Women Leaders at SEDNA Talk Career Journeys and Equal Opportunity for International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is upon us and with it, a lot of conversations about and taking stock of women’s advancement in the workplace. It’s a multifaceted and complicated issue with no single solution—but one that can always be helped by listening to and learning from women ourselves. Along with a panel discussion with two expert guests on Diversity and Inclusion happening this week (details and signup below!), we turned to some of the accomplished women on our team for their insights.

Below, four women in executive and leadership roles at SEDNA—VP of Engineering Lakshmi Baskaran, VP of Global Sales Cynthia Worley, Chief Financial Officer Emily Tsen, and Head of Marketing Aïda Bejgane—graciously shared their own experiences in building and advancing in their careers. And offered some personal thoughts on how true gender parity and equal representation in leadership can be both worked toward by individuals and genuinely supported by organizations as employers.

While you’re here, sign up for our International Women’s Day roundtable Q&A this Thursday, March 11 featuring Lakshmi, Cynthia, VP of People Hessie Coleman as host, and all-star guests Dayo Akinirade (Founder of Africlick) and Chikere Igbokwe (Founder of Inclucive D&I Consultancy) to discuss intersectionality, work-life balance, allyship, and the future of gender diversity at work.

What are the responsibilities of your role?

As VP of Engineering at SEDNA, I am responsible for ensuring that the product vision is realized through excellence in execution. As a member of the executive team, I contribute to developing the company strategy and product strategy.

How did you get to be where you are today?

Having an Engineering degree in Computer Science laid the foundation for my career in technology. In the early years of my career, I leveraged every opportunity that exposed me to different roles in an organization. In the process of helping organizations grow, I also looked for opportunities to advance my career.

Have you noticed any changes in your field or industry, over the course of your career, in terms of opportunities for and advancement of women? 

Engineering and technology has been more welcoming of women in the last decade. Organizations are creating KPIs to encourage more opportunities for women in leadership roles. Workplaces are more open and willing to build a culture of work-life balance and work-life integration. That allows for many women to be part of today’s workplace while also raising a family.

What advice would you give a young woman starting in your field (or her career in general)?

Do not wait until you are offered a promotion. Prepare yourself for the next role and advocate for yourself. You need to take that extra mile to be successful in your career, while also raising a family. It is not easy. But it is very rewarding. You will have a purpose for yourself and will show the next generation that they can do it too.

Read more from Lakshmi on Medium in My Perspective as a Woman of Colour in Tech on Kamala Harris’s Victory.

What are the responsibilities of your role?

I manage and mentor an amazing team of talented sales professionals who are dedicated to having a positive impact on the clients with whom they work. We seek out opportunities to improve the daily cadence in workflows and collaboration amongst teams—removing the “noise” and giving folks time back in their day to focus on value-adding work.

How did you get to be where you are today?

I was lucky—I had a very close and local family in which all of the women lived healthy lives to a very advanced age. Growing up, we would get together at my Nanny’s house for lunch each Sunday. Me, my mom, my Nana (grandma), Nannie (great grandma) and Gonnie (my great-great grandma) would play Trivial Pursuit after our meal. Keeping your mind strong was important. While we played, they shared stories of their adventures and helped me to plan mine.

These women had been raised and lived out their lives within a 20-mile radius of where they were born. But that didn’t for a moment influence what they saw for me. “Nothing is impossible,” Nanny said. She expected me to be the first female president! Key to doing anything, however, was to keep learning and make sure you “always treat folks right.” When you’re good to people, when you care about them, they reciprocate and they care about you. That level of care, that focus on relationships, is what set me up for my career that followed.

With the support of my amazing family, and many tears, I left our hometown to move abroad to continue my adventure. I found that my career began to evolve to focus more centrally on the value I could bring to other people. While I was responsible for selling products, I didn’t seek out sales. Rather, I looked for where I could have a lasting and positive impact through relationships. And even as I have shifted across products, I have always kept my friends, the people I care about, as my primary focus.

To me, most of the definition of success is simply being happy. And it certainly makes me happy that my friends and my relationships sit so much at the centre of what I do, and that I get to bring value to them with innovative products like SEDNA. I feel like I have the greatest job in the world!

Have you noticed any changes in your field or industry, over the course of your career, in terms of opportunities for and advancement of women? 

Absolutely! When you’re as old as I am, you’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of changes. But more importantly for me, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in change. Working for years in shipping and trade, the number of women has always been sparse—but a rare commodity is valuable! You have to use this to your advantage.

Form alliances, focus on networking, learn from other female leaders, and never be afraid to ask for an opportunity. And when opportunities are presented to you, always pay them forward double. Hiring, supporting, and mentoring other women is important to me.

What advice would you give employers to genuinely support gender parity and equal opportunity for women?

I believe you should always hire the best person. But the trick is actually attracting and evaluating correctly who the best person is for the role. Tradition, habit, and simple stagnation means it’s sometimes hard to see that certain roles may be “positioning” for a male applicant. Stereotypes can hinder us in thinking about the true power a different mindset may bring.

I believe in honest acknowledgement of how diversity brings value to an organization and strident efforts to reflect diversity in our teams.

What are the responsibilities of your role?

I manage and am responsible for the overall accounting and finance function and operational management of SEDNA. I work with the CEO and executive team on strategic objectives, resource planning, and management. And more directly, on strategic and tactical matters relating to budget management and cost control.

How did you get to be where you are today?

I obtained a business degree and became certified as a CPA through education and training with PWC.

Have you noticed any changes in your field or industry, over the course of your career, in terms of opportunities for and advancement of women? 

Yes, particularly as more companies advocate for diversity and this permeates the rest of the organization.

What advice would you give employers to genuinely support gender parity and equal opportunity for women?

I believe employers should be transparent and have a work-life balance policy that truly supports the working parent. Bring awareness to the topic of unconscious bias and provide skills to recognize and rectify its presence. And walk the talk—make it a deliberate practice to hire for equality and diversity.

What are the responsibilities of your role?

I manage the marketing activity at SEDNA, which includes customer acquisition, branding and communications, lead generation and nurturing, content creation, our website, and public relations.

I worked in communications and marketing in France for five years, mostly in sustainable development and banking. Eight years ago, I moved to the UK, mainly to learn English. Since then, I’ve managed many different marketing functions in organizations such as advertising and acquisition, brand, and email marketing.

Have you noticed any changes in your field or industry, over the course of your career, in terms of opportunities for and advancement of women? 

There are more opportunities for women in the workplace. However, despite the improvement compared to the situations of our mothers or grandmothers, the lack of opportunities for women—and especially for women of colour—is still palpable. In fact, just 2.6% of the CEOs of companies in Forbes’ Global 500 in 2020 are women, and none listed are women of colour.

In a few words, the glass ceiling has been raised but it’s still there. Women are now in every industry but their access to leadership positions has many blockers based on lack of opportunities and other coded discriminations.

What advice would you give employers to genuinely support gender parity and equal opportunity for women?

My advice is to not look solely at numbers. Supporting gender parity also means implementing the right working environment for women. Not just providing opportunities in their career but also also creating programs and the proper support to help to educate the company and employees about unconscious bias.

Join the Discussion

Sign up to participate in the roundtable Q&A session this Thursday to celebrate International Women’s Day and the #ChoosetoChallenge initiative. And if you’re interested in working with the leaders featured here—and a whole team of smart, passionate, and supportive people—check out SEDNA’s open positions.