Jennifer Green Godette - June 4, 2020 - 557 views

As a diversity and inclusion (D&I) leader at Cognizant, I’m always planning for the next big D&I event. June, for instance, is filled with many Pride celebrations, virtual and otherwise. But instead of seeing coverage of upcoming LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations, I’m watching news coverage and having conversations with friends and family members about the senseless deaths of […]

Vibha Rustagi - May 26, 2020 - 149 views

When it comes to belonging, numbers matter. In my first job out of college, I was one of just two women engineers out of 600 in the business practice. Eleven years later, I became CEO of itaas (a Cognizant company) and made diversity hiring a top priority. But belonging is also about much more than […]

Maureen Greene James - May 11, 2020 - 277 views

There’s nothing like solitude to make us appreciate camaraderie. That’s why, especially during the self-isolation imposed by the pandemic, affinity groups are so important. In addition to shared experiences, they let us lean into missions that transcend the isolation of COVID-19. At a time when we need it most, they elevate us. As I joined […]

Shameka Young - December 13, 2019 - 548 views

This past summer, the Girl Scouts launched 18 Coding for Good badges, part of the organization’s focus on giving young girls the opportunity to learn about technology and encourage interest in STEM careers. This is great to see, but it also raises a question: Are we in the tech industry doing our part to ensure […]

Nam Phuong Le - October 9, 2019 - 137 views

Conferences and trade shows can feel like occupational hazards: The travel is grueling, the speakers often snoozy. At a conference last month, however, I had a different experience. The sessions I attended and the people I met opened new windows for me – professionally and personally – and provided the sense of belonging and community […]

Justin Jesudas - May 23, 2019 - 1606 views

In 2009, just as I joined Cognizant through an acquisition, a car accident left me paralyzed from the neck down. At 29 years old, and in a split second, everything changed: I was completely paralyzed in my chest, abdomen, legs and hands, and partially paralyzed in my wrists and elbows. I still had full shoulder […]

Robert H. Brown - February 20, 2019 - 336 views

In 2010, Martin Sheen starred in The Way, an underrated but beautiful film. His character is a curmudgeonly, set-in-his-ways, late-middle-age, Type A workaholic from Los Angeles. A series of events lands him on El Camino de Santiago (translated into English as “The Way”), where circumstances compel him to interact — in life-affirming ways — with […]

Paul Roehrig - February 12, 2019 - 563 views

The website said: “The 2019 MAKERS Conference is a global women’s leadership event that brings together the most powerful names in business, entertainment, tech, and finance to explore ways to accelerate the movement with compelling videos, provocative conversations, and onstage pledges for change.” I read this as I was preparing to head to the MAKERS […]

Kathryn Nash - January 30, 2019 - 167 views

I vividly remember my first visit to the Lower Eastside Girls Club (LESGC) in November 2015. My Uber driver inquired, “Does this look like the right place?” Looking around, I felt a bit swallowed up by the endless rows of ruddy-colored brick tenements lining the narrow streets that crisscross the Lower East Side. I thanked […]

Michael Cook - January 25, 2019 - 223 views

Organizations are on an ongoing mission to create inclusive and diverse workplaces; however, many are still struggling to make this happen — and, as a result, missing out on whole pools of talent. Both consciously and unconsciously, many organizations’ hiring processes still suffer from the “comfort­able clone syndrome,” i.e., selecting talent that looks the same, […]