蘑菇视频

When Sabina Shrestha emigrated from Nepal at 16, she never guessed she鈥檇 teach herself to code. Now the SharePoint developer and task lead聽is doing exactly what she dreamed of as a kid. "I wanted to wake up and solve problems that would make a difference in people's lives," Sabina explains.

Women are an integral part of problem solving at 蘑菇视频 Allen, but they can often face challenges their male peers don鈥檛. 蘑菇视频 Allen knows this is an issue in the community. We are paying close attention and have a focused effort on empowering and elevating women in the workforce.

Attracting, retaining, and developing female talent鈥攋ust like Sabina鈥攊s the current focus of 蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Forum, an agent of change to help facilitate career fulfillment for the women of 蘑菇视频 Allen. Diverse candidates with in-demand skillsets鈥攁s well as legacy employees who are hungry to learn, mentor, and lead鈥攁re some of our most valuable assets. So in alignment with our women鈥檚 agenda, we鈥檙e creating a women鈥檚 development initiative aimed at improving retention, development, and sponsorship to ensure balanced promotion opportunities.聽

Our Problem Solvers campaign is another part of the effort to elevate women. 聽Inspired by the Academy Award-winning blockbuster 鈥淗idden Figures,鈥� which tells the story of three brilliant African-American women behind one of history's greatest NASA operations, we crafted an extensive series of profiles featuring our own brilliant women engineers. 蘑菇视频 Allen explored why each woman chose a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related career and how their technical skills help solve today鈥檚 challenges.

This past year we also kicked off our Women of Washington radio program, featuring a 蘑菇视频 Allen woman leader on targeted panel discussions. The radio series covers various work-related topics, but also touches on each leader鈥檚 professional journey and the importance of mentorship.

We鈥檙e excited to shine a spotlight on the many talents of women, and we know there isn鈥檛 a one-size-fits-all approach to transformation. It will take uncomfortable conversations. Listening and acting with empathy. Inclusive leadership. Recognizing unconscious bias.

Unconscious bias occurs when our brains make snap judgments without our realizing. A prime example is the perception that female leaders are aggressive rather than assertive鈥攁 stressor that can鈥檛 be ignored.

鈥淯nchecked, this leads us to make decisions that support unintentional exclusion,鈥� said Cheryl Wade, Diversity and Inclusion lead. 鈥淲e鈥檙e creating an unconscious bias and inclusive leadership curriculum that goes beyond training to create experiential learning and promote accountability.鈥�

Army veteran and Project Manager Diane Wilkerson points out that this bias has other negative ramifications. 鈥淚鈥檓 much better than I used to be, but confidence is the thing that still plagues me. We must learn to walk into a room and project confidence,鈥� said Diane. 鈥淎s soon as someone hears a woman鈥檚 voice, there is this idea that you can鈥檛 stand up to the pressure.聽 At some point in my lifetime, I hope people will stop all the nonsense鈥攕top thinking women aren鈥檛 tough enough.鈥�

Equally important, men must act as allies鈥攃hallenging their own unconscious bias and where it shows up in our systems and processes.

鈥淭he No. 1 way men can be an ally is by sponsorship. Be someone who will advocate and put their own political capital on the table to elevate someone else鈥檚 career,鈥� said Cheryl. 鈥淚t must be an active activity.鈥�

But it doesn鈥檛 stop there. 蘑菇视频 Allen is also constantly auditing and benchmarking to make sure we address inequities as soon as they emerge.

IT Strategist Jenny Oh sees progress鈥攂oth professionally and personally. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had huge struggles, but we鈥檙e making strides. It makes a big difference because it helps how we navigate our home life as well. Confident women change the world.鈥澛�

By the Numbers聽

• 鈭�1/3 female board
• 鈭�1/2 female leadership team
• Working Mother Magazine named us one of the 100 best companies for 19 consecutive years
• In partnership with the Center for Talent Innovation, sponsor of the national Wonder Women in STEM study exploring the success differentiators for women in the STEM field(s)
• Elevated 250+ women over 9+ years for external award recognition via Women of Color in STEM, National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) and Society of Women Engineers (SWE)聽