Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Amanda Lenaghan

Director, Social Impact, Cruise

San Francisco, CA, USA

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.

In my current role as director of social impact at all-electric, autonomous vehicle company Cruise, I’m responsible for the overarching vision for Cruise for Good, our signature social impact program, and building this function from the ground up. My role is centered on a product-forward and community-centered approach — bringing what we do best in the world to address social needs, in close partnership with innovative community organizations and Cruise’s internal business units.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive?

To embrace equity, it helps to look at the data. Multiple studies have shown that more women leaders in top corporate management positions correlate with increased profitability for these companies – who wouldn’t want that?

To build equitable companies, we need to recruit, promote and celebrate leaders with diverse perspectives and lived experiences. At Cruise, I’m inspired by my colleague Michele Lee, who leads our accessibility efforts and is also a wheelchair user. In addition to bringing her personal experience, she strategically and systematically pulls in others in the community to ensure our product and future offerings increase access and connection for individuals with disabilities as well.

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

Many women in my life inspire me, especially my mom and sister. They have navigated many opportunities and obstacles in life with grace all while maintaining a focus on being present for the people around them. I am reminded of Maya Angelou’s quote: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

People inspire me. Whether listening to fellow board members, work colleagues, community leaders, or even my two young sons – the human spirit is possible of overcoming so many challenges. Even in the worst situations, there are examples of people stepping up to serve and help others. When I lived and volunteered in an impoverished town in Ecuador early in my career, I often saw women in one-room cane houses cooking food for others in need, running fundraisers for neighbors needing medical care, or simply looking out for each other. This keeps me optimistic.

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

Every company has a choice to make in how they will impact communities, particularly when building something new. From the beginning at Cruise, we’ve been intentional in our approach and vocal about encouraging others in the corporate world – and specifically in the AV industry – to make social impact and sustainability a priority.

Companies that recognize social impact as an asset have a business advantage. When social impact is built into a company – instead of bolted on later – it can directly advance company goals, innovation, and ultimately profitability.

——–

In terms of stories, I recently launched a LinkedIn newsletter called Driving Communities Forward to highlight different social impact and nonprofit leaders. It’s been such a privilege to speak with so many passionate visionaries who are all focused on melding business and impact, as well as hearing about how we can support their endeavors.

My first feature profiled the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program Associate Director of Leadership Programs, Danielle Holly. Her vision for the future captures why I wanted to start this newsletter to begin with – to shine a light on these important perspectives:

“My hope for the future of philanthropy is that it works in partnership with business, and brings to bear its community knowledge and partnerships to ensure that the individuals whose lives we’re trying to make better are leading the design of the solutions.”

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

This year, I’m looking forward to expanding our Cruise for Good program in line with Cruise’s driverless expansion. As we grow our driverless service in new markets like Austin and Phoenix, our Pledge 1% commitment means that at least 1% of our fleet will serve local communities everywhere we go. We’ve seen so much impact through our meal delivery partnership in San Francisco — providing 2.3 million meals to neighbors in need and I’m eager to see this impact expanded. Because our approach is grounded in deep community partnership, we’re bringing a community-centered approach to our work, forming trusting partnerships, and continuously improving as we grow. That’s what motivates me – the opportunity to increase our impact for local communities across the country and to innovate while we’re at it.

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Sravanthi Aitha

Principal Architect, Solunus Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Hyderabad, Telangana, India

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.

As the Principal Architect at Solunus, I have technical oversight of the deliverables across multiple projects on the Salesforce platform and actively mentor other Salesforce developers/architects. I also engage in presales activities to understand our customer’s business goals and help them get the maximum from their investments in the Salesforce platform.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive?

I feel that creating an inclusive and equitable workplace is an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and commitment from everyone in the organizations we work at, the communities we live in, and even inside our homes. Here are some of my thoughts on how we can embrace equity:
• At the workplace, we can create a diverse and inclusive workplace, ensuring that the company’s hiring policies and practices are inclusive and free from discrimination. We can also provide regular diversity and inclusion training to employees.
• Encourage employees to speak up about any issues or concerns and make sure that management listens and takes appropriate action.
• Foster an environment where all employees feel valued, respected, and included. This can be achieved by promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives, celebrating cultural and religious holidays, and creating safe spaces for employees to share their experiences and perspectives.

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

My mother and my mother-in-law are whom I look up to in my personal life. I get inspiration from their persistence to learn and grow by overcoming challenges. They constantly demonstrate their resourcefulness in solving problems by coming up with solutions with limited means. They motivate me to come up with innovative solutions for whatever problems I encounter in different situations.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

The best advice I have ever received is – The passage of time is inevitable and unstoppable, constantly bringing change, which is the only constant element in life. So, I adapt to changes and am agile in my approach to various things in life.

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

I’m self-disciplined and always ensure that I am healthy and practice healthy habits. Also, the support from my family always keeps me going and helps me remain optimistic.

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

Giving back to society helps us build stronger communities and spreads humanity. By giving back, individuals and organizations can create a sense of community, connection, and empathy and build a more just and equitable society for everyone. Especially during this era where technology is leading, it is essential to remember the ethical values that underpin our society.

I am very proud of the outcomes enabled by the “Pennam foundation,” an organization that our CEO has founded. We provided over 200,000+ meals to the needy and 150 days of food to 100 blind and special needs children at Nethra Vidyalaya (School for Blind children) in Visakhapatnam, India in 2022. Also, we ensured that Nethra Vidyalaya was backed up with a 100% power supply by installing a UPS infrastructure.

The foundation provides free medical treatment and healthy organic food in many underserved communities. We also help improve the quality of life for women through an initiative that provided sanitary pads to 10,000 unprivileged women and by building awareness to combat myths and stigma around sensitive sexual health topics while improving hygiene. I am grateful to be associated with a company that invests in causes that uplifts society.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

One word that best describes me is Go-Getter/Highflyer. The reason being, I set goals professionally and personally, and I’m keen on accomplishing them by giving my 100%.

Do you have any unique or useful life hacks to help get through your day?

I find simple ways to finish tasks quickly and relax. Also, if there are any other tasks I can complete parallelly on the go, I ensure to finish them, as it helps me get through my day effortlessly.

Do you have any go-to apps or tools use love to use?

Google/ChatGPT

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

Professionally, I’m working towards becoming a Salesforce Certified Technical Architect (CTA). It is great to be working at a place that supports me in this journey. On the personal front, I want to reduce my body age through physical fitness.

I’m also excited to see my daughter achieve greater heights. She represented Telangana state in the National Track Cycling Championship 2022, held in Assam. I am thrilled to see her confidence level as she strives for a national medal this year. I am an excited and proud parent.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I am glad to be involved in this year’s #WomenWhoLead campaign, and I always anticipate witnessing women becoming more independent, empowered and source of inspiration.

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Anita Motwani

COO, Sarla Ventures (Nidra).

San Francisco, CA

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.

I run this e-commerce business that my sister started in 2014. I am in charge of all pieces of the business that we currently run on Amazon and Shopify.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive?

It means the world to me! I am a minority woman who lived through Wall Street in the 90s! Ha! Not many people looked like me on the trading floor. I have been through more situations in the workplace due to my race and sex that I care to remember. My company is joining a Minority Economic Development Council as we are female/minority led and proud of it!

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

My mother. She is STILL the CEO Of her biotech company at the age of 82. She is an immigrant from India, came to the US with about $15 in her pocket. She is the epitome of the American Dream in my eyes. She remains fierce and we are convinced she will live to 120!

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

Stay on your path, stay in your light (in other words, stay out of the drama, keep moving forward, never let them get you down!)

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

My children. I have 2 daughters and 1 stepson. They inspire me every single day!

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

My sister Mona who started this company (and unfortunately passed away in August of 2021) spent her life giving back. Those of us who are carrying the torch for her will make sure that a certain percentage of our sales go to social good, so we are so happy to be a part of Pledge 1%. Mona was an attorney for underserved populations and helped represent them in cases like the mortgage crisis when they were being taken advantage of. Mona also had severe Lyme disease and was a great contributor to that community in terms of knowledge, helping people with insurance, etc.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

Badass! I am a single mom of 2 young women, a rock climber, and in general someone who gets shit done!

Do you have any unique or useful life hacks to help get through your day?

Meditate every morning, exercise at least 5 days a week, do something every day for yourself!

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

I look forward to building the company my sister started into a brand and educating the world on the absolute incredible benefits of sleep!

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Vartika

Growth Marketing Manager, Dextara Digital

Telangana, India

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.

Head of Marketing and Salesforce Partnership Practice. I oversee the Dextara Digital brand’s expansion and am responsible for developing and implementing of marketing strategy align with the business goals. I also ensure the success of my team by supporting the company culture for their professional growth and teamwork.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive?

Embracing equity in the workplace means creating an environment where everyone has an equal chance to succeed, regardless of their personal characteristics. To achieve this, it’s essential to educate employees on issues related to equity and inclusion, set clear goals and track progress, implement policies and practices that promote equity, foster an inclusive workplace culture, and hold leadership accountable. When everyone is treated fairly and has an equal opportunity to succeed, it creates a more productive and positive work environment like the one we have at Dextara.

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

My Parents are my great mentors. They educated me on how to be purpose-driven in life, which keeps me going every day.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

Keep trying until you get it. So always believe in yourself and achieve what you love.

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

If the past brought new and unprecedented challenges, we also have the means to overcome them. Despite the challenges in the past, my optimistic nature helped me think about finding solutions to overcome the challenges. So having the trust, confidence, and positive attitude to handle anything motivated me.

My Belief- Every problem has a solution, and Nothing is impossible. All one can do is be positive and work consistently to become a better person each day.

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

Companies should prioritize social impact because it allows them to make a positive difference in the world and address pressing challenges while also attracting and retaining top talent, building customer loyalty, enhancing brand reputation, and fostering innovation.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

I need two words – Real and Unstoppable because I can’t pretend, and I never give up.

Do you have any unique or useful life hacks to help get through your day?

Surround yourself with positive people, always respond, and don’t react.

Do you have any go-to apps or tools use love to use?

Evernote.

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

Well, nothing new, same as last year to upskill and be able to guide others.

I’m excited about my work with Dextara Digital and will continue to see me grow with the company’s growth this year.
The constant business expansion and being a part of this dynamic work culture always inspire me to take an active part. This excitement uplifts my zeal to be creative and ideate with our teams to improve processes, gain new skills, contribute extra to  #Build<Great>, and offer our clients excellence.

We have begun gaining momentum in the market, and we’re pushing ourselves to raise the bar.

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Lauren Black

Social Impact Manager, Atlassian

Sydney, NSW, Australia

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.

I lead global skilled volunteering and customer support programs that aim to increase the operational effectiveness and capability of nonprofit and social enterprise teams.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive? 

Everyone benefits when equity, inclusion and belonging are realised. People feel safer and therefore have the confidence to be more creative. More perspectives fuel innovation and better outcomes for customers. But most importantly, every person is valued equally.

To build more equitable and inclusive workplaces we need every person to truly believe in the value of equity and make consistent, intentional efforts to lift others up and affect systemic change.

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

I’m very fortunate to have a long list of strong, empathetic women who continue to be guiding voices for me. Karen Iles taught me to root social impact in evidence and gave me opportunities as an intern that accelerated my career. Dr Eva Cheng was the epitome of inclusion, always inviting everyone by default and creating space for others.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

Great careers are discovered, not planned.

I’ve heard this from so many different women, mostly in technology, who have taken interesting opportunities as they arose, rather than having a rigid long-term goal.

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

There are incredibly clever people with lived expertise solving problems in their communities every day. We are seeing a shift in philanthropy to redistribute resources to organisations led by these people which presents a very promising future for us all. There is also much more collaboration in social impact than 5 years ago which reduces redundancies and fosters collective impact.

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

The business case for taking care of our planet and communities is incredibly strong. We attract better talent, have more diverse and creative teams, engage our employees through volunteering, and inspire our customers with stories of how nonprofit customers use our products. But more importantly, redistributing wealth and resources to those who are systemically and structurally disadvantaged is a moral imperative.

Every Atlassian employee has 5 days to volunteer every year. When the partner of an Atlassian software engineer experienced a traumatic birth, he reached out to a local organisation to provide technology support. Being empowered and encouraged to support a cause personally relevant to him has been fulfilling, but more importantly, the organisation has developed new processes allowing them to grow rapidly and reach more parents experiencing birth trauma.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

Optimistic. I always see the good in people (or at least have empathy for their flaws) and trust that humanity can solve the problems we’ve created.

Do you have any unique or useful life hacks to help get through your day?

Action tasks you dislike first – the more they linger, the worse they are to tackle.

Do you have any go-to apps or tools use love to use?

I love Atlassian’s new goal-tracking tool Atlas. It helps me share quick updates on all the different projects I’m working on and learn about what the rest of the team is doing. It avoids duplication of effort and allows you to celebrate the achievements of your team!

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

Atlassian Foundation is currently refining its strategy and I’m enjoying thinking deeply about the problems we are trying to solve and the impact we hope to make. In social impact, there are so many causes you can support, wonderful organisations and potential activities to drive outcomes. It’s really important to be really clear on who you serve, how you serve them and more importantly, what you don’t do.

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Claire Revell

CEO, Intellek

Devon, UK

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive?

Understanding bias and building awareness is a big first step towards making real change. We need to build diverse teams in the workplace represented by different cultures, genders, different upbringings and educational backgrounds. There is still a lack of mentors, role models, for young women to look up to in the tech industry. If all of the leadership roles within tech, or any other industry, are filled by men, then women will feel no encouragement or support to aim higher than what is expected of them. Equal opportunities, equal pay and more support for women who want a family AND a career. We shouldn’t have to choose. Women need to feel empowered, they need to be heard, and a strong support network is crucial. I strongly believe that a diverse team is a strong team. I encourage everyone in my team to share their experiences, knowledge, and ideas from their first day of joining the company.

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

I think that you learn from everyone you meet, whether it’s something positive that influences you or whether it makes you question their approach and how you can perhaps be better or do things differently. My mum taught me the importance of being kind, loving and having it in my heart to forgive. My Auntie Sarah taught me to be fearless and to never give up. My mentor in South Africa, Dawn Leppan who is the founder of our charity partner 1000 Hills, taught me how to pay it forward and how to navigate change. My husband is always there to listen and provide advice, and supports me chasing my dreams so in a way he’s a mentor. My Dad and step-dad taught me to never settle and to never let self-limiting beliefs of others hold me back. To name a few very well-known women, who are not only strong leaders but are also avid philanthropists, who I also see as role models include Melinda French Gates, Amal Clooney, Eva Longoria and Michelle Obama. All of these people have impacted my personal journey in one way or another, so I see them all as mentors.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

Say yes, even if you don’t know how you’re going to do it. You can figure that out later. Don’t ever miss out on an opportunity because you’re unsure, you don’t know where it might take you.

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

My passion, knowing I can make a difference, is what keeps me motivated and keeps me fighting through those challenging days. I’m striving to navigate a change, close knowledge gaps and opening doors to new opportunities in everything I do. It doesn’t always have to be a big change. Sometimes you can do things that impact just one or two people, but the knock on impact of that could be much bigger.

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. One person can make a difference, they can slowly move the needle in the right direction, but a company with 10 employees or 10,000 employees can have a much bigger impact. Today, a percentage of each purchase goes directly from Intellek to children in South Africa, helping to ensure every child gets access to education and a safe environment. Technology has enabled us to reach every corner of the globe and provide the sort of education and opportunities that will improve the world and boost its economy. When I give the team a Christmas bonus they also get the opportunity to donate a set amount to a charity of their choice. It doesn’t have to be thousands of pounds, a small amount from more businesses would make the world a better place. Not only is it the right thing to do, and for those business owners focusing on their bottom line, there are business benefits too. Customers and employees expect more nowadays from companies, and prioritizing social impact can help with attracting new customers and the best talent.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

Determined – Whether that’s in personal or business life. Determined to solve a problem, determined to navigate change, determined to help someone thrive.

Do you have any unique or useful life hacks to help get through your day?

I’m not religious or spiritual, I do believe in manifestations though. Tell yourself you want to be happy, tell yourself you want to be the best version of yourself today and it’s surprising the impact that can have.

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

Intellek has a plethora of big projects this year and I’m looking forward to them all. We’re making some big moves to disrupt the industry. It’s also my 20th year in business this August, and I’ll be 40 in February 2024, so my team and I are currently making plans with 1000 Hills Community Helpers, in Inchanga South Africa, to build a new classroom and potentially a safe house too. I’m so excited and I’m thrilled some of my team will get to be a part of this experience too.

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Sarah Lacy

CEO, ChairmanMe

San Francisco, CA

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.

I help underrepresented folks gain equality at work and in life through a results based online learning community

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive?

You need to solve the problem where it starts: At the first manager promotion level. We’ve developed a dozen+ courses that give everyone real actionable tools to level the playing field at an unfair game. It’s also about intersectionality. There’s too much white women benefitting from equity.

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

So many!! Marc Andreessen to Ann Lai. I’ve been very fortunate to have a huge number of diverse people help me out!

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

Don’t make decisions based on money.

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

I’m changing thousands of underrepresented people’s lives everyday. That’s pretty inspiring!!

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

Everyone with privilege has a duty to pay that forward. For example, we built our new media mastery course to deliver what I spent $50k+ on for just $2k. Our whole mission is using technology to give ANSWERS for folks who aren’t being treated fairly.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

Badass. I break down walls for myself and others fearlessly.

Do you have any unique or useful life hacks to help get through your day?

Not falling for the stories your survival based brain serves you!! Examine if they are true!!

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

I’d love to get my company profitable. 

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Neeti Mehta Shukla 

Co-founder & Social Impact Officer, Automation Anywhere

San Jose, CA, USA

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.

I am a co-founder at Automation Anywhere and a category creator for the robotic process automation industry. I currently lead our Tech for Good efforts in a dedicated Social Impact Office in three focused areas: empowering non-profits with the advantages of automation for better productivity, technology upskilling and reskilling for marginalized socio-economic groups with little opportunity to learn a “future of work” technology; community investment through volunteer hours and funding. I head uplift efforts for the women in our company.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive?

Much of what we do as a company, whether it’s our business side or our social impact side, is making RPA, a key AI-based business automation tool, and associated training and certification, equally accessible to everyone, regardless of where they are in the world or their socio-economic circumstances. The power of the kind of intelligent automation that people with no or little coding experience can use is that it levels the playing field for future job search.

95% of people will work with a bot in the not-so-distant future, so why not upskill now? Our efforts focus on those NGOs in economically challenged global regions who offer uplift to groups often excluded from opportunities to learn fast-developing technologies and skills essential for future income security.

Organizations and leaders should integrate key performance indicators to include strides made to become more inclusive, more equitable and more empathetic in all they do. The leadership team is also tasked with seeing how better to use this moment in time, where AI-based automation has developed, to work towards a more equitable society. We can help bridge the skills and individual wealth gaps that will be created by future technology jobs.

Our Women’s Empowerment Circle aims to support women in a very competitive, innovative and hypergrowth culture by providing support, exposure, development and learning to foster leadership and career growth, and unconscious bias awareness training to help our company embrace equity.

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

On the one hand, I certainly had mentors who supported and empowered me and stretched my abilities to take on challenges, which was so important. On the other hand, I wish I had additional role models who were more like me as I progressed into executive levels. Both circumstances definitely guided my personal journey.

Growing up in an entrepreneurial household in Chennai, India, I was surrounded by people who believed in me. My parents brought me up to believe I could do anything.

My husband Mihir—with whom I co-founded Automation Anywhere and work together with every day—is both my mentor and my hardest taskmaster. He can often spot the potential in me before I can. Let me share an anecdote. As both a tech-lover and a consumer-behavior expert, I enjoy creating unusual and compelling experiences for our customers. At a tech event once, Mihir looked at me and asked, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could have customers understand automation on the floor of an event within 20 minutes?” He knew I would accept the challenge and thrive at it. I created a curated use-case experience and a platform of delivery for prospects from any industry or any department–even for those with no degree or experience in coding—to get a taste of automation and its easy accessibility in 20 minutes. To date, it is one of the most unique and talked about in-person, digital experiences in our industry.

Earlier in my career, and even now, women leaders in executive positions or in the C-suite are uncommon. Men have a large selection of C-level executives to model themselves after or learn from, whether from a management, leadership, family or industry perspective. As a woman entrepreneur in the tech space, an immigrant and brown, and who wanted or had multiple children, it was hard to find a woman mentor in a similar position. There weren’t many I could look at and say, “I want to be just like her, because she’s just like me.”

I aspire to change this by empowering women professionals and colleagues and being a mentor myself. The more of us there are, the greater the chances a young girl somewhere will find inspiration and courage to be like one of us—and hopefully much more, to find a mentor she feels connected with, and knows she is not alone. Having said that, I have so many women, too many to name, who have helped me over the years—mentored, advised and motivated me—but most importantly gave me so much of their time and wisdom.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

“Well-behaved women rarely make history.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

What inspires me is we were able to help both our customers and social impact partners create extraordinary and innovative responses to the unexpected chaos in the last few years. What has emerged on the other side of these efforts is a re-imagined future that is much better for their businesses, their industry and the world than what they had several years ago. Some examples follow.

Automation Anywhere became the pandemic-era ally of the UK’s NHS with a breakthrough technology, the Oxygen Bot, that monitored oxygen flow to ventilators. Overburdened workers and hospitals of the NHS welcomed this technology as a frontline partner that not only helped them work faster and smarter during the pandemic but saved hundreds of lives and returned thousands of hours for higher level work. This first bot gave the NHS the courage to trial other automations across dozens of NHS entities the following year. By 2023, automations will repurpose 1 million hours to allow staff more time with patients, much less time on administration, and deliver even better care.

More recently, the nonprofit Center for Humanitarian Technology and Automation Anywhere built a bot that gives overburdened volunteers at Ukrainian agency Step with Hope more time for their highest priority—face-to-face human relief efforts with hundreds of people who have been forced to flee their homes due to violent conflict. Ensuring the completion, accuracy and speed of online relief request processing, the bot processed 17,500 requests for relief aid from 14,000+ Ukrainians in its first 10 weeks. The bot saved staff 400 hours of processing time in the first six weeks of its operation, allowing them that much more time to spend addressing the complex challenges of the displaced that only another human can help resolve.

What motivates me is knowing that there is so much more we can do and seeing the impact our technology can make for non-profits and society as a whole.

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

We have always believed that social impact is core to our mission, strategy and creates external and internal value for our company. Most importantly it is the right thing to do.

It has always been a part of our sense of purpose and speaks to our external stakeholders (our customers and our governments for example) about how Automation Anywhere acts as a world citizen. Our Social Impact Office is only a year old (granted our social impact efforts extend back to our Day 1) but when I consider the communities and social impact partners we’ve touched and list what we’ve done beyond making money, it is powerful: Save lives; raise people’s standard of living (thereby boosting local economies); preserve community culture and family structure; find meaningful and gainful employment; break generational cycles of poverty and help others survive displacement in war zones. That list goes beyond showing good intentions and demonstrates that we have the vision and capabilities to face challenges both business and social impact-related and maintain strong performance in both.

Internally, we noticed an immediate uptick in positive employee feedback literally minutes after we announced our Volunteer Time Off program at the Company All Hands and since then, any time after we produce giveback events. Don’t we all want our employees to feel “satisfied” “humbled” “honored” and “blessed” after they volunteer?

Pledge 1% has been instrumental in driving both the intent and the blueprints to affect this change in organizations. When companies integrate social impact into their culture and way of doing business it is a win-win for all.

Shareable stories: Our impact work is intentional and focused on reskilling endeavors and increasing NGO productivity.

Here is an example of how we impact individuals. We launched an RPA curriculum at a PeopleShores Center of Excellence (COE) in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where more than one-third of the citizens live in poverty. PeopleShores is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) that brings tech reskilling and jobs to economically challenged U.S. communities. Clarksdale resident Sharlett Keaton says her life changed after she became certified in Automation Anywhere and was named the lead of the PeopleShores RPA team, overseeing bot development for local and national businesses clients. One of Sharlett’s bots helped the state of Mississippi file over 20,000 unemployment claims daily, keeping payments flowing to needy families during the pandemic. Our training “paid it forward” to Sharlett, who continues to advance her career in this field. Sharlett, in turn, has already made a huge impact, by helping thousands of people in her own community stay economically afloat during COVID.

And stories of our impact on a larger scale.

Take leriba.ai, an Intelligent Automation solutions and service provider with a skills development arm. With an aspirational goal to train a million African women in RPA skills, leriba.ai remotely trained 700 women from across South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria in Automation Anywhere RPA. Post-training, more than 400 women quickly found new or better work, many as RPA developers at major banks or private companies​.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) organization RuralShores hires and trains educated youth from impoverished farming backgrounds in rural Indian states. “40-45% of rural Indian youth migrate to large cities and spend all their earnings on living expenses while becoming disconnected from their families,” says Colonel Ravi Gupta, CEO, RuralShores. “So far, we have skilled more than 26,000 and employed 16,000 at their doorsteps in rural India, preserving the village ecosystem and prompting greater family savings. Automation technology is saving us from becoming obsolete.”

We and the NHS continue to share a deep commitment to care that the pandemic first inspired. Our Social Impact Office has recently spearheaded a joint whitepaper series with the Northampton General Hospital (NGH) NHS Trust Automation Accelerator Programme (the NHS hub for automation information and knowledge) to openly share the NHS’ automation journey with the world. The series is a blueprint for healthcare systems and public sectors planetwide, including those of less affluent nations, on how they can enter the 21st century in days rather than years, with intelligent automation. We focus specifically on the kinds of operations that will help hospitals and staff adapt to challenges faster and save more lives post-COVID.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

“Woman,” because I wear many hats: founder, impact officer, mom, sister, wife, leader, citizen, mentor and friend. I love all of them.

Do you have any unique or useful life hacks to help get through your day?

“Women can, must and will” and “Do it well and do it right.”

Do you have any go-to apps or tools use love to use?

I love Excel!!! Chocolate and Excel are some of the greatest inventions of human-kind!

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

Our work on big challenges has yielded notable impact in 2022. We are already working on our engagement with the World Economic Forum and scalability challenges for 2023. I’m excited about upcoming upskilling/reskilling programs for Ukrainian refugees and also one closer to home, for youth from East Palo Alto. We are working on many such partnerships, and I also hope to impact other large scale health systems like the NHS.

On a personal note, I missed traveling during the Pandemic and so hope to see more of the world in 2023. I hope to visit Tanzania for the first time this year.

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Molly Trerotola

VP of Social Impact, ShoppingGives

Brooklyn, NY, USA

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.

In my leadership role at ShoppingGives, I work with dozens of retail brands and nonprofits of all sizes to launch Social Impact partnerships collaborations in fundraising cause marketing campaigns. ShoppingGives is a tech-for-good ecomm platform that facilitates impactful fundraising campaigns, helping brands give to nonprofits.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity.” What does this mean to you? How can we build workplaces that are more equitable and inclusive?

To me, “Embracing Equity” means actively working to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background or identity, has fair and equal access to opportunities, resources, and power. This involves challenging systems and structures that perpetuate inequality and advocating for policies and practices that promote equity and inclusion. Embracing equity means striving for a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential, and recognizing that we all have a role to play in making that vision a reality.

Building equitable and inclusive workplaces requires a deliberate and ongoing effort to create an environment that values diversity, promotes inclusion, and addresses systemic biases and barriers. We can make progress towards more equitable and inclusive workplaces by: Educating ourselves on the impact of unconscious biases and how they can manifest in the workplace; establishing policies and practices that promote fairness and equal opportunity; fostering an environment of belonging; regularly measuring progress towards equity and inclusion goals; and holding ourselves accountable for advancing these efforts. By taking these steps and committing to ongoing efforts, workplaces can become more equitable, inclusive, and supportive of all employees.

Do you have any mentors or role models who have helped you on your personal journey?

Mentors are important because they can offer guidance, support, and wisdom, and are a crucial part of personal and professional growth. I’ve been lucky to have a variety of mentors: bosses, coworkers, life coaches, and even my sister. Each have helped me chip away goals, overcome barriers, and reach (or get close to) my full potential.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” Don’t get hung up on not knowing the future. Learn from the past to make smarter decisions, and move forward with the best information you have on hand.

The past few years have brought many new and unprecedented challenges. What keeps you motivated or inspires you to stay optimistic?

What has kept me motivated and inspired during the last few years is working in social impact and a sense of purpose and meaning. Staying connected to what matters most through my work, surrounding myself with a supportive personal and professional community of individuals with similar values, (and celebrating small victories), helps me stay optimistic during turbulent times.

Pledge 1% helps companies of all sizes and stages leverage their assets for social good. Why do you think it’s important that companies prioritize social impact? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?

Companies play a significant role in shaping the world we live in. They have tremendous power and influence, and the decisions they make can have far-reaching effects on society and the environment. Prioritizing social impact means taking responsibility for these effects and working to ensure that they are positive and sustainable.

Companies should prioritize social impact because it’s good for business: Consumers are increasingly looking to support companies that align with their values and are making a positive impact in the world. It’s also the right thing to do. As members of society, companies have a responsibility to contribute to the greater good. Finally, it can drive innovation. Prioritizing social impact can drive innovation by spurring companies to develop new solutions and technologies that address social and environmental challenges.

Ultimately, prioritizing social impact is about recognizing the massive role companies play in creating a better world.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

(Proud) Generalist. In a society that rewards specialists, I’ve found most success in having a broad range of knowledge, skills, and perspectives across multiple areas, which has made me a valuable asset in the social impact start-up world. Don’t be afraid of being a generalist.

Do you have any unique or useful life hacks to help get through your day?

My newest and most impactful hack: No phone in bed. While this isn’t necessarily a professional tool, ending my day and starting my day screen free (at least for the first several minutes) has had a positive impact on my energy level and focus.

Do you have any go-to apps or tools use love to use?

Asana for project management, and, more recently, AI programs like ChatGPT. These are revolutionizing the way we work — and very very quickly.

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

I’m thrilled to be working with incredible nonprofits and retailers to build the future of ShoppingGives. Without revealing too much, we’re investing in products and programs that guarantee social impact as a critical part of any brand’s business model.