从左至右Shaena Leuthe、Cheryl Grace、Kym Graham、Jasmine Elliott、Lakeya Jefferson、Charlene Polite Corley、Octavia Phillip、Lauren Harris、Janay Sylvester、Courtney Jones、Sandra Sims-Williams。
尼尔森今年首次赞助 10 名黑人女性员工参加 "黑人企业女强人峰会"，这是一个为期三天的专为有色人种高管女性设计的专业领导力会议。此次峰会汇集了来自全国各地的 1200 多名企业专业人士和商界女性，其中包括资深政治战略家唐娜-布拉齐尔（Donna Brazile）和传奇女演员兼舞蹈家黛比-艾伦（Debbie Allen）等极具影响力的人物。
“What makes this summit unique is the fellowship,” said Nielsen Program Manager Shaena Leuthe. “I have attended conferences before, and this one was by far the most welcoming. Despite their outstanding achievements and prestigious roles, everyone was approachable and open to sharing their lessons learned. I left more uplifted and knowledgeable than when I arrived.”
Sandra Sims-Williams, our new Senior Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), initiated the sponsorship. As a veteran D&I leader with 30 years of experience, Sims-Williams wanted to celebrate and recognize women at Nielsen who have been doing great work for years, and who would come back and share the message of sisterhood and support with colleagues. The 10 women were selected from almost 50 applicants who shared why they wanted to attend and their personal and professional aspirations.
"今年是我第 15 次参加该会议，"Sims-Williams 说。"我每年都去，而且都带着女性一起去，因为我还记得第一次去的情景。那是一次思想的转变。这是一次庆祝活动。这是对我作为美国企业界黑人女性身份的支持。那一刻，我明白了，是的，我明白了"。
从左至右Lauren Harris、Kym Graham、Sandra Sims-Williams 和 Charlene Polite Corley。
尼尔森的同事们以见面会拉开了会议的序幕，互相认识。接下来的两个晚上，他们与 Sims-Williams 一起参加了 "姐妹圈 "活动。其中一个环节是由一位领导力促进者帮助员工审视自己，认识到自己在工作场所的身份。
"尼尔森客户总监萨莱-福布斯（Sahlé Forbes）说："我感觉自己被倾听、被看见了。"尼尔森以这种特殊的方式投资于我的成长和发展，这一点没有被忽视。桑德拉和罗伯特-卡米莱里（桑德拉团队的一员）以一种真诚的方式倾注在我们身上，有时让我怀疑这个活动怎么会是'工作'。这次经历让我再次确认，我在尼尔森的未来发展中扮演着独特而重要的角色，并确信我得到了公司领导的认可和持续支持。
对 Sims-Williams 来说，这次峰会的目标是鼓励妇女们互相帮助、振作和赋权。"我相信小组合作，因为这是人与人交流的时候。那天晚上，我们都流泪了，也用了一些纸巾，我们都明白这意味着什么。这对我来说很重要--直击我们的核心，让我们明白我们并不孤单，"Sims-Williams 说。"让我支持你，你也支持我。有时我们并没有相互支持"。
“I confronted some fear here,” said Nielsen Director of Client Solutions, Charlene Polite Corley. “Sandra said it best on her panel: ‘We stay.’ We don’t leave a situation that may be ‘cutting’ us unless or until we have a sure thing because ‘we are feeding more mouths than you know about!’ Even if we don’t have children or spouses, Black women are often carrying so much. But this is also what makes D&I about being human—because every person is carrying something. It can keep us bound in bad or stagnant situations.”
The experience Corley described is shared by women of all backgrounds today as women are shouldering more of the household burdens. By 2028, women will own 75% of the discretionary spend globally, making them the world’s greatest influencers. Nielsen is encouraging companies to rethink their approach to marketing and designing services for women employees and support equal pay.
Nielsen associates can look forward to more opportunities like this in the future. With plans to reframe D&I, work with the Executive Advisory Council, Employee Resource Groups and the Diversity Leadership Network program, Sims-Williams hopes to make Nielsen’s D&I work more personal. Learn more about the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit and read about Sandra Sims-Williams’ panel on microaggressions on the job.
