277: Johanna Zeilstra—Let’s All Build Companies That Make Gender Fair

Hear how gender equity is really, finally, happening 

What an exciting podcast with Johanna Zeilstra. She has had a remarkable career as a business strategist and leader in start-ups and global corporations. Our talk was about her current passion: helping move the needle on gender equity in organizations through her platform, Gender Fair. Take a look at its website to understand the full scope of the movement which she is pushing forward. Gender Fair, of which Johanna is CEO, uses data analytics to determine an organization’s progress toward gender equality and diversity. Johanna and I are both active on the Women Business Collaborative, whose mission is to make gender equity a permanent reality in business and in society. Do enjoy this podcast.

Watch and listen to our conversation here

Johanna Zs video

How fair is your company? Can you change it?

On the Brink is designed to help our listeners “see, feel and think” in new ways. Have you thought about the companies you buy from or work in and how “gender fair” they are? Could you press them to change in order to reach the equity that women, women of color, and women of different backgrounds and sexual orientations deserve? You too can become an advocate for gender fairness. Listen in and let us know your thoughts.

Johanna (José) ZeilstraMeet Johanna Zeilstra

Johanna is an established business strategist and an accomplished leader for both start-ups and global corporations. Over the past two decades, she has worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, JPMorgan Chase, Delta Airlines, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Philips, Lucent, Disney, Bank of America and Occidental Petroleum. She is a coach to senior executive board members and high level teams, and has a passion for supporting and advancing professional women. 

Prior to her involvement with Gender Fair, Johanna co-founded the Give Back Foundation, an innovative organization that makes it easy for individuals to contribute to the causes they care about most, and for companies to build authentic and impactful cause marketing, workplace giving and other social responsibility initiatives. 

Johanna is originally from the Netherlands and was educated in Canada where she earned an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a Masters degree in Business Administration. She lives in Westchester, NY, where she runs the Women Entrepreneurs Network and serves on several boards, including CEO Forum, Harbor Island Conservancy, and Princeton Faith & Work Initiative.

You can connect with Johanna on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the website Gender Fair, or email her at j.zeilstra@genderfair.com.

Want to play a role in creating equal position, pay and power for all business women? Plan to attend the Women Business Collaborative (WBC) third Annual Summit: Empowering Through Gender and Diversity.

Join us Sept. 21st and 22nd for a powerhouse lineup of engaging speakers and high profile guests discussing how best to create equal position, pay and power for all business women. Leaders from the WBC Community will discuss topics ranging from building equity and diversity to increasing the number of women-led institutional funds, share how men are aligning with women to support the changing workplace, and demonstrate how women are succeeding in the technology sector. Details here. Register now!

For more on gender equity and how to achieve it, start with these:

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