Category: Blog

There are 35 countries in the Americas — 33 of them Latin American (and a US jurisdiction, Puerto Rico, that’s also part of the Latinx community). Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that the United States is enriched with a wide array of these cultures: Cuban, Peruvian, and Mexican, just to name a few. While accents, traditions, and contributions span many varieties, it’s undeniable that they’re all an integral part of what makes the United States the melting pot that it is. 

While it’s commonplace for all of these cultures to be grouped into one single label (Hispanic), it’s impossible to capture all of the variations with that one word. Some were born here. Others emigrated. The common denominators include the Spanish language, Spanglish, and/or a fierce sense of identity. 

As part of Hispanic heritage month, we pay homage to this mosaic by showcasing how it enriches all of us. 

Origins of Hispanic heritage month

Hispanic heritage month — celebrated from mid-September through mid-October — has been commemorated in the United States since 1968 under President Lyndon B. Johnson. It starts mid-month because it coincides with the independence days of several Latin American countries. 

But before it was recognized nationally, it was first introduced as a bill for Hispanic Heritage Week by California legislators Edward Roybal and Henry Gonzáles, after decades of Latinx activists demanding fair access to education and government services. 

Why celebrate Hispanic heritage month? 

There are many reasons to celebrate Hispanic heritage. From a superficial level, who’ll say no to great food, drinks, and music? And from a deeper perspective, it reminds us all of the impact of the Hispanic population in the United States: 

• Since 2007, there has been an 87% increase in Latina-owned small businesses, playing an integral role in the US economy. 
• Hispanic-owned businesses in the US pay more than $100 billion a year in payroll to employees, and they are growing twice as fast as the national average. 

• By 2017, the Latinx community made up over 18% of the US population. This has a considerable effect on the tax revenue – more than $309 billion, to be precise. 
• The community has also captured politicians’ attention: Their vote was decisive in the 2020 Presidential election. For the 2022 midterm election, both major parties have designed strategies to appeal to these demographics. 

And let’s not forget the things that add so much to our daily lives:

Technology

If you love your Google Assistant, you’ll want to know about Venezuelan Senior Director of Product Management at Google, Lilian Rincón. Although she didn’t know any English while in elementary school when she first moved to the US, she did excel at math, which led her to her career in computer science. And you can be grateful for safe drinking water thanks to Guatemalan scientist África Flores. As regional coordinator of NASA’s SERVIR program, she helped ensure satellite data to assess the health of water quality. 

Healthcare

Antonia Novello grew up with a congenital digestive condition, for which she could not receive adequate treatment, because her family couldn’t afford it. She was able to get surgery at age 18, then decided to become a doctor to ensure that other children, women, and minorities had access to quality care — a cause she championed when she became the first Hispanic U.S Surgeon General. By the same token, Puerto Rican physician Helen Rodríguez Trías was instrumental in abolishing forced sterilization of women on the island. And Panamanian nurse Ildaura Murillo-Rohde founded the National Association of Hispanic Nurses to promote quality care for Latinx communities, as well as help Latinas obtain educational grants.

Inventions

One of the most practical modern devices is the e-reader. They fit everywhere, and make it possible to carry an entire library wherever you go. And the person who invented its first iteration was Spanish teacher Ángela Ruiz Robles, who was seeking to make life easier for her students as they walked from class to class. Like the freedom that birth control pills bring to your life? Be grateful that chemist Luis Miramontes made the first molecule that became one of the first active ingredients in oral contraceptives. 

All of these contributions are just the tip of the iceberg – yet they showcase how we all benefit from Hispanic contributions to our country. 
To celebrate, consider reading books or listening to podcasts about Latinx insights, history, experiences, and pop culture. And if you liked this blog, check out our resource library for more information on how we celebrate diversity across all mediums.

The United States loves to wax poetic about our freedoms. It’s allegedly what the USA stands for. We even have holidays to commemorate underrepresented groups gaining equal access to some of these freedoms — such as Women’s Equality Day, celebrated on August 26. Suggested in 1971 by Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY) and created in 1973, it recognizes the date the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.

Before we raise a glass to cheer for the freedom to vote and other gains made by women in the 20th and 21st centuries, let’s embark on a brief history lesson.

A Brief History of the 19th Amendment 

While commemorating women’s suffrage via Women’s Equality Day sounds noble in theory, in practice it extols a right that was conferred upon white American women at that time, instead of upon every female citizen. 

The fight for women’s rights began in the 1820s, but didn’t gain traction until almost 50 years later. In 1848, human rights activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott visited London to attend the World Anti-Slavery Convention, but were denied entry as women weren’t allowed to participate. Outraged, they returned to New York and organized a meeting to discuss women’s rights. Three hundred women attended the two-day event, which came to be known as the Seneca Falls Convention. 

At this event, they drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Grievances included the denial of voting rights, property rights, and wages; taxation without representation for women who did own property; and husbands having the right to deprive wives of liberty and keep children after divorce.

The suffrage fight was disrupted during the Civil War. After, the Reconstruction led to other rights being enshrined, including the 13th amendment to abolish slavery, the 14th amendment granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. (thus extending it to formerly enslaved people), and the 15th amendment granting Black men the right to vote. This fueled the demands for the same rights to be extended to women. 

In 1869, Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. Speaking at her trial for illegally voting in 1872, Anthony decried: 

“It is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them by this democratic-republican government — the ballot.”

Forty-one years of civil disobedience, rallies, protests and activism followed until women were finally granted the right to vote in 1920.

Yet, the Right to Vote Was Mostly Granted to White Women

Due to many other discriminatory laws, the 14th, 15th, and 19th amendments didn’t end voting disenfranchisement

• The 14th amendment right of citizenship wasn’t extended to Native Americans until the Indian Citizenship Act, signed into law in 1924.
  
• Poll taxes, established by states to prevent Black citizens from voting, weren’t outlawed federally until 1964 via the 24th amendment. It took two more years to outlaw state and local election poll taxes, via the Supreme Court decision Harper vs. Virginia Board of Elections.

• Many states required voters to pass a literacy test that required people to interpret sections of the Constitution and were administered at the discretion of the officials in charge of voter registration.
  
• Grandfather clauses allowed white citizens to vote if their predecessors had been able to vote prior to the Civil War. This enabled them to bypass laws that disenfranchised Black voters.

Voting Disenfranchisement Continues Today

According to the Voting Rights Lab, in 2022 six states have introduced voting legislation that may restrict voting access. More common are election administration interference laws. In 2021, 18 states enacted 26 election interference bills. In 2022, 20 states have enacted 26 such bills and more than 100 bills remain active. These laws can threaten voting access, inject partisanship into the election process, and intimidate voting administrators.

The Center for American Progress tracked disenfranchisement actions taken in the 2018 midterm election that included closing poll sites in “strategic” locations, voter purges, misinformation about polling locations and voting requirements, intimidation and harassment at the polls, malfunctioning equipment, and gerrymandering. 

Also in 2018, former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams sued Georgia’s Board of Elections and then-Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden, alleging that state officials deprived low-income people and people of color the right to vote. 

What You Can Do

Women’s Equality Day is a good opportunity to both look at how far we’ve come and to consider how far we still need to go. Here’s how you can get involved in defending the rights of all women and disenfranchised voters:

• Donate to organizations that have instituted legal action against voter suppression, such as Protect Democracy, the League of Women Voters, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 

• Register to vote, encourage your friends and family to do so as well, and offer a ride to the polls for those who need assistance.

• Know your rights, such as where to register, how to find your polling place, what to bring, and how to vote early and/or by mail. You can also learn about rights for people with disabilities or who may not speak English well, and what to do if you face voter intimidation or harassment. Visit the ACLU voting rights page (also en español) to learn more

• Report irregularities or discriminatory voting practices on the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division’s website. 

While American women today have achieved greater rights and representation within our workplaces, politics, and the voting booth than ever before, the battle is far from over. And it’s far past due that society in general recognizes that the feminist movement has largely advanced the rights of white women and left many behind. Only by acknowledging this reality can we begin to fix it.

Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion are ongoing efforts, but June offers an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the progress that the Black and LGBTQIA+ [1] communities have made to transform our country into a more just and equitable place for all Americans.

While Pride Month will be celebrated throughout the entire month, Juneteenth will be commemorated on June 19th. The two holidays present an opportunity for us to reflect on how far we’ve come — but also on how far we still must go to end inequality based on race, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Why We Celebrate Juneteenth and Pride Month
Pride Month commemorates the 1968 Stonewall Rebellion in New York City, which many historians mark as the beginning of the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement. Throughout the month of June, Pride events take place across the country — from festive parades to film festivals and advocacy events — which allow the public to learn more about the community’s unique societal contributions and the challenges it still faces in achieving equal rights.

Like Pride Month, Juneteenth commemorates both the hardships and the triumphs of another marginalized community. The first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983, Juneteenth marks the day — June 19, 1865 — that Union Troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved African-Americans living in Texas, the last state of the Confederacy with institutional slavery, were officially free. 

In the United States, both Black and LGBTQIA+ communities have battled for and won hard-earned freedoms. Black men and women have survived amid slavery, Reconstruction, a “separate, but equal” education system, Jim Crow laws, redlining, and workplace discrimination to ascend to the highest levels of executive and national leadership. 

But they’ve done more than just survive. Black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the country and account for the largest share of minority female business owners. The Black middle-class continues to grow. The number of Black college graduates also is on the rise, with nearly 28% of Black Americans age 25 and older earning at least a bachelor’s degree today compared to just 1% in 1940.

The LGBTQIA+ community also has made strides, from the official end of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2011 and the passage of marriage equality in 2015. Today, more members of the community have been elected to public office than ever before, including Dr. Rachel Levine and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg who are both openly serving at the highest levels of government. LGBTQIA+ men and women lead Fortune 500 companies, including Beth Ford of Land O’Lakes, the first openly gay female CEO of an American Fortune 500 company. We also see more LGBTQIA+ representation in the media, bringing the stories of the community front and center and into the homes of millions of people, which hopefully is fostering more understanding and compassion. 

But even with these gains, there’s still much more work to do, especially when it comes to achieving workplace equality for Black and LGBTQIA+ members of our community.

Workplace Challenges for Black & LGBTQIA People
We know that women in the workplace face an array of challenges when it comes to parity, pay equity, and harassment.

However, our recent study, “The Great Renegotiation,” found that women of color are often more impacted by harassment. A quarter of Black women listed workplace sexual harassment as a top challenge, compared to 21% of respondents overall. Not surprisingly, the same women whom harassment affects most also face the biggest pay gaps: Black women make just 64 cents of every dollar a white man makes, despite having some of the highest labor force participation rates. Separate research has found that the unemployment gap between white and Black workers has remained steady even as the pandemic wanes, with Black unemployment remaining higher even as both figures hit historic lows.

The LGBTQIA+ community faces its own challenges with workplace discrimination and harassment. Recent research indicates that discrimination against LGBTQIA+ workers continues to be pervasive. Just over 45% of LGBT workers in one survey said they’d experienced unfair treatment at work, including being fired, turned down for a job, or harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBT workers experienced this treatment whether or not they were out, but they were five times as likely to experience discrimination if they were open about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The facts are even more illuminating when we look at discrimination from an intersectional lens. The same study noted above found that LGBT workers of color were more likely to report they’d experienced workplace discrimination in the previous year compared to the entire LGBT community overall. They also were more likely to say they’d been verbally harassed at work because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Additionally, LGBT workers of color were more likely than their white counterparts to say they’d changed their behaviors, voice, or mannerisms at work to avoid harassment and discrimination.

It’s clear our country must make significant progress to change the hearts, minds, and actions of people everywhere but particularly in the workplace. Everyone should have the chance to excel personally and professionally regardless of race, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Every person should be able to live out their full identity and have a safe space to express themselves.

At WIR, our goal is to create an inclusive space and address opportunity equity issues for women across all identities and backgrounds. We know tackling these challenges will take a collective effort, but if we all do our part in our corner of the world, one day, we’ll be able to commemorate both Juneteenth and Pride Month with only triumphs to celebrate.

On May 7, 1843, a 14-year old fisherman named Manjiro arrived in the United States, becoming the first recorded Japanese immigrant. And just over 25 years later, on May 10, 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed — in large part due to the backbreaking and often deadly work of Chinese laborers.

Together, these events form the foundation of why we celebrate AAPI Heritage in the month of May. But they only scratch the surface of how Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have contributed to our country. Let’s take a look at just a few notable AAPI women:

• Patsy Mink was the first woman of color ever elected to congress in 1964 and author of Title IX, one of the most groundbreaking pieces of legislation ever passed.
• Kalpana Chawla was the first women from India who traveled to space and who gave her life in the 2003 Columbia explosion
• Stacey Park Milbern was a Korean-American disability rights activist who fought for Medicaid funding for home attendants and nursing services to promote fair medical care and independence. 
• Maya Lin designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC at age 21, and has gone on to design many more artworks, monuments, and buildings.
• Kamala Harris is the first member of the AAPI community and the first woman ever to hold the office of Vice President of the United States.

The list goes on, but the message is clear: the AAPI community has played — and continues to play — an irreplaceable role in American history. At the same time, the community has long been a target of stereotypes, discrimination, and violence. 

As we honor and celebrate the legacy of the AAPI community, how can we also respect and uplift AAPI colleagues in the workplace? Here are three ideas that AAPI female leaders recommend.

1. Recognize that the AAPI community is not a monolith

When the phrase “Asian American” was coined in 1968, it was a radical moment meant to unite together people across cultures who shared a common heritage — and in many ways, it has. But it’s also a broad term that doesn’t reflect the full range of diversity in the AAPI community. 

In the United States, 22 million Asian Americans trace their roots to more than 20 different countries throughout East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, and they are the fastest-growing ethnic or racial group in the United States. While there are far fewer Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., they are the third fastest-growing group.

Representing AAPI people as a monolith feeds into stereotypes, flattens cultures, and erases important issues, like disproportionate gaps in media representation, income inequality, leadership representation, and hate crime incidents. In an article for APCO, Minty Pham writes: “The diversity of AAPI heritage and experience is truly too vast to simplify under such a simple label.”

This month, make sure celebrations go beyond generalizations and include everyone to appreciate the diversity of all AAPI cultures. And every day, we can work against unconscious biases that lead to grouping Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders together under large umbrellas of stereotypes and myths.  

Pham notes: “…it is crucial to champion and uplift the voices and people that differ from the mainstream stories. Doing so actively confronts structural discrimination through the preservation and celebration of the individual and collective existence of human experience.”

2. Push back against the model minority myth

One of the most harmful stereotypes the AAPI community faces is the “model minority myth.” As Cynthia Sugiyama, SVP and head of HR Communications at Wells Fargo, shared with CNBC: “Asian Americans are often stereotyped as the ‘model minority,’ which unfortunately puts us in a box where we are generally viewed as hardworking, dedicated and intelligent, but not necessarily assertive, bold or leadership material.” 

Facing both the harmful effects of the model minority myth and the stereotypes that come with being a woman in male-dominated workplaces can be particularly difficult. Women in Revenue Board Member Lynn Powers shared her experience with us in our most recent newsletter: “As an Asian woman in a male-dominated field, I’ve faced many challenges — being overlooked and underpaid and having to work harder to achieve equality.” 

Sugiyama says there must be commitment from leadership to move past this myth and ensure AAPI talent thrives. Most importantly, she says in the CNBC article, “Tone at the top matters, but actions matter even more.” 

In light of this, we should reflect on how AAPI employees are supported in our organizations. What are we doing to ensure they succeed and have opportunities to advance? Do our DEI initiatives have specific support for AAPI talent? Is there a leadership gap? Consider areas where your organization can improve and work within to create a plan of action to address these issues.

3. Find and elevate female AAPI leaders through mentorship and collaboration

This year’s AAPI Heritage Month theme is “Advancing Leaders Through Collaboration.” Fahmida Chhipa, VP at the Federal Asian Pacific American Council, told NPR, “When you have diversity at the leadership table, the magnitude of what you can accomplish is enormous. You really expand yourself in the horizons to have something creative and innovative.” 

We couldn’t agree more. And when we surveyed thousands of Women in Revenue members earlier this year, they echoed the same sentiment. Nearly 30% of respondents identified issues like lack of mentorship and an equal seat at the table as challenges in their organizations. 

At the same time, 87% of mentors and mentees feel empowered by their mentoring relationships and have developed greater confidence. It’s an ideal example of how to foster talent through collaboration. If your organization doesn’t have a mentorship program, maybe now is the time to revisit the idea. 

At the end of the day, there’s still a long way to go when it comes to breaking down the stereotypes and challenges that the AAPI community faces in our country and in our workplaces. But this month is a great opportunity for each of us to set aside some time, consider our own biases, and find a way to lift up female AAPI leaders. Happy AAPI heritage month! 

To understand the power that one woman leader has in the workplace, consider the quote that inspires National Girl Me Too Day each April 7: “Divided we stand strong because we have no choice, but standing together, we have the power to change the world.”

Each day presents opportunities for women in leadership roles to widen the door, smooth the path for other women, and facilitate the ability for more women to find positions where they are valued, respected, and fairly rewarded.

At Women in Revenue, our 6,000+ members fuel, nurture, support, and advocate for one another and their colleagues every single day. Regardless of where you are on the corporate ladder, there are impactful ways to show your support and really make a difference in women’s careers. Here are three ideas.

Amplify women’s voices and contributions 

Be intentional about creating spaces and amplification within the workplace to ensure that other women beside you and behind you can excel. By leading through example and purposefully creating opportunities that help us all succeed, we can shift the way women are perceived, heard, and valued at work.

Here are a few things you can do to amplify, celebrate, and elevate women in your workplace.

• Make space at meetings. When you notice women who rarely speak up in meetings or are talked over, make it a point to ask for their input. If you’re running the meeting, give them time on the agenda. If you notice an idea has been taken by someone else, speak up. It can be as simple as saying, “Jackie, I remember you mentioned this idea last week. Can you share more about how you would approach it?”
• Share success stories. It can also be difficult for some women to give themselves the pat on the back they truly deserve — or to even recognize when they deserve it. Give your female employees and colleagues verbal congratulations in meetings. Share success stories on Slack or Teams. Mention the success to other leaders at the coffee machine or when chatting online.
• Engage women who are withering at work. When women aren’t challenged or allowed to do the work they are qualified for, are interested in, and excel at, they likely have one foot out the door. If you notice someone seems bored or disconnected, learn what she’s interested in doing. Then consider whom you can connect her with, if you can recommend her for upcoming projects, or any learning opportunities that will lead to skill growth, better visibility, and career advancement.
• Create interdepartmental connections. As Women in Revenue demonstrates, we’re stronger together! Invite women from other departments to join in a monthly coffee talk or quarterly lunch so that you can learn from one another, support each other, and build bridges that lead to new opportunities.
  

Provide mentorship and allyship

Mentorship and allyship are so important in the modern workplace, especially as organizations increase their focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Research from Harvard Business Review indicates women often benefit more than men from having a group of close female contacts. To advance to higher-paying executive positions, the study found women had to have a tight network of female connections — even if they had the exact same skills and qualifications as their male counterparts. 

As the researchers put it, “because women seeking positions of executive leadership often face cultural and political hurdles that men typically do not, they benefit from an inner circle of close female contacts that can share private information about things like an organization’s attitudes toward female leaders, which helps strengthen women’s job search, interviewing, and negotiation strategies.”

Our organization focuses on mentorship and allyship for this very reason. Our 2022 State of Women in Revenue Report, “The Great Renegotiation,” finds that many women are yearning for mentorship in the workplace. Nearly a third (30%) of our survey respondents reported that lack of mentorship was a challenge in their companies. Yet organizations that lack mentorship programs are missing out on a great opportunity: 67% of businesses with a mentorship program report an increase in productivity.

Mentoring involves a time commitment to nurture a meaningful relationship and not everyone can do it effectively. But most people can be effective allies. Touting women’s contributions to projects or business process improvements, challenging someone when they call a female colleague “bossy” or “aggressive,” and advocating for big and small changes that help women balance workplace and personal demands more effectively are all ways we can be allies to one other in the workplace.

Step in when you can 

It can be difficult to speak up when we see something amiss in the workplace, but it’s crucial for creating the kind of culture where women can thrive. In our survey, 25% of women in professional services and revenue operations said sexual harrassment was one of their top three challenges. Across all respondents, women of color unfortunately faced the biggest challenge with harassment. It’s also an unfortunate irony that the same women who are most likely to be harrassed also face the widest pay gap in the workplace.

We have to shine a light on this issue and step in when we see microaggressions or outright harassment in the workplace. We recognize that for some women, it may feel dangerous to speak forthrightly about a harasser or to go to HR. You may fear retaliation or be the recipient of similar treatment. 

But there are subtle ways to help, such as: 

• Interrupting an uncomfortable conversation with a work-related request.
• Making yourself present as much as possible so that a colleague isn’t alone with someone who makes her nervous.
• Checking in privately with co-workers who may not feel like they have the power to report or stop their harasser’s behavior or a boss’s microaggressions.
• Keeping notes when you see harassment and offering to be a witness for an HR report, if you can.

Actions like these can help slow down the normalization of bad behavior in the workplace. 

Together, We Succeed

Whether it’s allyship, mentorship, confronting harassment, or amplifying women’s voices, there are so many ways women can empower other women to achieve their goals. By reaching back as they climb — or simply standing shoulder to shoulder with talented colleagues — women can uplift other women and help them succeed in the workplace.

By: Ashley Womack, Director of Corporate Marketing, Alation

Not many companies can boast a 4.9 out of 5 rating for Culture & Values on Glassdoor. Fewer still can point to a 99% approval rating of the CEO. But Alation is not your typical Silicon Valley startup, and Satyen Sangani is not your typical CEO. He has deliberately recruited women to our leadership team and throughout the ranks of Alation.

If you’re like most women, and go straight to the leadership page on a website before you even consider an opportunity, you’re not going to see the typical gallery of all (white) men. Our C-Suite of People, Finance, and Marketing, are all women, with Joy Wolken heading up our People Team since 2018, and new addition Langley Eide taking on the CFO role this February. (And our CMO Tracy Eiler is also a founding board member of Women in Revenue!).

Since launching in 2012, the company has seen explosive growth, and our data intelligence platform is used by more than 50 Fortune 100 companies today. After announcing a Series D funding round of $110 million, and achieving unicorn status in June of 2021, the firm has hired more than 200 new Alationauts – and it’s still growing fast.

Tassia Reinhold, Stephanie Fitzpatrick, and Robyn BeDell are among Alation’s top female talent in the revenue and customer success teams. Hear from them, in their own words, on why you should consider applying to Alation today.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO ALATION?

Stephanie Fitzpatrick, Senior Customer Success Manager: The product initially. As a Global Intelligence and Information Manager for several oil and gas companies, I had the task of piecing together the capabilities that Alation provides and I was excited to see that Alation had developed such a solid solution. But throughout the interview process it was the culture and the people that sold me.

Tassia Reinhold, Mgr, Regional Sales: After almost 6 years at one of the world’s largest tech companies, I was ready for a change. I wanted to work in a place where I could make a large impact. So finding a company with a growth-oriented energy, that would push me to expand my skill sets, was important.

When I joined Alation in April 2018 we had 100 employees. Since then, I’ve seen us quintuple in size and revenue in 4 years. As an account executive, I was pushed to wear many different hats, and I’ve added dozens of customers to our family. Today, as a manager, I lead a sales team. It’s been a fantastic ride.

Robyn BeDell, Account Manager: A former colleague approached me with an opportunity. He said, come and work for Alation, you’re going to love it here. And once I started talking to the people and learning more about the company, it was hard to resist. I like working in a fast growing start-up environment. I had previously worked at Xactly for 5 years (who went public) and Host Analytics for 6 years (got purchased) and was looking for a similar environment.

WHAT’S THE CULTURE LIKE AT ALATION?

Tassia: The level of transparency and access to leadership is incredible. Our entire executive team attends weekly All Hands where they share updates and answer questions about the direction of the company. Our CEO provides quarterly updates on how we are measuring against our goals. I’ve personally had the opportunity to discuss company direction and share ideas with our C-level executives many times throughout my tenure.

As an employee, that level of openness is empowering. And the honesty and humility that that accountability creates – it trickles down to the employees and culture here in a very real way.

Stephanie: Open, friendly, transparent communication from the top down, importance of people as our greatest asset, supportive, mission and goal oriented.

Robyn: At Alation, everyone is hardworking, but also nobody takes themselves too seriously. We know how to have fun and work hard. This despite most of us are remote!

And with this mostly remote workforce, people go out of their way to connect. We enjoy our virtual watercooler spaces, like slack channels on topics like fitness, cooking, animals, TV, etc, so people can connect on things outside of work. Virtual birthday parties and bridal & baby showers are also common – and way too much fun for a Zoom call!

WHAT’S BEEN KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS?

Tassia: Growth mindset. When I hire for my team, I tell candidates that I’m looking for company builders. You don’t join a startup because the book has already been written, you join because you want to help write the story. The energy, creativity, and core desire to build something is critical to success, both individually and collectively.

Stephanie: Leadership, ample opportunity, and resources.

Robyn: Leadership, culture and teamwork. Being a woman at Alation feels like we are a part of a special club and I love it! We are highly respected within the company and it’s so amazing to see how many women are in leadership roles within Alation. And now that it’s March, we celebrate International Women’s Day all month, with special events and fireside chats. At our last All Hands meeting, we hosted a panel featuring women leaders (and our brothers) to discuss how we can better support women in the workplace.

I absolutely love how we build each other up here – and we have a slack channel that we can chat on exclusively. Alation has made me feel like I am just as important as any other man within the company.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT SAID, “WELL BEHAVED WOMEN RARELY MAKE HISTORY.”; WHAT WOMEN INSPIRE YOU? HOW ARE YOU EMPOWERED TO “MAKE HISTORY” AT ALATION?

Tassia: While cliche, my mom inspires me most. She was a badass, high-powered family lawyer in a male dominated field who earned respect and success battling it out in the courtroom and doing what she felt was best for her clients. She always instilled confidence in me, the value of being articulate and intelligent, and a willingness to express my thoughts and opinions – all qualities that I hope to bring to my job here at Alation.

Stephanie: I actually have a t-shirt with that quote, which I’ve held onto for years! But as a woman, I want to make sure I am being a colleague who is a constant contributor and who lifts others up to help them be successful too. You just have to find the strengths in others and leverage that to make history as a team.

Robyn: I’ve had the opportunity to work with and for some amazing women in my career, which has shaped me as the person I am at work. I strive to be like them. Alison Holmlund was the Chief Customer Officer when I worked at my last company, and she was extremely inspiring. She ran a large organization within the company and had 3 small children, to me she seemed like superwoman. This to me is changing history, being a mom and a successful business woman!

IN CONCLUSION

Stories like these reflect why Alation has established a reputation for its authentic and people-first culture. And diversity is becoming a central piece to ensuring that culture flourishes. The company has committed to more intentional hiring practices and more inclusive internal practices through programs such as unconscious bias training.

The numbers showcase that change in action. While we actively track all demographics of our employees, in looking simply at the metric of employees identifying themselves as male or female genders, the percent of identifying women jumped from 13% in 2020 to nearly 30% in 2021. In particular we’re proud to have more women in revenue positions, as we know how good that is for our customers and for driving revenue growth and retention.

Alation is growing fast, and hiring now! Connect with us to explore opportunities.

See Alation Job Openings