Photography by David Michael Howarth
We ended our popular Women’s Empowerment Series with a sold-out crowd and an impressive panel of SJ leaders. The topic was “Making Your Mark in Today’s World,” and the conversation was intriguing and inspiring. Celebrating women’s successes and contributions was a wonderful way to end this fabulous empowerment series.
Panelists
Stephanie Stahl
Health Reporter, CBS3
Kelley Cornish
Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, TD Bank
Marty Moss-Coane
Host/Exec Producer, WHYY’s “Radio Times”
Dana Redd
CEO, Rowan University Rutgers-Camden Board of Governors
Christine Winn
SVP, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper
Moderator
Marianne Aleardi
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, SJ Magazine
On when people tried to stop them…
People said I should probably have a nose job if I wanted to be on TV, and I needed to lose weight. My mother said, “Are you kidding me? Of course, you’re not going to get a nose job, and good luck losing weight.” I was a pretty strong engine on a railroad, and I wasn’t going to be derailed.
Stephanie Stahl
I grew up on a dirt road in a really small town in South Carolina. I had relatives tell my cousins, “You may not want to hang around her. I don’t think she’s going anywhere.” So even people close to you may not support you. There are going to be people who just don’t believe in you. For me, what someone else says energizes me. Just give me a challenge, tell me I can’t do it.
Kelley Cornish
I used to think everyone was good. And then you find out, no they’re not.
Marty Moss-Coane
When I came back from the State Senate, folks said, “Are you crazy? Why are you going back to Camden? It’s a car with no engine.” Literally, someone said this to me. I took offense to that. There’s a part of me that’s very competitive, and once you issue me a challenge, I’m going to do my best to accept that challenge, then go over and above what you expect.
Dana Redd
On the MeToo movement…
When I think about the workplace now, men are forced to be more sensitive and watch their actions. The workplace is evolving, because men don’t want to lose their jobs. Today, when they go down, it’s like you never hear about them ever again – no one wants that to be their legacy.
Kelley Cornish
Until MeToo came up, a lot of women put up with a lot of stuff. That’s just the way it was, particularly for younger women who were under the thumb of more powerful men. It was something you kind of heard about, but now you see how pervasive it was. That’s changing, fortunately, and that’s very important.
Stephanie Stahl
I was just at an event and a topic came up, and I actually sat there and thought, “I can’t believe this is happening.” It was just a few weeks ago. We haven’t gotten as far as maybe we want to be.
Christine Winn
There are many people at NPR who lost their jobs – completely legitimately – for their inappropriate and abusive behavior. It’s a real wake up call.
Marty Moss-Coane
On making your mark in the world…
I interviewed a woman who was a peace activist in Liberia. Two days after we had her in the studio, she won the Nobel Peace Prize. She was so down to earth, so committed, so simple in her eloquence about seeing something that was wrong and wanting to right it.
I think anybody – man or woman – can make their mark in the world. Sometimes it’s a good mark, sometimes it’s not. But we all leave an imprint.
Marty Moss-Coane
Everyone has a responsibility to find their “why.” Why do you get up every morning? Certainly as the mayor of Camden, there was never a day I didn’t get up feeling I was going to fight to move Camden forward. I think we all have a responsibility to find our why in life.
Dana Redd
Everybody can do something. Even if you’re in a very desperate situation, you can do something; just telling your story can help others.
Christine Winn
I get up every day and I’m like, “What is that ceiling that has to be shattered? What is that policy that needs to be changed? Whose voice is not at the table?”
Kelley Cornish
On dealing with haters…
Change is uncomfortable for a lot of people. So if you’re an agent of change, people may target you. And it may not even be you, it may just be the change you’re representing.
Christine Winn
I had mountains of hate mail, and I thought there had to be a way to turn this into something. I got actors from this great comedy group in Philly, 1812 Productions, and they performed my hate mail. They reworked it into an actual performance piece.
Marty Moss-Coane
Listen, we’re operating in a shark tank. It is what it is. We have to out-maneuver and out-work our competitors.
Dana Redd
On working with men & women…
At Cooper, we have two co-presidents who are men under the direction of our executive chairman, who’s a woman. Our culture is enriched by having a mix on our team. That blend can be super healthy and really good for whatever organization people are leading.
Christine Winn
I have a unique scenario. I’ve been supported by men throughout my whole career. From the first time I ran for public office, there were men that stood out in front who said, “We’re supporting Dana for this position.” And not only did they stand out publicly, they also helped to raise funds for my campaigns.
Dana Redd
When I think of some of the people who have sabotaged me, they’ve been women. They have not been men. I think we, as women, can do a better job of supporting each other. You can have a man who will lift you and say, “You need this.” But then you can have a woman, and you know she doesn’t have your best interest in mind.
Kelley Cornish
On sexism…
I remember a young lady in law enforcement who was about to be rerouted off my detail. I felt very strongly about her being the only female on the detail. I stood up for her and pushed back because she was a black female.
Dana Redd
I did have a couple of interactions when I was very young where I was uncomfortable sometimes in meetings. I wouldn’t want to stay after the meeting because there was a particular administrator who would look at you in a way that was just uncomfortable. That wasn’t okay, it isn’t ok.
Christine Winn
On dealing with negative people…
At work, there’s an endless stream of negativity and complaints. But you have to build a little coating around yourself to not let negativity rub off on you. I insulate myself from that. Letting other people bring you down is the worst possible thing any of us could do.
Marty Moss-Coane
I was a new, very young senior VP of operations at a hospital in Connecticut. A person who had applied for the job put a contract in front of me and said, “It’s already vetted. Can you sign it?” I did, and I shouldn’t have. I went to my colleague and said, “Tell me what was going on in your mind.” We had a really interesting conversation, and she said, “You know, I wanted you to mess up.”
I had to figure out how to get past this. We ended up becoming really good friends.
Christine Winn
