Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Google recently sat down with Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO and President, Ariel Investments to hear Mellody’s story of rise within the corporate ranks and her hope for the future and women of color in leadership roles. This interview was shared as part of the 2024 Catalyst Awards.

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Transcript

00:00:13,555
Mellody, it’s so great to see you again. I still think fondly of when you came to Google a few years ago at our Women of Color conference, and then most recently, your lifetime achievement award with the Executive Leadership Council.

Congratulations again.

00:00:28,028
Thank you so much. I remember going to Google for that conference and being so excited to be there. Of course, having so much admiration for the company that has been built over all these years. And the ELC, if you get a lifetime achievement award are they telling you you’re old? But that was very, very exciting to be honored amongst so many senior leaders from Corporate America
who I admire.

00:00:49,257
You know what I took away from your remarks at the Executive Leadership Council gala was really how you inspire followership. And you gave such incredible kudos to your co-founder, John, and gave an incredible walk through of your career. And I thought it would be so fitting for our conversation today. If you could talk about your role as co-CEO of Ariel Investments. You’re the chairwoman of the board for Starbucks. What have you learned along the way? Who and what has led to such tremendous success?

00:01:22,499
Sure. I’ve talked a lot about growing up. I grew up in Chicago. I’m the youngest of six kids. My mother was a single mom. My siblings were much older than me, a couple of decades older. I was not planned and they told me that all the time. I’m the only Hobson. I have a different father than my siblings. And so I was this sort of misfit kid who was growing up in a circumstance that was challenging, often. I talk about the fact that we often got evicted or our phone disconnected or lights turned off, and that gave me a lot of focus. I became very, very focused on school because I felt that that was my best way to change my circumstances. Even as a child, I really knew and understood that. And it also ultimately led me to focus on the investment business because I was desperate to understand money. I wanted to understand how money worked. It wasn’t about having a lot. It was about how do I ensure that I am secure financially for the long term?And so I found my way to Ariel Investments, which was life changing as a summer intern —

00:02:23,893
Wow.

00:02:24,352
– when I was 19 years old between my sophomore and junior year at Princeton. And literally from that moment on, I knew what I was going to do. I came back to work at Ariel after I graduated from Princeton. I am the only person in my graduating class of 1,100 people who supposedly has the same work phone number for 33 years.

00:02:43,163
Wow.

00:02:44,247
Yes, I’ve had one job. The average American has 11 jobs in their lifetime. But I knew when I got there that this would be my home for a very, very long time. And it’s exceeded all of my expectations.

00:02:57,760
No, that level of focus and commitment like it’s inspiring and it makes me think about just the challenges as a woman of color and a leader. Like what specific challenges have you seen, have you faced and what words of wisdom
would you share?

00:03:14,027
One of my friends years and years ago who was on the board of Starbucks with me named Olden Lee, who was the head of HR for all of Pepsi. I was talking to him once about the challenges that we face as people of color and as women.

And he looked at me and he said, “Mellody, how long have you been black?”

“How long have you been a woman?” It sort of you know, underscoring
the point that the challenges – it starts very early. And you decide what you want to be. And I always had this perspective. I could be a victim or I could be a victor. And I wanted to be a victor. And so even though I knew there were many times when race or gender were being my words used against me, I did not allow that to happen. Now that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard.

That doesn’t mean that sometimes I had challenges that kept me back, but I was always trying to find another way.

My husband always says to me, he says, “You’re the kind of person,
if there’s a brick wall, you look for loose bricks.”

I’m that person. I’m looking for loose bricks.

And so there were times when those walls did exist, but I just decided to, to be and do something else.

I mean, I’ve told so many stories about, you know, people asking me to take their coats when they got to Ariel or things like that.

No, I’m happy to do it.

But they just didn’t realize I was President.

00:04:32,230
Oh, yeah.

00:04:32,981
And so, you know, I would do it,  put the coat away and then come and sit in the room and there’d be a little bit of shock and awe in those early years because I wasn’t someone that people knew.

It was unexpected.

It says a lot also about –

00:04:44,742
It does.

00:04:45,326
– people’s mental models. And one of my goals in life has always been to break their mental models. That, whatever they thought I’m supposed to be, you’re supposed to be how we’re supposed to show up, that I could break that, which then allows the opportunity for them to think about people like me and you in a very different way, open up their minds to what is possible.

00:05:04,679
And like, when I think about the stories you know, that you’re telling now and the ones I’ve heard  you share over the years, one of the things that’s striking to me is that from the time you were a little girl, you were able to recognize that school and education, like, was a path forward.

So you’ve been navigating this journey for a long time. Like it didn’t just show up when you were at Princeton or when you interned, or when you came back to Ariel Investments. This is a lifetime of navigating and hitting against those walls. And I wonder what hope do you have for the future and for other women of color in leadership roles?

00:05:45,178
They say that in America we have optimism and hope as unique American characteristics –

00:05:51,100
Yeah.

00:05:51,684
and I think they are magnified in black people. I really do. I think that our expectations are not always as big as they could be just based upon the circumstances that we’ve come from and lived in.

But we always have this hope and belief that things will be better. There are lots of surveys that show that. And I think that’s one of the things when I think about all the things I do, I have great expectations for our society, for –

00:06:16,834
I do too.

00:06:17,293
– people who will come after me.

00:06:18,336
Yes.

00:06:18,711
Now that doesn’t mean we are there –

00:06:20,213
That’s right.

00:06:20,963
and we’ve had some setbacks.

00:06:21,839
Yes, we have.

00:06:22,590
Massive setbacks.

00:06:23,591
Yes.

00:06:23,966
But I do think that to the extent that we can continue to, again, break mental models, open up opportunities for others, do our job as well to carry us forward.

I think to the extent that that happens, there will be more Melonies and Mellody’s that can move in the world.

But there are too few of us. Our numbers are too small and we need to be more properly resourced to be able to go up against, the best and the brightest. And, and I think we have all of the talents, all of the skills.

You know, one of the things I say all the time, talent and genius do not discriminate.

00:07:00,878
That’s exactly right.

00:07:02,004
They actually show up in equal proportions. When you look in any ethnic community and gender as well. And so then the question is, what keeps that talent and genius from breaking out? It’s often the opportunities that are not there.

00:07:16,686
That’s right. And the safety that people feel in those environments to navigate, to network, to strive, because often I find that women of color can toggle between hyper-visibility and being invisible. But when you feel your experiences are accepted in that environment, you navigate that path a little bit better. Mellody, can you share how do you believe leaders should help continue to create safe and equitable workplaces for women?

00:07:47,008
I think a lot of things can be done. But in short, I have this saying that math has no opinion. The math tells the story. So first of all, you have to have people represented in the numbers that we are represented in society, and that has to be a goal. It’s not a quota. It’s a target. You’re targeting representation. I love Shonda Rhimes, who says she doesn’t like the word “diversity.” You would say,
“What do you mean by that?”  And she always talks about the fact that when you walk around a metropolitan city like San Francisco, like New York, Chicago, Atlanta, etc., you see all these diverse
people in the street, every walk of life, gender, race, etc. You go up into these towers and the buildings get whiter and whiter and more male. And the higher up you go, the more male, the more white. And she’s like, “Diversity? Normal is on the street. Not normal is in the tower.” So we really need to aspire to what we see when we’re walking around every single day being represented in our environments.

The other thing that I think is very important, okay, the numbers are one thing. Asking and including people in decision making and having their point of view is what really allows, I think, companies to have superpowers, to use diversity to their advantage. What ultimately helps them better understand their customer, better understand the people who work inside of their company and therefore lower their turnover. All sorts of opportunities to scale growth in their companies through diversity or diversity can be an edge.

00:09:14,136
Yes.

00:09:14,554
And I think that when people realize they’re acting in their own best interest, I think that they get more excited about the opportunities here as opposed to seeing this as some kind of chore. But you have to actually really believe it.

00:09:27,191
That’s right. You have to see talent as an asset, not just as an expense. And so how you view talent and how you create that environment for people to feel seen and heard and recognized and rewarded need all of those ingredients.

00:09:41,789
But also understanding that talent comes from all walks of life. It can come in all shapes and sizes, all forms. And if you have an idea of talent that does not allow you to look beyond a mental model that you have. I keep using that term over and over again. You are limiting your opportunities. And so therefore you want to you want to have the opportunity to have the best and brightest and be unconstrained in what that looks like. And to the extent that environments become very homogeneous, you know you’re not doing that.

00:10:11,444
Well it becomes such a clear marker, when you look around and there’s a very homogenous organization. It means that you probably need to go walk around a little bit more and figure out what do you need to add, not what do you need to fit into your environment.

00:10:25,499
Yes.

00:10:26,459
Thank you so much for your time today and this wonderful conversation.

00:10:30,129
Thank you for having me.

The post Breaking Down Barriers for Women of Color appeared first on Catalyst.

“Jennifer’s career has been dedicated to challenging and changing the status quo for women in the workplace, a professional expertise and personal passion that mirrors Catalyst’s mission,” said Julie Sweet, Accenture CEO and Catalyst Board Chair. “With the aptitude, insight, and track record of success expanding the impact of mission-driven organizations, Jennifer will help bring Catalyst to new heights.”

“It is an honor to join Catalyst at this pivotal moment for gender equity,” McCollum said. “I have long admired the organization’s mission and impact, and I look forward to playing a critical role in the next chapter, alongside the committed Catalyst staff, Board, and Supporters.”

McCollum most recently served as the CEO of Linkage, Inc., a SHRM company dedicated to advancing women that is consistently ranked as a top-20 global leadership development firm. Prior to Linkage, McCollum spent a decade growing businesses within Corporate Executive Board (CEB), now Gartner, and Korn Ferry. At CEB, she led product management within the leadership division, driving innovative solutions that helped organizations select, develop and place leaders at all levels. She also ran CEB’s Leadership Academies business, which developed more than 30,000 professionals in 2,100 companies throughout 50 countries.

A nationally recognized speaker, consultant, coach, and author, McCollum is a thought leader with timely and relevant expertise on closing the gender equity gap, the effectiveness of inclusive leaders, and how to demystify inclusion for leaders and organizations. Her book, In Her Own Voice: A Woman’s Rise to CEO, became an Amazon best seller upon its release in 2023.

McCollum is Catalyst’s sixth CEO in its 62-year history and succeeds Lorraine Hariton, who will retire from the organization.

“Lorraine has made a tremendous impact on Catalyst during her five and a half years of leadership and has lived Catalyst’s commitment to advancing women each day,” said Sweet. “We wish her the very best as she retires from the organization, having helped build an even stronger foundation at Catalyst.”

The post Catalyst Names Jennifer McCollum Next President & CEO appeared first on Catalyst.

Our Black History Month webinar, Black Women and the Glass Cliff, explored how this phenomenon has had a disproportionate impact on Black women leaders.

To keep the conversation going, we asked webinar participants Jenn Wells, EdD, DEI Director at the Marlborough School and organizational change consultant, along with moderator Kathrina Robotham, PhD, Director, Research, Catalyst to share further insights.

Why is it important to you personally to talk about the glass cliff?

Jenn Wells: I’ve always been in high-achievement cultures, where the priority is not self, but rather how fast and how much you can accomplish to get to the top. This approach often asks you to betray yourself and sacrifice personal passions or self-care to achieve. So if this is how we reach the next step, it becomes too easy to find ourselves on a glass cliff for the perceived reward of prestige or positions of power. I want Black women to be in leadership roles, but how can we do this without sacrificing ourselves? I am finally at a point in my career where I am slowing down long enough to truly ask these questions.

Kathrina Robotham: I’ve always found comfort in being able to name what I am experiencing and situate it within a broader context of Black women’s experiences. Similarly, I want Black women to be able to give a name to this frustrating work experience that they are having so that they can know they aren’t alone and it’s not their fault. They really are being set up to fail, not given support, and receiving extra scrutiny compared to their White male counterparts. Giving a name to something and understanding the systemic forces behind why it’s happening can be empowering and protective.

What are one or two actions people should take to help women identify, avoid, overcome, or eliminate the glass cliff?

Jenn Wells: Take the “Do you have questions for us?” part of your interview seriously. Develop a list of key questions you want to ask your employer. For me, some of those questions are:

1. To the CEO or supervisor of your role: What role and actions do you see yourself taking in supporting the retention of women of color on your leadership team (beyond listening)?
2. Please share with me a time you disagreed with the person formerly in this role and how you managed that disagreement.
3. How would you define success for this role in the first year?
4. What potential challenges will the person in this position encounter in trying to create change at this organization?

Kathrina Robotham: The glass cliff is a systemic issue, so any actions for overcoming it should be geared toward changing the hiring, promotion, and evaluation processes that organizational leaders use rather than behaviors that individual women aspiring for leadership positions can take.

Organizations should evaluate their hiring, promotion, and evaluation processes for bias to ensure that racialized gender stereotypes aren’t influencing hiring decisions and Black women are not subject to heightened scrutiny and unreasonable standards during their tenure. In addition, organizations should focus on creating diverse leadership pipelines so that Black women will have more opportunities to advance into leadership positions that aren’t confined to periods when the organization is doing poorly.

The post More Insights on Black Women and the Glass Cliff (Blog Post) appeared first on Catalyst.

• • Fact: On average, women still earn less than men for the same work. The UN estimates it will take 257 years to close the global gender pay gap.
  • Fact: Women are underrepresented in decision-making and leadership positions across industries.
  • Fact: Many women experience harassment and discrimination in the workplace based on their gender.

Description

Join us this International Women’s Day for a transformative, thought-provoking Catalyst Conversation that challenges the prevailing myth that work on gender equity in the workplace is no longer an urgent priority.

Event Highlights

During our virtual Catalyst Conversation, we will look at the status of gender equity in Europe and globally to peel back the progress, identify persistent gaps and shed light on the systemic issues that continue to demand our immediate collective action.

In a panel discussion, we will hear from trailblazing organisations that are working towards equitable workplaces for everyone and learn from their successes, ongoing challenges, and practical strategies.

Why Attend

Organisations that prioritise gender equity are more likely to attract and retain top talent. Among employees aged 18–24, 56% hesitate to accept a job offer from an organisation lacking a diverse leadership team. Women are particularly drawn to organisations that exhibit fairness through high representation in top management positions. By promoting gender equity, organisations contribute to building a fair and just society with benefits extending beyond the workplace.

Come and Join Us

Please mark your calendars and join us for an enriching and enlightening experience as we break down barriers, challenge assumptions, and work towards a future where every individual feels seen, heard, and valued in the workplace. The time for action is now.

For questions, please reach out to catalystevents@catalyst.org

The post Virtual Roundtable: Beyond Illusions: The Unfinished Agenda for Workplace Gender Equity appeared first on Catalyst.

• The origins of the “glass cliff” and why organizations may be more likely to offer high-level positions to women in times of turmoil 
• The experiences of Black women in leadership roles with the “glass cliff”  
• Strategies that organizations can implement to support and retain Black women at every level of the company. 

Learn more about the glass cliff and women of color.

Speakers

Janice Gassam Asare, PhD., DEI Consultant and Author of Decentering Whiteness in the Workplace

Prof. Farai Simoyi, Professor & Founder, The Narativ House

Jenn Wells, EdD, Director of Equity and Inclusion at Marlborough School and Organizational Change Consultant.

Moderator

Kathrina Robotham, Director, Research, Catalyst

For questions, please contact catalystevents@catalyst.org.

Catalyst is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

The post Black History Month Webinar: Black Women and the Glass Cliff appeared first on Catalyst.

How to cite this product: Historical list of women CEOs of the Fortune lists: 1972-2023. (2023, June 22). Catalyst.

The post Historical Women CEOs of the Fortune Lists: 1972-2023 (List) appeared first on Catalyst.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, and of women across all their intersecting identities, join Catalyst for a vibrant discussion on leveraging your sphere of influence to forge a fair and equal world.  

Topics of discussion will include:  

• The social and economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic; how the pandemic negatively impacted the progress on gender equity. 
• Addressing the barriers that keep women and girls from being fully active in their homes, economies, and societies. 
• Driving change through collective activism—from grassroots action to wide-scale momentum. 
• The critical role of allyship in forging gender equity as well as the social, economic, cultural, and political advancement of women. 

Speakers

Sonia Sande

Consulting Talent Leader at EY Americas

Raashi Sikka

VP for Global Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at Ubisoft

Emily Zuckerman, JD, PhD

General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer Lead, Frontline Employees Initiative at Catalyst

Moderator

Nisha Singh

Senior Director, Marketing at Catalyst

Note: Please log in to the website with your Catalyst Supporter organization email to access the recording.

The post International Women’s Day (IWD): Impacting Positive Change by Embracing Equity Webinar Recording appeared first on Catalyst.

Women in the Workforce Infographic (United States)

The post Pyramid: Women in the United States Workforce (Infographic) appeared first on Catalyst.

Using Live Gender Data from ExecuShe, we’ll examine the power imbalance between women and men top executives in G20 countries, including gender diversity by headcount and the Gender Power Gap*, i.e., the decision-making power that comes with share ownership. We will also explore why companies need more women in executive leadership positions and why they should focus on closing this power disparity.

*The Gender Power Gap calculates the proportional power held by women in executive decision-making positions at the value of the shares held by female executives divided by the value of the shares held by male & female executives (Values outside the US are estimated accordingly).

Note: Please log in to the website with your Catalyst Supporter organization email to access registration.

The post Joint Catalyst & ExecuShe Panel Discussion: The Corporate Gender Power Gap appeared first on Catalyst.

LABOR FORCE

Women Have Made Substantial Advancements in Education in Recent Decades, But Their Labor Force Participation Is Declining

Women have earned more bachelor’s degrees than men since 1982, more master’s degrees than men since 1987, and more doctorate degrees than men since 2006.¹

• In 2019-2020, women earned more than half of bachelor’s degrees (57.7%), master’s degrees (61.4%), and doctorate degrees (55.2%).¹
  • Additionally, across racial/ethnic groups women earned a higher share of degrees, at all levels, than their male counterparts.²

However, women’s labor force participation declined steadily after its peak in 1999,³ rising slightly during 2016-2019,⁴ only to start falling again at the outset of the pandemic in 2020.⁵

• In 2021, there were 75,699,000 women aged 16 and above in the labor force, representing 56.1% of all women in the US population and making up close to half (47.0%) of the total labor force.⁶

Women Are Still Recovering From the Pandemic’s Job Losses, Particularly in Frontline Jobs

As of July 2022, there are still an estimated 579,000 fewer women in the labor force compared to before the pandemic began (February 2020).⁷

• Women without a college degree were especially impacted. Among workers with no education beyond a high school diploma, the labor force participation of women decreased by 6.0 percentage points from 2019-2021, compared to only 1.8 percentage points for men.⁸
  • The gap is wider still among workers without a high school diploma, with women’s labor force participation falling by 12.8 percentage points compared to only 4.9 percentage points for men.⁸

Women are overrepresented in industries that were disproportionately impacted by business closures at the onset of the pandemic, such as residential and home nursing care, childcare, food service, and leisure and hospitality.⁹

• Few women are returning to these jobs, due to their low pay and poor working conditions. This is contributing to the slow recovery of women’s participation in the labor force.¹⁰
• However, women are on the rise in higher-paying male-dominated industries, particularly transportation/warehousing and construction (15.0% and 7.0% increases, respectively, between February 2020 and March 2022).¹⁰

In 2021, women were a majority (59.1%) of part-time workers—and over two-thirds (67.7%) of part-time workers in low-wage jobs.¹¹

• Part-time jobs are more likely to require working in person, regardless of pandemic-related health risks, and lack the same opportunities for stability, pay, benefits, and promotions as full-time jobs.¹¹

The United States Is Expected to Continue Losing Out on Women’s Contributions to the Economy

The US could boost its gross domestic product (GDP) about $650 billion per year by adding 4.85 million more women (aged 25-54) to its workforce, which would reach a level proportional to women’s labor force participation in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.¹²

Restrictions on abortion access due to the overturn of Roe vs. Wade are expected to cost $105 billion in state economic losses per year, the result of lost labor force participation and earnings, and increased turnover and time off from work among women aged 15-44.¹³

LEADERSHIP OF WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

Even Though More Than Half of Management Occupations Are Held by Women, Few Make It to CEO Positions

In 2021, women held 52.0% of all management, professional, and related occupations.¹⁴

Women account for only 44 (8.8%) CEOs as of the 2022 Fortune 500 list, which reflects the nation’s highest-earning public companies.¹⁵

• While a record high, this still means that men overwhelmingly dominate CEO positions (456, or 91.2%) in the Fortune 500.¹⁵

The Overwhelming Majority of Boards Are Still Dominated by Men

In 2021, women held 30% of S&P 500 board seats.¹⁶

• Women of color were 10% of S&P 500 board directors.¹⁶

In 2020, women held 26.5% of Fortune 500 board seats.¹⁷

• Only 5.7% of these seats were held by women of color.¹⁷

LEARN MORE

• Women of Color in the United States (Quick Take) Catalyst
• Occupational Segregation in America Center for American Progress
• The Status of Women in the States Institute for Women’s Policy Research
• Women’s History Month: March 2022 United States Census Bureau

How to cite this product: Women in the workforce: United States: Quick Take. (2022). Catalyst.

The post Women in the Workforce: United States (Quick Take) appeared first on Catalyst.