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Fair360’s 7th annual Women of Color and Their Allies (WOCA) event featured speakers, panels and interactive sessions. The event left attendees feeling inspired, prepared and connected to continue to rise in their careers. This fit perfectly with the virtual event’s theme, “Let’s Rise Together.”
Luke Visconti, Founder and Chairman of Fair360, kicked off the event with a warm welcome. He emphasized the benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in corporate America. He added that companies with DEI programs, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and Executive Diversity Councils have “four times the retention rate than those without them.”
“It’s a huge financial difference for companies; companies like the ones represented here today,” he said. “In fact, women make up 12% of management positions at all companies on the Fair360 Top 50 list, that’s levels 1 through 4 of top management, versus 7% for external benchmarks.”
Additionally, he let attendees know that the 2025 Top 50 Companies for Workplace Fairness Survey is now open. He encouraged participants who want to compete in the Top 50 competition to submit their surveys by March 7, 2025. The celebration to announce the 2025 Top 50 companies will return to Cipriani’s Wall Street in New York City on May 6, 2025.
The ‘Precipice of Possibility’
Keynote speaker Amira K.S. Barger, Author, Contributing Writer and Guest, MSNBC and Fast Company, followed Visconti’s welcome with a powerful speech on the “Precipice of Possibility.” She discussed the transformative shift in America, emphasizing the importance of seizing the moment to create lasting change. Furthermore, she highlighted the significance of representation, mentioning Vice President Kamala Harris and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as examples.
Barger also stressed the need for corporate leaders to build trust, combat entropy and actively engage in justice.
When asked by Visconti why she thinks the United States is ready for its first woman president, she said, “it’s high time.”
“We are especially ready for a woman like Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been breaking barriers her entire career,” she said. “And I think in this moment, what we need is someone who’s willing to do the disruption. To do what the kids say these days, ‘be the villain in someone’s story,’ and by villain, I mean to be the anti-hero. To disrupt the status quo.”
Helping Women of Color Rise
Throughout the day, attendees engaged with one another through the chat function of WOCA 2024. Here are some words said by speakers and attendees that encompass the event and the “Let’s Rise Together” theme:
Other sessions throughout the day included:
- “Making Culture Your Competitive Advantage,” featuring leaders from KPMG.
- “Advocacy in Action,” featuring leaders from Dow.
- “Allyship: Small Steps Toward Big Change,” featuring leaders from Toyota North America.
- “Networks that Work for Women,” featuring an executive from TD Bank.
- “Be Your Best Advocate,” featuring executives from Marriott International, BASF and Humana.
During the last session of the day, Karen Walker, Associate Vice President, Humana, encouraged attendees to advocate and empower themselves and others by rising together. Additionally, she urged attendees to find inspiration in Maya Angelou’s poem, Still I Rise. Walker read the poem to the audience.
Check back throughout this week and next to view our full WOCA 2024 event recap page, which features recordings of every session. We’ll publish more article recaps of every session throughout the next two weeks, so come back and visit often!