“ There is no perfect fit when you’re looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, rather than the other way around. The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.” —Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
WHERE WOMEN LEAD By Debbie Carini
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Ken Huang ’89 is the managing partner and CFO of ZQuest Solutions, which provides consulting and IT / tax advisory
Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry, according to research presented by Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook. But VWS graduates are not only bucking this trend, they are finding ways to actively sculpt their lives and careers to not only succeed, but to realize the symbolism of the Lancastrian rose on their school’s crest—strength and leadership.
“There are myriad ways to see leadership in action, and that’s really powerful” said Tracy Miller PhD, dean of faculty.
At Vivian Webb School, girls internalize the ideal of a female in a leadership position because that is what they see—day-in and day-out—in their directors and deans. And, in single sex classes (which are predominant for ninth and tenth graders), a young woman can comprehend her value and capabilities in ways that have nothing to do with how she looks or whom she dates.
Susan Nelson was the first and only woman to be appointed head of schools, which occurred in 1991. She led the schools through myriad successes over more than two decades in the role. She was appointed head emerita by the board of trustees in 2011.
services to Fortune 500 companies. When she founded the company with two other women (they met through their children—Huang’s boys are 13 and 10), the three accomplished
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professionals decided to create a work environment that embodied the work/life balance. “The juggling of both work and family has taught me to be smart about my time,” explained Huang. “Being efficient is crucial. I measure my day in 15-minute increments. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s how I’m able to balance. That efficiency requires precision, and so that has required me to be very honest in my leadership style. Also knowing how to prioritize. Starting ZQuest Solutions has so far been one of the most rewarding and learning experiences I have had in my career. First, we had been friends for many years before starting this business. And so there was trust and respect to begin with. This is so important for us as it enables us to resolve differences effectively. Since we all have family and enjoy our hobbies such as long distance running, photography and volunteering at school, we remind each other weekly or even daily why we started this business, particularly when we’re all pulling 12-plus-hour days.”
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
“To be in a place where you’re around strong women who understand what it means to be a decision maker, that’s empowering in a way I didn’t realize until I left,” said Mona Shah-Anderson ’93 who is the founder of Moxxe Public Relations in Orange County, California. “I always looked up to Susan Nelson.”
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“Vivian Webb School showed me the importance of never underestimating myself,” said Noreen Barcena ’05, who today is the principal of Barcena Law Offices in Los Angeles, practicing criminal defense, family law and immigration law since December 2012. She is also on the executive board of the Mexican American Bar Association. “It also taught me to adapt to working with others because we had roommates and group projects. I think the way we transitioned from all-girls classes to co-ed classes really helped me come out of my shell. I learned to be outspoken and be direct.”
“The mentorship piece at Webb starts early on,” added Coye. “That’s a great model as you’re developing. You learn who can support you and who you can help support. As a leader, I know it’s important to build-up my staff, to invest in them so they’ll feel secure and confident and work harder to succeed.” Coye says she was never a scholar or athlete at Webb, but she built relationships with her teachers (she cites Diane Wilsdon and Joanne Kingston as examples), “they showed me the opportunities I had ahead of me.” Opening the lines of communication is another advantage of a VWS education. Many alumnae speak of the “sisterhood” of VWS. All girls schools, even those like VWS that eventually offer co-ed classes, provide a unique opportunity for young women to form a bond of sisterhood that extends beyond graduation. Shah-Anderson explained that she is still friends with many of her VWS classmates. “My classmate Tina Dutta-Ladva ’93 (a management professional with 15 years-experience providing business solutions to Fortune Global Top 10 and Fortune 500 companies) helped me to realize that I could own a business and still be a great mom,” said Shah-Anderson whose PR experience encompasses a wide range of duties, from being the PR director for the Miss Universe contest (and in doing so, working closely with Donald Trump— “he’s always ‘PR-ing’!” she said) to coordinating initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa with the Harvard Aids Institute, to working on the 84th Annual Academy Awards and coordinating publicity for high profile individuals such as President Bill Clinton and former First Lady Laura Bush.
Theresa Smith PhD is Webb’s director of academic affairs and she has many conversations with VWS students as they strive to figure out their paths to leadership at the school.
“ There are so many opportunities for girls to be leaders at Webb: in the dorms, on the honor council, on the playing field, as peer advisors, with ASB, in clubs and beyond,” Smith explained. “ Coordinate single-sex education helps girls become leaders by fostering their confidence and helping them to develop a strong, clear voice.”
Lilly Coye ’00 who calls herself a “Jill-of-all-trades” in her role as assistant director of advising at the University of Southern California, said that she most appreciates her experience on the Honor Cabinet for the knowledge it provided in terms of talking things through.
Marian Wright Edelman wrote: “You can’t be what you can’t see,” and young women at Webb are fortunate to have authoritative role models in their school leadership—both administratively and in student-led government.
“If you violated the contract of the community, you had to talk to your peers about that,” said Coye, who attributes that experience with leading her to run for president of her class at Skidmore College. She not only won, she spoke at graduation.
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That sense of sisterhood also extends to co-workers. BARNES
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Melissa Barnes Dholakia ’87 is the founder of MBD Partners, a company that supports new and existing charter schools in the areas of school design, goal setting and monitoring and performance reporting. She also helps new schools design programs and develop their charters. “I chose a field of work in which women are dominant, education, but continue to be a disproportionate minority in leadership positions,” said Barnes Dholakia. “As a female leader, I try to model what it means to be a working mother— and I think this benefits not only my female counterparts, but also male. I have a comfort level saying I need to change a
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meeting because my child is ill and needs to see a doctor, in a way that I don’t think many male leaders do—including my spouse (Sanjay Dholakia ’87, formerly the chief marketing officer for Marketo and currently chairman of the board at Webb). It makes me human—and makes the people who work for me comfortable when they need to do the same. There isn’t judgement, it’s about doing two amazing jobs well—as a principal of the company and a mom.” Barnes Dholakia says her Vivian Webb experience helped her prepare for her career by creating structures that allowed individuals to take leadership for things that they cared about: “‘What, you want to start a debate team? Go right ahead!’ ‘Girls soccer? Sure!’ That encouragement of ideas, within a small community where there was a strong sense of team, was the perfect training ground for taking risks and learning to lead with others.”
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Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ’93 was appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Governor Jerry Brown in 2015. She previously served in several positions at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2007 to 2015. She earned a JD from Yale Law School and a BA from Harvard University. She credits her VWS experience with giving her the confidence to inspire others and champion the people she is responsible for leading.
“ Being in a women’s school meant that we saw (and were!) women leaders every day and were constantly told—in words and actions—that there was nothing we as women could not do,” said Frimpong. “As I have progressed in my career, I have often found myself in male dominated environments, or in roles—such as being a judge—where people may expect to see a man. The fact that I do not believe my gender should hold me back from anything helps me to just focus on being the best judge I can be.”
J Jana Sims ’03 is a financial analyst at The Resmark Companies, a real estate investment advisor. She believes that leadership is the ability to identify a challenge and inspire action in a way that maximizes available strengths to foster a solution while maintaining a big picture perspective. “This definition of leadership applies to both men and women; however we still live in a world that is skeptical of women’s abilities when it comes to business acumen and ability to lead and execute,” said Sims. “This skepticism is often on a subconscious level, but it still presents an additional hurdle in the business world for women to overcome. Thus, women often have to go the extra mile to demonstrate subject matter command in a way that encourages confidence which is necessary to inspire action.”
higher up the leadership chain one goes. The biggest U.S. banks have never had a female chief executive officer, and the number of women getting close to the top spot hasn’t grown much in recent years, either.”
“ I would advise students to get uncomfortable,”
Joanne Goh ’99 is challenging that data as a vice president and senior relationship manager for the Financial Institutions Group at DBS Bank in Hong Kong. She says her experience at Webb helped her prepare for the challenges of her career: “Webb is a wonderful melting pot of strong personalities, diverse backgrounds and incredible talents, which mirrors that of the banking world. Being a women’s school in a co-ed setting, VWS offered single-gender classes, activities and dormitories, from which I got plenty of opportunities to learn how to work and live with, and to build kinship with other women. With the ever-increasing emphasis placed by the banking industry on encouraging women hires, closing the gender salary gap, and promoting more women to management positions, the ability to appreciate and work with fellow women is an invaluable skill to possess.”
and high school provides the protective cushion
The advantages of attending Vivian Webb School are long lasting. From a deeper involvement in leadership roles and a stronger sense of self-worth, to paths that lead alumni to doctoral degrees, MDs, and JDs among others, and into careers as entrepreneurs, doctors, scientists, lawyers and more. To their sisters still attending Webb, VWS alumnae continue to provide words of encouragement: SIMS
said Sims. “Don’t be afraid of failure. You learn so much from failed circumstances of limited consequences. So you get all the upside with almost no downside.Trying new things allows you to develop new skills, hone your strategic approach, and gain a true understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses. And Barnes Dholakia added: “There are people who set a path then pursue it, others who set out and create a path as opportunities unfold. I’ve been a bit of both throughout my life and would encourage Vivian Webb students to embrace flexibility. Figure out what your passion is—what your why is—that’s the part that will drive you. Then be flexible as life unfolds and you consider your options for what you might do and how you might do it. For me, I simply wanted to make the world a better place for the people in it who have been marginalized—it has always been my why. My how became clear in college, through education. But my what has evolved over time, taking opportunities as they unfolded.” HUANG
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FRIMPONG
Sims credits her VWS education with providing a “dual track environment, which allowed me to work through insecurities and develop my skills and confidences in a safe women’s space and then immediately apply them in a co-ed ‘real world’ context. I was the ASB president of a women’s school, but I very often worked hand-in-hand with the ASB president of the men’s school (WSC) on matters that impacted the overall student body. I fostered my leadership skills in a safe environment and I was challenged to rise to a larger audience and still gain confidence and inspire action.” In some sectors of the business world women are still working their way up. The Wall Street Journal reported last year, for example, that “women enter the banking field at roughly the same rate as men, but their numbers shrink the
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
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