Women have taken the tech sector by storm. Today, there are more female professionals in the Salesforce ecosystem than ever before; and yet, there is still plenty of work to be done in terms of ensuring equal representation across all organization levels — especially within senior leadership. It is here where dedicated communities of support for women in tech become vital. Employee resource groups allow members to connect not just as professionals, but as rounded people, and advocate for their collective success. The result goes beyond mentorship to sponsorship: the opening of doors that allow for talented employees to become incredible leaders.

This episode, we’re talking about building communities of mutual support for women navigating the Salesforce ecosystem and how mission-critical it is for leaders to look beyond mentorship and embrace the idea of professional sponsorship.

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Key Quotes

03:58: “It's difficult to… believe in an imaginative role when you don't see people who look like you, sound like you, dress like you, with similar interests as you, in those roles that allow you to propel yourself into those spaces.”

05:24: “[The Salesforce Women’s Network] really is a way for the women at Salesforce to activate their philanthropy, whether it's volunteer time, or their financial resources to hold up and support organizations that really are aligned with our Salesforce core values.”

10:45: “That’s the thing with community: you go in with a shared value, get to know the people that share that value, and suddenly you see yourself in something bigger than yourself.”

13:36: “We are all very much the same, but our cultures and countries approach things differently. And there’s so much to be gained by spending time with those different from you. There’s so much learning to be had.”

14:35: “When you pull somebody down, you pull yourself down, and that is not going to make the business successful, or you successful. Period.”

17:08: “It's incumbent upon each of us… to create and take ownership in the culture that we have, in our values, as well as those that we purport and talk about.”

20:35: “When [employees] feel safe, when they feel heard, and when they feel secure, they bring you magic. And that magic results in cash money, baby.”

22:45: “If we want change… it is our responsibility to go after it and propagate it. It is not going to happen for or to us. We have to take ownership, step into the gaps, and make things happen.”