Fresh out of Stanford in 2005, she founded Bottlenotes Inc., which started out as a custom wine-delivery operation tailored to individual customers’ tastes. When the economy tanked and regulations around Internet shipments of wine became more stringent, Rapp’s team of seven decided to switch business models and turn Bottlenotes into one of the leading digital media companies in the wine world.

Bottlenotes is now a favorite online destination for 20- and 30-somethings who are new to wine or are curious about it. A kind of “Facebook for wine,” as Rapp puts it, the site offers wine recommendations and lets newbies and aficionados add tasting notes and share information. A mobile phone app will soon allow users to share their wine thoughts and tasting experiences while on the go.

The company makes money by selling ads and info bites that appear on the site from a wide variety of purveyors of wine, cheese, chocolate, and more. “If their products and services tie into wine and the wine lifestyle, then it makes sense that their brand would be interested in reaching our wine enthusiasts,” says Rapp.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the company runs large-scale “Around the World in 80 Sips” wine-tasting events in major cities, each of which helps support a local nonprofit.

Rapp’s recommendations to aspiring entrepreneurs: “Build a prototype and test your idea as early as possible, and get a top-notch board of advisors. That’s been key to our success.” DW

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Ballard and her colleagues, for the mostpart agreed with that assessment, but they also knew changes needed to be made. And Ballard and some of the other women owners had a vision for these changes. Ballard was reluctant to speak at the conference and put a dent in the goodwill. Nevertheless, the strength of her vision led her to stand up and walk up to the lectern. She began her speech with a question that still echoes in her head. “What is wrong with this meeting, right now, right here?” she asked. Silence. Then, she shared her vision.

The specifics of the vision that Ballard presented that day don’t matter. The point is, she accepted her responsibility to be visionary and exercised her right to present her vision. Women are visionary, but they fail to recognize it in themselves and speak their mind.

In general, men have no problems positioning themselves as visionaries. Purveyors of history generously announce men as accomplished visionaries. Men in leadership roles, therefore, have role models and the expectation that they will present their vision. Women, on the other hand, have a short list of accomplished public figures to model themselves after, and the cultural expectation works against women announcing their vision and expecting others to applaud and follow.

The visionary women interviewed for this article all had to overcome their hesitancy and learn how to recognize a vision and then how to put forth that vision to the public. They learned that a vision does not have to come from the public domain or from a position of power; it can be inspired by intimacy. Additionally, these women learned how to open themselves to being swept away, even overwhelmed, by their vision. Finally, they recognized that sharing a vision is one of the prerequisites for successful leadership.

Vision Begets Vision

For some women, the genesis of their leadership vision is personal. Sixteen-year-old Pat Harris, the youngest of 11 children, left McBee, South Carolina, and moved to New York City. Nine-year-old Enola Aird left Panama and her parents to live with her aunt in the United States. Nora Moreno-Cargie saw her mother bravely open the first minority-owned currency exchange in Chicago. These three women tell compelling stories of older, caring females who showed courage in the face of poverty and cultural dislocation. They learned strength and persistence from multigenerational relationships. These relationships are the genesis of vision.

Enola Aird is founder and president of the Community Healing Network. She credits her aunt, who emigrated from Panama to seek a better life for her family, as the bold pathfinder in her life. Aird, an erudite Yale Law graduate, found her own vision and life’s work after a heated exchange with her young daughter about the length and texture of a doll’s hair. Aird lovingly held her daughter’s face to the mirror and told her, “Look in this mirror and make sure you never love anything more than you love what you see in this mirror.” From this literal vision for her daughter and exchanges with like-minded people in her community, Aird envisioned the Community Healing Network as “a nonprofit organization creating a network of self-help groups focused on mobilizing black people to overcome the myth of black inferiority and other emotional legacies of racism.” Following in the footsteps of a woman who envisioned a better life for her family 60 years ago, Aird bravely upholds a bold vision for a better life for her greater family.

A similar tale unfolds for Pat Harris, global chief diversity officer for McDonald’s Corporation, as well as for Nora Moreno-Cargie, director of global corporate citizenship for Chicago at the Boeing Company. Each woman credits her mother for the strength to follow a vision and the courage to keep the vision alive. Both credit their fathers with having a positive influence while emphasizing the boldness and leadership exemplified by their mothers. Without a visionary influence at a young age, three visionary women—Aird, Moreno-Cargie, and Harris—believe they would not be who they are today.

“My vision grabbed me at age 16 and would not let me go,” exclaims Pat Harris. “I did not know it then, but my vision chose me and continues to hold me.” Like the others, rather than ignore the terrifying gut-tsunami kicked up by a bold vision, Harris let herself be swept away into the swell of a better future. They let their inner visionary speak and learned how to speak for it. Interestingly, all admitted that others would readily call them a visionary, but none recognized it in herself at that “aha!” moment. Only in retrospect did these women honor their visionary moments as such.

Announcing the Vision

Whatever the genesis of the vision, personal or professional, one can only be considered a visionary when one presents that vision. Lily Tang, a consultant with Future Work Institute, gave herself permission to be a visionary when she tired of hearing her inner voice repeat, “If only I had said something.” In a majority male environment, she teams up with capable men. Tang explains, “White males don’t see Asian women as powerful leaders; subconsciously, they see us as the helper and the support.”

Her strategy for overcoming that subconscious bias is to wait for the right moment. “So, walking into a program, I am fine with a male kicking it off, but I ask him to bring my voice in early and not let me sit on the sidelines for any significant period of time.”

A visionary who is unable to articulate her vision to anyone else will likely never have an impact. It takes a skilled leader to express and integrate vision into a task-oriented culture. Thus, the best visionary also leads well. Vision becomes public through effective leaders—and most effective leaders at strategic times present their visions.

Women-owned businesses tend not to be as financially successful as those owned by men. A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Why Are Women-Owned Firms Smaller Than Men-Owned Ones?,” chronicles the male-owned business edge. In 2008, the average revenues of majority women-owned businesses were 27 percent of the average of majority men-owned businesses. The author, Sharon Hadary, asserts that women’s self-limiting perceptions share part of the blame for the lack of success. Her remedies include encouraging women to think bigger, increasing measurements for business success, and finding ways to learn from women leaders.

Perhaps one method for women to learn from other women leaders—and think bigger—would be to encourage and develop more women visionaries. Studies from the Center for Women’s Business Research show that women relate to other women in business more easily than they relate to men. If women visionaries are to translate their vision into action, they need seasoned female leaders to teach them how to lead.

Visionary women are essential to society. Through the hope and courage they spread, others find the voice to affirm their commitment to a grand idea and to each other. Moreno-Cargie from Boeing beautifully expresses the need for visionaries by quoting a proverb: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Women of vision, please come to the podium. DW

Gia Interlandi is the president of the Leadership Conservatory, an educational and consulting firm. For more information, visit www.leadershipconservatory.com.

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But when she became a communications manager at McDonald’s, suddenly the first 30 minutes of any family visit was all about Mickey D’s. “They would ask me stuff like, ‘Why does Filet o’ Fish have a half slice of cheese?’ Or, they’d request Happy Meal toys, or—the best—‘Why don’t you put your cousin in a commercial?’”

While Moore has no control over commercials or cheese, she does have, in some sense, bigger fish to fry. Now, as one of two directors of external relations and brand outreach, she plays a role in managing McDonald’s diversity program, contribution programs, and relationships with nonprofits. Unlike some companies where diversity is still in its early stages, McDonald’s has gotten plenty of recognition for its diversity over the years. The company has been listed among the Top Places for Minorities to Work in Fortune magazine and a Top 10 Diversity Champion at Working Mother magazine. Today, 37 percent of all McDonald’s franchises are owned by women or minorities.

What’s left to do? Diversity Woman talked to Moore about living with the Golden Arches and making the most of its global reach.

Diversity Woman: Coming from finance, what prepared you for your work in outreach?

Meredith Moore: Growing up in Minneapolis, I was able to travel a lot because of my father’s work, and my mom was a philanthropist. So I grew up with a greater appreciation of the idea that you have so that you can give—not just so you can keep.

DW: How much can McDonaldís, as a huge for-profit company, embrace that philosophy?

MM: McDonald’s has become a part of our heritage in America, and when you think about the reach of McDonald’s—not just 1.6 million employees, but also suppliers and customers—we have a role to sustain them. So we’re supporting the people who have always supported us. At the end of the day, we have to do the best thing for the brand and the country while maintaining a for-profit corporation, so we don’t get into anything religious or political.

DW: How do you do that?

MM: We try to keep things family oriented. In the past year, we’ve supported the Illinois Holocaust Museum and a friendship park. It’s a way for kids to learn about the Holocaust, talk about bullying and advocacy, and think about right and wrong.

DW: How did growing up in Minneapolis shape your views on diversity?

MM: It was a predominantly white city. At the time, a newspaper said we were the whitest city with a black mayor, Sharon Sales Belton. I’m grateful for that experience, though, because it fostered my communication skills. I had to explain things that others take for granted—like why I couldn’t go swimming in the winter, because my hair wouldn’t dry before recess when it was so cold.

And the African-American community in Minneapolis was so tight. It was a big family—we looked out for each other, and I know that I have a whole team back home that is rooting for me to succeed but will still love me if I fall short. We also had a large immigrant community—Hmongs, Mexicans, and Somalians—so I grew up tutoring ESL at local community homes. It taught me that the success of the city was intricately tied to the success of our communities, and it really cemented my respect for other cultures.

DW: McDonaldís would seem to have a solid handle on creating workplace diversity. Whatís left to improve?

MM:  We have an aging population here in the U.S. offices and potentially have a lot of people leaving at one time. So, there’s a fear about a transfer of knowledge—how do you make sure those people are on a pipeline to the 20- or 30-year-olds? You have Boomers to share info, but you also have to have Millennials to listen to it.

DW: How do you combat that problem?

MM: In recruiting, we try to illustrate to the public all that can be accomplished at McDonald’s. I’m just one example: in five years, I’ve been promoted from a supervisor to a manager to a director, had the support to finish my master’s at Northwestern, and have consistently felt challenged with no two days being alike. But we also have a great story of people coming up through the restaurant. Our very own Jan Fields [president of McDonald’s USA] started in a restaurant as a single mom just looking for flexible hours, and now she leads more than 14,000 restaurants in the United States.

DW: How do you get the generations talking to each other?

MM: The best way is through mentoring—both formal and informal. We have an online mentoring program that allows you to find mentors or mentees based on different selection criteria. But I’ve also had success meeting someone in the hallway who asked me where I got my hair done. She and I struck up a casual conversation and she’s been an amazing guiding light for me. She’s been an executive assistant for more than 30 years and she’s helped me navigate through a lot of potential pitfalls that I would not have seen otherwise. The most important thing is to have an interest and to have the patience to share your perspective.

DW: At 29 yourself, are you sometimes the youngest person in the room?

MM: Yes, I’m always the youngest person in the room. I am the third child, and my mom was 41 when she had me, so I’ve always been the youngest in the room. It’s never really bothered me. I feel if you’re capable, age doesn’t matter.

DW: Part of your job involves travel. Is being away from home so much hard, or is it still an adventure?

MM: I travel about 70 percent of the time, but I’m not married, and I don’t have kids. When I travel, I try to take extra time—getting there a day early, or staying a day late, so it’s not like I went all the way to Japan and just saw the Hilton. I like to go walk around, assuming it’s safe to do so, and experience the place as an individual. That seems to help with jet lag, too.

DW: How are the diversity goals different overseas?

MM: A lot of what we’re doing is about women—making sure women get education and mentoring so they can excel into leadership positions, especially in Asia and Europe. In May of last year, we did a women’s summit in Beijing, and I stayed three weeks. It was interesting to get to know the other women.

DW: What did you learn?

MM: In China, the easiest way to get the women to talk was to go to a spa—that goes across borders. Everybody needs to get their nails done. It reminds you that we’re all the same.

DW: What two books are on your bedside table?

MM: I love fiction, and Barcelona is my favorite city, so my friend hooked me on Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I read The Shadow of the Wind and now I’m working on The Angel’s Game. They are great books to get lost in.

The other book is one I am rereading for the fifth time: Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell. It was required reading for my first job, and I highly recommend it for young professionals entering the workforce. It’s one of the best lessons I’ve learned—how to learn from a failure, instead of being defeated by it. DW

Katrina Brown Hunt is a DW contributing writer.

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Sitting at her kitchen table, a mug of warm coffee in her hands, her emerald green dress contrasting with the soft sandy-rose paint on the walls, one of the country’s most venerated writers tells a story. It’s how she teaches.

“My grandmother [her father’s mother, Annie Henderson, who raised her in Stamps, Arkansas, in the 1930s] would call to me—‘Sister!’—and I knew from the tone of her voice what was going to happen. There’d be a man or woman coming down the hill to the store. I knew I couldn’t say anything, but I’d sit and listen when she let him in.

“‘Hello, Brother Hudson,’ she’d say. ‘How are you doing today?’

“‘Oh Sister Henderson, I can’t stand this cold weather. It chaffe me and it git me.’

“And my grandmother would look at me as if to say, ‘Did you get that?’

“As soon as the person would leave, my grandmother would say, ‘Sister, there are people all over this world, black and white, rich and poor, who went to sleep when he went to sleep last night, but they never awakened. Their beds have become their cooling boards, their blankets have become their winding sheets. And they’d give anything for just five minutes of what that person is complaining about.’”

Angelou smiles and nods, then sips from her cup of coffee, and adds, “So you can know me as long as you can know anyone, and you’ll never hear me complain. I’ll protest, but I don’t complain. And I encourage women—and men—don’t whine! Whining does nothing to the object of your displeasure. And the worst part is that it lets a brute know there’s a victim in the neighborhood.”

Angelou is too busy to complain, and has been for a long time. Over the last six decades, she has been a writer and a poet, a singer and a dancer, a teacher and a leader (among other things). In the 1960s, she worked with Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1971, she became the first black woman to have a screenplay (Georgia, Georgia) produced as a film. In 1981, she accepted the position of Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, a role she still fills to this day. In 1993, she recited a poem at the inauguration of Bill Clinton, and in 1998, she was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame. Over her lifetime, she has written more than 30 books and been awarded more than 30 honorary degrees. She’s been nominated for the National Book Award, the Tony, and the Pulitzer; she’s won three Grammys and been awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 2000 and the Lincoln Medal in 2008. Last November, she was announced as one of the winners of the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

That’s quite a list of accomplishments, especially considering Angelou’s humble beginnings. Raised in the South during flagrantly racist times, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. After identifying her rapist, who was beaten to death after his one-day stay in prison, young Maya came to the conclusion that her voice had the power to kill, so she embarked on a self-imposed five-year period of silence during which she spoke not a single word, communicating only through a pencil and notebook that her grandmother attached to her outfit each day. As a teen in San Francisco, she dropped out of school. She eventually finished high school, giving birth to her son, Guy, only a few weeks after graduation. Until her career as a singer, dancer, and actress took off, she worked as a waitress and a cook, a single mother supporting herself and her son.

That’s quite a life, by anyone’s standards.

Was there protesting? Oh, yes.

But victim? No. That one will never make the list. She’s too busy doing other things to complain or be a victim.

More Work To Do

Desite her long list of achievments, Maya Angelou is still as busy as ever. Her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings—in part the story of that horrific experience with her mother’s boyfriend—was and remains required reading on many high school and college curriculums. In 1993, Angelou published a collection of essays, Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My Journey Now. Now, more than 40 years after the publication of Caged Bird, her journey continues with the publication of her 31st book, Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart.

Released by Random House in December 2010, Great Food, All Day Long was born out of her recent struggles with weight and health issues. Through those struggles, she learned the value of portion control, and her cookbook emphasizes food so flavorful that small portions are satisfying. In this cookbook, good health is as much a priority as good flavor.

The Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health

In addition to teaching as the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest—a position she originally accepted for only one year but enjoyed so much she simply never left—Angelou also serves on the steering committee for the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity (MACHE) at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Simply put, because doctors know less about the prevention, expression, or treatment of diseases in certain groups—African-Americans, Latinos, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and Alaskan Natives—members of those groups are less likely than white Americans to live long and healthy lives.

As William Applegate, M.D., president and dean of the center, says, “What more compelling voice to give credence to this cause than Maya Angelou’s? Both her riveting personal story and her remarkable achievements are testimony that we can overcome great obstacles.”

Opening in 2002, the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity was designed to help find a solution to the inequality of quality care in medicine. One of the most compelling demographic trends in the United States today is the increasing diversity of the population: by 2050, it is projected that the country will be split almost evenly between non-Hispanic whites and all other minority groups. Although the term minority is on the verge of becoming factually incorrect when applied to certain groups, racial and ethnic health disparities still exist and are widespread in some areas.

One of the primary missions of MACHE is to involve more underrepresented groups not only as study participants, but as researchers and practitioners, in both health education and career enhancement. Thus, the center will also seek to foster the creation of programs in minority health education, as well as increasing recruitment efforts to get under-represented minorities into medical schools.

“By serving the minority community, it must be known that the entire community is served,” says Angelou. “One hand washes the other. A healthy minority community bodes for a healthy majority community.”

The See Forever Foundation and Maya Angelou Schools

Angelou’s current projects are not restricted to Wake Forest. She is also deeply committed to the success of the See Forever Foundation and Maya Angelou Schools in Washington, DC.

Founded in 1997 by David Domenici and James Forman Jr., the See Forever Foundation’s mission is “to create learning communities in lower-income urban areas where all students can reach their potential and prepare for college, careers, and a lifetime of success.” The foundation approaches its mission by establishing schools that focus on helping disadvantaged youth in the Washington, DC, area, including youth in the juvenile justice system.

The year the first school opened, the foundation sponsored an essay contest to name the school, and student Sherti Hendrix composed the winning essay, proposing that the school be named in honor of Angelou.

In her essay, Hendrix wrote, “The students of See Forever need a school name that represents the power and the importance of education. I think our charter school should be named after Dr. Maya Angelou. I know that nobody is perfect in this world. But at See Forever, I have learned one thing: You can do whatever you want to do as long as you put your mind to it and work hard to get there! And Dr. Angelou knows this too. She is a bold black sister, and believes in us.”

So in 1998, the Maya Angelou Public Charter School (MAPCS) was incorporated, and Sherti Hendrix was one of the 20 students who made up the inaugural graduating class in 1999. In 2000, after raising $3 million for building renovations, the school moved into the historic Odd Fellows Building, and students from all over the city began applying. In 2004, to meet the needs of a burgeoning student population, the See Forever Foundation opened a second MAPCS campus in Washington, DC, and in 2007 assumed operation of the Maya Angelou Academy in Laurel, Maryland (formerly the Oak Hill Academy), as well as operating its affiliated Transition Center. Both the academy and the center are part of the New Beginnings Youth Development Center, a secure facility for committed youth. The academy is the facility’s school, and the Transition Center helps youth move on to the next stage of their life once they’ve been released.

Today the Maya Angelou schools boast a total of two high schools, one middle school, the academy, and the Transition Center, educating an overall student population of 600 to 700 students each year. Given that as many as 50 percent of these students have been expelled from at least one other school during their academic career, and up to 70 percent of students come in to MAPCS functioning three full grade levels behind their age group, it is quite a testament to the schools’ success that 73 percent enroll in college, and 60 percent of those who graduate from high school earn a post-secondary credential.

Lucretia Murphy, J.D., Ph.D., executive director of the See Forever Foundation and MAPCS since 2008, and a MAPCS board member since 2004, attributes much of that success to the inspiration Angelou’s life story represents to the students. She cites the students’ lack of belief in themselves as one of the most prevalent issues they have to contend with.

Says Murphy, “These kids come in saying, ‘I’m poor and black and pregnant and struggling in school. How does anyone think I’m going to succeed out there?’ But Angelou’s personal story—where she came from and what she’s had to overcome—makes it easier for them to believe in themselves. She shows them that their dreams are still attainable.”

Two-thirds of the funding for the schools comes from public charter school funds, with the balance raised from private sources such as corporations, foundations, and individuals. This is another area where Angelou’s presence is indispensable. On May 6, 2011, the foundation will host its 14th annual fundraiser at Washington, DC’s Lincoln Theater, and with Angelou as the keynote speaker, the 1,200-seat theater is expected to be filled to capacity. But Murphy stresses that Angelou’s presence, while instrumental to bringing in big names and big money, is about the students first and foremost.

“Three or four years ago,” says Murphy, “back when we were still holding our fundraiser in one of the school’s auditoriums and it was standing room only, Angelou said to the adults in the crowd, ‘I know some of you paid a lot of money to be here, but I’d like to ask you to back up and let the kids come closer. I’m here to talk to the kids.’ And she’s so authentic with them. She doesn’t come to the school to be emulated or adored; she comes here each year to have one more opportunity to connect with her children, to touch them physically as well as mentally and emotionally.”

Angelou says, “The power of belief in our children—expressed—empowers them, and unconditional love to our children creates courage.”

Mentoring

Asked about the importance of mentors, Angelou talks again about her grandmother, Annie. “At least twice a year, she had this litany of stories to tell me and my brother. It’s how she taught. And one of the things she taught me is that when you get, give; when you learn, teach.

“There’s a statement in the Judeo-Christian bible, by the apostle Paul. The Corinthians had written to Paul and asked, ‘Is it better to speak in tongues or to prophesy?’ Paul’s response was, ‘If you speak in tongues, only God understands you. But if you prophesy, you might benefit the entire community.’ So I try, all the time, to prophesy. That means I can say, ‘I’ve been down that road. If you go there in the dark, on the left-hand side there’s a hole you can fall in and break your foot.’ That’s prophesy. And that’s really mentoring. So tell only the truth. You don’t have to tell everything you know, but you do have to tell the truth as you understand it. And then children can reach between your teeth and find charts, maps to live by. It’s very important to respect and cherish your mentors, and to realize that you are one yourself.”

As much of a priority as children are to her, threads of the conversation frequently come back to her grandmother, who was clearly a major—and lasting—influence. In short, a mentor. When asked about the upcoming award ceremony where she is scheduled to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she gets a slightly dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. Gazing up at the kitchen’s far wall, she gestures to the portraits hanging there: her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother, who was a slave. “It will be all I can do to accept that award,” she says softly. “Look at where I’ve come from. Everyone should be aware of where they’ve come from and be grateful. That’s what will allow you to move forward.” DW

Sheila Robinson is the founder and publisher of Diversity Woman. Edmund R. Schubert is an author and editor. His latest book, How To Write Magical Words: A Writer’s Companion (Bella Rosa Books, 2011), is a collection of essays about the craft and business of writing fiction, gathered from a group of authors working in a variety of genres.

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Annette Taddeo, founder of LanguageSpeak, is helping organizations do just that. Staffed by a skilled team of translators and editors, her company translates written content, helps with video projects, and conducts real-time phone and meeting interpretation (with oral translation available in more than 240 languages). Taddeo’s clients range from corporations such as ING Financial Services and United Healthcare to the federal government.

Diversity Woman talked with Annette Taddeo about her burgeoning translation business.

Diversity Woman: What drew you into the translation business?

Annette Taddeo: In college [at the University of North Alabama], I started translating for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and there was a lot of chemistry and science, so it was not something that just anybody who was bilingual could do. I had to do a significant amount of research. In the process, I realized that while there were a lot of translation firms, there was a niche for specialized translation, especially for regulated industries.

DW: How did your background as a Latina influence you as you entered this field?

AT: It gave me part of my drive. When I was in college, I ran for student government secretary. On the day of the election, I woke up and found out that on the poster that said “Annette Taddeo for Secretary,” the word “Secretary” had been crossed out, and it said “Annette Taddeo for Deportation.”

That experience didn’t make me bitter or make me want to retreat. It made me want to succeed even more. It made me want to educate people about Hispanics and about difference. I used being bilingual to my advantage. I have a four-year-old now, and I’m making sure she’s bilingual.

DW: Why is translation a good business to be in?

AT:  Translation is not something that can be done with a computer, no matter how advanced we get. Computers use formula-driven technology, but language is not something that can be handled with a formula. The human brain figures out what the meaning of language is.

Google Translate is awesome for figuring out what the heck an e-mail says, but for really doing business, you would never allow anything to go out without being properly written in English, and it’s the same in other languages.

DW: Your company also helps clients with cultural understanding. Why is that important?

AT: When you’re trying to sell something, you have to understand the audience that you’re selling to. So much can be lost in translation.

None of our translations are literal, except for legal documents. With advertising, sometimes you have to ask, “What are they trying to say here?” You might have to come up with a whole new slogan to say the same thing, thinking about how it might be said in Spanish.

In the United States, we unfortunately do not study languages and therefore, in many instances, don’t have an understanding of other cultures. My goal is to help our clients understand their clientele. So often, companies try to save money on translation, but that can be a very costly mistake.

We back every one of our translations with an attestation of the accuracy of the piece and also with insurance. That’s one of the reasons we’re chosen by so many of the regulated industries.

DW: What is the key to a good translation?

AT: When you read the ad, or listen to the radio spot, or watch the TV commercial, you have no clue it was originally in English [or another original language]. It should not read or sound like a translation.

DW: How do you make sure that happens?

AT:  Each translation goes through many different hands—a translator, a proofreader, an editor—for review. Most of our translators have a degree and are also certified in translation.

DW: What is the most challenging job youíve ever gotten?

AT:  It was from the White House, during the [George W.] Bush administration. It was a Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting.

We bid for it, and initially didn’t get it because we weren’t the lowest bidder. I said, “I can’t do it for any less and still keep our good name and keep the type of interpreters we’re known for.” I really wanted it, but I walked away.

But two weeks before the event, they called and said, “We now realize that the other vendor is in over their head.” This was right before the event, and they needed 80 interpreters in three hotels. It was like building a mini-UN, with equipment. They were asking for the impossible. I had never done anything like that in a two-week period.

I had to fly in 80 interpreters and get them all security clearance. I jumped through so many hoops and had so many sleepless nights. We were translating everything that was said, in writing. There were tons of break-out sessions. My entire staff was working overtime.

Also, all of the streets were closed because there were protesters everywhere. I had to calm down the interpreters, because they were afraid there would be bombs.

It was a lot of work, and I just had to keep calm and keep everybody happy. It was definitely stressful, but it was also my pride and joy. We did a great job, and we’ve continued to do so. We’ve done many follow-up trade meetings.

DW: You offer language tutoring as well. What type of clients do you have?

AT: We teach Spanish to all the generals for the Southern Command of the Department of Defense, so as soon as they take over, they can do a good job directing the region. For people who travel extensively and can’t take a class, we can provide a private tutor. Everything’s very tailored to the specific company.

DW: At your company, what initiatives are you most proud of?

AT: I implemented not only a retirement plan, but a profit-sharing plan for my employees. I feel good about it, and I think more businesses should share with their employees. After all, you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.

DW: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

AT: Just yesterday, I got an e-mail from a major corporation that we’ve done business with for seven years. Our contract is up in February. They said, “We’ve asked throughout the entire company, and nobody said anything but wonderful things about you, so we’re not even going to put the contract up for bid.” Seven years and no complaints. Everybody’s happy. That’s the kind of stuff that makes you proud.

DW: What advice would you give a woman thinking about starting her own business?

AT: Don’t be afraid. If you’re passionate about it, just do it. People will point out every “but” there is along the way. Don’t listen to all the “buts.” Just go for it.

It’s a tremendous amount of work. Oh, boy! When I hear women say, “I want to do this because I want to spend more time with my kids,” I think, “You’re in a wrong place. Get a 9-to-5 job if you want to spend more time with your kids.” In the beginning, you’re going to spend three times as much time if you start your own business. If there’s an emergency, you’re the one who’s going to get the call.

But if you’re passionate about something and you really believe in it, you can do anything. DW

Kimberly Olson is the DW managing editor.

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Whether you are a woman who was raised with a silver spoon placed lovingly between her lips, or you’re returning to work after having a baby or taking care of an aging parent, it’s your time. Or perhaps you are a first-generation corporate woman with no one in your family or social circle to help you navigate the tricky corporate waters you’re now swimming in. It’s your time. Whether your skin color is red, brown, white, yellow, or a combination of any of these, it’s your time—your time to stake your claim in American corporations.

It’s your time because the corporate landscape is changing. The United States Census Bureau recently reported that by 2042, minority groups will constitute the majority of America’s population. A large percentage of these folks will be women. Thus far, there has been a small opening of the door to managerial and executive jobs that has enabled a trickle of multicultural women to enter these positions, but that door is about to be blasted open.

As a result, there are going to be opportunities in the managerial and executive ranks that have not been readily available to women of color in the past. So, given these new opportunities, how do you take advantage of the growing wedge in the door?

Get clear on the career path you want to follow. Do you want to be in management where you can still carve out some time for a personal life, or do you want to be in the executive suite and live a corporate lifestyle? Follow your passion!

Be proactive in building and developing your leadership abilities and skill set. Go back to school, take a course, attend a workshop at work, or participate in a leadership development program.

Get out of your comfort zone at work. Volunteer for an assignment where you can learn new skills, showcase your talents, create new allies, and enhance the “buzz” about you in the company.

Find a mentor or hire a coach, and be on the lookout for role models who don’t necessarily look like you. Again, transcend your comfort zone. Reach out to people who are different from you, not just by their outward appearance but also by what they do and who they know in your company.

Above all, don’t wait. The time is now. DW

Ella L.J. Edmondson Bell, PhD, is an associate professor of business administration at the Tuck School at Dartmouth College. She is considered to be one of the leading experts in organizational change, and the management of race, gender, and class in organizational life.

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The 16 women in this article are Diversity Woman’s Diversity Champions. They have been at the forefront of the mission to keep diversity alive and, in turn, maintain the flow of fresh ideas. There are, of course, other reasons that diversity must be championed in the workplace. To put it simply, diversity programs provide the underrepresented the opportunity to succeed and work in an environment that sees beyond employees’ race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. It’s not an easy task.

Some of DW’s diversity champions, like Edie Fraser, have advocated diversity for decades, through good economies and bad. Fraser’s days have always involved promoting diversity and inclusion—from her career to the businesses she’s started, to how she volunteers her time. Others, like Pat Harris, chief diversity officer at the Golden Arches (McDonald’s), have pioneered their way to the top and made it easier for others to climb the corporate ladder while proving that inclusion also makes business sense.

Join Diversity Woman as we applaud these 16 leaders—and, perhaps along the way, pick up a few tips for your organization.

Rohini Anand, Senior Vice President and Global Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo (Gaithersburg, Maryland)

With a Ph.D in sociology and a phenomenal track record, Rohini Anand is a renowned expert on organizational change and designing inclusive workplaces. By skillfully implementing successful programs at Sodexo, Anand made the company synonymous with diversity. Diversity and inclusion are so important at the country’s leading food provider and facilities management company that 25 percent of the executive team’s bonus is attached to meeting diversity goals. To sweeten the deal, those bonuses are paid out even if the economy fares poorly. The results have been dramatic when it comes to representation in the upper ranks: 45 percent of women and 24 percent of minorities hold management positions.

Anand’s clout extends outside headquarters. She is widely quoted, and last year she shared her insights in The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence. Anand has also produced numerous publications on the topic. To say that her work is her passion is an understatement. “My job is both my vocation and my avocation—and when I retire, I would do more of the same,” says Anand.

Recognition has come in various ways. In 2010, Sodexo was given the National Restaurant Association’s Faces of Diversity Award and also earned the top spot on DiversityInc.’s Top Companies for Diversity. Anand has been named a top diversity champion by Diversity Edge Magazine and was a recipient of the Diversity Officer Leadership Award by Diversity Best Practices. Further evidence of a job well done materialized in the form of a promotion: Three years ago Anand was promoted to global chief diversity officer at Sodexo, with responsibility for replicating that success for 370,000 employees in 82 countries.

Cindy Brinkley, Senior Vice President, Talent Development and Chief Diversity Officer, AT&T, (Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas)

If there is no greater asset than a company’s staff, then Cindy Brinkley has a big job. Brinkley is at the helm of AT&T’s efforts in growing the talent pipeline and ensuring that the employee population and suppliers reflect our multicultural world. “Diversity and inclusion are means to that end, and it requires focused leadership, discipline and execution—and it has to be managed and measured, just like other business priorities,” says Brinkley.

When it comes to representation at the top, the numbers are pretty telling: Two of its four business unit CEOs are people of color and 7 of the 12 board directors are minorities or women. AT&T is also known for spending massive amounts on minority-owned businesses—to the tune of $6.9 billion, a figure that grew by $1 billion from 2008. Recently, AT&T celebrated reaching the $50 billion milestone for their supplier diversity spending.

Outsiders have taken notice. AT&T ranks among the top five inclusive companies to work for in the Fortune 100. It is also a mainstay on Diversity Inc.’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity in 2010, ranking third.

Candi Castleberry-Singleton, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

Candi Castleberry-Singleton is like the Harry Potter of her field. She’s got a knack for turning skeptics into believers and ambassadors of diversity. This is why it’s no surprise that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) hired her in 2008 to become its first chief diversity officer.

It wasn’t long before Castleberry-Singleton worked her magic. Within months, she launched the Center for Inclusion in Health Care, a formal resource center for UPMC’s 50,000 employees and the organization’s partners and patients. That same year, she spearheaded the launch of the Dignity and Respect Campaign, which asked staffers to sign a pledge promising to treat others the way they want to be treated.

The campaign has been so effective that it’s practically a movement. Not only has Castleberry-Singleton received letters from patients thanking her for positively changing their experience at UPMC, but a handful of organizations has also signed up, including the Pittsburgh Foundation. Pittsburgh even declared October to be Dignity and Respect month. More praise for the campaign came from the Profiles in Diversity Journal, when the publication awarded UPMC the Innovations in Diversity prize earlier this year.

What makes Castleberry-Singleton so successful is her approach to addressing common workplace issues. “A long time ago, I realized diversity training often makes people feel as if they didn’t do something right. My goal is to make others feel empowered, not guilty.”

Daina Chiu, Corporate Diversity Officer, McKesson (San Francisco, California)

When McKesson, the largest drug distributor, was looking for someone to establish the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts, it turned to Daina Chiu. Chiu was McKesson’s assistant general counsel and worked on mergers and acquisitions and regulatory issues, but jumped at the opportunity. “As a woman of color, I have always had a personal and professional interest and stake in diversity,” says Chiu, “so when I was approached about leading and establishing the diversity and inclusion strategy for McKesson, I felt it was an opportunity to make an impact and a difference in something I am passionate about.”

Chiu has been formalizing McKesson’s diversity and inclusion efforts. She formed the Chairman’s Diversity Council, established to create visibility and accountability. And Chiu is proud. “For the first time in our company’s history, we have our most senior executives aligned around a shared diversity and inclusion agenda, pointed in the same direction, focused on shared goals, and being held accountable for results.” Next up: starting employee resource groups.

Lois Cooper, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion, Adecco, North America (Melville, New York)

Lois Cooper is charged with building partnerships that allow Adecco not only to support minority communities but also to tap into their talent. So far, the company has more than 75 diversity partnerships. “Connecting new sources of talent to the industry was, and continues to be, a business necessity,” says Cooper.

Thanks to Cooper’s performance of instituting effective diversity initiatives, the company has received numerous honors, including the Henry Viscardi Jr. Legacy Award for hiring people with disabilities and being named one of the Best Companies to Work For by Savoy magazine in 2009. The former is an honor given to companies with diversity efforts that are aimed at helping blacks and are built into every function of a business—from senior management representation to community outreach to philanthropy.

Cooper has also been named to The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business and featured as a woman to watch by the Diversity Journal.

Pat Crawford, Senior Vice President, Head of Enterprise Diversity and Inclusion, Wells Fargo (San Francisco, California)

As a trailblazing young adult in the 1960s, Pat Crawford decided to attend an all-white school. Undeterred by what some might call one of the most uninviting learning environments, she managed to graduate third in her class. It’s an experience that has shaped her career.

“To me, diversity and inclusion mean reality. The world is diverse, and if we don’t consider everyone and everything, we’ve missed the meaning of life,” says Crawford.

Wells Fargo has been on board for years: upper management reviews the company’s diversity progress and results twice a year, it’s offered health benefits for same-sex partners since 1998, and the company directs 26 percent of its philanthropic budget to multicultural organizations and LGBT and disability nonprofits. With Crawford’s help, the company recently restructured its Enterprise Diversity Council (which is led by the CEO) and Team Member Network program—both of which are instrumental in ensuring Wells Fargo is diverse and inclusive.

For the effort, Wells Fargo has garnered accolades from a variety of publications and groups, such as Diversity Inc., Essence, and Latina Style. It has also a received a perfect score, several years in a row, in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index. “The thing that excites me most about diversity and inclusion is the fact that it touches everyone—all generations, all cultures, all races, and all ethnicities. Nothing and no one is left out,” says Crawford.

Edie Fraser, Senior Consultant, Diversified Search, founder of Diversity Best Practices and Business Women’s Network, and author, Do Your Giving While You’re Living and Risk to Riches: Women’s Entrepreneurship in America (Washington, DC)

Edie Fraser is driven by the belief that everyone deserves the chance to succeed, and every aspect of her life has always involved breaking down barriers for others. By the time she was 20, Fraser had already partaken in four foreign exchange programs, including one in Africa.

Seemingly inexhaustible, Fraser has even dedicated her business ventures to cracking glass ceilings and getting women and minorities promoted. As founder of Diversity Best Practices, she designed the CEO Diversity Leadership Program and created an award to recognize distinguished corporate leaders who foster diversity and inclusion. Fraser also served as publisher of CEO Magazine and The Diversity Officer and launched the Business Women’s Network, an organization devoted to helping female entrepreneurs. Today, Fraser works at the largest female-founded and -owned search firm, where she matches talented minority executives with top corporate spots. “Differences are an asset to making an organization better,” says Fraser.

Fraser’s track record is impressive: she has worked with more than 100 CEOs in support of diversity practices, including founding and serving on the Women’s Advisory Board of Office Depot.

For her lifelong commitment to progress for minority groups, Fraser has garnered an impressive 35 diversity-related awards, including America’s Top Diversity Advocates given out by DiversityBusiness.com, an honor shared with Oprah Winfrey and Jimmy Carter.

Tracey Gibson, Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, Cargill (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Tracey Gibson was working in finance at Cargill when she had an epiphany that would completely change her career path. “I want my legacy at Cargill to be about making changes and creating an inclusive environment where people can thrive because they are able to be themselves at work,” says Gibson.

By implementing well-received diversity programs, Gibson deserves a hand for ensuring that the word enriching isn’t a concept that only applies to the agribusiness giant’s products. For instance, to tackle basic communication issues, Cargill offers on-site English classes for employees and Spanish classes for managers at some of its U.S. cattle-feeding and meat plants. Cargill has also partnered with an external company called Novations to offer efficacy courses. These courses, which focus on gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, help employees focus not just on the environment in which they work but rather on their response to that work environment. Efficacy training helps employees understand how they can change their mindset and their responses in order to accelerate and grow in any environment. Another program, called Mentor Up, pairs a senior executive with an employee of the opposite sex, or race, or with a staffer with a disability. “It gives the senior leader an opportunity to learn from a different viewpoint,” says Gibson.

Gibson’s legacy-making efforts don’t stop at the office. Feeling compelled to do something about the dismal graduation rates and lack of science and math scholars among minorities, she also chairs the board of the Robert Allen Math and Science Academy in Minnesota. In June, the school celebrated its first graduating class.

Antoinette Hamilton, Director, Diversity and Inclusion, L’Oreal USA (New York, New York)

Antoinette Hamilton took a less traditional path than most of her peers. She began her career successfully dabbling in just about every imaginable position—from communications and sales, to recruitment, to training and development—at INROADS, an organization dedicated to advancing minority students by placing them in businesses. Eventually, she made her way to Japan to promote language and culture under a program directed by the Japanese Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Today, Hamilton is busy working with corporate and divisional leaders at the U.S. subsidiary of the French cosmetics company L’Oreal to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion both in and outside the office. She manages a program that collaborates with the Coalition of 100 Black Women, which works with young women from local schools and provides professional development workshops, mentoring, and a stipend for school. Hamilton also spearheaded L’Oreal’s first Web portal on diversity and inclusion. “Today’s society is very technologically advanced. Thus, it’s crucial to stay abreast of the various mediums used not just for communication but to build and sustain our communities,” says Hamilton.

Hamilton’s work has been noticed. Earlier this year, she was named one of The Network Journal’s 40 Under Forty, a recognition given to top minority executives.

Pat Harris, Vice President and Global Chief Diversity Officer, McDonald’s (Oak Brook, Illinois)

When Pat Harris started to work as a secretary at McDonald’s, she had no intention of sticking around. More than three decades later, she has proven her way to the top and affixed herself to the company’s history in a supersized way: she is one of four people with an award named in their honor. Every year the award recognizes a distinguished McDonald’s leader with the highest diversity result. “I want an environment where people can bring their whole selves to work and where everyone feels respected—whether it’s walking into the restaurant as customers or serving our customers,” says Harris. “It’s on both sides of the counter.”

To her credit, Harris has made huge strides in creating that kind of environment. For much of her career, she saw very few people at the top who looked like her. So she pioneered ways of making the iconic hamburger company an example of a diverse and inclusive place to work. Harris was one of the first members of the Women’s Leadership Network and the African American Council. Because of her work, a lot has changed: today women and minorities make up more than 60 percent of McDonald’s corporate workforce.

Recently, Harris documented McDonald’s road to building a culture in which diversity and inclusiveness permeate every aspect of their business. In 2009, she published the book None of Us Is As Good as All of Us, whose proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald Foundation.

Nereida (Neddy) Perez, Vice President, Inclusion & Diversity, National Grid (Brooklyn, New York)

A renowned expert in diversity and inclusion, Neddy Perez has made her name developing and implementing innovative programs for Royal Dutch Shell, Sodexo, and KPMG. “Once people realize that each one of us has something to contribute and we can learn from each other’s perspective, then productivity goes up,” says Perez.

Now, she has brought that enthusiasm and passion to National Grid, an international utility company, where Perez is its first vice president of inclusion and diversity. Already, she has developed a new corporate governance structure for the company’s Global Inclusion and Diversity Council and established relationships with like-minded organizations. She is also busy rolling out company-wide inclusion and diversity training for its 1,500 U.S. managers and is about to implement initiatives that tackle the talent pipeline.

Perez looks outside the company to create change on a larger scale. She serves as vice chair of the National Utilities Diversity Council, an organization that focuses on addressing supplier and workforce diversity. She has also developed and launched a consortium of LGBT employee resource groups in the energy sector, which will officially launch at Out & Equal’s conference this year. Perez’s pursuits include being co-chair of the Asia Society, which is gearing up to launch the first major study on Asian professionals in Corporate America and the barriers they face.

Shari Slate, Senior Director for Inclusion and Diversity, Cisco Systems (San Jose, California)

Once a top salesperson at Xerox, Shari Slate transitioned into human resources to make an impact. Although diversity and inclusion aren’t usually thought of as a revenue-generating venture, Slate draws from her sales background to make a strong case for change. “As innovation becomes even more important, inclusion becomes that much more critical. You can’t be successful if you don’t incorporate those voices that bring you new ideas,” says Slate.

As the former chief diversity officer of Sun Microsystems, Slate successfully integrated diversity and inclusion into every aspect of the business—from recruiting to succession planning to marketing. In February, the enterprising executive was hired by Cisco Systems to come up with breakthrough programs that put the technology company on the leading edge.

Slate is widely recognized for her work and is often invited to speaking engagements and conferences. Her involvement with outside organizations expands her reach in the diversity and inclusion space. Slate currently serves on the Conference Board’s Diversity Business Council and the Diversity Best Practices International Advisors, and she is a founding member of Global Partners program, a consortium of innovative multinational companies committed to the development of diversity programs in Europe. Last year, she received The Network Journal’s 40 Under Forty Achievement Award.

Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Campbell Soup Company, and author, 7 Keys 2 Success: Unlocking the Passion for Diversity (Camden, New Jersey)

For Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, growing up in the 1950s in the south, life was all about exclusion and feeling out of place, something she struggles with to this day. “I’m an African American, lesbian executive. With the exception of the last one, I’ve spent over 40 years adapting, assimilating and enhancing a country that does not know what to do with me.”

Rather than resign, O’Neale followed her parents’ positive example: Her mother was a social worker and her father was a police officer. “I grew up seeing how one person could make a difference, and I was inspired and felt obligated to be that one person,” says O’Neale.

That determination set her off on a career of activism and pushing for equity in the workplace. She landed at MTV Networks and a tech company now owned by Hewlett Packard. O’Neale eventually co-founded a consulting firm, where she helped scores of American and international firms embrace diversity and inclusion. These days, though, O’Neale is crafting and implementing programs at Campbell Soup Company that continue to make it a hospitable company to work for and a culture that generates new ideas, such as the Select Harvest soup line developed by and for women. “Who we include when we select employees, where we will build our factories, when we are opened, how we reward and finally how we evolve—diversity and inclusion has to be embedded in every process and practice,” says O’Neale.

Cuc Vu, Chief Diversity Officer, Human Rights Campaign (Washington, DC)

As an immigrant from Vietnam, and a lesbian, Cuc Vu knows what it feels like to be out of place. Not too long after Vu’s arrival in the United States, a young boy told her to “get on a boat and go back to where you belong.” Without realizing it at the time, that moment sparked a mission she continues to this day.

When Vu served as director of the immigration campaign manager for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) or worked for the AFL-CIO, she championed the legalization of undocumented workers and promoted their civic participation. Vu found it easy to sympathize with their struggles: As a child, she woke up at 5 a.m. to pick strawberries with her family for $3 a flat. The little she earned was used to buy school clothes. The experience offered some valuable lessons. “It taught me independence and a work ethic,” she says. “I could see the immigrants I represented had a similar story.”

But Vu was just warming up. In 2007, she became the first chief diversity officer for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization working toward fairness for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. And incredibly, Vu has found ways to unite the immigrant and LGBT communities toward a common goal—equality and full citizenship. It wasn’t easy at first. Moving away from what she calls a “transactional model” to one of partnership and commitment made all the difference. HRC’s volunteers work citizenship drives several times a year and show up at rallies for support. In turn, members of the immigrant community get to interact with a group they they might only hear about in negative ways, break down preconceived notions, and join LGBT people in their struggles.

Billie Williamson, Americas Inclusiveness Officer, Ernst & Young (New York, New York)

The workplace wasn’t exactly female friendly when Billie Williamson started her career
at Ernst & Young in 1974. Clients frequently assumed she was a secretary and asked her to make coffee. Despite that, Williamson rose up the ranks to make partner in just 10 years, an achievement shared only by five other women at the time.

Today’s Ernst & Young looks much different: nearly 20 percent of women are senior managers, and 30 percent of partners are minorities. Williamson has worked hard on instituting programs that make the accounting giant a great employer, not just for women but for everyone. “I believe that every person has special gifts and abilities, and I want those individuals to be successful in the way they define success, regardless of color, orientation, or gender,” she says.

Williamson’s approach to making staffers feel welcome has been forward thinking—from supporting health-care benefits for same sex partners to promoting flexible work schedules as a way of retaining new moms. So far, more than 125 employees have been promoted under the flexible arrangement program, a testament to the changed mind-set at Ernst & Young. But after holding focus groups with male partners and managers, Williamson found that the men felt they didn’t know how to mentor their female employees. This led to a program that coaches male managers on mentoring and helping advance female staffers.

For Williamson’s work, Ernst & Young has been recognized as a great place to work by business publications, and it repeatedly receives accolades from DiversityInc. and Working Mother.

Magda Yrizarry, Vice President of Talent Management and Chief Diversity Officer, Verizon (Basking Ridge, NJ)

This Ivy League-trained executive has a strong sense of purpose that applies to her personal life and her career. “We must be good stewards of the talents and oppor-tunities afforded to us, not just for ourselves but for the benefit of others, too,” says Magda Yrizarry. It’s a determination that began at an early age, after her dad’s passing left Yrizarry’s mother to raise her alone.

There’s no question about whether Yrizarry has applied her talent to help herself and others. She spent the early days of her career directing leadership development programs for an organization that helped underprivileged families. But for the last two decades, Yrizarry has also worked on many of the programs that make Verizon a good corporate citizen. As the director of the telecommunication giant’s philanthropic efforts, the bulk of the $75 million budget was doled out to organizations and scholarships for underrepresented groups, such ASPIRA, a non-profit that works with Latino youth. Now, as chief diversity officer, she gets to play a role in how diverse employees are hired, retained, and promoted. But her benevolence doesn’t stop there. Yrizarry tutors and translates at her church. She also represents Verizon on LULAC’s National Education Service Centers Board and the Corporate Advisory Board of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. DW

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And change is what it’s all about. Women are the fuel that drives the economy. Women, after all, hold the purchasing power and majority of stock ownership as well. We have collective clout. Let’s use it. As Maya Angelou said, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”

So, let us look backward and project forward as we consider women’s advancement and measure how to drive greater progress.

In the Beginning

Reflect back to the first women’s rights convention, in 1848, held in Seneca Falls, New York. At that time, the concern was political, not economic, equity. At the convention, 68 women and 32 men signed a Declaration of Sentiments, which outlined grievances and set the agenda for the women’s rights movement. A set of 12 resolutions was adopted calling for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women.

With the passage of the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963, it became illegal to pay women lower rates for the same job strictly on the basis of their sex. Demonstrable differences in seniority, merit, and the quality or quantity of work might justify different pay, but gender could no longer be viewed as a deficit for women seeking jobs.

The workplace has changed significantly since the passage of the Equal Pay Act nearly five decades ago. Although conditions have certainly improved, women’s pay is still at stake. In 1963, women earned 59 percent of the wages men earned; in 2009, that increased to 77 percent, according to Census figures. All women, including women of color, are making headway. The average median weekly wage for African American women, for example, rose 8.8 percent from 2000 to 2009, although the median income for African American women was just 67.5 percent of men’s wages, and for Latinas just 58 percentblack.

Woman Are Economic Drivers

Today, women represent 49.7 percent of the workforce. Sixty-three percent of all women work, and 54 percent work full-time, many holding multiple jobs. Women now fill almost half of the country’s managerial positions. Forty-one percent of working women head their own household, as they are single, divorced, separated, or widowed. A high percentage, 28 percent, have dependent children. Clearly, women are responsible for bringing in the dollars.

We care about achieving pay equality at all levels—and for helping those at the bottom as well. According to a 2008 study by the National Center for Policy Analysis, nearly 15 million women in the United States earned less than $25,000 a year despite working in full-time, year-round jobs. We must erase the wage differential.

Single black and Hispanic women are particularly hard-hit, owning less than a penny of wealth for every dollar owned by their male counterparts and less than a penny for every dollar owned by single Caucasian women, according to the Insight Center for Community Economic Development.

Wealth Gap

Younger women are changing the pay differential. As of 2005, women under age 25 working full-time earned 93.2 percent of men’s salaries, compared to those 25 and older, who earned 79.4 percent of what men pulled in. We are sensitive to the fact that one in four working families earns too little to meet basic needs. Working women are in need. Seventy-seven percent of all mothers with school-age children are working.

In 2009, President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, allowing victims of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their employer within 180 days of their last paycheck. Despite the passage and signing, discrimination still remains.

A Report from the Front—How Are We Doing?

Education

Women and Higher Education
Women hold a small edge in college attendance—they occupy 54 percent of the classroom seats. A 2010 study by the American Council on Education on the gender gap in college emphasizes that the gap is widest among blacks—63 percent women to 37 percent men. Rates are comparable for Hispanics—57 percent women to 43 percent men—and for lower-income Caucasians—54 percent to 46 percent. An enrollment boom among older women is further skewing the numbers.

The number of women with professional degrees is growing, and women are the majority in both undergraduate and graduate schools. More women than men earned doctoral degrees in the 2008–09 academic year. Women are moving swiftly in law, medicine, and accounting, as they are reaching parity with men in law and medical schools. For example, as of 2010, 47 percent of law school students are women. Women also make up 49 percent of medical school students. Enrollment rates at business schools remain lower. According to the Graduate Management Admissions Council, 39 percent of its test takers in the past year were women.

Engineering remains the discipline with the smallest proportion of women, with fewer than one in seven students being female.

Business

Corporate Boys Club
As of 2009, women made up only 15.2 and 13.5 percent of board directors and corporate officers, respectively, in Fortune 500 companies. As of 2009, women made up only 15.2 and 13.5 percent of board directors and corporate officers, respectively, in Fortune 500 companies.

The United States is not alone in its boys’ club leadership. In 2009, Canada’s Financial Post 500 companies, women comprise only 14 percent of board directors and 16.9 percent of corporate officers. Similarly, women held only 9.7 percent of board positions in Europe’s top 300 companies in 2008.

Research shows that companies with at least three female board members and more women in senior leadership roles produce stronger than average financial and organizational results. However, women of color held only 3.2 percent of board director positions in 2008, according to a Catalyst study.

With the new financial reforms from Congress, the SEC is asking for more women on corporate boards. CALPERS, the Calvert Group, and others are asking for accountability. Other countries are mandating the change. Years ago, Norway began requiring that 40 percent of board seats be occupied by women.

But let’s not forget those who are paving the way and salute the women CEOs who are highly respected leaders of Fortune 500 companies: Indra Nooya, PepsiCo; Ilene Rosenfeld, Kraft; Lynn L. Elsenhans, Sunoco; Ellen J. Kullman, DuPont; Carol M. Meyerowitz, TJX; Ursula M. Burns, Xerox; Andrea Jung, Avon Products Inc.; Patricia A. Woertz, Archer Daniels Midland Company; Angela F. Braly, WellPoint Inc.; Laura Sen, BJ’s Wholesale Club; Susan M. Ivey, Reynolds American Inc.; Carol Bartz, Yahoo! Inc.; and Christina A. Gold, Western Union Holdings Inc.

Two women of color deserve particular mention for their success stories. It was exciting when Ursula M. Burns was named the first African American CEO of Xerox after Anne Mulcahy retired. Burns joined Xerox in 1980 as a mechanical engineering summer intern and later assumed roles in product development and planning. Andrea Jung, who is Asian-Canadian, is CEO of Avon, “known as the company for women” and “the largest direct seller of beauty products in the world.” Avon is the world’s largest micro-lender for women, extending some $1 billion in product and credit each year to help women start their own entrepreneurial businesses.

Law Leadership
According to a 2009 survey by Catalyst of the nation’s 200 largest law firms, women represent 34 percent of co-counsel, 27 percent of nonequity partners, and almost 16 percent of equity partners. There is a drastic difference between women at the lowest and highest levels in law firms. According to a survey published in May 2010 by Catalyst, women make up nearly one out of every two law firm associates, but only one out of every six equity partners. Ninety-nine percent of law firms reported that their highest paid lawyer was a man.

Says the Catalyst report, “The retention, development, and advancement of women and minorities is a pressing issue for law firms. Although women of color represented nearly one-quarter of all women associates in 2008, only 1.84 percent were partners. Women of color continue to leave law firms at an alarming rate—75 leave their firms by the fifth year of practice, and nearly 86 percent leave before their seventh year.”

Accounting Firms
Accounting firms are advancing women, including women of color. According to Catalyst, women make up 62 percent of all accountants and auditors, and in 2009,

41 percent of all CPAs hired out of college were female. All the Big Four firms have shown a marked increase in the number of female partners in the last 15 years. Catalyst recommends that those in positions of leadership at accounting firms advise the industry to implement strict standards of accountability for gender diversity initiatives already in place.

Small Business Owners

Following is some encouraging data from the Center for Women’s Business Research and Census.

• The 10.1 million firms owned by women (50 percent or more) employed more than 13 million people and generated $1.9 trillion in sales as of 2008.
• Women-owned small businesses have grown at approximately twice the rate of all firms. Over the past two decades, majority women-owned firms have experienced 42 percent growth as compared to 24 percent growth for all firms.
• As of 2007, women of color own 42 percent of all firms owned by persons of color. This number is up from 36 percent in 2004. Businesses owned by women of color employ 1.6 million people.
• Small businesses owned by women of color generate nearly $230 billion in sales each year.
• Small businesses owned by women of color grew five times faster than all privately held firms. Between 1997 and 2006, growth for such firms was 120 percent, compared to 24 percent for all firms.
• Of all women-owned firms, those owned by Asian women have the highest survival rate.

Politics

Female Legislators
According to the Rutgers Center of American Women in Politics, of the 90 women serving in the 111th Congress, 21, or 23.3 percent, are women of color; in addition, an African American woman and a Caribbean American woman serve as delegates to the House from Washington, DC, and the Virgin Islands, respectively. Of the 71 women in statewide elective executive offices, 7, or 9.9 percent, are women of color. Of the 1,811 women state legislators nationwide, 355, or 19.6 percent, are women of color. They include 101 senators and 252 representatives; 335 are Democrats, 18 are Republicans, and 2 are nonpartisan. A 2007 study by the University of California at Irvine indicates that women of color constituted 4.8 percent of the total 7,382 state legislators.

• Of the 71 women in statewide elective executive offices, 3 are African American. Of the 1,811 women state legislators nationwide, 234 are African American.
• Latinas: Of the 90 women in the 111th Congress, 6 are Latina. Of the 71 women in statewide elective executive offices, 3 are Latina. Of the 1,811 women state legislators nationwide, 75 are Latina.
• Asian American women: Of the 90 women in the 111th Congress, 3 are Asian American. Of the 1,811 women state legislators serving nationwide, 33 are Asian American.

Executive Branch
According to the Center for American Women and Politics, 40 women have held a total of 45 cabinet or cabinet-level appointments in the history of the United States. Of this number, 24 had cabinet posts, including 2 who headed two different departments and 2 who held both a cabinet post and a position defined as cabinet level. Seven women currently serve in cabinet or cabinet-level posts.

State and Local Officials
Thirty-two women have served or are serving as the governor of a U.S. state and one the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. As of September 2010, six women are state governors. Women hold 34 percent of state legislature positions and many mayor and county officials and women of color are increasing their representation. At this point in the 2010 legislative session, there are 1,808 women legislators serving in the 50 states. Women hold 24.5 percent of legislative seats in the 50 states, a ratio that has increased by less than 4 percentage points over the past 16 years. Thirty-six women serve in the legislative bodies of the United States Territories and the District of Columbia. Since 1971, the number of women serving in state legislatures has more than quintupled.

Supreme Court
In 2009, we celebrated the appointment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and, in 2010, the appointment of Justice Elena Kagan. In the court’s 220-year history, only four women justices have ever served on the Supreme Court: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (1981–2005) was the first. Also serving today is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (appointed 1993).

International Leadership
Seventeen women lead 16 countries on six continents: Germany, Ireland, Finland, Liberia, India, Argentina, Bangladesh, Iceland, Croatia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, and Slovkia.

Sports Leadership

Edie Fraser is a Senior Consultant, Diversified Search, founder of Diversity Best Practices and Business Women’s Network, and is the author of Do Your Giving While You’re Living and Risk to Riches: Women’s Entrepreneurship in America.

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“For years, there were no socially acceptable spaces where women—especially ethnic women—and the white male power-structure could intersect,” says Jessica Carter, attorney and author of Double Outsiders: How Women of Color Can Succeed in Corporate America.

“Even today, leadership circles are made up of mostly white men,” says Stacy Blake-Beard, associate professor of management at Simmons School of Management. “Unfortunately, women, particularly women of color, may be at a disadvantage because of lack of access to those leaders and a level of unfamiliarity with them that may impede the development of important career relationships. Diversifying our networks provides opportunities and resources for creating alliances with people who can connect us to those in power.”

Diversifying Your Network at Work
Your own company is a valuable resource for diversifying your network and building strategic alliances up, down, and across the organization. Many companies have established women’s initiatives and forums and support affinity or cultural groups for employees.

“Networking at work can help you develop friendships, broaden your perspective, and identify career and mentoring opportunities,” says Annette Martinez, operations executive assistant at State Farm, which has 120 different employee resource groups. “If you work for a large organization, you need the increased visibility that networking affords. Networking at work isn’t difficult, but it should be deliberate. Start by deciding what you want to accomplish in the next five years. What do you need to do this? Who can help you get what you need? Create a personal board of directors by identifying 10 to 15 areas of the company where you want to create connections, and meet with these people regularly.”

If your company doesn’t support formal networking, start your own informal network. “Look for opportunities to connect with team members and colleagues based on mutual interests, projects, and skills,” advises Barbara Adachi, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP in San Francisco, and head of the company’s Women’s Initiative. “It’s never too early to start building your company network.”

Diversifying Your Network Outside of Work
“Building relationships with a variety of people outside the job can help you expand your sphere of influence in new areas,” says British Hill, program chair of Pinellas County Networking Professionals International in Florida and independent consulting director with Seriesse International.

Joining local business organizations like the chamber of commerce and service organizations can connect you with people from different cultures, professions, and interests. If you’re in sales or own your own business, these organizations can be rich sources of potential customers and clients.

Also consider participating in affinity groups and volunteer activities to meet like-minded people who can expand your social network. Painting a school, cleaning a park, or building a home for Habitat for Humanity can help you overcome networking shyness. When everyone is focused on the task at hand, it’s easy to start conversations and get to know people.

Check the business calendar section of your newspaper and your local volunteer center or craigslist.com listings for events.

Diversifying with Online Networks
Online networks demand less time and commitment than in-person networking and can expand your reach exponentially. A single mouse click can connect you to someone in Africa or Asia—or across town.

“Internet networks expand your reach and can provide mutually beneficial connections more efficiently than face-to-face networking,” says Attiya Abdulghany, director of marketing for Salesconx, a B2B lead-generator for sales professionals. Abdulghany has used FaceBook and LinkedIn to stay in touch with college friends, develop professional connections, and find jobs.

LinkedIn has more than 17 million members. You create a personal profile and invite others to join your personal network. Savvy users recommend establishing fewer, high-quality connections rather than many connections of questionable value. Social networking sites such as FaceBook, once the domain of young people, are maturing along with their members. They give people the opportunity to make more personal connections than purely business networks.

“Commit a couple hours a week to building your virtual network,” Hill advises. “When you join a virtual network, complete your profile and participate in forums. Get known, and share information.”

Diversifying Within Your Network
“The higher you move within your career, the more your network matters,” says Marva Smith Battle-Bey, president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and of the Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation. “Today, I work with senior-level government and elected officials, and my network has been a huge factor in my ability to get things done.”

Networks aren’t just about what you do, what you have done, and what you need—they’re also about who needs you and what you have to offer them.

“There is a quid pro quo in networking,” Smith Battle-Bex adds. “Don’t connect just with people you need. Connect with people who need you and what you have to offer. Men, I think, are more comfortable doing this. They more easily discuss their accomplishments. Many women are uncomfortable talking about what they have done and can do.”

This can be especially important for women who may be influenced by home upbringing and cultural background. “As a Japanese American, I was raised in a culture that expected me to stay in the background and not speak until spoken to,” states Deloitte’s Adachi. “Overcoming this reticence has been a challenge for me throughout my career. I believe that many ethnic women experience something like this. Networking provides a way of sharing experiences and solutions to these kinds of cultural challenges.”

You can diversify within your network by building win-win alliances and creating opportunities for cross-networking. Communicate regularly with people in your network, make introductions when people can help each other, and ask for introductions to people you think will help you. Encourage the members of your network to share success stories and make requests of each other. Create mini-networking events so members of your network can meet and mingle with each other, and ask them to bring new people into your network.

“Business networking is not just about what you do or how you do it,” says Caterina Rando, professional speaker, success coach, and author of Learn to Power Think. “It’s about building mutually beneficial relationships, helping each other overcome challenges, finding out what needs to be done, and doing it.”

Patricia Haddock is a communications and training consultant in San Francisco, and is the author of 11 books.

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How do individuals under duress approach family crises that require snap decision-making and a deeply informed knowledge base? Barbara Newman Mannix founded A Dignified Life LLC to serve as a research resource to help these families navigate tough decisions and evaluate all of their options in times of life transition. ADL is a unique company that advocates for families and relives their burdens with a wide range of support services in the medical, legal, and social services under one roof.

Mannix, a fomer Macy’s executive and mother of twins, was inspired to launch the company after her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2006 and she observed so many others in distress.

From care for a parent or loved one to downsizing and relocation and legal planning, ADL offers both in-person and virtual consultations with people in crisis to implement an action plan. The team then connects families to carefully selected geriatric care managers, social workers, attorneys and benefits specialists. Families have turned to A Dignified Life to divest homes, establish a will or estate plan, apply for Medicaid, and stage interventions to arrange for care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s, among many other tumultuous and personal situations (see the company website for a comprehensive list of services).

“Baby boomers, despite the desire to provide the best care for their parents, often do not have the time or expertise to figure out how to plan for their parents’ elder years. They need somewhere to turn for practical, pragmatic, and sensitive advice. In times of uncertainty or crisis, how do they best sift through the maze of literature regarding health, financial, and human service programs?” prompts Mannix, who launched A Dignified Life after her own experience in dealing with her husband’s terminal diagnosis of cancer in 2006.

Adult children praise care managers like Mannix, who is particularly adept at helping families assess the health and safety needs of an aging parent. Mannix and her team can even play ‘bad cop,’ diminishing the role of the ‘nag’ often played by adult children, and act as the ‘voice of reason’ amidst what can sometimes be a complicated, albeit loving, family dynamic.

For more information visit www.adignifiedlife.com.

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