Nina Senn, Founder

I am from a generation of girls who were raised to believe they could do anything they put their minds to. Everyone knows about the glass ceiling but the fragility of some of our organizational infrastructures – that seemed to be made of glass too - took me by surprise when the pandemic shook our world off its foundation.  It hit me pretty hard when I was laid off for the first time in my life. But I was not alone. Far from it. I was one of five million women in the U.S. who was impacted by job loss. An aftershock came when I realized that the impact on women was nearly four times greater than for men. I thought to myself: “Why women?”

One did not have to look far for the answers: increased demand for unpaid roles for women, lack of affordable childcare options, the volume of women’s roles in hard hit industries, and the lack of women in decision making roles. I resolved to be part of the solution and dove into the research: I devoured the data, read every news piece and OpEd I could find, facilitated focus groups and reached out to leaders in the field looking for answers.

As I brainstormed solutions, I thought about the people behind my successes. My father, my first champion and a pioneer in his field, taught me how to build relationships with experts and the importance of being a voice for others. Both men and women have opened doors and encouraged me in my career. In fact, research over the last four decades shows that mentorship creates opportunities and positively impacts careers. Those in leadership roles, 75% of which are men, have been mentoring each other for as long as anyone can remember with the term “mentor” dating back to Greek mythology. 

And then it clicked… To accelerate out of this crisis, women need more male mentors. Now more than ever.

The longer we wait to provide women with the access and support they need; the more women and families are left behind.

In order to really be impactful right now, mentorship needs to be intentional and done with a sense of urgency. We need a mentoring culture in every corporation, and every board room so more women and organizations can benefit.

Women are ready and they are qualified. Whether or not women are in the room, more men need to actively champion them and that message.  When women have the opportunity to play to their potential, everybody wins. With millions of women left out of the workforce and leadership roles, millions of women and families are struggling, businesses have shuttered and our economy is weaker. We have no time to waste.

Nina Senn, an award-winning lawyer, businessperson and non-profit leader for over 20 years, is the founder of Opportunity Ready: It’s Her Turn and Cal for Kids. By the time she was 35, she had managed an IBM sales and marketing team generating over $1 million/year and was the Head of Legal responsible for the legal affairs of a multi-billion dollar global business unit of DHL. Nina then went on to lead diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as a public official, lawyer and non-profit leader for companies and organizations including eBay, Airbnb, Oakland Unified School District and the Commission on the Status of Women (Alameda County). Nina credits many of her accomplishments to the supportive, candid advice and advocacy of wonderful mentors.