From Cabernets to Chardonnays, Alyssa Rapp loves wine. While serving as copresident of the wine club at Stanford, where she earned her MBA, the young entrepreneur decided to parlay her passion into a career. “I realized something seismic was happening in the wine industry, with people under 40 becoming more interested in it, and with greater access to imports than ever before,” says Rapp, 32.
Years ago, Susan Ballard waited backstage to speak at a McDonald’s Woman Owner Network conference featuring the company’s top executives. The tone of the conference reflected the tone of many of the conferences she had attended: the McDonald’s system is strong, and business is good.
Whether your skin color is red, brown, white, or yellow, it’s your time to stake your claim in American corporations.
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.
With the economy in a tailspin, many corporations have slashed jobs and put diversity efforts on the back burner. But history has shown that in order for a business to survive—and thrive—through tough times, innovation is key. Now more than ever, a diverse workforce, with a broad range of ideas and perspectives, is a critical source for innovative thinking.
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.
Businessmen know the secret to success: the old boy network has put more than one man in the executive suite. It works because people tend to pass out opportunities, do business, and associate with other professionals based on similarity and comfort level. Breaking into the old boy network, however, hasn’t been—and still isn’t—a viable option for many women.
As the nation’s 75-million strong Baby Boomers are called on to care for their elderly parents they confront tough challenges. There is a host of specialists to vet, legal and estate planning, housing and financial red tape to maneuver, medical issues to decipher, and a raft of legal documents to complete. And it is often overwhelming and emotionally charged.
After winning a promotion and moving into a new department, Lisa A. Bing could be found in her office on most nights well past midnight. She was a new manager faced with new demands and a new staff. “I thought I had to figure it all out on my own and had the belief that if I asked for help, it would be seen as a sign of weakness,” Bing recalls. “I was suffering in silence.”
Before long, the demands of doing it all alone caught up with her. Her boss reprimanded her for canceling meetings. She describes it as ‘a turning point conversation.’ “I realized that working that way didn’t serve me, or anyone else, well,” Bing says. “And it was starting to have a negative effect on my performance.”
Multicultural women represent only about 1.6 percent of corporate officers and top earners at the nation’s 500 leading industrial companies, according to Catalyst, a top women-oriented research and advisory firm. Although these leaders reached the top in a variety of ways, they do share one trait: they know that to become an effective leader, you must know yourself and how to play to your strengths and manage your weaknesses.
