Breaking the bias

In our latest Breaking the Bias podcast, recorded live at Marketing Vision 2023, we were joined by Kimberly Fay Boucher, MIT Lecturer and Social Enterprise Activist, to explore the power of self-belief, the impact of mentorship, and why an organization’s culture of inclusion must be instilled from the top down.

Childhood playgrounds teach us to include everyone, but this sense of inclusiveness is often lost on the path to adulthood. Yet, Katelyn Sullivan, VP of Marketing and Sales enablement at State Street, says is crucial to retain this in our professional lives. In our latest Breaking The Bias Podcast, Katelyn shares the challenges she’s faced, and why the value of mentors in her own career has fuelled her passion for advocating equity and diversity for others.

While one person’s definition of diversity may differ from another’s, we’re united in our collective responsibility for fostering equity and inclusion in the workplace – and beyond. In our latest Breaking the Bias Podcast, recorded live at the Marketing leadership Forum in Napa Valley, we talk to Mona Charif, NTT DATA and Sharon Driscoll, IBM, to explore the complexities and the power of diversity, and discover the journeys that inspired their commitment to mentorship.

In this podcast, learn how Amy Auriemma’s journey varied from a journalism qualification to becoming Head of Business Transformation for Marketing at OpenText. It’s no wonder she’s so passionate about diversity and inclusion – something she says is in her DNA, having been an ally and advocate for underrepresented groups since she was in elementary school.      

In this podcast, Mitali Gohel, Amazon, and co-founder of Women in Tech, explains that not long into her career, she toyed with leaving business to work for NGOs. But her mentor encouraged her to try to make a change where she was. This piece of advice led her on a passionate journey of promoting equity and inclusion, championing women in leadership, and joining forces with other advocates of equality to be a powerful force in bridging the diversity gap in tech.

It’s not a new concept that diversity brings out the best in a team. Yet, changing the mindset in a predominantly male industry is a battle still being fought hard in sales. In this podcast, Sally Duby, Chief Sales Officer at The Bridge Group, explores why we not only need to educate top decision makers, but convince women that sales is their place to shine too.

“We are conditioned from a very early age to behave a certain way,” says Delfina Grossi. Google’s Cross Deal Manager and co-founder of Women@Tech believes we all have a responsibility to break gender biases for the future generation. In this episode, we discuss how to champion underrepresented groups in tech and improve your negotiation skills while remaining authentic.

Go after things, understand your value, and stand firm. This is advice Angie Vaux, Founder & CEO of the Women in Tech forum, gives to women looking to break the glass ceiling and elevate their careers in the technology industry. In this podcast, one of the Top 10 Most Impactful Women in Tech 2021 discusses her 25-year career, the personal experiences that drive her passion for gender diversity and practical tips for female leaders and businesses to champion diversity of all types.

Gender bias forces too many women out of engineering. That’s a lose-lose situation where women don’t do their talent justice and companies miss out on precious diversity. For Aartii Sabhaney, Head of Enterprise Communications, Asia Pacific & Japan, Dell Technologies, there’s a long way to go to address the underrepresentation of women in engineering. In this podcast, the Mentor for Women In Tech discusses the importance of role models, how women can increase their sense of belonging in a male-dominated industry and what businesses must do to better embrace female talent.  

Systemic bias led Angie Henderson Moncada to abandon her dream of pursuing a career in the Baptist ministry. This early set back would go on to shape her approach to everything from authenticity to hiring and leading a team. In this podcast, the Head of Marketing at FM Global discusses the power of being you, how finance is finally breaking the mould, and why our superpower is also our kryptonite.  

Allyship – the act of advancing the interests of marginalised groups – is an oft-overlooked step in fighting bias in the workplace. As well as being a lifelong marketer, Toni Allen, Executive Director of Strategic Marketing & Engagement at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), has been a staunch supporter of the diversity and inclusion agenda. She describes what it means to be an ally, how the IET is nurturing the next generation of talent, and what employers can do to build an inclusive future.

Christina Leimoni, Marketing and Operations Director for Microsoft, is blazing a trail as one of the few openly gay, female execs in the technology industry – not to mention in Greece, her home country. In this episode of the podcast, she discusses tokenism, the vastly different cultural and legislative barriers to inclusion across Europe, and her fight to be recognized as a wife and mother in a country that is yet to legalize same-sex marriage.

Irina Velkova, Associate Director, Grant Thornton, discusses her experience with bias in both her native Bulgaria – where she served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Prime Minister – and in the UK; why education and culture paves the way for diversity; and the importance of staying grounded as a leader.  

“I’ve always been a proponent of staying true to who you are and using that as a foundation for everything you want to accomplish in your life.” Suzanne Randall comes from a long line of Native American matriarchs, many of whom suffered at the hands of a US federal government program designed to “assimilate” native children to American culture.   In this episode, Suzanne tells of her ancestors’ resolve to stay true to their identity against all odds, and how this pride and resiliency has characterized her career and leadership style. As a managing director in marketing and communications for Accenture, Suzanne is a fierce advocate for inclusion and diversity, founding Accenture’s Native American Employee Resource Group and championing difference in every facet of her life and work.

Yet another generation of women will have to wait for global gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum. As a woman-owned business, Momentum strives to close the gender gap so that we all can thrive. Episode 1 of the Breaking the bias podcast looks at workplace bias and how leaders can bring out the best in their teams by celebrating difference. Our guests include Antonia Wade, Global Chief Marketing Officer, PwC; Noreen Biddle Shah, Head of Marketing and Communications, Numis; and Lauren Sallata, Chief Marketing Officer, Ricoh North America. This podcast is hosted by Alisha Lyndon, founder and CEO of Momentum.