As the vice president of global diversity and inclusion at Hilton Worldwide, Michael Ford is now helping to bring the power of education to the hotel giant’s workforce—and proving that companies function best when they cultivate their employees’—and even their suppliers’—potential....

It’s time for your annual review and compensation meeting. You take a deep breath, walk into your supervisor’s office, and an hour later come out with an excellent review—and a 3 percent pay raise. Your male colleague goes in next. He comes out with a...

In 1983, Michele Hoskins had hit rock bottom. She was going through a divorce, supporting her three young daughters as a makeup artist and living in her mother’s attic on the South Side of Chicago, near where she had grown up....

When Janet Parker had been at IBM for about 10 years, she realized she had a solid career in place—and panicked. “I had started my career at IBM in sales and was thrilled,” says Parker. ...