Thirty years ago, women made up some 45 percent of the U.S. workforce, equating to some 60 mlllion women. Thirty years later, that number has grown to some 75 million women (47 percent).
The thirty years corresponds to the length of time MichBusiness, along with its sister brands Corp! Magazine, the Best and Brightest programs, and the National Association for Business Resources, has been hosting the Women Thrive Conference. The 30th anniversary of the conference was celebrated May 21 at the MGM Grand in downtown Detroit.
NABR President and CEO Jennifer Kluge kicked off the conference by stressing those statistics and more (women now hold about 25 percent of C-suite position and women-owned businesses have nearly doubled) in addressing the progress women have made and pointing out there’s more work to be done.
“Representation at the very top … Still not where it should be,” Kluge told an audience of more than 300 people gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of women. “So today is a moment to recognize how far we’ve come and to recommit to where we’re going.
“Because the story of women in the workplace is still being written,” she added. “And the most important chapters are being written right now by the women in this room. Because the truth is — progress didn’t just happen. It was built. Decision by decision. Voice by voice.”
The conference recognized new Michigan Business Hall of Fame inductees:
- Linda Apsey, the retired CEO of Novi-based ITC Holdings
- Kimberly Montague, CEO of Albert Kahn Industries, which designs and engineers innovative facilities.
- Patricia Sellers, Director, Business Development for GM Defense.
- Lori Walker, Vice President, Inclusion Operations Management for Comerica Bank.
Six women were honored as “Women in Leadership,” which recognizes women who are change-makers and thought leaders in the workplace. Among the honorees were:
- Karen Akouri, the founder and CEO of Drench, a line of clean, all-natural shelf stable dressings and marinades.
- Sandy Fester, vice president for Michigan business for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
- Dr. Sonia Hassan, associate vice president and founder of Wayne State University’s Office of Women’s Health.
- Tina Kozak, CEO of Franco, a Detroit communications firm.
- Portia Powell, CEO at One Detroit Credit Union.
- Stephanie Trotter, vice president of finance and chief financial officer at The Henry Ford.
Five women were recognized as Shooting Stars, defined as “young women on the move” in business. They included:
- Amy Yousif Joa, associate director at the MSU Broad College of Business.
- Candace Kitchen, human resources and customer service. Total Door Systems.
- Courtney Smith, founder and CEO of the Detroit Phoenix Center.
- Aimee Stein, benefits and wellness manager for Sasche Construction.
- Genna Young, senior manager for Chevrolet communications at General Motors.
Affordability crisis
As the conference centered around the success of women and issues facing them, keynote speaker Tricia Keith, the president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, pointed out that one of those issues – not just for women, but everyone in the state — One of those things that we are facing is an affordability crisis in Michigan with health insurance.
Keith pointed that women actually make up 63 percent of BCBSM’s workforce, which she said is a good thing because “women make up 80% of the healthcare decisions that happen in households.”
“We want to deal with those people who are making the decisions and people who understand the decisions that we’re making,” Keith said.
Keith pointed out that the national average right now for a family of four that an employer is paying is $17,000, and the median cost for a family of four is $27,000.
“We can’t afford that cost,” she said. “Now, you might be thinking ‘how is it that a healthcare insurance CEO is standing up there and saying, ‘How can you afford my product?’ Well, I’m saying it because you are saying it and we’re not going to have our head stuck in the sand thinking that everything is Panacea out there.”
Hall of Fame Panel Discussion
Jackie Paige, Morning Drive Anchor at WWJ Newsradio 950, led the newly inducted Hall of Famers in a panel discussion centered on their views about various aspects of leadership.
Responding to a question about the power of presence, Montague said it was a lesson from her grandmother about listening that taught her “we have two ears and one mouth for a reason.”
“So if we spend twice as much time observing and twice as much time listening, and half the time talking, we’ll learn a lot more about those that are in the room with us,” Montague said. “And I think that’s something that over my career, I’ve gotten better at.”
Apsey connected presence to confidence, pointing out that a rise in confidence helps exude presence.
“As you bring your confidence, your authentic, your whole self, that shines through,” she said. “And I think no matter what, whether you’re in a meeting, you’re leading a team of people, you’re in an event like this, right? It’s just your overall effect, how you display yourself, how you show up really comes through. And so as I think about others and young women, aspiring leaders, you have to have that presence of mind.”
Paige asked the panelists when they realized their leadership was creating a ripple effect.
Walker said there was no real “moment,” but that it happened over time.
“I never realized it in a moment, but over time I’m starting to see that it has made an impact,” she said. “I’ve mentored various people, some informal, some through a more formal program. And through this formal program, I mentored a gentleman and during the process, I always wondered, was I making an impact? I’m hoping I was helping him.
“He was trying to manage a career change and so I was giving him advice, thoughts, things to consider,” she added. “I don’t know, it was like six months or so. And he came back and he ended up getting this amazing promotion and he came to me and thanked to me. He’s like, ‘You really helped make such an impact.’”
Women in Leadership panel discussion
Karen Drew, a news anchor at WDIV, led the discussion involving the Women in Leadership panel discussion which, like the Hall of Fame discussion, centered around leadership. She started by asking about the defining moments in their leadership journey.
Hassan said hers was “definitely related” to the pregnancy work they do.
“”For a number of years, I ran a branch at Wayne State University,” she said. “We run a hundred people or more working locally with it around the world. We did a lot of amazing research and found some treatments. I got the very fortunate thing of going to Russia with some American college OBGYN people to talk about some of the things we’re doing in Detroit and spread the word of the research that we found.
“I was standing at the podium and then came down and someone came up to me and said, ‘Well, we use your protocols in Siberia.’ And I thought, wow, what we are doing is making an impact.”
Kozak said she thought about the question from “kind of a personal growth standpoint.”
“Not too long ago I was in the middle of a pretty high-stakes negotiation and we were kind of at a standstill,” she said. “I was seeking counsel from all the advisors, my attorney, different advisors, my friends and family. I was completely overwhelmed. My head was just cluttered with noise and what I had been working for and kind of where I saw the future was starting to feel like it might not come together.
“I was overwhelmed and I didn’t know what to do and I was almost ready to make peace with that and kind of start over,” she added. “It was something really simple that my husband said to me that kind of jogged me back into my confidence and my instinct, and I realized that what was probably required was what I’m best at, that it wasn’t more pressure, more strategy, it was like just an open-hearted conversation and that’s where I thrive. But I had gotten so far away from myself in this kind of negotiation and I just let that take over. So I went kind of back to what I do best and I had that open-hearted conversation and that was what it took to kind of break the log jam and get it done. So for me, it wasn’t about winning the negotiation. It was what I learned, really reinforcing that what I have to leave, to lead myself, to lead the organization is like already here. I’ve got it, it’s in me. Sometimes it just gets a little bit away from you.”
