Organizational Strategies & Workplace Culture

The Organizational Strategies & Workplace Culture spoke focuses on the decisions and actions that the leaders of any type of 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 that 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 programs. 

Spoke Leaders

Heather MacDonald

Heather MacDonald

Principal Consultant, Pluralsight 
LinkedIn Profile

Heather MacDonald is a Principal Consultant at Pluralsight designing workforce transformation strategies for a global portfolio of industry leading companies and academic institutions. She has spent over 15 years in corporate and community engagement roles.

Plural Sight

Pat Jones

Pat Jones

CEO, WLI
LinkedIn Profile

Pat Jones is the CEO of the Women’s Leadership Institute. After spending 14 years in the Utah Legislature, 12 of those in leadership, and as she co-founded and presided over her own company, she is acutely aware of the challenges Utah women face. 

Women's Leadership Institute

Pete Codella

Pete Codella

Managing Director, GOEO
LinkedIn Profile

Pete Codella is the Managing Director of Business Services at Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO). He received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Utah.

Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity
 

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. Spoke leadership and UWLP team members are currently working to collect baseline data that will assist in adding numbers to the changes we want to see by 2026 and 2030.

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. Increase the number of companies committing to the ElevateHER Challenge. [Via WLI]
  2. 100 Companies Championing Women will reach their goal of 100 designated companies annually. [Via GOEO/UWLP]
  3. Increase the percentage of Utahns who believe their organization offers family-friendly policies, opportunities for advancement. [Data Forthcoming]
  4. Increase percentage of Utahns who believe their organization has strategies that advance women in the workplace. [Data Forthcoming]
  5. Increase percentage of women who have a sense of belonging at work. [Data Forthcoming]
  6. Increase percentage of women believe they have opportunities for advancement in their organization. [Data Forthcoming]
  7. Increase data measuring organizational strategies and culture impacting women through on-going, academically rigorous research and regularly published studies.
  8. Increase the percentage of Utah women in leadership.
    1. Executive positions: from 23.95% in 2021, to 28% in 2026, and 35% by 2030. [Metric]
    2. Business leadership (e.g., CEO, board, president, top managers): double by 2030, with a 30% increase in each category by 2026. [Metric]
    3. Higher education: to 40% by 2026 and 50% by 2030. [Metric]
    4. K-12 leadership: district superintendents (12.2% in 2022 to 25% by 2030), high school principals (29% in 2022 to 50% by 2030), and high school asst principals (35.4% in 2022; to 50% in 2030); maintain leadership representation in all other roles. [Metric]
  9. Maintain the percentage of women leaders in nonprofit settings [Metric] and some of the K-12 leadership categories. [Metric]
  10. Increase the percent of women in the higher income earning category ($100,000+) from 5.6% to 7.5% by 2026 and to 10% by 2030. [Metric]

Partners


Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah)


Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity


Laeona


Megastar HR


Pluralsight


ShePlace

Utah Community Builders


Utah State University Extension


Utah Women & Leadership Project


Women’s Leadership Institute

World Trade Center Utah



 

 



Get Engaged: Other ways to get engaged include taking the ElevateHER Challenge and joining our LinkedIn group. Thank you for your interest!

Andrea Hanson

Andrea Hanson

Spoke Coordinator
LinkedIn Profile
oswcbolderwayforward@gmail.com