The following session is from DiversityInc’s fourth annual Women of Color and Their Allies event, held Oct. 21, 2021. This year’s theme was “Sustaining Workforce Positions for Women of Color.” Throughout the day, panels consisting of researchers, thought leaders and executives shared their insights and strategies for helping women of color overcome common workplace barriers and spotlight allies working to sustain their positions within the workforce.
After serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Chase Consumer Banking for four years, Thasunda Brown Duckett became the CEO of TIAA (No. 9 on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list in 2021) on May 1, 2021. This elevation made her the second Black woman to currently lead a Fortune 500 firm and the fourth in the history of the Fortune 500.
In a motivational and educational one-on-one conversation with DiversityInc CEO Carolynn Johnson, Duckett discussed the challenges she faced in her career, her strategies to overcome them, and the importance of her role as one of the few Black female CEOs in the U.S. today. Duckett and Johnson also discussed the importance of DEI work in helping to advance the careers of other Black women in the workforce today, the additional stresses and challenges these women face on a daily basis, where they see diversity and inclusion efforts in corporate America heading in the future, and much more.
