By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
It would be fair to say that Cynthia Urda Kassis, a Partner and Co-Head of the Project Development and Finance Practice at Shearman & Sterling LLP, is a bit of a globetrotter. In her work, which involves arranging financing for infrastructure projects all over the world, Urda Kassis sometimes participates on site visits to see first-hand the fruits of her labors.
“Young lawyers are always very excited about the chance to travel around the world,” she explained.
“In my work, it’s very important to learn about different legal systems – for example, what they prioritize and what structuring flexibility they allow.”
“And it is very interesting to travel – you get to see a lot of places. But it’s not typical sightseeing. I see a lot of offices, conference rooms, and airports – you don’t get to go on a lot of safaris.”
In a career that has made her one of the most highly sought-after project finance attorneys in the US, Urda Kassis tries to never lose sight of what attracted her to the law in the first place.
“The law is very diverse,” she explains. “There are a multitude of different subjects and practice areas within the law. I tell young lawyers all the time: find the area of law that really excites you and piques your interest.”
Voice of Experience: Cynthia Urda Kassis, Partner and Co-Head of Project Development & Finance Practice, Shearman & Sterling LLP
Voices of ExperienceIt would be fair to say that Cynthia Urda Kassis, a Partner and Co-Head of the Project Development and Finance Practice at Shearman & Sterling LLP, is a bit of a globetrotter. In her work, which involves arranging financing for infrastructure projects all over the world, Urda Kassis sometimes participates on site visits to see first-hand the fruits of her labors.
“Young lawyers are always very excited about the chance to travel around the world,” she explained.
“In my work, it’s very important to learn about different legal systems – for example, what they prioritize and what structuring flexibility they allow.”
“And it is very interesting to travel – you get to see a lot of places. But it’s not typical sightseeing. I see a lot of offices, conference rooms, and airports – you don’t get to go on a lot of safaris.”
In a career that has made her one of the most highly sought-after project finance attorneys in the US, Urda Kassis tries to never lose sight of what attracted her to the law in the first place.
“The law is very diverse,” she explains. “There are a multitude of different subjects and practice areas within the law. I tell young lawyers all the time: find the area of law that really excites you and piques your interest.”
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Movers and Shakers: Clare Porter, Senior Vice President, Technology Solutions, SunGard
Voices of ExperienceClare Porter’s career has taken her from engineering to manufacturing, to operations, to marketing, and now, as SunGard‘s Senior Vice President of Technology Solutions, she is enjoying her role as a change agent at a $5 billion technology company.
“Right now we have to be brave,” she said. We have to keep our heads above the status quo and have a vision of where we’re going to go.”
She continued, “What makes me so excited about this industry is that in a five-year time horizon, it will be fundamentally different, because of the people coming into the business, both from a user standpoint and a staffing standpoint. They will be fundamentally different than the people we have today. Trying to measure and judge and anticipate that is a big thing for me, looking at the digital natives.”
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Movers and Shakers: Karen Hughes, Vice President, Technology, American Express
Movers and ShakersKaren Hughes, Vice President, Technology at American Express is passionate about ensuring that women feel comfortable taking a career break – whether taking leave to care for children or other family members, or taking time off to care for themselves.
She explained, “Perceptions around on-ramps and off-ramps are still causing women uncertainty around their careers. Things are getting better though.”
Hughes leads the New York chapter of American Express’s new global Women in Technology group – and is enthusiastic about how networking and career development can help women grow.
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Quantitative Measures Reveal the Business Case for Women in Technology
Managing ChangeNamed after one of the pioneers women in computing, the Anita Borg Institute provides research and tools to advance women in the field of technology, and works to make women in the field more visible.
But despite the organization’s hard work, many feel the needle isn’t moving fast enough. In response to the slow pace of change, this year the organization launched its first Top Company for Technical Women award (along with its Women of Vision awards). The award isn’t just about honoring the companies that have achieved high levels of success in retaining and advancing women. It’s also about motivating companies to measure their progress, and to work harder to get (and keep) more women in their ranks.
Dr. Caroline Simard, Anita Borg’s Vice President of Research and Executive Programs, explained, “This is our first corporate award and what motivated us to initiate it is that you don’t achieve organizational change without measurement.” She continued, “A lot of companies talk about getting more diversity in technical roles, but they don’t know where they should start.”
“Before they decide where they want to get, they have to know where they’re at,” Dr. Simard explained.
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Opt In: Getting Beyond the Glass Ceiling
Expert AnswersWe increasingly see statistics about where women are in the workforce: more of us, locally and globally, in graduate schools and in organizations, yet not earning enough and not senior enough. The organizations that generate that data are doing terrific work making the progress (or the lack thereof) clear and present.
Equally clear and present, though, is a danger on the horizon. If, as The Economist has said, “women’s economic empowerment is arguably the biggest social change of our times,” then the time has come for us to seize the momentum of that change and make it powerful, meaningful, and lasting. When trying to engender change, a motivating phrase used to be “Carpe Diem,” or seize the day. Today, a more appropriate phrase seems to be “Opt In.”
We can “Opt In” by knowing more about the power we already have in society and using that power in our professional lives. We can “Opt In” by becoming more aware of what is constraining us and preventing that from controlling us. We can “Opt In” by taking more actions that move our professional goals forward step by step. Sometimes it may just be easier to Opt Out. But the only way that change will really happen is by each of us, one person at a time, Opting In in three ways and then joining hands.
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Voice of Experience: Sony Rusteberg, Senior Executive, Global Outsourcing and Local Delivery, Accenture
Breaking the Glass Ceiling“Women have the ability to demonstrate strength and the confidence to grow,” said Sony Rusteberg, Senior Executive, Global Outsourcing and Local Delivery at Accenture.
Rusteberg began her career at Accenture seventeen years ago, and has steadily climbed the ranks. She has dealt with personal hardships and joys, and credits the company for its support as she battled ovarian cancer, had children, and made partner in a short period of time.
“To be confident you have to believe in yourself,” she advised.
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Authenticity: How Women Leaders Can Be True To Themselves
Expert AnswersIt seems obvious to many of us that a diverse group of men and women leaders are more likely to be creative and make better decisions than a homogeneous group of men.
If we manage to achieve gender-balanced leadership in our organizations we will, however, only reap the rewards if women leaders are able to be true to themselves. If women have to behave like men to succeed, the benefits of gender diversity remain unrealized and we might as well not bother.
But can women leaders really be authentically themselves within the structure of our current male leadership model, or must they conform to traditional male leadership values and behaviors in order to progress their careers?
Authenticity in this context refers to our capacity to align our behavior with our core values; to know what is most important to us and act accordingly. Most would agree that this is a quality fundamental to all good leaders.
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Voice of Experience: Mika Mayer, Partner, Morrison & Foerster
Voices of ExperienceThis week, in honor of Ada Lovelace Day, The Glass Hammer is highlighting women who have achieved high levels of success working in technology. Making role models visible is one important way we can encourage girls and young women to pursue a career in tech – and stay there!
“I don’t want to over generalize what the main challenges for women are, but for me personally, the greatest challenge has been balancing my role as a partner with my role as a mother,” said Mika Mayer, Partner at Morrison & Foerster, who deals with patent law in the medical device, drug delivery, and pharmaceutical fields. “For each role, there is no limit to the amount of time you can invest, and I take both roles very seriously.”
She continued, “Balance is one of those words that has very little meaning, because true balance is very hard to obtain. You need to define boundaries and set limits for yourself. You can’t rely on your employer to set those limits for you.”
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Voice of Experience: Augusta Sanfilippo, Managing Director, Cash Securities Operations IT, Citi
Voices of ExperienceThis week, in honor of Ada Lovelace Day, The Glass Hammer is highlighting women who have achieved high levels of success working in technology. Making role models visible is one important way we can encourage girls and young women to pursue a career in tech – and stay there!
Speaking with Augusta Sanfilippo, Managing Director of Cash Securities Operations IT at Citi, you get the feeling that she is one of those people who really loves her work. In fact, Sanfilippo says she has loved IT and investment banking since she was in college. Having grown up in Queens, she was studying business at St. John’s University. Then, she said, “I fell in love with the computer room in about 1983.”
Sanfilippo went on to major in computer science and minor in business. Since then, she’s spent her career in managing data, designing systems and processes, and implementing new ideas on Wall Street. “I just had this passion for computers,” she explained with a laugh.
Sanfilippo is also passionate about solving problems. Now leading Citi’s efforts to streamline its various cash securities operations systems after several years of mergers, she has also become enthusiastic about improving the IT space for women.
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Op-Ed: The Part-Time Lawyer Layoff Myth
Expert AnswersPart-time lawyer layoffs can now join sewer crocodiles and kidney thefts on the list of attention-grabbing hoaxes.
During the recession, the “highest number of terminations occurred amongst part-time attorneys,” said a recent op-ed that appeared in The Glass Hammer. The source of this assertion was the respected and influential 2010 national survey of women in law firms by the National Association of Women Lawyers, but the report does not say that more part-time lawyers were laid off. A close reading shows that the report says only that male and female full-time lawyers were laid off in equal proportion but because most of the part-time lawyers are female, it follows that more part-time females than part-time males were laid off.
The NAWL report does not expressly compare the termination rates for part-time and full-time lawyers, but it does say that in 2010, 93% of firms terminated “lawyers” and that 56% of firms terminated “one or more part-time employees.” Although this does not negate the reality that a handful of firms did terminate all their part-time lawyers, it clearly suggests that law firms in general did not target part-time lawyers for layoff.
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