It’s always good to start off the work week with a little inspiration, and mine came today at a luncheon I attended.
It’s always good to start off the work week with a little inspiration, and mine came today at a luncheon I attended.
Every year, Rochester Women’s Network (of which I’m a member) honors local women who are up and coming in their careers. This year’s honorees are Tamu Brown-Hutchinson, Lauren Burns, Emily Carpenter, Tabitha Croscut, Wendy Heppell, Angella Luyk, Cynthia Pacia, Danielle Powers, Denise Reed Lamoreaux and Maria Thomas Fisher — who is also a member of our Board of Contributors. They come from a diversity of careers, from web development to philanthropy to law.
Today’s luncheon featured Essie Calhoun, chief diversity and community affairs officer, talking about the strides women have made and the work that remains. There were a few hundred women and men at the luncheon, and it was great to see the diversity in the room — racial, age, gender and occupation. Of course, in a room of career-minded women, the topic of glass ceiling came up, and Calhoun brought up the idea of a “tinted glass ceiling,” noting that there are few CEOs of color in the Fortune 500 — Xerox’s Ursula Burns being one of them (she’s also the only African-American female CEO in that group). Calhoun talked about a new idea she has, calling it a “Rochester Mosaic Sisterhood/Brotherhood” — it doesn’t have to be a group that raises money or meets regularly. It’s more about reaching out at work and in social situations to a diverse group. It’s relationships that enrich our lives, and Calhoun’s message is a good one.