Growing up with strong female role models, Nitro’s COO Gina O’Reilly never thought twice about how being a woman may affect her professional life. One day, however, while Gina was (wo)manning a booth at a tech trade show to promote her organization, a man asked her if he could speak with someone who actually worked for the company.
She laughed and explained to the man that she did in fact work there as the head of sales and marketing. The man was mortified, but their ensuing conversation was friendly and fruitful. However, the exchange also made Gina acutely aware of the disparities and established perceptions around the roles of men and women in the workforce.
Today in the US, only 15% of all funded businesses have a woman on the executive team, and only 2.7% have a female CEO. In fact, a recent New York Times article went viral after citing survey data that showed there are more CEOs with the first name John than there are female CEOs.
Despite being underrepresented, it has been proven that women in leadership roles have an enormous and positive impact on the success of companies. In fact, female-led companies, when investor backed, bring in 12% more revenue than male-led companies – and earn 35% higher returns.
Nitro is a true champion of promoting #WomenInTech and supporting gender diversity at all levels and in all job functions. In the past 2 months, both Gina and our CEO, Sam Chandler have spoken on panels about the value of gender diversity in business, sharing Nitro’s philosophy and the successes our organization has seen with women in leadership roles across the company.
Gina participated in a panel discussion at the “Women in Tech Festival” put on by SVForum in March. She spoke wisely about intrapreneurship, and how women can climb the ladder within large organizations, despite the ever-present “glass ceiling.” She shared her strong beliefs in the value of complimentary collaboration, which she says is essential to creating better products and, ultimately, driving business results.
Nitro co-founder and CEO Sam Chandler also spoke on a panel at the recent “Women and Powering Your Bottom Line” event put on by Scale Investors, a female-led and focused VC Firm, and hosted at our HQ. Sam was joined by CEO of Marketo, Phil Fernandez, and CEO of CloudPeeps, Kate Kendall. It was an incredible event that focused on recognizing the importance of women in the workplace, especially women in executive positions.
Know of any upcoming events supporting #WomenInTech? Have something to say about the role of women in the workplace? Tweet us @NitroHQ to keep the conversation going!
