Empowering women in the workplace: How Kensho supports gender equity
In honor of Women's History Month, Kensho spotlights the women on our team and their contributions to AI and financial technology.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity. International Women’s Day has several missions: to help forge a gender-equal world, celebrate women’s achievements, increase visibility and reduce inequalities. Its history dates back over a century, when it was first celebrated in 1911, and its power lies in its ability to unite women across cultures and borders to demand equal rights and opportunities as well as serve as a platform for women to bring attention to issues such as gender-based violence, unequal pay, and lack of access to education and healthcare. The facets of International Women’s Day that are most applicable to Kensho include:
Building workplaces where women’s careers thrive by forging inclusive workplace cultures; and
Improving equality for women in tech by elevating and advancing gender parity in technology as well as celebrating women forging innovation.
Kensho has implemented a number of policies and programs aimed at promoting gender equity in the workplace, including offering a 26-week paid parental leave policy applicable to non-birth parents in the cases of adoption and surrogacy that applies equally to mothers and fathers. This policy recognizes the importance of supporting both men and women in their roles as caregivers, and helps to ensure that women do not face a penalty for taking time off to care for children.
But it’s not just Kensho’s procedures and policies that support women and their role in a healthy, thriving workplace. The company has strong, intelligent women working in all divisions of the company that are embodying equity and diversity within technology.
In this post, we are highlighting just a few of those women that make the company’s culture so special. We asked several women at Kensho a series of questions. Their responses are just as unique, interesting, and diverse as the culture they are contributing to.
Who inspired you to pursue the career you have today?
Calla, Software Engineer: My stepdad. He’s also a software engineer and was the one who first encouraged me to take a coding class in high school.
Kalie, Senior Account Manager: My mom. She’s worked her whole career in a field that excited and challenged her. She always made it look like a passion, rather than a tedious thing she had to do. At “take your kid to work day” I was always amazed at how people relied on her and found her so competent and I wanted to be just like that. As I’ve become a working mother myself, I now see the difficulties that come with balancing a career and child rearing and the guilt that often accompanies it. I have a whole new level of respect for her and other women who are in this balancing act!
Emiri, Head of Design: Shellye Archambeau has a great life story about perseverance and determination. Her systematic approach to setting her goals, doing research on how to achieve them, and then experimenting and executing on the goals is pretty similar to design thinking.
Diana, Head of Machine Learning: I have always had a fascination with math and languages from an early age, and this eventually led me to pursue a career in Natural Language Processing (NLP). My passion for understanding how language works and how machines can be taught to understand it better has driven my career path. I also have to credit my husband as a key figure who helped me believe in myself and not be afraid of moving forward. He encouraged me to take on new challenges and to pursue my dreams, and his support gave me the confidence to take the next steps in my career.
Throughout my professional journey, I have been inspired by many individuals in the NLP and machine learning community who have pushed the boundaries of what’s possible with language technology. Their groundbreaking research and innovations have motivated me to continue learning and growing in this exciting field.
At Kensho, women are represented at all levels, including in management and executive positions. By providing opportunities for women to lead, Kensho is creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace culture. In supporting women in the workplace, Kensho recognizes that gender diversity is not only the right thing to do but also makes good business sense. The company is able to tap into a diverse pool of talent to foster innovation and creativity, and better serve its customers and clients.
How have you grown professionally at Kensho?
Lupe, Associate Product Manager: Being fairly new to Kensho, the one thing I do appreciate is the independence and autonomy Product Managers are given to set the trajectory of their products. I learned that what may work for one team/product may not work for another, so flexibility is key.
Calla, Software Engineer: I’ve been able to grow a lot at Kensho professionally and learn a lot. The things that stand out the most are I’ve learned to be more confident in my choices as a software engineer and I’ve gained a lot of general coding/architecting experience.
Dava, Executive Support and Facilities Manager: I started at Kensho as an office coordinator and gradually moved up to a management role with a focus in executive support and facilities. Kensho has created a safe environment for me to try new things, take on more roles and responsibility while giving me the creative flexibility to do so!
“Kensho has created a safe environment for me to try new things, take on more roles and responsibility while giving me the creative flexibility to do so!”
Hamima, Machine Learning Engineer: I started as a software engineer, and 4.5 years later I’m on the machine learning team. I’ve worked on our search product, knowledge bases, extraction projects, and now am working on document intelligence. Each time I’ve moved teams, I’ve been lucky to have leadership that is open to employees seeking new challenges, and over the pandemic I spent a year taking intensive courses through Stanford’s online program to transition from a software engineer to a machine learning engineer. My coworkers on the machine learning side were incredibly supportive over homework help and career advice.
“Each time I’ve moved teams, I’ve been lucky to have leadership that is open to employees seeking new challenges.”
Ashmita, People Engagement Coordinator: I’ve been able to flex my leadership and collaborative skills by taking ownership of the onboarding process and creating an onboarding survey.
Melissa, VP Engineering: Fun fact, I have occupied every role (varying durations) in Engineering at Kensho! From an individual contributor to manager to manager of managers, the way in which I was able to make an impact was simply different in each role and that required honing different skills and looking at problems from a new vantage point.
Kensho is committed to diversity and inclusion, recognizing the value of having a diverse team with a variety of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. During this Women’s History Month, it is worth highlighting the important role that women play at Kensho and the company’s efforts to support women in technology.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Ashmita, People Engagement Coordinator: Drink lots of water and trust your gut. Your gut doesn’t lie.
Kalie, Senior Account Manager: Be humble and respectful, but not intimidated by people who are far senior to you. They are figuring everything out too. Also surround yourself with people you admire and are challenged by. It’s the best way to keep growing.
Caroline, Head of Marketing: Be less afraid of taking risks. Go for it.
Meaghan, Chief of Staff: Second-guess yourself less and just do it more (but tell people as you’re doing it so they can help course correct when needed).
Diana, Head of Machine Learning: Oftentimes I doubted myself and my capabilities, which prevented me from pursuing certain opportunities or taking on more challenging projects. Looking back, I realize that confidence, self-belief and projection of positive outcomes are critical to success. By having confidence in ourselves, we can empower others and inspire them to achieve their full potential. I would encourage my younger self to take risks, to not be afraid of failure, and to always be learning and growing.
Adity, Engineering Director, Infrastructure: Don’t be afraid to try new things.
Hamima, Machine Learning Engineer: Don’t focus too much on your career that you forget to be a person. Work will come no matter what.
“Don’t be afraid to try new things.”
Melissa, VP Engineering: Firstly, just try things because you won’t have regrets if you let curiosity continue to be a driver for you. Secondly, some practical advice would be to hone your financial intelligence early. You don’t need to be a business leader to benefit from understanding how businesses operate and you’ll be able to intuit and influence priorities better regardless of the role you are in.
Kensho is dedicated to supporting women in the workplace through various initiatives and programs and is committed to creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace. One such way is by providing access to the Women in Tech (WIT) program through its parent company, S&P Global. This program provides a platform for women to connect, collaborate, and support each other in their careers. The WIT program hosts events, workshops and mentorship opportunities to help women build their skills, expand their networks, and advance their careers.
Kensho also has a strong commitment to gender diversity in its hiring practices. It actively recruits and hires women across the organization, from engineering to management. It also offers flexible work arrangements to support working mothers and caregivers. This allows women to balance their professional and personal responsibilities and continue to grow in their careers.
And in case you’re wondering, we’re hiring! Whether you are just starting your career or are looking to take the next step, Kensho offers a range of exciting opportunities to contribute meaningfully and impact the way the world uses data.
