By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) Vanessa Lau, Group CFO for Global Rolled Products at Alcoa has never shied away from a challenge. Named on Crain’s New York’s 40 Under 40 list last year, Lau has had the drive to fuel an exciting and esteemed career from the very beginning. Her advice? Don’t be [...]
Archive for February 2011
Voice of Experience: Vanessa Lau, Group CFO, Global Rolled Products, Alcoa
Managing Leadership Styles and Overcoming Stereotypes
Contributed by Jane Sanders, President, GenderSmart® Solutions Yes, things in the corporate world are getting better for women. And yes, we still have a ways to go. Women in leadership and executive positions stare down a double-edged sword daily. If their style is primarily assertive, decisive, task vs. relationship oriented, etc., they are labeled as [...]
Playing Politics: Three Tips to Develop Your Career Savviness
By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) Last week, the New York City Bar Association hosted an intimate women in law career workshop with Ida Abbott, co-founder and Director of the Hastings Leadership Academy for Women at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, co-Chair of the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, and [...]
Voice of Experience: Yolanda Seals-Coffield, Principal, Office of the General Counsel, PwC
By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) Having begun her career as an employment litigator and then moving in-house to work for Diageo, and now PwC, Yolanda Seals-Coffield, Principal in the Office of the General Counsel, has used her considerable skills in nurturing authentic relationships to build the career she’s envisioned for herself. “Women should [...]
Advice for Managing Millennials
Contributed by Terri Klass and Judith Lindenberger One of the biggest challenges for businesses today is integrating the Millennials twenty-somethings into a Baby Boomer culture. They are the newest generation to enter the labor market, arriving with their distinct ideas about what they expect from their jobs. They are our future leaders and our next [...]
Men Who Get It: Mark Chamberlain, Head of Diversity, Americas, Deutsche Bank
By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) Mark Chamberlain, Head of Diversity for the Americas at Deutsche Bank, said the best piece of advice he received actually came from his grandmother. He explained, “In the early part of the 20th century, women weren’t supposed to go on to higher education, play sports or work outside [...]
Building a Better Wall Street: Training Female Traders
By Stephanie Wilcox (Middlefield, CT) Why is there such a paucity of female traders on Wall Street? Why are they difficult to find? Why don’t they apply for hedge fund jobs? Renée Haugerud, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Principal of Galtere Ltd., asked these questions when she discovered the difficulties of hiring female traders. Though [...]
Voice of Experience: Denise Diallo, Partner, Banking and Capital Markets Practice, White & Case
By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) “I definitely think work/life balance exists,” said Denise Diallo, Partner in White & Case‘s Banking and Capital Markets Practice at its Paris office. “It can be difficult at times, and you have to be willing to adapt –“ At this point in our conversation, Diallo started laughing. “I’m [...]
Four Expert Tips on Personal Finance for Executive Women
Contributed by Myra Salzer, author of Inheritor’s Sherpa and Living Richly: Seizing the Potential of Inherited Wealth Everything I ever needed to know about becoming financially independent, I learned from my grandmother’s one-sentence motto. I can still hear her thick Hungarian accent repeat, “You can always live on 90% of whatever you make, and save [...]
The Mommy Penalty Hits MBAs Hard
By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles) “The Career Cost of Family,” a study written late last year by Harvard economics professors Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz, found that women with MBAs suffer the largest percentage “mommy penalty,” while those with medical degrees suffer the lowest proportionate loss. Findings were based on a survey of Harvard [...]






