrasted with the untapped wealth of talent. She was motivated to carve a different trajectory for herself and recounts that one of her earliest supporters in this regard was her fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Aievoli, who noticed Melinda’s potential and giftedness and inspired her to grow.

“She invested her time in preparing me to test for a specialized middle school. My acceptance into the school put me on a path to graduate high school at the top of my class at 16 years old,” Melinda recalls.

With hard-working Puerto Rican parents who hadn’t had the opportunity to pursue higher education, school guidance counselors who lacked the frame to point her towards scholarships, and a family mentality of avoiding debt and needing to make ends meet, she attained her associates degree in just 1.5 years before taking on a full-time role as a legal secretary at 18 years old in the M&A department of Shearman & Sterling LLC. It was in that role that Melinda began the practice of learning through observing and quickly became an asset to her team.

“I knew there was something wrong with the equation, and I wanted to be a part of making it right. We had pounds of hard labor workers in my community but a lack of role models who could demonstrate that it was possible to enter a variety of industries, and that lit a fire in me,” says Melinda. “I wanted to be able to go back years later and say, ‘I’ve had a successful career. I’ve been able to break out of this mold. And guess what? You can, too.’”

She was soon promoted to a marketing coordinator role at Shearman, before one of the lawyers she’d worked with called on her for an opportunity at Equavant. When that same lawyer again moved to Lehman Brothers, she called on Melinda again. After seven years at Lehman, where she was an operations analyst and later, a member of an alternative investment management team, Melinda was sponsored by another former colleague for a project management role at PGIM Quantitative Solutions (then known as QMA), a leading quantitative investment manager owned by PGIM, the investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc.

“Multiple times in my career, former managers and colleagues picked up the phone and offered me some type of pivotal change,” says Melinda. “They believed in me and recognized my drive and many strengths. With each opportunity, I assessed whether it was the right, progressive next step in my career, and once I gave my ‘yes,’ I also gave those roles my all.”

Melinda knew she’d acquired the experience and network, but recognized that if it weren’t for sponsors, her lack of a bachelor’s degree may have filtered her resume out of the interviewing process: “I realized that I needed to go back to school, even though I was in my 30s,” reflects Melinda. “So, I became a full-time working wife and mother of three children—who was also earning her bachelor’s degree. I graduated Summa Cum Laude and have also taken several MBA courses to date.”

Striving For Excellence

“I appreciate that perfection is a myth. However, striving for excellence has been a driving factor for me. If it has my name attached to it, I want to do it with excellence,” says Melinda, speaking to honing her personal brand.

Nearly 15 years ago, Melinda joined QMA as a junior-level project manager and is now head of product implementation and project management at PGIM Quantitative Solutions: “It’s a dynamic role managing my team and a testament to the evolution of the body of work we coordinate within PGIM Quant,” says Melinda. “I have the privilege of working with some of the brightest individuals and leaders in our industry who I get to learn from and partner with daily. No two days are the same, and each new opportunity allows my team and me to be a part of developing new solutions.”

Melinda also serves as a role model and mentor. It’s her passion to build the power of dreaming big among youth and young adults. With HISPA (Hispanics Inspiring Students to Perform and Achieve), she speaks to middle school students in predominantly Hispanic New Jersey communities, inspiring them to believe there is space for them in the asset management industry.

Melinda is a co-founder of PGIM Quant’s Hispanic and Latino business resource group (BRG), Unidos, and a leading member of the Inclusion Council, which oversees each of PGIM Quant’s BRGs to drive meaningful results through a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. She serves on the Latinx executive leadership team for PGIM overall. Melinda also volunteers through Junior Achievement of New Jersey, through her local church’s Girls Ministry program, and leads a young adults life group out of her home.

The Courage To Speak

Latinos are underrepresented across the finance industry at less than 10%, though they account for approximately 18% of the US population. That percentage drops significantly when accounting for senior-level Latinos in this space. Despite her Latino colleagues coming from different countries, the messages from their families and peers are often similar—like be grateful to have a job, keep your head down, and do not make big waves. Melinda says, at times, Latinos are often not outspoken enough in the workplace as a result of this common conditioning.

“I’ve often struggled with that internal tension. My perspectives and ideas are unique and valuable within the work environment, but everything in my culture tells me I shouldn’t speak up,” she reflects. “So, I’ve had the interesting dynamic of saying I am going to speak up and it’s going to be hard.”

To do this, Melinda calls on her own touchstone of living from courage: “Courage is sometimes ill-defined as ‘not being afraid’ or ‘the absence of fear.’ That’s not what it is. Courage is moving forward or speaking up, even if you are afraid,” she says. “I had to develop the courage to say I do have an idea and it is worth sharing.”

Valuing Diversity of Thought

Melinda, at times, struggles with the notion of imposter syndrome, but quickly reminds herself that her lack of privilege growing up does not equate to a voice that counts less. She recognizes the importance of embracing the background that shaped her and the need to value every upbringing – even the upbringings of those who grew up in privilege.

“It’s rethinking and relearning certain things as an adult to continuously challenge yourself. We’re all learning from each other. No one has arrived at any sort of final destination and we should regularly seek opportunities to further develop,” Melinda notes.

Her early experiences shaped the way that she cultivates different perspectives as an adult: “As a child, I felt like people often didn’t care about what students in my schools thought. It was a ‘what the teacher says goes’ mentality. Even then I knew, if we’re not allowing opportunities to challenge each other, then we’re doing ourselves a disservice and missing out on diversity of thought.”

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

As a tip, Melinda discourages people pleasing: “What’s more important is developing into a trustworthy and sought-after business partner. Whether raising a difficult issue with her children’s schools or inside the four walls of PGIM, Melinda has learned that uncomfortable conversations must be braved.

“I’ve had many experiences where I felt uncomfortable raising a topic but I did it anyway, because there was merit in it,” she says. “If we’re going to have diversity of thought, then as leaders and as professionals, we have to evaluate the things that make us uncomfortable and really decipher, what is this individual trying to say? What is the goal here? Because if you believe intentions are good, you might want to tune your ear and try to better understand what is being said, versus dismissing or disqualifying it.”

Cultivating a Growth Mindset and Culture

As she’s become more senior, new challenges and greater stakes can heighten the fear of making mistakes: “I often say each product effort or project is like its own recipe,” she says. “You may have a group of people with different work styles or a different timeline. You may have different factors that lead to initiatives being diverse even when they’re similar on paper.”

Melinda embraces the idea of being a continuous learner: “We’re not going to get it right 100% of the time. So, two main factors drive my thought process. When I get something right, I celebrate the opportunity to teach. What went right? How did I get there? What was new? What defined the win?” She continues, “And then when I get something wrong, I celebrate the opportunity to learn. What didn’t go right? What can I learn from this? How can I get better? It’s important to look at mistakes as something that will help me grow and, in turn, others as well.”

Melinda looks for opportunities to convey that growth approach and reinforce it with her team members, too. She focuses on caring about people as individuals first and then supporting their career growth with the learning and opportunities to get where they want to go, in their own way and style.

“Whatever number of years and whatever season we spend together, my goal is to be that servant leader to individuals on my team,” she says. One way Melinda empowers her team, especially in the hybrid environment, is to let them decide on her attendance in meetings. This instills confidence in their abilities, while she remains available to provide guidance and be there if and when needed.

Melinda says she has gained the most from organic mentor relationships – precisely, from exposure. As a self-motivated learner, it’s not conversations, but truly watching people in action that inspires her.

“From the start of my career, the way I’ve learned from leaders is by sitting at a table with them, listening to how they interact with others, seeing how they get decisions made, and watching how they influence business,” she says. “How I learn best is by observing. What drives me is looking around the office and asking who do I want to be more like to continue growing as a professional and progressing in my career?”

From Childhood to Today

Mrs. Aievoli still figures prominently in her life and has proven to be Melinda’s lifelong mentor.

“To this day, she keeps me pushing myself. She always says, ‘okay Melinda, and what’s next?’ She keeps me focused on that idea of growth and development,” says Melinda, who still shares her milestone accomplishments with her. “She’s been invested in me from childhood and that’s resonated with me for years.”

Melinda is most proud that her three children – now 20- and 16-year-old daughters, Jayden and Madison, and 13-year-old son, Zachary – can see in her an example of the role model she wished for as a child.

“I had a non-traditional career and educational path, and while it hasn’t been easy, I never settled or gave up, and that’s something I hope encourages them throughout their lives,” she says. “I want them to believe in their own aspirations and carve their own paths so that they, too, can be role models to future generations.”

By Aimee Hansen

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Loretta Franks: VP, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Kellogg Company

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Loretta Franks“If you stay near the same dominion, you always have that depth, but if you move functions, you gain great leadership breadth. That comes with a lot of positives but it can leave a gap in a space you relied on,” says Loretta Franks to her broader, non-tech multidisciplinary background. “I love diving in and helping people, but now that has to happen in a different way. I must rely more on my leadership team and their depth of experience. That’s the shift I have taken from a leadership development perspective.”

Drawn Towards Change and Transformation

After traveling for a year after university, Franks joined Kellogg. Her trajectory to date is an exploration of interdisciplinary skills, each one often interweaving with and building upon the last. Beginning as a Financial Analyst, Franks has gone through 13 positions in her almost 16 years at Kellogg – from finance roles to project management roles, to change programs, to divestitures/acquisitions, to enterprise-wide transformation programs and now to data and analytics.

“I love the end-to-end view of business processes, which you get from large-scale projects and program transformation initiatives,” says Franks. “Finance was an amazing foundation for any role. I’m a big believer that understanding the fundamentals of a P&L is critical in whatever role you are in, but once I got a taste for large transformation roles and driving positive change, I got addicted!”

Her move from Regional European roles to Global roles in 2017 opened her network further and ultimately launched her into Global Business Services, then to lead the Next-Generation Analytics Global Program, then towards her current role.

“My friends would describe me as curious and a bit of a fidget! I have been fortunate to experience many functions and the learning opportunity is always much more important to me than the actual function itself that I report into. I like to blur the lines and work across the business. I enjoy variety; I don’t like the same day-to-day routine,” muses Franks. “I am energized most by strategy development, innovation and ideation, thinking of new ideas and solving problems. In any transformation-based initiative, you are trying to fundamentally change something for the better and add incremental value. That really motivates me.”

She’s felt at home in Kellogg culture which matches her own values as people-centered and solution-focused. “I take pleasure in building new relationships, mentoring and coaching people; whether it be through career matters, personal development challenges or new opportunities.”

The Power of Complementing Tech Expertise

Franks is often asked how she has got to her job without a background in tech.

“What we’ve collectively realized, as a team, is the power of diverse capabilities and experiences coming together is incredibly powerful. You need the technical discipline and expertise in the team, no doubt – the data scientists, the engineers – who have risen in this space,” she says. “But you also need people who can be great storytellers, who can help translate problems into business and technical requirements, who can lead large teams of diverse capabilities and cultures. You need to have customer centricity and think about the user experience as well as issues such as process, adoption, change management, talent development and engagement.” She believes the combination of multiple capabilities and experiences in Data & Analytics is the big unlock end-to-end.

She has also found that many of her tech talent often don’t want to be muddled in business analysis, prioritization debates, investment choices or decision-making, so allowing them to focus on what they really love to do, which is working with technology, data and being innovative is a huge engagement lever.

Franks would say her natural curiosity and her problem-solving mind, “irrelevant of the swim lane I am in,” has helped navigate between disciplines.

“I think people see me as authentic and well-intended,” reflects Franks. “We are a regionally driven company and so for me it’s all about how we best enable our regions and functions as one team. In the end it’s all about creating value for our shareholders and end consumers.”

Back in finance as a leader, Franks could roll up her sleeves and get into the details when it was required due to her experience and qualifications coming up through the lower levels. As she’s taken on senior leadership roles across new functions, she’s had to adjust and identify new ways of providing support and getting enough detail from her leadership team to make decisions.

Building Confidence and Showing Vulnerability

“I have become much more comfortable with showing vulnerability as a leader over the last 12-24 months,” says Franks. “And the more I do it, the more I realize the positive impact it has on my team and myself.”

In a recent in-person feedback team-development session, she repeatedly heard that the more vulnerability she shows, the more she builds trust with her leadership team.

“It made me reflect on the fact that I don’t have to be this unbreakable leader for the sake of my team. Talking about some of my insecurities, gaps in knowledge or concerns and asking for their support is a huge unlock for our team’s performance and overall connection,” says Franks. “Trying to be constantly brilliant for them can put an unintended pressure on them to also not show cracks. It was eye-opening to see that my positive intent was actually creating unintended negative impacts.”

Franks encourages women to focus on confidence-building and even at times being selfish.

“Confidence is so important, yet sometimes ‘confidence’ can be felt by women as a negative because we don’t want to come across arrogant or as a know-it-all. We need to take these words that have negative associations and switch them into positives,” says Franks. “There is also a huge amount of negative connotation around the phrase ‘being selfish.’ But it is so important that at times you put yourself first. Prioritize your own development, personal learning journey, self-care, and look to make choices that help you, not just other people all the time.”

She continues, “I think it’s breaking those associations in our head that suggest ‘If I’m confident…I’m perceived as arrogant’ or ‘If I’m selfish… I’m a mean person.’ It can feel very uncomfortable, but it is these simple things that can make a massive difference and it is not about changing your values, just your priorities.”

Women in STEM – A Leap Beyond Sight

As Franks has moved from gender-balanced Finance and GBS functions in Kellogg towards an IT leadership role working with many tech partners and vendors externally, she’s seen the difference in representation. She is an advocate for gender parity and passionate about getting more women into STEM and girls into STEM subjects, looking at gender equity talent pipelines and career development at Kellogg, and working with partners and vendors for their support as well across the industry.

“As a big global brand, we have the opportunity to choose who we work with, we can leverage that position to lead the conversation and drive positive change in the industry,” says Franks. “Our partners also have their own fantastic programs and priorities around gender equity and women in STEM initiatives so working together, we can really start to shift the dial.”

After taking the opportunity to speak about women in STEM and gender equity across Data & Analytics, amidst a large technology conference, she was inspired by the number of men who waited after to speak with her about inspiring their own daughters.

“I think it surprised them because I raised this topic as a bolt on to the main agenda. It was a proud moment to see this big queue to talk more about getting women into D&A and Technology,” says Franks. “I think the more that we can use platforms like that to talk about it, the better.”

Franks partners with different organizations to reach younger girls about opportunities available to them in STEM. Having role models is essential to inspire and motivate others, Franks emphasizes. “If you can see it, you can be it”.


“When I was in school, CDAOs did not exist as a career choice and there are many more roles that will exist in ten years’ time that do not exist today,” she iterates. “It is important that we change the narrative and mindset of following a linear pre-defined journey and instead give both girls and women the confidence to trust and keep moving within an area of their passion, without having to plan the future out in too much detail. The world is changing fast and knowing the opportunities are open to us all, irrelevant of gender, is what is important.”

Speaking of the next generation, Franks and her partner have two children, seven and five years old. As a family person and former Lacrosse player, she watches a lot of sports when she’s not launching into yet another unexplored territory.

By Aimee Hansen

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Marcella Sivilotti: Chief Strategy Officer, PGIM

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Marcella Sivilotti“Somewhere along the way of observing women progress in their careers, I realized that no one ever got very far if they cared too much about: What do others think? How did I come across? Was I likeable? And so on,” says Marcella Sivilotti. “You get to a certain place because you channeled that energy not on worrying about whether people like you or your answer, but on asking how do I get the job at hand done?”

Structuring Strategic Issues

Having studied industrial engineering in Rome, Marcella mastered the ability to approach any practical problem–including business problems–with an analytical lens: How do you maximize profit? What is the shortest path? The ability to streamline problems and structure solutions led her to management consulting with McKinsey. She transferred to the US with the firm to obtain an MBA from Columbia. What began as a two-year stint has led to almost 15 years in the US, and a career and family now firmly established in New York.

In 2014, ready to shift from consulting to working to implement change within companies, Marcella joined PGIM, the $1.2 trillion asset management arm of Prudential Financial. Now she leads a small but high-impact team who advises senior management on the strategic direction and priorities of the business, that also strongly factor in the human element of every equation.

“As an advisor, you look at the data and the range of strategic options. But, there’s also: Where is this person coming from as they assess this decision? What makes them click? What are their concerns, spoken or unspoken?” she says. “So there’s a lot of psychology involved when you’re on the other side.”

Marcella is animated by the constant variety her role offers: “I’ve been at the company for over eight years, and every day there’s some new aspect of the business I have not looked into and a new problem to solve.” She loves applying the same analytic framework to new kinds of problems – identifying the variables, finding possible solutions and assessing the best path forward in partnership with the senior business leaders she advises.

Coming from consulting, Marcella has been inspired to find that the PGIM culture is not about making the decision that is going to look good in front of your boss, but rather about managing the business with a long-term mindset. She points out that investment management is all about generating returns in a very measurable way. And it’s exactly that accountability that necessitates honest discussions and a willingness to engage in fruitful debate and open exchanges of ideas and views with passion and respect, which she loves. She enjoys working with smart and motivated people and says, “People here care about doing the right thing by the business.”

Giving and Receiving the Feedback We Need to Grow

Marcella is animated by leading and shaping a team. She enjoys the human element of influencing behavior: “It’s less about what looks good in a PowerPoint deck and more about how to make things happen in the complex, messy real world. Importantly, that requires establishing trust, and modulating between ‘when do I need to be nice and accommodating?’ versus ‘when do I need to give the gift of direct and honest feedback?’”

Marcella seeks to strike that delicate balance both in leading her team and in her advising role. In leading a team: “There is a balance between creating a caring and ‘fail safe’ team environment (where it’s okay not to be perfect and bring what you’re good at and what you’re not good and it’s understood that everybody has both aspects) and also having a focus on giving clear feedback,” she discerns. “Everybody loves to be told they are great, but that’s not always conducive to growth. So how do you make sure people get the tough message when it’s warranted, without it coming across as failure but rather as an opportunity and source of growth?”

In her advisory role: “When I advise people, if I just tell them what they want to be told, I am useless. Because that’s not good advice,” she notes.

She herself has learned to better embrace both giving and receiving tough feedback and position it not as a deficit but as a developmental edge.

Take Your Attention Away from What Others Think

At the core of her own success is two things. The first is being a logical and structured thinker–always beginning with ‘what do we know’ and ‘what do we not know?’ The second is being able to relate to people, to read them and also not shy away from being candid as a leader.

When it comes to fulfilling potential, Marcella points out that if you listen to the stories of either men or women in leadership, they stopped preoccupying themselves with what other people were thinking or how they came across, and instead liberated themselves to focus on how to achieve their visions. And if there’s one thing she could have known sooner, it would be that.

She also picked up the value of conviction and resilience. “If you’re told ‘no’ once, just have another go. No one ever got far because they got pessimistic the first time they failed. As the saying goes, it’s about how many times you get back up.”

From university onwards, Marcella has been used to being the one, or one of the few, women in the room. Against that backdrop, she has focused on what she wants to achieve, avoided getting caught up in the politics, and shown up as candid and outspoken with conscious disregard for whatever societal expectations may be at play.

Passion is Showing Up and Growing

As a leader, Marcella hopes to infuse her team with a good measure of passion, involvement and caring about the outcomes they create together.

“You hear lately about ‘quiet quitting’ and how people come to work because they want to get a paycheck, but they’re tuned out. I can’t imagine that, because if that ever happened to me, I’d rather just quit,” she says. “When it comes to solving problems, I like the fact that I do feel a measure of responsibility for the outcome and the quality of work we put in. I’m lucky to have been able to build and be supported by a team that shares that same spirit.”

The other thing she likes to convey to her team is to not be too serious and to always keep some perspective around the work. In supporting a growth culture, Marcella feels it’s so important that people realize that it is okay to fail.

“There is that saying, ‘you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ If the aim is to be perfect and never make the wrong decision, by definition there’s an element of faking or over-conservatism,” she says, “because just to ensure you don’t ever make the wrong move, you’re never going to make a move. But investment professionals make decisions for a living and no one will ever be right 100% of the time. That comes with the job.”

Being A Mom Has Only Added to Her Game

In the past three years, Marcella has become a mom and feels bringing up her two kids has strengthened her leadership.

“Becoming a parent makes you so resilient. It’s a great exercise in messing up 50 times a day. Before having children, I may have ruminated on how a meeting didn’t go well,” she says. “Now, I can put it in the context of the 50 others ways I was challenged today. I don’t have time to get stuck on it.”

It has also made her more efficient and laser-focused on the most important aspects of any problem, because she still wants to achieve everything with high quality, but must make it happen in more limited hours. She feels the direct and challenging experience of balancing personal and work life as a parent has also given her more compassion and empathy for others.

“You realize that everybody may have something they’re trying to cope with – whether it’s parenting, caring for someone who is unwell, or a breakup,” she says. “So it’s about being more attuned. I may not know what it is you are dealing with, but I’m going to be empathetic and an ally.”

Time and again, the human element weighs strongly in the equation.

By Aimee Hansen

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Judith Barry: Co-Head of Global Equities, Wells Fargo

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Judith Barry“Women put too much pressure on themselves by thinking they have to walk into a role fully capable and qualified, when the reality is that as long as you have the core of what you need to do for the job, you can build and learn,” says Judith Barry. “As long as you’re willing to be vulnerable enough to admit that you’re going to need help or to learn new skills as you navigate, you can take on those bigger jobs.”

Leveraging Her Unique Trajectory

During her sophomore summer at NYU as a political science major, Barry accepted an operations role with Lehman Brothers, staying on during her junior year while attaining her securities licenses. Graduating a semester early, she switched firms and began her career in trading. Trading suited her perfectly: she thrived on how trading was new every day, both fast and dynamically paced, and that it meant working with very smart individuals. After a few years, Barry moved to the buy-side working for a hedge fund. By 29 years old, she became Head of Trading at a hedge fund, before moving to two other firms also as Head of Trading, eventually returning to the sell-side with Wells Fargo. Now with the bank for five years, Barry is Co-Head of the Equities Division, part of Markets, a role she has held since April 2022, as well as Head of Equity Products Distribution.

“I think my unique trajectory gave me the opportunity to learn and hone a lot of skills and, quite frankly, truly understand what clients need and want,” she notes. “Now I’m in a seat to take that knowledge base and help Wells Fargo address all of our clients’ needs and challenges.”

The WomenGoFar Network: Educate, Elevate and Empower

In addition to her Co-Head and Head roles, Barry is also Chairwoman of the WomenGoFar network within Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) at Wells Fargo. About a third of CIB staff are part of the WomenGoFar network, not only women, but also men who are allies in support of diversity.

The WomenGoFar network seeks to educate, elevate and empower women to navigate their careers internally as well as their personal lives.

“Women choose and have different paths – some are single, some are mothers, some are dealing with elderly parents or siblings. Not everyone wants a senior leadership role, but we’re about empowering women to navigate their own career goals to be effective while also balancing life,” she notes. “It’s important to have the skills to come into an organization and be able to advocate for yourself or to elevate your profile.”

When Barry entered trading in the early 90’s, women were competing for very few trading and sales positions. It was unusual to be a woman trader, let alone a senior trader, and unimaginable to sit at the head of the trading desk.

“It’s still unusual for women to be a co-head of equities at a bank, so I’m very proud of the seat that I sit in and the support I’ve been given at Wells Fargo,” Barry says. “What’s critical is I was able to take my early experience and turn that into sponsorship and mentorship and advocacy for women. Now, rather than all of us running at just one seat, there is the opportunity for women to be successful in any seat.”

WomenGoFar builds collaboration, instead of competition, between women and increases access to senior women leaders, sharing how they navigated to where they are today. In the spirit of ‘if you can see it, you can be it,’ Barry feels it’s her responsibility to be visible in her position and she is intentional about celebrating milestones for women. Sharing her own story – the good, the bad, and the speed bumps – is an important part of how she inspires others. She seeks to excel as a leader, as a mother and as a partner with the people and teams she works with.

Barry is also actively involved in creating inspiring content, understanding the supports women need and elevating awareness around the cumulative experiences of women leaders. One example of programming is a deep dive with McKinsey & Company’s annual Women in the Workplace study. WomenGoFar also hosts internal speaker series on topics like personal wealth and investment management that benefit women, from the early stages of their career. In addition, this past year, CIB hosted their first off-site Women’s Leadership Summit which brought together high-level senior women from the bank and the client side, spotlighting important female clients across the spectrum of Wells Fargo.

Flexibility, Resilience And Communication

“Especially as a trader, or someone in finance, you need to be incredibly resilient to navigate the up and down turbulence of the marketplace,” Barry says. “It takes flexibility to understand how to approach things but also resilience when things don’t go your way. You need to be able to pivot and get back on track so that you can achieve the goals that you set.”

Back on the trading desk, where each decision was being made with heightened urgency, engagement often took the form of yelling. But as she moved to managerial and leadership roles, she worked on elevating her communication skills – whether navigating smaller conversations in managing people or conveying an important message to a larger audience. She’s also realized how important it is to value her own voice.

“When I first was on a trading desk, I was often attempting to embrace or to emulate what my male peers were doing. I thought that in order to be successful, I had to be them,” she reflects. “Then I realized that it was incredibly important to have my own voice and realize that I didn’t need to do what they were doing in order to be successful.”

Being Confident and Finding Your Voice

“I walk into every new thing I do with an understanding of ‘I know what I know’ but ‘I know what I don’t know,’ too,” says Barry. “I’m comfortable about being vulnerable enough to ask people to help me.”

She continues, “Women put too much pressure on themselves by thinking they have to walk into a role fully capable and qualified, when the reality is that long as you have the core of what you need to do the job, you can build and learn. As long as you’re willing to be vulnerable enough to admit that you’re going to need help or to learn new skills as you navigate, you can take on those bigger jobs.”

Citing the famous study that women apply only if 100% qualified (while men apply with 60% of qualifications), Barry notes: “I think it’s important to have self-awareness and be self-reflective but, more importantly, you have to have confidence.”

Barry feels being an extrovert helped her to find her voice and to self-advocate, and everyone needs to learn that. She is conscious of the introverts who are incredibly talented and make significant contributions but often aren’t as adept at being cheerleaders for their accomplishments.

“Find someone who is both a sponsor and a mentor. A lot of my success comes down to finding those people who see your contributions, see the things you do and see the skills that you offer,” she notes. “It’s having that opportunity to go to them for advice, but also make sure that someone is speaking on your behalf in the rooms that you aren’t in. You can learn to advocate for yourself, but it’s important that you also have people advocating for you.”

Get the Feedback You Need to Grow

Barry brings empathy and vulnerability and confidence and candor into any room and is commanding. She feels “a compliment is nice, but feedback is a gift” and is tougher on the women she is closer to. Barry feels managers have shied away in recent times from giving critical feedback, especially to women, but it’s critical to growth. So also relies on a good dose of humor.

“If you’re not getting feedback from your manager, go ask for it. Make it so that they are given permission to give you feedback because you’re only going to get better,” she advises. “Feedback isn’t personal. It’s professional and possibly data-driven feedback.”

“Be Intentional and Be Exceptional”

Barry would advise women to take more moments to sit back, pause and reflect before taking the bigger steps, personally and professionally, and to constantly check in on their capacity and ability to do more: think in terms of one, three and five year plans. Barry also emphasizes women be mindful of the people they are connecting and working with, their experiences and their background.

She advises women, “Be intentional and be exceptional. It’s incredibly important for women to understand that if you want to hit a certain level of success, you are going to have to really lean into things,” she says. “That phraseology has become commonplace for women, but it’s not a woman thing and it’s not a man thing. It means that when you are going to do something in life, you should want to be exceptional at doing it. And you should be intentional about how you get there.”

Barry enjoys a couple of trips a year with her family and teenage children. She loves disconnecting from work and immersing her family on city trips in Europe. She says her family is into learning trips, as culture and history buffs, far more than beach trips. Recently they visited Northern Ireland and Portugal. She also values ‘me time’ in helping her to show up whole for her family and at work.

“It goes back to that word intentional – I’m intentional in what I do and how I work and I have to be intentional about carving out my spare time.”

Fitness is a top priority for her, including long hikes often accompanied by great conversation with a friend. She also ‘confesses’ that she teaches a bootcamp class based on karate to women every Saturday morning, so it’s women’s empowerment over roundhouse kicks, too, for Barry.

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Avis Yates Rivers: CEO at Technology Concepts Group Int’l., LLC

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Avis Yates Rivers“Young black girls want to see themselves in the roles to which they aspire. If they can’t see themselves, they’re not going to think they can be it. It’s been a challenge we see over and over again in the tech industry,” says Avis Yates Rivers. “How many prominent women or women of color can you name in the tech industry? Everyone can rattle off Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, etc. Can anyone name any women? Any black women?”

As a Black woman tech founder and CEO powerhouse, Rivers is coming at inclusion in tech with everything she is made of – from authorship to launching an organization for girls and young women in STEM to personal visibility: “As an entrepreneur, you see a problem and you figure out how to be the solution and bring positive results to that problem. So, I’m addressing the problem of the underrepresentation of black women in technology as an entrepreneur would.”

Being a Serial Entrepreneur She-EO

On the business front, Rivers founded her first firm after five years of selling early technology on Wall Street in 1985. After five short years at Exxon Office Systems, she had mastered sales and the ability to ‘manage her business’ as she ascended the ranks at Exxon. After a divestiture of that subsidiary, she decided to continue to support those customers by launching her first company out of her basement. When we talk tech, Rivers was selling the first full screen word processor and first generation of fax machines before PCs were ever in offices or homes.

“Exxon taught me how to sell and that held me in the highest good through my career, because to be successful in business, you have to know how to sell,” says Rivers. “It’s an art – the art of relationship building – and that’s key for being successful in any walk of life. You have to build strong relationships – whether mentors, sponsors, advocates, advisory board members or employees who can embrace your vision.”

Proclaiming herself a “serial entrepreneur” and with a sign reading She-EO propped behind her on Zoom, Avis has founded five tech companies since 1985, Technology Concept Group International (TCGi) and its predecessors, as well as acquired two. What animates Rivers in her business is being able to bring a tremendous amount of awareness, size and value to customers who are looking to transform their procurement practices. TCGi has three pillars of business: procurement solutions, technology solutions and talent management solutions.

“I love to help corporations rethink/reimagine how they spend their money,” says Rivers. “When we take a look at how they’re currently spending, there’s so much opportunity for improvement, for streamlining, for more accurate data capture and for more digital transformation.”

Necessary Inclusion Of Black Women In Technology

“It’s so key that I take an active role in correcting the underrepresentation of black women, specifically and intentionally, in tech,” says Rivers. “I advocate for all women in tech but the numbers for black girls and women continues at the same weak pace and has not grown to my satisfaction.”

In 2017, Rivers published her book Necessary Inclusion: Embracing the Changing Faces of Technology, and since then has been speaking on a global stage: “I wanted to broaden the conversation around what technologists can and should look like, which is anybody and everybody. And not just the image that is portrayed over and over again, in media, film, and entertainment. And to ask what are some of the things that we all can do to support more women in technology?”

She’s also taking a direct role in developing the next generation of diverse tech talent. Her company launched the TCGi Foundation, which is focused on breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for black girls and women in tech through efforts including exposure to hands-on experience, networking help, mentoring and college scholarships: “We help them to stay connected and persist even when it gets hard in college and to help them move into tech careers. TCGi directly hires some interns upon graduation. So, the Foundation is really fulfilling for me. That’s my purpose and passion work.”

To truly diversify the next generation of tech talent, Rivers knows encouragement from an early stage is critical. She was recently thrilled to see her five and three year old grandchildren playing with a coding kit for kindergartners with both black inclusive imagery and messaging. Rivers stresses that if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. It is difficult and being prepared, tech educated and well positioned for internships and career opportunities is essential.

“Being able to encourage, guide and support black girls to realize from a very young age that they are good enough, smart enough and this is something they can do matters entirely. They need to be able to see themselves,” emphasizes Rivers. “If I could do but one thing, it would be this: gathering with them, speaking to them, showing the way and mentoring more girls and young black women into tech. My voice needs to be heard, but my face also needs to be seen.”

Owning Your Ground and ‘Black Girl Magic’

“When I introduce myself, I often say that I’ve been born doubly blessed – black and female,” says Rivers. “I know my early success in selling technology had a lot to do with the fact that I was not a common sight on Wall Street. Then once you opened the door (provided the access), I could do the rest,” she notes. “But I also had to basically ‘steel’ myself physically and emotionally. I was encouraged to knock on every door in my territory and eventually earned the honor of being named Rookie of the Year. It was sheer persistence (and a healthy dose of encouragement from family) that I was able to persevere. I never know how I would be perceived and/or welcomed during those early days. I knew I was being judged before I even opened my mouth. We all are, just based on how we look. But it encouraged me that I had a distinction that set me apart from the white guys on either side of me, and I leveraged that as a benefit.”

Since George Floyd and the salience and acceleration of social justice issues, Rivers feels that black businesses are being recognized more and should own the moment. “So many corporations have stood up and made public commitments that they’re going to spend billions of dollars with black firms. I was like, okay, so we’re in vogue now,” she says. “So, it’s important for people like me to help them fulfill those commitments. It’s a change that has to be encouraged, enabled and managed.’”

She continues: “The longer I’m out here (over 3 decades now), the more unapologetic and forthright I’ve become. I continue to ask for what I want and what I believe I deserve, because I’ve worked hard and have earned the right.”

Rivers also talks frequently about ‘black girl magic’: “The notion of ‘black girl magic’ picks up on this je ne sais quoi, this essence, this flava, this presence, this power that is just now starting to be appreciated and recognized.”

“The reason behind the momentum is because there are more black women ascending into positions of power. We have a handful of black female CEOs, a black Vice President of the United States, and some black female billionaires now. It’s not just Oprah anymore in media and entertainment. The numbers are starting to swell, though still not where they should be,” she notes. “But because we’re extraordinary in those spaces, people take note to see how we show up and speak up. That’s why I feel committed to using my voice and my ‘black girl magic’ on behalf of those who do not have a voice.”

That same commitment goes for voice and her presence: “At this point in my career, I’m just very dogmatic about making sure that we’re treated with respect and included. If someone sends me an invite to a webinar, and I look at the speaker line-up, and I don’t see any black women or men, I immediately let them know that you really don’t want me there. Because there’s no representation. The more voices that insist that representation happens on every level, the faster we’ll get to any kind of equity.”

You Make the Choice to Belong

One of the best pieces of advice Rivers received early on was: you act like you belong. You walk in the room, and you act like you belong.

“I have walked into several rooms where I wasn’t invited, but I acted like I belonged. Then what are they going to do except welcome me?” she says, having even pulled it off at a presidential inaugural ball by bringing an extra guest with her invitation. “You walk into a room, and you act like you belong. Take a seat at the table. Not in a chair along the wall, but at the table. And then raise your voice when you speak so you can be heard.”

She also says it’s important to challenge the people who talk over you, the ‘alpha males’ who speak over other men and women or take credit for others’ ideas: “We have to use our voices to make sure those lines don’t get crossed.”

For her own success, she’s found it critical to be prepared. “You can’t fake it until you make it, especially at the level I’ve reached. I have to come to the table prepared.”

More on Her Back Story: Are Entrepreneurs Made or Born?

“Are entrepreneurs made or born?” Rivers asks, frequently. “The answer is yes: they are both. There is something inside of a true entrepreneur that isn’t easily fulfilled, no matter what role ‘they’ continue to accelerate you into.”

She reflects back to her own leap: “I was on a fast track at Exxon and being promoted every 12-18 months and loved when they moved me into sales. But a voice inside wouldn’t let me rest. I kept quieting that voice down because I’m from very humble beginnings; silver spoons didn’t exist in our house. I’m one of six kids born to two working-class parents growing up in New York City on public transportation and in public school. Although I worked on Wall Street, I wasn’t connected with capital markets,” she says. “So Exxon did me the biggest favor by selling that division out from underneath me. I had only worked for Exxon, including three internships in college, and never anticipated working anywhere else. But when they sold that division, I knew it was my time to take a leap of faith.”

Rivers already had a proven record on Wall Street and knew a fallback was finding another sales job. So, after writing the pros and cons, and excited for the opportunity to manager her clients, schedules and revenue in her own way, she set off on her own – and she brought along the same client install base she’d established from the five years in tech sales for Exxon, because she asked for it.

“It’s confirmation of the old adage: you don’t have because you don’t ask.”

Entrepreneurial Resilience As a Black Woman

From 9/11 to the greatest economic recessions to civil unrest and extreme weather, Rivers has had to face many headwinds and find her way forward.

“It seems like all of my resilience has come from sinking into financial holes and having to climb back out,” tells Rivers. “I was involved in the greatest U.S. corporate bankruptcy of all time (her largest customer filed for bankruptcy protection and she carried them on her own back to complete the project). I climbed back out. I had to deal with the greatest economic recession of all time in 2008. I climbed back out. I had to do it with the terrorist attack on 9/11. I lost 35% of my business that day – no notice, no fault of my own. I climbed back out. Through all of it, I’ve had to keep going, because to me, stopping was not an option.”

The lack of capital going to women and black women-owned businesses puts founders like herself into a financial roulette and great personal risk.

“Companies like mine are undercapitalized, which means we are able to make money and then spend the money that we make, but nobody’s handing us millions of dollars to fuel our growth. During the .com boom, folks that didn’t look like me were getting millions for an idea that they sketched out on a cocktail napkin – no company, no customers, no revenue, no track record,” she explains. “Folks like me who were not connected to that activity had to do the best we could. A lot of times that required going into the hole, suffering a loss, having to let people go, or getting behind on vendor invoice payments, etc. So, it’s been a journey. But resilience? I’ve modeled that in stone.”

Get Support And Know Your Numbers

If Rivers could redo anything differently, she’d say, “Don’t keep going it alone. I’ve been a sole owner my whole life. I would tell myself to find a good partner with complementary skillsets so that you can go farther faster. What is the old adage? If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go with somebody else.”

Had she known then what she knows now, Rivers would have been in the capital markets game. Her biggest growth curve has been her skillset around the finances, which happened after a trust rupture where she lost a lot: “That taught me a valuable lesson – to know my numbers and learn them for myself. I don’t have to be in the nitty-gritty of them, but also nobody has the authority to move money out of the company except me. Now, I have to approve it.”

Going further, she says: “I would say the financial aspect of running and growing a business has caused me to grow. Working with capital markets has caused me to grow. Understanding how the business is valued and what are the different components of the financial statements has really caused me to grow, so, now I have those conversations with private equity people.”

Slowing Down, Some Day…

While God and family are foremost in her life, Rivers knows that feeling good in her body matters to showing up strong: “When I think about the things that I need to do and be to bring my best self to every situation, I have to be physically fit.”

Moving to South Carolina after being a hardcore New Yorker, has enabled her to be in the water and on the golf course year-round while working very full weeks. She’s taken up synchronized swimming recently and performs in a 3-day show every February. She also loves to cook for her and her husband, and baking has become a new hobby. She bakes hundreds of cookies every holiday season for neighbors, friends and family. She says she does want to slow down, but soonish.

“I believe in living life to the fullest. There is no way I’m going to have any regrets when it’s my time to close my eyes for the final time. I will leave it all out here,” she muses. “When I look at all that I do in a given day or week, I recognize that it’s probably in the 95th percentile of what most people do every day or week. But I guess that’s just the New Yorker in me. I wake up every morning, give thanks, and press the ‘Go’ button on a fulfilled life.”

By Aimee Hansen

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Loretta Pearce: Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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Loretta Pearce“It makes all the difference in the world that you don’t have to compartmentalize and say ‘this is who I am over here’ and ‘this is who I am over here,’” says Loretta Pearce. “To just be who you are everywhere is liberating.”

Yet the research is clear, the further you are from dominate prevailing culture in the workplace, the more you adapt and conform to expected norms to thrive in the organization.

Pearce shares, “I’ve spent much of my career helping others navigate this space so that they can advance their careers and be as authentic as possible given cultural workplace constraints”.

She inspires us with a love for supporting the transformation of organizations and people, checking your inner circle, embracing difference, offering up your best gifts and giving yourself, and others, some grace.

From Academia to Leading Diversity and Inclusion

Pearce’s DEI journey was seeded when she left her hometown community to become an undergrad at the University of Virginia. Though she was an honors student in the top 10% of her class and well-supported by a preparatory program as a first-generation college student, she also experienced a sense of “otherness” those years on campus that catalyzed her drive to create open and inclusive spaces for everyone: “I wanted people in any space to feel a sense of their own value as well as a sense of belonging.”

After graduation, while teaching, she worked with (predominantly black and brown) students from lower income communities in the inner-city. When that campus relocated to a suburban location, diminishing her ability for impact, Pearce moved into learning and development in corporate spaces. Given her passion for inclusion, she was repeatedly called on to facilitate conversations, coach leaders and lead DEI initiatives.

“In my heart, at the very core of who I am, I’m an educator,” Pearce shares, who is immersed in doctoral studies at Teachers College at Columbia University, “I am always seeking to support others as they endeavor to be their best selves.”

While in talent management roles, Pearce realized that no matter how much leadership development an individual had, if that person wasn’t provided with opportunities by organizations to showcase their skills and talent, her work was in vain. She began connecting people to opportunities and sponsorships as she went across various talent management roles until DEI became her focus. That has meant that not only does she focus on supporting people but also on systemic barriers to inclusive workplace practices, community outreach and engagement, recruitment and supplier diversity.

She contends that “Being strategic and intentional with a holistic view, understanding an organization’s culture and practices, developing and managing relationships with stakeholders and being steadfast and determined are essential to having impact in this space. Diversity and inclusion must be embedded into every facet of the organization; that takes time, attention, and resoluteness.” Most recently she was the DEI Global Talent Management Programs Leader at Meta (formerly Facebook) and in May of 2022 she was hired as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) for Shearman and Sterling, LLP.

As the CDIO at Shearman and Sterling, Pearce, has responsibility for Shearman & Sterling’s global diversity and inclusion strategy. Pearce shares that she “grew up in law firms,” as after serving in academia she launched her corporate career at a law firm. She reveals that after meeting with the firm’s leadership “it was clear to me that diversity and inclusion was a key priority for the firm and that I would get the support required to continue to develop and implement the firm’s goals and vision in this area”.

Since she is an educator and it is foundational to the work she does, she finds the time to facilitate unconscious bias programming or other sessions with inclusion themes – recently for example, at Shearman and Sterling’s Associate Leadership Academy, and while “glamping” during one of the practice area retreats.

Check-In: Who is In Your Trusted Ten?

“Acknowledging and identifying your own bias is the beginning of being better,” Pearce says. “To simply recognize that you have unconscious bias, that we all have it, and then to try to understand and mitigate against it – and essentially, widen your circle.”

She challenges individuals to consider “The Trusted Ten,” those who are the closest ten people in your friend group. What are their demographics (gender, race/ethnicity, education, socioeconomic status)? If they align with you in most of these areas (which they normally do), find someone different in some way and have a conversation. The more you do that, the more open to difference you become. Pearce notes that “small, deliberate progress in this area can make a big difference”.

Pearce argues, especially when she is met with resistance from leaders around sponsorship, that “you’re sponsoring people all the time. Anytime there’s an opportunity and you put a name forward, if you’re a leader, you’re sponsoring that person – and, typically that person looks like those who are part of your trusted ten.” Pearce advises that as leaders we must endeavor to embrace difference, widen our circles, and understand the abilities of all those we lead; their talents, aspirations, and capabilities so that we can put their names forward the next time an opportunity presents itself that aligns with their experience and skill set.

Pearce brings her passion and experience to bear in her work at Shearman and Sterling, LLP and is especially excited about the culture of mentorship and sponsorship that the firm is already known for: “The firm has received numerous accolades for partners who are patient and understanding that take the time to explain assignments. Repeatedly during my listening tour, I heard that the culture was collegial, considerate, and kind. The firm’s values align with my own and we continue to make progress toward creating a more diverse and inclusive environment,” Pearce shares.

Her Success Factor: A Love For People

“The higher you are in leadership, the more removed you can become from those you impact. But I love to talk to the people that I’m endeavoring to elevate, advance and serve,” says Pearce. “What really motivates me is having conversations with the people I’m trying to serve, hearing directly about their experiences and understanding what I can do to better help them.”

Pearce would say the biggest factor behind her success is “honestly, just a love for people.” As a preacher’s kid (a PK, she quips, with a smile, adding she is also married to a man who is a pastor), she was brought up on the values of loving and treating all people with kindness, respect, and dignity.

“I believe that relationship with and service to others is foundational,” says Pearce. “No matter what situation I find myself in, I look around and ask, how can I serve?”

Strive For Excellence and Give Grace

Pearce has joy at her core and brings that into the workplace. She leads with calm and compassion and fosters a team culture of collaboration, learning and giving people the benefit of the doubt rather than jumping to judgement or blame when a mistake occurs. She emphasizes and practices the perspective of “giving people some grace.”

Pearce imparts two key pieces of advice to mentees. The first is “Strive for excellence. Mediocrity is just not acceptable, so offer your best gifts.” That came from her parents and the environment that she was raised in, but also, her family and community of origin emphasized that you must “Give yourself some grace, and if necessary, forgiveness. Take chances, be bold, mistakes offer an opportunity to grow. Learn the lesson and move on.”

Embracing Difference

As an introvert, Pearce’s stretch zone has been around extending herself in social settings, as her senior leadership and executive roles hinge on building relationships, developing, and managing them and therefore networking is essential.

“We are all humans having a human experience and so you ought to be able to connect with anybody on some level,” notes Pearce. “Different perspectives are something to embrace, not something to close yourself off to, because they help you think and see things from different perspectives – and that’s what this work is really all about.”

Role Modeling Towards the Future

Along with working on her doctorate, Pearce serves in the church and does a lot of reading. She also loves TV, movies, and science fiction, declaring: “I’m a Trekkie from way back. If it says Star Trek, I’ve watched it.” But there’s more to her Trekkie passion than entertainment.

“When Star Trek started, they had a very talented and diverse cast, and, of course, Nichelle Nicholas who played Lt Nyota Uhura, a beautiful, intelligent, competent black woman who was either 3rd or 4th in the command structure. I could see myself in the future,” says Pearce. “I loved the show and the world it created, and I loved exploring the themes they grappled with.”

With a demanding schedule, Pearce still finds time to coach and mentor those who reach out to her for support and guidance. She shares, “At the end of the day, it’s about impact and leaving the world better because you were here. I endeavor to do that every day. It fuels me and inspires me to do even more in my areas of expertise and influence.”

By Aimee Hansen

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Alice Chun: Female Inventor, Founder and CEO of Solight Design, Inc.

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Alice Chun“We’re all drops in the ocean, but together we can move the moon. Small things matter. Because if we all do one small act, together, collectively and as a community, we can move mountains, and that’s always been the case,” says Alice Chun. “I think we each create a ripple in the water from just a drop, and that if we all work together, this change can really occur. It’s not just one thing that’s going to be the answer to our issues, it’s going to be an ecosystem of many things working together to create resilience.”

We interviewed Alice Chun, female inventor and co-founder and CEO of Solight-Design. Born in Korea, she immigrated to the U.S. as a child and grew up in upstate New York. Since learning origami from her mother as a girl, Chun has been fascinated with the possibilities of using imagination and design to change our world for the better.

Exploring emerging trends in material technology – lighter, faster and sustainable – she began experimenting with sewing solar panels to fabric while teaching Architecture and Material Technology at Columbia University. When her son Quinn was diagnosed with asthma, which is 40% more likely for children in New York City, she became aware of the staggering pollution from energy consumption and the deadly impacts of kerosene in off-the-grid places of the world. Chun became focused on creating clean light solutions that harness solar energy.

Her TedX talk, 10 Million Rays of Light, focuses on the story behind her first invention, the SolarPuff™, the world’s only self-inflatable, portable solar light. With the backing of a KickStarter campaign, Chun launched Solight Design. Her origami-inspired lights run the gamut from art exhibition to humanitarian aid. They’ve been exhibited at MOMA, featured in The New York Times for summer gatherings and lit the night for Syrian refugees.

Chun holds several patents and has won the US Patent Award for Humanity. Advocating that design provides dignity, Chun is passionate about getting her lights to people and children in crisis zones and off-the-grid areas. She’s brought many thousands of her lights to crisis areas, as well as worked with NGOS to deliver and distribute them.

Going on these “light drops,” she’s personally traveled to Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Dominica and Haiti (nearly 20 times). As we talked with her in December 2022, she was about to head to the Ukraine. More than anything, she seeks to spark the light in each of us that can together impact the world. We talked with Chun about creating impact as a female inventor.

On growing up in a creative household:

“I was born in Korea. I was blessed that my mother was an artist and my father was an architect. It was post-war and my parents had to immigrate to the United States because of my father’s position doing the World Trade Pavilion in Montreal for the World Expo. They came first, and then sent for me later. I was four years old when I came to join them.

My mom taught me origami, like many Asians. And back then it was more novel. I grew up in a very creative household that taught me, at an early age, that you can use your imagination to make things and you can help yourself through difficulties by using your creative senses.

Everything that I’ve done was never really planned. When I went to college, I went for Architectural design. After my masters at University of Pennsylvania, I started to teach architecture (Columbia University, Parsons the New School), but teaching first found me by accident. I didn’t find it.”

On how imagination is the ability to create something better:

“While I was teaching in architecture, we started to do community outreach projects with architecture students. Around Philadelphia, there were so many abandoned sites and parks that were just rotting away. We were putting in planters and benches and building a little playground. It was so rewarding to see how it transformed those communities.

Kids would come up curious and ask what we were doing. We’d tell them, ‘We’re architecture students and we’re building architecture for you.’ So they would ask what architecture was. And we would explain that whatever you can imagine, you can also make a model of and then you can build something new. It is all about design. Design is about imagining something different and more beautiful for your environment.

Being able to interact with the community and learn from them, as well as teaching them about architecture and empowerment, was a real moment of feeling that I could make a difference and what we were doing mattered. I wanted to continue to do that.”

Alice Chun in Haiti

Alice Chun in Haiti

On the moments that catalyze the impulse of innovation:

“Whenever I was teaching, I used to tell this story: the story of time. The Greeks believed that there are two characters of time. One is Chronos, who is old with a beard and a cane. His line of time is predictable and very straight. Then, there is Kairos, the young character of time. His line of time is very unpredictable and chaotic.

We all experience those two lines of time, every day of our lives. When those two lines intersect, those are the moments of opportunity and the moments of invention. And it’s a matter of leaning in or leaning back when those moments happen.

So if I look at the trajectory of my inventions, and why they occurred, it’s because of problems I saw. I would never have imagined that my child would be born with asthma. And there was climate change and natural disasters and the earthquake in Haiti. All of that was the impetus for me to step back and say, ‘Enough is enough. We have to do something to help.’

I was the materials lab director at Columbia University, and my focus was on natural materials. There’s far more intelligence and knowledge in natural materials than the petrol-based plastics that we’ve been using for four decades. So, I was sewing solar panels to fabric and then substrates, to basically invent something new as a material: a solar harvesting surface to make everything thinner, lighter, faster and smarter.

The only way I knew how to lean in to help in Haiti was to turn my studio at Columbia into an innovation studio. So, what I was doing before evolved. And that’s when we realized this detriment that’s happening globally. 1.6 billion people don’t have access to electricity, and they’re using kerosene to light their world at night. Two million children die from the toxins. In South Africa alone, there’s 200,000 house fires every year. That was the impetus for asking ‘What can we do?’ and ‘How can we help?’

So every time, it’s really about those two lines of time intersecting – and then saying ‘How can we solve this problem?’ and ‘How can we do better?’”

On the magic when necessity meets curiosity:

“Sometimes you’re confronted with a problem, and you don’t know what to do. You just know that something has to be done. It sticks in the back of your mind as something that gnaws at you. Every time, at that point for me, that’s where the spark of curiosity came.

They say ‘the mother of invention is necessity,’ but ‘the daughter of invention is curiosity.’ So with curiosity, you’re constantly questioning – What if? Or could it be like this? Or maybe there’s an answer here, or there? Once the problem sticks in your brain, everything else becomes a window for opportunity because then you’re already beginning to connect the dots.

Curiosity is directly related to imagination and creativity and problem solving. What’s most important are the questions that you ask, not so much the answers. It’s those questions that end up creating something new. So with asthma and pollution and health, for example, I had already been researching solar energy and the connection to cutting pollution. 75% of the pollution in NYC comes from buildings and energy consumption. But the sun is free and it’s limitless and it’s the most powerful source of energy that comes to the Earth every day.

So the dots begin to align and connect. You may not have the answer right away, but it’s a matter of continuing and keeping that thread open to connect to the next dot when it happens.”

On breaking through the ceiling of fixed perception:

“So-Light Design is a small company. I’m one person. I’m a mom, I’m a teacher. The paradox is that we’re a small company, but we’ve had a big impact – purely because we’re just doing what we feel is right. But we’ve been able to impact over a million lives worldwide because of our mission.

So what I’m always trying to break through is the boundaries that we all create when we perceive the world in a certain way.

For instance, early on when I was traveling to these red zones, everyone told me not to go. People said I would be shot or raped or kidnapped. But I went to Nigeria and Makoko there – which is the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. I met the most amazing and kindest people and witnessed the impact of the light that I brought. Then I went to Haiti. People were telling me not to go there, too. I’ve been there twenty times now, and I’ve befriended amazing people. Now people are telling me not to go to Ukraine because it’s a war zone, but I am going.

I want people to know that there’s always two sides of the story. There’s not just one narrative or only one way to see anything. Part of creating art is to break through the preconceived way we see the world. It’s a big issue right now – with racism, discrimination, with war – it’s so prevalent and we have to change it. There’s so much that we have to gain and to learn – historically and culturally – from breaking out of our narrow perceptions.”

On inventing a product that spans from MOMA to crisis zones:

“Because of my background as a designer, I have the three design cornerstones of durability, beauty and functionality or utility. Those are the same three cornerstones of architecture and they could also transfer into a way of thinking about business and being an entrepreneur.

It’s hard to get all three, but I think beauty is something that needs to be addressed in design. When giving out humanitarian aid in places like Haiti, I’ve witnessed some NGOs have a tendency to buy the cheap stuff to hit the mark on how many items they’ve donated. But they’re often the cheapest flashlights or the cheapest solar panels, and they end up in the landfill in a short time because they don’t work.

I’ve not seen many organizations who drop off supplies give any attention to beauty, wonder or awe. But I think all of that is just as important as utility. Why can’t we give beauty, wonder and awe? Because if you don’t have that, you don’t have hope. If you don’t have hope, you’re going to die.

I remember a fascinating moment after the earthquake in Haiti, when there was rubble everywhere and tent camps were popping up. I saw this woman coming out of a tent camp and she was dressed in red and perfectly made up with lipstick. I don’t know, but that lipstick seemed to make the day for her because it was the moment of beauty, wonder and awe.

In my perspective, design provides dignity and good design should be able to sustain a life in Nantucket or Nigeria. Good design doesn’t have boundaries – like culture or race. It doesn’t discriminate. So good design should incorporate awe and wonder as well as being useful. I don’t think many NGOs think about that, or how important it is for the stakeholders and the cultural societal aspects of wherever these issues exist.”

Syrian refugees with Chun’s SolarPuff™ lights

On igniting possibilities through ‘light drops’:

“I put a thousand lights in my luggage and I flew down to Dominica. I didn’t really know where I was going. I just wanted to go to the Kalinago territory. The Kalinago are the oldest Indian tribe in the Northern Hemisphere. I’d heard that they had been hit the hardest with Hurricane Maria.

Through a fortunate chain of serendipitous conversations as I arrived, I was positioned to visit seven different schools in the Kalinago region. I saw five kids living in a one room house with a single mom. They had their one meal a day at school and no electricity to do their homework at night. I resisted the urge to just hand out the lights, because I wanted to tell them why I was there, why they’re so important and why we haven’t forgotten about them.

I shared that I came from a poor beginning and was beat up a lot when I was a kid, because I didn’t look like the other kids. I was the only Asian. And I didn’t fight with my fists. I ended up fighting with the light in my mind and the light in my heart. And I tell the kids, ‘You have to fight with that light in your heart and that light in your imagination. Keep fighting with that light and don’t use your fist. And I’m giving this light to you because now you can hold the Sun in your hands. And the Sun is the most powerful source of energy that comes to the Earth every day. But the light of your imagination and the light of your heart is even more powerful than the Sun.’

The kids cackle and giggle and I reassure them, ‘Yes, you are that powerful and if you keep fighting with the light of your heart, there’s nothing you can’t do.’ I tell them to use this light for their homework, so their dreams and ambitions can grow. A lot of the girls look at me in disbelief and say, ‘What! You made this?’ Even some of the elderly women or teachers can’t believe it. That’s really important to me, because in that ‘aha’ moment, they are saying to themselves, She’s a woman and she did this. Maybe I can. I have the power to do that, too.

Sharing that narrative with them is more important to me than delivering lights. That’s the other reason why I go on the light drops.”

On encouraging more female inventors:

“In my research, I went back into history and some of the women were excluded from patents they should have been on. But, overall the number of women on patents is so small, and that needs to change, too. My hope is that when I speak to kids and young women, that it will inspire them to use their imagination and change the world for the better by solving a problem and creating something new.

It goes back again to two characters of invention – the mother of invention being necessity and the daughter being curiosity. Those are two female characters, but only 13% of inventors are women in the United States patent and trademark office. And then in terms of entrepreneurship, far less than 1% of IPO businesses are led by female founders and only 2.3% of venture founding partners are women.

We need more girls and women in STEM programs and more funding for women and female minorities in terms of scholarship and grants. But the only way we’re going to change the amount of investment that goes into female-run entrepreneurs is getting more female businesses to get an IPO. So there’s this kind of chicken and egg thing happening.”

On her trip to the Ukraine:

“We’re going to get about 5,000 lights to Ukraine. But in my luggage, I’m bringing 1,000 with me. Our colored light was used for PTSD for children after Hurricane Maria. It has different color options, and we hadn’t realized this would be helpful to the kids. But we found out that the different colors actually help them calm down at night and it helps them to sleep. After an earthquake and there’s no light, the kids are so frightened. So they were used as night lights for kids in shock or with PTSD after the hurricane.

When I heard about the blackouts happening in this children’s hospital in Ukraine, I knew I had to go deliver these colored lights. They told me the nurses were taking three hours to calm the kids down after the blackouts. There are over two hundred kids and most of them are refugees, and there’s two more hospitals in Lviv. I’ll also go to Kiev. Over 2.5 million children are currently displaced within the country.

These hospitals have generators, but they are using that for essentials like heat and the ICU. These lights and phone chargers are going to be critical for light at night and charging. This is a lifelong traumatic event. And after the war, it’s going to take years and decades to rebuild.

But my greatest hope for the future is our children. Whenever something happens, dealing with children especially, I try to do whatever I can and often travel to deliver lights. I’m inspired by my own son and by all the kids that I meet along the way and in different countries. I’m inspired by how smart and intelligent and enthusiastic and hopeful they are about the future, and passionate that they know they can create.”

 

 

For more on Alice Min Soo Chun, check out coverage in Marie Claire’s Powertrip 2022, The Skimm, The Story Exchange, Fast Company, The New York Times, Cheddar, Huffington Post, and Men’s Journal. Chun was nominated for USPTO Patents for Humanitarian Winner in 2018. She was named among Forbes 50 Over 50 recognizable women of 2022. She is co-author of the book Ground Rules for Humanitarian Design. During the pandemic, she also launched a business selling patented transparent face shields and respirator masks, SEEUS95.

By Aimee Hansen

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Ruth Harper: SVP, Chief Communications & Sustainability Officer, ManpowerGroup

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Ruth Harper“Getting comfortable with uncomfortable conversations is an ideal way to prepare for a job interview, whether it’s going for a position at a new job or putting your hat in the ring for an opportunity with your current employer,” says Ruth Harper.

Harper speaks to the thread that has motivated her all along, supporting women at work and unleashing the opportunities that work can provide.

The Joy Of Empowering Lives

“I witnessed firsthand how the economy can thrive or not, subject to how the world of work works for people or doesn’t. I grew up in a neighborhood in a time when industry was declining, and so there was industrial action and people were out of work, impacting families in a significant way,” says Harper. “My own father had to travel for work. I learned very early about the power of work in somebody’s life, and what happens when you take it away. It’s closely connected to what drives me today.”

Harper grew up in Northern England, an industrial powerhouse, and now lives in Milwaukee, yet another industrial powerhouse. One of the first in her family to go to university and then postgraduate studies, both in human and economic geography, she became a geography teacher – including a stint in the girl’s school once attended by Margaret Thatcher, who became the first female prime minister in the UK.

Curious about what else lay beyond teaching, Harper moved to London and worked with a ‘temp agency’ to figure out how to reinvent herself in work. She was able to transfer her skills to influencing and motivating employment policy, helping unemployed people get back to work and bridging the public and private sectors. It felt meaningful and gratifying, and she was learning a lot while figuring out how to set up public-private partnerships.

“I was working with purpose-driven people who were determined to create opportunities and results that would change people’s lives,” reflects Harper. “The privilege of working on that pulled me into ManpowerGroup. Here I am, 20 years later, still having a nearly first-hand opportunity to create impact. For example, through Manpower’s MyPath program which provides the guidance, support and training people need to build their confidence and employability.”

She notes that while the changing world of work can be exciting, it can be daunting for people in fast-changing industries whose job security feels more volatile: “Being able to address that anxiety and unleash ambition, and to help layout pathways to work for people feels like a thread back to what I could see when I was growing up.”

Supporting Women To Thrive At Work

Harper notes that ManpowerGroup’s Chairman & CEO, Jonas Prising, originally from Sweden, has publicly declared a measurable goal of 50% women in leadership by 2025. Getting familiar with the factors and barriers that can drive women away or block women from the workplace is critical.

“I think organizations need to look at how they help women continue to progress in their career, even when they are part-time or take a break,” says Harper, who spent her own maternity leave in Europe, where she had a year with both of her sons before returning. “Otherwise, we’re never going to get 50% women in leadership because organizations will keep churning out great female talent, who will seek opportunities to balance life and work elsewhere.”

Back in her early days, working in the field of employment policy and government relations with ManpowerGroup, it was not unusual for Harper to walk into rooms full of 55+ year-old white men. They were as likely to assume she was there to take the notes versus contribute to the discussion.

“I learned from a 55 year old male boss at the time to get in there early with a contribution to the discussion. Number one, other people feel relieved and appreciate it when somebody says something first and are likely to even build on it,” advises Harper. “And I learned that contributing early liberates you to relax and enjoy the discussion, because you’re not beating yourself up about not having said anything yet. You may find you are building up to something even bigger to say, but at least you feel good because you’ve contributed.”

She advises the same with networking: “Lots of people don’t love networking. Most people will welcome somebody else walking over to them and saying something; being the first person to put other people at ease is good for you and good for others. It’s a great icebreaker and network builder.”

Navigating Your Desires and Career Journey

Harper likes to surround herself with smart people who bring different perspectives. Curiosity has always pulled her to ask the question ‘what next’. Humility has supported her when she didn’t know that answer.

“Raise your hand, take stuff on and see where it leads you,” advises Harper. “But more importantly, and what I did not always do, is to be confident about articulating where you might want to go, even if it’s not exactly where you might end up, so people have a comprehension of your ambition.”

She encourages women to ask themselves: Am I good with this? Or do I want something different or more? Do I know what that is? How might I get it? Who should I talk to that can help me hone in on what I want?

“Be comfortable with these open-ended questions and then know where your mentors and your people are so that you can have those discussions to help shape your own thought process,” says Harper. “Each person will give you a different set of questions, and that can help you shape a full viewpoint.”

Whether it’s her very supportive husband, or peers inside and outside of the organization, somebody will be able to reflect in a way that helps brings clarity – and sometimes, that means waiting not jumping.

“This is way more of a jungle gym than it is a ladder, so don’t always think that it’s only the vacancy or the opportunity right now that is your opportunity,” says Harper. “Keep going and working it out, until you find or create those opportunities for you.”

Taking On Bigger Leadership Roles

Accordingly, Harper points out that her role of Chief Sustainability Officer did not even exist a couple of years ago.

“There’s nothing more socially impactful than having the dignity to go out and earn a decent living and bring that back to the family and contribute to the community,” says Harper. “At ManpowerGroup, we believe meaningful, sustainable employment has the power to change the world. So, I’m asking how do we, as one of the largest organizations in our industry, set the highest standards and then bring others into that?”

As she’s moved up the ranks, it’s been about “getting out of the weeds” to keep a strategic overview while developing and trusting others. And that means giving people the freedom and safety to do things differently to her (and perhaps even better). “That’s also how I can continue to progress to new and different things – by bringing others with me, so we all rise together and have opportunities.”

Considering herself a talker from a family of talkers, she’s fairly direct in cracking how to get things done. Getting better at deep listening to others, and allowing the pauses in their expression, has been a valuable growth zone.

A mentor of 20 years taught her that leadership style must be versatile and individualized to whoever you are leading. It means both equipping and giving someone the opportunity to run with a project and keeping just enough of an eye to help point them back on track if they are going off-course.

In the spirit of fostering a growth culture at every level, Harper is herself inspired by leaders who are willing to reveal their human side, admit they don’t know something or ask for advice on an idea that is not fully baked.

“I’m really inspired when someone in a senior position puts work in front of me and invites me to build on it, because it shows openness that I might be able to add something to make it even better,” says Harper. “That always motivates me to find really good and constructive input.”

Expressing gratitude at the stage of asking someone to do something, even before they’re delivered (“thank you for…”) is an approach she’s also picked up along the way, showing trust and humility.

Being Purpose-Driven and Making Impact

Harper finds when there is genuine camaraderie in the workplace, people pull together for great things. One of her most humbling and rewarding experiences has been ManpowerGroup’s response efforts to the Ukraine crisis, especially in the Central and Eastern European offices.

“Our Ukraine planning call was the hardest I’ve been on in my 20 years here, but the most inspirational leadership I’ve ever seen, watching people who are really purpose-driven go above and beyond, every day but also on days when it’s needed most,” she says. “And, then how do we continue to do that for refugees or underrepresented groups, too, and find ways to make more impact?”

Recently reflecting on her 20 years at ManpowerGroup, Harper realized she’d moved through many different opportunities and roles, and it hasn’t been a linear journey. What has run through everything is the red thread of getting more people into work and impacting individual lives.

She has two boys, ages 15 and 12, who play American football, soccer and hockey, so being a part of what they love is important to her. She values being present and enjoys traveling, getting outside and good food.

By Aimee Hansen

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Alena Brenner: Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Cornerstone Building Brands

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Alena Brenner “I realized—and it is a powerful attitude shifter—that everyone you encounter as you navigate your career is in a stage of development,” says Alena Brenner. “While we all have things we are working on, you can still learn from everyone and every interaction.” Brenner, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Cornerstone Building Brands, talks about how the immigrant experience influences her work, inventing her own career path to prioritize balance with longevity, networking in male-dominated industries and allowing mistakes to fuel her learning and growth trajectory.

Shaped By the Immigration Experience

When she was a girl, Brenner’s family escaped from Ukraine before the country achieved independence from the former Soviet Union, receiving asylum in the United States. While learning a new language and acclimating to a new culture, she watched her parents work multiple jobs to give their family a new start and a better life.

“The immigrant experience is core to who I am, and because it is so foundational to my identity, I have a natural tendency to put in the hard work it takes to recognize and seize opportunities to learn and grow,” says Brenner. “When my family left Ukraine to pursue a better life, I felt the benefit and burden to both live up to expectations and have gratitude for the opportunities available to me that I would not have had if my family had not immigrated to the United States.”

While she was in high school, she won a scholarship offered by her father’s union to children of union members which allowed Brenner to attend Cornell University. After college, as she considered opportunities to land in a ‘respectable’ field that would provide financial independence and allow her to pursue a variety of career options, she turned to law.

Upon graduating from Fordham University School of Law, Brenner spent nine years with a prestigious law firm, but knew she didn’t want to pursue the partner track. While Brenner was going through a divorce and raising two young children, an in-house opportunity at Anheuser-Busch InBev in New York City became available. Brenner accepted the challenge and went on to play a crucial role in helping integrate two companies after a merger to build the foundation for a new global enterprise.

Forging Her Own Career

“Everyone is on a different path. Some paths may not be linear and may depend on where you are in your life’s journey,” says Brenner. “You’re going to learn to prioritize different things at different stages in your life.”

As a global executive in a high-profile, high-stakes business, Brenner’s career was exciting. But while she loved her job and admired her boss, the pace the work required was not sustainable as she managed the challenges of being a single mother. Though still highly career-driven and ambitious, she realized she wanted to be closer to family and to have the support and balance that offered.

Brenner moved to Miami where her parents lived and accepted a position as corporate counsel with Ryder System, Inc.— a $9 billion transportation and logistics company. She was quickly promoted and eventually became Deputy General Counsel, having expanded the scope of her role significantly. Nine years later, she was tapped to lead Cornerstone Building Brands legal function, a C-Suite role she began in 2021.

Inquisitive and a planner/builder by nature, Brenner has always been interested in learning more about the “how” and “how can we make it better” in her work, which is one reason she was drawn to roles in logistics and manufacturing, including her current position with Cornerstone Building Brands, where she’s spent the last 12 months creating a more robust and effective legal, compliance and risk management team.

Additionally, Brenner knew she wanted to join an organization that believes strongly in cultivating a collaborative and inclusive culture. She found that under the leadership of President and CEO Rose Lee. “Rose has been breaking every ceiling imaginable,” says Brenner. “She strives every day to close the gender gap in our industry and to promote a workplace that is diverse and equitable. She is fostering a culture where team members are encouraged to engage in open dialogue around complex and often difficult topics. We’re also living our purpose through the company’s sustainability, ESG and DE&I mission and goals.”

Currently, Brenner is charged with laying the foundation for a new ESG team and is spearheading the development of a comprehensive, industry-leading sustainability program.

‘Everything Is My Job’

Having worked across a spectrum of male-dominated industries such as beer, tobacco, consumer packaged goods, transportation and now industrial manufacturing, Brenner’s aptitude has enabled her to build relationships with essential business partners. She has a strong track record of taking on strategic business challenges by committing to understand the issue at hand and collaborating with all those involved, at all levels, for context and understanding.

“I think people sense that I’m genuine and earnestly trying to help them be successful in their roles. I am willing to offer an honest, third-party assessment of any issue,” she says. “If you demonstrate that, people start coming to you for counsel and view you as a business partner.”

Brenner has adopted a mentor’s mantra: Everything is my job. Whether calling a manufacturer to solve a high-stakes challenge or running to FedEx to ensure a package goes out on time, anything that contributes to the company’s success is within her scope. “Everything that comes across your desk, you own it and you have a responsibility to make it better,” says Brenner. She looks for the same mindset and sense of ownership in new company hires, too.

Embracing Mistakes as Part of Growth

“I realized—and it is a powerful attitude shifter—that everyone you encounter as you navigate your career is in a stage of development,” says Brenner. “While we all have things we are working on, you can still learn from everyone and every interaction.”

Inclined toward perfectionism, Brenner received excellent advice from one boss on the importance of not being too hard on yourself: The only people who don’t make mistakes are the ones not doing anything. They’re not taking any risk or they’re delegating. Brenner says she was encouraged to make mistakes, which led her to learn more and grow confidence in her legal work and in areas outside of her field of expertise.

“Too often, people are reluctant to take on responsibilities outside of their areas of expertise or comfort zone for fear of failing or because they work in a culture that does not reasonably view mistakes as opportunities to learn, grow and innovate. As a leader, you have to be willing to support a degree of risk-taking to signal to others that making those leaps are supported and encouraged,” says Brenner.” You want to grow and develop people who have ambition and want to learn, so you act to support them and allow them to make mistakes, give the necessary feedback to avoid repeating them and move on to solutions.”

Brenner notes that if she makes a mistake, she might spend a few hours reflecting on what she would have done differently. When she wakes up the next morning, it’s a new start with a unique advantage. She is now better equipped for success because she can apply the lessons learned reflecting on her decision-making to achieve higher performance.

Finding Her Own Way

Working in industries where men tend to fill the highest ranks of leadership, Brenner has often found herself the lone woman in the room. This hasn’t come without challenges, including finding people willing to talk to her, sit next to her or include her in informal networking that is often critical to career advancement. She admits she’s over-prepared, an overachiever and works especially hard to prove her value.

Her networking strategy is to go to as many meetings as invited to, attend events regularly and visit manufacturing facilities with the intention not only to build connections, but also to learn about every aspect of the business.

Serving Others

When she’s not working, Brenner has spent her time working pro bono supporting refugees who have been victims of torture or scarred in some way on their asylum-seeking journeys. She has also helped female victims of domestic violence obtain green cards and gain independence from abusive partners. The work is life-changing for those it impacts, and though often intense, it is also immensely fulfilling.

With her children now 17 and 14, she’s focused on enjoying her time with them before they leave home to make their own mark on the world—one that she’s determined to continue to make better.

“If a certain approach isn’t working, then I know I need to pivot to achieve my goal instead of giving up on it,” says Brenner. “There are infinite ways to pursue your aspirations, so if one way doesn’t work, you can try others until you achieve your goal.”

By Aimee Hansen 

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2022: Words of Wisdom from Diverse Women Leaders

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diverse women leadersFor over 15 years so far, we’ve had the opportunity to interview a diverse range of women leaders who are overcoming barriers, charting new territories and elevating their impact. Each woman is generous enough to sit with us and share her story to empower and inspire other women. At The Glass Hammer, we feel visibility matters – and it’s our honor to amplify the voices of women who are raising the ceiling on possibilities in their own lives and our world. Again and again, we hear about the importance of role models in enhancing our vision of what is possible. 

Looking across our leader profiles during 2022, we share a few words of wisdom and inspiration from each woman we’ve talked to so far this year. Thank you for the gift of your energy, time and insight!

“One of the key attributes of a great leader is authenticity, therefore I refuse to have separate work and home life personalities. I believe it is time to change the message that women, or indeed anyone, needs to adjust their personalities to fit with the corporate world.” – Charlene Kennedy: CEO, PGIM Private Capital (Ireland)

“What you will often hear is leaders defending their intent: ‘So are you saying that we discriminate? Are you saying that we aren’t fair?’ But the opportunity is if we can recognize that despite our best intentions, our decisions sometimes have impacts that we don’t intend. It’s important to be curious about the cumulative impacts of individual decisions, along with organizational systems and policies.” – Betsy Bagley: Co-Founder and Director, Pulsely

“I used to hate feedback, but I think feedback and constructive criticism is so important. You may have really good intentions and just not know you’re doing something that isn’t working for you. The feedback may be really hard to hear and digest, but sometimes it comes from a great place. Even if you may not agree, it’s good to hear it.” – Jessica Titlebaum Darmoni: Senior Manager, Head of Marketing, ErisX

“I’ve become more conscious of my own energy as I’ve become older, and that it’s always flowing in me, but you can also learn to use it and channel it. If I’ve got to get a team going, I really think about bringing that energy to the table… The biggest thing you can do to be successful is to be yourself and not listen to the detractors. Just let your light shine.” – Rachael Sansom: Managing Director, Red Havas UK

“You’ve got to remain true to yourself, because there are enough people telling you what you can’t do. I will always tell you what you can do. We’re going to make change together, but you have to be true to yourself. You have to be authentic. If you’re not, what’s the point?” – Brandi Boatner: Manager, Digital & Advocacy Communications, IBM

“Actively asking how others are feeling not only makes them feel more part of the team, but also establishes a level of trust and morale that makes everyone perform better. Being aware of how everyone else is feeling helps form a cohesive team because at the end of the day, we’re all working towards the same goal. If one person is having an off day, that’s going to impact the whole team. Knowing how to rally around and motivate that person not only helps the individual but brings the whole team closer together.” – Mariah Turner: Associate, PGIM Private Capital

“As you arrive to a real senior level, you will start to understand that people are going to have a hard time disagreeing with you. They tend to give you filtered information. If you know that, you can be much more deliberate and intentional in terms of how you ask questions, to make sure that you’re getting the real story and understanding different perspectives.” – Geline Midouin: Chief People Officer, Shearman & Sterling LLP

“It’s important to be able to trust and communicate to your leaders: here’s what I need from you and what I need you to help me with. That has made the difference for me in my career. And that is not wisdom that one must wait until they are well into their careers to acquire anymore. Remember, what I said at the outset of this interview, the world is different now, and leadership looks different.” – Pamela Peace: Principal & North America Client Management, PGIM Fixed Income

“First, you need to be able to identify it: I’m having a feeling. Then you need to name the feeling and ask yourself: What is driving that feeling and is it worthy of speaking up for? Then you ultimately need the self-confidence to speak up, be potentially willing to engage in a disagreement, and simply not question it too much. The more you question it, the more likely you are to miss the appropriate moment to say something, or to lose the feeling entirely. As you move through life, your gut instinct is one thing that stays with you, no matter what you choose.” – Erica Klinkowize: CBNA Treasurer, Citi

“In times of uncertainty, the focus has shifted from seeking answers to raising questions and building relationships to lead through the unknown… The circumstances of the last two years have made me a different leader. I had to take a step back and ask: what did I do in this time? And take the necessary steps to hopefully be proud of the answer.” – Danielle Arnone: Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Combe

“Figure out who can help. You cannot be a master of everything, nor should you be. Get a distributed style of management to get further, faster. Ask yourself who do I know and what do I need to learn?” – Bessie Kokalis Pescio: Vice President, Global Internal Communications, Philip Morris International

“I spent ten years in nursing. But there’s an expression in this part of the country that people are ‘called to preach.’ They have a burden to preach, meaning they can’t not do it. Well, in my case, I felt called to medicine. I had a burden to be a doctor and it would not go away… we never know how much time we’ve got on this planet, so I really don’t want to go to my grave without having tried to do what I felt I was called to.” – Dr. Sarah Carrier, MD: Emergency Physician, JH Quillen VA Medical Center

“Don’t just assume that people know what you want. You need to make sure that your managers and your stakeholders know that you are interested in other opportunities. Don’t be scared to let them know. It’s not like you’re going to be fired because you’re driven and want to move and grow.” – Jessica Jones: Managing Director, Head of Asia, PGIM Investments

“Earlier in my career, I thought I had to be the one with the voice. Now, I realize what I have to do is give or encourage or support the voices that have the information required, not always be the voice. That’s the muscle you develop with maturity and by realizing the amazing contributions that many voices bring to a conversation. That’s the muscle you develop when you embrace the diversity of thinking in a team to drive forward.“ – Renee Connolly: Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

The transition over your career is toward managing up, and ensuring that you get what you need… I really have come to see the importance of don’t take on too much and do fewer things better, both of which I pass on to women just starting their career.” – Kate Kenner Archibald: Chief Marketing Officer, Dash Hudson

“I found a different lease on my otherness. I can’t chase everybody’s projection of me, but the more I recognize the uniqueness of my own experience, the more I feel I have to offer… One of the things now running through my veins is the knowing that what makes me connect with people is the ways in which we are similar, what intrigues and draws me to people is the ways in which we are different.” – Elena Kim: VP Business Development, TV/OTT at Global Music Rights

“The truth is, if I can be loving and patient, and approach whatever comes my way with compassion, everything will fall into place. Being a good lawyer, a good colleague, a good mother, a good partner, a good daughter – it all starts with being a loving person. Approaching things with a loving attitude will make things easier for you.” – Jingjing Liang: Associate, Compensation, Governance & ERISA practice, Shearman & Sterling LLP

“Early in my career, I was more conservative in offering my perspective and spoke only if I had the perfect comment. I’ve realized it’s okay to not always have the right answer or right idea, but it’s important to use your voice. There is power, value and hopefully impact, in sharing diverse perspectives… It doesn’t matter if you’re a junior level person in a room of more seasoned executives, you’ve been given a seat at the table for a reason and it is in the firm’s best interest to encourage and embrace your perspective. You have valuable things to say, so don’t sit in the background. Use your voice, early on.” – Ivy Tsui: Director of Program Management for DE&I, PGIM Real Estate

“I understand the stereotypes or expectations when a woman is in the room — how we’re expected to speak, defend our work, or refrain from speaking in an authoritative way — and I’ve told myself, ‘None of that applies to you, because you weren’t born and raised in this culture, so you’re going to embrace the otherness.’ So, I speak up, respectfully and never rude, but I have to speak.” – Louise Carroll: Partner, Real Estate, Katten

“I like to take complex problems and divide them into simpler ones, and I like to do that very fast. Every single problem, no matter how big, can be dissected, once you understand the root cause. But when you think you know the cause, you have to dig deeper and deeper. Once you have the root cause, everything else gets easier. You can find the paths to resolve the problem.” – Valeria Vitola: Managing Director, Anti-Money Laundering Region Head – Latin America (Except Mexico), Citibank

“When you’re building teams, you always want to be strongly committed to the diversity of your team’s experience and ideas. You don’t want to have uniformity in thought or expertise, as it could challenge disruption and innovation.” – Mary Cassai: Senior Vice President, Perioperative Services, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

“Create the greatest, grandest vision possible for your life and career because you become what you believe… Each step of my career taught me meaningful characteristics about myself and helped me make my next leap.” – Rupal Shah: Principal, PGIM Fixed Income

“We need to trust our gut. We know exactly where we see ourselves, but sometimes we’re afraid to share that vision. We just need to move confidently in the pursuit of our dreams. From every setback, we can learn… I’ve become more of an unapologetic Latina who stays optimistic about our future possibilities, but it took me 22 years of going through this journey to realize that it’s my life, it’s my vision, it’s my calling.” – Claudia Vazquez: Founder, elevink

“I love to take the time to get to know individuals: to listen and to avoid assumptions. I think that creates a space where people can be authentic, which leads to new conversations and new opportunities.” – Vanessa Nazario: Corporate Director, Chief Diversity Officer, Memorial Healthcare System

“I draw so much power from all the things that make me different. I used to view it as a disadvantage, but it’s so essential to how I’m able to show up, how effective and efficient I am, and the impact that I’m able to make. I draw from everything, and to have not done that for so many years was a detriment to my performance.…For this moment, while employers are asking you to bring yourself to work, do it. Do it now. Do it today. The hope is that this is a movement, not a moment. But time is of the essence, so do it. It will pay dividends.”- Amber Hairston: Agency Underwriter, PGIM Real Estate

“If you don’t know me and you don’t understand what drives me and what ails me, then how could you truly be in charge of growing me and taking me to the next level?  I think it’s really important as managers that we take the approach of being coaches and changing the relationship from ‘I’m here to manage and make sure you do what you’re supposed to do’ to ‘I’m here to coach you and make sure that you exceed that.’… Most managers feel like I can’t get too close because then I can’t be objective, and I think it’s the opposite. If you’re not close enough, you’re going to miss what’s happening and you’re going to miss opportunities to support people in a way that makes them want to come to work and be part of the community.” – Indhira Arrington: Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Ares Management

“That (Latina) part of my identity and proving myself is impacted by this other part of me that needs to grow and trust other people to do things, even though I don’t have 100% control. Letting go of some of that control has been hard, but I’m working on it. I’ve realized that everyone is an individual, and they’re not all like me, and I have to manage to each person versus to what my personal expectations, approaches, or processes would be.” – Cassandra Cuellar: Partner, Venture Capital, M&A and Capital Markets, Shearman & Sterling LLP

“I enjoyed going into rooms and finding those moments where I’d pipe up with an interesting point of view or a question, and all of a sudden, people would shift around and look at me. So I find it quite empowering. I’ve used the difference to my advantage… I think all of these factors combined meant I didn’t buy into the barrier, and just ignored it, and still today it hasn’t stopped me, because I have a deeper belief that it can happen – at least in the spaces where I’m operating in.” – Sabina Munnelly: Partner, Baringa

“Opportunity only lands on people who seek it. If you want to be sponsored, you need to give people an opportunity to get to know you: what you want to do, what your strengths are, and what challenges you might be facing.” – Ashley Shan: Associate, Finance Group, Shearman & Sterling LLP

“In my experience, a lot of the influence and ability to make changes come from working at the intersection of different disciplines and taking that experience to management and leadership… In technology or in any industry, being able to have that broader aperture allows someone to see more opportunities and navigate better decisions about where they want to go and how to do it to make a broader impact in an organization.” – Joyce Shen: AI investor, board director, author, and data science at UC Berkeley

“You should feel comfortable and confident that you can speak up. You might not say everything perfectly or you might even say something wrong, but that’s okay. Plenty of people will talk and know less than you do… I bring my own unique perspective to the table. Adding my voice may steer the conversation or decision-making in a certain way, or add more nuance to the overall discussion.” – Fiona Cho: COO of Asia-Pacific Region, PGIM Real Estate

Interviewed by Aimee Hansen

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