Diversity In Leadership Is A Joint Effort

When it comes to encouraging diversity in the channel, it takes a village.

As they addressed gender gap issues in the tech industry, executives at The Channel Company’s recent Women of the Channel event said that the solution needs to be a joint effort between women and men to promote the best talent.

"It's very much a village effort. We all have to take personal responsibility to encourage talent, whether it's female or male. We have to propel that effort as the women leaders in the industry," said Jessica Yeck, vice president of sales at Avnet's HP Solutions group.

That support was evident at the early December event in New York City as a handful of men joined the conference to support their female peers, said Mary Ellen Grom, vice president of U.S. marketing at Synnex.

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"Those guys are there because they want to hire quality professional women. That is their vested interest. They work with women, they have growing teenagers, so men are an integral part of this," Grom said.

Cisco Vice President of Global Partner Marketing Sherri Liebo said that having men, who are usually in the majority, stick up for women in an organization is key. Having men on board means another area of support and coaching for women looking to step into leadership roles, she said.

"That is such an important part, that there are allies that stand with any particular group, looking out for interests, immersed in understanding issues, speaking up with the group and reaching out and making sure we have a rich pipeline of women talent," Liebo said.

Westcon Group Chief Marketing Officer Katie Dumala said that when Westcon launched a Women@Westcon initiative, men in the organization chimed in that they would like to be invited as well. She said she welcomed that because it meant both genders were working together to make sure everyone felt welcome.

On top of that, Dumala said that change is driven from the top of the organization. Having CEO Dolph Westerbos heavily involved with promoting diversity at the company has been a driving force for the distributor's diversity efforts, she said.

"I'm a firm believer in that it starts at the top," Dumala said. "The statements [Westerbos] is making for diversity creates a culture where diversity can thrive."

Alison Challman, vice president of marketing and brand solutions for Avnet's HP Solutions group, agreed, saying that she believes a joint effort will be the key to get the momentum needed to effect change.

"I think that it's about creating diversity in leadership. I think having men involved in how they can help and play a role in increasing the number of talented women in IT, that would be really powerful," Challman said.

This article originally appeared as an exclusive on the CRN Tech News App for iOS and Windows 8.