PULSE lecture - Ms. Vera M. Budway-Strobach (Program Manager for Diversity and Inclusion at Česká spořitelna)
The Pulse Lecture on Tuesday Nov. 1st was given by Ms. Vera M. Budway-Strobach. She is the Program Manager for Diversity and Inclusion at Česká spořitelna (CŠ) and is responsible for designing, implementing and monitoring a comprehensive diversity and inclusion program for the organization.
Her discussion focused on three areas. First she presented the business case for diversity efforts both at the level of a firm and for the broader economy. Ms. Budway followed up with a description of CŠ’s efforts and highlighted the issue of re-integration for mothers returning after their maternity leave. The Czech Republic does provide for paternity leave in the law but there is little demand for it. It was striking that the frank discussion illustrated how far we still have to go on these issues (and CŠreceived the 2009 company of the year award from Gender Studies o.p.s.!). Finally Ms. Budway related her experience as an American working in a thoroughly Czech environment and how cultural differences are relevant for everyday work issues even for a Program Manager for Diversity and Inclusion. It was all very enlightening.
