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.
Karen Lee
Senior Director, Saberpoint
New York, NY
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
Head of Salesforce Practice at Saberpoint. I am responsible for presales activities, implementing solutions, recruiting, training, and partnering with vendors to meet clients’ delivery needs and scalability.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
My clients. I truly enjoy the industry of small to medium businesses and how I can service that sector with my technology and data expertise. It’s challenging and fun to work in this sector in evaluating a full technical stack and identifying the solutions that meet the business needs, budget and scalability.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
My CEO, my team, my daughter, my friends – They always remind me how much brighter things truly are.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Never Fear.
What does generosity mean to you?
Generosity is generosity of the heart. Empathy and action oriented care for society as a whole.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
Businesses can play a strong impacting role. I think many have already and can definitely do more. Every person can also contribute in many ways that will help in the overall cause for betterment of society. Businesses can better support monetarily than an individual can, but individuals can share time, ideas and empathy which is the action. We need both of these to be complementary.
Saberpoint as an organization that supports many causes monetarily. I will progress with a series of actions as an individual and/or team to push forward these causes.
– I volunteer as an adjunct professor at Pace University to mentor and teach the younger generation.
– I am an advocate of inclusion by supporting young women and minority group in their path to career success.
– My team and I volunteer for non profit project with organizations such as taproot.org or catchafire.org
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Nice. I know, it sounds bland. When I have year-end reviews since I started my career, my feedback from all my managers is “You are too nice.” They made it seem like it was a negative, but I was who I was and I didn’t know how to change that. As I matured and learned to embrace this feedback, my response back is “I got here because of my personality and there is no such thing as too nice.”
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
This is a funny question, “Work from Home” by Fifth Harmony
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
My goal every year is the same. Maximize my learning to be used to assist others.
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.
Mousumi Behari
Digital Transformation Lead, Avionos
Chicago, IL, USA
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
I lead the Digital Transformation practice at Avionos where I’m responsible for Strategy and Change Management for several Fortune 100 companies. Additionally I founded AWLN, which is our women’s leadership network where our mission is to support women in professional and personal growth.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy problem solving. Often companies will have complex issues to solve, whether it’s their lack of technology, inconsistent processes, or it may even be not knowing what to do next. Coming up with an actionable strategy, working with bright minds in various industries, and then seeing their successes is what makes my job exciting.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
During the pandemic I started a practice to feed my mind, body and soul before I begin the day. An hour of working out, meditation and prayer really helps me to focus on what are usually jam packed and challenging days.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
To be authentic.
What does generosity mean to you?
I really value the idea of paying it forward and lending mentorship and time to those who it would help.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Multi-faceted. I have a lot of varied interests and like to explore and learn new things.
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
I concepted the idea of Little CEO’s a few years ago, which is a virtual summer camp to help girls ages 7-12 come up with a business idea, logo and share and present it. It was a great success, and this year will be our 3rd year. I hope every year it continues to gain traction and we have alums come back and talk about their successes.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Last year I co-founded a podcast called Overworked which is about the intersection of women and business. It’s available on Spotify and Apple and speaks to the struggles and successes women tend to have.
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.
Beth Clements
Operations Director, ProvenWorks
Reading, Berks, United Kingdom
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
Overseeing and realising our customer success strategy and working with everyone across the team to make sure our customers are supported in the most effective way possible.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
Collaborating with people from all over the world! I have the pleasure of working with a range of organisations from tiny non profits to huge enterprises and the people I meet along the way always bring a smile to my face!
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
Our team! We all support and encourage each other when someone is struggling or lacking in motivation. Knowing someone is only a video call away when I need support is really reassuring.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Breathe! When there are 100 things to do, stop and write down what needs to be done right now. Most tasks are probably not as urgent as you think.
What does generosity mean to you?
Someone dropping everything to be present for you when you need them.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
At ProvenWorks we encourage everyone to be more environmentally friendly! I am as eco-friendly as possible with everything that I do at home and that doesn’t stop at work either! We heavily encourage recycling in the office and share advice for how people can save the planet when working from home too. Simple tips can go a really long way. (I’m more than happy to share my own tips and tricks!)
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Smiling! No matter what the day brings, whenever I’m in a meeting whether it’s with a customer or a member of the ProvenWorks team, I will always smile. Bringing positive energy to calls is so important especially when everyone has been working from home and is probably suffering from Zoom fatigue!
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
Xavier Rudd – We Deserve To Dream (I can’t help but watch the music video every time I put this song on!)
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
I’ve recently been involved in raising more awareness of opportunities for women in tech by visiting schools to show students what roles are available within the Salesforce Ecosystem. I can’t wait to carry on with that project this year!
On a personal level, my goal is to get better at surfing! You’ll find me chasing the sun whenever possible in my campervan (and falling off my surfboard into the sea!).
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.
Eleda Towle
President, Triple Mountain
Hiram, Maine, USA
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
As a small business owner, I do it all, from running our store to receiving and processing incoming consigned collectibles, answering customer inquiries to creating and managing our marketing.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
I’m a horse lover born and raised in the woods of Maine, so my favorite part of the business is getting to talk with horse lovers from all over the world. When you share a passion or a hobby, distance means little, and it brings the world closer together in a positive way.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
With all the emotions these last two years have brought people as they hunkered down, or had to work in dangerous situations, many found relief in reviving a hobby they enjoyed when they were younger. They may have set aside their hobby when life got hectic, but since 2020, it became a lifeline – an escape from the worry that brought back memories of happier times. Because our business is also a lifestyle for me, since I’m a collector, too, I welcome friendships from our customers. This can be both a challenge and a motivator, as I have shared some happy moments in their lives and some terrible ones with them by email and social media. I have been kept in the loop as their real horses get ready to foal, and been blessed with photos of the new babies, and also informed when their family members have passed, or they’ve had to move out of their homes. I have cried with some of them, and carry them all in my heart, but I also feel quite humbly honored that they have chosen to include me into their lives.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
It wasn’t given to me directly, but it’s one I’ve taken to heart: Maya Angelou said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I use that to guide every decision we make here, since the models we sell (we like to say adopt out) often have an emotional component, and we always want to be conscious of that. They’re not “plastic models,” they often carry a deeper meaning for the collector.
What does generosity mean to you?
Generosity for me means trying to find ways to be helpful with whatever resources are available to me. Whether that be my time, processing donated models for the animal shelter charity account we maintain; money we donate to Riding to the Top, our “1% To Charity” beneficiary; or effort, helping promote events where collectors can get together to socialize and learn more about the hobby.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
I believe every business has a responsibility to its customers, community, and the world in which it resides, to make a positive impact. For us that means working toward becoming a B-Corp, which inspired us to power our store mainly by solar, helping support our regional animal shelter (we’ve raised over $10,000 for them since 2016), and participating in roadside cleanup, erosion control efforts, and forest management to promote healthy habitats for wildlife here on the mountain.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
I’ve never been described as “a woman of few words,” so ONE word? Nope, can’t do it! Maybe “driven,” or “compassionate.” There’s always a balance to strike there.
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
Last autumn we were named DownEast Magazine’s Editor’s Pick for Best Toy Store in Maine, a huge honor for us, since it was our first time being nominated. The publicity has increased both foot traffic and online sales for us, and we’re now in a position to expand our business! We’ve been a Mom & Pop since inception in 2012, and are now considering building a larger store building / warehouse space, and perhaps hiring someone to help part-time. That’s a huge step, both financially and emotionally, as it will mean “letting go” of some of the things I’ve always done myself, but it’s an exciting thought as well. I still have to pinch myself when I think, “I sell plastic ponies for a living. For a LIVING.” It’s my dream job, and it has grown to the point that it needs to expand. That’s mind-blowing.
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.
Shilpa Sharma
Co-founder and CEO, Flyte
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
I’m the co-founder and CEO of Flyte. I manage sales & marketing aspects of our business while closely working with my co-founder on brainstorming product priorities and planning. As a startup founder, legal and hiring are a substantial part of my job so I closely work with our legal partners as well as coordinate with universities and other agencies to hire the best talent.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
I’m always fascinated by tech and how it is helping every aspect of our lives. By being close to customers, I’m able to gather the latest trends and challenges that our customers are facing. This helps me visualize our product roadmap and marketing strategy. I truly enjoy interacting with our customers and building trust with them to deliver the best platform that can help them build their pipeline faster.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
Past two years have been challenging for everyone and there were repercussions on people’s jobs, personal lives and many other aspects that we can’t even imagine.
In these challenging times, the one thing that keeps me motivated is the passion for what I am doing. In the past two years, people came much closer through technology and there were so many programs that supported startups through online mediums.
We were fortunate that we became part of accelerators such as Founder Institute and Techstars that not only guided us in the right direction but also provided immense support through mentorship from accomplished founders and leaders.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
If you strongly believe in what you are doing, keep going! Persistence is the key!
What does generosity mean to you?
Give the gift of education! Make people self-sufficient!
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
Things done with passion and grit always make an impact.
Businesses are built with a goal to create something that can solve problems people are facing in day-to-day life. With tech businesses, be it in hardware or software, companies have been able to achieve 30-40% more productivity through automation resulting in higher revenue or extra time to do innovative tasks. Not just the process level efficiencies, businesses are helping economies generate more jobs and building an ecosystem for next generations.
For example, with Flyte sales and customer success teams can save >30% of their time by automatically logging call notes and improving success rate through advanced analytics. Sales teams are the oxygen for a company and by making them more efficient at their day-to-day work, we’re not only helping a company bring more revenue but also engaging their workforce in more innovative tasks rather than spending hours in documentation.
If we think of a workflow from a CEO or CRO perspective, they’d want to understand the direction their organization is heading into. Through a fully integrated platform, Flyte can provide revenue intelligence as well as customer insights that can help them make key decisions on sales techniques, product priorities and marketing campaigns to achieve better conversion.
We promote education initiatives by pledging to contribute 1% of our time towards non-profit organization.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Fast learner! I have done things for the first time and did it so well that people who were skeptical about my performance in the beginning, appreciated what I achieved in the end!
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
I like violin and guitar instrumentals!
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
I am excited to take Flyte to the next level so I’m able to contribute further towards non-profit organizations. I’m passionate about promoting education initiatives across the globe.
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.
Jan D’Alessandro
President, Blue J Strategies & Executive Advisor, Lookout Foundation
San Francisco, California
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
President, Blue J Strategies & Executive Advisor, Lookout Foundation. I run a strategic advisory business helping public, private and nonprofit companies scale through strategic partnerships, with a particular focus on building cohesive social impact programs. In addition to my work leading the Pledge 1% Equity Initiative and work with purpose driven companies, Unagi Scooters and Future Fuel, I advise the Lookout Foundation.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
I love all my clients and most enjoy the ability to work with companies that are committed to giving back to their communities. I am inspired by the deep commitment to giving back that Lookout demonstrates. Lookout joined the Pledge 1% movement with an equity, time, profits and product pledge. I help the Foundation choose impactful nonprofits with which to partner with grants and employee volunteer time in furtherance of their core themes- Women & STEM and Data Privacy and Security. Lookout launched an important conference Day of Shecurity, focused on helping women secure jobs in the cybersecurity industry. The conference now reaches over 1000 women twice a year and is one of the predominant means for helping raise awareness of roles in this lucrative field. Lookout also has an extremely generous employee matching program of $1000 per employee per year. The Lookout Foundation reserves a portion of its budget to address disaster relief. With the matching program, Lookout and our employees joined the Pledge 1% campaigns and contributed over $50,000 to help Indian Covid Relief efforts and over $50,000 to help the people of the Ukraine
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
The ability to use my skills and networks to help purpose driven companies give back to the communities in which we live and work keeps me going.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Do What Matters.
What does generosity mean to you?
Giving back with whatever resources you have.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
Businesses have an enormous responsibility- and opportunity to positively impact the communities in which we live and work. Harnessing the resources at their disposal – employee time, products, profits and relationships with customers and partners is a powerful force multiplier. See above about Lookout.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Positive. I see the world with rose colored glasses, striving to see the best in people and situations. My motto is to “Assume Good Will and Spread Good Cheer.”
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
“Everyone Loves the Sunshine.” Roy Ayers
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 expanding the impact that we are making with Day of Shecurity to helping more women receive training and resources, and obtaining roles in the cybersecurity industry. I look forward to helping Pledge 1% unlock another 2 billion in new philanthropy, to helping Unagi Scooters give employees of Google and other forward thinking companies the ability to commute to work in a joyful and sustainable way, and to helping Future Fuel give employers like Salesforce and other forward thinking companies the ability to allow their employees to pay down their student debt faster.
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.
Karen Chan
Executive / Project Lead, ADAPTOVATE
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
I am an experienced Agile Coach and Consultant who helps organizations achieve their business transformation objectives using agile frameworks and methodologies. I have led and coached teams at scale from initiation to execution.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
At heart, I’m still a Quality Engineer – I want to make things better. My job gives me the opportunity to create sustainable, impactful change for clients and I’m able to use these skills in my volunteer work to support and strengthen my community and my profession.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
It’s knowing that the outcome I’m trying to achieve is worth the work, effort and time. For example, I believe it’s incredibly important for there to be more women in STEM and in leadership; how I live this belief is by organizing events like Mathletics, mentoring new graduates and young career professionals through the engineering licensing process, and making sure our hiring processes and candidate pools are diverse and inclusive.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Look at things as an opportunity rather than a challenge. This flip in mindset is incredibly powerful.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Organized. One of my managers told me that he didn’t realize organization was a talent until he met me. I enjoy strategic planning because I love seeing things execute well. Being organized helps me to achieve that outcome.
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
Sara Bareilles “Brave” has always resonated with me. Be brave enough to be who you are, speak up and speak out for the things that matter to you. As an Asian woman in engineering and now leadership roles, it’s even more important to make sure I create space for others to be brave enough to be who they are.
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
Personally, I am looking forward to traveling and family vacations again. Professionally, I am looking forward to continuing to grow our ADAPTOVATE Toronto office. In my volunteer life, I am looking forward to continuing to mentor women through the Women for STEM program at Ontario Tech U and mentoring young professionals through the engineering licensing process. I’ve also been invited to join the WAGE (Women and Gender Equity Canada) Procurement Advisory Group so I am looking forward to developing public policy to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces.
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.
Justine Violante
Vice President of Marketing, Appfire Technologies
Zurich, Switzerland
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
As a leader in a product-led SaaS company, Appfire Technologies, my role is to empower and enable our product marketing organization with strategy and market growth.
I am responsible for a portfolio of 185+ products across 8 solution categories, and lead a team of 13 talented marketers; working closely and cross-functionally with senior leaders managing the channel, product development, engineering and business operations.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
In my time at Appfire, the rapid and constant growth has been the most exciting part of my job, and having the opportunity to scale and shape a talented team that is diverse and inclusive has been the most rewarding experience so far.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
My family – I have three daughters and I strive to give them a strong, confident and positive role model, always.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
It’s all about perspective – listen, ask questions and think laterally
What does generosity mean to you?
Sharing, giving, doing – with no strings or expectations attached.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
Be the change they seek.
I admire the founders of Atlassian who are committed to philanthropic causes not only with words but with action and activism. Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Atlassian and climate change advocate, has placed a bid on Australian energy giant AGL to pursue net zero electricity generation, potentially one of the biggest decarbonisation projects globally to be achieved by 2035.
Also, Melanie Perkins (and Atlassian Alumni)and Cliff Obrecht, co-founders of Canva, pledged to donate the majority of their 30% equity to philanthropic projects when they reached their $40billion valuation.
Similarly, at Appfire, all employees have time to give back to our chosen causes. With our commitment to Pledge 1%, we are encouraged to share stories and engage in efforts of generous giving – the most recent example being the rehousing, relocation and assistance team members offered to our colleagues and their families affected by the Ukraine Crisis.
Growth is awesome. Greed is not
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Dynamic
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
(please read the lyrics)
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
Meeting my team physically for the first time, celebrating our growth; and exploring new places around the world again.
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.
Semonie Kong
Contingent Workforce Program Specialist, Atlassian
Orlando, FL
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
Advise, educate and support on a wide range of Contingent Workforce issues. Collaborate with cross-functional partners such as Employment Law, HR Operations, Brand & Marketing, Procurement, and Talent Acquisition on Contingent sourcing initiatives, solutions and issues.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy working with different people and building relationships.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
I am motivated by my family and knowing that what I do matters and makes a difference.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Always be true to who you are and remember your values.
What does generosity mean to you?
Generosity to me means being willing and available to help as needed. Just being kind.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
I think businesses can start by being more inclusive and open. By this I mean, businesses should display this in their day to day operations not just saying it. These are 2 areas in society that cause a disconnect amongst people.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Selfless – I am constantly putting others and their needs ahead of my own. Always thinking of others.
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
To finally taking a trip out of the country – having a real vacation/break.