What Business Leaders Can Do to Strengthen the Impact of Utah Girls and Women

Utah is full of engaged, passionate individuals who frequently ask the question, “What can I personally and/or professionally do to strengthen the impact of Utah girls and women?” To provide specific answers to that question, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) team hosted a series of “think tank” gatherings to collect best practices for various stakeholders interested in supporting and empowering Utah girls and women. This idea sheet is based on a 2017 gathering of 25 women CEOs and top executives from Utah companies to discuss ways business leaders can use their influence to strengthen the impact of Utah girls and women. Their insights focus on things leaders can do in their own companies, through engaging with educational institutions, in the community, and in the Utah corporate culture at large.

Companies

For business leaders, one of the most important spheres of influence is within their own companies. They can help create a positive and inclusive organizational culture that hires, retains, develops, and promotes women. More specifically, company leaders can do the following:

• Set a positive “Tone from the Top” with explicit and consistent communication that diversity is a high priority.
• Ensure top leadership recognizes both the business case for a diverse workforce and leadership teams as well as the corporate social responsibility to promote inclusion and diversity.
• Encourage both men and women managers at all levels to prioritize diversity in their hiring, retention, and promotion efforts. Offer training in recognizing and minimizing unconscious bias.
• Create and follow an internal diversity “best practices” protocol.

Education 

Utah’s top business executives are powerful role models for the next generation of leaders, and this is particularly true for the influence women executives can have on girls and young women. Female executives can inspire young women to graduate from college and enter high-impact industries when they:

• Speak regularly at educational institutions (from K-12 to college campuses), engaging audiences of both genders to show what strong women leaders look like. 
• Present to female students specifically highlighting the opportunities, possibilities, and realities of careers where women have traditionally been underrepresented.

Community

Many business leaders have a high community profile, and they can use this megaphone to promote women’s interests in a variety of ways. Leaders can:

• Spotlight individual women who are excelling in business settings.
• Work with media outlets to highlight and promote companies that are doing great things for women.
• Speak out publicly on issues of concern to professional women, such as the gender wage gap, discrimination, and the relatively low numbers of women on corporate boards and in top levels of leadership.
• Champion women making bold choices and achieving in all areas (e.g., politics, philanthropy, education, business, government, community, and family).
• Mentor and sponsor emerging women leaders in community, government, educational, and political roles.

Utah's Corporate Climate

Utah’s top executives are uniquely positioned to move the needle toward greater female achievement in the state’s corporate climate. Business leaders can:

• Encourage the creation of new women-owned businesses.
• Serve as mentors for incubator programs and other trainings for new entrepreneurs.
• Network and advocate for female founders as they seek funding.
• Leverage relationships across industries to find and place key mentors and sponsors in areas where they are greatly needed.

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To learn more about What Business Leaders Can Do to Strengthen the Impact of Utah Girls and Women read the entire brief.