{"id":4808,"date":"2015-09-22T17:04:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=4808"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:36:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:36:01","slug":"gender-equality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/gender-equality\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender Equality: Why It Must Be A Top Down Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If he could go back in time and change one thing, Marc Benioff says he would have placed a focus on diversity and women in leadership when founding Salesforce. Sixteen years later, he views the exclusion of this focus as a mistake, but has added the topics of equality, equal pay and diversity to his \u201ctransformation zone,\u201d according to a fireside chat at the inaugural Women\u2019s Leadership Summit at Dreamforce 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Benioff, along with Salesforce co-founder Parker Harris, was interviewed by Kara Swisher<\/a>, executive editor for Re\/code<\/a>, who spoke with the executives on what they\u2019re doing to change the status of women in technology.<\/p>\n

Benioff was quick to admit that he\u2019s not trying to solve a Silicon Valley problem or a technology problem \u2013 he\u2019s first solving a Salesforce problem. And he\u2019s taking it to heart, making it clear that gender equality, diversity and equal pay aren\u2019t HR issues, but something that needs to take priority in the C-suite.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to set a good example\u2026and try to be the change we\u2019re seeking,\u201d he said, noting that the change needs to start at the top. \u201cAnything that requires transformation requires a CEO to take it personally and prioritize it. It\u2019s got to be a top down approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an approach that was reinforced by Cindy Robbins, EVP of Global Employee Success at Salesforce, in her introduction of the panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cCEOs have a responsibility to make their company a better place,\u201d she said, describing the path to presenting Benioff with a proposal around equal pay. Robbins joined forces with Leyla Seka, SVP and GM of Desk.com, and the two spoke with Benioff together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want it to be an HR initiative,\u201d Robbins said. \u201cI wanted it to be bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the first outcomes of this meeting was the inclusion of the Women\u2019s Leadership Summit into Dreamforce programming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill we ever do a Dreamforce again without a Women\u2019s Leadesrhip Summit? Absolutely not,\u201d Benioff said, to which Swisher replied that hopefully one day it wouldn\u2019t be needed.<\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s Leadership Summit programming included presentations from female leaders like The Honest Company\u2019s<\/a> founder Jessica Alba, YouTube\u2019s<\/a> CEO Susan Wojcicki, Academy Award-winning actress and activist, Patricia Arquette<\/a>, and CoderDojo<\/a> CEO Mary Moloney.<\/p>\n

If you didn\u2019t get a chance to tune in live to Dreamforce, you can watch the session recordings here: https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/video\/<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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