Google's Summit for Women of Color

When you see potential for your company to improve in some way—whether it’s to overhaul an outdated policy, round out benefits, or to make jobs more workable, how can you instigate change? Three women who Amy B interviewed during Women at Work’s April 27 live virtual event saw that potential and carried it through, to programs and policies that are making a difference:

Myra Orndoff, a senior manager at Capital One, campaigned for the company to create more part-time tech jobs after she went part time herself as a way to stay in the workforce while raising four kids.

Stephanie LeBlanc, who leads Google’s global programming for women of color, launched and continues to refine an annual summit that’s become a focal point of the multinational’s DEI strategy because of the positive effects it’s had on retention and advancement.

Becky Guenther persuaded Rehmann, the financial services firm where she leads HR, to give its employees free maternity, eldercare, and mental health counseling.

What can we learn from their advocacy and persuasion skills? How are they tracking their programs’ impact on women’s health, representation, and job satisfaction—and what are the results so far? How can you follow their lead? They fill us in.

Resources:

• “How to Push for Policy Changes at Your Company,” by Women at Work
• “Rekindling a Sense of Community at Work,” by Christine Porath and Carla Piñeyro Sublett
• “To Implement Change, You Don’t Need to Convince Everyone at Once,” Greg Satell
• “7 Metrics to Measure Your Organization’s DEI Progress,” by Lee Jourdan

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Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org