Let’s Use the Pandemic As a Turning Point for Diversity and Gender Equality
Throughout my career, I’ve experienced first-hand how a progressive approach toward diversity and gender equality can deliver vast and unique business benefits. My first job after earning my MBA, for example, was at a German software startup whose progressive outlook on labor practices led us to experiment with everything from part-time work to job sharing […]
Read MoreSupporting Women in the Workplace Requires New Rules of the Road
As a woman in the engineering field, I once worked at a company dominated by men by a ratio of 80 to 1. I made it work – but then again, I’ve never shied away from expressing my opinion, and I can be stubborn, both of which helped me succeed in a male-dominated profession. But what […]
Read MoreHow to Support Yourself or a Coworker with Epilepsy
I always used to wonder what to do when I came across a person with a disability – whether I should offer help voluntarily or not. Then, on the night of April 3, 2020, I began my own personal journey into finding out. Amid a worldwide coronavirus lockdown, I was hospitalized due to an emergency: […]
Read MoreThe Road to Gender Equality, One Conversation at a Time
In the spirit of this year’s theme for International Women’s Day – choose to challenge – I’m going to do just that. When it comes to supporting gender equality in the workplace, challenging is no longer a choice; it’s a responsibility. As a woman of color, challenging the status quo in the earliest years of […]
Read MoreHow New Leaders Can Create a Sense of Belonging
There’s a certain level of disruption that occurs when new leaders join an organization. Take the following scenario, which I witnessed firsthand at one of my clients. He was the fifth senior director in two years to lead a key department in a global technology company. No wonder the group was suspicious. Based on early […]
Read MoreBreaking Barriers: How Mentors Can Make a Difference
From the start of my career, it was clear to me that my professional success would depend in large part on finding someone to mentor me through the perils of the workplace. In 2021, however, mentoring takes on an added and often over-looked dimension: It’s as important for encouraging diversity as it is for providing […]
Read MoreHow Great Leaders Bring Us Together
Great leaders aren’t great alone. They’re hubs that bring people together. This lesson on leadership isn’t intuitive, and it wasn’t for me. But through my friend and colleague Steven Skinner, a Cognizant associate whom I deeply admired and who sadly passed away in 2019, I learned this and other leadership lessons that only grow in […]
Read MoreTech for Good: Driving Gender Equality in the Workplace
On June 7, 1968, female machinists working at Ford Dagenham in London went on strike in protest of the gender pay gap. The demonstrations eventually resulted in the passing of the UK’s Equal Pay Act of 1970 and subsequently the Equality Act of 2010, which provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals […]
Read MoreBelonging in the COVID Age: Gen Z Is Ready to Make a Difference
Although the global pandemic has taken a toll on different segments of the population, Gen Z workers may have borne the brunt of the economic fall-out of this crisis. Companies have slashed hiring and halted college recruitment efforts. Recent data shows that one in six Gen Zs have stopped working as a result of the […]
Read MoreA Corporate Lifeline for Domestic Violence Victims
As the coronavirus pandemic wears on, remote work and learning is intended to keep us safe. For victims of domestic violence, however, it does anything but. Instead, working from home often keeps victims close to their abusers. This dynamic makes employee assistance programs (EAP) more important than ever. But while EAPs offer referrals and counseling […]
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