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TH E M REP O RT | 15 FEATURE go home," she laughs—as well as her ability to help others excel. "That's how I believe I have added value to many organiza- tions, by helping individuals that were on my team or reported to me improve their own positions, and as a result that improves the quality of the company," she said. For all her talent and drive, she notes there have been op- portunities throughout her career that likely came as a result of her gender, thanks to industry efforts to diversify. In those situ- ations, she said, her focus was not necessarily to prove a point but rather to "just put [her] head down and get things done." Amy Brachio, partner and head of consumer compliance at Ernst & Young, echoed that sentiment. "Once I had the seat at the table, I—like anyone else—had to demonstrate the value that I could provide," she said. While both Kruse and Brachio have both worked hard to get where they are, their experiences don't necessarily reflect the norm. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that women ac- count for nearly 52 percent of all workers in "management, profes- sional, and related occupations," they make up less than 15 percent of executive officer positions at Fortune 500 companies, according to Catalyst, an organization de- voted to achieving gender equality in the workplace. (The financial services sector has a slightly better gender balance, but not by much, at 17.6 percent.) With that in mind, Brachio has made it a mission of hers at Ernst & Young to pay her good fortune forward by establishing and leading Advancing Women Executives (AWE), a group focused on expanding the role of women in the partnership at the firm's Financial Services Advisory Practice. "This has been of critical importance to [Ernst & Young] for many years, [and] we felt that there were areas that we could improve," she explained. "I reached out to our leader and said, 'You know, I think this is an area that we could have even better representation of women in the partnership,' and he took me up on taking it on." The results have been undis- putedly positive: By bringing together the firm's female part- ners and identifying its problem areas, Brachio says the practice has made great strides in pro- moting more qualified women to the role. In fact, spurred by the initiative's success, Ernst & Young is now applying AWE's approach to drive an increase in representation in the partner- ship of black, Latino, and Asian executives. The Benefits of Diversity I t makes sense that a firm like Ernst & Young would support its employees' efforts to boost di- versity at the highest levels. More and more, companies are learning that balancing out their top lead- ership is just good business. In a report released in 2012, experts at Credit Suisse research found that companies with at least one woman on their board of directors tended to achieve better financial results over the previous six years, average 16 percent return on equity (compared to 12 percent for companies with all-male boards) and 14 percent net income growth (compared to 10 percent). A report released by Catalyst the year prior turned up similar results, showing companies with the most female board directors outperform others in terms of re- turn on sales, return on invested capital, and return on equity. And those aren't the only benefits, says Liz Mulligan-Ferry, director of research at Catalyst. "Our research shows that there is a link between finan- cial performance and diversity, especially when you look at women on the board," she said. "But there are also links to better retention [and] better employee satisfaction." Role Models S etting aside the dollars and cents, it makes for a more posi- tive working environment when people see success among others who look, think, and feel like themselves, whether they're relat- ing by gender, nationality, or race," says Heidi Boyle, who also works at Ernst & Young as principal and leader of the firm's customer practice for financial services. "For women, the more that they see other females in executive ranks, that they've been able to do that on their own merits, that's very inspirational," Boyle said. "Seeing all those real-life examples and seeing people they know and can respect—that makes it a lot more tangible and practical for them." After all, it's those role models who inspire others to achieve the same heights. Early in her banking career, Effie Dennison worked at First Interstate Bank in Texas, which at the time was headed by CEO Linnet Deily, who Dennison recalls "set prece- dence, not only in the industry, but also within our organization." In her time there, she also worked un- der two other women—an SVP and an EVP—that both helped mentor her in her early days. Now, Dennison is an SVP herself, overseeing business development at VRM Mortgage Services—a position she's not cer- tain she might have climbed to if she had started anywhere else. "In all honesty, I really don't know how things would have turned out if I had gone to another more mainstream, male- influenced bank and experienced some of the career setbacks that many of my industry colleagues experienced," she said. Given her own experiences and the hurdles she witnessed some of her peers having to clear, Dennison now maintains that women who have made their way up to leadership roles have a responsibility to clear the path for those following, conjuring up for- mer Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's famous quote: "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." That responsibility doesn't only apply at the office, though. For others, the position of "role model" is a more personal one— as is the case for Brachio, who has two young daughters. Out of all the conversations she's had regard- ing women in the workplace, one sticks out to her. "Once, I was talking to my older daughter about her future plans, and she said that her plan was to have a cool job like mine and to find a husband like Daddy who takes care of everything at home," she said. "We'll see the choices that she makes for herself and her family, but I think we're seeing a change in dynamic for the girls that are growing up to- day than maybe when I did." " "For women, the more that they see other females in executive ranks, that they've been able to do that on their own merits, that's very inspirational." —Heidi Boyle, Ernst & Young

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