Women Who Lead Archives - Page 19 of 43

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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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!!

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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Noemí Jiménez

Cofounder + Partner, qb.

Austin, Texas, USA

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

I’m one of two founders of qb., which is a full service women-owned ESG strategy and communications firm with an entirely remote workforce.

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?

Equity to me necessitates humility – embracing the fact that we are in a constant state of learning, and we will make mistakes. It means being open to listening and taking the time to understand what people need to participate, contribute and thrive in our world. In order to build more equitable workplaces, we have to be flexible, empathetic and open to change.

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

Yes – so many but one that immediately comes to mind is Karla Gallardo, co-founder of Cuyana. Karla is an advisor to qb., and she has helped provide perspective of what it looks like to build a thriving, responsible business and leading with authenticity in her personal brand, while also creating and nurturing a family.

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

Ask yourself whether you’re going for a lifestyle business or building an empire, and then plan your growth accordingly.

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

Heightened consumer awareness and continued appetite for ESG, particularly from financial institutions and impact investors. We’re at an inflection point putting profits over people is becoming less and less feasible.

Companies that do not prioritize social impact (especially among their own human capital), are at risk of a brain drain, degrading their social license to operate, and ultimately losing market share.

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

Empathetic – I care very much about making sure everyone feels heard. I truly believe everyone has something to bring to the table and I work really hard to make sure our partners and our own team members feel they can express themselves, and bring their whole selves to me without judgement and to be acknowledged and receive support. Our own bees are our most important stakeholder, and I want to make sure they feel that every day.

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

First is to set a realistic number of goals for the day (~1-3) – the top priority items the night before and let go of the rest of the to do list. This helps with a sense of accomplishment and reduces anxiety. second is time blocking – planning the day with time held to accomplish your goals (including blocking time for lunch or responding to emails when you’re least productive – for some it’s the morning, and for others the evening). Do what works for you!

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

I like my pen and paper best

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

I just spoke at GreenBiz and that was a big goal of mine so excited to have done that and looking forward to more speaking roles this year!

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

While building my business, I also made 2 humans and it has been such a whirlwind – excited for the opportunity to be featured as the path has certainly not been linear. It’s nice to have a moment to reflect on all the accomplishments and center gratitude and pride!

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Kathleen Egan

CEO & Co-Founder, Ecomedes

San Francisco, CA

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

I’m the CEO which includes obsessing over driving value to our customers, growing an amazing team, and managing our HR/finances/funding. I am a passionate advocate for a sustainable future where impact-aware B2B purchase power helps save the planet.

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?

Equity means that everyone is heard. Different team members have different ways of communicating and different topics where they are more comfortable sharing. It is my job to be sure that every person on our team has a forum to be heard and feels that their input is important, and that they are important. Equity also means fairness when it comes to compensation, promotion, assignments, and any other decision.

We can build more equitable and inclusive workplaces by 1) realize that it takes a diverse team to win. 2) embrace differences as competitive advantage and abandon assumptions about the look/color/gender/age for a role. 3) listen as much as possible. 4) don’t be afraid to fail, keep improving.

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

Yvon Chouinard is one of my all time favorite founders and CEOs. His philosophy changed both apparel and the conservation. And he had a lot of fun doing it. One of my early bosses, Bruce was a critical influencer on me and continues to be a source of advice. I also have two investors who are very important mentors and coaches. I’m constantly on the hunt to add a new mentor or to be a mentor.

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

Don’t let a win go to your head or let a loss get to your heart.

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

Our work for a sustainable future and our team keep me motivated!

From my perspective, the days of mono-focus on profit are over. Every business needs to grow in a way that enriches people, planet, and profit for the long term. This is not universally accepted yet but regulations and stakeholders are moving it in the right direction.

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

Direct – I like to cut to the chase.

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

FUN – I try to keep it fun and my adorable husband and 8-year-old son help a lot! If I can get a break in the day to get in the water and surf or get into the woods to ski, it is a good day! The shift from laptop and zoom to the natural world helps to reset my brain and increase productivity.

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

Apple Podcasts – there is so much amazing info out there. I always listen to these when I’m working out or biking home from dropping off JJ at school.

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

First – I’m very excited for our next stage of growth. We passed $2M in ARR which is a huge milestone for our team. I’m excited to add some capacity to the team (and me) becuase we have been very capitally efficient but now it’s time to grow!

Second – I’m excited for a big family trip to AK! This was a bucket list trip for my Mom and Dad. My Dad passed away so my mom is taking 14 of us on a 2 week trip to Denali and cruise to see ocean wild life.

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Maia Monell

Co-Founder & CRO, Nav.it Inc.

Sun Valley, ID, USA

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

Responsible for business development, strategic and growth operations and investor relations, among many other critical organizational functions.

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?

We must do better to ensure women are represented equally across the workforce.

First, entrepreneurship is one of the key levers to unlock intergenerational wealth for women. While they represent more than half the population, women account for less than a third of entrepreneurs. Despite receiving less than half of the investment capital of their male peers, female-founded companies deliver twice as much revenue per dollar invested. In this light, we must re-shape the power dynamic of venture. If you’re a fellow entrepreneur and have built a strong venture-backed business, you hold the keys to your captable. We must hold VC more accountable for their inequitable power dynamics and encourage founders to work together.

Second, firms with strong female representation on their boards are 28% more likely to outperform their peers, while firms with gender-diverse executive teams are 25% more likely to outperform. So, we also must hold small to large companies more accountable for their culture. Corporate transparency must be celebrated. When these companies release meaningful data on workforce composition alongside rates of recruitment, promotion, retention and diverse employees, it: illustrates a company understands and takes seriously the fact that discrimination is a systemic problem; demonstrates the depth of the company’s commitment to accountability; and provides data that allow investors and other stakeholders to assess and compare the effectiveness of firm-wide programs.

Third, we within the financial industry must build OUTCOMES BASED SOLUTIONS AND PRODUCTS. Our industry has not had to align our business incentives with that of our consumers and we’ve isolated huge (soon to be the majority) groups of consumers- failing to build trust, fragmenting the market and perpetuating a cycle of wealth inequality that’s stunted our society for too long. Outcomes-based products and services look like: action-oriented education, affordable and equitable lending and non-predatory credit, to name a few.

Lastly, all of us as investors must play our part. Shareholder advocacy must be practiced and participated in to help hold the companies we care most about keep to our standards of inclusionary impact.

More money into the hands of more women is one of the greatest opportunities we have to slow climate change, scale economic output and stabilize the social turmoil of our time.
Investing in companies -small to large- that clearly illustrate their impact on equality and broader access for all are the ONLY companies worth investing in. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because they consistently outperform their peers.

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

I’m grateful for a brilliant group of mentors and advisors who have helped guide me throughout my career. For role models, I think they can be found in any woman defying the odds to build a better, safer, more effective economy. Women who embody the best of our shared strength. Women like Billie Jean King, The Williams Sisters, Sara Blakely… the list is endless and growing everyday.

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

Never run away something, run towards something the fuels you.

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

We’ve built a business focused on improving the health and well-being of all. Our work connects us with people who have, despite many obstacles, improved their financial health with help from the products we are building at Nav.it. I turn to these stories anytime I’m discouraged or stressed as a clear reminder that our team is doing brilliant work to help improve the health and stability of so many. With stories like these, it’s easy to stay inspired, optimistic and on-course.

We can no longer afford to do well and not do good. Time’s up. That’s most directly seen in our lacking response to climate change but persistent societal inequities that are too often overlooked are also a direct link to our failing environment. COVID was a major setback for women’s rights and education and because of it, UNICEF estimates over 10 million more girls are at risk for becoming child brides in the next 10 years.

Impact investing is one of the clearest, most efficient ways to challenge systemic inequalities because like it or not, societal power is now held by the private sector. And data shows us impact-focused strategies are not concessionary.

My own social impact efforts are often geared towards the economic development of women. Why women? 90% of a woman’s income goes back to the community vs 40% of male income and globally, countries are losing $160 trillion in wealth because of differences in lifetime earnings between women and men.

The data is clear, women are better stewards of capital. So we must prioritize women across every chain of the workforce.

With regards to the impact economy, we must ensure women have equal access to education and resources that help keep them in the workforce, champion their economic independence.

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

Relentless. I don’t believe in giving up on a good idea or when it’s simply the right thing to do.

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

Never start the day catching up on emails. Do something for yourself first. Workout, morning walk, meditation. I find exercising your body is the best way to clear your mind to make everyday a success.

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

Besides Nav.it? I’m a quantified-self freak. I love Whoop, Mirror, and Aaptive for fitness. Duolingo to brush up on my Spanish and every reading app as I’m also an obsessive reader.

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

Scaling Nav.it at Work! It’s be so exciting to see our new solution for the workforce be so well received and I’m really looking forward to expanding our partnerships with companies at the forefront of employee wellness and health.

Personally, I’m focused on caring for and sharing new adventures with my family and friends.

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Disney “Diz” Petit

Founder & CEO, LiquiDonate

Oakland, CA, USA

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

I am the founder and CEO of LiquiDonate where we work to build a world without waste.

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?

A lot of people say that they embrace equity, but what does that really mean? As a female in leadership for over a decade I could give you a different answer on what embracing equity looks like and does not look like for each day.

I worry that the more we have ‘themed’ days the less meaning the words have when only a small group spends time reflecting on them.

The women who were nominated to present in this series have some level of power and influence to increase equity within their organizations and potentially inspire others, but I find it also important to reflect upon who isn’t in this conversation. Are those the people who will read this and react? I am not sure but I am open-minded to see what others define as embracing equity this year.

If any reader prefers a less esoteric answer, I’m happy to provide one. I’m just so exhausted with buzzwords and quick content that doesn’t mean much if it isn’t getting into the hands of people who don’t already agree that we should be ’embracing’ or ‘enabling’ or whichever word of the day comes through.

We definitely follow the ideas and ideals of the UN SDG’s around equity and believe that our product helps work toward those goals.

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

The team at LiquiDonate is what keeps me going everyday since we started our journey toward a world without waste.

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

Assume positive intent.

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

As long as I am alive and capable I will try to do what is most helpful. In 2020 I broke my back from a fall downstairs carrying a blind foster dog at 7am. You never know what can change your life.

Yea! You can build cool and impactful stuff that makes a difference that only you and your company are well-suited for. For example, my current co-founder of LiquiDonate and I built FoodFight! while we were at Postmates. It enabled restaurants we worked with to just press a button and have a courier come pick up their excess food and take it to local shelters in 800 cities across the US.

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

Attempting? I spent time thinking on this one and I feel that the word that best describes me right now is attempting. I am attempting to do the right things, make the right choices, listen, help where I can, learn, and more. All of it feels like an attempt and I think that is a fun, scary, and exciting part of my current journey.

This is a hard one. Feel free to submit your one word descriptions of me to diz@liquidonate.com

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

If you have the privilege of having a salaried role with less restrictions around your time, use your dang calendar. Schedule your day hour by hour, including blocking off whatever ‘you’ time you need to protect whether it’s a gym break, lunch, or what time you need to leave to not be late for a date night.

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

My google calendar ❤️

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

This year traveling resumes with some volunteering in Turkey, a conference and company retreat in Hawaii, a personal vacation to Japan, and then some much needed time at home around the holidays. I am so lucky and excited to be where I am today and am always happy to connect with others who have questions about the space, especially while navigating it as a woman in the tech industry.