Voice of Experience: Linda Freundlich, Vice President and Head of Agency Financial Operations, New York Life

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Linda Freundlich“Let your voice be heard; speak up and share your opinions and perspective,” says New York Life’s Linda Freundlich. “Women tend to be better listeners, and that’s important too; but don’t let the opportunity pass to contribute to the conversations. Decisions will be made with or without your input and they’ll be better decisions WITH your input.”

She cautions that doesn’t mean that all decisions will go your way, but at least you know your viewpoint was considered, which is vital no matter where you are in your career.

With 31 years of experience at New York Life, Linda describes it as “just as enjoyable today as the day she started.”

She began in a mid-level position in what was the group insurance department, and stayed there for four years before making a lateral move to the distribution business unit, where she held various positions covering training, developing and recruiting, among other functions.

When a position in operations opened, Linda moved, appreciating that it gave her the opportunity to use the knowledge and skills she gained in previous positions. She is currently vice president of financial operations, supporting 12, 000 agents nationwide, plus a field management force of 1,000 in functions such as field compensation, performance analysis and administration operations.

“At this point in my career, I am most proud of my team, and what they do day in and day out to achieve positive results by supporting the field,” Freundlich said. “We help to increase the productivity of our agents, and it’s very gratifying when we see sales increase.”

Right now she is focused on initiatives that will ensure the profitable growth of the agency field force in the years to come. “It’s exciting to be part of the design and planning from the start and determining how best to measure our success, even though waiting to see our plans come to fruition will take several years.”

As “big data” is becoming increasingly important, she sees that systems analysis is becoming increasingly integral in the insurance industry. What she finds different these days is the volume of information, along with the proliferation of tools that quickly analyze information to better understand customers and the overall business.

A Positive Industry for Women

Freundlich has found that pursuing a career as a life insurance agent is a smart choice for women.It offers a variety of positive aspects including flexibility and the ability to work independently as an entrepreneur. “The challenge is convincing women that they have what it takes to be successful.”

New York Life offers a robust slate of Employee Resource Groups, and Linda has been active in the Women’s Initiative, adding that it was particularly meaningful to be asked to be on the advisory board. The goals are to help members develop personally and professionally, with a mission to help women take their place at the corporate table through a three-prong approach – Be Confident.Be Connected.Be Committed.The group goes back more than 20 years, and she says that it was ahead of its time.

Bringing Your Best Self to Work

Freundlich asserts that the most important aspect of her career is the inspiring and caring people she has worked with, so it’s surprising that she spent the first half of her career in the closet.

Although she and her partner of 38 years came out to their families early on, she found a big part of her was missing at work because she wasn’t able to share who she was.

“It’s hard to describe what that’s like,” she says, adding that something as simple as lunchtime conversation about what you did over the weekend or who you went on vacation with adds a stress that runs deep.

Linda wouldn’t wear her commitment band to work but recalls one day when she forgot to remove it and a coworker asked if she had gotten married. “I remember blurting something out about being in a committed relationship, but the fear was extreme,” she said.

But when Linda finally did come out to her colleagues, she was astonished at how incidental it was – a non-event. “I wish I knew that 31 years ago.What I would tell young New York Life employees today is to bring their best self to work every day.”

Linda is a member of NYLPride, New York Life’s LGBT Employee Resource Group. The group was launched around 8 years ago and fosters an inclusive environment with the LGBT community and their friends. “We have a very open dialogue within New York Life about issues of relevance to LGBT employees and we have made tremendous progress. I am really proud to be affiliated with New York Life and how it has pioneered awareness on these issues.”

Approximately five years ago during Pride month, the group started “Coming Out Stories,”an annual panel of New York Life LGBT employees and friends who share their coming out experiences. “It’s a very moving and powerful event,” Linda said, adding that she facilitated the first and was honored to sit on a panel three years ago focused exclusively on New York Life executives.

Freundlich lives in Westchester, N.Y., and enjoys spending time with friends and family at her second home in Cape Cod.

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Voice of Experience: Janet Visbeen, Partner, PwC Netherlands

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Janet Visbeen (PWC)For PwC Partner Janet Visbeen, her status as a lesbian professional benefits her career. “If you are open about your diversity, you offer a unique selling point that others don’t,” she says. “My orientation colors how I think about the world and gives me some depth. It helps me be visible and defines my personal brand. Anything that makes you stand out is a blessing in this industry.”

Visbeen’s entire career has been spent in the consulting industry. Universities in the Netherlands are business-focused, so Visbeen studied economics business administration, focusing on the tax side, which provided a clear path to either an accounting or a law firm. With her interest in working in an international environment, she joined Coopers Lybrand (which ultimately became PwC), with a short stint at Arthur Andersen after six years. Her next move was to start her own company with some colleagues, but she realized after a few years that despite the positive experience, she had always had the urge to be top notch in her field, which necessitated returning to a larger firm. She rejoined PwC and one year later became partner focusing on the firm’s executive reward design and delivery function.

Being part of an international network of firms has led Visbeen to her belief that many of the issues in the world today can better be solved by big international companies than governments. “Advising clients on how they can improve their performance and seeing where the companies fit within society is a balance that keeps me energized in my work,” she says.

For Visbeen, helping advance the careers of those on her team and contributing to their success has been the achievement of which she is most proud. But she also believes that business will succeed because of the “power of one.”

In her view, approaches today are theme based. “We will offer our clients an ‘Ocean’s 11’ approach where we staff a team with the best people for the job from within or outside of the firm, and then when the job is done they part ways.”

Growing Your Career

Visbeen believes that women need to advocate for themselves, because although they might have great achievements, they don’t always communicate them.

“I find that women tend to talk about ‘we’ instead of ‘I,’ but in a corporate world where you have to continually compete, it’s vital to get the story out there that you are the best person for any particular role,” she said.

Interestingly, she finds that while most women consultants are tough when it concerns their clients, they don’t bring that same tenacity and self-confidence to promoting themselves.

She believes women must be clear about what they want and go for it. “To be successful in business, you have to rely on yourself and your own compass. If you do that as a free thinker you add more value to your clients.”

A Culture of Acceptance

Visbeen has always appreciated the openness that the professional services industry offers for LGBT individuals. “This field attracts well-educated people, and though they might not be more open minded, they deal with it differently.” In fact, she believes that LGBT offers a unique selling point as a consultant. “Your diversity can be an important tool to help you stand out.”

Of course, she acknowledges, you have to be comfortable with yourself, and while gender or cultural diversity can’t be hidden, LGBT orientation can be private. However, as she says, “The consulting business requires more than regular office hours. Do you want to work somewhere where you can’t be yourself? Everyone has to answer that question for themselves.” For Visbeen the answer is clear. She believes that respecting coworkers is what brings out their best, so an open environment is a requirement.

She sees the issue as one that offers two clear choices: you might not be universally loved if you are open, but you are able to have deeper relationships. She characterizes it as “brand or bland.”

“There will always be some people for whom you who won’t be their cup of tea, but the others will love you for it.”

Visbeen has been active in Gay Lesbians and Everyone Else (GLEE), a strong PwC network that reaches beyond the firm to include others in its gatherings. As a business network, it blends networking with advocacy. “As a global network of firms, it’s part of PwC’s DNA to make sure that it is as safe to be an LGBT consultant in Amsterdam as it is anywhere in the world. It’s what we stand for.”

In addition, Visbeen takes that advocacy outside the workplace as a member of the Netherlands Committee of Human Rights Watch. “Economies that have a lot of wealth can take care of human rights and social issues. In economies where there is less wealth, there is less well-being. I believe they go hand in hand.”

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Voice of Experience: Fangfang Chen, Senior Vice President, State Street

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Fang Fang Chen“Because we are all different, there is not just one model that works the best. You can succeed with many different leadership styles, and you have to find the one that’s true to you. Acting like ‘someone else’ is challenging and creates too much pressure over the long run,” says Fangfang Chen.

Chen’s own personal style has been built by constantly taking on new challenges in her many career roles. She attended school in China and then came to the United States to earn her MBA at Yale. Planning to stay for only a few years, she ended up staying for 13, embarking on a consulting career and then moving into financial services with AIG and Fidelity Investments before joining State Street in 2007 with the global strategy and new venture group in Boston.

Her eight-year journey at State Street has not been a static one – it has spanned three countries and four different roles. Since it was always her plan to eventually move back to Asia, her first strategy role seemed like a great fit to understand the critical issues the organization was facing and to garner the exposure needed to a diverse and seasoned network.

This role allowed her to build a strong network with senior executives globally, and so when the head of State Street for Asia Pacific region heard of her interest in returning to China, he hired her in 2010.

Chen spent a year in Hong Kong running strategy, and was put up for promotion to senior vice president seven months after she took on this role. When her company opened a bank branch in China, she said she was pleased that her manager had the confidence to move her to Beijing to become deputy general manager. She enjoyed the diversity, as it was a completely different job from her previous strategy role to manage and grow a small branch, in addition to interacting with regulators and clients.

Fast forward a few years, her manager offered her a chance to move back to Hong Kong and assume a chief of staff role, which she seized on as a “great opportunity to work with a smart man and build new skill sets.” Her work involves driving organizational alignment to develop and execute business strategies and management priorities.

“My role is less about tangibly executing a particular strategy and more about navigating the company to build consensus and support to achieve end goals we have set.”

Willingness to Take Risks

Chen said she has always been proud of her desire to take the risk to try new things and not be afraid of failing when taking on something new.

“I’ve never been bored. Moving from location to location and taking on different roles is what has kept my experience fresh,” she said, adding that the organization is one where they encourage mobility and are willing to let their employees take the risks inherent in a new role. “They have the confidence to stretch you and develop you further.”

Her desire to learn new things comes from the excitement of seeing the “nervousness because you don’t know what you’re doing replaced by the sense of accomplishment when you master it.”

A Culture That Needs More Women

As she has climbed the career ladder, Chen has noticed an interesting trend among women. They enter the field in equal proportion and many times even grow faster, but then they plateau, whether from family obligations or other forces. “We need more role models at the top levels to help other women see how they can navigate organizations and respond to the tough questions. Sometimes I feel like I’m working in the dark, and having more women would help illuminate the path.”

Chen believes that authentic leadership is more sustainable in the long term but that women need role models to help them determine their own style.

At State Street, Chen has led the regional initiative of winning State Street the nomination by Asian Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC), as one of the 50 leading companies for women; just one of three American companies selected.

While Chen has long been focused on women’s issues, she recently took a leadership role in the State Street’s Women in Leadership program in Asia Pacific. This program focuses on three different yet interconnected initiatives: “Pay it Forward,” a structured mentoring process for younger women that helps them navigate substantive issues; Professional Women’s Network, which focuses on helping female staff build skill sets in areas such as presenting and networking; and a sponsorship program where key female talents are matched with senior executive sponsors to expand their roles and responsibilities. She also works with organizations such as Women’s Foundation in Hong Kong to build broader networks and sponsorship opportunities.

Helping Hands

For a woman to develop a sustainable career, a support network is absolutely critical. Chen says she is fortunate that her husband is sharing half of the family responsibilities and her parents are lending hands to help out.

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Voice of Experience: Frances Ni, Partner, Perella Weinberg Partners

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Frances Ni“When senior women get together, we tend to share our feelings about our work, but I encourage my peers to turn the support into action to help others,” says Frances Ni, a partner at Perella Weinberg Partners.

Throughout her career, mentoring others has been an important goal for Ni, given the support she herself has always received.

When Ni arrived in the United States from China, she didn’t have a clear focus for what she wanted to do so she did what many in a similar situation do: went back to school. Based on her exceptional scores, a professor recommended she enter an honors program, and she earned a full-time job in public accounting at PwC after an internship.

While she enjoyed her work auditing and conducting due diligence for M&A deals and partnering with clients, she decided that her public accounting career would benefit from a stint in the private sector to get an idea of that side of the business, which is how she began her career in asset management. She joined Perella Weinberg the year it launched in 2006, as one of its first employees, and in 2014 was named a partner.

A Talented Team

While she is proud of becoming a partner, she knows that her success has come in large part from a talented, cohesive team. “It’snot a one-man show, and I am proud that I have been able to recruit and retain such exceptional talent over the years,” she said.

Ni appreciates that the firm puts as much value on the back office as the front office, where revenue is generated and which is often the sole focus of many firms. In fact, the partner who nominated her said that when he raised her name, there were no objections. “Being named partner really made me feel all the hard work was worth it,” she says. “It’s the recognition and acknowledgement that I have achieved something important.”

Currently, one of Ni’s focus is working with the compliance team on understanding the industry’s changing regulatory environment and related reporting. She believes the industry is going through a fundamental transition. She finds her firm to be well positioned to weather what can be perceived as a costly and challenging change because they have been solid in the areas of regularly reporting. “I have heard others struggling with implementation but we have always run a tight ship,” she says. “While I believe that there will be challenges, higher entrance barrier and even consolidation in this business, it will ultimately come down to the strength of the organization.”

Advice from the Top

Ni knows that every step along her career path has made her a better professional. “While there are some things that I wish I had known earlier, looking back I am glad I didn’t do anything differently despite all the ups and downs. If I hadn’t made the mistakes, I wouldn’t have learned the lessons,” she says.

A lesson she thinks is vitally important for women to take to heart is to understand that they shouldn’t take criticism personally. “You can’t appear to be emotional,” she says. “Early on in my career I received valuable advice to always walk around with your head and chin up.”

Even with the strides that have been made, Ni sees thatwomen are underrepresented in the industry. Some are put off by what they perceive as a “boy’s club,” and others find that the intensity of the work, travel and hours take their toll.

She did not feel the effect of a “glass ceiling” at the beginning of her career. “I heard stories and warnings when I started in the industry, but at that time, I didn’t feel its impact. Maybe was a little bit ignorant and just jumped in,” she says. However, as she advanced, she started to see the pressure but believed the general environment, awareness and willingness to advance women in the industry “has improved compared to a decade ago.” She believes that if she focuses on the good, then she will find the good.

An Additional Layer for Networking Success

According to Ni, the professional women who preceded her and her peers pioneered a more female-friendly work place, and they owe it to them to continue.

“These women paved 2/3 of the way, but we need to do the rest,” Ni says. She believes that women can make a big difference by being more actively involved in networking with others, and to her that means going beyond inspirational speakers to something more actionable. While she knows that women can benefit from hearing about the path women took to achieve success, she thinks women need to go the extra step: how can women help each other beyond just sharing their stories.

Ni sees in her own company a focus on recruiting, retaining and developing women.

The firm started a Women’s Initiative a few years ago that is unique in its structure of inviting all the partners – male and female – to participate, which allows junior women to get to know the partners with whom they might not always interact in the course of a busy work day.

“This allows for more informal networking and a better working relationship in a situation where younger women might be intimidated by the partners,” Ni said.

Another way that Ni helps with retention of younger professionals is to allow them to take a course related to their position. “They appreciate that the firm wants to invest in them,” she said, adding that she is always dedicated to supporting her team with their professional and personal goals.

Outside the Office

With a husband who works in Boston, Ni focuses on quality time with her family whenever she can, which often includes travel. She is also very focused on education, having worked with Junior Achievement and other educational endeavors and is formulating plans to bridge the needs of schools in China and her current community to ensure that all children receive the education that will propel them to success.

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Mover and Shaker: Tasneem Hajara, Director, Online, Mobile and Social Channels, TIAA-CREF

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Tasneem“Take risks, fail fast, tell your story and build partnerships,” says Tasneem Hajara, director of online, mobile and social channels for TIAA-CREF. Hajara’s advice stems from a fast-paced career path spanning roles and continents.

Hajara began her career path in India, where she earned a master’s degree in computer science before joining a startup. She found that a startup, with its exciting work and passionate mentors, to be the ideal foundation from which to launch her career.

“It was fast paced, and that’s the type of environment in which I thrive,” Hajara said of the experience.

Then, in a move which she describes as destiny, Hajara was sent on a two-month assignment to the United States, where she met her husband, and subsequently stayed. She became a consultant, which opened up a new path for her future. “Back in India, I had been leading a team and now I was an individual contributor again in a foreign location. I had to relearn the work environment and understand the differences in culture.”

She joined Merrill Lynch, where she stayed for nine years, steadily earning promotions. Hajara soon became vice president of their online technology group and was responsible for the retirement benefits online and mobile channels. She then joined TIAA-CREF, where she is responsible for the Sole Recording Keeping Online platform. Additionally, Hajara leads the social and mobile platforms, a key business for the company, and most recently was asked to help lead the Digital transformation efforts at TIAA-CREF.

She says that it’s an exciting time to be pursuing a career in technology, given how technology is disrupting and creating new business value and how it is virtually shaping everything in business. And that brings challenges, too. “We have to be prepared because we don’t know where our competition is coming from. You have to be at your ‘A’ game at all times.”

An Affinity for Startup Culture

Looking back, she credits her time at the fast-paced, delivery-oriented startup environment with having a major impact on her. Telling one anecdote, Hajara remembers surprising the entire team when she was a developer doing systems programming work. She was tasked with gathering an effort estimate for a pre-sales tool for a product that the startup was selling. Instead of returning with the expected plan and estimate, she actually produced a working tool in two days, a feat which earned her great recognition early on in her career.

“You have this energy when you’re young and the startup environment encourages innovation. They had projected it would take two months to build the complete sales tool, but I just worked until it was done,” Hajara said.

It was at the startup that she learned to take risks and experiment. As she works on the digital transformation program, one of Hajara’ s goals at TIAA-CREF is to bring a sense of the Silicon Valley culture to a large organization. “It’s an interesting culture shift that won’t be easy, but we believe that we will get there.”

Lessons Learned

During her career, Hajara became cognizant of the importance of ensuring that others know the good work that you are doing. “Because of my technology background, I was always a doer, but I missed out on the sales component,” she reflects, adding that she just expected that people would understand how hard she was working.

As she navigated the work world, Hajara also found that an unconscious bias exists; something she believes that women should be aware of, but not see as a limiting factor. “Women in general are hard on themselves,” she said. “We have a lot of expectations on ourselves and we also tend to set goals that are less aspirational, as compared to men. We might have the capabilities, but we are more careful of where we set our sights.”

For that reason, she thinks it is important that women take big risks, because the bigger the risk, the bigger the result. But, she cautions, “There will always be new goals so don’t get too caught up in chasing them. Take people along with you and build partnerships; enjoy the journey.”

Hajara believes it’s important for women to mentor one another and is involved in programs at TIAA-CREF that support diversity, such as the IT diversity and inclusion council.

“I enjoy being able to share what I learned trying to immerse myself into another culture. I think it’s important to bring similar experiences to the attention of others who are in the same boat and might be struggling. Ultimately we can learn from each other.”

Outside of work, Hajara enjoys spending time with her two daughters, ages twelve and seven. She also loves to travel and garden. “I have an emotional attachment to gardening, you could say. It’s very gratifying to see something you’ve planted grow, and just working in the garden is relaxing. It’s a highly rewarding activity.”

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Jo Natauri, Partner, Investment Banking Division, Goldman Sachs

Jo NatauriWomen in the work force need to make an effort not to be so hard on themselves, says Jo Natauri, a partner at Goldman Sachs. “You have to accept that you won’t be functioning at 100% in all aspects of your life all the time. Sometimes you are a 100% mother or wife, and sometimes you’re 100% at your job, but often it will be somewhere in between. You have to be ok with pushing and pulling levers in your life, rather than going full bore on all of them at the same time. Frankly it’s a balance you have to acknowledge irrespective of your gender.”

Intersection of Healthcare and Finance

During her time as an undergrad at the University of Virginia, Natauri’s interests shifted from pursuing a career practicing medicine to one in finance. Working with a quadriplegic while in school, she was struck by the many difficulties he was having obtaining adequate medical care, as well as the financial means to cover it. “Seeing an accomplished individual still having these issues changed my course. I realized I wanted to be involved in healthcare in a meaningful way on the business side.”

Because of previous coursework, she had the flexibility to earn a degree in both economics and biology, and went into investment banking. Her plan when she started in 1998 was to spend time learning and understanding the business side and then eventually transition into policy, but instead she has spent her entire career in various roles in the healthcare business. She started at Goldman in 2006 as a vice president, and became a managing director in 2008 and partner in 2012.

Natauri is excited by her work on transactions in the sector with cutting-edge companies that are focused on helping people and curing diseases. “The altruistic component to the finance I’m doing is really important to me,” she says, “And, due to the profound changes in healthcare, the industry will continue to offer new opportunities.”

Passion = Success

Though Natauri has always felt a passion for the finance industry, she suggests young women who might be considering a career in banking recognize the demands the job may have on personal time. She says though work in investment banking can be all consuming, she likes working with smart people who want to make decisions quickly and produce the best work for clients.

She shares a passion for her work with the other women with whom she interacts in Goldman’s robust mentoring groups. “I was pleasantly surprised when I came here to see how important mentoring is, both formally and informally.”

She finds mentoring particularly helpful in addressing one of the main challenges she sees for women in the industry — the limited number of female role models at the higher levels. “If you haven’t seen a lot of women in senior positions, which I didn’t, you might feel pressured to mimic the few examples you do see instead of forging your own path, which can be challenging if that doesn’t match your personality,” Natauri said. “You have to figure out what success looks like for you, without having the benefit of a large number of role models.”

Natauri knows that success doesn’t come immediately, which also can be challenging when first starting your career. “When you’re young, you are promptly rewarded for good grades and hard work, and then you find when you enter the corporate world that it’s not as linear,” she says. “You have to have patience that your trajectory will take off.”

A Heart for Kids

Natauri spends much of her time away from work with her husband and their three children, ages four, two and one. She was also formerly on the board of a nonprofit organization called Everybody Wins, which she describes as a cross between literacy advocacy and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. The organization brings professionals to low-income schools to mentor and read to kids. “I’m a practical person at heart so I really appreciated its mission of getting busy people involved in an impactful way with the limited time they have available.”

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Voice of Experience: Betty Ng, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Moody’s

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Betty NgFulfilling careers may evolve as a lattice rather than a ladder, believes Betty Ng, senior vice president for the corporate development team at Moody’s. “You have to be open to different opportunities while still being true to yourself. Your career success is often heavily attributed to the efforts of others, so in turn, I believe you have a responsibility to help others.”

Ng’s high school career vision was to pursue the field of international corporate law, which combined a variety of elements that interested her. Though she ultimately chose a different journey, she was able to create a career that still mirrored those interests through seeking challenging, fulfilling leadership roles at international firms.

After earning a B.A. in Economics with a focus on international relations from Stanford University, she began her career with Arthur Andersen in the San Francisco and Beijing offices. Though she earned her CPA license, she didn’t want to devote her career to accounting, so she attended Harvard Business School for an MBA to enhance her general management and leadership skills, and then worked at Amex managing product and international program office initiatives.

Career Success through Networking

In 2004, a friend referred her to Citigroup where her interview catapulted her into an M&A execution role. This was an early lesson in being open to any opportunity, since although she had never thought about a career in mergers and acquisitions, the hiring manager convinced her that she had all the skills and experience she needed to be successful, including finance, international business, leadership, project management and foreign language. In fact, Ng found it to be the perfect role to leverage her skills and interests.

After a brief hiatus to be with her children, a former colleague at Citigroup hired her into Moody’s where she is now a senior vice president for corporate development, leading M&A and other strategic initiatives.
This experience leads her to offer the advice to women toalways be at your best since you never know who’s watching you and when your paths will cross again.And that means that in addition to delivering great work products, you have to focus on building relationships and expanding your networks.

“You want to be the first person someone thinks of for that job or assignment that can help you advance your career,” Ng says. She believes a crucial element of that is executive presence, a skill she believes can be learned and developed. “Have an open mind about enhancements that can impact your personal brand and success,” she says.

“Paying it forward”

Diversity is very important to Ng, who appreciates that Moody’s has a wide variety of programs and initiatives to support a diverse workplace, from women to LGBTA to multiple cultures to veterans.

Ng devotes time to two important groups: she is co-chair of Moody’s Women’s Employee Resource Group in New York and is concurrently working with other Asian professionals to develop an initiative to further develop the Asian talent pipeline in the company.

Her focus as co-chair of the Women’s ERG is to deliver strong content in the areas of networking and professional development, which involves collaborating with her co-chair and subcommittees to develop programs that cover a spectrum from Lean In circles to fantasy football groups.

Ng also highlighted Moody’s leadership programs for women, including a Senior Women’s Leadership Forum, which she will participate in later this year, and other programs which help participants refine their skills and gain visibility across the company.

Ng is grateful that Moody’s sponsored her attendance at the Stanford Business School Advanced Leadership Program for Asian American Executives in 2013, which she describes as an incredible professional development experience that inspired her desire to focus on developing the pipeline of Asian talent at Moody’s. While the effort is still in its early stages, its goals are to reach out to Asian talent and help senior professionals impart their experience and “pay it forward” as role models. They have held a pilot speed mentoring program and look forward to other initiatives as the group grows.

She feels that it is important for organizations to raise awareness of unconscious biases and overcome leaders’ tendencies to hire and advance people who are more like themselves rather than gaining the benefits of a more diverse pool of candidates. “Also, a lack of role models can create a psychological barrier for women, who may feel that achieving higher ranks is too difficult.”

In fact, she cites her ability to meaningfully “pay it forward” by co-chairing these groups, while still performing well at her demanding position, as the professional achievement of which she’s most proud.
Family First

Ng credits much of her success to her mother, who has served as an impressive role model by balancing family with an impactful career. A widow at 32 with four young children, she has devoted decades of her life to her career as a social worker and was recently recognized as a pioneer by the Chinese American Planning Council (CPC) for her contributions to the community. Ng had the honor of speaking at the awards event.

Having benefited greatly from CPC’s programs, Ng sought and received a grant from Harvard Business School in 2001 that allowed her to establish a sustainable youth employment program for CPC. “It was an incredible experience to help impact the lives of underprivileged youth,” she says.

Ng treasures her time with her seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, particularly relishing morning drop-off time and evening reading time. “My goal is to focus on my job during the day and have real quality time focusing on them when I am home.”

By Cathie Ericsson

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Voice of Experience: Carol Nelson, Regional Sales Executive and Seattle Market President, KeyBank

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Carol NelsonFor Carol Nelson, it’s always been about banking. After earning a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s in business administration from Seattle University, she began her career at Seafirst, which later became Bank of America, and spent 24 years in positions of increasing responsibility in its commercial and retail divisions.

She left to become president and CEO of Cascade Bank, a community bank headquartered in nearby Everett, Wash., where she spent 10 years transforming it from a savings bank to a commercial bank, serving businesses as well as consumers. In fact, that is one of the professional achievements of which she is most proud. As she notes, changing culture can be challenging, and she found it extremely rewarding to make such a profound change and still be named the “No. 1 Medium-Size Business to Work For” by Washington CEO magazine in 2005. “That much change can be threatening, so the fact that we could also sustain and build morale was really meaningful.”

As Nelson has progressed throughout her career, she has learned the importance of building relationships. During the Cascade Bank transition, she learned that “if others in the organization understand and know you, they are more willing to accept your leadership and any changes you might need to introduce.” She also gained an appreciation for the power of process. “Giving participants the opportunity to buy in will increase the likelihood of success, whether it’s a single project or an overall company transformation.”

Nelson eventually orchestrated the sale of Cascade Bank to Opus Bank and, and following a period of transition, moved on to spend two years as agency director and CEO of the Department of Revenue for the State of Washington. “Having the chance to serve the public and give a portion of my life to public service was a tremendous opportunity, and I thoroughly enjoyed being a member of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet,” Nelson said.

Future of Banking is Bright

Banking called her back though, and she accepted her leadership role at KeyBank in January 2015. “I love being on a steep learning curve, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring my passion for diversity and leadership here to KeyBank,” she said. “I feel very fortunate that I found a career that I’m excited about and have a passion for – some people don’t ever find that and I’ve had it from the start.”

Nelson notes that it’s an exciting time in the industry. People have long predicted the rise of a purely cashless society, or the demise of branch banking as technology advances. But that’s not what her bank is experiencing – she says that customers still want the mix of touch points and so she will continue to lead efforts to deliver a broad cross section of products that can meet the needs of virtually every business and consumer.

“I don’t see that we will ever be able to harness technology to give people the sound advice and financial solutions that bankers do,”

Nelson finds banking to be an ideal career for women, due to the breadth and depth of the financial sector. She encourages women who are interested in career growth to seek a broad range of experience in multiple lines of business.

An Environment of Inclusivity

Though the career is particularly welcoming to women at the entry level, she has seen that as they continue to move up, it becomes more challenging and very competitive. “There are some stereotypes and management styles that can get in the way, but women just need to be smart about how they navigate them.” She notes a strong culture of advancement potential at Key in particular – it is led by a woman and women comprise 36 percent of the leadership team.

Since coming to KeyBank, Nelson has been appreciative of the networking group structure the bank offers. Employees are encouraged to form smaller networking groups where shared interests and backgrounds reinforce employee engagement and a sense of belonging. Current groups bring together Asian Americans, African Americans, employees with disabilities and employees of military families.

There is also a robust Key4Women group that supports the advancement of business women of all levels through networking and professional development events. Nelson says the program got her attention long before she came to the bank because it served employees as well as clients. “Our bankers are passionate about making sure women business owners have access to capital,” she said, adding that since 2005, KeyBank has lent more than $6 billion to women-owned businesses.

Giving Back

Nelson encourages women who want to become leaders to develop their skills by being active in the community early on. “Helping a nonprofit translates into valuable work experience and great connections,” Nelson said.

Her philosophy of giving back has created a mentoring mindset. “I believe that women leaders need to help other emerging women leaders advance their careers in the community,” she says. “Whenever someone asks for some of my time, I try to make it work. Someone paid it forward for me, and I want to do the same for others.”

At the same time, she notes that all senior women have to make savvy use of their time. Which is one reason she is such a believer in volunteer work and its ability to accomplish simultaneous goals.

Nelson is active in the Washington Roundtable, which focuses on economic development. “I am passionate about contributing to a thriving economy. At the Roundtable, I’m networking with peers and serving a mission while being visible on behalf of the bank. Time is finite – I really believe you have to be laser focused with how you spend it.”

She also serves as a trustee to Seattle University, where she is a double alum, and says she is energized by visiting the campus and interacting with the students.

And in her off time she participates in CrossFit – she is a certified instructor and while she doesn’t currently teach, she exercises her right to fitness with thrice-weekly sessions.

By Cathie Ericson

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Voice of Experience: Sanja Udovicic, Partner in Project Finance Group, Shearman & Sterling

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Sanja UdovicicClient service and innovative deal making are what drive Sanja Udovicic, a partner in global law firm Shearman & Sterling’s project finance group in London. “My proudest professional achievements derive from successfully accomplishing my clients’ objectives and delivering their goals,” she says, particularly when working on what she describes as “complicated and interesting deals that haven’t been done before in frontier jurisdictions.”

Her recent and ongoing work, for example, includes advising multilateral lending institutions and commercial banks on the financing of an upstream gas project in Uzbekistan, counseling the government of Croatia on their tendering of a concession for the operation of the Croatian toll road network and advising lenders on a power project in Indonesia which won a number of awards for its innovative financing structure.

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Voice of Experience: Donna M. Parisi, Partner and Head of the Asset Management Group, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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Donna Parisi“People sometimes ask me, ‘If you could do it all over again, given your practice focus in the financial services area, would you be a banker as opposed to a lawyer?’ I would be a lawyer. This is a particularly exciting time to be a lawyer, with all the regulatory changes, and my clients rely on me to provide counsel and advice,” said Donna M. Parisi, Partner and Head of the Asset Management Group at global law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP.

Parisi’s practice deals globally with derivatives, structured products, securitization, capital markets and commodities, as well as regulatory, risk management, and compliance counseling. It is an area of great interest, and her advice is in high demand.

She explained, “My clients need help navigating complex regulations– especially in light of Dodd-Frank. We’re in a period of great change. There’s a lot happening out there.”

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