Every March, the world comes together to honor the achievements, contributions, and struggles of women throughout history. The Women’s History Month’s theme for 2024 celebrated “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion,” recognizing women who understand that, for a positive future, we need to eliminate bias and discrimination from our lives and institutions.
At Mphasis Silverline, this Women’s History Month was commemorated with a special series dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women. The Lunch and Learn series served as a platform for employees to engage in meaningful conversations, gain insights, and celebrate the achievements of women across our teams. I had the pleasure of hosting this series and hearing from women about their personal stories at Silverline and throughout their careers.
Week One: Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
We kicked off the celebrations with a panel discussion on the official theme. Topics ranged from discussions on gender equality, leadership, and the importance of allyship in the workplace. In addition to celebrating the achievements of women, the Lunch and Learn series also addressed challenges and barriers that women continue to face in the workplace. Barb Brandon spoke about a recent trip to visit the Silverline Central American team in El Salvador and how many incredible women she met there. “For me, inclusion is meeting people where they are and what they understand, and trying to be mindful of that. And to achieve everything through collaboration and kindness, and hear each other out.”
Angie Lingk said this is a topic that “is not about women advocating for each other, but everyone advocating for each other.” Open discussions on topics such as unconscious bias, imposter syndrome, and work-life balance facilitated a deeper understanding of these issues. We discussed the benefits of remote vs. in person work, and how new habits have been formed in a virtual work environment where everyone feels comfortable contributing and respectfully hearing everyone’s opinions.
Week Two: Women Giving Back
For week two of our Lunch Series we focused on Women Giving Back, highlighting how Mphasis Silverliners give back to their communities outside of work. Paula Cervoni spoke about her time with Embrace Hope Equine Assisted Therapy. In an effort to help with the healing process of children, families, first responders, and communities affected by the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Equestrian Center and the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) offer Equine Assisted Psychotherapy free of charge to those in need.
Paula lives in New York City and travels to Connecticut to join her friend and her children at the farm. “At the farm, I’ve been able to be near the horses, and they really are soothing. It’s transformational what these beautiful animals can do to help people. That moment when I really could experience that myself was the most powerful one. I now understand how this really helped the Sandy Hook children and the families heal from something that is one of those things that you know you don’t learn to get over, you learn to live with.” Paula’s years of volunteering have turned into her now serving on their board as the secretary, treasurer, and compliance officer.
Sara Schroeck spoke about her experience volunteering as troop leader for her daughters with the Girl Scouts. She gave a few examples of the Girl Scout programs her daughters had, such as being citizen scientists looking to identify various squirrels in a park and report that data to actual scientists who were doing park research, thinking like a programmer and doing some rudimentary coding, and science projects at home such as a soda geyser where you put Mentos into Diet Coke.
“It did not go well, but it was also a valuable lesson that sometimes your experiments don’t end up the way that you think that they will, which is a good lesson for the girls”, said Sara. “My daughters don’t understand my job — my 12 year old tells people that I fix computers. But we did have a day where we were doing STEM career exploration. And so I talked about working with you all, and how supportive working at Mphasis Silverline is as a woman, and our Women In Tech Slack channel, and how you can find people who will lift you up in your career”.
Jill Harrison wrapped up Week two by saying “we have so much to give to our jobs. But if we can give 1% of our time and our effort back to the communities that we support, I think it’s just such a powerful way to support our communities and to support each other.”
Week Three: Project Work Showcase
For week three of our Lunch Series, we had a Project Work Showcase, inviting Silverline project teams to share stories of when they worked with strong female project teams on Salesforce implementations or managed services. Melissa Ramirez spoke about her team at Silverline Central America collaborating with one of Mphasis Silverline’s longest standing and most complex managed services customers: “It’s been a journey to see all of the ups and down and where we are now”.
Gina Rotenberg, Kathleen CaJacob, and Erin Weissinger shared their project team story of working with one of the largest community banks in the midwest on their complex case management implementation. “We really all felt a very strong sense of community. And that really helped us to start that project off on the right note,” said Erin. They spoke about how important it was to have a collaborative team to brainstorm creative methods for the bank’s implementation.
Paula Cervoni, Ann Armbrust, and Roxana Martinez spoke about rolling out Health Cloud for New York City nonprofit community Health Plan Amida Care. They mentioned how important having a supportive environment is for when challenges arise, “Even when things get really really challenging internally or with the client, it’s just really nice to have people who come back together with grace, and just say ‘I screwed up here. I could do better. Thank you for your candor.’”
Looking toward the future
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, the conversations and learnings from our Lunch and Learn series will continue to resonate within our organization. By celebrating the achievements of women, addressing challenges, and fostering an inclusive workplace culture, Silverline is not only honoring the legacy of past trailblazers but also laying the foundation for a more equitable and empowering future.
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