Women in Power: Press for Progress - Lift as You Rise

Welcome.

I'm Sarah Davis.

I'm the chair of City Lights Women in Power Group.

I can't tell you how excited I am to see all of you here today and celebrate International Women's Day with this amazing event.

We are recognizing our strong female leadership that powers our city, and it is just so inspiring to see all the faces that have turned out today.

So thank you so much for being here.

We're seated in a room named after Seattle's first mayor, Bertha Knight Landis, our second female mayor, who it only took us a shade under a century to elect, but better late than never, is about to speak.

We have a council supermajority with six of our nine seats being occupied by women.

44% of our department heads are also women.

These are historic numbers.

In the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda, I saw Hamilton a few weeks ago and I can't resist.

Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.

History is happening, and we just happen to be in the greatest city in the world.

Are we a city insulated from ugliness and the issues plaguing the rest of the country?

Hardly.

Do we have a culture that must change in order for everyone to feel truly accepted, safe, and empowered?

Absolutely.

However, seeing you all here today indicates that there is hope, desire, and the ability to come together as a city to continue to make progress on these goals.

Today's event is titled Women in Power, Press for Progress.

From the days of BKL, we've definitely made progress, but we have a ways to go.

But as a city, we can continue not only to press, but to actually make forward progress to enact the change that we wish to see.

That hope, that desire, and that ability makes us great.

And it's those reasons that make me believe that we truly are lucky to be alive right now.

We have an impressive lineup of speakers on the docket today.

And it just so happens that today marks our first speaker's 100th day in office.

which seems a very pleasant and fitting coincidence that it happens to fall on International Women's Day.

So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to welcome and introduce our mayor, Jenny Durkan.

Sarah, thank you so much.

I just want to say what she said.

I also, I was fortunate, I was able to see Hamilton last week, too.

And, you know, I went in thinking, I purposely not read about it, too much about it, although you can't avoid it, had not listened to the music because I thought, okay, I don't want to spoil it and maybe it's hype.

enraptured.

And the word I want to use is, for International Women's Day, to steal from Hamilton, this is a movement, not a moment.

We are so lucky to be living in this city and in this time.

But we also have to acknowledge where we came from.

You know, I see the faces around this room.

I want to acknowledge some of the people who are either elected officials or in my cabinet.

And while you all are special to me.

I'd like those people to stand up just so they can you know how committed they are.

So don't be shy.

Come on Bags.

Come on Carmen.

Therese.

And Monica, you don't get away.

Stand up.

We have to start thanking everyone about what does it mean to have women in power at City Light.

That your agency and departments are willing to have this kind of gathering to mark this kind of day.

But more importantly to say, who are we as a city and what do we stand for?

You're going to be hearing from really amazing, strong women here today in the first and the second panel.

I'm sorry that the city council members aren't here, but we have an amazing city council.

And the women on that council truly are women of power.

They represent our city so well.

I also want to give a shout out, while most of my remarks are going to be that it's International Women's Day, to all the men in the room.

You know, I'm a proud mom of two sons.

And I know that we all got to be here shoulder to shoulder together.

I also do, though, want to address some words to the women and not just the women.

We know we need to do better in the workplace in Seattle, not just at City Light, but throughout the city.

And I want to give you my word as mayor that we will work as hard as we can to make sure that everyone feels welcome and safe in their workplace.

There is no reason at all that people should go to work where they're going to do the people's business and give of themselves that they can't feel entirely safe in their workplace.

So I promise to you, we are going to work hard on that.

And thank you for all the input you've given me as mayor.

It doesn't feel like 100 days in many ways.

It feels shorter.

And in other ways, it feels like it's dog years.

Every day is full.

But I want you to know that.

I also want to say for all the women and girls in Seattle, This is your day to remember that our voices, our vision, our persistence, our intelligence, and our brilliance has to be recognized every day in every way.

We talk a lot about what is a human right, and women have struggled for centuries.

And the struggle still continues.

We don't have equal pay.

You know, I think it is not a coincidence that in a city as progressive as Seattle is, that that chair back there, which was Bertha Knight's chair, has sat empty for 92 years for a woman to fill it.

You know, it's not that there haven't been brilliant women in this city, creative women, dedicated women on the city council and throughout different places.

But for many reasons, the power came together to exclude women from that dynamic.

And that's why I think we all have to carry with us every day, not just what our own passions are, but how do we make sure that as we open doors for women, We are opening doors for everyone, for everyone, to make sure that whether it is race or gender or sexual preference, that when we kick that door open, we don't slam it shut for the people behind us who need that same thing.

It's a continual struggle.

It is something we have to keep in mind because we get busy.

We get tired.

I'm not just the first woman in 92 years.

I'm the first mom to have the job in 92 years.

And believe me, I know what it's like to be rushing for that school pickup, the daycare pickup, the school conference, the soccer game, and you're late.

Or what it's like in the morning saying, you know, what do you mean this five kinds of cereal because that's all that's left isn't a good breakfast.

Or somehow the take out is really what normal people do day in, day out.

But we know that we're under assault.

And it's not just women, it's everyone.

They're trying to take away women's right to choose in Washington DC every way they can.

They're trying to take away the protections for the air we breathe and that our children breathe.

They're trying to roll back all the protections on climate and deny that our world is under threat.

And they're also taking women from children and deporting families in a way that is cruel and inhumane.

Every day there's an onslaught from Washington, D.C. And while I am focused on the business of the city and those basic city services that everyone in this room is delivering, we also have to realize that we have a duty and obligation to make sure that we protect people, we make people welcome, and we do not let them roll back our values in their quest for power.

So though it is just International Women's Day, we have to remember that the stand for liberty is never for just one gender or one group, one race.

It must be a stand for everyone.

Because if we do not stand together for those values, certainly none of us will survive in the values that we want.

So thank you very much for taking your time to be here.

I think it is going to be a great day.

I know that we have to keep persisting in the workplace, but outside of the workplace.

And just looking around this room at the tables of people I've seen, each of you bring not just to where you work your sense of what is right and wrong.

You bring it back into your communities.

your churches, your organizations you volunteer in.

And so know that we value that because that is what makes our city the great city it is.

So thank you most for your work.

Celebrate all the sisters today on International Women's Day.

And remember, we don't just get one day.

All right, thanks so much.

I have the privilege of starting off with some of the questions.

So our first question will be, as leaders, we need to identify the support necessary for ongoing success and often the support that enabled our journey.

Could you please talk about your journey to your current position and comment on the support you received and its impact?

Don't all go at once?

I don't know.

I'll jump in with a story about my support and I look at how I arrived here today and it was a lot of little incremental milestones and I want to share one of my initial journeys is this starts back in my college days where I felt like I had peers and professors that advocated for me.

And I happened to be sitting in class one day, and a peer of mine said, I've got this great job doing computer data entry.

I didn't quite know what that was, but I do know that the pay was twice what I was currently earning in my part-time job.

And I said, I think I can do that.

And I jumped right in.

But at that moment in that classroom, I had somebody advocating for me as well that said, yes, you can.

Go find out more.

So I think that's just one example of a story for me that really changed the course of my career.

It got me involved in technology and computers.

And it was, at the moment, it didn't seem like a big deal.

But looking back, it was huge.

So that's just one example for me.

Great.

Well, I would say, first, it starts at home.

I know that sounds very cliche, but it's actually true.

I had parents.

I was the oldest of four children.

I am the oldest of four children.

And they really instilled in us the values of resilience, hard work, you know, honesty, integrity, you know, and doing, you know, the golden rule and giving back to others.

That has stayed with me my whole career and helped me along the way.

You have to have good values, sound judgment, you know, as you're coming through.

And I've had some wonderful people help me.

I can't even name them all.

I'm afraid I'm going to miss out on some names, but all along the way, people, men, women, You know, all different professions helped me out and give me advice and thoughts, sometimes unsolicited, but I got it all the way.

And it really was very helpful to me.

And I can tell you that one of the things, the theme of this panel is lift as you rise.

And one of the things that I think is so true and so important that as people move up, as they get positions, they're very intentional and deliberate about helping others get into positions as well.

And that's happened for me from both men and women and all sorts of people who, for whatever reason, saw something in me that they thought would be helpful and helped me along.

And I have really been deliberate about trying to do the same thing for others.

It is so important.

And I can tell you most recently, when I was a captain at the South Precinct, I was tooting along up Myrtle Avenue, and I got a call from the then chief and said, hey, I'd like to make you an assistant chief.

And I was like, what?

But he saw something in me.

He thought I had the ability to do it.

And after a little bit of discussion, I took the position.

So it's so important that you're deliberate about bringing people along, helping them, encouraging them, letting them know that they have the ability to do the work that you're asking.

And they'll rise up to the occasion.

And in fact, they'll probably do better than what you expected because they want to show that your support and your help of them was worthwhile.

So I'm not going to name everything off along the way.

I will say that a number of people have stepped in.

And certainly my most recent boss, Chief O'Toole, was really helpful to me.

She gave me a chance to be the deputy chief.

I think it shocked a lot of people.

But I stepped right in, felt like we had two women in charge, couldn't have felt better about it, more energized, and more, it's like, yes, us, those two girls, we're doing it.

Yeah, it was great, you know, so.

Good morning.

So my story also starts at home.

I was born and raised in India.

And as many of you probably know, India is quite a patriarchy.

But in my house, women ruled.

My father, it was always, you can be whatever you want to be.

You don't have to be a doctor, an engineer, or any of that.

And I grew up in a household where I saw my parents model what they wanted their kids to be, where you treated people with respect, with dignity.

You worked hard, and if you worked hard and you did what you needed to do, you would succeed.

And so that's what I bring to my job here.

I have a little story.

When Mayor Durkin offered me the job, I said, well, you know, I have a six-year-old.

And her response was fabulous.

And so my six-year-old is here today.

She's so cute.

Because I try to live the life that I want my daughter to see, that you can be whatever you want to be.

And so that's how.

Great.

Thank you for sharing that.

So the next, we'll move on.

There are often specific tools or methods we as women use to help empower each other.

One such tool is amplifying.

Amplifying was called out in a recent Huffington Post article discussing how women on President Obama's male majority staff found their voice.

The article calls out female staffers being man-terrupted or their ideas brokerated.

These women would often echo their fellow colleagues' ideas or statements to ensure credit and support was given.

Have you used amplification in your careers, or are there other tools you have used to empower the women around you?

Want me to jump in?

Absolutely.

It's well-known, it's well-documented in research that often, when I've always, for whatever reason, ended up in these places where I'm one of the few women in the room, just by default.

So you want to make sure that everyone's being heard.

And I'm not saying it's intentional on anyone's part, but sometimes it tends to be that some voices in the room just don't get heard as loudly or as clearly as others.

So part of that is ensuring when someone's talking, or if someone were to break into that, say, oh, wait a minute, so-and-so hasn't finished their thought yet.

You need to be intentional about that, making sure, and it's not just for women, but just sometimes even the less strong personalities in the room don't get heard.

We want to make sure that everyone is adding to the discussion, because that's what makes That's what makes things better when we bring different thought and ideas to the conversation.

So I'm very intentional about that, wanting to make sure that everyone at the table is heard.

And certainly, the women at the table are being heard as well.

So I think that is really important.

And I think there are men also who do that, but just bringing that to the conversation so that people are aware of it and being conscious of it.

Like that implicit biasing, am I not listening to certain people at the table?

I need to think about it and be very deliberate.

So yes, I definitely do that.

Amen.

I want to give you a little glimpse into what it is to work in Mayor Durkin's office.

And I think it's fitting that we're here at the Bertha Night Landis Room.

We have an office full of badass women.

I mean, women who just get stuff done.

And it is a culture where people support each other, that we make room for each other.

And you know, and this is not a diss against the men.

The men are pretty amazing too.

But it is, we are hoping to set a tone for the city, that you can be women at all levels of government, and you can lead, and you can be powerful, and you bring value to the table.

And I think that that's something that's long overdue.

And before I came here, I ran a nonprofit, and we were majority women.

And really, I worked in transportation.

It's pretty male-dominated.

I was often the only woman in the room, most definitely often the only woman of color in a room.

And I really encourage my staff to think about how can we create space for women to come into these fields, to be able to to lift them up, but also I think to recognize that we still have some ways to go before we can truly say that there's equality.

Right, that's right.

I wanted to mention as part of this conversation, when you're giving that space and you're listening, there's a follow-up component which is showing your appreciation.

And so you can actually weave both elements into your discussions when you're facilitating.

And it may be creating that space for someone to raise their voice, but at the end of the session or the moment, Taking that time to show your appreciation for a particular person's idea or thought is just another way to reinforce that you're hearing, you're showing your appreciation, and you're saying thank you.

And I think wrapping those things together is a great way to show support for anybody that's trying to broach a new idea or be heard.

So I wanted to mention that that's another factor that I think is really important with this amplification is taking the time to show your appreciation when they have made the effort to share an idea.

Well, thank you, Tracy.

We appreciate it.

That was a great example.

All right.

So mentoring is often viewed as a way for individuals, especially those from underrepresented communities, to find support and seek valuable insight or guidance while navigating their careers.

Have you had mentors in your careers, and can you speak to what made that relationship impactful for you?

So I've had a lot of mentors in my life, and I think that, The trick is to think of mentors as people that sometimes come into your life by accident, or sometimes you've intentionally sought them out.

And I think I've had both of those groups of people, and they've been both men and women.

And I think that I enjoy mentoring young women and men.

I think everyone has a little bit of a mentor in them, There is no set formula for what mentorship should look like.

It is being available to offer advice, to be a sounding board, and sometimes just be somebody who is just willing to listen, right?

And I think that we can all do that in different ways.

And so I often challenge people who tell me, oh, no, you know, I think of mentors a certain way.

It's like, no, it's somebody who listens and someone who offers a space to have a conversation.

I would agree.

I think mentoring is really important.

And there's formal mentors and sort of informal mentors.

And they're all different, I would say, levels.

I mean, you would be surprised how many officers that I talk to that help me make what I believe are good decisions.

Because you need to be talking to everybody and get everybody's perspective.

And I also talk to people outside of Seattle, outside of this organization, who are also law enforcement, other women from other places in the country that can provide input and thought about what's happening there.

So I'm really, again, I use the word deliberate, but deliberate about finding formal mentors, but also informal mentors from different spaces and levels in the organization.

I think it's really important for myself.

And it's also important to mentor other people.

Humbly, you kind of think, well, why would somebody want to talk to me about anything?

But they do.

They want to know how you got to where you are, what things are important to you.

And it's important that we share that and have discussions.

So if you aren't mentoring somebody in some capacity, I think it would be a good thing to try.

Even if it's just young people, it doesn't necessarily have to be in your profession.

I talk to young people all the time about different things and different aspects.

certainly trying to bring them into law enforcement.

A lot of folks don't consider it.

So I want to make sure that they look at it as an opportunity as well.

So mentoring from both sides, either being mentored or providing mentorship is very, very important.

So I certainly support that.

One of the aspects that I've learned about mentorship is I kind of think of mentorship in the moment.

It doesn't have to be a single person through your career.

It could be many different sound bites.

And the other thing that I have learned a lot being a parent is that sometimes your mentors are your children.

that they are sound boards and they are completely honest with you.

And sometimes that's what you need in a mentorship.

So you have to be receptive of where you're receiving your mentorship and look for it in unexpected places.

There's nothing like asking your kid, hey, I've got a technology presentation.

Do you understand this?

And you get wonderful advice.

So I think you have to really embrace it from all different angles.

And I have really appreciated when I've asked my children, my children's friends, and the young people how something resonates with them.

That is very telling for me.

Great.

Great.

Okay, so this year the theme for International Women's Day is Press for Progress.

Can you please comment on what progress does and should look like in each of your departments?

Well, how much time do we have?

I thought this was like a time thing.

There are so many different things that we're looking at in policing in general.

The way I always like to start is that policing is not what you see on TV.

It's not all car chases and gunfights and people repelling off buildings.

What we do is a service.

I mean, by and large, day in, day out, it is service.

We see people in some really vulnerable, at that moment, really vulnerable situations.

And we often are providing outreach to them in some ways, providing some relief to them in some ways, helping them.

Sometimes it's suspects or victims.

So it is really about service.

It is actually, by and large, what we do.

And so I start out by saying, you know, progress means that we're able to provide service to people in a way that they feel included and respected and they feel equity.

And we know we have some work to do on those lines.

And I started my time, you know, as the interim chief, just talking about the five priorities that we're going to have at the department.

And one of the first ones was excellence in service.

You know, that's what we need to do.

We need to provide service to the community that we serve and do so in a way that we're trying to be as excellent as possible, along with fighting crime and using data and all those other things, and really making sure that people feel connected to what we do.

You know, we're just people.

We need to humanize ourselves.

I think when people start seeing that police is not the police over there, but they're the police.

They're just people.

They're moms, they're dads, they're sisters, they're brothers, they're cousins.

The uniform really just identifies us so that we can be seen and known when we're in the room.

But quite frankly, you know, we're just people like everyone else.

And once we start humanizing ourselves, and it becomes not the police in the community, it becomes just us.

doing the work that we need to do to help us, I think we will have reached great success.

And I'm looking for that day.

I think we're going to get there.

We're not quite there yet, but I really truly believe that we're all going to be unified and joint and people are going to feel like the police department is a part of them and we're a part of the community.

So in the technology world, what I would hope in the future for the department is that when we are building our workforce, that it doesn't matter what walk of life you come from, what sex you are, that you feel like this is an area that you want to be a part of.

And that we provide those opportunities and we provide growth for all of our employees going forward.

And we have a structure where we have the ability to treat people as individuals and holistically across the workforce.

So I look at how the youth are coming into our different industries, and I want them to be excited about technology.

I want them to see that there are so many opportunities.

And I'd like the perception of, I think when you talk about technology, you think of somebody hunched over a computer, really isolated.

And what I would like is for us to be embraced as an organization that is a part of many great things that are happening across the city and we're not an island but we are serving our customers and an individual coming into our workforce sees how valued they are as part of our bigger community and that we are much more than a series of zeros and ones and a technology that we are helping to make great things happen.

Can I add something?

Because you triggered something in me with your comments.

Thank you, Tracy.

And also, one of the important things I just forgot to mention, we really want the police department to reflect the community that we serve.

So definitely, we want to see more people of color, more women, LGBTQ, so that people know that the police department is connected to them.

So I just wanted to add that little piece.

So from the mayor's office perspective, I mean, Mayor Durkan outlined her vision for a vibrant, inclusive, and affordable city, right?

And I think that Seattle is at a crossroads.

We are experiencing incredible prosperity, but we're also seeing incredible disparity.

And I think that this is going to be our greatest challenge.

is how do we create a community where everyone can thrive?

And how do we, as a city, be a force for progress?

I came from outside city government.

And in my short time here, I have been amazed by how dedicated city employees are.

People come here to do good, to make a difference in people's lives.

And how can we continue to do that, do that better, make sure that we're reaching more people?

And quite frankly, I think we are also in a moment where we have to create a safe and inclusive workplace environment and create a place where employees feel comfortable, they feel welcomed, and they feel like they are contributing as city employees.

And I think that leadership starts from the top at the mayor's office.

And you heard from Mayor Durkan, we're fully committed to that, that work moving forward.

But I think that, you know, It's going to take all of us.

I think there's no magic bullet.

And I think that these are, yeah, these are sticky, enduring problems.

And I think that we have to really think of ourselves as a city that is creative, that is thinking outside the box, and really using the skills that we bring to the table in ways that can help solve our community's greatest challenges.

OK, so next question, you guys have sort of touched on a little bit of this.

So professional development is an essential part of anyone's career.

What role does professional development play in the press for progress?

Am I going to go?

OK, I'll just start.

Well, it's really important that you start thinking about those things, that you just don't fall into it.

So we worked really hard, and the Seattle Police Department continue to really work on professional development.

I would love to take credit and say that it started with me, but it actually started with the former chief.

But I am definitely continuing that on.

We have mid-level managers training.

We want to make sure people are involved in leadership tomorrow.

Seattle, the Mentorship Program, the Senior Management Institute for Police, the FBI National, all the things that help you build up your knowledge about the profession, you get to interact and network with other people, and also help build education for folks out there.

We make, we're very, very intentional about it.

We're working with our, I'm gonna throw his name out there, Mike Fields, who's our HR Director, has done an amazing job about being very deliberate about ensuring that we are including not only officers, but civilians too.

You know, sometimes the civilian part of our organization doesn't get as much attention, but we have almost 600 civilian employees who don't wear a uniform and come in every day.

We want to make sure that we're being inclusive, we're including them, and we're being very deliberate about ensuring that they are able to be successful and advance and have the right you know, resume, if you will, but basically the right education to do the job well.

And I think that's very important.

People feel, even if they don't advance, they just feel better about themselves because they do more and they know more, right?

And they're just better at working when we provide them those opportunities.

So I think that's very important.

Thanks.

I was going to say that I do believe that professional development is very important, and from a couple of different angles.

we should be encouraging each other to look within ourselves and go, what do we need?

Be an advocate for ourselves when we need those extra assistance.

From a management perspective, you want to be a facilitator for those.

And what we want to do is not have this happen accidentally, but on purpose.

And so making steps in our organizations to help people grow professionally and to have them advocate for themselves in some cases, and have management also assist with that journey.

Both of those are important aspects to growing our workforce.

If you look at technology, so much is going to change in the next 10 years.

And so how do you help us as an organization prepare for that from a multitude of different ways?

There's succession planning, the individual how a manager helps their workforce, and trying to anticipate where we're going in the world and being ahead of the curve.

It's difficult.

We may have room for improvement there, but that's something that we should make a concerted effort to do.

Really quickly, I think we just need to foster a culture of learning, and that's professional development, but that's also more than that.

It is learning from each other.

I do one-on-ones with my department directors, and I have to tell you, every single conversation I have with them, I learn something new.

So I think there's that, and then there is creating a space or a culture where it's okay to fail.

I think for women in particular, the fear of failure is intense.

I mean, we're constantly worried.

We're working twice as hard to show that we're good enough.

And I think that we have to, as women in leadership, we have an opportunity to help break that cycle.

That it's okay to fail.

That it's okay to admit that you don't know.

It's okay to ask questions.

Because I think that's when you really learn.

And that's really something that I'm hoping that particularly with the people I work with is, how do we foster that culture of learning and failure?

And failure can be okay sometimes.

That's a great point.

All right.

The city has looked at and endorsed some programs such as accommodating work schedules and locations, paid parental leave, and flexibility to care for ailing family members.

Have you seen these sorts of programs make a difference in making women feel more valued and understood in the workplace?

So how about I start as a new city employee?

You know, I got to bring my daughter to work today and I am grateful for that flexibility.

But it also Being a mother, it adds value to who I am as a professional.

And I think we have to create, as a city, create spaces.

And I want to recognize that flexibility doesn't always work.

But I think that we have to think about, how do we welcome people into the city workforce?

What are the barriers that are preventing people, whether they are around education or around flexibility in work schedules?

But I think of flexibility much more broadly than just a set of benefits.

The benefits are great, but I think it's sort of reimagining what work looks like, and for me, In the mayor's office, there isn't a nine to five.

Sometimes you work a lot, and sometimes you don't, and that's okay.

As long as the work gets done, that's what is what I place value on, but I think that's, I just want us to think about, okay, what does flexibility look like, and what are the things that we can do to attract even greater diversity in the workforce?

We don't really have a lot of flexibility in the schedules.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to drag my daughter when I was working patrol out here.

But, you know, what I think is really important is that we work on some of the employee assistance issues, that making sure that people are whole and, you know, everything is going okay in their world when they come in.

You know, and it's just unique.

I mean, I have on me, you know, a gun and handcuffs and pepper spray, all of those things.

So we want to make sure that when people are coming to work, doing the work that we do, that they are in a good, place.

And as a supervisor, it's really important that we have the flexibility to say, you know, if something's going on in your life, we're just people, right?

People have divorces, their kids get sick, they have elderly parents they need to take care of, that we give them the space to do those things.

And don't drag them in, make sure they have to come into work all the time.

I've been a pretty high-stress job, you know.

So we're really conscious of that, of making sure that people are checking in with their own mental health, with their own physical health, so that they can do the better work.

And if we're flexible along those lines, we get a better product in the end.

And by us getting a better product, that means you get a better product, right?

The community that we're supposed to be serving.

So that's a really critical piece of the work that we're doing.

We just don't have that latitude for, you know, coming in Flexible shifts isn't usually one of the things we can do, but there are a whole host of other things that we can do to make sure our employees are safe and whole at work.

And we're working really hard to make sure we do it.

I think no matter what your job is, sometimes there's opportunity for different types of flexibility.

And it depends on what you're supporting and where you're working.

What I think the challenge is, is we need to look at how we help the individual, because what works for one person doesn't work for another.

And so there's an important piece of this is taking advantage of the things that you can offer, but reminding ourselves that the person receiving it is an individual.

And so what makes sense for a person that has two teenage kids may be different than someone that has an aging parent.

But showing that you're treating them as an individual in this circumstance and helping them through whatever avenues are appropriate for them to explore is an important piece of this.

And so my message is make sure that we understand that flexibility is germane to the individual and don't lose sight of that.

Thank you.

OK, so wrapping up.

Keep an eye on the time.

Reflecting on your career, what would you tell the newly graduating or the initially employed versions of yourself?

Oh, wow.

What would I say?

I'll go.

Yeah, go ahead.

take chances.

My young, unencumbered self, I think that too often we're scared to take risks.

I don't have any regrets.

And actually, I have a notebook that says I regret nothing.

But I think that it is take chances, is take risks, particularly professionally.

Because I think it is harder to do it as you get further along in your professional career.

And I think that that's something that we could use a little bit more of, is a little bit more spontaneity.

So the take chances piece, but one of the things that I ask myself when I'm deciding whether or not I should do something is I go, do I want to say no because I'm afraid?

And if that's the only reason that I want to say no, I say, that's not a good excuse, Tracy.

You're going to go do it, because if the only reason I'm saying no is because I'm afraid, that's a deal that I've struck him with myself, that that's not going to be who I'm going to be.

The other story that I want to share is sometimes hearing no is a very powerful piece of moving forward.

And one of the things that, this was long ago, but I was interviewing for different positions.

And I happened to have a question to the person that was interviewing me, and I said, what are the career paths going forward?

If I land this position, where can I go from here?

And the person responded to me and said, well, that's my job, and you can't have it.

So...

I told myself, you know what?

No.

I can tell right now that that's not the job for me.

I have a desire to move forward.

And so looking back to my younger self, I think it was an important message to that person to say, you know what?

Ask for what you want.

Have the confidence to ask those questions.

And if it's not a good fit, be OK and say, no.

This isn't where I want to go.

When I think of my younger self, I was probably, you know, I was pretty confident, actually.

I told you what my background was.

We were pretty confident.

But if I was giving advice to young people coming in, and sometimes I do, it's like, just, you know, risk taking is good, but also being resilient.

You are going to fail at something.

It's okay.

You know, to try something, maybe it's not for you, maybe you don't make it the first time, but it's okay to do that.

And I'm going back, I'm hearkening back to what comments were made earlier by our Deputy Mayor, but sometimes you do have that feeling that you're afraid to fail.

You don't want people to think you can't do it.

You got to get past that.

You have to have confidence in yourself.

Be OK with being resilient.

That's what resilience is about.

Not everything is going to work out 100% every time.

That's OK.

This is your opportunity to figure out what it is and move forward.

So that's the advice I would pass on to my younger self.

Yeah.

Alright, so last question.

Are there any imparting ideas as we close that offer what it means to be a female employee at the City of Seattle and what we must do to answer the national calling for progress?

Say that one more time so I can make sure.

Sure.

Are there any imparting ideas as we close that offer what it means to be a female employee at the City of Seattle and what we must do to answer the national calling for progress?

Well, it's International Women's Day.

One of the things that I would say, obviously, is that this city has done a really good job.

We've got some work to do, but a really good job of making sure that women are in leadership positions and continuing on and doing the work that needs to be done.

And I want to go back just to make sure I hit the right place.

So parting thoughts about what we need to do.

I go back to being resilient, being confident, networking, lifting each other.

That is the whole point of this discussion is talking about lifting each other up as we rise and being very deliberate and intentional about it.

Making sure that everyone at the table has a voice at the table.

Male, female, black, white, gay, straight, Catholic, Protestant.

Whatever, everybody gets to contribute and feel a part of the larger organization, because not everybody gets to be at the top.

There's only so much space there, but that doesn't mean that your effort, your energy isn't contributing to the success of the city and of the community that we're here for.

So that would be my parting thought, make sure that you're giving and that you're contributing.

When you mentioned those ideas about how we move things ahead, one of the things that comes to mind is, not only do you look at what you have at the city, but what can you do outside of your city domain?

And for me, it's all about that next generation.

And part of this is because I'm a mother, and I see my kids moving through their lives and wondering, what can I do to help them be successful and be something that makes the community that you live in a better place.

And so for me, it's not only what can you do within the city, but what can you do at home?

How do you encourage those school systems, internships, that youth that is coming into our city as potential employees?

How do you make them successful?

And, you know, personally, that's being the best parent that I can for my children, being involved in the community and schools in the area.

Those are all avenues that I pursue that I think will make the city a better place and the city of Seattle a better employment area.

So two things, one a funny story.

So this morning as we were getting ready, my daughter was playing a little game with her pink unicorn.

And her pink unicorn was the mayor.

And she was having a conversation with the mayor, the pink unicorn, and she was just talking about, you know, kind of, I want to fix the city, just, you know, just I guess what she hears her mom talking about.

But anyway, I think that the nugget that I got in that was, was that Every day, we have an influence on someone, right?

And so my daughter is growing up with this impression of, okay, I can be a strong, independent woman, and that's a strength for me.

I think for women, the greatest strength that we bring to our jobs is empathy.

Sometimes it's seen as a weakness, but I actually say own it.

It's what makes you do your job better.

It makes you get the best out of your employees, your friends, your partners.

And I think that that's what I would say would be my parting advice is own your empathy, because I think it's the piece that's unique to you.

And I think it's the part that allows us to remember that this is more than a job.

This is about people and that we can relate in different ways and also bring something to the table.

To be six years old and have a pink unicorn again.

Wouldn't that be great?

So cute.

Great.

So I'd like to go ahead and open it up for the questions that you guys have for the panel.

Anyone?

All right, coming over there.

Hi.

My name is Shay.

I work with fleets.

And I have you have mentioned people throughout your life saying yes you can and and in giving you opportunities.

When I told my dad I was going to quit pre-law to become a mechanic he's like no you're not.

But he said it was because I would hate the fact that my nails are going to be dirty all the time.

Whatever.

So my question to you is, I'm stubborn and that's why I went ahead and did my path.

But what do you say to people that hear no you can't and aren't just bullheaded and actually allow that to to deflate them or to distract them from what they deserve.

I mean, there's a lot, I'm sure there's a lot of women, there are a lot of people that have heard, no, that's not for you.

And then let that be enough to discourage them.

So I'm wondering what you would say in the face of that to those people, how to, how to, stay focused and know what they know and stay true to themselves.

That's interesting.

Can I just start because I often sometimes I come across folks who have all sorts of thoughts and opinions about who I am and what I'm like and just by a glance they don't even know me at all and so and they can be positive or negative but what I what I will say is that whatever issue it is it's their issue, right?

You cannot focus what you want, your goals, your thoughts, on other people's perceptions of who you are and what you are.

You have to stay true to yourself.

And if you do that, you're likely going to be satisfied and be OK.

Even if you fail, because you stay true to yourself, your own convictions, and what you know yourself to be.

You just really can't start.

making decisions about what you're going to do, and how you're going to behave, and how you're going to try to succeed.

If you're looking at other people, their views of you, because you have to be within yourself.

That's all.

And I want to clarify, I probably heard no 10 times as much as I heard yes, right?

And I think that part of, you know, Carmen, you said it earlier, that resilience.

You'll hear no a lot.

No, you're not good enough.

No, you can't.

I think the resilience and Being true to what you know who you are, I think that's important.

Because I think it's easy for self-doubt, right?

If you hear no enough times, it's like, well, wow, maybe I don't.

Maybe I can't do that.

And I think it's find your North Star.

Find the thing that grounds you, that is true to who you are.

When you hear no, I think that's where you draw from that well and say, OK, well, this is what I know to be true.

And I think that it doesn't always work.

And so I also want to be realistic about that, right?

But I also think that, to your point, people will say people have opinions and thoughts.

And at the end of the day, it's what you know to be true.

When you're faced, sometimes you experience that within yourself.

And I have little mantras that I tell myself, like, yes, you can.

Or I will find a way.

I don't know the answer, but I will figure it out.

I will find a way.

I think the other piece that we have to take from this is when you see a person that is hearing those thoughts, take a moment to say, yes, you can.

And you have to be repeated a lot.

Because if somebody is experiencing self-doubt, the one thing that we can do to help each other is to say, you know what?

Stop.

You are great.

You've got this.

You can do this.

And over and over again.

And sometimes just that repetition.

But you've really got to take a moment and motivate somebody.

And if you've got that internal, voice to yourself, you can share it with your friends and family and help them be successful as well.

But I think just taking the time to resist the don't wallow in your own despair.

If somebody says no, say yes I can and help those that are hearing that same message to overcome that resistance.

Other questions?

Hi, I'm Jessica Coleman from City Light.

I'm an electrical engineer.

Kind of going off that same question, you've talked a lot about helping other people and giving other people space, but what's your best tactic for when you're at the table and you're not getting that space?

And for Michelle also, the panel and Michelle.

I am never shy about speaking up.

I mean, I'm pretty small in size.

Usually I'm the smallest person in the room.

I think that my best tactic is to speak up when I have something to offer.

I think this is sort of the reverse tactic of people who are always talking.

Because sometimes you'll find that when you can add something to a conversation, you'll find that people will start gravitating towards that piece of like, because you don't speak, you're not the person that's speaking all the time, but when you speak, it's valuable, and so I try to sort of balance that of like, okay, but you know, I'm also never shy to speak up, even if I'm the only contrary voice on something, and it's not easy.

And sometimes I'm always sort of like, should I say that?

Should I say that?

But then, you know, to my mantra of have no regrets.

Like, I don't want to walk out of a room and, you know, think to myself, oh boy, I should have made that.

I should have spoken up when.

Yeah, I, you know, reclaiming my time.

That's me.

Like, so if they're not giving you that space, sometimes you need to, you know, take a little bit of that space.

That's not always the right way to do things, but if you feel like you're being marginalized or or set out, I'm sorry, this is, if you feel you're being marginalized or set out, or set aside because of, you know, people are choosing not to hear you, then that's your time to, you know, decide, is this the right place for me to be, or do I need to speak up?

You know, I usually get on the side of that's your, that's your opportunity to speak up and, you know, make yourself known.

Not being obtuse, but, you know, making sure that it's very clear that, you know, you're a part of the discussion.

Letting go of that moment to sometimes you'll be in a meeting and maybe you didn't create that space for yourself But don't be hard on yourself go.

You know there's a next time all right I missed that opportunity, but I'm gonna nail it the next time or have a different strategy, so have the the sense to give yourself a break and say, you know what?

It might not have happened this time, but I'm going to make it happen next time.

Sometimes we strive for that perfection, and we're too hard on ourselves.

And so maybe you didn't create that space this time, but you're going to stop and go, you know what?

Here's what I'm going to do differently next time.

So that's my two cents of it doesn't happen as often as you want, but that's okay because you can improve.

So just keep at it.

I think, Jessica, the only thing I would add is, and I really agree with the other points that were made, but I think sometimes when I'm in a conversation, I want to make a point.

I'm waiting for everybody else to get to that point too.

So taking a step back and engaging in the current conversation.

And maybe sometimes egos are at play, but if you take part in the existing conversation and maybe add your perspective or opinion on that, it'll give you a little bit more room to maybe get to that point that you want to make in the meeting.

So just making your presence known and showing that you're part of the conversation I think can help sometimes too.

So we received a question in writing.

The question is, what have you done and or are you planning to do in terms of pay equality in areas that are predominantly male?

For example, police officers and technology.

We have a pay scale, so people at the same rank are paid based on their union and bargaining unit contract.

But what I would say is that we want to make sure we have people at higher levels in the organization that represent representative of the community, that we have a diverse number of people in the pipeline, if you will, at the different pay grades.

Because the wages are determined outside of my scope and outside of my purview.

But I want to make sure that as people move up through the ranks that a lot of folks are at the table and able to promote and get the higher wages.

My response is just be mindful.

I mean, we have a structure in place for awarding salaries.

And be cognizant of looking for those opportunities for making sure that we're applying things fair and equitably.

And so just having the conversations with management and staff to say, let's be mindful.

We want a workforce that has an equitable salary structure.

And be mindful of those opportunities.

Look for them and help be an advocate when you need to be an advocate for those circumstances.

Hi, my name's Nicole.

First, thank you so much for your comments.

I'm a single mom, so hearing what you said about being a mother helps me, encourages me, because I struggle with it, the work-life balance.

Second, my question is, I'm lucky to be here today with my role model, Barb Graff.

I met her at a young age when I was working for a former mayor.

Who are your female role models?

I love Michelle Obama.

Yeah, I really did.

And obviously, I love Chief O'Toole for promoting me and encouraging me and giving me a vast amount of opportunities.

I also really appreciate and love Barb Graff.

She's wonderful, a great leader, solid, honest.

She knows, I think, the world of her as well.

So just a whole host of people, some that I've never met, that I aspire to be like them.

in terms of having integrity and honesty and reaching out to the community and being somebody who gives back.

And those things are just important to me.

So I really seek out people who do those things and try to model those behaviors.

But certainly most recently, the people that I've worked most closely with, and certainly even Mayor Durkan for allowing me to be the interim police chief and swearing me in and letting me do that.

I don't know where it's going to end, but so far it's been great and I really appreciate the opportunity.

I have to use a cliche answer here, but I'm looking at my mother as a role model.

And I grew up with two younger brothers.

I never felt like I was any different.

I always felt like I was given all the opportunity that any one of my brothers had.

And that instilled something in me that is with me till today.

And I want my children to feel like they've got an equal opportunity, no matter what direction they want to go to.

But just coming from a family that set that stage for me with my younger brothers has been something that I valued for my entire life.

Personally for me, it's my two grandmothers.

I grew up with spending a lot of time with them and one of my grandmothers was the first woman to get a PhD in her state in English literature.

You know, and I just, you know, that was the, you can be what you want to be.

And for my other grandmother, it was just the sense of resilience and spirit and can-do attitude.

There was nothing that could ever sort of stop her from doing what she wanted to do.

And she was a real strong role model for us and really was work hard.

I mean, you know, don't expect anything to be given to you.

Work hard for it.

I think professionally, this is not a cliche because I get to work with her every day.

Working with Mayor Durkin is very exciting.

She is tough but fair.

She works hard.

I mean, she walks, she goes home with reading materials this thick and next morning she's back and she's made notes and she's read all of it.

She asks great questions and, you know, and I think that that's Modeling that work ethic of being fair, compassionate, respectful is something that I think we could use more of, and it's what I would like to do in my role, but yeah, it's someone I work with.

Yeah, sorry.

I wasn't invited to this one, but I'll speak up.

I think I have two different female role models that I would speak to throughout my career.

The first one is probably a little bit more obvious.

It's a professional role model.

But when I was in the service, because some of those of you that know me, I was in the Army for a bit of time in my career.

And there was a woman who was two grades above me. that I just really thought the world of.

And the thing that I find interesting when we talk about mentors or role models, she had a very different leadership style than I had.

And I was just completely drawn to that.

I just couldn't believe the success that she had had.

And her approach was just so different from mine.

So I felt like out of everyone I had ever met, I had the most to learn from her.

And I still keep in contact with her today.

And she's actually a commanding general commanding colonel in Afghanistan right now.

And she's doing great things in the military, but just a wonderful woman.

And the second would also be my grandmother.

And again, it's a kind of common theme, although not on the professional level.

But my grandmother was a salutatorian of her nursing class, and then went on to be a stay-at-home mom for her four kids.

And I learned so much from her.

She was dedicated to professional development.

She read so many books, watched the news, was up on every single talking point that you could come home after school with.

And I think the one thing she actually taught me that I've just carried on throughout my career is just unconditional love.

that will carry on with you when your professional life or your personal life.

And I would say it's those two people.

And I just think they're just so different from me and that they have just taught me the most in my life.

We have one back here.

Hi, my name is Hilary, I work in the Department of Neighborhoods and my question for you is for many years we've had a cultural conversation about how women should talk in the workforce and often the message is that we should learn to talk more like men.

In other words, be more assertive, be more blindly confident.

So what would you...

So what would you say to the idea that instead of encouraging women to talk more like men, that we should encourage men to talk more like women, with more collaboration, with more inviting other people to speak, etc.

I just think being inclusive means just meeting people where they are.

You don't have to mimic or model anybody or anyone else.

Communicate.

I don't feel like a woman needs to act like a man or a man needs to act like a whatever that means.

Those are all social constructs anyway.

So I would say this.

Be who you are.

Be resilient.

Work hard.

I think that's a common theme for everybody up here.

They work hard.

They believe in themselves.

and that you'll be fine.

You don't need to model any sort of gender construct that's out there.

I certainly haven't tried to do that.

I'm just me, right?

And this is a job that I do.

So that's how I would approach it.

And I'm sure there's other thoughts here.

I think you take the best.

And so if sharing empathy in a conversation is what you need to do to help be inclusive and saying that you're confident and assertive, those are all good elements to weave in.

So take the best of people's general disposition and apply it to your conversation.

What they said.

I just want to add something to this comment, just because I've seen it play out in my whole career.

Regardless of what you're trying to get more people to act like or be like, I think you really need to directly communicate with those that you work with.

We look across the room.

should hold each of you accountable as peers, as colleagues, and just let people know how their messaging lands on you.

I've had people say some pretty weird things to me that I walk away, and I usually talk it over with my partner.

And I return, and I'm just like, I'm not really sure you know how that sounds to somebody else when you said it.

So I'm going to let you know how that sounded.

And I think if we do that more for each other, we'll get better, and other people will get better too.

But I think it's really important that we do it.

I can help.

I'm coming.

Donahue.

Donahue.

Hello.

I'm Emily Burns.

I work with Seattle Department of Transportation.

I guess first off, I want to thank you so much for being part of such an inspirational panel.

It's pretty amazing, you know, to sort of step back.

I have a long standing career with the city and just hearing about your different experiences is very, very valuable.

I wanted to sort of pose this question in the kind of context of retention of employees and sort of how do you as leaders encourage that collaboration?

How do you encourage the people that are working with you and then in other departments to build and collaborate so that you're reaching your visions, your goals, your objectives of the things you're trying to meet.

You're probably building performance measures and different things that you're measuring about whether something worked or didn't work.

How do you work as a leader to sort of tear that all the way down to the levels of folks that are working for you and with you?

So I think helping to There's a big element of communication in all of this.

And so working with your management team and your staff to craft that element of communication that transcends through the multiple different levels.

And this is a challenge that I think the city has across the board.

It's not an easy thing, but to make it an objective is an important piece.

And so looking at how you create that vision and making people feel a part of that vision is a big piece of how you would be successful in this arena.

Knowing that your vision propagates through the different levels of the department is important.

And it's a challenge.

It's not an easy thing to do.

But being mindful that this is something that we want to achieve is half the battle.

And then working on getting that message down.

The other piece of this is when you feel like you're setting goals.

You can also communicate the value of the organization and the value of the individual within that organization.

And so there's an element to that, setting those communication goals, having it propagate through the organization, but it gives you an opportunity to be thankful for everybody's contribution to the overall objective.

So when I work with people, I try to reiterate a couple of things.

One is to remind people that they are valued, that they bring something to the table.

And I think the second piece is, I think we tend to be in our silos.

It's just human nature.

But I think these, it may be a cliche, but it's true, we're stronger together.

And when we are solving problems, more often than not, you will find that when we, when we collaborate, we've come up with a more enduring or creative solution than if we were doing that by ourselves.

So I try to model that in terms of kind of, hey, have we talked about including X department or Y person in order to, and you know, it doesn't always happen, and I think we can all be better about doing that, but I think I always try to think about who's missing from the table.

And that often will get me thinking about, OK, what am I missing in this equation?

And so I think that I always try to ask that question.

Who's missing from the table?

I would disagree with all of that.

Let me put this on.

I would disagree with all of that, making sure that we're not working in silos.

You know, for example, we have, you know, our navigation team that I went out with the other day.

There are people from FAS on that team, there are people from the police department on that team, and there's outreach workers there, all three working together to address some of those issues around homelessness and all that.

Whether you agree or disagree with the strategy, the fact of the matter is that none of us is going to do this on our own.

It's going to take a collective effort to help work through some of these really complex issues.

So we want to make sure that we are mindful that there are other organizations and departments out there that can help facilitate the work that we're trying to do.

And here's our last question from Patty.

Hi panel, and I'm really glad to hear this dialogue starting.

And the question I have is around intersectionality.

I'm a woman, I'm a woman of color, I'm gay, and I work in technology.

So I have my whole life, and I used to be a union carpenter, a journey level carpenter.

So I have faced a lot of isms, and when I present myself, I can't just be one thing.

And so what happens to me is a lot of times I can't figure out what is it people are reacting to.

I have faced problems myself.

I know I hear stories all over.

So my question is, when you're considering changing culture and policies, how you consider that?

Because I'm not just a woman.

So it has to be a little bit broader than that.

So that's my question to the panel.

I think earlier today we heard, you know, look around at who's at the table and see who's missing.

And I think understanding when you're having these discussions that you need to put multiple hats on to see if you've covered all of your bases.

I think that's the simplest way that I think you can look at have you addressed how this impacts a variety of different people from different walks of life and different circumstances.

And I think asking those questions of do we have the right representation and are we advocating for someone that may not be in the room that needs to be heard.

I would agree with all of that.

Yeah, so you have to make sure that you're being inclusive, that there's somebody not at the table, that you're thinking about how you might get other opinions and thoughts and beliefs involved in the conversation that's occurring.

So don't become so insular, because that's very easy to happen if you're not being very intentional about it.

And then from the individual perspective, I said this earlier.

You don't know.

Like you said, you don't know if they're saying that to me because I'm X or why are they looking at me because I have given that up a long time ago.

You know what I mean?

Whatever they're thinking, that's what they're thinking.

I got work to do.

So that is sort of the way I approach all of that.

Life's too short to try to figure out everybody else's perspectives.

And they're either going to change it or keep it or whatever.

But you have to be just true to yourself and your own convictions in doing what you know is important and right to do.

You know, as a policymaker, I often think, you know, we see policy as static, but I often think that it is organic.

It has to evolve.

And, you know, recognizing that we won't always get it right and bringing a diversity of perspectives is really important to try to get it right, but also having that humility to learn from mistakes, to say, you know what, we missed that.

and here's how we're going to correct that.

I think we don't do enough of that.

I wish we did more of it because I think that, and I don't necessarily think we're structured to do that, but I think as we do this work on a day-to-day basis, it's that question of who's not at this table, but also what have we learned from this that can make this a better policy or a rule or a regulation or whatever it is that we're doing in our daily jobs.

That was the last question, right?

I know you're going to wrap it up, but just thank you all for being here.

This was absolutely incredible.

People were very wonderful.

The questions were great.

And I just feel honored to have participated.

Thank you.