On December 1, 2015, Firm President Sheryl L. Axelrod was the Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Women’s Interactive Network and ACE Group Women’s Forum speaker at their program, “Exposing the Unseen: Examining Unconscious Bias.” The event was organized by Jody Lurie, CFA and Ida Grandy, ARe, who Ms. Axelrod mentors through the Forum of Executive Women’s Mentorship Program, and was open to all – women and men – and was attended by both sexes. In her remarks, Ms. Axelrod gave attendees a clear understanding of what unconscious bias is; why we have bias; how disenfranchised U.S. women are; the profitability of diversity and its benefit for everyone; what companies can do to benefit from inclusion; and the backlash women face in the workplace. She then provided concrete tools everyone can use to become diversity champions and stayed to answer the audience’s questions.
