International Women's Day at ivision
On March 7th, in celebration of International Women’s Day, ivision held a panel to discuss supporting and empowering women in technology and leadership roles. We were joined by three incredible panelists, Jean Holley, Penny Collins, and Grant Shih, and the event was emceed by our Sr. Director of Human Resources, Lisa Sullivan. The panelists’ contributions include serving as President & CEO of Women in Technology, founding IT Girls, a STEM program started for students in Gwinnett County School District, and more.
Throughout the panel, our participants shared a tremendous amount of career and business wisdom. Here are some of the highlights.
- Planting Seeds – When selling ideas internally and working to create positive change, it’s important to make suggestions over time and remain patient. Some seeds planted will germinate and flourish, and we need to appreciate that not all seeds will take root.
- Be passionate about the company’s mission – Great organizations will always support individual career development. However, this needs to happen with a balance of supporting the company’s mission and growth. As organizations change and grow, it may develop certain needs that may not always be clear to the individual at the time. Working through those times with patience and acceptance often leads to incredible opportunities and experiences.
- Importance of business and numbers – A company’s mission must be supported by healthy financials. The best way to grow your career is to have a firm appreciation and understanding of healthy company financials to support clients, team members, and growth. If we lose sight of the importance of this, we will be frustrated by not understanding the bigger picture for what all companies need.
- Diversity drives better decisions and outcomes – Regardless of female, male, gender, race, the best organizations have instilled cultural norms of drawing on diverse perspectives and people at all levels and across the organization. In today’s world of different positions and thoughts on councils and committees for DEI&B, the companies that can embed cultural diversity of thought, perspectives, and people are the ones that will make better decisions and have better outcomes.
- Servant-based leadership – Leaders and managers must lean in to work daily with servant-based leadership and setting the example that we are all responsible for driving the company’s health, objectives, and mission.
The panel was a huge success and such a valuable conversation. Thank you to everyone who joined us to be a part of the dialogue!
