Bolder Way Forward for Utah

Organizational Strategies & Workplace Culture                                            BWF Logo

The Organizational Strategies & Workplace Culture spoke focuses on the decisions and actions that the leaders of any organization (e.g., business, nonprofit, government, schools, universities) take to elevate the stature of women in business and boardrooms and to support them to do so. This spoke highlights the organizational-level strategies, initiatives, and programs organizations use, including family-friendly practices and policies that support all employees and help them thrive. Areas of focus include increasing the percentage of women in senior leadership positions, increasing the retention rate of women at all levels of an organization, increasing the number of women on an organization’s board of directors, monitoring pay by gender and race to identify and close gaps, and establishing or enhancing leadership development and other types of inclusive programs. To learn more, check out the resource box below.

Spoke Leaders

Sheena Blauvelt

Sheena Blauvelt

Executive Director of HR, USANA
LinkedIn Profile

Sheena Blauvelt, MBA, SHRM-SCP, is the Executive Director of HR at USANA Health Sciences, with over two decades of experience in the HR field. She also contributes to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and actively mentors aspiring HR professionals.

USANA

Melanie Jones

Melanie Jones

CEO, WLI
 LinkedIn Profile

Melanie Jones is the CEO of the Women’s Leadership Institute, where she works to elevate women across Utah through training programs and corporate partnerships. She has more than two decades of experience leading teams, including roles at  TEDxSaltLakeCity and Utah  Business magazine. 

Women's Leadership Institute

 

 

 

 

Bold Vision & Goals

To make Utah a place where more girls and women can thrive, the Organizational Strategies & Workplace Culture spoke leaders and partners have crafted the vision and goals below.

Vision: Empower all employers in Utah to elevate women's presence and success in organizations through taking strategic actions and creating inclusive policies, fostering gender equality and diverse leadership, and cultivating family-friendly and thriving workplaces.    

Goals: 

  1. Shift Utahns’ agreement (understanding and perceptions) in the following areas: [Metric Dashboard]
    1. My organization offers family-friendly policies to meet my needs. [Increase agreement by 10% by 2026 and 25% by 2030]
    2. In my organization, I have opportunities for advancement. [Increase agreement by 10% by 2026 and 25% by 2030]
    3. My organization has strategies that advance women in the workplace. [Increase agreement by 10% by 2026 and 25% by 2030]
    4. I feel a sense of belonging at work. [Increase agreement by 10% by 2026 and 25% by 2030]
  2. Increase the number of companies participating in the ElevateHer Challenge to 375 by 2026 and to 1,000 by 2030. [Metric Dashboard]
  3. Expand resources for organizational leaders on strategies and policies that can better support Utahns and their families by 40% by 2026 and 80% by 2030. [Metric Dashboard]
  4. Increase data measuring organizational strategies and culture impacting women by adding one additional study or research project by 2026 and two by 2030. [Metric Dashboard]
  5. Support related goals in collaborating spokes:
    1. Increase the percentage of Utah women leaders in all industries (in support of Leadership Development Spoke Goal #1).
    2. Educate and empower corporations to close the gender pay gap by hosting educational events on pay equity best practices (pay equity audits), unconscious bias, and inclusive leadership (in support of Gender Pay Gap Spoke Goal #3).
    3. Increase accessibility for employees by sharing childcare resources and best practices with employers in Utah (in support of Childcare/Pre-K Programs Spoke Goal #4).
    4. Create and publish best practices and a database of resources, including trainings and model employment policies, to improve the quality of response to and prevention of sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in Utah (in support of the Sexual Harassment & Gender-Based Discrimination Spoke Goal #5).
    5. Increase the number of companies offering formal return-to-work positions and offering quality part-time jobs for women (in support of the Workforce Development Spoke Goals #2 and #3).

Thriving Statement: Women in the labor force thrive when employed by organizations that have inclusive policies, foster gender equality and diverse leadership, and cultivate family-friendly, opportunity-rich workplaces.



Resources
Spoke Resources:
 Research & Resources:

Partners


Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah)


Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity

World Trade Center Utah

Megastar HR


Impact Performance Solutions


SheMoney

Utah Community Builders


Utah State University Extension


USANA


Women’s Leadership Institute


Salt Lake Chamber

ancestry logo







Working Groups

  • Communications: Carrie Brown (Marketing Professional)
  • Events: Kate North (Principal, Global Workplace Analytics), Courtney Benson (Strategic Operations Leader) & Grace Jones (Financial Advisor, Renaissance Financial)
  • Public Policy: Tara McKee (Deputy Director, Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation) & Marissa Bernards (Director of Government & Community Engagement, Mountain America Credit Union) 
  • Research and Best Practices: Patti Cook (Director of Communication & Marketing, Women's Leadership Institute) & Ariell Hardy (HR Leader & I-O Psychologist)

 What You Can Do

women with arrows pointing upwards

Get a commitment from your organization to participate in the ElevateHer challenge. Learn more about the Challenge and recommend areas your organization can focus on.

scale with money

Encourage all organizations within your sphere of influence to adopt family-friendly and flexible workplace policies, conduct pay disparity analyses, and engage in equitable recruiting, hiring, and promotion practices. See available Utah resources for ideas and examples.

plan written down on paper

Encourage business leaders to set goals and implement strategies, as applicable, to increase or strengthen the representation of women in leadership at all levels. This can include efforts around recruiting, hiring, development, and advancement from supervisory to C suite and board positions.



Get Engaged: Ways to get engaged include joining one of our working groups, joining our LinkedIn group, participating in the ElevateHer Challenge, and sharing best practices, success stories and challenges faced when it comes to organizational strategies and workplace culture. If you'd like to join a working group or have an experience to share, please email Kristen Lee. Thanks for your interest! 

Kristen Lee

Kristen Lee

Spoke Coordinator
LinkedIn Profile
klee.abwf@gmail.com