For You - Cindy Finkelman

06/09/21 • 27 min

Cindy Finkelman is a diverse tech leader who is happiest when she's orchestrating business transformation enterprise wide. Cindy has served as a CIO, a CTO, led corporate platforms and functions at multiple Fortune 100/Fortune 25 companies. She serves on non-profit boards and engages with her community. She is a brilliant strategist, a mentor, a straight shooter, a champion of women, and a leader I've called friend for over a decade and a half.

Cindy shares the highlight film of her career and how she’s successfully navigated multiple industries. She talks about the importance of having a network and how that impacts your internal advancement and your exposure to external career opportunities.

Even though there is greater focus on diversity these days, you can't wait around for someone to "find" you. A good friend of mine said that you only notice the taxi cabs that have their light on because it means something to YOU personally. We chatted about what accountability do diverse tech leaders have for being visible whether it's in their industry or even inside their company and how they should garner that visibility.

We discussed how Cindy has always been really good about exposing diverse team members to leadership events and bringing people along to key meetings. When you look around the table, it should be diverse. Cindy and I have long bemoaned the shortage of women in leadership roles or speaking at conferences. We get into your responsibility to develop yourself and be deliberate in what you’re doing to develop others.

Cindy highlights what can we do as individuals to affect change in diversity within our workplaces. Because we can't all go work "somewhere else!" She gives practical advice and questions to ask during interviews to explore the importance of diversity inside an organization. Cindy she understands how powerful and meaningful a strong BRG can be, but in interview you want to keep is simple. She also stresses that the accountability for a diverse slate is on each of us.

Cindy serves on the SIM New York Board and as a SIM Women Champion. She shared about her non-profit board work as well with helping women and children elevate from the shelter system and the importance of purpose.

To Learn More

Cindy’s Favorite song: “It’s my life” by Bon Jovi - http://bit.ly/CindysFaveSong

Cindy via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindyfinkelman/

SIM New York: https://chapter.simnet.org/newyorkmetro/home

SIM Women: https://simwomen.simnet.org/home

Catalyst Whitepapers: https://www.catalyst.org/research-series/engaging-men-in-gender-initiatives/

Diverse Tech Leaders Podcast

Podcast “Show Notes” at: www.DiverseTechLeaders.com

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