Business and professional women

advertisement advertisement advertisement Ravi Soin always had a dedicated office in his home in Washington state. But the vice president of IT SaaS cloud operations and facilities at Edifecs, a global health IT company, welcomed the idea of working from his couch at the start of work-from-home orders. advertisement advertisement “The home office served as a multipurpose room used by my daughter for her music lessons, for kids to build their Lego sets, and a space to pile my documents and gadgets,” he says. “This shared office space gave me the opportunity to look through her eyes while she was actively learning at school. It felt like I was going through middle school again while trying to work, and my daughter was learning about HITRUST compliance.” But the couch was cozy, Soin says, and like everyone else, he thought the arrangement would be temporary. As the months dragged on, Soin’s daughter got distracted by his … [Read more...] about 6 professionals on finding the best spot in your home to be productive

advertisement advertisement advertisement The topic of women in leadership often comes up when I do interviews. It’s an ongoing conversation that I hope, one day, will not be among the things I get asked about. advertisement advertisement Why? When that day comes, it means we’ve reached parity and don’t feel the need to address leadership diversity as an issue. Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived. In 2013, just 16.9% of Fortune 500 board seats were filled by women–and women’s representation on boards has stagnated, gaining just two percentage points from 2006 to 2013. Locally, we’re not doing much better: 128 Silicon Valley companies representing $1.2 trillion in shareholder value have just 6.6% of their highest-paid executive positions filled by women, and only 8.4% of Silicon Valley board members are women. It’s a shame when you consider that companies with sustained high representation of women on their boards … [Read more...] about Why Corporate Boardrooms Need More Women

advertisement advertisement advertisement When asked to describe how they feel about meetings, many professionals will use the same language : “boring,” “inefficient,” and “unproductive.” While these descriptors may ring true for some, they do not ring true for all. For some, meetings aren’t boring—they’re stressful . They aren’t inefficient—they’re isolating . They aren’t unproductive—they’re confusing . advertisement advertisement If you are joining a meeting where people are different from you, whether in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, ability, religion, age, language proficiency, socioeconomic background, education, degree of introversion, level of seniority, or other characteristics, then your identity can influence not only how others see you, but also how you see yourself . What if you are an introvert among extroverts; a woman within a male-dominated work environment; a non-native … [Read more...] about 5 inventive meeting formats to encourage more diverse discussions

advertisement advertisement advertisement Yemi Adewunmi is co-founder and chief product officer at Civic Eagle. She spoke to Doreen Lorenzo for Designing Women , a series of interviews with brilliant women in the design industry. advertisement advertisement Doreen Lorenzo: How did you first get interested in design? Yemi Adewunmi: I actually didn’t realize I was interested in design until my mid-20s. When I was younger I was really into problem-solving, which I now recognize as the foundation of design-thinking. I originally aspired to become a lawyer and I went to college for political science with a prelaw focus. During college, I realized I didn’t necessarily want to be a lawyer, but I was really interested in policy, so I started my career as a policy researcher and analyst for the New York State Legislature, and then pursued a master’s in public administration. DL: What inspired you to enter the product design … [Read more...] about This app is helping Sierra Club, Fair Fight, and America Votes influence public policy

advertisement advertisement advertisement Commercial real estate has a diversity problem. The people who buy, sell, and manage commercial real estate in the United States are overwhelmingly white and male , with women making up only about a third of the workforce and only 2% of C-level positions held by Black men . A new effort is aimed at changing that—and changing the kinds of investments the industry makes. advertisement advertisement “The real estate industry is one of many industries in America that in the past year has come to the realization that it’s not as diverse nor necessarily as inclusive as the concept of the melting pot many of us learned about in school,” says Ken McIntyre, CEO of the Real Estate Executive Council , a trade association for commercial real estate professionals of color. “Many organizations have taken on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives over the past several years, and the net … [Read more...] about More than 75% of real estate executives are white men. Here’s how to diversify