Catalyst Blog

Last week, I wrote about Catalystos—guys who are not afraid to stand up against gender inequity. These men are active role models and partners in our challenge to stamp out sexist stereotypes, ingrained biases and the barriers holding women back from leadership.

With a view to amplifying their voices, I asked some of the men of Catalyst to tell me why they support our mission. Some appeared in my previous post; here are more. These men are part of the solution. Please help me spread their inspiring message far and wide.

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Josh, Member Relations:

I have seen the effects that a glass ceiling can have on a woman’s career and even her own self-confidence. This was the case with my mother, and the story of my “a-ha” moment. My mother has had, in my eyes, a very successful career in the financial industry, yet she doesn’t think so. The company she worked for (which will remain unnamed) passed her over for promotions into the executive level time and time again, despite her obtaining an M.B.A. and consistently excellent performance reviews.

Her company, for some reason, gave her a job level that was rarely used between the most senior directorship and VP, but would not give her what she coveted – that VP title. It is upon reflecting back at her struggle that I realize it wasn’t an issue of her not being qualified, and to be fair, I don’t think it was outright discrimination. I think as a working mother, she never joined “the boys” at the bar or on the golf course. She came home to spend time with her family. It wasn’t that she didn’t do a good job, it was that she had far fewer opportunities to connect with the right people.

The experience my mother went through in the corporate world, as well as my own awareness of discrimination as a gay man, led to my studies in gender and sexual diversity and the development of a real sense of social justice and a drive to fight for equality. I decided long ago that I needed to contribute to something positive and feel as though I am making a difference.

Thomas, Member Services:

I’ve been interested in the topic of gender since sociology courses in undergrad—it wasn’t just the classes that affected me, though. My time at college coincided with eye-opening experiences involving race, life, gender and sexuality. Things I wasn’t prepared for coming from a corn-fed, Midwestern background. Anyway, I remember when we first began talking about the global implications of patriarchy in class—in patriarchy, no one wins, not even men. Understanding the shades of inequity helped me understand that while the system we live in may benefit some, it comes at a cost to everyone.

When it comes to women in business, it seems as if the workplace is one of the most important places to deconstruct patriarchy. When women have increased economic power, many of the other realms of patriarchy can come crashing down, too.

Brian, Marketing:

I care about opportunities for women and work because my mom was actually fired from her job teaching in the early 1970s in Boston for getting pregnant! That’s right, the policy in the Dorchester School District at the time was that pregnant women were not allowed to teach. After my parents were married and my mother was pregnant with my older sister, she tried to hide it from the school principal. But after five months, it was obvious she was pregnant, and the principal pulled her aside—and fired her on the spot. She never worked in education again. I hope to prevent discrimination along these lines for others.

On a bigger level, I really believe in the concept that if you invest in women, you invest in a better world. A woman with an education can teach her children important skills. And she can open a business. That business can bring in more money for her family, and it can improve everyone’s health. The growing business can hire more people and help them financially, too. In turn, this improves a local economy, and the wider economy as well. The more visible women become in business, the more others will follow. And the more everyone’s life can improve.

Are you a Catalysto?

A Catalysto is a man who wholeheartedly supports the work of Catalyst. He is an advocate for women, a role model for other men, and a positive force for change.

Catalystos are influential. In March, at the 2010 Catalyst Awards Conference, Frank J. McCloskey, Vice President of Diversity at Georgia Power and a true Catalysto—spoke about the impact one voice can have in the fight against inequity. “If you can just get one or two of several hundred to understand [gender inequity]—that’s a success,” said Frank. “They might impact millions.”

With this in mind, I wanted to amplify the voices of the Catalystos I knew. And I’ve started with the ones closest to me—the men who work at Catalyst.

I asked them why they support our mission, and I’ve broken their responses into two blog posts. I’ve changed their names to protect their privacy.

These Catalystos have some common traits, including a deep-rooted sense of empathy and fair-play. I was inspired by their answers. Hopefully, you will be too.

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Todd, Marketing and Public Affairs:

I come from a family predominantly of men (father and three brothers). My mother, not allowed to maintain a profession once a wife and mother (a nasty combination of religious, cultural, and patriarchal beliefs), channeled her formidable entrepreneurial and natural talents into creating sons who believed in boundless opportunities for themselves—a great challenge since we were in rigid boarding schools by first grade! She was my biggest and most unflappable fan—another challenge since I was not becoming a priest as assumed by said boarding school (and father).

I was in my late teens when my parents divorced and my mother found herself quite free to pursue her passions. She went back to her profession of nursing where I witnessed her nurture in ways I could only envision being honored to do. My own career has been very much shaped by my mother. Since her passing, I have worked solely for women and for women’s causes, and I have been extremely satisfied in those choices.

Jeffrey, Information Technology:

My wife works as a chemist and I saw that her pay is not the same as her male colleagues. Most of her supervisors are men. Hopefully, she could get paid the same someday and move up to better opportunities within her company. I do think many women out there also experience this.

Connor, Consultant:

Social justice has been a core concern of mine all of my adult life.  As a consequence, I have been involved in one form or another with empowering those at the margins.  Having worked in both corporate life in the States and having lived and worked in the developing world for ten years, I have witnessed firsthand the disparities in both access and equity so many women face every day at home and at work. I believe passionately that Catalyst’s mission, and the delivery of its expertise, has the potential to ably address these issues within corporate culture, and hence, to more broadly influence women’s lives across the vast expanse of their endeavors.

Vincent, Information Technology:

Since my wife and I are expecting a daughter soon, I care about the Catalyst mission now more than ever. I hope that my daughter never meets with discrimination based on stereotypes so that she can do and be whatever she wants.