Tag Archive for: Partner

Voice of Experience: Jennifer Barbetta | Partner, Goldman Sachs

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Jennifer BarbettaBy Cathie Ericson

“Be on the short list,” recommends Jennifer Barbetta, a partner in Goldman Sachs’ Investment Management Division.

From her own experience, she knows that unique and challenging projects don’t simply “fall in front of you,” and that when senior managers are kicking off a new business, they’ll look to add people to their team who offer both a specific skill set as well as those with whom they have built a relationship.

As such, she advises junior analysts and associates to be “willing to work hard at everything put in front of you,” because individuals who jump in to solve problems and also work on building honest, trusting relationships are rewarded. “When people think of someone they want to work with, you want it to be you,” she recommends.

Creating a Multi-Faceted Career

And being someone with that mindset contributed to how Barbetta has managed to enjoy such a fruitful and varied career at Goldman Sachs. She joined the firm directly after graduating college, assuming she would work at the firm for several years prior to pursuing an MBA or law degree. Fast forward 23 years, and she’s still enjoying her work at Goldman Sachs, having worked in a variety of different roles across businesses.

Today, Barbetta is helping to lead the Global Portfolio Solutions Group in Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), which provides custom asset allocation advice, risk management and portfolio construction to both institutional and retail clients. The business has steadily expanded its service offerings over the past few years, resulting in GSAM becoming one of the top providers globally.

The custom solutions-oriented offering is one with a lot of potential, Barbetta says, noting that the work GSAM is doing was referenced in Goldman Sachs’ annual letter to shareholders as an effort with significant growth potential. That’s partially because trends in the industry are aligned with the business’ growth, as pension plans or healthcare organizations look for greater expertise in generating investment returns, because they may not have the breadth of internal capability to support all asset classes, portfolio construction and asset liability analysis. In other cases, they may be looking to outsource this functionality to save costs. “What we offer is so customized yet we have the expertise, investment platforms and risk management tools to scale this work effectively.”

“There is clearly a trend in this space, and at Goldman Sachs, we feel we have the skills sets, scale and resources to deliver for our clients,” Barbetta notes. “We have a diverse and experienced team, and we have significantly added to our capabilities over the past several years.”

Proud to be Part of A Firm That Embraces Diversity

Barbetta notes that as women progress in their careers, firms experience difficulty promoting and retaining senior women as they begin to start families. “It becomes more of a balancing act, and I know there’s more we can all do to enhance flexibility,” she says.

She also finds it uniquely beneficial to be out at work, primarily because you can take energy that you might have spent covering up a part of who you are and redirect it to a more useful need. She is proud to be associated with Goldman Sachs, and notes that the firm focuses on building an inclusive culture, with the tone being set at the top.

“If someone feels confident that senior management gets it, it makes it that much more comfortable to be out at work,” she notes. For Barbetta, a defining moment came when Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein spoke out in support of marriage equality in 2011, highlighting to both employees and the public that he supports diversity.

Involved with the LGBT network since it was founded in 2001, Barbetta now serves as an advisor, and during Pride Month will be moderating a panel on embracing transgender talent. She also is active in Goldman Sachs’ women’s network, having championed strategic initiatives focused on high-performing women. She also has been involved with the Black network and led a mentoring cohort that worked with managing directors and vice presidents.

Barbetta has three children with her wife Victoria, and when not spending time with family, she is active in philanthropic organizations. For almost a decade, she’s been on the board of the Point Foundation, which offers scholarships and mentoring to LGBTQ students of merit. She is also on the board of Junior Achievement New York, where she recently helped host a Bowlathon that raised almost $300,000. In addition, she is a board member at her children’s school.

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Voice of Experience: Elizabeth Martin, Partner, Goldman Sachs

By Cathie Ericson

“You have to be the author of your own path, and realize that you are going to do your best work when you are passionate about your goal,” says Goldman Sachs’ Elizabeth Martin.

Throughout her career, she tended to take career risks by shifting towards emerging problems or business trends versus following the more traditional banking path that had been successful for her predecessors. “It’s about ensuring you can make yourself relevant as the markets change, so you can maintain your career trajectory.”

Building a Career on Variety and Risk Taking

Martin joined Goldman Sachs in 2000 as a lateral hire from a different bank. “It felt like a big risk to change jobs, but I wasn’t being stretched in my first analyst role. I wasn’t learning from my manager and colleagues,” she says, adding that she realized early on that if your manager is not invested in advancing your career, you’re wasting time. “Since that point, I’ve recognized the importance of working for people who see your success as a measure of their personal and commercial success as well.”

Martin got her job in what you might call “the old-fashioned way,” passing out her resume on the trading floor at Goldman Sachs’ New York headquarters. Proving that even previous managers can be sponsors throughout your career, she was offered a role after receiving a review from her boss at a past internship with a competitor of Goldman Sachs.

For eight years, Martin worked in derivatives trading, a role she loved because derivatives give you the ability to constantly innovate solutions to new challenges facing clients. “Some women shy away from trading roles because they don’t see role models in the seats,” she says. But she notes, “Trading is about becoming an expert in how to value an asset and predict how the price may change over time. It’s a job that facilitates a huge amount of freedom to learn about different markets, asset classes, and emerging global trends, and also trains you in how to take calculated risks in life and in your career.”

During the financial crisis, her experience with derivatives and emerging financial regulations led her to shift to working alongside senior leaders to identify and implement a forward-looking strategy to address changes in the operating environment. She enjoyed being in strategy, where she had a seat at the table in adapting the business model to maintain a market leading position for their Equities business. The role also allowed her to engage with people across all divisions of the firm. “Investing in a broad network is critically important to your career. You make better and faster decisions if you have a broad set of perspectives upon which to draw.”

Two years ago, Martin joined Goldman Sachs’ electronic trading business, where the firm uses technology and quantitative analysis to decide when and where to trade a stock. When an opportunity arose to move to London last year, she jumped at the chance to work and live internationally.

Her career at Goldman Sachs has been varied – from New York to London, with roles in trading, derivatives, management and execution. “If you embrace change, Goldman is a great place to have a career,” she says.

Managing through Change in your Career and Life

The changes continue today: Like every other industry, the use of technology and data has altered the role of Goldman Sachs in the markets. Increasingly, trading occurs through a global network that connects clients to the firm and to marketplaces all over the world. She explains that technology has also allowed Goldman’s clients to reach places where they do not have a physical location – a game changer in accessing new markets around the world.

Martin notes that following the introduction of MiFID II, Europe has gone through “some of the most transformative market regulations in history,” and the result has been large investments in equities and electronic trading to ensure they earn the trust of clients to provide the best possible experience when executing trades at Goldman Sachs. “Markets change all the time. We never have a lack of interesting, global, technical problems to solve.”

Just like the markets have changed, so did what Martin wanted from Goldman Sachs throughout her career. “At the beginning of my career, I was more focused on short-term milestones, like the performance of my business that month,” Martin says, “but over time, I learned that what I really cared about was the cumulative impact in my life – my career is an important aspect of my life but not my only priority.”

Making partner was one of her greatest achievements “because it recognized my contributions to the firm over my career, but also because it happened just after I had three amazing daughters in five years. I’m very passionate about my career and my family.”

Martin also knows the value of a family who supports her career. “Having a partner who is empathetic to the challenges of working women and fully supports my ambitions… even if that means he needs to take a share of school drop offs…has certainly been a key ingredient in striking some balance in my life.”

A result of her childhood outside of Boston, her favorite way to spend family time is skiing, particularly now that the Martin family can venture across Europe. “Most of my favorite childhood memories are skiing with my family. Exploring the mountains with my kids is exhilarating.”

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Thought Leader: Grissel Mercado, Partner, Shearman & Sterling LLP

grissel mercadoBy Cathie Ericson

Elected to partnership just this past January, Grissel Mercado, shares her insight on her business, the industry and women in the law.

For more about Mercado’s background, read her Voice of Experience profile here.

A Busy Year With Many Successes

With a strong history and expertise in capital markets in Latin America, Mercado’s work there continues. Latin America capital markets have had a very interesting year; although a lot of market players thought there might be a slowdown given international developments such as Brexit and the Trump presidency, it has been a very busy year for the region, she says.

“Investors have continued to be attracted to a lot of issuers there, which has been very positive for our practice. But as I look into the future there will be more question marks with several countries going through elections in 2018. You are still prone to what’s happening socially and in politics when you work in Latin America, so it will be interesting to see what happens in 2018.” Mexico and Colombia are two countries where she has been the busiest, despite an expected slowdown.

Her toughest but most rewarding deal of the year took almost a year and half, but closed this summer. “You become so close to your clients when you spend that much time with them,” she says, adding how excited they were to complete the deal.

She is currently working on bond offerings for companies in Chile and Mexico, who are expecting to be some of the first issuers to launch transactions in early 2018. The practice has also been working on a variety of liability management exercises, including cash tender offers. And this is the time that many foreign private issuers registered with the SEC begin thinking about annual reports, which is where her corporate governance hat comes in, as she helps with prep work for those.

In the industry at large, she anticipates continued growth, even with the political and economic changes that the region is facing.

While there haven’t been too many regulatory changes per se, she anticipates her SEC registered clients will need help transitioning to XBRL, a business reporting language that uses tags for items in financial statements to allow financial information to be used interactively. While SEC registered domestic companies have been using this method for several years, 2018 will be the first year that foreign private issuers have to report in this way. The industry is also grappling to understand how the new MIFID II rules (i.e., product governance obligations applicable to manufacturers and distributors of financial instruments) will apply in the context of capital markets transactions led by non-EEA banks.

Social Issues Will Loom Large

For women, she finds that retention and promotion continue to be an issue. “Women enter law school and often even law firms as a majority, and then the ratio is completely flipped by the time we become senior associates and is even worse at partner ranks,” she notes.

She believes that law firms will retain women as they become more open to technological advances that other industries have already been using, such as work-from-home opportunities, which helps women who many times are the ones with more conflicting responsibilities, such as caring for children and elderly parents.

“If you can deliver top-quality work on time, it shouldn’t matter when and where you do it,” she points out. She sees that the millennial generation wants that for men and women. Firms will also benefit as women keep working rather than opting out. It’s vital to retain a female perspective, she says. “We view problems differently, and our clients are pushing to have these viewpoints at top levels.”

She appreciates that now as a newly-named partner, she has more of a voice in retention and recruiting and looks forward to a big year of transition. “Clients are used to seeing me lead transactions, but there will be an adjustment as I become the sole lead, and we’ll all work to make the transition as seamless as possible,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Shaiza Rizavi, Partner, Gilder, Gagnon, Howe, & Co.

shaiza rizaviBy Cathie Ericson

“If you’re open and don’t construct borders and boundaries between different parts of your life, you can discover learning everywhere,” says Shaiza Rizavi, partner at Gilder, Gagnon, Howe, & Co. This philosophy allows Rizavi to blend the different aspects of her life.

Early in her career, Rizavi worked as an investigator in the public defender service and as a legal assistant before moving to Thailand where she worked on child development projects. Upon her return, she entered Columbia Business School where her life took a new trajectory thanks to her securities analysis professor. As part of the class, students researched a stock to pitch to Wall Street professionals who would come to Columbia’s campus and grill the students on the particulars. Rizavi met the founder of Gilder, Gagnon, Howe, & Co. during the class and directly after graduation joined the firm, where she has worked for over two decades.

Identify a Firm’s Culture to Find a Great Fit

She appreciates that the firm centers on giving small investors who possess long-term patience and fortitude the opportunity to create wealth. The firm’s founder had been working in the institutional investment business when he realized that working professionals, such as teachers, doctors and lawyers, would benefit from actively managed accounts in order to compound their capital. The firm focuses on high-growth opportunities rather than capital conservation. Rizavi uses the research skills developed at business school and through her early work experiences to identify companies engaged in transformational change to help investors reap the potential benefits of high-risk, high-return opportunities.

When interviewing with Gilder, Gagnon, Howe & Co., Rizavi was struck by the stories she heard that articulated the firm’s legends and values. She was particularly drawn to the firm’s orientation toward serving and partnering with clients, as well as its commitment to taking risk based on well-researched, well-thought out ideas. The firm is interested in human creativity and innovation and invests in companies looking to change people’s lives while building capital – an approach Rizavi finds as appealing today as she did over twenty years ago. The legends of achievement within the firm also convinced Rizavi of its uniqueness, especially the story of one woman who began as a typist and rose to become a portfolio manager based on her excellent ideas. “I could tell that this firm judged people on merit, allowing anyone to rise if they deserve it,” she says.

Rizavi advises women to take the time to reflect and look for a role where they can shine. “See how people march through their daily lives within the places you are most attracted to and make sure that that march coincides with values you respect,” she says, adding that analysis must be part of the job search process.

“You might not think you have the luxury of considering all these components because you need to take what is offered, but it will serve you better to take your time and be sure about your potential opportunity.”

She says that it is vital to trust instincts and listen to see if it is a place you want to be, not just for the next year or two but for the long term. “You may not want to stay in one place forever, but it is nice to know there is alignment and therefore staying for the long term is an option,” she points out.

Incorporating Life Holistically

Over the years, Rizavi has learned that it is a myth to believe there is a perfect balance between all aspects of your life.

“You have to give yourself permission to be the best you can be in a certain moment,” she says. “There are phases and seasons where you have the opportunity to focus on different priorities. You may rise in certain areas but you cannot expect all aspects to rise at the same time.”

Rizavi says she has served and learned from many incredible leaders. Chief among them arethe founding members of her firm and the individuals who steward the organizations she respects most including Columbia Business School’s Tamer Center for Social Enterprise, the American Museum of Natural History, Acumen, the Gilder Lehrman Institute and The Calhoun School.

Rizavi now hopes to prolong the benefits of mentoring and apprenticeship by working with entrepreneurs and students at Columbia Business School and other places to share the skills and lessons learned.

She recently returned from Acumen’s global gathering in Kenya where she met 400 of Acumen’s entrepreneurs, fellows and partners from 28 countries and six continents, and learned about initiatives as wide ranging as advancing agricultural practices for small holder farmers to lighting previously unlit regions of the world with solar power. “In working with these entrepreneurs, I gained knowledge of trends, technologies and emerging products and services around the world that I can bring back to my life in New York City,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Marwa Elborai, Partner in the Capital Markets Group, London, Shearman & Sterling

Marwa ElboraiBy Cathie Ericson

“Be confident in your own skills and experience and don’t be shy about speaking up,” Shearman & Sterling’s Marwa Elborai advises.

She notes that it’s a skill that comes with experience and adds that to advance your career it’s important not to be intimidated, but rather to share your views on a matter in order to become the advisor that a client wants to turn to.

Proud of Her Tenure at Shearman

Elborai is what they call a “lifer,” having started as a summer associate at Shearman and progressed up the ladder to become partner in January 2016 – an achievement she regards as a “pinnacle moment,” given her tenure with the firm.

She began her career in New York in the capital markets practice and moved to the London office in 2011, where she took on a more specialized role in high yield debt and restructuring.

Elborai appreciated the challenge of adapting to something new and expanding her practice to become more involved with complex restructuring, working closely with clients who were doing capital market work for the first time as well as various internal teams, including finance.

Given that Shearman is one of the leading high yield practices in London, she is proud of being part of a team that’s highly regarded in the industry and has touch points on most of the deals in the market. To that end, Elborai says it’s vital to stay ahead of the latest developments in covenants as it allows her to offer clients the benefit of the most recent thinking and up-to-date best practices.

Mentors Can Help Ease the Path

In this demanding career, Elborai says that those who succeed definitely make investments with their time, but it’s not specific to women. However, in a field still heavily dominated by men, it can be more challenging for women to stay true to the path because they don’t have as many mentors who have previously reached the top goal of partner.

She says that while it’s still common for women to walk into a room and find themselves in the minority, that dynamic is changing with time.

“If you can identify someone you can look up to as a female that’s helpful, but don’t limit yourself to female mentors,” she notes.

One way that mentors helped Elborai along the way was in seeing the big picture: As a young lawyer, she finds you tend to be detail-oriented and don’t always take a step back. “You have to realize that your role is not just to pore over documents, but to facilitate an objective and reach a conclusion to achieve a common goal,” she says. “Working closely with mentors helped me develop the skills to look at and focus on the overall transaction and the main material issues.”

Active in Shearman’s WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention) program, she has appreciated the opportunities to mentor female associates, as well as acting as a mentor in a robust cross-mentorship program with a client company.

Finding Balance to Perform Better

Given the demands of the job, Elborai notes that it’s vital to carve out time for yourself to be with friends and family, and find a diversion that appeals to you. For Elborai, a recent passion has become horseback riding, “It’s a peaceful way to enjoy the outdoors, untethered from email,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Carey Halio, Partner, Finance Division, Goldman Sachs

Carey HalioCarey HalioBy Cathie Ericson

“Your career is a marathon, not a sprint,” notes Goldman Sachs’ Carey Halio, though she admits that while she received this advice early in her career, she didn’t always take it to heart.

“Many of us are hard-driving individuals who want to make an immediate and constant impact, but it’s vital to remember that your experiences, skills and network build upon each other throughout your career.”

Even though she was recently named partner, Halio finds that she still needs to remind herself of this advice, and likens her career to training for a real marathon. “When I first started running, I could only handle one mile, then two, five, and so on, and your career builds in the same incremental way. But, it’s hard to keep that in mind because you don’t have the benefit of hindsight when you’re in the moment,” she says.

Helping the Firm Embrace New Challenges and Growth Opportunities

Before beginning her career in finance, Halio served as a member of the Peace Corps, where she learned the importance of resilience as she worked in Guatemala without access to basics, such as running water and telephones. That experience instilled within Halio the belief that she would be capable of “figuring it out” in any situation, and she was able to overcome her initial intimidation upon joining Goldman Sachs following business school.

“I now see how hugely beneficial my time in the Peace Corps was in teaching me to be resilient and confident to know that things will work out even if you don’t have all the ideal tools readily available. This has been very important in my career and life,” she says.

Halio spent the majority of her tenure in the Credit Risk Management & Advisory Group within the Securities Division before joining Goldman Sachs Bank USA as Chief Financial Officer in 2014.

She notes that her role in Goldman Sachs Bank USA is an exciting position, as the bank was formed relatively recently and now offers consumer lending and deposit products, an area of the financial sector that Goldman Sachs had not traditionally been involved in. “It is very exciting to be part of completely new activities within an institution that has been in business for 148 years.”

Having been in the financial services industry through its ups and downs, she looks back on the tumult as a time of growth. “While the financial crisis was scary, I know that it helped me become a better risk manager, as I was running a team covering companies that failed,” she says. “I grew professionally in multiple ways, learning how to maintain composure in the face of uncertain circumstances.”

A Supportive Environment

In addition to her fulfilling day-to-day work, Halio enjoys the firm’s culture, which encourages mentoring. New female partners are encouraged to pay it forward: She herself has reaped the benefits of a network of women who have been generous with career advice as well as thoughts on childcare and work/life balance. “We need to do the same to keep that spirit alive with our younger colleagues,” she says.

While working at Goldman Sachs, Halio has been active in her division’s Women’s Network, appreciating the opportunity to hear from noteworthy speakers and develop supportive relationships with peers with whom she has “grown up.”

Integrating Balance

While women continue to make major strides in the workforce, childcare and balance remain areas of challenge. As Halio says, with two young boys, no matter how much responsibility she has at work, when she’s home, she’s mom. “I love my work and am proud of what I’ve accomplished but I am still focused on creating a close, engaging family.”

On that note, Halio cites the book “Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection,” by Debora Spar, the president of Barnard College and former Goldman Sachs board member.

Referencing the book, Halio cautions, “You can’t have it all; you have to pick and choose what’s important to you at certain times.” She notes that there are a million things she would like to do, from spending more time with colleagues, to cooking more meals from scratch, but it’s not practical to expect to be able to do everything. She adds that over time your priorities change and you have to make meaningful tradeoffs and have the confidence to make tough choices.

For Halio, that means carefully choosing her outside activities. One that she spends some of her time on is serving as an active board member of her alma mater, Whittier College in Southern California.

She, her husband and sons, ages 3 and 7, enjoy spending their weekends together and reinforcing the family dynamic that can be hard to achieve during the week. They deliberately chose to live outside the city and invest in their community. “I want to provide my sons with a stable, strong foundation and we enjoy hanging out and being part of our town.”

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Voice of Experience: Céline-Marie Mechain, Partner, Goldman Sachs, Paris

Céline-Marie MechainBy Cathie Ericson

A champion of women’s advancement throughout her tenure at Goldman Sachs, Céline-Marie Mechain urges senior women who have risen through the ranks to continue to stick together to attract more women and support those who want a career in investment banking.

Mechain pursued a classic academic path for French women: business school in France, followed by a graduate degree in the UK, where she polished her English-language skills. She began her career in Citibank’s advisory team in 1993 in London before joining the leveraged finance team at Deutsche Bank. In 1998, she joined Goldman Sachs as an associate in leveraged finance, rising to vice president in 2001, managing director in 2006 and ultimately partner in 2016.

Early in her tenure, Mechain was tasked with an ambitious endeavor – to create a financial sponsor platform for French-speaking countries in London – a project that uniquely fit her skill set and one she describes as both a challenge and sign of confidence from the firm. In 2004, she was asked to relocate to Paris to be closer to clients and to build out the private equity coverage platform to support a variety of clients, including French corporates, pension funds, portfolio companies, family offices and entrepreneurs. Building a business that didn’t previously exist at Goldman Sachs is the professional achievement of which she is most proud, as it allowed the firm to cover sponsors in a holistic way across products. In addition, while her team has typically covered classic sponsors, they have broadened and adapted to Asian, Canadian or US buyers, and large family offices, who are interested in investing in Europe. “I am very proud of what we built and the ability to scale the business with a universal advisory approach,” she says.

As globalization continues, Mechain explains that the firm will strive to retain its leading banking role across regions, while simultaneously supporting buyers from emerging countries and providing access to capital markets on a worldwide scale. “We are always thinking about how we can address the trend of globalization and provide the quality of services that defines Goldman Sachs,” she says, adding that the firm is considering how to invest in the midst of the current political climate, particularly in light of upcoming European elections.

Becoming a Role Model

Mechain recalls that when she was a junior associate 20 years ago, there were very few women in investment banking, which created a dearth of women applicants because it was so challenging for candidates to envision banking as a career. Understanding the challenges she faced, she strives to be a role model for junior women. “I wish I had been advised to not be afraid of this environment — you can absolutely succeed by believing in yourself, and in many ways it can be beneficial to be a woman,” Mechain says.

Mechain highlights that women in advisory and management roles may now have an advantage, as women are also rising through the ranks of corporates and clients and will increasingly influence corporate decision-making.

She calls on women to support one another in order to attract more women to the field. Mechain herself has blazed many trails, and was the first woman investment banker in the Paris office to announce maternity leave, and as part of her drive to raise the visibility of women, she co-founded the Women’s Network in Paris. Launching this initiative ultimately connected women across divisions and has been instrumental in increasing mentorship opportunities within the firm. She notes that she always received strong support for the network from leadership across regions and product lines.

Mechain also created an initiative called the Women in an Impactful Network (WIN), which connects women at the vice president and managing director levels with other industry leaders. “We ask women to identify three external women executives they want to brainstorm with on diversity and business issues, which has created a wonderful think tank to help raise awareness of these challenges.” This group of industry professionals, which includes clients, now has approximately 50 members, who regularly meet with one another also outside of official WIN events.

“Establishing these networks has been one of my top achievements, and has provided a forum for senior women to support junior women in the workplace,” Mechain says. “These organizations have been game changers.”

A Team Effort at Home

Mechain credits her supportive husband and children with playing key roles in her career success. “It’s a team effort,” she says, adding that she received great advice when beginning her career to make sure that her life partner shares the burden of caring for children and overseeing a household.

“I run the house like a Goldman project, relying on lists and reminders,” she explains. “It’s an everyday effort, and while it was not natural for me to delegate at first, I’ve been able to prioritize effectively, both at work and at home.”

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Voice of Experience: Susanna Charlwood, Partner, Shearman & Sterling’s Litigation Group

Susanna CharlwoodWhile it’s easy to lament the disparity between the number of men and women in senior positions at law firms, Susanna Charlwood says that it does have a positive effect. “Since there are fewer senior women, it can help you stand out”. That attitude has been a source of confidence as she has built her career. Charlwood adds that she has not encountered difficulties or been treated differently as a woman in law.

Charlwood began her career at one of London’s “Magic Circle” firms and joined Shearman & Sterling three years ago as counsel in the Litigation Group. She was promoted to partner at the end of last year.

A Time of Change in the Field of Law

Currently Charlwood is involved in the final stages of a two-year investigation into certain activities at a European bank. Assisting clients in long term projects and counselling them through difficult times is something she particularly enjoys about her area of the law.

Contentious antitrust is an area where there has been significant recent legislative change in the UK. “For the past year or so we’ve been dealing with a lot of queries as our clients seek clarity on the implications of this new framework for them. The idea of the changes was to facilitate the recovery of damages for breaches of anti-trust law, bringing our process closer to that in the US. We are now waiting to see the effect of these changes.”

Lending a Helping Hand

Reflecting on her career, Charlwood remarks on the importance of building your network from the outset. “As well as being a great lawyer, it is key to understand the value of professional relationships and invest in making and maintaining them.” She recalls how many of her peers left private practice after a few years, and several today hold senior positions in the legal teams of major banks.

Charlwood also observes that junior lawyers sometimes are unaware of the scope to impress. “As the junior member of a team it may sometimes feel like you are not noticed, but you are – both internally and by clients. I have often had clients comment at length on how pleased they have been with the work done by particular associates.”

Charlwood says that while the number of women in senior positions in private practice may not have changed very significantly during her career, her impression is that there has been an increase in women in senior positions at her clients. She also comments that there is a lot more being done to encourage and facilitate women in pursuing long term careers at law firms. She says, “There are so many fabulous young women working at our firm and I really hope to see them flourish. I believe it’s my responsibility to them to help them fulfill their capabilities and to navigate the particular challenges that women may face in managing work and family.”

She believes it’s important for more seasoned women to show they can be dedicated to and successful in their job but also have a balanced life. “We have to model work/life balance so younger women see it as something achievable and enjoyable.”

Shearman & Sterling has many formal programs but Charlwood comments that informal mentoring relationships can be equally important. The advice she gives to younger women is, if they enjoy the profession, to have a plan and work towards it. “Be strategic, be confident and seek out opportunities.”

A Supportive Family

Charlwood’s husband is also a lawyer and so understands the demands of the profession and is very supportive. She also has a two-year-old daughter and says she feels having a family has increased rather than undermined her professional confidence. “You have to be very organized and efficient but, somehow, I feel the different perspective being a mother has brought me has been a positive thing professionally.”

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Voice of Experience: Jennifer A. Johnson, Partner & National Leader, Risk Assurance Services, PwC Canada

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Jennifer Johnson“Diversity of thought comes from having a diverse set of team members – so you have to attract and welcome them so they feel valuable and heard,” Johnson says. “Although there are not many GLBT partners at PwC Canada, my visibility sends a clear message to staff at all levels that you can be your authentic self. I’ve had men and women say that seeing me and my example has been encouraging to them; that they feel PwC is a safe place to be out and it won’t negatively impact their careers. I’ve personally found PwC to be very open and welcoming.”

Successfully Climbing the Ladder at PwC

As national leader of the Risk Assurance practice in Canada, Johnson oversees about 400 risk professionals across Canada and works with peers across the world. A “lifer” at PwC, she joined the Hartford, CT, office at the age of 22, spending her initial four years largely on the road for client work and enjoying the travel experience. She came out during that time, and decided she wanted to try a bigger city with larger clients, more specialized practices and a more liberal culture. She spent the next six years with PwC US in Boston in the same practice area, ultimately becoming a director.

Her girlfriend at the time, now her wife, Ashleigh, was from Toronto and they moved there due to Ashleigh’s desire to obtain an advanced degree and the fact that gay marriage wasn’t yet recognized nationally in the United States. Johnson took an international transfer in July 2008 as a director and became a partner in 2012, ultimately becoming the national leader Jan. 1, 2016.

Johnson says that is the professional achievement she is most proud of so far, being asked to take on a national leadership role only 17 years out of school and also while juggling a young family at home.

“I’m excited to continue to see the practice evolve as we think strategically and help shape a refreshed vision. My goal is to motivate and drive the entire practice and support the personal growth and achievement of each member,” she says. “Some people are wary of the idea of change, but it drives me.”

Much of that constant change is evident in the dynamic, evolving nature of the spectrum covered by the Risk Assurance practice, helping clients identify, understand and manage risk from regulatory compliance to environmental and technological issues. Her team needs to stay on the forefront.

Setting Yourself Up for Success

Johnson says she always saw herself as a “Type A” personality with a long-term plan, but she now sees that it’s impossible to predict what’s going to come your way and doggedly pursuing a focus means you could end up with blinders on.

“Interesting things that weren’t even on your radar might appear, and you might end up disregarding them if you aren’t open to the possibilities,” she says, citing the opportunity she seized in Toronto. “Moving to another country meant I had to join a new team where I had to re-establish myself and work my way back into a position to be seen as having partnership potential, yet it’s one of the best things I’ve done.”

It can be a challenge for women to step up and take opportunities when they don’t believe they have all the necessary attributes, but that can hold you back.

Earlier in her career, she herself felt that she had demonstrated she was ready for the next promotion even before the traditional time table, but she says that the one step she missed was asking. “I didn’t receive that first promotion and was devastated, but in hindsight I believe I probably should have advocated more and been more vocal.” Even today she reminds her peers to make sure they’re advocating for themselves within the partnership.

She recommends that young women (and men) see themselves as sponges, to take in all the people they meet and models they can emulate. “You will look back and realize that you have learned so much about your career, and yourself personally — what you’re good at and what you’re motivated by and also what you’re not as good at,” she says.

A Welcoming Culture

Johnson appreciates the safe and inclusive environment at PwC. She came out in her second year with the firm to the people with whom she worked closely, which was welcome since she didn’t have the same level of support from her family and friends. “That gave me a lot of self-confidence that has also paid off in the corporate sphere. I am now more likely to voice my opinion, no matter what the subject.”

At PwC, she serves as the executive sponsor of Canada’s GLEE (Gay, Lesbian and Everyone Else) network and is an active champion of HeForShe – UN Women’s movement for gender equality – for which PwC is a founding Impact Champion. She also participates in the PwC Women in Leadership program that supports female professionals who have aspirations to achieve more senior roles within PwC. The group is sponsored by both male and female senior partners, and they also bring in external female professionals to share their experience and perspectives.

A Life Outside of Work

With three kids, including five-year-old fraternal twin daughters Teagan and Quinn, and a 12 week old son, Logan, Johnson appreciates the support of her wife Ashleigh, a nutritionist and stay-at-home parent.

A big believer in finding time for family, career and self; she tries to structure her days so that she begins with some time at the gym for herself, goes to her busy workday, and then arrives home in time to read stories and put the kids to bed.

“You need to know your limits and protect your family and ‘you’ time,” says Johnson.

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Voice of Experience: Christine del Rosario, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

christine del rosario“Early on in your career, try to think about your aspirations and long-term goals and share them with the people who can help you realize them,” says Christine del Rosario, a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers. While your colleagues will notice you’re giving it your all and might have a sense what you’re working toward, you have to be clear with them as to your goals, so they can help you build the skills to have the experiences you need to pursue opportunities. “If something is on your list, people who support you will tend to help you get to where you want to be.”

Career Path

Del Rosario joined the Orange County office of PwC in 1998 after graduating from UCLA and spent nine years in the assurance practice specializing in the industrial products sector. In her first coaching meeting, she recalls, she mentioned to her coach she wanted to do an international tour at some future stage in her career, and that aspiration was always revisited in their discussions from that point forward. Her plans materialized in 2007 when she moved to London for a three year assignment, and also had the opportunity to work in Tokyo during that time. Through this experience she was exposed to the financial services sector and decided to switch her specialization to financial services when she repatriated in 2010.

Over the years, del Rosario has seen that superiors give opportunities to people they like and in whom they see potential, and they will invest time in developing those individuals. She suggests for women to continue to find ways to connect with leaders in their organizations, both men and women alike. “It’s not so much about networking, but about developing relationships that are genuine because of the emotional investment you have made with those people, which creates a special bond that, almost always, stays with you forever.”

Del Rosario says she was fortunate to develop deep relationships with senior managers and partners early in her career, and she found those individuals looked after her, providing counsel and feedback. “Navigate your way to increase your visibility and likeability factor so you’re top of mind when opportunities arise,” she advises.

One program at PwC she feels has contributed to her success is “Breakthrough Leadership,” where high-potential senior managers who have been identified as future leaders gather for a two-day conference. They build skills, such as how to solicit candid feedback, and are connected with leaders who will help open doors and act as sponsors as they make the journey into the next stage of their careers. “It’s important that we make sure we have these opportunities to develop women, and support them as they progress towards getting admitted into the partnership,” she says. A key contributor is the ability to get exposure and network with leaders and other peers.

Exciting Times and Giving Back

Without hesitation she says that being admitted to the partnership is the achievement she’s most proud of. “Leading up to it you get such tremendous support and the partners truly make you feel they have your back, so when you get admitted it’s like being welcomed to this special family,” she says.

Currently, del Rosario is working closely with some new clients on the audit side. “New engagements with new teams are always a great opportunity to learn together and establish new processes, which is quite powerful when you realize you helped shape what people will continue to build upon for years to come,” she says. “These types of highly collaborative projects are very exciting to me.”

In addition to working on these new clients, del Rosario enjoys being constantly challenged and working to help clients understand how PwC’s five identified megatrends (demographic and social change, shift in economic power, rapid urbanization, climate change and resource scarcity, and technological breakthroughs) will shape the global and economic landscape, many of which may disrupt her clients’ businesses.

Del Rosario has always had an interest in developing others, which carries over into her philanthropy. She serves as an officer of the board of Ascend, a non-profit that focuses on diversity and inclusion and development of Pan-Asian leaders in the business community. Since having been involved in Ascend, “I have had the opportunity to help mentor a lot of wonderful and highly-engaged and motivated individuals as they work their way through their careers, and all of them inspire me to continue to try to make a difference each and every day,” she says.

A Travelling Family

Del Rosario appreciates the privilege she had of travelling around Europe when she and her husband were living in London and now she delights in taking her son places they went as a couple to rediscover them as a family. Before her son turned five, he had traveled over 100,000 miles, with each journey catalogued in a special travel book a friend created when he was born.

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