Women Post Pandemic: Lasting Impacts of Covid on Women in the Workforce

Co-hosted by the DC Penn Club

What impact has the pandemic had on women and how has the workplace changed as a result?  We have assembled a panel with insights into labor law, human resources organization, and female workplace advocacy to think retrospectively about how the pandemic affected women and prospectively about how the return to work will impact women.  Finally, they will share their insights on how companies can adapt to better support women, or more broadly, those with family obligations.

Panelists                     
Patricia Davison-Lewis

Patricia Davison-Lewis, Esq., a graduate of Penn Law School, serves as Counsel in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Legal Division. She is also the Chair of  the FDIC’s 170 member Networking, Inclusion, Advancement of African American Women (“NIA") Employee Resource Group ("ERG") which she founded to create awareness of the unique journey of African American women in the workplace. In 2020, the NIA ERG presented a historic Breaking the Concrete Ceiling Program in the FDIC Headquarters.  Patricia also serves as Chair of the FDIC Chairman's Diversity Advisory Committee and is a member of the FDIC Minority Recruitment Task Force (designed to retain a diverse workforce through recruiting minority students for summer internships and careers in banking, finance economics and IT.)   She recently received a Chairman's Excellence Award for "extraordinary accomplishments related to the mission, vision and values which assist the FDIC in achieving its strategic goals."  Patricia has served on the Executive Board of the University of Pennsylvania DC Alumni Club.  As Board member  liaison to its DEI Committee, she participates in panel presentations on issues such as Diversity in the Law and recently hosted an  Implicit Bias event featuring a Penn Associate Vice Provost and Law Professor.  She is also a member of Penn’s James Brister Society and Co-Chair’s the DC Women’s Bar Association Women of Color Task Force.  She also served as the Planning Committee Chair for the recent very successful District of Columbia Bar DEI Summit.

Wangari Kamau

Wangari Kamau is a recognized facilitator and public speaker, her topics at international conferences range from global workforce trends through the lens of inclusion and cultural awareness to global work assignments.  She is committed to promoting economic equity in the workplace to close the wage gap.  As a pay parity specialist, she has lived her own personal journey of equal pay for equal work where she managed to have changed the formula used to review pay by adding in gender, race, and nationality.  She continues to work on economic equity as a certified salary negotiation facilitator through the American Association for University Women (AAUW).  She speaks English, Swahili and French which enhance her work in developing and managing talent development programs in the global workplace.

Wangari has a Masters’ Degree in Business & Management, certifications as a Global Professional Human Resources (GPHR), Advanced Communicator, Effective Coaching, and Inclusive Leadership on the Power of Workplace Diversity.  In her spare time Wangari enjoys world dance and is currently learning flamenco plus spending time outdoors hiking.

On life’s journey Wangari is a seeker and always curious and willing to learn, unlearn and relearn.

Katlyn Grasso

Katlyn Grasso is the Founder and CEO of GenHERation®, which is a network where young women and companies connect. In her role as CEO, she has created GenHERation® Discovery Days, hosted the GenHERation® Summer Leadership Series, developed original GenHERation® webisodes, launched The GenHERation® Collection product line, and has grown the GenHERation® community to reach more than 400,000 young women. Katlyn is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she received a B.S. in Economics with concentrations in finance and strategic globalization. She is the inaugural recipient of the Penn President's Engagement Prize, which provides Penn students with $150,000 to develop ventures that have the potential to change the world. Grasso speaks internationally about entrepreneurship, technology, leadership, and the advancement of women, and has been a featured speaker at more than 200 events. She is a frequent radio and television contributor and her work has been featured across national media outlets, including CNBC, NBC, Fast Company, Forbes, The Huffington Post, CBS, Yahoo! Finance, Seventeen Magazine, and SiriusXM. Katlyn is a member of the Penn Fund Executive Board, the Penn Nursing Center for Global Women's Health Advisory Board, the TCU Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Board of Directors, and is the Tri-Chair of Momentum 2021: The Power of Penn Women.

Moderator

Ashley Hall 

Ashley Hall