Thought Leader: Silke Muenster, Chief Diversity Officer, Phillip Morris International

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Silke MuensterDiversity can drive innovation and innovation can drive diversity. This is a sentiment shared by Silke Muenster, Chief Diversity Officer at Phillip Morris International (PMI), a self-described ‘German mathematician’ but an interesting, committed and fierce change leader who goes way beyond any formula when she speaks passionately about diversity.

“Diversity is numbers, but inclusion is what makes diverse teams work.” She continues, “It is the culture that makes inclusion work and then innovation can happen. Innovation is fundamental to our vision at PMI of creating a smoke-free future. There are one billion smokers in the world, and our company is undertaking a huge task to make smoking cigarettes a thing of the past. Imagine the diversity that lies within our adult customer base so this is something we want to represent also inside PMI.”

Silke recounts how at university and in a large portion of her career, she was always surrounded by men from school classes to the senior management meetings she attended in Germany. Her career journey started at Coca-Cola where she stayed for twelve years and she joined PMI in 2011 as director, Market and Consumer Research, and then was appointed Vice President, Market Research in 2012.

In March 2020, she became PMI’s first Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) starting on the ‘first day of lockdown’ in Switzerland, in a year that would lead most people to reflect on the role of companies in advancing equity and furthering inclusion and diversity in society, and the future of work. Silke was working on this exact topic of “smart work” when COVID-19 hit, and sees real opportunity for everyone to have flexibility, now that the theory that remote work is not only possible, but possible for the vast majority of employees in many companies, has been truly road tested.

When she took the role of CDO, she felt that it was an excellent time to start. She noticed that it was clear that people wanted to talk about the topic and wanted to reflect on their priorities due to pandemic-induced changes of circumstances and the happenings in the world at large that occurred in 2020 – notably, the extension of the Black Lives Matter movement and the growing awareness that came to the forefront of social justice issues.

Diversity And Inclusion

“There has been a tendency for people to think that Diversity and Inclusion is about everyone being nice to each other, but D&I is about creating room for people to speak up so that everyone’s voice is heard.”

Silke believes that it is crucial for people in the company to have the right discussions but that the organization needed to first create the psychological safety to start these conversations. She believes that not everyone has to be an expert, but rather a willing participant, to engage in the conversation about how they would like to see the world in the future.

“Discussions can be had, and conflict can also occur, but ultimately those discussions can be therefore very productive.”

Silke believes that inclusion has benefits for everyone and on her list of things to ensure she and other senior leaders do, is to find a way to empower every employee to enter into the discussion about how to improve inclusion and advance our diversity –to ultimately better our organization and our business— no matter who they are, where they come from, what they look like, who they love, their ability or any other dimension of their identity.

“Different views need to be heard. I&D is something for everyone to participate in. Everyone has to drive this agenda as everyone will benefit. It starts from the top as it needs total commitment that it is a valued task to undertake.”

When she reveals what she is working on, she mentions that this is where she does delight in the numbers, as she has seen the needle move from 29% of women in management in 2014 go to 37% at the end of 2020—with the number of women on PMI’s Senior Management Team doubling from 8 percent to 16 percent in the space of 12 months (since January 2020 until year-end).

“We make gender diversity a company-wide goal and part of leaders’ efforts, and we make sure internal talent processes align. We also have worked hard to create Employee Resource Groups and have updated policies, such as most recently ensuring that we have a more inclusive minimum global parental leave principles which include men and women, and ensuring everyone is covered regardless of sexual orientation. I am also proud to say we have just signed The Valuable 500 and are committed to bring disability onto our 2021 agenda in a much bigger way.”

The Hard Conversations

“Diversity work is a journey and I personally have done a serious amount of reading to learn what I didn’t know and was interested in growing my understanding in this domain. To do this work, to take the journey, you have to start somewhere and have discussions, perhaps hard conversations that include talking about how the playing field is not level. Senior managers have to show vulnerability, which runs deep of course.”

Silke speaks of her thoughts around mentoring and sponsorship freely, revealing she is a very passionate mentor herself and believes that mentoring is the best way to start a sponsor relationship as the chemistry can truly evolve. She feels strongly that pilot programs are the best way to see if certain programmatic efforts work specifically for PMI so that the success of the program can be evaluated and then implemented widely for optimal success.

“It is not about ‘fixing’ women; rather, it is important to recognize that there are specific barriers that women face when it comes to career advancement and we want to make sure to create the right solution that actually helps.”

Silke reiterates her desire for specificity and not a broad approach and believes that she is now a coaching convert also.

“If you had of asked me twenty years ago about coaching, I would have not been convinced, but I have seen how well this can work, especially when there are specific challenges identified, then coaching can really help women and men alike.”

Hope for the Future

Silke hopes that diversity and inclusion stops being such a hard topic in the future but understands that much like quitting smoking cigarettes, that change comes from new behaviors and habits often underpinned by educational facts, incentives via good policies and shifting of cultural norms for everyone in the society.

“If I was to hope for one thing to happen, it would be that everyone gets fully involved so that they can feel and see the joy of belonging for themselves and others; that they can feel the joy of being seen and heard when the speak up at PMI; and that they find benefits in an inclusive environment no matter who they are.”

by Nicki Gilmour, CEO and Founder, Evolved People (theglasshammer.com)

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Julie Gottshall: Partner and Chair, Employment Litigation and Counseling Practice, Katten

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Julie Gottshall

When she was first starting out, Katten’s Julie Gottshall would not have predicted she would spend nearly her entire legal career working for a single large law firm. In a profession with many options, and an era that often rewards job changes, Gottshall believed she would join different employers and maybe even take some time off the career fast track. Instead, Gottshall found a position that enabled her to grow and balance, and decided to stick with it.

Sometimes, says Gottshall, the best opportunity is the one you already have.

Finding Her Niche

Gottshall’s career has been a steady climb. After graduating from George Washington University Law School, she decided that moving to Chicago would be her “great life adventure,” despite the fact that she had no obvious connection to the city. She initially eschewed the largest law firms, choosing to start her legal career at a midsize firm that she hoped would provide a more appealing lifestyle. But when she was a fourth-year associate, two partners with whom she worked closely joined Katten. She moved with them to continue her career focus on employment counseling and litigation, a practice she has solidly established and now leads.

Gottshall felt drawn to employment law for the human element of the practice, and the opportunity to keep her corporate clients out of trouble but defend them if they nonetheless found themselves facing a lawsuit. At Katten, Gottshall handles a broad spectrum of employment issues, including worker mobility (e.g., non-compete implementation and enforcement); employee separations and reductions in force; worker classification and wage/ hour compliance; handbook and policy implementation; workplace investigations; and discrimination and harassment prevention. She has litigated in numerous state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate level, and before all manner of government agencies. She also acts as an impartial third-party arbitrator on the Employment Panel of the American Arbitration Association, where she has decided cases involving breach of contract; discrimination, retaliation and harassment issues; and other workplace matters.

Gottshall likes to quip that one of her most impressive professional achievements is to fly deftly under the radar, since she works hard to keep her clients on track and out of the spotlight.  Always one to look for practical solutions, she describes herself as a counselor first, an attorney second, and a litigator last. Still, she knows her way around a courtroom. She is particularly proud of a whistleblower case she argued and won before the Illinois Supreme Court – a victory that was the culmination of 11 years of work. After she prevailed in the lower court only to see the decision overturned on appeal, she sought certiorari, becoming one of seven out of 237 petitions the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear that session. The high court ruled unanimously in her client’s favor, marking a noteworthy victory for her client and a favorable precedent for other employers.

Gottshall finds employment law is a particularly exciting space right now, given the current remote work environment during the pandemic that has prompted employers to reimagine the workplace and what it will look like in both the near and distant future, as well as presented challenges regarding workplace safety, sick leave and furloughs and layoffs.

Mastering the Balancing Act

While the legal field continues to evolve in its support for personal life choices, Gottshall finds that women still face a constant challenge in finding the right balance. “We are called upon to take on so many roles— some that we need to do and some that we want to do,” says Gottshall. “It’s up to each person to decide how to allocate her time and navigate how much is spent on family and other pursuits, versus how much is poured into a career.”

Still, Gottshall has found Katten conducive to personal as well as professional growth. As she notes, a long tenure at a single firm allows you to build credibility and good will. Your colleagues know your work ethic and contributions, which better positions you to set boundaries and request flexibility. She encourages the use of maternity and paternity leave and other options such as Katten’s sabbatical program, designed to help promote work-life balance. “I applaud women who lean in, but also take advantage of the programs offered, especially today as companies realize they have to adapt to keep their top performers,” Gottshall said. Like most women, Gottshall tries to multi-task when she can. In fact, she once leveraged her maternity leave to take a mediation course to further her career. “Women should determine the best course for them, their families and careers.”

Gottshall appreciates opportunities like the Katten Women’s Leadership Forum that can support women attorneys’ desire to create bonds with other women and fulfill the responsibility to be a mentor.

Part of her balance also comes from using her skills in her community. For example, she has been a school board member for eight years, which she sees as an important commitment. “It’s a gratifying way to leverage my professional knowledge while giving back,” she says.

With one daughter in college and another in her senior year of high school, Gottshall and her husband are looking forward to determining what it means to be “empty nesters.” For now, they enjoy paddle sports and indulge in their passion for travel, especially visiting national parks.

“You have to be mindful of your priorities,” she said, “and look for the joy in everyday pursuits so you don’t lose sight of perspective in all the things life offers you.”

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Jamila Houser: Deputy Chief Underwriter – Agency Lending, PGIM Real Estate

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Jamila Houser“People often say ‘if you can see it, you can be it.’ Well if you don’t see it, does that mean you can’t be it?” challenges Jamila Houser.

Houser speaks honestly on qualifying yourself, showing up as you and the challenges of leveling up while finding your balance.

Getting Into The Door

With strong natural abilities in math and science, Houser grew up thinking her job options were becoming a doctor or an engineer.

But while picking up her second undergrad degree at Georgia Tech (in engineering), she realized that designing laptop fans—her final senior test —was not the gateway to her ideal field, as a naturally outgoing people person.

After working in consulting at Accenture, she moved towards a real estate concentration in her MBA at Georgia State, which eventually launched her into 17 years of moving up through the ranks with PGIM Real Estate so far—where she loves the people, culture, challenges and opportunities.

But getting that initial foot in the door was no small feat. Her resume lacked real estate experience and 75% of the job post read like a foreign language. So Houser chose to emphasize from her daily life how she was a bright individual with genuine passion for the space, who could learn and had the energy to come in, figure things out and get stuff done.

“What skills do you think you bring to the space and what is it that interests you most about this opportunity?” Houser advises to ask, emphasizing that as women we too often mistake that we have to tick every box.

“Forget the fact that you have no experience,” she says. “How can you communicate your interest in such a way that you convince them that you are worth the investment?”

She recommends to be aware of the energy you are bringing foremost, come with clarity on what skills you offer and clearly exemplify those skills and how they will add value.

She also attributes her success to managers who had the courage to do something different and invest in knowing and growing her.

“It’s so important that when people are choosing an organization to work with, they are interviewing that manager just as much as they are being interviewed,” notes Houser. “You want to go somewhere where there are people who see value in you and are going to do their part to help ensure your success.”

If You Can’t See It, Can You Still Be It?

Houser admits feeling like an outsider when she initially entered into finance those couple decades ago. The industry appeared to be a conservative, formal and stifled male world where she didn’t belong as a warm and friendly people person.

While there are far more women and women events since she entered the industry, Houser notes that it still takes energy to network in a conference room where she is one of few people of color, let alone senior women of color.

“I think for me personally I have had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” she says. Houser has learned to go into new roles as who she is, not measuring her compatibility for the role by the gender, skin color, personality or approach of her predecessor.

“I may not see someone who looks like me, talks like me, sounds like me, but I still see myself in people who are in leadership,” she notes. “You get to realize you’re not that different.”

“I’ve never met a stranger. I just love people,” says Houser. “And I can empathize and understand that the people I’m dealing with are in a large part influenced by the lenses they’ve developed over time. So I can build relationships in a way that allows us to get to know each other.”

Recently, in a Zoom presentation to several heads of business, a simple smile from one gentleman amidst a screen of faces reminded her: “You’re just talking to other regular human beings. You’re here, you have something to say and they’re here to listen to you.”

Leveling Up Your Skills and Brand

“I’ve built my brand on hard work,” says Houser, coming from a line of single mothers. Her own mother completed her Ph.D. across 20 years while also working three jobs.

“Hard work, determination and persistence caused me to rise in the organization very quickly up to a certain point. The earlier promotions happened automatically,” Houser observes. “But there comes a point where those qualities alone are not enough, and moving up through senior management levels requires mastering new skills.”

Houser admits she works to rebuild proficiency and confidence each time she levels up.

“I have to be very intentional about negative speak—especially when I’m going into new positions or new opportunities,” she says of the critical inner voices familiar to many of us. “How quickly can I cut that off?”

Houser is grateful for mentors and sponsors who have witnessed and magnified her strengths as well as been able to point out her subtler blindspots or gaps… and dissolve her false concerns.

With her recent promotion, she’s been facing the common leadership growth pains of moving from the “hardworking” brand she’s confidently built her career on to redefining her value by leading and supporting others to be effective and productive.

“I hold myself to a very high standard, probably unreasonably high,” says Houser, “so when you’re shifting to no longer being the doer but now the manager, you have to tone it down. Moving from colleague, or peer, to manager is a difficult transition that I’m still mastering.”

Rather than assume how her team wants her to support them, her approach has been to get very clear on what support her team needs from her while communicating what she needs and expects from her team.

At first it was difficult not to jump in and put her hand in everything out of habit, but the sheer volume of work has shifted her towards more delegation and trust, so she can focus on where she needs to go now too.

Finding Your Authentic Expression

Houser is an outcomes-driven person who has learned across time to bridge the conversation differently with those who are more process, detail or strategy-oriented, with their own inclinations and gifts.

One of her personal journeys has been finding her authentic expression in a professional setting, and letting that move with her.

“The switch flipped for me with authenticity that I can still be myself but there’s a way to be myself at work,” says Houser, noting her husband pointed out to her that her professional self is as much a part of her wholeness as her Sunday dinner self.

“I have had to wrestle with the idea of authenticity,” says Houser, “and I think I’ve become much more comfortable that I can be who I am and express how I express. I have found the right balance where I bring my authentic self but into the work setting.”

Bringing Others Up With You

“Once it clicked that not only do I have a seat at the table, but people also look up to me,” observes Houser, “I began to take the responsibility to lift others to success very seriously.”

While she used to be focused solely on her own contribution, Houser now spends most of her time looking around to see who she can advocate for, make visible and elevate, building the close mentor relationships she herself has valued as a mentee.

“I especially champion the ones who no one is thinking about, nobody is talking about, they’re not raising their hand,” she says. “They’re fine sitting over there and doing their job every day to a very high degree.”

“That gives me so much joy,” says Houser, “using the skills, the talent, the relationships, the knowledge I’ve gained to help someone else be successful.”

Practicing Self-Care to Show Up For Others

As many women share, being passionate about her job in the remote, 24/7 availability work environment and being a mother of ten and eight year old sons who are distant learning beside her at home has made creating balance more challenging.

“I’ve found that if I don’t take care of myself, I can’t show up and be there for my staff, for my kids or my husband,” observes Houser. “So though I may want to put my hand in all these efforts and do all of these things, I need to put my own oxygen mask on first.”

She has found declaring self-care recharge days and moments for herself to be a necessary grace. She plans to cultivate more intentional quality time and movie nights with her boys.

Houser finds meditative rhythm by running in a women’s group each morning come rain or snow, and gardening continues to be a lifelong love of hers, with a future interest in helping to create urban farms.

By Aimee Hansen

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Linda Descano, CFA®: Executive Vice President, Red Havas

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Linda Descano“‘We will be known forever by the tracks we leave,’” quotes Linda Descano, from the Native American proverb she lives by. “To me, that means we need to tread lightly because words and actions have profound consequences.”

“But it also means that through our tracks, we can leave a footprint behind to follow,” she remarks, “so other people not only avoid our pitfalls, but also accelerate because they build on our lessons and experiences.”

In this interview, Descano shares some footprints to follow. 

Allow Intrigue To Guide You

“My career path has been anything but linear,” says Linda Descano, based again in Philadelphia after thirty years away. Instead she has let intrigue and excitement guide her. 

“For me, it’s been about finding opportunities to learn…and finding interesting problems to solve with smart people who want to somehow improve the world or make a difference,” she reflects.

Following that spark of intrigue began in university, when she took a geology class to fulfill her science elective for her English Communications degree, then switched her major.

After pursuing graduate studies in earthquake prediction, she pivoted to work on ways to make K-12 STEM education more hands-on, and then joined a team that was developing a ‘brain’ to drive autonomous underwater vehicles.

Descano then joined an environmental consulting practice which led her to eventually become a member of the environmental affairs team at Citi predecessor Salomon Inc. in 1994. She leveraged her understanding of environmental and social issues to join a socially responsible investment program at Citi, which was one of the first—if not the first—on Wall Street.

Descano then leapt to help launch Women & Co. in 2003 within Citi, an award-winning online financial lifestyle resource for women, eventually serving as President and Chief Executive Officer.

In 2012, she became Managing Director and Global Head of Content and Social at Citi. In 2015, Descano pivoted yet again and went from the brand side to the agency side, joining Red Havas as Executive Vice President in 2015.

 “My entire career has been questioning, listening and hearing about challenges—friction in the system, opportunities to grow, trends reshaping customer preferences and needs—and being willing to raise my hand and get involved,” says Descano. “I’m always looking to find a way to learn and grow myself.”

Define Your Own Parameters

Early in her journey, Descano experienced professors and colleagues who judged her potential as less than she knew herself capable of—whether due to her Italian heritage, her Catholic upbringing, her weight, her gender, not having a finance degree or not having an MBA.

Time and again, she resisted having others box her in, cultivating inner resilience while growing in self-awareness and managing her own triggers and sensitivities. 

“It taught me that people will always see you with perceptions and judgments,” she notes. “And it’s up to each of us to decide—will we let others define the sandbox in which we operate, or will we blow it apart and carve our own path?”

She recalls saying to one such colleague, “I might not have an MBA from Harvard, but I do have an MBA from the ‘School of Hard Knocks.’ So between my brute experience and your Ivy League education, we should together be able to create a stellar program.”

“You have to decide who is going to own and set the parameters for your career and make your choices—don’t put them on autopilot,” she advises. “You have to be the navigator of your career. I set out to become a Managing Director, and that’s exactly what I did.”

Be Intrapreneurial In Your Leadership

“Execution is a passion of mine,” says Descano. “I’m always very focused on ‘I understand the strategy, but how do you execute flawlessly and what’s the right organizational structure?’”

No matter what organization she is a part of, Descano assumes the mindset of the “intrapreneurial executive.”

“When you think of an entrepreneur, you think of people with a lot of flexibility and they’re adaptive. They act as owners. They take initiative. They lean in,” says Descano. 

“So as I think of being an ‘intrapreneurial executive,’ I bring that same sense of acting like an owner to the organization I work for. I’m going to be constantly thinking about ways of improving the business,” says Descano. “I act like I own it, as if it’s my investment. It’s working with that same sense of responsibility and drive to make it grow.”

Descano has valued the leaders—both at Citi and Red Havas—that gave her the green lights to create and test and do things differently in order to bring more value to the consumer and community.  

“If you just put your head down, you will lift your head up one day and the world around you will have changed and you have not, so how could you be adding value?” says Descano. “It’s so important to deliver, but I believe you have to keep looking around, looking up, looking down, looking sideways— because the world is changing. You have to evolve and grow and adapt.”

Value the Value of Your Network

With incredible female role models in her family, Descano also internalized the importance of helping others and paying it forward.

Outside of her ‘day job,’ Linda has served on the board of numerous organizations dedicated to advancing women and girls, including Step Up, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., and New York Women in Communications (NYWICI). A past president of NYWICI, she remains an active board member and currently serves as the Treasurer.

“I’ve made it a point throughout my career to spend part of my personal time and money investing in paying it forward with women and girls, mentoring both informally and formally.” says Descano. “Sharing your fortune and facilitating opportunities, that’s how you help people move forward.”

Descano considers running Women & Co.— a business focused on supporting women to be their personal best— for over a decade to be the highlight of her career. 

In today’s knowledge economy, Descano also advises that the network you build by supporting others is your greatest asset. 

“When I’m faced with a challenge and issue, I have a tremendous network of people I can call on to get the benefit of their experience, insights and knowledge,” says Descano. “Part of the power and value that I bring to an organization’s table is my network and relationships.” 

Whether it’s getting a 101 on a new industry for a new business opportunity, connecting a client to several women she trusts in a new field they are entering, or recruiting a speaker, her network has been absolutely invaluable to her.

When you are there for your network, you also create a net for yourself. 

“When you show kindness, when you’re willing to help others, even if just to listen to them,” notes Descano, “then the days you fall, the days you aren’t the best you could be, the days you get displaced by circumstance, you have all these people that are softening your fall and supporting you, almost like a spring back up.”

Remember We Are All Human

Much of Descano’s work today is designing transformational communications for organizations during times of change—which has never been more salient than now. 

One of the big focuses at Red Havas that animates her is person to person (P2P) communications, or bringing the humanity and empathy back to the forefront of communications.

Remembering that we are all human—no matter if you’re talking to employees, customers or a business—is one topic featured in the monthly podcast she has launched as part of a team, Red Sky Fuel for Thought, providing insight into the communications landscape.

When she’s not being an intrapreneur or supporting other women, Descano can be found reading, or listening to True Crime podcasts in her kitchen while making a couple dozen stromboli for her family.

By Aimee Hansen

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Kelli Hill: Senior Director of Planning, Central Region, Wells Fargo Private Bank

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Kelli Hill

“In the moment, you might think that your path in life doesn’t seem clear. It might seem like it’s going in a direction that’s not what you had planned,” says Wells Fargo’s Kelli Hill, based in Minneapolis. “I’ve learned to go with it and have confidence that life will take you right where you need to be.”

From unexpected career and personal turns to crossing the finish line at an Ironman Triathlon, Hill shares on navigating towards growth and fulfillment.

Trusting A “Zig-Zagging” Career Track

“Prior to joining Wells Fargo over eight years ago, I would have described my career path as a bit of a zig-zag road. That’s the way that I thought of it.”

While at the University of Minnesota Law School, she wanted to become a public defender. But Hill remembers sitting in a tax class one day and turning to the student next to her and saying, “Isn’t this fantastic?” The reaction she received was quite the contrary.

That was the moment she suspected this might be the field for her.

Out of law school, Hill took a job in public accounting at Deloitte & Touche. She left Deloitte (now Deloitte Tax) to practice law and spent most of private law practice in the trust & estates and business transition planning groups at Minneapolis-based, Fredrikson & Byron, PA. She enjoyed the work, the firm and her colleagues, and was learning a lot, but felt like something was missing.

“I didn’t want to look back and say, ‘I was a successful attorney and worked at a terrific firm with so many talented colleagues, but was never really completely fulfilled.’” reflects Hill.

Hill left private law practice to run the tax, trust and legal group of a single-family office headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.  It was during her time at the family office that Hill discovered the benefits and impact that having a financial plan and, specifically doing strategic wealth planning, can have on high net worth families.

When she joined Wells Fargo as a senior wealth planning strategist in 2012, she began to see congruency in the experiences she’d accumulated and where she was going, eventually rising to a Senior Director of Planning in Wealth Management.

“I thought to myself, ‘my entire career path has been tailor-made for this role and this experience,’” says Hill. “It was no longer a zig-zag to me.”

Working with Individuals and Families

What Hill loves most about her work in wealth management (and wealth planning, in particular) is supporting and advising clients on personal and financial decisions that are otherwise difficult to make, to greater outcomes than you might even imagine.

“As a professional, when you help somebody to make financial decisions, it has a qualitative impact that often far outweighs any tax dollars saved,” she says. “It can have such profound impacts on their lives and, when that happens, the appreciation and gratitude is overwhelming.”

As an exemplary moment of this, Hill recalls working with a family to transition their business to the next generation.  Her work led to conversations that, as a family, they had not previously been able to confront.

“We had this moment where they actually told each other how they felt about the business and their desired places in it,” remembers Hill, “I will never forget it.”  Beyond ultimately being able to identify solutions that enabled the family to achieve their financial goals, Hill recalls this moment and how important to the family their work together had become.

Being Open and Receptive to Mentorship

“I would not be in the position I am today without having had the benefit of supportive mentors and sponsors,” Hill attests. “I’ve worked with some pretty wonderful people in my career, especially while at Wells Fargo.  In fact, most of the mentors and sponsors with whom I’ve had the privilege of having were/are managers of mine.”

If you want to attain strong mentorship and sponsorship, whether you are the mentor or mentee, Hill recommends listening, being receptive and open, and most of all—being yourself.  Early in her career, Hill recalls a mentor saying to her “don’t try to fake it, people will know.”

“I always try to be open to feedback, even if it stings a little.  I want to continue to improve and work on my professional and personal development,” she notes. “The individuals who have become my mentors and sponsors have pointed out that my openness to feedback and focus on self-improvement are characteristics they enjoy most about working with me. The other is my being authentic, being me.”

Hill says her professional self is just who she is. These days, that includes embracing the realness of her seven year old daughter wanting to say hello to her colleagues on a Zoom call.

“This is me,” says Hill. “I always try to be my authentic self.  To really connect with people —your colleagues, your clients —you have to let them see you. I’ve learned that to be a great leader, it’s a good thing to be vulnerable, authentic, natural. To be you.”

Hill also recommends implementing the advice you receive.

“It’s one thing to solicit and ask for advice and guidance,” says Hill. “It’s another thing to actually take it, and I do my best to do so and will continue to.”

Growth Through Change And Adversity

On a personal level, Hill values personal growth through challenge as well as learning through making mistakes.

In her early thirties, she experienced an unexpected divorce that shook her world.

“I took the opportunity to work through a big change in my life very seriously,” says Hill. “I remember saying, ‘This is an opportunity for me to really figure out who I am.’ It impacted my life tremendously, it was traumatic—and yet I would do it all over again, every bump, every hurdle. My life experiences have helped shape who I am today and, as painful as some may have been to go through, I appreciate them all.”

In both personal and work life, Hill is aware the road of transition can be a time of discomfort and challenge, but keeps focused on the vision.

On an organizational level, Wells Fargo has embarked on an evolution to create greater consistency around bringing financial products, services and solutions to all clients through a more horizontal structure.  While the work will result in “a more effective and efficient organization for our clients and shareholders, the change can be challenging.”

“When we look back six months from now, we’ll see how we’ve transformed and know that it is right where we are supposed to be.” Hill tells her team.

Trusting Your Own Strength

Hill never for a moment doubted her own vision of being personally successful.  Though she came from a single-parent household with modest financial means, Hill is proud of being the first in her family to go to college and then on to law school, which was the beginning of her career path.

While recovering from that divorce years ago, she remembers a moment of personal empowerment that taught her she was capable of anything.

A few years into her career, she was a self-confessed coach potato who realized it was time to change. The first time she put on a pair of tennis shoes and ran a single mile, it took her 14 minutes. But she was thrilled.

Then, she was hooked—training up to participate in marathons and eventually an Ironman triathlon.

“I remember crossing the finish line of the Wisconsin Ironman and thinking, ‘There is nothing I can’t do’” beams Hill, who also met her husband through the triathlon community, with whom she is raising their daughter.

Her contagious enthusiasm has encouraged several others on the running path, and she keeps up a morning workout which she loves, though being a mom is now her number one priority.

Her favorite time with her daughter is bedtime reading. It began with she and her husband reading to their daughter when she was an infant and now it’s listening to their daughter read to them—and Hill wouldn’t trade it for any finish line, not these days.

Abbot Downing, a Wells Fargo business, offers products and services through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and its various affiliates and subsidiaries. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is a bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

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Melanie Priddy: Chief Talent Officer, Katten

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Melanie Priddy

Photo provided by Gittings Photography

“At the end of day, relationships are the key to everything, regardless of what industry you’re in, or what your profession is,” says Melanie Priddy.

Katten’s Chief Talent Officer speaks about the value of connections, the need to merge professional development with diversity and the importance of self-advocacy.

Becoming a Business Professional in Law

“I wish I could tell you this was the plan all along, but sometimes the careers we find are ones we fall into,” says Priddy, about being a people-oriented business professional within the legal industry.

Upon graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law, she started her legal career as a practicing lawyer at an Am Law 50 firm.

After a few years as a transactional attorney, Priddy gravitated toward recruiting attorneys for law firms and counseling law students on their career options. She went to work for a staffing firm and then a university and found that she loved advising others on making choices to navigate their career in line with their ambitions.

Priddy joined Katten in 2008 as an attorney recruiting and development manager in the firm’s Los Angeles office, where she managed professional development programs for associates for a few years. She worked at a couple other law firms before she returned to Katten in 2018 as Chief Talent Officer based in the Washington, DC office where she oversees administrative areas including human resources, attorney recruitment, professional development, and diversity and inclusion with an eye on hiring, career growth opportunities, diversity and inclusion efforts, and retention of both attorneys and business professionals.

Diversity and Development Are Inseparable

“To me, diversity and professional development are closely tied,” says Priddy.

At a previous firm, she led recruiting strategies and managed training programs. She took the initiative to expand her role by launching a diverse lawyer mentoring program. She became the Development & Diversity Manager and implemented programs to advance diversity and inclusion within the firm. At a subsequent firm, Priddy was able to incorporate her work in professional development programming with her interest in making workplaces more diverse and inclusive.

“I honestly pressed for it, rather than sitting back and waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder,” says Priddy. “I had to say, ‘I think I would be really good at this combination of roles, and let me explain how and why they should be combined for me to be successful, and what I could do.’ That set the stage for me to be in the role I have now at Katten.”

She’s committed to offering diversity and development support at every level, and integrating it into the decision-making process at law firms.

“My approach has been that diversity is part of every discussion—when you are talking about recruitment, about development, about choices people are making with regards to business or client development or opportunities around training,” states Priddy.

From the top down in law firm hierarchy, diversity should be top of mind.

“One of the things we always talk about is that everyone is responsible for improving diversity in the legal field,” she says. “The diversity professional brings the opportunities and the resources to others in the law firm or legal industry, but everyone is responsible for ensuring a diverse workforce. When you look at it that way, then you’re really going to make progress.”

Priddy emphasizes Katten’s successful participation in the Mansfield Rule, which sets benchmarks for women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ+ attorneys, and attorneys with disabilities to account for at least 30 percent of the candidate pool considered for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions. This initiative, coupled with the firm’s newly launched Kattalyst Sponsorship program aimed at retaining and advancing diverse associates and income partners, works toward the goal of increasing representation of historically underrepresented attorneys in law firm leadership.

Invest in Relationships and Self-Advocacy

Priddy stresses how important it is to nurture relationships and curate a support network for career guidance.

“When I started in my career, as many people do, I thought if you just keep your head down and work hard, everything will be okay. You’ll advance and be rewarded,” she reflects. “What I’ve come to realize over time is the importance of developing relationships—obviously with the people you’re working with and for, but also outside of your immediate circle and within the industry itself.”

She advises others to network within various organizations that align with their interests at all stages of their careers. For example, she has been involved with the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), previously serving on the board of directors and most recently as chair of the nominating committee, which solicits nominations for elected positions, slates members for officer and director positions and administers the election process.

She also stresses the importance of advocating for yourself to achieve your goals.

“As women, often there’s a tendency to downplay your success, your role or leadership skills, whether with a boss or with a group,” she says. “But someone else can’t speak up for you on your behalf, if you don’t do it for yourself first.”

Bring Your Whole Self

“A lot of times as women of color, we bring just a part of ourselves to work and we leave a broader sense of who we are back at home,” she says.

Priddy feels that this year’s remote work environment is helping to break down some barriers with her colleagues.

“Our personal and professional lives are so blended because we’re at home, and you hear my dog barking and you see my kids going through the background—and I’m getting my job done,” says Priddy. “I would say in some respects, because of tearing down these walls, I’m more connected to people now than I was in person.”

She adds, “I see how important it is to bring some vulnerability into the workplace so people feel like they can connect and share and get to know you.”

Supporting Personal and Professional Integration

Priddy has been instrumental in Katten’s efforts to destigmatize mental health issues and to draw attention to substance use disorders within the legal profession by joining the American Bar Association’s well-being pledge and launching a firm-wide wellness program, Katten Well-Being 360: Live Well, Work Well, Be Well to support attorneys and employees with information, training, and helpful resources.

She’s proud of being a mother of two sons, ages 10 and 13, modeling for them a world where they grow up with a mother who has a seat at the table where high-level decisions are made.

Under Priddy’s leadership, Katten created a Parents Affinity Group as a resource and support network for working parents at the firm to connect and discuss approaches to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. She also worked with firm leaders to get the  parental leave policy expanded to a 12-week, gender-neutral paid leave, with an extension of 8 more weeks for a total of up to 20 weeks for birth mothers and those who have exceptional circumstances, such as adoptive and surrogate parents.

In this virtual environment, her team is also tasked with seamlessly bringing on new attorneys and employees without daily in-person interactions with co-workers and supervisors. “How do you onboard and integrate new people, or create relationships when you’re never in the same room physically together?” Priddy said. Her answer: offer productive programs that build relationships.

For example, she helped roll out a more elaborate mentoring program involving mentoring circles to foster a sense of connection at the firm, as well as a coaching program covering career development topics, goal setting and development of an action plan for summer associates and first-year associates who joined Katten during the pandemic.

These creative solutions appear to be cultivating connections—whether virtual water cooler moments or shared creative nights from home. With less travel, she finds her colleagues are more available than ever to get on the phone.

Outside of work, she’s enjoying more time at home with her family, cycling on her Peloton bike, and perfecting her green thumb, checking on her tomatoes in the garden. A proponent of integration where it serves better results, Priddy is embracing the experience of blending her home and professional life.

By Aimee Hansen

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Sheetal Prasad, CFA: Managing Director, Jennison Associates

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Sheetal Prasad“I think the constant in my life is that you’re moving to the next level. You’re moving to a new challenge,” says Sheetal Prasad, Small Cap Core and Mid Cap Growth Portfolio Manager at Jennison Associates, “And even though you might not think that you’re ready, you are.”

Prasad talks about the continuous learning curve, the value of culture, diversity of thought and being your whole self at work.

From Pre-Med to Portfolio Manager

Like a “good Indian girl”, Prasad began pre-med at Georgetown. When she realized being a doctor was not her calling, she switched to business. At first, she remained in the healthcare territory, working in a market research firm before moving to Wall Street.

A few years in, she leapt from the sell-side research to buy-side investment management, and then landed at Jennison, thirteen years ago. Soon she was challenged to diversify her expertise. 

“I got the opportunity to become a small-cap portfolio manager, but you have to know stocks across the entire universe – not just healthcare, but tech stocks and consumer stocks and industrial stocks,” says Prasad. “The truth is I didn’t have the background for that, but you’re given an opportunity, and you take it.” 

Today, most of her time is spent on mid-cap portfolio management.

“I had to learn to love to read. It’s so critical. My job is predicting the future to some degree. It’s finding those companies that are so well-positioned in certain industries that they can continue to grow from being a smaller market value to larger over time,” says Prasad. “The way you do that is by constantly reading or listening and continuing to learn. Learning is the best part of my job everyday.”

How I Built This, Invest Like The Best, The Knowledge Project and Masters of Scale are among podcasts that inform her professionally. 

Culture & Social Responsibility Matter More Now

“It’s pretty clear that we aren’t going back to the old normal, so what is that ‘new normal’?” asks Prasad. “How are we going to work – and play – differently? How will life change? Who are the companies that will enable that change and are going to be able to thrive?”

In addition to new companies and business models, Prasad is paying attention to company culture. The post-pandemic world has brought out the true value of culture.

“I have a much greater appreciation for culture today in my investment portfolios and the companies that I invest in,” she says. “Because I think that really is the difference between a company that can grow to be bigger, versus a company that might not make it.”

Investing responsibly is paramount to Prasad, such as considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

“As our portfolio companies are becoming more social stewards, we also have to follow that,” states Prasad. “If I don’t feel good about investing in a company, I don’t have to do it.”

“I take my fiduciary and social responsibilities very seriously. It’s the way the investment business is going to be going forward, and we have to be good at it,” she says. “Part of who I am is having a social responsibility to my family, my community, but also to my job and my investors.“

Diversity of Thought And Voices

“In our business, diversity is not just on the outside, but it’s really about  diversity of thought,” notes Prasad. “If we all think the same way, we’re not going to do well in a stock market, where we need to be prepared for low probability events and be willing to react.”

Diversity of thought is essential to preventing blindspots, cognitive dissonance and ‘thesis creep’, since her team’s success requires staying open-minded to ‘what ifs’ and the healthy friction of debate. 

A candidate that questions a stock the firm holds, from a genuine and informed place, is an asset.

“Everybody is absolutely respectful, but you can’t be shy,” says Prasad. “We don’t hire wallflowers. We want people to express their opinions, because an exchange of ideas is critical to performance.”

Be Visible And Ask Questions

“The financial services industry is behind in their ability to attract and retain and promote women,” states Prasad, though Jennison does better. “And it’s both a top-down problem and a bottom-up problem.”

While face-time is essential to building culture and relationship, she feels the post-pandemic disruption has revealed it’s possible to work more virtually. This could help to attract women and diversity of thought. 

Prasad encourages women to sit visibly at the table, not the periphery, and express their opinions. If there’s one thing she wishes she’d known earlier, it is to not be afraid to ask “dumb questions”. Be communicative and ask questions, especially when you shift between roles or jobs. 

“I’m asking dumb questions all the time,” she says. “Chances are there’s somebody else sitting at the table that also doesn’t understand.”

She encourages women to take a page from men’s confidence book, and when opportunity presents, take the leap before you think you are ready – knowing you will figure it out, and it’s okay also to fail sometimes. 

“I’ve long come to realize that I have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” she states. “I’ve had imposter syndrome throughout my entire career. I’ve had to use that discomfort to get smarter, to get better, and to drive towards better performance. It doesn’t stop.”

Being Your Whole Self

Prasad begins her days with yoga before logging on, and recommends to take the time to do whatever helps clear your mind and support your well-being, as often as possible. She is finding working at home is also allowing her to feel more present at work. 

“I think very often in life you can’t be really good at your job if you feel as though you’re not giving 100% to your personal life, because that really is the core of who you are. My children, my family, are so important to me,” she says. ”The fact that I can be here for my family allows me to give just as much energy to my job.”

Prasad has learned the value of bringing her authentic self, including her emotions and extroversion, that complements some of her colleagues, to her work.

“In my early career, I was stoic. I felt like it’s all about the job,” she recalls. “Over time, I came to realize it’s okay to care. It’s okay to share. I am going to be emotional about this job and it’s okay. Because the best part of a job really is the people and the relationships you develop.”

“I love my team so much that I think it’s okay for me to show that I’m a woman, that I’ve got family obligations, that I laugh or I cry, or show what bothers me.” She exhales. “Chances are someone else might be going through something similar, and if you can share, they feel like they can. That’s where the team dynamic really comes through. Those small personal interactions go a long way.”

By Aimee Hansen

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Ronni G. Davidowitz: Partner, Head of New York Private Wealth, Katten

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Ronni Davidowitz

Photo provided by Gittings Photography

“When someone asks me about job longevity at one firm—as it is not often you see that nowadays—I say, ‘either I must love it or I cannot get another job,’” jokes Katten partner Ronni Davidowitz. “So I would like to think I love it.”

One look at her resume reveals Davidowitz is a lawyer who finds helping her clients with their estate and wealth plans both stimulating and rewarding. She shares her wisdom and lessons learned over decades of experience.

Finding a Home in Law

Davidowitz is ultimately a career one-firm woman who has utterly devoted her professional life to trusts and estates (T&E) law.

She began her legal career in 1979 at a small boutique firm with a heavy concentration in the trusts and estates field and then moved in 1985 to the New York City-based Rosenman & Colin LLP, which then merged in 2002 with a Chicago firm to become Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, creating a 35-year tenure for Davidowitz at one firm.

“Given the amount of time, it feels like that has been my only home,” says Davidowitz.

After finishing law school at St. John’s University, Davidowitz, as noted earlier, worked briefly at a small firm where she gained experience handling trusts and estates matters, but eventually grew “fidgety.” While lunching with a fellow lawyer and sharing her plans to move on, serendipity struck—a perfect vacancy in his firm, which ultimately became known as Katten.

“I did not even have a resume together because I was really mulling over what I wanted to do,” recalls Davidowitz. “Next thing you know, I was in there, had an interview, did not interview anywhere else, they made me an offer and the rest—as they say—is history.”

“What has kept me at the same firm honestly is the people,” she muses. “It is a terrific group of people that I admire and respect, and I think it is mutual. I am just very fortunate to work with smart, capable, good and truly nice people. It makes a big difference.”

Practicing in Trusts & Estates Law

“I love the balance of the personal interactions and the intellectual challenges in advising clients on estate planning and wealth management needs and helping them avoid litigation,” says Davidowitz.

In her work, Davidowitz often develops relationships with generations of the same family, who are looking for assistance with succession planning and come with all the facets that family dynamics bring.

“The challenge in my area is that although money is what it translates to in terms of property and assets,” she says, “the undercurrent is the emotional charge.”

Working with wealthy families and individuals, each case is as unique as her clients and their personal needs. With such diversified work, she is grateful to call on her colleagues in different disciplines, such as real estate, corporate and tax attorneys who can offer more services to clients, like handling the transactional capabilities most frequently needed by ultra-high-net-worth individuals and the privately held businesses they run.

“I tend to think of us as the closest you might come to a generalist in the legal profession, much like a general practitioner in the medical field, versus all the various sub-specialties,” she says.

“Intellectually, it is stimulating,” states Davidowitz, who enjoys devising cutting-edge tax strategies so clients can save on income, estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. “You really need to be mindful of what’s important to the individual—that is why there is no off-the-shelf answer.”

Witnessing the Influx of Women

Davidowitz is a daughter of Holocaust survivors, and as a first-generation U.S.-born citizen was the first in her family to attend college and graduate from law school.

She remembers a time when there were as few as ten women in her own law school class, whereas now women make up more than 50 percent of student enrollment. So she has witnessed the increase in women entering the profession, even close to home. Her own daughter is a “second generation” T&E lawyer.

At Katten, the firm has fostered an inclusive culture, focused on attracting, developing and retaining diverse talent.

“I know the firm’s leadership management has openly and often articulated its policy of diversity, inclusion and sensitivity to it,” she says of Katten.

Years ago, she became involved at an executive level in Katten’s Women’s Leadership Forum, when it was first formed to support the growth and retention of women attorneys through various initiatives, mentoring and professional development programs, and social and networking events.

Making Contacts and Creating Opportunities

One of her important lessons has been to invest in relationships that are mutually agreeable—and then be willing to leverage those connections.

“I have learned that contacts are really important. When you have identified people that you genuinely like, that you respect, then do not be shy about reaching out to them,” advises Davidowitz.

Unique in her practice area is that lawyers from different firms often get together in discussion groups and cultivate ties to one another.

“One of those women, who is a personal friend of mine now, was with-the-hand-at-the-small-of-your-back sort of guiding me,” Davidowitz says.

Not only did Davidowitz succeed her friend in becoming the chair of New York City Bar’s Estate and Gift Taxation Committee, but she was also recommended by her as state chair for Downstate New York for the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a 5-year term she is now completing.

“These are positions of prestige, so I have had the benefit of having someone who took that extra interest and looked out for me,” says Davidowitz. “And I try to pay that back. I try to make opportunities for my associates, male or female, though I personally have a large female group.”

Being True to Yourself

Another way Davidowitz supports young attorneys is how she approaches performance evaluations.

She prides herself on being a good judge of character, and considers that part of any evaluation process is to guide lawyers to achieve their goals—she iterates that it is very personal, for example not everybody wants to be partner, but those who do have steps to take.

“Evaluations are more than saying ‘people think you write well,’ or ‘you are a thoughtful attorney,’” she says. “An important part of the process is guidance—career development, advice on how to proceed, or maybe a suggestion to take a step back if there is too much pressure with the family balance and workload.”

She advises being really true to yourself, and figuring out the pace that will work for you. She sets achievable goals of five-year increments to get where she wants to go—a reasonable time period to get set up for success.

For example, she focused on completing the necessary requirements, like public speaking and involvement in bar associations, to be elected as a Fellow to ACTEC.

One way she creates opportunities for associates is having them co-author articles or chapters with her, from which they receive byline credit, or helping to place other lawyers on bar association committees aligned to their interests.

Proud Lawyer, Prouder Grandmother

Davidowitz is proud of her leadership involvement in many organizations like ACTEC, being surrounded with the top minds in the field with the opportunity to give back.

She had been honored for her work and her civic contributions by 400 of her peers at the United Jewish Appeal (UJA)-Federation of New York, a philanthropic organization in which she also had served as chair of its T&E committee.

What she is most devoted to, however, is her family and her six grandchildren. “I have told anyone that the best club to be in is the grandparent’s club,” she says.

As a self-confessed “voracious reader,” Davidowitz seeks to pass on her own passion by building a little book club among her grandkids.

By Aimee Hansen

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Allison Yacker: Partner and Co-Chair, Investment Management and Funds, Katten

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Allison Yacker“From the moment I joined Katten, the attorneys most keen to invest in me — both personally and professionally — quickly became my mentors,” says Katten’s Allison Yacker.

“Reflecting on that moment, not only were those mentors some of the smartest and hardest working attorneys at Katten, but more importantly they were the ones who realized this was a two-way street.” Years later, Yacker now co-chairs the firm’s Investment Management and Funds practice and is based in New York.

Yacker offered insights on her journey to becoming a firm leader, and being recognized as a great mother and a go-to legal counsel for some of the largest global financial institutions.

Pivoting to Make Her Own Path, and Rising to Leadership at Katten

Throughout her 18 years at Katten, Yacker continues to rise through the firm ranks: from being selected as a summer associate, to becoming one of the youngest capital partners in the firm, to acting as a co-chair of the New York Financial Markets and Funds practice group and serving as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors.

“I knew Katten was a great place to work, and by the time I was a third-year associate I had solidified a terrific roster of mentors who happened to be all men,” Yacker said. “As I thrived in my career, I was determined to make capital partner by the time I was 40 and to serve in a leadership position at the firm because I wanted to prove to myself that it was possible and to help create a similar path for other women in the firm.”

And she did just that.

Yacker began her career at Katten in the corporate group, handling general securities work and mergers and acquisitions. She credits this experience with providing her the skillset that would serve as the foundation for her current practice. 

Soon Yacker was presented with the opportunity to be seconded to a major financial institution, where she gained practical legal experience in the derivatives and private funds market. Yacker relished the experience, and quickly found that the clients she enjoyed working with the most were traders and key decision-makers at hedge funds and private equity funds.

When she returned to the firm from her secondment, she quickly realized that she was one of only a few associates who could handle complex derivatives and structured products transactions for both the buy and sell sides. These types of transactions were regularly handled by the Financial Markets and Funds group, so when practice leaders invited her to join the group she knew it would provide her the platform needed to expand upon this niche. She jumped at the opportunity.

But in 2008, when the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted, she quickly realized that the complex derivatives transactions that she had spent a significant amount of time on were essentially regulated out of business. Good lawyers anticipate future risks; great lawyers identify it and pivot. It was at that moment Yacker decided to move away from derivatives and toward refocusing her practice on fund formation and investment management. There she found success faster than anticipated, and her clients quickly came and continue to rely on her to serve as their outsourced general counsel. Later on, she would pivot again – this time toward representing sophisticated investors looking to make investments in hedge funds, private equity funds, and other alternative financial products.  

Today Yacker represents hedge funds, private equity funds, commodity pools and managed account platforms that engage in a wide variety of strategies, including quantitative trading, private credit, distressed debt, futures, litigation finance, securitized products, affordable housing, renewable energy and carbon credits, to name a few. She also advises clients with regards to seed and early stage investment opportunities and global regulatory issues that arise in connection with investments in funds and managed accounts.

“You need to be able to work dynamically within your industry to find a practice that makes sense for you — one in which you respect and like the client base, and, most importantly, one that you enjoy,” Yacker said. “Do not be reactionary when it comes to your career, be proactive, take the reins and make the tough decisions.” 

Being Her Personal and Professional Self

In 2018, Yacker was named Katten’s Working Mother of the Year by Working Mother magazine. The article profiling her pointed out how integration of personal and professional self is only growing in importance. 

“Personal and professional—the lines become blurred when you’re predominantly working from home in New York City and raising two children who are remote learning,” she said. “It’s definitely a challenge to shift back and forth between the mom hat, the teacher hat, and the lawyer hat,” says Yacker. “When it comes to my kids, I make every effort to do so with love and respect, and of course a sense of humor, which I know resonates with my children.”

All joking aside, she remarked that her career often dictates that she be deliberate and efficient with her time, and that she create boundaries for herself and her children so that no aspect of the services she provides to her clients is impacted. To that end, she noted that she periodically goes to Katten’s mostly empty midtown Manhattan office when she has an intense work day planned, and joked that she never thought she would enjoy going to an office as much as she does now.

Positive Vibes and Being the Difference

Yacker is most energized about her work when her clients commend her skillset, style and work ethic when it comes to servicing their needs.  

“My clients often remark that they see me as a true counselor — a person that they know will give them not only insightful legal advice and the answer under the law, but also an answer that will work for their businesses,” she says. “My clients know that I am not a scrivener, and that I don’t stop at ‘no you can’t’ when they have a difficult issue — I’m here to solve their problems, to be creative, and to use the resources of my firm to find the best possible solution to any problem they have and to get the deal done.”

Yacker primarily attributes her professional integrity and intense work ethic to her grandfather, whose first job after arriving in America after surviving the Holocaust was that of a janitor who made 65 cents an hour. Through incredibly hard work, her grandfather eventually built a successful business. Both of her grandfathers were incredibly hard workers but family came first to them. To Yacker, every day that she puts in a hard day at work is a testament to her grandparents and an attempt to honor their memory.

Learning Along the Way

Yacker gained valuable insight while ascending to become one of the firm’s youngest capital partners.

She recommends that young lawyers work with and learn from as many different lawyers as possible. 

“You learn different ways of thinking, different ways of networking, different analytical abilities, and different techniques for maintaining relationships and running a practice,” she observes. “I think that’s been critical to my success.”

Yacker also says that she has always worked hardest for the people who were fully invested in her.

“Seek out mentors who are looking to invest in you personally and professionally,” says Yacker. “And take those relationships as seriously as possible. And then, give back to younger associates in the same regard.”

And most importantly, she encourages young lawyers to take ownership of their careers — not to wait for an opportunity to be handed to them, but rather to take the initiative in building a successful practice and to think proactively and deliberately about their goals. 

Networking and Outreach

Yacker stays connected with her clients and colleagues — even in pandemic times. Whether it be a virtual group wine tasting, hosting socially-distanced cocktails and meals on her terrace, or virtual tea with clients in London, Yacker tries her best to proactively stay in touch with her clients both professionally and personally.

She has found it particularly fulfilling to work on pro bono matters,  providing legal counsel through the Small Business Legal Relief Alliance to small businesses in New York that are struggling during the global pandemic. 

Yacker also sits on the steering committee and national mentoring panel of the Katten Women’s Leadership Forum, which supports the growth of Katten’s women attorneys with professional development events, networking and practical advice. 

She is also one of the founding members of Katten’s Women in Finance Initiative, which seeks to build a strong community of women within the firm with a view toward driving cross-selling opportunities and driving more business to this community.

She is an Angel Member of 100 Women in Finance, an organization dedicated to empowering women in the finance and alternative investment industries through meaningful connections, high-impact programming and initiatives that help build the pipeline of future leaders in the industry.

Also close to her heart is the new Parents Affinity Group at Katten—a virtual support group for attorneys and business professionals to connect with each other and discuss approaches to navigating work and family responsibilities. 

Crowing Achievement

As committed as she is to her professional success, she views her crowning achievement as the balance she has struck between being a successful lawyer and being a successful mother.

“My children know that mommy’s business means I have to be available to my clients almost all the time, so I work a lot. I think they respect me for how hard I work at my job, but they 100 percent know that they come first and they always will,” Yacker said. 

Yacker’s “work hard, play hard” attitude has always resonated with her sons Jackson and Ashton, ages 8 and 12 respectively. She revels daily in how resilient they are, how kind they are to each other, and how hard they work to do their best in school, even under these extraordinary circumstances. Yacker said she finds inspiration from her kids, who make her want to be the best at anything she is doing.

Her most cherished daily moment is the time when it’s just her and her boys — whether they are on the baseball field, cuddling in bed, or laughing together in hysterics on the couch. Those are the moments she is most grateful for.

By Aimee Hansen

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Niamh Bushnell: Chief Communications Officer (CCO), Soapbox Labs

Niamh Bushnell“Communicating about things I feel passionate about feels good, even joyful.” says Niamh Bushnell, CCO of SoapBox Labs, based in Dublin.

Bushnell shares her passion for Ireland’s technology prowess, the importance of equitable AI and the challenges for women in technology. 

Tech Was The Ticket, Ireland Was the Passion

Coming out of university in the mid-90’s, Bushnell was keen to travel, use her foreign languages (Spanish, French and Italian), and work with smart, exciting people.

“So it wasn’t a love of technology itself that attracted me to the tech industry.” she admits. “I’ve always had those two sides, working with savvy tech entrepreneurs and representing tech companies, but not being a ‘tech person’ myself. What I did love, and was drawn to, was their smarts, and the universality and the dynamism of the industry.”

During 16 years based in the NYC area, she worked on supporting Irish, European and other international start-ups in entering the U.S. market. While adventure may have drawn her to tech, what compelled her to remain has been the opportunity to secure Ireland’s place in the “pantheon of technology champions.”

“For someone who loves to travel and has a global mindset, I’m also very committed to supporting local – be where you are, get involved in where you, shop where you are,” says Bushnell. “I was 16 years in NYC when I saw an ad for a leadership role in Dublin – to be the face of the indigenous tech industry there, to tell the story of Dublin as a city of technology and innovation. It read like a job tailor made for me, with a mission I could be really excited about.” 

In 2014, as Dublin Commissioner for Startups, she returned home with family, where she launched popular initiatives like the First Friday Brekkie, the publication Dublin Globe (to tell the stories of Irish tech companies), the data tracking platform TechIreland, and female founder focused activities like the €100M campaign, and the video series Female Founder Fridays.

“People think that multinational companies are the only Irish tech stories,” states Bushnell. “But there are over 2000 Irish startups and scale-ups expanding globally with technology homegrown in Ireland. I was just really fired up to tell that story.”

The Power of Tech Networking

As Commissioner, Bushnell’s strategy was to focus on promoting “the best of the best” Irish companies to achieve international traction.

“My philosophy was always that to win, our approach can’t be to love all of our companies equally. If we want Dublin’s reputation to grow, we have to focus our limited resources on promoting the very best companies, the most talented and gifted teams, the businesses with the greatest global potential,” she remembers, “Promote them first and foremost, and all Irish companies will benefit from that.”

It was at one of the monthly First Friday Brekkies Bushnell hosted in the Commissioner’s office that she met Patricia Scanlon, CEO and Founder of SoapBox Labs, a deep tech AI company specializing in speech recognition for children. They happened to both have a ring made by the same Soho designer from their stints living in New York. 

“You can tell when you meet founders how deep their ambition is, how great their vision is, and how solid their ground rules are,” states Bushnell. Scanlon’s 20+ years of specialization in speech recognition, her vision, and her approach to fundraising impressed Niamh hugely.

“Speech recognition for kids hadn’t really been touched,” explained Bushnell. “So SoapBox was going to be the specialist who would become a world leader in that space. The ambition to deliver on that was already tangible.” 

Real integrity in AI 

In her current role at SoapBox Labs, Bushnell testifies to the value of foresight and patience in developing the best technology to positively impact all user’s lives.

“Is your AI developed in a way that is equitable – that doesn’t have inherent gender bias or racial bias?” asks Bushnell. “If voice tech doesn’t recognize a kid’s dialect and gives them a lower score on a reading assessment because they don’t pronounce words in the way the AI has been built to understand them, they’re going to lose out at school.” 

“The way technology is built these days hugely impacts people’s quality of life – including their physical and mental health – and it can impact them socioeconomically too.” says Bushnell. “Equity is a big piece. Our voice technology has been proven to show no bias when it comes to accents and dialects. That’s massive. We built it with the ambition to deliver a level playing field for all kids, so we’re super excited that independent validators and customers are confirming that.”

As technology becomes more deeply integrated into our lives and education, especially at a young age, it’s more important than ever that it offers a positive and accurate experience for all users. With voice technology, this means developing solutions from the ground-up that actually work for all kinds of children.

“So that’s the compelling vision I’m now happy to be communicating,” smiles Bushnell.  

Challenge for Women in Tech

Having held several roles promoting the tech industry, Bushnell has talked to many women about their experiences. 

“What is one-hundred percent true, but kind of unbelievable still, is that women founders who are technical by background are often not taken seriously for their big vision and big ambition,” says Bushnell, especially if they’re proposing game changing, first-of-its-kind innovation. 

“Women founders who are scientists, who are engineers, who are PhDs, who have spent their whole careers building innovation and have the patents to prove it, these women say that when they go into a room and position a big vision of something that is going to change the world, they are often not believed by the men or the women (if there are any) sitting on the other side of the table.”

These women need extra grit and resilience as they move step by step through the process of knocking down the hurdles placed before them. Bushnell agrees that women have a huge responsibility to support other women in breaking down the barriers we collectively face. She also says it’s about time that women get over the need to be liked by everyone. 

“I think you’ve gotta really be comfortable with being a leader and being respected” she says, “but it’s also okay to be unpopular for decisions you make. It’s also okay to be wrong about decisions you make and put up your hand and say so. I think women care a lot more about their reputations at every stage of their journey than maybe they should.”

Despite the observation that society has a harder time accepting and encouraging women through failures, she encourages women to learn to embrace racking up some failures along the way. 

“We just have such a hard time faking it until we make it,” says Bushnell. “and business is nothing but that. You never really have any of the answers! You do good research, pay attention to the trends, listen to your instincts, but in the end, you have to take risks.”

One of her greatest experiences was in the TechIreland role when her team had little resource but a big vision. She loved taking risks, dusting herself off, and developing the tenacity to get up again and learn by doing. 

“You can have loads of failure but if you have tenacity, the chances are you’re going to figure it out as you try and fail, as you go along.” she muses.

“There’s a lot of freedom when you’re comfortable with risk, and with freedom comes creativity. Don’t worry if every single step isn’t going to come out as you want it to. Often times you don’t even know what the ideal outcome is, until you start.”

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