Episode 99: Jessica Portis - Leaning In and Making "Inroads"

Jessica Portis is Head of Member Portfolio Management and Services at TIFF Investment Management.  She previously had a long career in investment consulting, first at Summit and then Mercer. 

Our conversation start with her first internships - and the Inroads program that she participated in.  This opened the door of opportunity to her - and not only provided an internship, but committed to broad educational support. This included advice on networking, how to "dress for success", and provided a safety net to ensure the best chances of succeeding in and sticking with the role.  She rose through the ranks of investment consulting and we discuss why more women are not given that opportunity - and why maybe they don't "lean in" to seize it.

We spend some time discussing diversity in finance, and how we can do better to present challenge to women who are hungry for it.  We examine why the biggest obstacle is women not being given the opportunity, and the tendency to hire in one's own likeness.  We ask how do we make sure that women and people of color are given those opportunities?

Series 4 is brought to you with the kind support of Federated Hermes, Inc., a leading global investment manager. Guided by their conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, their investment solutions span equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity strategies and a range of separately managed accounts, distributed through intermediaries worldwide.