Tag Archive for: LGBTQ+ leaders

Marie Bober: Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Counsel, Moelis Asset Management

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Marie Bober“I naturally step into a role when there is a dearth of leadership,” says Marie Bober. “It’s just part of who I am – I see the need and think, ‘I got it.’”

From captaining sports teams as a kid to speaking up in moments of silence, taking charge has always felt instinctive for Bober. “I come from a really long line of very bossy women,” she laughs. “I think it’s probably genetic.” While her grandmothers ran their households with authority, her mother broke barriers, becoming one of the first women to earn a PhD in chemistry from NYU in 1972.

That inherited sense of purpose shaped Bober’s own unconventional path. She started college as a chemistry major but quickly pivoted to psychology. Drawn to forensic work, she earned a master’s and spent three years at a pediatric psychopharmacology lab at Massachusetts General Hospital researching ADHD and pediatric bipolar disorder.

“My plan was to go on to get my PhD, but research itself started to feel like a tough long-term path with low pay, questionable ethics in some corners, and not a great ROI if you wanted a sustainable career.”

Still captivated by the intersection of law and human behavior, Bober pivoted again, this time to law school at Northeastern University. Being a part of Northeastern’s distinctive co-op program allowed her to try a little bit of everything: working with a solo practitioner, in a judge’s chambers, the DA’s office, and an in-house legal team.

“In-house was by far my favorite, but you don’t just go from law school to in-house,” says Bober. Instead, she built her experience through small firms, auditing work, and ultimately opened her own practice while keeping her eye on the long game.

Bober’s diligence paid off when a friend offered her an in-house legal role at Gracie Asset Management, a Moelis subsidiary. The only catch was the job was in New York, which meant that Bober and her wife had to live long distance for a few years. When Gracie had a key man event resulting in steep layoffs, Bober moved over to the parent company. After a few internal moves – and the sudden loss of a friend that left a senior counsel role vacant – she was promoted into her current role as Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Counsel at Moelis Asset Management.

Breadth that Delivers

Looking back on what has helped her succeed, Bober points to adaptability and a breadth of knowledge, both of which are essential in a role that spans legal and compliance.

“To be in this particular role, you can’t be rigid or precious,” she explains. “We’re an entrepreneurial business…everybody’s got to do a little bit of something, and you have to be okay with that. We’re always thinking about new strategies, markets to tap and ways to get clients. It’s flexibility and a willingness to pick up the next thing and learn.”

Bober points to the growth of the business as another part of what requires adaptability: “when we started, we were private equity. Now we’re private equity, broadly syndicated loans, direct lending, seeding of emerging managers, venture capital.”

As the business expands, so too does Bober’s knowledge base, which is necessary for her to guide legal and compliance issues.

“I call myself a triage nurse because there are certain areas that I’m deep in, like fund formation or structuring, but then I also have to be able to direct counsel for things like litigation, tax matters, or employment. I might not be an expert on all those issues, but I must be conversant enough so that my subject matter experts can direct me effectively.”

What They Didn’t Teach in Law School

Beyond technical range and flexibility, Bober believes that one skill rises above the rest when it comes to lasting success: knowing how to navigate people.

“How to handle and approach people is key; it gets you so much further than even your technical knowledge,” she emphasizes. “One of the things law school doesn’t teach you is that if you’re a practicing lawyer in a firm, networking is 98% of your job. To be a partner at a law firm means that you bring in a good amount of business.”

Bober adds, “My boss likes to joke that he thinks that my psych degree sometimes helps me more than my law degree because it definitely gives you a framework for understanding people.”

That understanding shapes the way Bober communicates, builds relationships, and earns trust, especially in the context of leadership and knowing how to manage in all directions.

“Managing up is a skill that’s rarely taught, and it matters just as much as managing direct reports. I’ve learned how to communicate differently depending on who I’m talking to, and how to present something in a way that gets the right response.” As Chief Compliance Officer, she often needs people to act on specific requests and ideally, do so with genuine buy-in. “I’ve seen people try to lead through fear or pressure, but that only works for so long. Eventually, people tune you out.”

It is a message she impresses on junior staff as well: “be proactive, message appropriately, be polite and respectful, and if you make a mistake or get it wrong, have the ego to walk it back and take responsibility. It builds trust.”

Leadership as a Team Sport: Fostering Growth Over Competition

In an industry known for individual ambition, Bober takes a different approach to leadership; one that is shaped by hard-earned lessons and a clear sense of the kind of environment she wants to create.

“I’m a competitive person,” she says, “but I try not to be competitive at work. That’s not the environment I want to foster.”

Earlier in her career, Bober saw firsthand how toxic leadership can erode trust. She recalls a former manager who guarded her influence closely and refused to use any of her political capital to support others.

“When my mom passed away, I got two days of bereavement. Other department heads had given people the full week, but my boss told me if I wanted the extra time to attend the funeral, I’d have to use vacation days. She didn’t want to spend any of her political capital justifying why I was not billing or there for that week.” That experience left a mark, but also a guidepost: “It taught me exactly the kind of leader I don’t want to be.”

Now, as a senior leader herself, Bober sees mentoring others not as a threat, but as part of what defines strong leadership. She draws inspiration from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a sport she trains in outside of work.

“My coach always says he never hides the best parts of his game because if someone can master it in two weeks and beat him, they deserve to win.” The same philosophy, she says, applies in leadership. “Helping my associate grow, bringing her along and giving her what I can to help her succeed doesn’t threaten me; it strengthens the team, and if I ever move on, she’s ready to step in.”

Success, On and Off the Mat

Whether she is preparing for a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament in New Jersey or aiming for another podium finish at Masters Worlds in Las Vegas, Bober brings the same focus and drive to the mat that she brings to her role at Moelis. A two-time Masters World Champion as a brown belt and now a black belt competitor, she thrives on the discipline and challenge of competing and on the fulfillment it brings outside the office.

That mix of ambition and purpose is intentional. “I strove to have an in-house position. I strove to have work-life balance in my career,” she says. “And I think I’m in a spot where I can do both.”

For Bober, success is not about chasing the highest title or the biggest paycheck. It’s about feeling grounded, challenged, and able to pursue what matters. “I can sing in a rock choir on Tuesday nights. I can do jiu jitsu. That’s what makes it all worth it.”

By Jessica Robaire

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Sam Rapoport: CEO, Blue80

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Sam Rapoport“In this work around gender equity, I know I may never see the full fruits of my labor in my lifetime. But I want to be the one who plants the seed,” says Sam Rapoport. “If others can water it and sustain it, then I’ve done what I came to do, and I’m okay with that.”

Sam Rapoport knows that there is value in playing the long game. When it comes to change, she knows that you have to put in an intentional effort. As an out LGBTQ professional, Rapoport also knows that being yourself means betting on yourself.

As a high school and college quarterback growing up in Canada playing tackle, touch, and flag football from a young age, Rapaport honed the ability of making rapid decisions under pressure.

“You have three seconds to get rid of the ball, and you are making a hundred decisions in those three seconds,” she says. “You have five people in your face trying to attack you. I taught myself at a young age to become calm in those moments.”

The instinct to remain focused, fast, and forward-thinking shaped not only Rapoport’s playbook on the field but also guided her career at the NFL (National Football League). Over two decades, she rose from intern to changemaker, pioneering trailblazing work in gender equity. More recently, she made the fearless decision to step away from her full-time role, choosing to share her hard-won lessons more widely as a consultant and keynote speaker.

“I want to help organizations around the world achieve progress more quickly,” she explains. “Because this work is so much bigger than the sport of football.”

Learning to Shoot Your Shot

Rapoport’s emergence as a changemaker in professional football began with an unconventional pitch. “In 2003, I submitted a resume to the NFL with an actual football. On the football I wrote, ‘What other quarterback could accurately deliver a pass 3,806 miles?’ which was the distance between my university and the league office. That stood out to someone in HR.” It earned her a coveted internship and foot in the door of a historically male-dominated league.

However, Rapoport’s proudest achievement was not just breaking in, but helping other women do the same.

“For the last 10 years at the NFL, I created a program that served to introduce women into coaching. I took on the Boys’ Club. I took on an establishment that had done things the same way for a hundred years, which was putting men in coaching roles, and I questioned it and then I created a platform that changed the game for women in coaching.”

She continues, “now as of this past season we have 15 women working in full time coaching roles, which is more than double any male professional sports league in the world.”

Rapoport emphasizes that the program’s success didn’t happen by chance. It was the result of years of focused effort and a deliberate strategy, or “a blueprint for accelerating change”. A key element of that blueprint is a framework she learned along the way: the 20/70/10 Rule.

“I have found that 20% of any organization understands what needs to be done to make the change – they’re bought in. 70% want to do the change but have no idea how. And 10% wants nothing to do with it,” she explains. “Focus your energy on moving the 70% into the 20%. Ignore the 10%. The ground moves from under the 10% statistically anyway.” For Rapoport, it’s about shifting the focus from fighting resistance to fueling momentum.

Today, Rapoport continues consulting to the NFL Women’s Forum and is helping build the league’s first professional flag football league, one of her childhood dreams. She is also advising organizations like the USTA (US Tennis Association) on engaging more women in coaching. And one of her latest accomplishments includes working with USA Flag Football on creating a path to the sport being featured in the next Olympics. Finally, she makes sure to leave time for keynote speaking, which she describes as, “probably my favorite part of my job because I can deliver a lot in a short period of time on how to create change.”

On Being Yourself – Truly

As she worked to open doors for others, Rapoport also navigated what it meant to “be herself” in the workplace.

“I wasn’t out in the first decade of my career at the NFL…Everyone always says, ‘Be yourself,’ but that’s easy when you look and act like the default person at an organization,” she reflects. “It’s a lot more challenging when you are a member of the gay community, or the Black community, or the Latinx community.”

She continues, “when I felt confident enough to make the change to come out and be myself unapologetically…I started to thrive.”

Beyond being out at work, Rapoport defines being herself as, “finding the middle ground between professional you and weekend you. It’s about dropping the act, ditching the corporate lingo, the need to sound like a textbook, or mimic your boss, and just being real.”

However, Rapoport is quick to acknowledge the privilege required to let one’s guard down. “There’s a privilege in seniority to be able to do that. Younger people have a harder time.” She emphasizes that safety is paramount, both in professional and personal spaces. “It’s up to the environment. The environment owes it to you to make it safe to come out. I came out when it was safe, and before, it didn’t feel that way.”

Betting on Yourself

When it comes to navigating moments of self-doubt, Rapoport is clear: it’s not about faking it until you make it. “In my opinion, that’s the worst advice you could give anyone. If you fake it, then imposter syndrome kicks in.” Instead, her mantra is “publish and iterate.” Try something, learn from it, refine it, and keep going.

“I have a lot of things, but I don’t have imposter syndrome,” she says. “I’m okay with putting something out there and maybe running away after I do, but I’ll fix it from there.”

She and her wife even have a motto: “We’re betting on ourselves.” Whether it’s stepping into a new gig or turning down one, the calculus is simple: “We’re literally putting all our chips on us. And if it works, great. If it doesn’t, we learn.”

A Pragmatic Path to Meritocracy

With years of experience in gender equity, Rapoport offers an informed perspective of what’s falling short in DEI and what has the potential to move it forward. “We need to stop with these massive pendulum swings,” she says. “It has to be apolitical.” She believes real progress is possible and meritocracy is about removing barriers so that everyone has the same access to opportunities. Rapoport is also adamant that true equity work must be intersectional stating it to be critical to ensure access to all women.

At the heart of her work is a long-term vision that stretches beyond any single organization or lifetime. “I think ahead 100 years, and I think of what the NFL can look like with all genders being ubiquitous,” she says. “With half of the head coaches being women. Half of the general managers. Half of the owners.”

Rapoport is not pushing for dominance, but for balance. “I don’t believe the future is female, I believe in balance, and I believe the future is everyone – equal representation of great people. That’s how you start to take down very destructive structures that hurt marginalized people.”

Outside work, Rapaport is “massively into plants,” plays three instruments, cooks, paints, and has a list of future hobbies she is excited to learn. But her greatest joy, she says, is her family. “I am so proud of how functional and healthy and happy my family is,” she laughs. “And I’m very passionate about putting my energy there over anything.

By Jessica Robaire

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Lauren Uranker: Managing Director, Head of Workplace Advisory Client Business, Goldman Sachs Ayco

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Lauren Uranker“Having that part of yourself where you have to navigate the if, how, and when to share it with people, you soon realize that everyone has pieces of themselves that they have to decide how and when to show or not show on an everyday basis,” says Lauren Uranker. “Acknowledging that everyone has a story creates empathy.”

As a leader and an openly lesbian executive, Uranker has built her career on a foundation of empathy and understanding. In her roles as the head of Workplace Advisory Client Business for Goldman Sachs Ayco and the co-head of the Americas LGBTQ+ Client Engagement Pillar at the firm, she navigates the complexities of leadership with a unique perspective shaped by her personal and professional experiences.

“When you spend time figuring out who you are as a person, what that means in the context of your life and your relationships with family and friends, it prepares you to do it professionally. It prepares you to give a lot of thought to how you show up as a colleague and how you show up as someone who supports clients. It gets you comfortable with constantly evaluating who you are as an individual, and how you’re growing and changing as time goes on.”

Uranker reflects on what she attributes to her success, highlighting her authentic leadership style, commitment to mentorship and diversity, and openness to taking on roles that broaden her experience and skillset in different ways.

“I haven’t always looked up to the next thing. Sometimes, by looking laterally and across, you accumulate diverse professional experiences that make you well-rounded. This can eventually lead to being seen as an expert or someone sought after to be a part of the team.”

For Uranker, being open to a lateral move is what put her on the trajectory to the leadership role she is in today.

“I was on the path to become a financial advisor, but a mentor of mine said, ‘There’s actually an opportunity on the institutional sales team.’ I took that leap. It felt like a diversion at the time, but it set me on an incredible path. From the sales team I then joined the relationship management function and even though that was a lateral move, having those two diverse professional experiences helped me get to the seat I’m in today.”

How Finance Became a Career Path

The story of Uranker’s path to leadership at Goldman Sachs Ayco connects back to a difficult period of her life when she suffered the loss of her father at the age of sixteen.

She remembers, “what really stuck with me were the people who came to help us. One of them was my neighbor, who sat down with my mom at the kitchen table, helping her organize her finances and navigate her new financial reality.” Years later while contemplating a career pivot, she recalled her neighbor’s kindness and decided to reach out, discovering that her neighbor worked at Goldman Sachs Ayco. “That’s how I found my way here, a little over a decade ago and I was proud to be named Managing Director in 2021.”

In addition to leading with empathy, she attributes her success to her competitiveness, strong listening skills, and sense of humor.

She explains, “as a former college basketball player, that competitive instinct has always been embedded in me and certainly helps professionally.” Coupling that competitive spirit with the humility to listen and the empathy to understand, she recognizes that, “you don’t always have to be the first person to speak. Sometimes your words can be more powerful if you use fewer of them.”

Uranker also highlights how humor can go a long way to creating connections as it can be used to “lighten intense moments and to drive home a point while building relationships.”

Mentorship and Sponsorship Across Diverse Communities

Uranker acknowledges that no leader succeeds alone and feels fortunate to have had mentors and managers who recognized her skills and potential, helping to build her confidence early in her career. She hopes to do the same for others and is excited to be a part of programs at Goldman that foster those relationships.

“Goldman has done quite a bit to establish frameworks that connect senior people to more junior folks in their career, but also paying special attention to diverse communities. I’ve had the incredible opportunity to be a mentor in our Black and Hispanic Analyst and Associate Initiatives.”

Uranker finds mentoring to be mutually rewarding as she learns from her mentee’s experiences and appreciates how their generationally different viewpoints can generate fresh ideas for improving the business.

Speaking specifically to the LGBTQ+ community, she notes that most of her mentorships and sponsorships have been informal, with people seeking her out after seeing her speak or knowing about her role in leading the LGBTQ+ Client Engagement Pillar. In reflecting on how young LGBTQ+ folks might create those informal connections, Uranker advocates for finding “someone who you want to spend time with and talk to; not forcing a relationship or a mentorship.” She also emphasizes not being afraid to ask, even if it might seem intimidating.

“There was a mentor I had who said, ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get’. I think particularly for women it’s a great reminder to make your voice heard. Put your hand up and ask because the worst thing that can happen is, someone says, no.”

Embracing Additional Leadership Opportunities

Uranker’s approach to building leadership experience includes formal and voluntary approaches, as she is co-head of the Americas LGBTQ+ Client Engagement pillar and serves on the Asset & Wealth Management Inclusion & Diversity Council. She underscores the benefits of participating in and holding leadership positions in these groups, particularly at a large company like Goldman Sachs.

“First, it gives you a great way to meet people across the firm that you may not have met otherwise. Also, it provides people with an additional opportunity to flex leadership muscles and to demonstrate those skills in a different environment, perhaps one that might feel more natural to them and who they are as a person.”

Uranker shares how networks like the LGBTQ+ Inclusion Network foster cross-divisional collaboration and bring clients together in a meaningful way.

“We always look for interesting ways to gather our LGBTQ+ clients and regularly put together events to engage with them. We have one coming up in celebration of Pride.” She continues, “Coordinating events like that are a really fulfilling and fun opportunity to work cross-divisionally in a big organization and have the LGBTQ+ piece be the common thread. Through the network, I have had the opportunity to work closely with colleagues in other areas of the firm I don’t typically connect with in my day-to-day role including Mary Baccash, Nora Cruz, and Molly English. These are among the most meaningful partnerships I’ve formed at the firm.”

Dedicated to Community Engagement

Passionate about contributing to the LGBTQ+ community, Uranker served on the board of the Persad Center, an organization in Pittsburgh that provides scalable and free mental health access to the LGBTQ+ community.

“Like many people, I believe that taking care of your mental health is incredibly important and knowing some of the challenges within the LGBTQ+ community, it’s even more important that access to these resources exist.”

After moving from Pittsburgh to Seattle recently, Uranker continues to look for opportunities to give back and is thrilled that Goldman demonstrates this same commitment to philanthropy through programs including Community Teamworks. She explains, “through the program, employees are encouraged to take at least one day to volunteer with their colleagues in their communities. Last year, I had the opportunity to clean up some of the trails here in the Seattle region for hikers, which I really enjoyed.”

Outside of work, Uranker makes sure to take some time to decompress by practicing yoga. She also enjoys playing basketball, traveling with her wife, and reading. Interestingly, her book recommendations demonstrate that she is as much a well-rounded reader as she is leader, noting that she recently read and loved the nonfiction book, “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention” by Johann Hari and the memoir “Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner.

By Jessica Robaire

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Marion Regnier: Partner, Technology Strategy, PwC

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Marion RegnierTwelve years ago, we spotlighted Marion Regnier in our “35 under 35” segment, where she shone as a Senior Associate at PwC. Fast forward, Regnier ascended to partner and has also embraced motherhood, marking a dynamic journey of professional and personal growth. Regnier shares what she has learned in this phase of her career and her insights on leadership, client relationships and the importance of great colleagues.

Making Partner

Becoming a partner in 2020 amid the pandemic was a unique experience for Regnier, as she celebrated virtually with a morning glass of champagne in front of her laptop. Despite the solitary setting, it marked a significant moment of recognition for her hard work, instilling a deep sense of pride and responsibility as the firm entrusted her with this title. Since becoming partner, Regnier finds joy in the realization that the role affords her greater control over how she allocates her time, enabling her to direct her efforts towards activities that resonate more closely with her passions.

“Becoming partner has allowed me to create a balance of where I spend my time between driving impact at our clients, collaborating with my team, working on innovative projects, and nurturing and developing relationships with clients. I enjoy my work a lot more because I have more control over where I can make an impact and focus my efforts.”

Making an impact is important to Regnier, particularly as it relates to finding creative solutions for her clients. In her role as partner in technology strategy, she is energized by the challenge of exploring ways to rethink and reframe her clients’ complex problems to come up with innovative solutions.

“Innovation is significant to me as it involves applying creativity to how we work and problem solve as a team as well as addressing our clients’ challenges. We need to strike a balance between leveraging our experience and taking calculated risks to think differently. Merely repeating past strategies may not yield the desired results for every client; we need to creatively rethink our approach to maximize impact and factor in each companies’ culture, values, goals and ability to absorb change.”

Thinking Ahead and Being Proactive

In contemplating the factors contributing to her advancement as a leader, Regnier underscores the significance of proactively taking initiative and anticipating both clients’ future needs and the needs of the organization.

“Instead of thinking transactionally when working on a project, it is important to be proactive in anticipating clients’ future needs. Our clients are busy and often time-slice constantly. We are of most help when we can think 10 steps ahead and advise on what they need to do now to prepare. It’s about constantly thinking ahead as opposed to only reacting.”

Not only does Regnier take this proactive approach externally when working with clients, but she also uses it internally to reflect on where there might be a value-add for the firm.

“For me, it is interesting to notice where in the organization there is a void or a white space for a particular type of service that we should provide to our clients based on demand, questions we are getting, and general market evolution. Then putting together a strategy to fill the gap that understands and meets clients’ needs effectively.”

Regnier sites a recent example of how she used this approach to address the environmental needs of a client’s CIO (Chief Information Officer).

“A CIO is a huge player in trying to help their company achieve climate goals, and we needed to comprehensively respond to their questions on what is an effective IT sustainability strategy. As technology creates a material carbon footprint, in particular for industries that are more digital than physical, a CIO has very specific needs, requiring a thoughtful strategy to embed environmental principles, measurements, ways of working to deliver IT services differently. Consequently, I proactively raised my hand to address this specific need.”

What started as taking initiative in addressing an organizational need has turned into a passion project for Regnier, as she notes that she enjoys working on something that she really cares about. She also sees it as a strategic move in her career, as she is inclined towards exploring emerging areas with both personal interest and potential business value.

You Don’t Succeed in Your Career Alone

Beyond thinking innovatively and being proactive, Regnier emphasizes the importance of collaboration as central to career success.

“You don’t succeed in your career alone. It’s not enough to just work hard or effectively. It’s about doing the work not alone, but in collaboration, and finding a group of people with whom you get problems solved and outcomes accomplished.”

Regnier distinguishes collaboration from building a network as she sees a network as more of a web of acquaintances who might help with information, referrals, or advancement. In her view, true collaboration is interconnectedness, an ecosystem of people where there is give and take and you are challenged and coached, and it’s reciprocated.

She reflects, “Earlier in my career, I thought what mattered to be successful was being excellent at my job and prioritized “doing the work” above all else. Then I came to recognize overtime and with seniority that the relationships formed and the collaborative work with others were more impactful. You have to be open to that collaboration and not solely focused on your own success because the success of the collective also matters. Meaning the success of the project, the success of the client, and the success of the firm. That is why the interconnectedness of collaborators in driving value and outcomes is so important.”

At PwC, Regnier finds that true collaboration can happen because of the emphasis on teamwork. She shares, “Our profession is suited for collaboration because we work in teams that aren’t static. We have an organizational team, and then we have project teams, therefore the composition is always changing. This dynamic structure allows us to engage in different projects and topics with various groups and be exposed to a variety of thinkers who constantly allow you to grow and step outside of your comfort zone.”

Sponsorship as a Change Agent

Sponsorship is another key facet of Regnier’s perspective that “you don’t succeed in your career alone”. Regnier cites one of her own sponsors as integral to her professional growth.

“He’s always believed in me and inspired me to be better. He also gave me a different perspective and opened up the aperture to look at things in new ways, to not only focus on “doing” but rather to rethink how to best focus on value. I appreciate that he continues to challenge me.”

Regnier also sees sponsorship as a vehicle for creating change not just for an individual, but for the organization as a whole. She values talent development and understands the skills, experience, and responsibility to create more diversity in leadership. Regnier points to the value of finding opportunities for women and other talent such as LGBTQ and BIPOC individuals to develop skills that will help take them forward and upward.

“When you give any person the right opportunity needed to help them grow or acquire new skills, you are taking the time to invest in them. To me that is core to leading. It’s not only about putting someone knowledgeable on a project, but rather thinking about who you can give that opportunity to so that they can develop new skills, and this includes thinking about who doesn’t get asked, typically.”

Development of people also extends to organizational commitment when it comes to supporting people through different chapters of their life.

“PwC understands and supports new parents very well. I was able to take parental leave when my wife gave birth to our first child and then again when I gave birth to our second child. It is this type of commitment to all parents that allows people to perform at their highest levels. I even can use an emergency childcare service several times per year to cover any contingencies in childcare.”

Even once people make it to partner, Regnier believes that it is important to continue to invest in leaders’ development.

“After you make partner, you’re left with a queasy sense of… what’s next? That is where the focus on impact for our clients and paying it forward via sponsorship can be effective in helping junior partners learn from senior partners. For example, they can bring their “sponsee” to a board meeting not only because they might have something to bring to the table, but also as an opportunity for experiential learning and succession planning.”

Outside of work, Regnier is exploring the balance and embracing the joy of having two kids under three years old. Immersing them in her native French language is important to her, and taking the time to teach them to solve problems and care for others is core to what she defines as parenthood.

By Jessica Robaire

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Lola Ninonuevo: International Chief Operating Officer, Wells Fargo

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Lola Ninonuevo“As a leader, it’s less about you the more senior you become. It’s about who you lead and being available, honest and authentic with your teams,” says Lola Ninonuevo. “It is a pivot to realizing you’re here to serve people and you have to make time.”

When she was twelve years old, Ninonuevo told her mother she wanted to travel internationally, see the world and become a business woman. Growing up speaking Spanish at home, she then studied Japanese while obtaining her economics degree, began her career in a Japanese bank in New York, and has spent the last 25 years working out of London in global positions, joining Wells Fargo in 2020 to help lead the international business strategy.

Finding a Bigger Reset in London

From early on, her Puerto Rican mom and Cuban Puerto Rican father impressed upon Ninonuevo the value of a good career. She was drawn to banking for the multicultural, international environment and the financial security. In 1991, she took that first trading assistant job with a small Japanese bank in World Trade Center in New York. As the only woman on the trading floor, she both served tea but was empowered early on to take on additional responsibilities such as cash management for the branch and representing the bank at industry round tables hosted by Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank. Having gained experienced in the fixed income market, she then joined BlackRock, which at the time was a start-up and small boutique asset manager, and worked with the founding partners to set up the middle office and trading support functions.

In 1996, she was approached by HSBC to help build out their Global Markets business. She was attracted to their global footprint, and in 1999, she relocated to London with HSBC and went onto work for 23 years across a variety of global roles in the Corporate and Investment Bank. London offered her international travel, a strong learning curve and new career prospects. But what London also provided was a reset and new freedom of self, supported by now being a part of a multicultural global and diverse organization.

“I had not been ‘out’ in the workplace in New York, and that was hard. It impacted my decisions and ability to bring myself to work, for example talking about what I had done over the weekend and attending corporate events with my partner,” she recalls. “I felt more at home in London where I felt comfortable to be more open about my personal life, because I could be Lola, the American woman who moved. Not the Puerto Rican woman. Not the gay woman. It was just Lola.”

Two decades later, in 2020, Ninonuevo was approached for the COO role at Wells Fargo. While still based in London, returning to a U.S. work culture has felt like a homecoming. She notes that John Langley, CIB COO and Head of International, has been a fantastic leader, support and sponsor. Ninonuevo has found a welcoming, collaborative and optimistic culture at Wells Fargo and enjoys connecting with both international colleagues from different backgrounds as well as reconnecting with American colleagues across the US.

“I can be an American advocate while bringing my international perspective to the table to help drive the Wells Fargo global strategy,” she says. “It feels like coming home, and it’s fantastic to be back.”

Creating a Brand of Speaking the Truth

When it comes to rising up to the executive level, Ninonuevo notes self-awareness is critical – including knowing what you’re good at and what you’re not and building a team that complements your strengths and weaknesses. Resilience and being a powerful collaborator are also essential.

“In banking these days, with both the complexity and risk management challenges we’ve had since the crisis, connecting the dots and bringing people together to solve problems is a key part of what I bring to the table,” she reflects. “I really focus on building relationships. I’m honest and candid in my approach.”

Her willingness to be incisive, which found a home in British culture, helped Ninonuevo to breakthrough to the C-suite in 2012. When HSBC was in a crisis with compliance issues, she stood up and spoke truthfully about what was going well and what was not going well. That became a turning point in her career, catapulting her into a global role leading the firm wide compliance transformation across 60 countries.


“When I came in and talked to the board and the regulators, they knew they were going to get honest and balanced feedback. And that became my personal brand – a person with integrity that got the job done. In my opinion, since the crisis, the role of women in banking has become very important in C-suite jobs. Because I personally think we are more inclined to ask difficult questions, be honest, and not just go along for the sake of going along. And that tribal mentality of going along was a pitfall in the industry.”

Pivoting to a Collective Leader Mindset

“In my opinion, being a true leader is not just about managing up anymore or trying to get the next job,” says Ninonuevo. “I genuinely think I should be judged based on the teams I build and how I encourage and empower them.”

This involves a greater level of willingness to let go and let learn.

“When I was progressing through my career, a lot of it was about me and developing my technical skill set: I’ve got to manage up, I’ve got to manage sideways. I’ve got to manage down. All of those facets still exist,” she says. “But that’s the big leadership pivot people don’t realize: You don’t have all the answers. You’re there to listen. You’re there to serve and support others to be successful.”

Visibility has been the major factor that distinguishes the C-Suite from other levels of leadership, and again asks one to evolve.

“The visibility and impact you can have as a C-Suite leader are multiplied. It’s so important to be aware of how you behave, how you treat people, and how you react under stress.”

The Obligation of Being a Voice

“With all the learnings on how important it is to have diversity and diversity of thought around the table, and often being the only woman in the conversation, I feel it’s my obligation to ask those difficult questions and make sure we’re challenging ourselves to do the right things and to hold ourselves accountable,” says Ninonuevo. “So I’ve used the difference as an opportunity to have a voice, to be honest and to say it like it is.”

Ninonuevo has reflected with compassion, too. “When firms are in crisis, they are driven by fear. And when you’re afraid, you basically hire in your own image because you trust it and it’s what you know. Taking risk is hard when you’re in a crisis.”

When it comes to managing your career, Ninonuevo emphasizes to be your own advocate, communicate your ambitions to your stakeholders regularly, focus on your transferable skills and don’t be afraid to go after challenging roles.

“As Citi’s Jane Fraser has spoken to, your career is over decades. It’s not the be-all and end-all. There’s periods where you can really lean in and put 100% into it, and there’s periods where you can’t, and that’s okay as long as you stay connected.”

Why Relaxing Into Yourself Makes All the Difference

Ninonuevo admits that for years, being gay and feeling unable to talk about her life outside of the workplace inhibited her ability to relate and feel belonging with colleagues on a personal level, but that also touches upon everything else.

“In the workplace, people relate and connect by sharing things about themselves, whether it’s their family life, their children, or what they did over the weekend,” she says. “I found it really hard to share because I was self-conscious.”

If she could go back and give her junior self some words to lighten the road ahead, she would advise to be more of herself at work, sooner. But, at times, she worried about how others would react and whether it would count against her. She even got a coach to seek out help in confidence-building.

“After a few seconds of work, he stopped and told me, ‘You don’t have a confidence issue. You’re confident. You know what you’re doing. People enjoy working with you,’” says Ninonuevo. “Then, he said, ‘You just need to be yourself and selectively find opportunities to do that and connect.’”

For her, this meant becoming more willing to bring her full self to work, despite the challenges she felt. As a change agent, once she becomes aware of something, Ninonuevo starts to move forward in a more effective way.

“Before that, I’m sure I was projecting a lack of confidence. But I was just closed with that part of myself. But the more that I was myself, the more I relaxed, my body language relaxed and people relaxed around me,” she says. “I started being more approachable, people enjoyed working with me more, and I got results from that. I actually had more gravitas because I felt relaxed and confident and became a better communicator, and it all started coming together.”

Ninonuevo is a dual citizen, practices pilates and enjoys walks. She loves spending time with her six year old daughter, traveling and good food and wine. After a month in Spain, she’s been inspired to get her Spanish fluency to where it was those years ago, back when she first professed to her mother that she would become an international business woman…let alone, fill a big seat in the C-Suite.

By Aimee Hansen

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Alexandra Tyler: Managing Director, Digital Transformation Leader, Accenture Song

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Alexandra TylerRemoving my protective wall around my identity has enabled me to create deeper connections in my work and in building more meaningful relationships with my family and with my colleagues and clients,” says Alexandra Tyler. “The protective wall goes down, and it impacts everything, including being a better leader.”

Curiosity and Customer-Focused Growth

Curiosity has driven Tyler’s career. She’s come across specific job positions by asking questions. “I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been able to pave my way in making my own adventure, essentially through conversations with people about open positions they had that weren’t quite right,” she reflects, “and in which we often crafted a new position that matched the needs of the business with my expertise and interests.”

Having studied psychology, she began her career in advertising, where she learned to appreciate the power of understanding what customers want and need.

“If you understand what customers want and need at every stage of their journey and are able to fulfill those needs and desired successes, you can enable growth,” she says. “What do those customers want to achieve and how do you develop the roadmap and path to get there? That is the opportunity. That’s why I’m excited about Gen AI and other innovative capabilities to unlock and enable more insights to meet customer needs.”

Being Focused on People’s Motivations

Growing up as a daughter of first-generation immigrants and raised by a father with a disability, Tyler understood the importance of two important lessons that he imparted: in order to succeed, one must persevere and exhibit true grit. In addition, one must celebrate differences in others.

“I feel strongly about focusing on doing right by others. Ambition goes awry if you don’t have respect for individuals, and if you don’t think about what motivates them,” she notes. “I want to understand what’s important to the people with whom I work. I focus on treating individuals how I would want to be treated – including respecting their differences, talents and expertise.”

In addition to treating her colleagues and team members with mutual respect, Tyler learned the importance of inspiring them to pair their great ideas with great follow-through: “I often see people who are incredible ‘ideators’ – who come up with innovative and breakthrough ideas – but they struggle with execution,” she observes. “The devil is in the details when it comes to lighting up an idea. It takes focus, management and collaboration.”

Freeing Herself To Show Up Fully

“It took me a long time to feel comfortable as an authentic leader. Growing up in the world I grew up in, as an LGBTQ+ individual, was challenging,” she notes. Recently at a bank branch, she saw a sticker related to the LGBTQ+ community about celebrating differences. It struck her to imagine the impact that seeing that message would have made early on in her career.

“When I first started my career, I was lying by omission, often doing what LGBTQ+ people do…not using pronouns for your partner. It’s only in the last ten years that I have been comfortable enough to be honest about who I am and to bring my full self to the equation.”

What you feel you cannot say begins to grow heavy and become a burden. Tyler imagines carrying a sixty-pound barbell all those years. “When I put that burden down visually in my head, it was exceptionally freeing,” she says. “When I freed myself of that burden, opportunities in my career opened up.”

For example, at a work town hall, Tyler recently shared her personal journey and the value of bringing her full self to work. She was commended by the head of her division for showing up as her true self and was applauded for doing so, exhibiting the traits of leadership that Accenture values.

“I cannot tell you how much positive feedback I received just for being true to who I am and being vocal about it,” says Tyler. “Leaders at Accenture have been phenomenal in recognizing the power in whatever differences you bring to work and the ability to bring your full self.” And sharing her experiences of exclusion has built bridges of empathy with others who have faced challenges. LGBTQIA+ peers have approached her inspired by her authenticity and, in turn, let down their own protective walls.

Advocating and Inspiring Others

“Freeing myself up to be myself empowered me to be an advocate for others. It is important for me to pay it forward by being an advocate in my community.”

Tyler is on the Board of Be The Rainbow, an LGBTQIA+ nonprofit organization in her Long Island hometown. On their third Pride March, Tyler is excited to be opening minds and hearts to create a greater platform of equity in which all can have a voice.

In her training and at work, Tyler’s approach is comprised of experimentation and optimization. She often tests the waters, dips her toe in, tries out different messages and approaches. What she found when she ‘came out’ is that the response was much more positive than she had anticipated. She encourages others to consider who they can safely share with – a person, a group – in order to build that positivity. Tyler acknowledges that the experience of speaking one’s truth, no matter the reaction, is alone invigorating and empowering.

The Intersection of Identity and Innovation

Tyler admires that her daughter’s generation wields identity and labels quite differently. “Labels are fluid and I know that my daughter and her friends are comfortable at the same time with no labels or multiple ones: Imagine what you could do if you were not carrying the burden of the sixty-pound barbell, or invisible burden, every day?”

At Accenture, Tyler is fascinated by the intersection of innovation and identity – particularly how removing obstacles around identity frees you up to create and innovate. She considers cryptanalyst Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film The Imitation Game) who developed the ability to decode messages and the predecessor to the computer, and who was also tortured for being homosexual.

“I think about what more amazing things he could have done. He was such an innovator, even with the constraints of conversion therapy and being tortured,” she notes. “What aperture could have opened if individuals like Turing could have been safe to express their identity freely? I’m interested in that tension for any minority who is held back because of societal constraints or one they put on themselves. I’m fascinated by the intersection of how innovative you are as a thinker and the ability to free yourself up to feel comfortable to think differently.”

Why Failure Is Growth

Early on in her career, Tyler worked on developing and launching a new product that consolidated all utility bills into one billing statement. For various reasons, after two years of pretests and pilots, the project failed to launch. But her functional leader was an innovator who believed in failing often and failing fast. Instead of berating the team, he applauded the risks and innovation and threw the team a “failure party” and handed out awards. The team received their best performance reviews that year.

“I learned the importance of reinforcing that failure can actually spur innovation,” says Tyler. “I was very lucky to find leaders that encouraged failing. I know that it may sound trite but, to me, the age-old notion that failure begets growth is very true.”

As a result, Tyler encourages her teams to take calculated risks and experiment: “It’s okay to fail because you learn and those learnings bring you closer to success. Because you WILL eventually succeed. Perfection at the sake of innovation is failure in itself. You must try and also not be afraid to be curious, and that effort and curiosity are successes in themselves. ”

Tyler has two daughters, 15 and 18, a freshman in high school and college, respectively. Her wife, Beth, is a special education teacher in Queens. Recently, her oldest daughter “failed” to get into her first college choice. After the initial disappointment, she applied to an array of different schools that she would otherwise not have considered. She now feels “at home” at UNC Chapel Hill where she is thriving – an example of how failure can lead to the growth you didn’t see coming.

To be surrounded by her family and watch them grow are her greatest successes, and Tyler now embraces sharing those successes with others.

By Aimee Hansen

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Fabiola Gutierrez-Orozco: R&D Director, Global Nutrition Science, Reckitt

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Fabiola Gutierrez-Orozco“Learning is my passion. The roles I have held in industry have allowed me to do my job and learn at the same time,” says Fabiola Gutierrez-Orozco. “And it is not the same thing every day.”

Gutierrez-Orozco speaks candidly about the challenges she has overcome since leaving home at 13 to pursue her education, and the inner growth journey she is pursuing while stepping into a senior global leadership role in STEM. Coming from San Luis Potosi in Central Mexico to the U.S. to obtain a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition, Gutierrez-Orozco was drawn to nutrition science, gut health and the microbiome. One year before obtaining her PhD, she realized she didn’t want a career in academia. Upon graduation, she joined the business world, working in pediatric nutrition, which allowed her to stretch her scientific research foundation into applied nutrition and allowed her to continue to constantly learn.

Perspective and resilience have carried her to where she is today: “Earning my Master’s and Doctoral degrees wasn’t an easy road – coming from Mexico, moving to the U.S., being the first one in many generations in my family to earn a college degree, and then go onto graduate school,” she notes.

“It has been both resilience and the desire to do better not just for myself, but for my family. Initially, the reason I came to the U.S. was to improve my education so I could access better jobs and provide financial help to my family,” she shares.

Indeed, so many factors at a cultural level in Gutierrez-Orozco’s life have challenged her to create mental and emotional resilience. At 13 years old, she had to leave her parent’s house and her hometown in rural Mexico and rent an apartment in a nearby city to be able to attend high school. She then moved farther away for college before moving countries and coming to the U.S. for her Master and PhD degrees.

Cultural Challenges Beyond Her Peers

Incredibly, Gutierrez-Orozco took on a STEM graduate education whilst learning to express herself in English. “I didn’t speak English when I first came here in 2006. I had all the grammar in my head. I could write and read and understand what people said. But, while in class, if the professor asked me a question, I had the answer in my head. I just couldn’t say it.”

She also had to unlearn the need to hide that she was gay. “I had a relationship in Mexico that was in the closet because my family was raised strictly Catholic. So coming here, and trying to find my way out of that was another big change for me.”

While in grad school, Gutierrez-Orozco also perceived that she was not as primed for success as her student peers. “Honestly, growing up in public schools in Mexico, I don’t think I received the best education compared to other people in the same graduate program as me. I always felt a little behind and tried to work harder to catch up and do well.”

That same feeling followed her to the workplace, being self-conscious about other’s projections around her accent or when she comes across unfamiliar words at first exposure – “I can always find the meaning through context, but I often feel like I have to be paying extra attention to keep up.” She credits her wife and daughters, English native speakers, for being fluent now.

The Mindset Shift of Leaping To a Big Leadership Role

In April of 2022, Gutierrez-Orozco was promoted to a senior leadership role, managing a 24-person team of scientists, many with PhDs in chemistry, biochemistry or nutrition. While she’s held managerial roles since 2018, Gutierrez-Orozco has focused her growth on transitioning her mindset from that of an individual contributor to that of a global team leader.

“In my previous managerial roles, I still had at least 50% of an individual contributor role. However, in my current role, I don’t know everything anymore. I don’t have the time to read all the science that I want to read,” she says. “So I’m learning to be okay with not knowing everything and finishing my work day without seeing tangible results because so much of what I have to do now is strategic work. Losing that sense of tangible accomplishment has been a struggle.”

She’s also learned to separate her work-style preferences from what is needed to inspire a team: “I have never liked being the center of attention or the object of recognition,” she admits. “I’m really trying to remind myself that just because I don’t feel comfortable being recognized, doesn’t mean my team members don’t need, and obviously deserve, that recognition.”

Confronting Imposter Syndrome with Executive Coaching

Experiencing imposter syndrome led her to seek out help in confidence-
building and owning her worth – despite cultural messaging – through executive coaching.

“Working with Nicki Gilmour on my leadership journey has really helped me reflect on how these thoughts and the belief that ‘I am not enough’ are holding me back from growing, not just in my role but as a person and leader,” she says. “Coaching has also helped me reflect on ways in which I can leverage my background to help others that might have a similar experience. Lastly, coaching has given me the confidence and courage to move forward on my growth journey as a leader. I know I am not going to get it right at first, or all the time, but I am willing to try and learn.”

To dial down the voices of self-doubt, Gutierrez-Orozco also reminds herself why she took this role in the first place: to provide support and guidance at a time when the entire team was experiencing a significant lack of stability and optimism because her company had just gone through a wave of layoffs that impacted many people in her department. Therefore, when she begins to doubt, she can focus on the good she is doing serving her team. She also reminds herself that her work is not about perfection, but is rather about showing up every day and being there for others.

Modeling Authenticity and Vulnerability As a Leader

One way Gutierrez-Orozco has leveraged her background is by being open at work about who she is, where she grew up, and her life with her wife and family. She also shares when she struggles with anxiety and depression. The impact of her authenticity and her vulnerability has given her team members permission to be real, too, and it has strengthened the group overall, allowing them to work closely together more effectively, and therefore deliver on the company objectives.

“Inside my team, I’ve had an impact with people being willing to share what they might be struggling with and being able to express the need for support. Some have shared that it’s been such a change in the past year”, she says. “In the past, if someone was struggling and brought it up, especially a female, management would have thought that person was just being weak or whining. Or if a woman spoke up and shared her mind in a meeting – and this happened to me, too – she may have been portrayed as too emotional. However, when a man did it, it wouldn’t be looked upon that way.”

She continues: “So I feel there’s been more openness to really be who you are at the workplace. And I believe that when people can truly be themselves at work, they are more engaged, satisfied, and effective,” she says, “So that’s an impact I feel I have had in my team.”

Sharing Your Voice and Not Self-Sacrificing

Gutierrez-Orozco is grateful for the mentorship of a previous manager who brought her to Reckitt through a postdoctoral internship, instilled faith in her abilities and encouraged her to share the value of her voice in the room.

“I will never forget what he told me: ‘People are wanting to hear from you. You have so much to share, so make sure you’re speaking up,’” she recalls. “I often remember that phrase and though I don’t like to be the center of attention, I remind myself I should just speak up, anyway.”

Reflecting on her past, Gutierrez-Orozco would challenge her younger self on the notion that in order to advance in her career, she had to sacrifice important parts of her life, like spending four years away from her wife and daughters and driving ten hours in a weekly commute between cities. Now, she realizes that, even then, she had a choice. It’s about retaining perspective on what’s most important.

“In my team, we’re all scientists and we want to get things done and we want them to be perfect, so we give our best and go above and beyond,” she says. “But I always like to remind my team that the job is important, but so are your health and family. While there are times when you may have to work extra hours to meet your objectives, doing so is never sustainable in the long run.”

You Have More Options Than You Think

Gutierrez-Orozco has learned over the years that part of her success also results from choosing and investing time in hobbies that provide stimulation and relaxation. She lives with a family of runners, and she prioritizes time that allows her to participate in that activity with her wife and daughters. In the last two years, she’s also begun woodworking, and she’s already made a few pieces of furniture.

This same mentality of being aware and having choice applies to career paths. Her daughter Toby is graduating from high school this summer and plans to pursue a biochemistry degree in college, and her daughter Sasha will graduate from college next year with a degree in dental hygiene. “It is great to see their love for science. The beauty of science is that there are so many routes you can go,” she says.

Gutierrez-Orozco emphasizes to her own daughters, and to any young women interested in science, “that you don’t have to choose the whole PhD route. If you begin in science, there are so many options you will have on how to apply that, so don’t feel like you must have everything figured out from the start.”

As she’s learned, there is always more than one choice in any situation – if you only free yourself to make it.

By Aimee Hansen 

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Beyond Pride Month: LGBTQ+ Inclusion Is About Every Single Day

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LGBTQ+ InclusionLGBTQ+ is a form of invisible diversity that is both growing and significantly changing, especially among younger generations. Yet, many LGBTQ+ employees continue to report a lack of real inclusion and safety in the workplace.

During Pride Month, let’s remember why valuing LGBTQ+ employees is not just about a month of celebration, adapted logos and rainbow flags – but about a deep commitment to building LGBTQ+ inclusive and safe workplaces that allow all individuals to contribute and thrive every single day.

Underrepresentation for LGBTQ+ From Entry to Leadership

According to Gallup in 2021, 7.1% of the U.S. identifies as LGBTQ+ (doubling since 2012) and 21% of Gen Z do (twice the proportion of millennials). LGBTQ+ identification is increasing across major racial and ethnic groups – giving rise to more diverse, intersectional identities.

Yet under-representation in the workplace for LGBTQ+ groups begins at entry level. McKinsey found that LGBTQ+ women are underrepresented by more than half, even at entry level. Meanwhile at the top, only .5% of the board seats in the Fortune 500 are held by openly LGBTQ+ directors and only a few Fortune 500 CEOs are openly gay, including one woman. One transgender woman leads a Fortune 1000 company. The lack of visible LGBTQ+ executive leadership limits visible role models for younger talent.

LGBTQ+ men (80%) are more likely to be out than LGBTQ+ women (58%). Senior LGBTQ+ leaders (80%) are more out than junior employees (32%), even though their peers are more accepting and demand inclusivity in the workplace.

Globally, the World Economic Forum is advocating for LGBTQ+ visibilty: more LGBTQ+ representation in business and media that tells more diverse and inclusive stories of LGBTQ+ individuals, to advance both equality and acceptance. LGBTQ+ community members report feeling least authentically represented in media depictions. And while 63% of non-LGBTQ+ people perceive the “community” as one collective group with similar needs, the reality of a changing LGBTQ+ culture has never been further away.

While LGBTQ+ acceptance has grown globally since 1981, an unprecedented number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills are proposed in U.S. state legislatures, 71 countries still criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity, 15 countries criminalize the gender identity and/or expression of transgender people and 11 countries deem consensual same-sex relations punishable by death.

LGBTQ+ Experiences In the Workplace

A LinkedIn survey of LBGTQ professionals found 24% were not open about their identity at work and 26% feared they’d be treated differently by coworkers, echoing McKinsey’s findings that one in four LGBTQ+ employees are not out at work.

McKinsey research found that half of out LGBTQ+ individuals have to come out at least once a week: especially challenging for women, junior employees, and people outside Europe and North America. BCG found 40% of U.S. LGBTQ employees are closeted at work and that 75% have experienced negative day-to-day workplace interactions related to their identity.

Yet being out has helped many to access more of their potential. According to LinkedIn, LGBTQ+ individuals report being open at work helps them connect with others for support and build better relationships. According to McKinsey, individuals experience greater well-being and are more able to focus on work. Those who are out are far less likely to plan to leave their current employer. But in absence of strong cultures of inclusion, many are deterred or facing headwinds.

According to CIPD research on LGBTQ+ inclusion, LGB+ employees (40%) and trans employees (55%) experience more workplace conflict and harassment than heterosexual employees (29%) and feel less psychological safety. LinkedIn found 31% reported facing discrimination or microaggressions at work.

Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law also found that nearly half (46%) of LGBT workers have experienced unfair treatment at work, such as harassment, dismissal or hiring discrimination based on their LGBT status. Nearly one-fourth have experienced discrimination when applying for jobs, and even more so for transgender workers.

67% of LGBT workers have heard slurs, jokes and negative comments about LGBT people. Half are not out to their supervisors. While 40% of LGBT cis-gender employees are likely to adopt behaviors to “cover,” nearly 60% of transgender employees are. Trans individuals are twice as likely to hear sexist jokes about people of their gender, three times more likely to feel they can’t talk about life outside of work, and think more often about leaving.

When it comes to advancing, McKinsey reports that many LGBTQ+ employees believe they have to outperform non-LGBTQ+ colleagues to gain recognition and 40% of LGBTQ+ women feel they need to provide extra evidence of their competence. Compared to 2/3 of non-LGBTQ+ employees, only half of LGBTQ+ respondents saw people like themselves in management positions at their organizations. Less than 1 in 4 of have an LGBTQ+ sponsor, even though senior LGBTQ+ leaders are twice as likely as straight and cis-gender peers to credit sponsors for their own career growth.

LGBTQ+ employees earn 90% on every $1 and transgender employees make 32% less per year than their cisgender peers. 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ U.S. employees feel discrimination has impacted their promotion or salary levels.

And a study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology found that leaders with same-sex sexual orientation are perceived to be less effective and receive less follower conformity than heterosexual leaders, regardless of gender presentation or biological gender, especially among male followers (women followers were more supportive). The researchers note that extra care must be taken to ensure same-sex sexual orientation leaders are evaluated fairly in performance reviews.

The Remote Workplace Has Mixed Impacts on LGBTQ+ Inclusion

In a global study, McKinsey found that LGBTQ+ employees in the remote workplace were 1.4 times more likely (twice as likely in Asia) than straight and cis-gender peers to report acute challenges with workload increase and fair performance reviews. They struggled more from a loss of workplace connectivity and belonging. Two of three LGBTQ+ employees reported acute or moderate challenges with mental health. Additionally, a survey of remote workers in tech reported that online harassment and hostility went up for LGBTQ workers during the pandemic.

McKinsey researchers noted: “The allyship found in social and work settings is an important source of belonging among many in the LBGTQ+ community.”

On the other hand, some LGBTQ+ employees found remote work to be a ‘game changer for inclusion.’ With remote work, employees can remain in a place where they have a supportive community and work for an employer in a different location. Some find the remote office reduces the pressure of office interactions and helps avoid appearance-based comments. It also makes it straight-forward to introduce pronouns.

The Cost for Lacking LGBTQ+ Inclusion

It’s been estimated that the US economy could save $9 billion annually if organizations had more effective inclusion policies for LGBTQ+ employees.

A recent argument in Forbes demonstrated that a lack of LGBTQ+ inclusion is costing companies. If an LGBTQ+ employee – either out or closeted – spends even 15 minutes of their day either explaining or evading uncomfortable situations related to their identity, it amounts to 65 hours a year, or over $1500 per LGBTQ+ employee based on median income, to compensate for a workplace that isn’t LGBTQ+ inclusive: which sums to a quarter million for a company with 10,000 employees or $2 billion for U.S. employers, annually.

“Add it all up, and employers are wasting a huge amount of money by not creating spaces where LGBTQ+ folks can bring their whole selves to work, do their jobs and be successful,” writes Michael Bach.

Meanwhile, many studies confirm that when employees are within a genuinely inclusive organizational culture, it benefits individuals, teams, organizations and the bottom line.

LGBTQ+ Inclusion Is a Cultural Commitment

While Pride Month is a celebration that lasts for a month, a LGBTQ+ employee needs to feel included – and protected from homophobia and transphobia – every day, and regardless if they choose to share their identity in the workplace. Because LGBTQ+ individuals are less visible than other underrepresented groups, organizations must go the extra mile.

Inclusion is not performative but about mitigating biases, creating authentic belonging, valuing LGBTQ+ voices and providing equal opportunity to contribute and fulfill potential. When it comes to LGBTQ+ inclusion, dedicated corporations advocate for legislative change and oppose legislative discrimination.

At a DEI commitment level, LGBTQ+ inclusion must be a specific priority and companies must seek to understand how individuals who are LGBTQ+ experience the office differently to other groups. It means visible leadership commitment to inclusion and leadership representation, and activating sponsorship of LGBTQ+ talent.

At an advocacy level, it means leveraging the corporate voice to oppose discriminatory legislation that targets the LGBTQ+ community and even leading the charge as powerful allies on LGBTQ+ rights.

At a policy and processes level, inclusion means making sure policies are LGBTQ+ inclusive such as domestic-partner benefit and trans-inclusive healthcare coverage as well as clear about non-discrimination on gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation regardless of whether employees are “out”; mitigating assumptions and bias in hiring, reviews, pay and promotions; adapting technological interfaces to be inclusive (such as freedom to input chosen names in data fields); providing gender-neutral restrooms; and protecting employees from bullying whether in-office or online.

At the level of everyday cultural interactions, it means cultivating compassion and awareness among employees; using inclusive and gender-neutral language in the workplace; actively encouraging allyship, empowering better allyship and making allyship visible; investing in LGBTQ+ networks and rewarding contributions; setting aside safe spaces for voices to come forth; normalizing the adding of pronouns on LinkedIn and social media profiles; recognizing that identifies are fluent and complex and letting people tell you how they identify on their terms; celebrating LGBTQ+ calendar events and days; and most of all creating a culture of learning, openness and psychological safety.

It’s the organizations and leaders that champion not a month, but a sustained and iterative commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion, that will make a real difference to LGBTQ+ lives.

By Aimee Hansen

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Mary Cassai: Senior Vice President, Perioperative Services, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

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Mary Cassai“When you’re building teams, you always want to be strongly committed to the diversity of your team’s experience and ideas,” says Mary Cassai. “You don’t want to have uniformity in thought or expertise, as it could challenge disruption and innovation.”

Cassai is responsible for all operational oversight for Perioperative Services at NYP, including 140 operating rooms, 10 central sterile reprocessing departments and 40 endoscopy suites, producing over 180,000 procedures annually.

Converting Empathy Into Purpose

“I love problem solving. I am driven by challenge and uncertainty,” says Cassai. “I find comfort in bridging operational gaps and in understanding the dynamics of people and process that will lead to the best outcome and solution.”

Cassai finds purpose by creating the best possible environment of care for both patients and the interdisciplinary teams. She loves building relationships, partnerships and discovery – as well as finding what inspires people, the why it matters; and how different pieces of the puzzle and people come together to create the greatest results.

While in nursing school, her uncle was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease cancer. Observing the gaps in his bedside care validated why she was going into nursing. From a young age, she has always been driven by empathy and a keen sense of what empathy means; which is invaluable in healthcare: “I sometimes call it my superpower. I feel like I can decipher quickly how folks feel in certain dynamics.”

At the age of eight, she struggled with the diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which she remembers as world changing: “Rather than suffer through it, I made it work in my benefit in terms of my own perseverance and seeing how I could optimize some of that compulsive tendency into good and being the most productive and healthy.”

She accredits her parents with not ignoring the condition or hiding it away, but rather handling it directly with consideration and thoughtfulness: “I think that experience, which both pained me and also allowed me to become much stronger and even more empathetic, led me towards this desire of being in healthcare.”

Orchestrating Teams to Harmonize

In her present corporate remit, much of Cassai’s work is in leading multiple teams across the enterprise to improve clinical and operational outcomes. She provides the oversight of all strategic planning as it relates to operating room and endoscopy operations across 10 campuses.

Empathy comes into play differently than it did back in her bedside days: “It’s the ability to understand quickly what each person’s strengths are and how to leverage that best across teams in order to achieve success.”

She has found that when you have the right diversity of people and experience in a room, you come to the end-result faster because of positive friction and the ability to leverage each other’s thoughts in a spirited way.

Agility has become even more important as a leadership skill, especially in managing increasing complexity, whether it be facing the “untoward circumstances” of COVID-19 and having to create more hospital bed capacity for the surge of acute patients or transitioning from a clinical operational world into a more technology-based environment.

“Orchestrating” part of the why it matters for Cassai means helping everyone to harmonize together as a group – even beyond words through body language and action. Encouraging fluid, interrelating working dynamics – to drive for the best solutions. The previous years’ Covid 19 required orchestrating unprecedented collaboration: “We had to figure this out together, and that’s what we did. The solidarity of the team was absolutely amazing. It was beautiful in the face of disaster, and I walked away feeling like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Fail Fast and Fail Forward

Humility has served Cassai, including being able to transparently acknowledge to her team when something didn’t go as planned. She’s learned the criticality of asking more questions and leading by coaching her teams.

Encouraged throughout her career by mentors who supported her professionally and in growing in emotional maturity, she received the great advice to: “Fail fast, fail forward, move on.”

When failure happens, Cassai focuses on understanding what could have been done differently, to learn from the mistake, but not to harp on it, noting that failing is less about the failing and more about the learning that comes after, which often makes for even better results. She embraces this mental strategy for herself and imparts this on her teams.

“It’s important that we don’t live in monotony and that we are absolutely thought-provoking, disruptive, and creative. If we start to stifle that because of the unknown, then we’re never going to advance as quickly as we need to.” Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.

This advice also helped her to step up, professionally, and take on roles she hadn’t foreseen herself in: “Having been given that gift very early on allowed me to be more fearless in my choices and allowed me to rise into what others saw in me with less trepidation.”

Being Part of An Inclusive Organization

As a lesbian woman, Cassai feels blessed to be part of such an inclusive organization as NYP: “It is definitely an honor to work in a place where I feel so much pride not only for the organization, but for how much pride they take in their people. It’s been truly a feeling of belonging and it gets even better and more powerful day-by-day and week-by-week. I can’t say enough about the sense of belonging and safety that this organization provides.”

She recalls how warmly she and her son’s mom were embraced from the start. Senior leadership demonstrated such enthusiasm and joy in meeting and learning about who Mary called family.

Cassai is also proud of the consistently inclusive hiring and promotional practices at NYP: “There’s been a genuine and tremendous amount of focus by the organization on creating diverse platforms of teams.”

Earned Comfort in Her Skin

Early on in her journey as a registered nurse, Cassai recalls she was not as comfortable in her own skin as a lesbian woman as she is today, and had moments when she felt like she wasn’t being who others wanted her to be – not because anyone else said so, but from her own insecurities.

What Cassai did experience were people would question her sexuality aloud and sometimes make discriminating comments. Worn down by the constant questioning of her sexuality, she decided to take a stance and cut her hair short in her mid-20’s, hoping that would make it clear: “I made the decision to own who I am.”

Shortly after, strangers have said some hateful things to her based on appearance, and she remembers thinking she needed to empower herself to turn the pain into pride: “I had to learn to not take it personal, this was their issue, not mine. I acknowledged that this is going to happen. It’s not okay, but it’s going to happen. I was really shaken up but I just focused on what matters and became my own advocate and ally.”

Having experienced moments when I was not supported for who I am and was, Cassai has made it a purpose to be the person who does: “From that moment forward, I said to myself that I would never allow anyone I worked with, or was close to, to be on the receiving end of that.”

As a leader, Cassai wants to make it safe for people to always feel like they can speak up. It’s important for her to promote a feeling of safety, belonging and acknowledgment. She focuses on checking in, asking the right questions to understand how they are feeling: “I make a conscious choice to acknowledge what’s happening in the world and within my teams on a day-to-day basis, even if it’s just to check in.”

Cassai considers her seven-year-old son to be her world, and loves spending time with him going on adventures, watching movies and doing sporting activities. She rides the Peloton twice a day, enjoys reading and cooking – and hopes to build a pizza oven one day.

By Aimee Hansen

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Valeria Vitola: Managing Director, Anti-Money Laundering Region Head – Latin America (Except Mexico), Citibank

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Valeria Vitola“Any difference you think you may have is not a shortcoming. It’s always your springboard,” says Valeria Vitola. “You have to embrace that diverse part of you, because it’s only through diversity that we thrive.”

Born and based in Guatemala, Vitola speaks about why you have to dig even deeper to understand any problem, moving from shame to pride from the inside-out and the true value of bringing your difference to any situation.

Making a Societal Impact

Valeria comes from an Italian family who fell in love with the textiles of Guatemala and began a textile factory and textiles related industries in the country. Coming from a history of family-owned business, she never envisioned herself at a multinational company.

Now, twenty-two years have passed since accepting her initial offer and postponing her master’s degree indefinitely for the experiential MBA of Citi. Before working in anti-money laundering/financial crimes prevention, Valeria had witnessed the consequences of corruption in her country and found meaning in work that helps to narrow the inequalities that it helps to create.

“I am from a country where corruption impacts society – contributing to a gap between those who have lots and those who have not even a dollar a day to live, and denying access of vital services such as health, education and safety,” she says. “For me, to be in the frontline, making sure that the financial institution that I work for is not used by criminal organizations to launder money, or move proceeds, really feels like having an impact on society.”

Getting Way Underneath the Problem

Valeria brings unexpected diversity to the table – she’s a woman, she leads Latin America from Guatemala (even though Guatemala is not a major regional hub for Citibank), English is not her first language and she is part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Being from a diverse environment allows me to see everybody’s perspective from a different angle, with empathy,” says Valeria. “I’m a good listener, so my leadership begins with listening. I’m really interested in understanding not only the job and the problem that people are bringing to the table, but also the whole situation they’re experiencing when they bring the problem.”

This proves especially valuable when conducting financial crimes risk assessment on client prospects and transactions. Her ability to get underneath a situation, and ask the critical questions, is one of the key skills that has supported both her career and her life.

“I like to take complex problems and divide them into simpler ones, and I like to do that very fast. Every single problem, no matter how big, can be dissected, once you understand the root cause,” Valeria says. “But when you think you know the cause, you have to dig deeper and deeper. Once you have the root cause, everything else gets easier. You can find the paths to resolve the problem.”

Speaking to a skill that applies in all areas of life, Valeria likens this analytical skill to what empathy asks of us – when it comes to understanding why a person is feeling or behaving a certain way, and not jumping to a conclusion.

“The brain works in a way that sometimes likes to trick you into into thinking that you already know what the problem is,” she says. “But once you go layer after layer after layer, you identify there’s always something deeper. You usually have to go at least three layers, to make sure you’re addressing the true causes of the problem.”

Valeria also possesses an instinct for accountability: “I’m that person that when I see the ball being thrown, will run, catch the ball and make sure that I don’t drop the ball until it gets delivered to where it needs to be.”

Being a Leader is For Others

Vitola confesses that as an economist, what drew her into her profession was the notion of working all by herself, at a desk, analyzing numbers, with nobody reporting to her.

She stared at Citi as a sole contributor and she says that during her tenure she sought positions where she did not have to manage others. Reluctant to be working with and be responsible for so many others, Vitola remembers what her female boss and mentor, told her: “You have to believe that you are enough and more, and that you need to inspire people – and not for your sake, but for the sake of the people that are below you.” And that is how Valeria now leads a group of around 400 financial crimes professionals in over 18 different countries.

Before she speaks in front of an audience or accepts a role with more exposure and responsibilities, Valeria remembers those words. While working with others can be energy-absorbing and disruptive to an introverted disposition, she has come to understand her mission is not about tasks, but inspiring people to achieve their own whole potential, which is part of why listening has become essential.

180 Degrees From Shame To Pride

Within her family and her work, Valeria never felt held back by being a woman. Being comfortable sharing about her family and personal life as a lesbian, however, has taken longer to relax into.

“Back in the 90’s, I don’t think I knew another lesbian, not only in the financial industry but the whole country, so I felt very insecure about letting people inside of my world,” she says. “Citi is an organization that really embraces and encourages diversity, and how diversity brings different views to the table, so it was never about Citi. It was complicated for me because of fears related to my traditional catholic upbringing, my family, my friends and society in Guatemala. Coming out of the closet has been the most terrifying decision I’ve taken in my career.”

Last year, a photo of her family, including her 17 year old daughter and her ex-wife, appeared on the cover of Citi’s annual diversity report. Vitola says that her daughter, Alessandra, has been her greatest teacher: “She’s shown me the path of openness. She’s never been ashamed of her diverse family and has always introduced me as her mother.”

Valeria now feels that pride is the opposite of shame, and the journey towards becoming who you are also includes leaving behind the isolation of shame, which she too long imposed on herself in the workplace. If she has one regret, it’s that she held back for so long, only to suffer stress and fears around her identity, when in the end, it didn’t matter to any of her colleagues, only to her. If she could go back, she’d bring her whole self from day one and hopes that being more visible now shines a light for others, especially those based in countries where it might be more difficult.

In all ways, she’s now come to see her differences as an asset, and encourages those she mentors to do so, too.

“If you have a room full of people thinking the same way, with the same upbringing and same everything, the solution that you’re going to attain is going to be very limited.” she says, “So, you have to embrace who you are. Bring your difference to the table because that is what really adds value to an organization, to a meeting, to a friendship, to anything. That diverse point of view is what makes everything grow.”

Leading and Doing with Heart

Valeria is inspired by how Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi, leads with empathy, giving everybody a seat on the table, and caring about all stakeholders.

“I love having a leader with heart, more than one that just executes,” says Vitola. “Instead of having a chain, like an army, it feels more like a room with friends and family, where everybody is heard and all opinions are taken into account. But someone is responsible, deciding when we’ve all been heard enough and saying let’s move together now, behind this higher vision.”

During the beginning of the 2020 lockdown, and grounded from the three weeks a month she used to spend traveling, Valeria initiated a spare time challenge with her 400 strong Citi team and family, inviting everyone to share their personal interests, as a way of staying connected. The effort was then replicated in other areas and regions of Citibank.

Akin to her fascination of going deep into the mechanics of a problem, one of her own passions is restoring old and defunct machines – from the original espresso machine to a 1960 Vespa (which she rides on the city streets of Antigua, Guatemala on her weekends) – including sourcing all the technical hard-to-find parts they need to work again. As a girl, she watched her father and grandfather repair machines for the textile factory, often with parts imported from Italy that took weeks just to arrive.

“I have a personal satisfaction in bringing something back to its old shine and glory – to see the inside of a machine and how it works, from the time before electronics,” she says. “It’s a tribute to the ingenuity of the people that designed the machine to bring it back to life.”

Valeria is a scuba divemaster and also loves gardening, because it offers many transferable lessons and helps her stay in the present moment, from planting a seed, to waiting for weeks (with trust) until it germinates, to giving it the space to grow, to cultivating the fruit and making marmalade to share with and gift to friends: “Going from the seed to the product, with love, is like sharing a part of me, of my time, of myself.”

By Aimee Hansen

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