Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Julie Barker, VP of Talent at Zylo.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
As our VP of Talent at Zylo, I lead all things people. This includes everything from recruitment marketing, to hiring the best talent that is able to provide the best experience to our customers, to talent programs and how we live out our values daily.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
I always went in to roles with a plan to take on more. I would first prove myself in the one role, so it felt easy to add more. I always say master your current role first and mentor those while you are there. Then, you will be seen for the next opportunity.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
Things I continue to hear is being advocates and sponsors for other women. The more opportunity we have to bring in our male sponsors and advocates into the conversations, the better.
Do you have any mentors? What does mentorship mean to you?
Yes, it’s actually someone who has reported to me in the past. She challenges me in a great way, brings out other ideas and perspectives and also has the perspective of working for me. I learn from her a ton.
I have had several amazing mentors over my career and many folks I am currently mentoring. We constantly learn from each other. Mentoring has been the greatest leadership opportunity I have had.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
Be authentic, pursue things you are not sure you are 100% qualified for and be intentional and genuine about the network you build.
I always say people will match energy. If you pursue something in your career and take ownership, the other person will at least match you. If you expect for a career to be created for you, you will likely be disappointed.
What woman inspires you the most? Why?
Right now it is my 8-year-old daughter. There are so many leadership qualities I see from her including taking risks, always bringing someone new into a group, helping classmates and not seeing color.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
For Podcasts- Handle with Care: Empathy in the Workplace and How I Built This.
What’s something coming up that excites you?
On the personal front, a long weekend beach trip with my aunt and cousin. With Pledge 1%, we are working with them to bring the Indy Pledge 1% companies together for greater impact across the city.
Originally posted: March 13, 2020
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Kerrin Mitchell, Chief Development Officer at Fluxx.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
I am responsible for the strategic direction and development of Fluxx. My focus is on the cultivation of revenue streams, fundraising, business development and client success, while furthering the overall mission of the organization.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
I was never a 5-year plan person. While it is indeed inspirational to see that directive in folks, I opted for a less defined route. I tend to trust that each chapter will lead me to places where the sum of the parts amass into something bigger. In my career, I’ve been in finance/accounting, operations, client and even compliance roles. None of these were long-term goals of mine, yet all of those skills built an incredible and uncommon arsenal of capabilities for success at my current, and likely long-standing, role in sales leadership and business development. In that sense, the best decision I’ve made is to honor those learnings at each step as they are all immeasurably useful down the line.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
You are in charge of your own well-being and need to go to the mattresses for YOU. Know your worth, fight for it and do not settle. Remember that you are needed and valued. Your role, stake and leadership in your company should reflect that. I believe that women have strength in creating a belonging culture; however at times, this can get in the way of acting independently and autonomously to ensure that value is recognized and rewarded.
Do you have any mentors? What does mentorship mean to you?
I do not have a formal mentor, but I do have a few informal ones that I call upon as my personal “board” of friends and colleagues. I look at that cohort as not only mentors for work, but for my personal well-being as well. In that sense, I open the aperture of mentorship from a career lens to a life lens.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
Know your superpower. You can read a million books to offer roadmaps on behaviors and approaches. Yes, some have value and can be empowering. However, the writer has a different skill set, personality and approach than you, so please don’t take those recipes verbatim and try to replicate it.
Authenticity is the thing that people gravitate towards naturally. That is what makes you successful in navigating your organization and career. By respecting your lens and your journey, you will find more meaning, joy and gravity in each step. You will be a better manager, leader and person as a result.
What woman inspires you the most? Why?
Ruth Bader Ginsberg. On the Federal Bench for over 25 years, RBG passed the most important legislation for human rights. Her work was a generation in the making and each step she took was an important pillar to build the future that she envisioned. I look to her as a warrior. She never blames her circumstances for a lack of performance or commitment. She remains unwavering in purpose, character, integrity and independence.
When did your company join Pledge 1%? How long have you been working on your impact program?
Fluxx is a mission-driven company. While we value and emphasize diversity, we have one fundamental thing in common, our commitment to giving back. I am proud of the fact that our entire team gives back to their respective communities individually, while as a company we come together to support our local nonprofits. These values are part of what made joining Pledge 1% such a no-brainer. We joined this incredible cohort in 2018. For us, Pledge 1% is a constant reminder to go above and beyond.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Count Rostov is a truly wonderful character who reminded me what grace, positivity and good manners can do. It was so beautifully written.
What’s something coming up that excites you?
In no particular order, emergent philanthropy trends, Mars exploration, and the 2020 elections.
Originally posted: March 12, 2020
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Meggie Dials, Senior Regional Vice President of Sales at Salesforce.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
I lead two teams that sell into large, enterprise companies. We digitally transform companies via a suite of technology products, ensuring customer success and helping them create meaningful relationships with their customers.
How long have you been in your current position?
I have worked at Salesforce for over 10 years and have led teams for the past 6+. This year, I moved into a second-line leadership role.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
I could easily point to the decision to come to ExactTarget/Salesforce. However, more specifically, when I started I made the decision to just put my head down and do good work. I was the first in the office, I dressed up more formally than my colleagues (dress for the job you want!) and I let my work speak for itself before I started raising my hand for promotions.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
There are a lot of challenge facing women. From being taken seriously, to getting the same amount of airtime in meetings, to knowing when and how to address inequities in compensation, and finding mentors and the work/life balance.
Personally, the work/life balance is a constant struggle as a working mom of two young children married to a man that also travels for work. This is a demanding career and so finding the right balance between getting the job done and also being with my family is tough. Even when I feel like the time investment is balancing ok, the mom-guilt is never ending. I know working dads probably have similar struggles, but our society puts so much pressure on mothers that we often bear the burden at home.
Do you have any mentors? What does mentorship mean to you?
I do! Both of my mentors at work are men and have helped shape my career by giving me space in their meetings and a seat at the table. They have invested in me and my development, given me candid feedback and celebrated my successes. In addition, I have my professional “board of directors” made up of great friends and colleagues who not only support me professionally, but also are my go-to when I look for advice.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
Develop your brand and then own it. Be intentional about how you want your colleagues to view you and your body of work and then make sure that your presence represents that.
Meaning, your social media, how you interact with you coworkers inside and outside of work, etc.
What woman inspires you the most? Why?
Personally, my mother. She has dealt with such loss in the past four years and her strength is unmatched.
Professionally, my good friend Cindy. She has such courage not only in how she approaches her career, but also in how she communicates. She also moved to Tel Aviv for a year to take on a massive project at Salesforce. She constantly inspires me.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
I’m currently listening to Epstein, Devil and the Darkness (I love investigative journalism podcasts!) and reading “G’morning, G’night” by Lin Manual Miranda.
What’s something coming up that excites you?
In the immediate future, I am going with my husband and children to Florida for 4 days! I can’t wait to see my children delighted by the ocean and sand!
Originally posted: March 11, 2020
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Kassy Morris, Head of Construction Education and Employee Onboarding at Procore Technologies.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
I lead the awesome teams that develop and deliver a world class new hire orientation and long-term construction education for employees. The Construction Education Program focuses on practical learning experiences that help non-construction folks understand how construction works and how our company helps.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
I made the very difficult decision to leave the traditional construction industry to step to the sidelines and drive positive change from the outside.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
In a male-dominated profession, the number one challenge I’ve experienced is demonstrating competence. The burden of proof is on me as a woman, instead of having assumed competence as my male counterparts do.
Do you have any mentors? What does mentorship mean to you?
Yes. I have several, both male and female. My mentors do many things for me. The things that come to mind are modeling the way, advocating for me and those around them, and providing direct feedback and advice in tough situations. They also tend to push my boundaries when I’m not doing it myself.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
It is incumbent upon you to take your seat at the table. It is no one else’s responsibility.
If you are fortunate enough to have advocates for you and that support you, make sure you embrace them. We can’t do it ourselves, even though it does start with self-advocacy. Use your voice; your perspective is valuable.
What woman inspires you the most? Why?
At this time in my life, during the season of my life, a woman that I work with named Kelly inspires me the most. She is a leader with a strong but thoughtful voice. She believes in herself and speaks the difficult truths that drive success for her teams. She is a wife that supports her husband in all circumstances and she is a mother who has raised two strong, independent, successful children.
She’s done this all while developing a career of her own in which she is respected and sought after. She is objective but kind, resolute in her positions, cares fiercely for individuals in her life and models a work ethic that cannot be rivaled. She shows both dedication and selflessness in the things that she does, both personally and professionally. She does so in a humble way, without being boisterous. She does not expect others to drive her success.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
I’m currently re-reading Measure What Matters, which speaks to the power of OKRs as a goal-setting methodology for business; however, I leverage them personally as well. I love good fiction as well and have fallen in love with Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter. I also enjoy NPR’s How I Built This podcast and Last Podcast on the Left as a guilty pleasure.
What’s something coming up that excites you?
I have recently been asked to share an idea I have on a TEDx stage in 2020 and to author a book about it. The topic is aimed at how the homeless can save the construction industry.
It will explore my hypothesis that we can leverage the able-bodied homeless population to supply the construction industry with trades people and knowledgeable workers. This will then reduce the severe labor shortage we are experiencing that threatens the future of our built world.
Originally posted: March 10, 2020
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Jaclyn Mazzarella, VP of Marketing at Addteq.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
I am responsible for all marketing and inbound sales efforts for Addteq. Although my favorite areas of expertise are event and digital marketing, I am also a content whiz.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
Leaving my state agency job that I originally thought would blast off my career.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
Constantly feeling like I need to prove my worth. Sometimes, seeming like you know enough about a topic isn’t enough to prove you are “the right one for the job”.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
Keep learning. The knowledge you will need to know to expand your career did not end from graduating college.
Be open minded, accept criticism and be aware of opportunities around you.
What woman inspires you the most? Why?
Michelle Obama. The way she made a person of herself, even while being The First Lady of the United States, is inspiring. Especially, how she decided to take the resources she had available to her and use them to give back to the community in so many different ways.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
The Myth of the Nice Girl. It is an amazing book that should be read by ALL young female professionals.
What’s something coming up that excites you?
Women’s History Month! And the summer months (I miss the beach).
Originally posted: March 6, 2020
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Mandy Ballinger, Director of Operations at NextChapter.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
I manage daily operations, product development, and user support at NextChapter which is a cloud-based software application for attorneys to prepare , manage and file their cases online. I’m also responsible for managing and overseeing NextChapter’s paralegal operations.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
Prior to my current role, I worked as a paralegal in a large law firm. While I was ambitious and moved up quickly into a management role, my path was very defined and safe. I never felt like I was reaching my full potential.
One of the best decisions I’ve made in my career was to take a leap of faith and join as the first full-time employee at NextChapter when it was a small startup on the verge of launching its product. I was new to the legal tech industry and there were so many unknowns, but it was an adventure that was just as scary as it was exciting.
From that position, I became the COO and helped launch & develop the product and grow the company to a team of more than 20 employees. Our rapid growth & success eventually got the attention of Fastcase, another legal tech company, who recently acquired us. I’m very proud of my accomplishments with NextChapter and Fastcase. I couldn’t have achieved those if I hadn’t taken a risk almost 5 years ago.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
There have been times where my opinion has been put into question, likely because of my gender. My role is to build and manage software for attorneys, as aa non-attorney and to lead developers as a non-developer. Both of those groups are predominantly male.
Trusting in myself and being confident has been essential in my role to be taken seriously. It’s not an easy thing to do and it’s taken time and practice to successfully become a habit.
Do have any mentors? What does mentorship mean to you?
Yes, I think mentors are invaluable. I think sometimes people can think of mentors as only formal relationships. I consider many people in my life to be mentors that I turn to to help me talk through tough situations and to ask for their opinions and advice.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
My best advice would be to not back down when it feels like the odds are stacked against you. There were so many times in my career where I knew I had the right answer or solution and I would start to second guess myself because I was being challenged, likely because of my gender.
I’ve learned over time that doing what’s right is rarely what’s easy. Every time I stand up for myself, it’s like adding a building block. Over time those blocks have built a strong foundation for trust that I have in myself.
What woman inspires you the most? Why?
I’m inspired by woman who have championed the efforts to support other woman such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, J.K. Rowling and Sheryl Sandberg.
When did your company join Pledge 1%? How long have you been working on your impact program?
NextChapter was founded with the Pledge 1% model at conception. It was one of the aspects of the company that really caught my attention when I was considering joining the team. Having an integrated philanthropy modal so early on as a company has allowed us to integrate giving back and helping others into our core culture and values.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
I love Brene Brown’s book, Dare to Lead. She very honest and authentic about the struggles of being a leader and the importance of being vulnerable to be courageous.
What’s something coming up that excites you?
I’ve been working over the last 6 months to build a new service offered through NextChapter, called Paralegal as a Service which will be launching very soon! I’m excited for this launch because it’s been a chance for me to use my new role as Director of Operations to work with, and lead, paralegals again. The service is like an Uber for paralegals, where attorneys can work remotely with paralegals in our network. I have really enjoyed recruiting new paralegals to join our network. We have a very energetic and hardworking team that’s so eager for this service to launch!
Originally posted: March 6, 2020
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Jessica Hyman, Head of Strategy and Sustainability at Atlassian.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
I lead Atlassian’s global sustainability program which includes diversity and belonging, climate and human rights.
How long have you been in your current position?
I’ve been at Atlassian 4 years and my role has continually evolved. Previously, I led people analytics, strategy, program management, operations and communications. I also ran our Pledge 1% involvement and sat on the SF Foundation Council. Atlassian launched our formal sustainability program in April and I’ve been the Head of Strategy and Sustainability since.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
After almost a decade in sustainability consulting, I set an intention to start a sustainability program at a tech company. I turned to Naomi Morenzoni who was running Pledge 1% at Salesforce, who gave me the advice to join an HR team at a tech company and try to start a program from that team. Four years later I accomplished that goal at Atlassian.
My path wasn’t direct and took a lot of turns along the way. My mom taught me the power of “polite persistence” and my Dad taught me “if at first you fall, try, try again”.
Over the course of four years, those two lessons of perseverance and resilience, over a perfect plan, got me there.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
This is a tough one. I feel like the challenges change as you grow. However, the most important thing that has gotten me through each challenge has been having people I could turn to for guidance and resilience.
Do have any mentors? What does mentorship mean to you?
I run a women’s mentoring group called Forum. It’s a place where we can be open about where we are at, inspire each other to reach our goals and ultimately hold each other accountable to getting there. I also can count on several people on my team at Atlassian for mentorship in different areas in which I’m hoping to grow or learn.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
Get clear on a vision of where you want to go. The path to get there is often unclear so just start taking steps in the right direction and be open to changing your approach along the way.
What woman inspires you the most? Why?
I’m not sure I have a single woman to point to, but I always feel inspired when I see a woman really owning her own voice; especially when it may contradict popular opinion.
I’ve watched several women at Atlassian do this including Megha Narayan, Molly Hellerman, Erika Fisher, Amy Glancy and Bek Chee. I really look up to all of them.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
I just finished reading Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton and loved it. My favorite podcast is the New York Time’s the Daily. However, one of my favorite recent podcast episodes is “Ultra Sitting and the Philosophy of Endurance with Jason Bowman” from the Well. It’s about Vipassana – a 12 day silent meditation program that I did last spring.
What’s something coming up that excites you?
A first attempt at a self-supported 50k run in May, from Point Reyes along the coast to San Francisco with a bunch of my friends.
Originally posted: March 5, 2020
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Shanee Ben-Zur. I am the head of marketing, media, & growth, at Crunchbase.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
I lead the teams that shape the Crunchbase brand, market our products, generate demand and create ongoing relationships with our users.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
The best decision I made was to start speaking up. I gave myself guidelines.
If I understand the goals of a project, if I am approaching it with a curious mind, if I have suggestions for what we can do, and more importantly, if I have the ability to help bring those suggestions to life, I’m going to speak up.
That has helped me enormously. It’s gotten me on projects and teams that I wasn’t necessarily connected to because I spoke up and volunteered my support. In my current role, I work with my team to help foster that spirit of speaking up, questioning the status quo and always seeking improvement. As a leader, those diverse perspectives are crucial to finding great solutions and uncovering gaps before it’s too late.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
Leaders and managers who don’t know how to help outspoken women be successful. It’s an endemic issue. If you are a strong, outspoken woman, you will be told that you have to change. Conversely, if you are a strong, outspoken male (especially in a leadership position), the people around you will be told they need to flex to the leader’s style.
Do have any mentors? What does mentorship mean to you?
I have had many mentors over the years. Some bosses, some friends, some co-workers and some direct reports. Mentorship is essentially the act of helping one person identify the best path to get to their goals. I typically identify a strength area that a mentor has that I’m interested in growing in. I will then work with them to learn more about how they developed their skills, or get advice from them on how I can make that strength more integral to the way I work.
I am typically drawn to mentors who able to maintain a sense of calm, positivity and warmth through all their work, especially the hard times. It’s a very unique skill to be able to always put the whole over the individual, especially in times of stress. I also look for mentors who can help me identify strengths that I didn’t know I had and foster them. Additionally, I like to find ways to avoid being overly self critical of areas I’m still working on.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
I think the common trap is to immediately ask, “how do I climb the corporate ladder?”. The problem with that is that it blinds you from asking the more important question, “which ladder do you want to climb?”. It’s important to spend your early days as a professional learning about what different jobs in your space entail and trying your hand at them to see where you find the most passion and excitement.
You’ll need to find something you’re passionate about for the days when your job is hard. And there will be days, many days. That passion will also fuel you to ask for what you deserve as you gain expertise in your field, so you can also have support to move up the corporate ladder. It’s important to come in with an open mind and an eagerness to help solve problems so that you have the chance to learn.
What woman inspires you the most? Why?
Three way tie. My grandmother who survived Auschwitz and emerged as fiery and no-bullshit as you can be. The strength and fortitude to go through the worst of humanity and emerge someone who has humor, love and more than her fair share of sass was an inspiration.
The second is my mother. She always, always told me to demand what I deserve. From being a little kid and forcing me to talk to the server at a restaurant to ask for what I want, to being an adult in the work place and always asking, “are they recognizing my contributions?”.
Last, but certainly not least, my older sister. My sister has worked in heavily male dominated fields her whole career, working her way up from staff engineer, to leading business units and now as a corporate VP at Microsoft. She is strong, doesn’t make apologies for who she is and isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers in pursuit of the greater good. And she does it all while looking for opportunities to bring others up with her.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
I get a lot of value from The Daily podcast – they always find a way to identify the human interest angle of any topic. The second podcast I enjoy is Without Fail, which talks to people who started something and typically had a big fail before getting to their ultimate destination. This really resonates for me because I think we all need to do more to open up and share our failures and how they were actually launchpads to success.
What’s something coming up that excites you?
Crunchbase’s mission is to democratize access to opportunity. One of the ways we do that is by shining a light on inequities in the private company landscape, through research we conduct and editorial stories we share.
We’ll be releasing a report detailing the last decade of investments in female founders in anticipation of International Women’s Day. I’m excited to see how the findings resonate with people in our industry, with media and with female founders who are trying to bring their ideas to market. I believe that the first step to addressing issues is acknowledging their existence. This is one way we’re trying to bring the differences in opportunities to the front of people’s minds.
Originally posted: March 4, 2020
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Diz Petit, Head of Civic Labs.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
I focus on continual integration of our core Civic Labs mission into our company DNA and the growth of our three pillars: Fostering Community Engagement, Promoting Food Security, and Advancing Diverse-Owned Businesses.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
Staying true to what I am passionate about.
When I started at Postmates I became known as “the person who cared about stuff” just through my interactions with other people. When it came time to start a social impact team, it was a no brainer that we had the right folks to build it.
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
Equity.
When did your company join Pledge 1%? How long have you been working on your impact program?
2017! We started our program by building our program in conjunction with support from Pledge 1%. We wouldn’t be where we are today without it.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.
Originally posted: March 3, 2020