Chief Colleague Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Talent Officer, American Express
American Express Celebrates Successful Initiative to Embolden Women
Sonia Cargan, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at American Express, discusses the success of the financial company's Ambition Project, which aims to embolden women in the workplace.
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About Sonia Cargan
Sonia Cargan, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at American Express, discussed the company's Ambition Project in a February 2021 interview. Cargan stated that the initiative, launched two years prior, had resulted in over 100 women being promoted or joining the company at the executive level, with 40% of the executive committee and 30% of the board being women. She said the project began after the company asked senior women if they considered themselves ambitious and had publicly declared that ambition, finding that only a third had done so. Cargan said the company aims to encourage "candid conversations" about ambition and to help women "define their ambition and unapologetically pursue it." She described the initiative as part of setting "the tone from the top" for inclusion and diversity, adding that the full executive committee supports the effort. Cargan also noted that American Express planned to hold events for International Women's Day in 20 locations and encouraged other organizations to join the conversation using the hashtag #TheAmbitionProject.
Transcript (12 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
Over the years, American Express has made strides for women under its Ambition Project. Since its launch two years ago, more than 100 women have been promoted or joined the company at the executive level. Now, six women who report directly to the CEO oversee 50% of the workforce. Sonia Cargan, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at American Express, great to have you with us today. Explain to us how you're accomplishing your goals with the Ambition Project.
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Sonia Cargan0:23
Thank you very much for having me. It's an absolute pleasure to be here. Let me lead with what the Ambition Project is for American Express. As you said, it started a couple of years ago when we brought our most senior women together from around the world and asked them two pretty straightforward questions: Do you consider yourself to be ambitious? And have you ever publicly declared your ambition? Unsurprisingly, our women told us yes, we're ambitious. What really surprised us was that only a third of that group of women said they had publicly declared their ambition. So over the last couple of years, we've been spending time with our women and men around the organization talking about ambition and women here at American Express. As you said at the top of the conversation, we've seen some tremendous change with over 100 women joining those ranks, 40% of our executive committee now being women, our board is now 30% gender diverse, and we have a record number of women leading our businesses around the world. Importantly, when we ask that question again—have you ever publicly declared your ambition?—two-thirds of our women now tell us that they've publicly declared their ambition.
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Interviewer1:44
I love what you're doing. Explain the goals and how you measure success with this.
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Sonia Cargan1:52
Great question. The goal is really to have a conversation not only within American Express but also outside of American Express that helps women embrace their ambition and pay it forward. We want women to be ambitious for themselves and ambitious for others, whether that be in their professional life, their personal life, or indeed for their communities. I've been part of this journey for the past two years here at American Express, and we're having more and more of those conversations—more candid conversations and conversations whereby women are able to define their ambition and unapologetically pursue that. For us, success looks like having those candid conversations, our colleagues knowing that we have their back as they pursue those ambitions, and that we're paying it forward outside of American Express in our communities.
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Interviewer2:52
We're seeing many companies establish goal metrics to try to hold themselves accountable. One example recently is Goldman Sachs announcing it won't back any companies without diversity on those companies' corporate boards, especially women. Is this the kind of thing American Express would be interested in doing as well?
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Sonia Cargan3:07
For us, the tone starts at the top. It's absolutely critical for inclusion and diversity that as an organization, you're setting the tone from the top. The Ambition Project is one of the ways in which we're doing that. As I said, 40% of our executive committee are female, but actually what's even more powerful is that the full executive committee are behind this initiative. It's important to hold yourselves accountable, it's important to understand the profile of your workforce, and it's also important to celebrate your success.
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Interviewer3:38
I want you to talk more about the goals here, Sonia. How is American Express building women to be ambitious with their career goals? Obviously your project is working on it, but does it percolate throughout other elements of the business as well?
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Sonia Cargan3:54
Absolutely. I think what's important is that you have diverse backgrounds and diverse perspectives sitting around the table, and that includes having the voice of women represented and sitting around the table. So as we pursue this objective both inside American Express and outside of American Express, we're encouraging people to have ambitious conversations, talk about what ambition means to them. We're encouraging people to look at our research, look at the insights about ambition for women. We're encouraging organizations to develop programs and put them in place that enable women to achieve their fullest potential. I think in American Express, we have a long history of doing exactly that, and the Ambition Project is the next step in our evolution.
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Interviewer4:42
What's your plan in evangelizing and sharing this information outside of American Express so other companies can start to adopt similar practices as yours?
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Sonia Cargan4:52
Fantastic, thanks for asking. All this kicks off next week with International Women's Day. We have events taking place in American Express around the world in 20 of our locations. We're having conversations both internally to American Express and outside of American Express. We're heading off into our communities, partnering with nonprofit organizations who are supporting the progress and growth of women around the world. We really want to encourage individuals and other organizations to join the conversation and have candid conversations about women and ambition. So if you want to do that with us, hashtag The Ambition Project, tag American Express. We'd love to have more people join us in the conversation.
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Interviewer5:36
Sonia Cargan, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at American Express, thank you so much for joining us.
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Sonia Cargan5:42
You're welcome. Thank you very much for having me.