by Gwendolyn Mariano
If you ask Deborah Elam what lights up her life at General Electric, she’d say it’s the education of women. Her passion is enabling others to soar. As GE’s chief diversity officer, Elam oversees myriad diversity initiatives around the globe. One is the company’s affinity network of organizations
composed of different groups of GE employees—including an African American forum, an Asian Pacific forum, a women’s network, and a Hispanic forum. Their shared aim is to help strengthen employees through mentoring, networking, career management, and exposure to leadership. Women from diverse backgrounds learn the unwritten rules of the game, as once did this 22-year GE veteran who began as an intern at the company, which is headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut. A native of New Orleans, she earned a BA in sociology at Louisiana State University and a master’s of public administration at Southern University.
DW: The role of chief diversity officer didn’t really exist until a few years ago, and now you see this position across Fortune 500 companies. How has the role changed corporate America?
Deborah Elam: These roles have existed in some form for quite some time. My role wasn’t initially called chief diversity officer, but when it was created 12 years ago, the function was the same: leading diversity initiatives for the company. What has changed, not only at GE but at other companies, is that the role has been elevated to a C-suite type of role. I’m a corporate officer of GE, so I’m in the top 190 people in the company. You would not have seen this role at that status four or five years ago.
DW: Do you think corporate America has become more welcoming to underrepresented groups?
DE: It’s a fact that there are more women and other underrepresented groups in leadership roles in corporate America now than in the past. When you have diverse people in leadership roles, a lot of things happen. You have more sensitivity, more awareness, and more perspective. I don’t think we’re all where we need to be. We need to continue on a journey.
DW: What advice would you give to people of color who want to succeed in corporate America?
DE: To succeed in corporate America, first of all you’ve got to do something that you have a passion for. Secondly, I would say, do it well. I always think about Martin Luther King Jr.’s remark around the idea that if you’re going to be a street sweeper, be the best one that ever lived. There’s no greater time than now in the history of corporate America for anyone who wants to win.
DW: What’s your motto?
DE: It’s from my favorite hymn:
If I help somebody,
As I pass along this way.
Then my living
shall not have been in vain.