Join us for a special strategy session (Thursday, September 24th, 12pm/EST) where we will explore what companies can do NOW (before the end of the year!) to effectively increase women in leadership positions in 2021.
Moderated by Dawn Serpe (SVP of Collabera), our distinguished panel of strategists include thought-leaders in gender diversity, corporate ethics, procurement and the science of organizational behavior. After this informative, 1-hour session, attendees can expect to leave with concrete tools and tips for measuring and defining gender diversity within their organizations and substantive steps they can take immediately to implement change that supports the growth of women in leadership roles.
With women still underrepresented in leadership positions, and with this year bringing disruptive events that have forced organizations to rethink the future and to step up their game across the board, a lot of companies have been announcing new initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and increasing women in leadership. However, few companies have strategies in place to support improving women in leadership roles in the next five years.
What everyone can agree on (and what recent research supports) is that companies that fail to implement and promote inclusive policies face potentially devasting roadblocks in the near future including financial risks, problems acquiring and retaining employee talent, and failing to engage an increasingly diverse consumer base.
This strategy session will focus on how managers can identify and break down silos within their organizations that hinder gender diversity and will provide the beginnings of a roadmap of actionable steps they can take today to "right the ship" for 2021 and beyond!
Dawn Serpe is Collabera’s Senior Vice President and has been with the company for over six years. She is responsible for Collabera’s Women’s Leadership Advisory Board, the company’s culture committee and she manages Collabera’s North American Strategic Accounts team, Collabera’s marketing team and the RFP proposal team.
At Collabera, we are a leader in Total Talent Solutions—a position we’ve held for over 25 years. With over 17,000 professionals in 11 countries and revenues of over $750 million, we help organizations achieve all the things that technology makes possible through our many different offerings, including staff augmentation, IT services and solutions, direct-hire placement, and training solutions.
We are proud to be one of the largest minority owned IT solutions firms in the US and to have been named one of “The Best Staffing Firms to Work For” by Staffing Industry Analysts, the global advisor on contingent work, for nine consecutive years. We’ve also been named to Forbes’ America’s Best Professional Recruiting Firms list for the past two years.
Venus Rekow is the Founder of Neural Shifts, a consulting firm specialized in helping leaders drive culture change through a Diversity & Inclusion lens. Her passion is helping teams foster inclusive workspaces to drive innovation & performance. She is well known for her ability to assess organizational culture & translate research insights from behavioral science to drive positive change. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies & Non-profit organizations.
As a speaker, she delivered a well-received TEDx talk on “The Power of inclusion.” Venus recently completed a certification in Behavioral Economics at Harvard University & is a certified executive coach. She earned a Master’s degree from Seattle University in Organizational Development, a B.S. in psychology from Boise State University and completed Masters level coursework on Neuroscience. She loves reading and learning from her kids & husband.
Vimala has been with Centene for 11 years. She has led efforts in Software testing and Database technologies on the infrastructure side and more recently she has taken over the Agile Center of Excellence and the CI/CD toolchain. Prior to Centene Vimala worked for AT&T and supported software testing. She started off her career as a Developer for an ERP platform and from there moved to a leadership role – Project Leader, Manager, Director and currently Senior Director.
She completed her Bachelors in Commerce at Narsee Monjee college in Mumbai and she also has a Bachelors degree in Law. She is married and has 2 boys Arjun (15) and Gautham (12).
Jeffery Tobias Halter is a gender strategist and the President of YWomen, a strategic consulting company focused on engaging men in women’s leadership advancement. Jeffery is the former Director of Diversity Strategy for The Coca-Cola Company.
Jeffery is a two-time TEDx speaker and the author of two books, including WHY WOMEN, The Leadership Imperative to Advancing Women and Engaging Men. His clients include Bristol Myers Squibb, Barclays, Walmart, Bacardi and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies.
Vimala has been with Centene for 11 years. She has led efforts in Software testing and Database technologies on the infrastructure side and more recently she has taken over the Agile Center of Excellence and the CI/CD toolchain. Prior to Centene Vimala worked for AT&T and supported software testing. She started off her career as a Developer for an ERP platform and from there moved to a leadership role – Project Leader, Manager, Director and currently Senior Director.
She completed her Bachelors in Commerce at Narsee Monjee college in Mumbai and she also has a Bachelors degree in Law. She is married and has 2 boys Arjun (15) and Gautham (12).
Kimberly Treesh leads Supplier Diversity for Bank of America. In this role, Kimberly is responsible for creating policy, process, infrastructure, and strategy that maximizes inclusion of diverse-owned businesses in Bank of America’s supply chain. This is truly a perfect fit for Kimberly, where her passion for diversity & inclusion meets her drive to solve tough problems and deliver results.
Prior to this role, Kimberly spent 6 years in various procurement roles at Bank of America, quickly advancing and managing multi-million dollar procurement portfolios in categories such as corporate security and logistics.
Kimberly currently resides in Charlotte, NC. Originally from Chicago, Kimberly earned her undergraduate degree in Operations & Supply Chain Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Dayton in Ohio. In her spare time, Kimberly enjoys spending time outside with her husband (Jack) and dog (Zeke), travelling, and decorating (and redecorating) her home.
Denise Lombard is well known for her ability to build and lead high performing global teams. Her expertise in solving complex business problems and providing outstanding service to internal and external customers sets her apart in transforming operations.
She just celebrated her 13th anniversary with Cisco, where she has held various leadership positions within Services, Sales, and Operations. Prior to Cisco, she was with Sun Microsystems where she led their Technical Support Organization and various Sales Operations teams.
Denise currently leads Responsible Procurement, ensuring that suppliers GPS engages with are committed to the same high standards to social, economic and environmental issues as well as adherence to our ethics and code of conduct. This role is ideal for Denise because it plays to her passion to social responsibility and her goal of making a significant difference within Cisco and the community. Denise also co-Leads the SJ Women of Cisco’s Community Outreach pillar, which is focussed on increasing young women’s excitement and awareness around Science, Technology, Engineering and Math careers. She received Silicon Valley Business Journal's Women of Influence for 2017 and was featured in Profiles in Diversity Journal as Women Worth Watching 2018. Denise is also a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster children and board member of Child Advocates of Silicon Valley. She graduated from San Jose State University with a BS degree in Business Management.
Dawn Serpe is Collabera’s Senior Vice President and has been with the company for over six years. She is responsible for Collabera’s Women’s Leadership Advisory Board, the company’s culture committee and she manages Collabera’s North American Strategic Accounts team, Collabera’s marketing team and the RFP proposal team. Dawn’s expertise lies in business development, relationship building, and understanding clients' needs to help resolve their staffing needs. For the past two years, Dawn has been recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts in the Global Power 150 – Women in Staffing list.
With over 25 years of staffing industry experience, Dawn has held senior level management positions of Managing Director for an MSP firm and other leadership positions for two large publicly traded staffing firms prior to joining Collabera. Dawn is proud to say that the Women’s Leadership Advisory Board was started to drive women in management positions at her company and drive initiatives for women specifically. All of the women leaders at Collabera are also proud members of WITI and drive fundraisers and charity events around women in technology and leadership.