Tag Archive for: CEO

Thought Leader: Lorraine Hariton, CEO, Catalyst

Lorraine HaritonBy Nicki Gilmour, CEO and Founder of theglasshammer.com

We caught up with Lorraine Hariton, recently appointed leader of Catalyst to hear her thoughts on change, gender progress at work and what excites her about her in this new role.

Nicki Gilmour (NG): What is your vision as leader of Catalyst?

Lorraine Hariton (LH): I am honored and thrilled to join Catalyst as President and CEO. My career has benefited so much from Catalyst’s work, and I am excited to have the opportunity to help write the next chapter and pay it forward to future generations. I have been involved in women’s advancement leadership initiatives throughout my career. This is a dream opportunity to give back and pay it forward in an area that has been a lifelong passion and indeed my life experience.

There’s so much I want to do with this opportunity. We are at an inflection point in our history—the #MeToo outcry combined with rapid and enormous shifts in how we work offer the opportunity to build a new kind of workplace: one in which women advance to leadership much more rapidly and intentionally than ever before. I see Catalyst leading that charge and I’m excited to be a part of this moment in history.

NG: What has changed for women in the workplace in the past 10/20/30 years?

LH: The workplace of 2018 looks very different from that of 1962, when Catalyst was founded, and will look much different 20 years from now and beyond. Rapidly changing technology and the surge of millennials and Gen Z into the workforce guarantees that advances in technology will continue to significantly change the Future of Work, including shifting demographics, automation, AI, machine learning, the gig economy, more geographically dispersed, culturally diverse teams, changing dynamics in the interaction between humans and machines, etc. The future of work will need soft skills that include empathy, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration. This will require companies to turbocharge their efforts to build diverse and inclusive teams to be competitive. The rapidly changing nature of how we work presents a real opportunity in the “here and now” for women and other marginalized groups in the workplace. It’s essential that women are not left behind in this shifting workforce and that companies are prepared to utilize all of their diverse talent.

However, despite these advancements, women continue to face barriers that are complex and ingrained, especially women of color. Harmful and misleading gender-based stereotypes and biases are alive and well. We need to make sure that the people who are coding and building the machines of the future aren’t also baking in sexist or stereotypic assumptions. Getting women into all aspects of tech, STEM, and also data analytics will allow us to create a future that works for all of us. Gender diversity in the workplace is the right and the smart thing to do. Gender based innovation means ensuring products are built by diverse people so they work for everyone. Tech companies need to be at the table partnering and taking the steps needed to bring about positive change.

NG: How do we take the onus off the individual and instead ask the firm’s to ‘lean in’?

LH: It is vital men do not take a step back in the aftermath of this global wake-up call on sexual harassment or become afraid to advocate for women. The vast majority of men at work have the best intentions but stop short of identifying as champions. Inclusive leaders encourage their male employees to challenge the status quo while also modeling sponsorship behavior. They lead courageous conversations about what concerns men have and how they can step up to become allies for women in the workplace.

NG: Tell is about your personal pathway to this work?

LH: I have been involved in women’s advancement leadership initiatives throughout my career. I’ve held senior-level positions in Silicon Valley, including serving as CEO of two Silicon Valley start-ups and holding C-level roles in sales, marketing, and engineering in public companies. Most recently, I was Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships for the New York Academy of Sciences, where I was instrumental in creating the Global STEM Alliance and its 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures program, a global mentoring initiative to help girls pursue careers in STEM.

As Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at the US Department of State, I established The Global Entrepreneurship Program, the WeCreate Center for women entrepreneurs, and the Secretary’s Council on Women’s Leadership.

I’ve served on several boards of organizations committed to the advancement of women in the workplace, including the UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change, the Stanford Clayman Institute for Gender Research and Watermark.

My eclectic and diverse background helps me to look at the challenges, opportunities and solutions from many different angles.

My career has benefited so much from Catalyst’s work and I’m thrilled to be a part of the next chapter lending my experience to help build workplaces that work for women, and for everybody.

NG: What excites you most about the future on this topic of equality and equity?

LH: This is a critical time in our history. There is a huge spotlight on issues facing women in the workplace. Unfortunately, progress has been stalled for far too long but there’s an opportunity in this #MeToo moment to make a quantum leap ahead for gender equality in workplaces. We at Catalyst will continue to support leaders and organizations in creating inclusive cultures and opportunities that support and advance women. The best defense against sexual harassment is building an inclusive workplace culture with zero tolerance for discrimination and bad behavior.

NG: What is your advice to your younger self?

LH: I would tell my younger self to learn how to be flexible and adaptable, adept in digital literacy and interpersonal skills. I would ensure I took the time to invest in internships and job experiences. There is no longer a traditional linear “major to career” path. I would also remind myself to gravitate to organizations and cultures that support and elevate women. I started my career with IBM and returned back there after Harvard Business School because of their women-centric and women-supportive environment. I would encourage young women starting their careers to similarly seek out cultures and organizations that emphasize women’s inclusion.

NG: A big thanks to Lorraine for taking time out to speak with us and we look forward to more excellent work from Catalyst!
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Rising Star: Sue Reager | CEO, Translate Your World

Sue Reager“People are right when they say, ‘If you fall, get back up again,’” says Sue Reager.

Her strategy after failing? To mope for a few days, then stand up and say to herself, “Okay, was the direction I was traveling worth pursuing, or should I go somewhere else? And if the destination is the same, is there another path to get there?

“It really is true that when you fall down, you just say ‘Drat!,’ and get back up again,” she says, a philosophy that has paved her successful and innovative career path.

A Varied Career, Focused on Finding the Perfect Fit

Reager’s career path has always been one of blazing her own trails, starting with becoming a professional choreographer at age 14. She started college, but midway through began teaching college instead, which she says was her first discovery that it is possible to follow a different path when you use your initiative.

After teaching her second year, she realized that the 10th year would essentially be the same as the first and she needed a new challenge, so she set her sights on a career switch and spent the next 20 years working for major media in 34 cities and 17 countries.

“I was told that it was not acceptable for women to work around the world — — however I went anyway. I would definitely never call those the ‘good old days,’,” she says, noting that was the moment that she learned she could make her own decisions, take care of herself and face the world without fear.

Along the way she discovered that because people do business in their own language, she had to study languages every night — grammar, verb conjugations, pronouns, adjectives – all the idiosyncrasies of various languages. But that can be daunting since it takes three to five years to learn to speak a language well enough to efficiently conduct business.

When she was invited to go to Korea on year 20 of her global jaunt, she realized that she didn’t want to start all over again learning a new language and instead returned to the United States determined to solve the language problem.

Opening Up a World of Possibilities

Her first step was to learn how to code, which allowed her to offer her services in code correction for major tech companies that were localizing applications into other languages, but were finding their code was altering the target language. She learned over time that the developer engineers were all making the same mistakes and that what they coded would never work in Japanese, Korean or other Asian languages. Upon further research, she determined that all of these developers were following what they had learned at the university, and the books were wrong.

That discovery led to her first invention, which was a way to localize extremely complex audio products like telephone systems without touching the code.

Then she began to help the speech industry by providing voices and special recordings that create the phonetic information required to generate text-to-speech technology. Her efforts led to her latest invention that is the successful integration of the great language companies of the world under one “roof,” resulting in truly excellent business applications that create cross-language communication.

It was around age 40 that Reager discovered she had something to offer the world that she had not yet recognized. “I am an inventor with a brilliant mind,” she says, adding that this realization was like a seismic shock. And, as she says, life has been really fun ever since, with a reason to leap out of bed every morning.

Right now her company is pioneering four inventions and three software programs designed to bridge the communication gap and thus enable one person to provide global education, customer service, tech support, medical professional language support and more effective 911 emergency services worldwide in dozens of languages.

“To me it is almost beyond exciting that using our software will allow one teacher to teach in 78 languages through live real-time subtitles,” she says. The company has also created a way for small business to attract and serve customers who speak other languages; in the past only huge companies could effectively expand globally due to the expense of translation and the need for special personnel to be hired to service those customers. Her company’s software takes over that job, enabling a small company to communicate, sell and serve around the world.

Reager’s company adds an additional focus: that of empowering wounded veterans to perform fulfilling jobs, as well as enable those who are deaf or blind to work in business on equal footing. “Our invention is revolutionary in this respect,” she says.

Moreover, they have invented a device called the “Eye-Belt” that is a belt that acts as eyes for blind people, telling them how to maneuver around obstacles. As more features are added, it will also tell the blind more about the person in front of them. “Our goal is to provide a new freedom to people who have been limited in the past,” she says.

A Company Culture Devoted to Equality

One of the reasons Reager believes her company has been so successful is because it is run on the basis of consensus, which is more of a Japanese style of doing business, and means that everyone involved needs to agree on a given direction. Anyone who feels strongly that the direction is wrong is encouraged to fight for their viewpoint, because there is probably a good reason for it.

“The concept of equality permeates our company culture,” she says. “Each voice has equal weight and equal merit, and if one person accidentally tries to overpower another, we simply pull the rug out from under them. We are very honest with each other, and we do not criticize.” Without levels of hierarchy, the lines blur between the “worker bees” and executives, eliminating commands and “royal decrees.”

This equality in the office is a perfect metaphor for the equality they are trying to create by removing language barriers around the world.

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Self-promotion v. corporate branding: a dilemma for women CEOs? Do women CEO’s do enough to promote their brands?

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Image via Shutterstock

Image via Shutterstock

Guest Contributed By Patricia Harden, President and CEO of Harden Communications Partners

In today’s media-saturated business world, a company’s image is inextricably linked to the reputation of the CEO. Wall Street analysts, marketers and corporate communicators understand the importance of a CEO’s personal brand and how it affects demand for a company’s products or services and its market value.

The “personal brand” of Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com or Tesla’s Elon Musk is an extension of the company. And there are any number of other high-profile male CEOs, who are recognized as industry leaders. How many similarly high-profile women CEOs are there? After HP’s Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, who both ran for public office, and a handful of others, it is hard to come up with names. Granted, unfortunately there are simply not as many women as men in the C-suite. However, perhaps the lack of women CEOs with well-defined personal brands is an issue that goes deeper than their respective numbers.

During my 25 years in corporate communications, I have observed many women CEOs that do not eagerly embrace communications tools and strategies to build a powerful personal brand. They are often more reluctant to express their personal values, beliefs and business philosophy than their male counterparts, and frequently, I see successful women leaders who want to stay on “safe” ground, sticking to unassailable fact-based positions.

What’s behind their reticence? I have a theory: On the way up, women CEOs worked incredibly hard just to prove they were as competent (and more so) as men. They had to show they were good team players in order to win the support of colleagues. Advocating a point of view, stretching the boundaries and sharing a bigger “vision” are leadership traits that are subjective, individual and highly visible. Given history, it’s not surprising that women CEOs may err on the side of staying low profile for fear of being criticized as “self-promotional” or grandstanding.

For example, we see women leaders who are press-shy, avoiding media engagement except in the most controlled situations. They seem reluctant to step outside what they see as the confines of their professional roles. One client refused to discuss her accomplishments in building a major data business from the ground up: “I’ll only talk about our product, not myself.” I call this “The Hillary Problem”: Feeling more secure in the role of competent project manager instead of inspirational, but potentially controversial, leader.

While the term personal brand may sound ego-centric, developing an authentic personal brand can add tremendous value to your organization. As a woman leader, what is your personal brand? I believe it is all about becoming known for what you stand for in addition to what you do in your job. Your brand is the “why” behind decisions, choices and results. Inevitably, the “why” involves some subjectivity – and this is where I see women reluctant to capitalize on the credibility that they have earned as CEOS and leaders. Yet I argue that it is absolutely mission critical: It might well be an essential, if unwritten, part of your job description.

Where to start developing a personal brand and leveraging it for the greater good of your company? By working closely with your in-house communications team and public relations advisors, you can develop a strategic plan that will establish and grow your personal brand. It’s not necessary to undergo a personality transplant and become a “celebrity” CEO or another Sheryl Sandberg. Rather, with the right advice and collaboration with professionals, select the issues, forums and communications channels that mesh with your core values and support your organization’s agenda.

“Leaning in” to build and maintain your personal CEO brand isn’t about self-promotion: it’s about advancing your own agenda and that of your company—to step out of your personal comfort zone for the greater good.

About Pat Harden

Patricia (Pat) Harden founded Harden Partners to help companies be heard, known and valued. Pat brings clients the benefits of a lifelong passion for communication and the desire to help organizations take their game to new levels.

Under her leadership, Harden Partners has grown steadily from a one-person consultancy to an award-winning, mid-sized agency, serving the financial, healthcare and professional services sectors.

An avid reader, theater-goer and traveler, Pat serves on the board of Theatre Bay Area and she and her husband enjoy making Pinot Noir from their home-based vineyard.
This is a Guest Contribution. The views and opinions of the Guest Contributor are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

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Voice of Experience: Kathleen Kelley, CEO, Queen Anne’s Gate Capital Management

kathleen kelleyBy Cathie Ericson

It’s vitally important for women to find a mentor early on who can help them navigate their path, says Kathleen Kelley. “I was lucky enough to find Paul Jones, who became my mentor, but that was a fortunate accident since I hadn’t set out with that as my mission. It’s important to think about who would be the right mentor and establish that relationship early on.”

After studying math and economics in college — which, incidentally, she believes that all women should take math courses whatever their career aspirations – Kelley became a portfolio manager at Tudor Investment Management. She spent 10 years there, initially doing research and then moving to portfolio management, where she ran a macro portfolio focusing on commodities.

She moved to Kingdon to run a macro portfolio for seven years and then took a year off and moved to London with her kids. When she returned, she started her own fund, Queen Anne’s Gate Capital Management, named after the street they lived on in England. While the firm was focused on the fund when she first started it, it has evolved to offer research as well.

Going out on her own is the professional achievement she’s most proud of, primarily because of the example it sets for other young women. “They need to see the opportunity set available to them, but they can’t if they don’t see other women taking those steps,” she says. “That’s one of the reasons it was important to me to take that risk and start my own firm.”

Currently she specializes in consulting to complement her past 20 years where she has focused on investing and portfolio management. Commodity markets have always been her specialty, and she notes that the recent renewed interest in the space is promising. She also believes there is a trend for hedge funds and asset managers to meet in the middle: As the fee structure and performance of hedge funds have been maligned over the past couple of years, asset managers have been accumulating more of the assets as they broaden their reach. “I believe there are increasing opportunities for companies like mine that serve both hedge funds and asset managers,” she says.

Bolstering Women’s Career Prospects at All Levels

Her focus on the financial world extends to her philanthropic pursuits. Ten years ago she co-founded the High Water Women Foundation, which offers an annual impact investing seminar in the fall and trains volunteers to teach financial literacy. “We were early to the space, which has been growing like crazy, so the program keeps expanding to meet overwhelming demand.”

Kelley admits she is frustrated by the slow progress women have been afforded, especially when you consider the make-up of corporate boards and realize many companies have no women represented. She sees how the problem perpetuates itself: If a man joins a board and they mention they need another member, he’ll call his colleague. “We need to put the same buddy network in place to facilitate this process for women,” she notes.

To that end, she says that most of her friends in the industry are actively promoting other women but can always do more.

Closer to home, she continues to foster her kids’ interest in culture and travel. They are half-Spanish so they visit Spain regularly, and she and her daughter are training together to run the London Marathon.

Kelley serves on seven non-profit boards, including her alma mater Smith College and London School of Economics, as well as High Water Women Foundation.

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Voice of Experience: Daria Rippingale, CEO, BillPro

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daria rippingaleBy Cathie Ericson

“When you’re first starting out, knowing the people above you have much more knowledge and experience can feel intimidating,” acknowledges Daria Rippingale, CEO of Australia-based BillPro. “But I realized at a young age that one of the best ways to really learn is to dive in and give it a go. When looking back, I feel this has been a significant factor to the acceleration of my career.”

If ever faced with a task where she may feel daunted, Rippingale says her strategy is to just jump in. “Experiencing fear or anxiety about taking on a new challenge is not a weakness. It’s what you do about it that defines you. Holding yourself back is not beneficial to anyone. You need to be focused; stay in your own lane; and be aware of your individual skills and contributions. Then push yourself forward with confidence,” she says.

Jumping in To Build the Career She Wanted

Rippingale has definitely never hesitated to jump in. She always knew she wanted to be a business leader, having grown up with a strong role model in her mom, the National Director of the Health Department in Australia. She started as a digital marketer in the gaming industry exploring metrics, and then moved to the payments department where she managed the money coming in and out of games.

“I realized how much I enjoyed working in finance and wanted to stay involved with payments. So I found a payment startup, knocked on their door and introduced myself, and that was the start,” she says.

By the age of 26 she was promoted to CEO, overseeing 14 men, all of whom were older than her. “I was aware that taking on this position at my age would come with certain challenges, but I’m a solution-oriented person; I knew I would figure it out,” she says. And that she did, expanding into Canada, Hong Kong, the United States and throughout Europe, transforming the company into a global financial institution.

Over the years, the industry has expanded, in large part because of the ubiquity of social media as well as the global nature of business. “It used to be a big leap to think about doing business with someone in the U.K., but having everyone connected has had a huge impact on business.” For example, she now works with lots of U.S. companies, where even three years ago, the prospect of billing internationally sounded like a logistical nightmare. “Geographical boundaries are disappearing as a barrier.”

Success is Never Based on Gender

Rippingale has been aware of gender barriers over the years, but believes most are self-made. While she sees how women may be intimated, that’s never been an issue for her; in fact, she says she relishes these perceived “gender barriers” because of her personality. “I enjoy when a man is condescending; it makes me instantly know they lack self-confidence, and I won’t waste my time with them,” she says.

Women have to stop thinking about gender and just focus on their capabilities. “In my company your value is in what you contribute. We don’t have men and women; we have a team of ambitious and intelligent individuals who each contribute to the positive corporate culture we’ve developed. It has nothing to do with gender.”

Although today’s payment companies are in many ways the new iteration of male-dominated banking, the men she deals with now are “younger and hipper.” That means that while it’s still a “boy’s club,” she finds this younger generation to be easier to crack as a woman — dealing with peers who are more enlightened than the gatekeepers of old.
“When I started in the gaming industry there were 53 guys, and three women: the “model,” someone in customer service and me doing analytics. I spent three days feeling diminished and decided I was done with that: I was here to achieve and moved on to do that.”

Women Uniquely Qualified for Startups

Women and startups are an ideal match because of natural personal traits that women exude, from their capacity for multitasking to their propensity to display grit – the ability to bear and get through challenging situations.

Where others see inequality, she is impressed with the amazing strides women have made: Considering that women in her grandmother’s generation didn’t even work, she views as incredible the rise in stature women have achieved, with essentially a history of only 50 years in the workforce.

“The women I have hired are all very successful and very confident; I tell them to be empowered by that success, to always remember how they got to where they are.”

A Role Model and Champion

Active in a Women in Payments group, Rippingale is also highly involved in one-on-one mentoring to help women just starting in the industry.

She also is an avid supporter of the fact that it need have zero impact on a woman’s career when she has a child. “We are a digital business, and I have built the company to offer great maternity and paternity leave, with multiple options for how we make it work.”

Some women might want a home office to help them get back in the groove before they return and others may need increased flexibility. The company offers a reintroduction program and employees are encouraged to stay involved as much or as little as they want while they are out.

“I’ve been on the journey with friends and family when they were making this life-altering transition. I can only appreciate just how hard it would be to take your head out of work mode, care for a baby and then jump back in. I have great respect for any woman (or man) who is juggling the work-life-family balance. As a CEO, I think it’s imperative to set the standard by providing the required support and flexibility to allow them to continue a thriving career alongside their new family priorities.”

Making Friends Wherever She Goes

With all the travel she does for work, Rippingale enjoys developing friendship circles around the world. “I love meeting people and learning about their culture, their stories, and the nuances that make them unique.” In what little spare time she has, she enjoys learning languages and experimenting with cuisines of the world. “I am obsessed with vegetarian meals and love cooking ethnic foods; it’s the perfect complement to my affinity for all things global.”

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Promoting CEO-Ready Women

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By Melissa J. Anderson

Image via Shutterstock

Image via Shutterstock

Companies must work harder to nurture the pipeline of diverse CEO-ready leaders, experts say. As the number of women CEOs dwindles, it seems that there are few female leaders ready to take their place, or, rather, that there are too few companies ready and willing to give them a shot.

Indeed, the percentage of female CEOs in the S&P 500 dropped to a miniscule 4.4% in 2016, down from a slightly less miniscule 4.6% last year, according to data from Catalyst.

Additionally, high-profile female CEOs have stepped down from their roles in the past year. For example, Xerox’s Ursula Burns announced this summer that she will leave the company after its planned split is completed later this year. DuPont’s Ellen Kullman retired after the company’s bruising proxy battle last fall. And it’s not clear where Marissa Mayer will land after Verizon takes over Yahoo’s core businesses. Because there are already so few women in the CEO position, the loss of one or two makes a big difference. And the bright spots — like Shira Goodman being named interim CEO of Staples in June — are few and far between.

It’s not clear that companies are doing enough to bring diversity into the C-suite, says Brande Stellings, Vice President of Corporate Board Services at Catalyst. Moreover, the work is hard and constant — if companies lose focus on diversity, they could wind up dashing any positive work they’d achieved.

“Ensuring both diversity and inclusion at leadership levels requires constant attention and intention – as does any behavior until it becomes a habit,” says Stellings. “Change is not happening quickly enough and leadership at the board level and in the C-suite does not reflect the world we live in today, where women represent half of the workforce.”

Companies must be intentional in their efforts, says Stellings.

“Set a target for representation of women in the C-Suite and reverse engineer from that target,” she says. Stellings suggests companies focus on a couple key areas to reach that target: “hot jobs” and sponsorship.

“Review the ‘hot jobs’ in the company that provide a fast track for executive development: are women getting their fair share of those opportunities?” she says.

For example, the gender diversity of PwC’s Global Leadership Team increased significantly this year, moving from 20% female to 42% female with the appointments of the company’s new global chairman Bob Moritz.

“Getting there was part of a long journey which we are still on,” says Dale Meikle, Global Diversity and Inclusion Program Office Leader at PwC.

“This has been the result of many years of our top leadership personally sponsoring diversity as a business imperative, of ensuring that along with male talent, female talent has been identified and developed to create a more gender diverse slate of leaders when vacancies come up; it’s also been challenging ourselves to not make assumptions about what the barriers to diversity are, but rather letting the data lead us,” Meikle says.

According to Meikle, PwC’s creation of data-driven diversity programs that are tied to leadership accountability have produced a “sea change” at PwC.

As for sponsorship, Stellings tells of one S&P 500 CEO who asked his senior leadership team to make a list of people whose careers they had championed, and then to ask whether any of the people they had supported looked different from themselves. If not, he challenged the team to do something about it.

Stellings says women executives can play a key part of corporate efforts to bring more women and people of color into the CEO-pipeline. Not only are women executives necessary to mentor and sponsor the next generation of diverse leaders, but they are integral in driving the cultural infrastructure needed to help them thrive at work.

“On an organizational level, [senior executive women] can ensure that the business case for advancing women’s leadership is well understood, both in terms of winning in the marketplace for talent and in the marketplace for customers,” says Stellings.

For female executives who already have their eyes on the CEO job, Stellings says, an outside board seat can raise their profile and offer experience that CEO-search committees view as valuable. They should know what their CEO would say about them, and ask him or her to make introductions to search firms or other directors on their behalf.

“They should also take advantage of opportunities to present to, work with and socialize with their own company’s board,” she adds.

What’s more, when women move into board roles to enhance their own profile and meet their own career goals, they start a diversity feedback loop, according to Stellings.

“Catalyst research indicates that having more women board directors is correlated with subsequently having more women in the C-suite,” five years later, she says.

These women officers were also more likely to be in line positions. “Profit-and-loss responsibility at the executive level is a key experience for CEO succession planning, as well as board succession planning,” Stellings adds.

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Voice of Experience: Katina Stefanova, CEO & CIO, Marto Capital

Katina StefanovaTo be an effective leader, you need to know what you don’t know, says Katina Stefanova, CEO and CIO of Marto Capital. “When we go to college, the educational system teaches us to know the right answer to any question, but the ability to adapt and accomplish results comes from knowing what we need to learn. We need to focus our time on what we don’t know and don’t see, which is an incredibly important quality for any leadership position.”

Creating Success in the Financial Services Industry

Originally from Bulgaria, Stefanova came to the United States at the age of 18 with a one-way ticket purchased by her Grandfather and $200 in her pocket. From that, she built a career that eventually led to becoming founder and CEO of Marto Capital, an emerging multi-strategy asset manager.

After arriving in America, she attended Brigham Young University as an undergraduate then entered the finance and technology field. “I was in the right place at the right time, on the West Coast during the dot-com boom,” she says.

She began her career in Arthur Andersen’s M&A division, then worked for AdRelevance, where she led international business development for this media startup (which was eventually sold to MediaMetrix). Following the sale, she moved to London to become Director in IBM’s Business Strategy team in the EMEA region.

When she returned to the United States, she switched to the asset management industry, earning her master’s degree from Harvard Business School and joining Bridgewater, where she spent nearly 10 years in investment and senior management roles as the company rapidly grew.

Along the way, Stefanova’s most profound learning experience has been working with amazing mentors during the most formative parts of her career, including Bridgewater’s Co-CEO Eileen Murray and Founder Ray Dalio.

Introducing A New Paradigm With Her Firm

Two years ago, Stefanova left Bridgewater to start her current firm, which is on the vanguard of the alternative asset management industry. She considers her work building Marto Capital, as not just a “job,” but a calling. “If my team and I do it right, it will be great for investors and the industry.” And she adds, “This a tough industry, but I want what I do today to be meaningful not only to me, but to my daughter.”

The industry was in need of a new way of thinking. She sees a giant misalignment of interests between many alternative asset managers and investors – particularly a lack of transparency and a lack of alignment of economic incentives. This disconnect has led to a culture of mistrust between asset managers and their clients. Katina’s goal is to rebuild that sense of trust through its solutions and business model.

“Historically, when you consider successful asset management firms and financial institutions, you think of optimizing for financial capital,” she points out. But at Marto, they add social capital into the equation. Through that prism, they are working to address current problems such as underfunded pension systems by implementing smarter investing for pensioners and retirees.

“Everything else follows if you keep positive social outcomes as your goal,” she says. “We are here to make money for our clients, but we also are focusing on operating with a level of integrity and transparency that allows us to avoid prevalent ethics issues.”

She believes that women are particularly well suited to this model, because of their empathy and ability to look at clients holistically, based on the belief that it is as important to have a positive impact as it is to make money.

Remaking the Industry for Women

The lack of network and support in the industry can be a barrier for women. “The decision makers who manage alternative assets are still white men over the age of 50, and that makes it difficult for those who are not in the group,” she says. “It’s still a cliquish industry and even women with capabilities and experience find that our networks are not at that level.”

Unfortunately, that lack of role models, combined with the reputation of the asset management industry’s insensitive culture, may be one of the reasons that young women she talks to are shying away from the industry.

But she says that’s a mistake. “Collectively, as female leaders in the industry, we need to focus on changing and elevating the culture. Don’t be afraid to enter because it’s a fantastic place where you can have a lot of impact and be a trailblazer.”

And as women like herself rise through the ranks, she sees the immense opportunity for her experienced peers to start businesses and take leadership positions in asset management firms. “It’s crucial that we not take ourselves out of the game, even though it’s difficult, because it’s worth it when we succeed.”

She believes that this generation is the one who can make the difference, given their critical mass: If women assume more leadership roles over the next five or 10 years, it will help make up for the way the industry has historically lagged behind others in the presence of women in leadership positions.

Altruistic Endeavors Outside of Work

With two children, ages 13 and six, Stefanova aims to combine work and home life for optimum fit. But that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t continue her trailblazing efforts, even outside of work.

Stefanova sits on the board of technology startups that are relevant to the asset management space and acts as an angel investor in tech firms.

She also maintains board positions with three important organizations: Women Sphere, which helps support women in STEM fields; One Heart Bulgaria, which works with orphans and children who are less privileged in her home country; and Aspire, which helps prepare high school and college students around the country for the work world.

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Intrepid Women: Lindsey Pluimer, Founder and CEO With My Own Two Hands

Lindsay Pluimer, With My Own Two HandsFrom playing basketball in the WMBA to founding a nonprofit to help women in Africa, Lindsey Pluimer is an intrepid woman.

While Lindsey Pluimer was playing basketball and studying communications at UCLA she wrote a paper on the lack of media presence during the genocide in Darfur and committed to one-day traveling to Africa. Little did she know that commitment would change the course of her life. That trip happened when after playing two years of professional basketball Lindsey joined a nonprofit volunteer trip to South Africa. It was on that trip that she decided she would retire from playing basketball in the WMBA and instead start a nonprofit committed to helping kids in need thrive as she instantly fell in love with the kids and saw firsthand how a little went a long way for the children.

Pluimer founded the organization “With My Own Two Hands” and they provide sustainable solutions to projects in Africa that help benefit orphaned and disadvantaged children and youth in need. She states,

“Our dream is to provide all children with an education in Africa, but we understand that in order to provide an education you must also provide water, food and shelter. Therefore, we are committed to providing aid within the areas of education, shelter, water, and agriculture.”

They have recently tackled the issue of forced marriages and female circumcision with the goal to provide young girls a safe refuge by building a rescue dormitory for the HELGA Rescue Project in Kajiado, Kenya. Two weeks after the grand opening we received word that the dormitory was already at full capacity (42 girls). Those 42 rescued girls are now safe from being forced into marriage and are provided access to education. We also just built a greenhouse with the St. Ann’s Orphanage in Kikopey, Kenya with collaboration from JCREW and EDUN fashion companies.

Pluimer comments that her motivation comes from her own upbringing, “I was fortunate enough to grow up with a loving family, safe community, and received an amazing education. I realized how fortunate I am and that it is my responsibility to be a part of a cause committed to giving children better access to education, health, water, and food.”

What are the biggest challenges? She states that being an international organization and getting people to connect to a cause outside of their local community can be tough. She says,
“We do not have the luxury of easily showing people our project sites unless they join us on our volunteer trips. We have to work very hard to show people directly how their donations go a long way for children in need.”

Advice for those interested in this path?

Pluimer encourages women interested in the nonprofit sector to remember how important their work is. She observes, “People who are called to this work have to have a big heart and a lot of drive, but when you know your career is changing lives, work becomes more meaningful and important. I would suggest finding a mentor. I have a couple great mentors that have been very helpful in guiding my efforts to grow my organization. Also remember to network! Relationships are everything!”

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Men Who Get It: Jamie Broderick, CEO, UBS Wealth Management, UK Jersey

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Jamie Broderick, UBS Wealth ManagementWhile there are many different motivations for championing diversity, such as political, emotional, social, or even a sense of justice, Jamie Broderick of UBS Wealth Management has chosen to focus on business success as the key factor

“When considered as a business issue, it illuminates diversity and inclusion as a topic that everyone should be concerned about, not just those with a personal passion,” he says. “When framed as a business imperative, it enfranchises everyone, including men. You don’t have to be PC, progressive or female; you just have to be a business person.”

Broderick joined the firm three years ago, previously, serving as CEO for JP Morgan Asset Management Europe where he worked for 19 years.

“You can’t create a successful business unless you have an inclusive culture, which encourages a workplace where people can thrive,” Broderick says. And when he talks about diversity and inclusion, he doesn’t just think about gender, but other areas such as LGBT, disability or ethnicity.

He speaks from experience, having transferred to the financial industry from academia 30 years ago. “Not that many people would have looked past the mainstream qualification profile to hire me,” he acknowledges. “It’s probably not a coincidence that the team I moved to was led by women. In an industry dominated by men, they were able to see the potential in a non-mainstream profile.”

Diversity as a Business Issue

Broderick points out that by creating the business case, companies will start to track progress and create targets, just as they treat all other business challenges. “There is no other business issue that people would have let drift for 10 years,” he says.

“You must involve men, as they are half the workforce and most of senior management,” Broderick says. “Diversity and inclusion has an impact on the ability to create a high-performing organization where people remain, thrive and grow, but to shift the dial, you must involve men.

One key way to address the issue is to raise awareness through training in unconscious bias, which he believes should be a component of all line manager training.

He says that most workplaces won’t find overt examples of disparaging remarks or the like, but that biases can creep into everything we do, which offers frequent opportunities to challenge one another.

“Unconscious bias training shows you the extent to which the behaviors that hold people back are pervasive,” he says. “We need to have a broader understanding of diversity of styles and constant support to think about how we do things and how we can improve. There are plenty of opportunities for introspection.”

For example, he suggests texting a meeting leader to ask them to consider the dynamics in the meeting they are holding. He says that meetings need to be constructed so that everyone gets a chance to voice their views, even those who aren’t naturally assertive.

He explains that there are always those who are just as smart and have ideas just as good, but they prefer to hold back and not grab the podium. They may be waiting for entry points that never arrive, and meeting chairs who are sensitive to this dynamic can help create those points of entry.

Extending Diversity to Mentoring

Broderick highlighted the female mentoring program he runs which takes a reciprocal approach, requiring senior women mentees to also act as mentors for more junior colleagues, thus driving the culture of coaching deeper into the organization. This intergenerational approach ensures those who receive also give.

He also recognizes the mutual benefit for mentors. “When I act as a mentor to a female colleague, I help one person progress better. But if she reverse mentors and gives me insights, as a senior manager, that ends up affecting hundreds of people who are now being managed in a different way.”

This is just one component of the Diversity and Inclusion program he sponsors in his UK business. A Women in Wealth networking program was created to focus additional attention on the benefits of connecting women and helping to network more effectively.

“Leaders need to provide more than emotional and moral support. They must incorporate diversity into their business and make sure the business takes it seriously.”

Broderick’s perspective and support for diversity and inclusion was recognized recently when he was named “Champion of the Year” in the CityWealth PowerWomen Awards 2016.

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