All posts by Jennifer Schulz
A year ago, as we celebrated International Women’s Day at Experian, none of us could have predicted what the year ahead had in store for us. It has been a year that has repeatedly tested us across so many facets of our lives. It has been a year that has reinforced the importance of our resilient and inclusive culture. And, it has been a year, that despite the unsettled environment, we at Experian have made progress. This year, as we kick-off our celebrations, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the passion, commitment and perseverance of our inspiring women and their allies who have contributed to that progress. Experian is celebrating International Women’s Day with employee-led activities around the world spearheaded by our Women in Experian employee resource group. We are also embracing this year’s theme of #ChooseToChallenge and started at the top of our house with our Chief Executive Officer, Brian Cassin, hosting a discussion between the inspiring women of Experian’s Board of Directors. The discussion focused on how to drive positive change and future growth. This event, and the participation of our board members, was reflective of Experian’s overall commitment to diversity. Each of our female board members shared what they will #ChooseToChallenge this year. Ruba Borno I #ChooseToChallenge the idea that opportunities are limited “Every opportunity is a gift. I choose to challenge the idea that those gifts are finite. Every time I climb a ladder, I want to keep that ladder behind me so someone else can climb it and we can rise together.” Alison Brittain I #ChooseToChallenge us all to become better allies “International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to reflect on the things that we can do, both individually and collectively, to champion change, support our colleagues and make a positive difference. Every day we need to strive to create a culture that supports inclusivity, so that everyone can unlock their potential and perform at their best, regardless of their background, gender, ethnicity or how they identify. We can become better allies by challenging the barriers to diversity and celebrating difference.” Caroline Donahue I #ChoosetoChallenge gender inequity “As a woman in tech, I was fortunate to have several amazing mentors, most of whom were men and my direct supervisors. They supported me and helped me thrive as a single parent with a global travel schedule. One of my motivations in joining the Experian board was recognizing that Experian has an amazing culture and believes in and supports women and their careers. Experian is committed to diversity and inclusion and knows that a diverse workforce creates better outcomes for employees and customers. I know we can achieve 50% amazing women at all levels at Experian, just as we have created great diversity on the board, including my fellow female board members. I am thrilled to be a part of this company and this journey.” Deirdre Mahlan I #ChooseToChallenge obstacles to being heard “International Women’s Day is an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the many roles that women play in contributing to families, culture, work and government. This year’s theme, #ChooseToChallenge resonates strongly with me. As a leader and a woman, I aim to live honestly and courageously and through my actions inspire others to live according to their own truth. We all have a role to play in ensuring we can each contribute and use our voice authentically. The many talents, leadership qualities and authentic voices of women at Experian in powering solutions will continue to be key to the success of Experian.” Our goals for International Women’s Week 2021 are to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness against bias and act against inequality. This week is an opportunity to reflect and contribute to our continuous journey for diversity, inclusion and belonging, and most of all, Choose to Challenge, because from challenge comes change.
Before you read this blog post, I thought providing you with an introduction to who I am might be helpful. My name is Jennifer Schulz and I am a 46-year-old white American woman whose DNA indicates my ancestors originated mostly from Europe with a very small trace from East Asia. I am married to Bob Roback, my partner in life. I am the mother of two incredibly active boys, ages 8 and 5. I am the bonus mom to our daughter (20) and son (soon to be 18). I am a sister, daughter and friend. I am also the very proud leader of Experian’s Health, Auto and Targeting businesses in North America. As #metoo swept social and mainstream media and drove hundreds of thoughtful articles on a whole host of gender related topics, I found myself reflecting and feeling genuinely grateful to be at Experian. During my interview and onboarding process four years ago, I came to realize that Experian had a great culture full of smart and genuinely caring people. It was – and still is – a culture characterized by a strong client orientation and financial performance, and genuinely wanting to do the right thing. It continues to be an organization with a determined focus on improving its diversity at the top. Our leadership knows that to stay innovative and attract and retain talent we have to make diversity a priority. As the global sponsor of Women in Experian and a member of the North American leadership team, I have had the honor of witnessing the progress the company has made as an organization over the last couple of years. We’ve invested time and resources to build out programs, change policies and make our organization even more inclusive. We’ve made progress around the globe: In the last year, we’ve added two incredibly strong women to our Board of Directors – Caroline Donahue and Ruba Borno. They join Deirdre Mahlan who has been on the Board since 2012. With these additions, women will comprise 27% of our Board. We continue to develop a strong proportion of women through our leadership programs globally. This is feeding our future talent pipeline. We launched Women in Experian in 2016 and now have active programs in every region supporting a range of initiatives including enhancing our parental leave and flexible work policies, creating mentorship and sponsorship programs, examining and addressing pay disparity and requiring our recruiters to present diverse candidate pools. Experian was one of 28 companies globally recognized on the Anita Borg Leadership Index of organizations that show strong representation and development of women technologists. We have continued to develop and adjust family friendly policies in a number of countries, aimed at giving given greater flexibility and choice for working parents and families. Although we celebrate progress, we know that we have more work to do. We need to increase the diversity in our senior leadership ranks. We need to increase the number of women in technology. And, most importantly, we need to continue to keep diversity and inclusion a priority. The other night while I was driving my son to his soccer practice, I received a work call. He sat quietly while I talked for a few minutes, well accustomed to my attempts to balance work and life. When I hung up the call, my son asked me, “What is International Women’s Day?” I answered by telling him (reminder he’s 8) that historically women haven’t always been treated fairly and that this day is about honoring and recognizing all the men and women who are working to make things fairer. He then asked if it was my full-time job. Suppressing a laugh, I said no, it’s not my full-time job but it’s an important part of it. He asked, “Why?” Why? I looked in the rear-view mirror and said, “Because I want to try to make the world better for you, your brothers and your sister.” I believe at Experian we are doing just that … making progress. Our momentum is building and tomorrow will be better. #PressforProgress
With all the discussions around the risks of big data, the fact that it can be used as a powerful enabler of good seems to be missed. The benefits of big data can be seen throughout our day to day lives from simple things like traffic alerts to more impactful purposes like those seen in today’s healthcare environment.
At Experian we serve more than 2,800 hospitals and 9,000 physician practices and use big data to help serve their patients as quickly and efficiently as possible. Our data and technology guides hospitals, physicians and patients step by step through an increasingly complex healthcare process.
With all the discussions around the risks of big data, the fact that it can be used as a powerful enabler of good seems to be missed. The benefits of big data can be seen throughout our day to day lives from simple things like traffic alerts to more impactful purposes like those seen in today’s healthcare environment.