Podcast

Netta Jenkins: Global VP of Inclusion on Speaking Your Truth and Building Epic Relationships (#12)

Netta Jenkins is a force of nature. She’s currently on family leave from her position as VP of Global Inclusion for Ask Applications, a branch of publicly-traded IAC. She welcomed her first child in April.

When Netta was in high school, her parents moved into a wealthy, predominantly white community. That experience— and much of the resistance and racism her family encountered— helped shape Netta’s voice, as a champion of inclusion for all. Netta is a woman of color by birth, but when you hear her speak you suddenly believe there could be solutions that include everyone. In addition to her many responsibilities with Ask Apps, Netta has spoken at over 50 industry events, panels, and conferences in the last year alone.

I had the pleasure of coaching Netta around her thought leadership and positioning framework.

But she doesn’t stop there. Netta has always been an entrepreneur at heart, and recently launched Dipper, a platform for professionals of color to review their workplace in a transparent environment. She’s also finishing her first book, and has been invited to speak at Google when she returns to work in September. Do you see what I mean? Force. Of. Nature.

Netta challenges the predictable assumptions that we have to choose— between family or a career, or between a great role within a successful company, or impact beyond its walls. This week’s episode looks at what’s possible when we unleash our voice everywhere.

In this conversation we cover:

How critical it is to build strong relationships everywhere, and to ask for help when needed.
How to create impact inside, and outside your organization without being viewed as a threat, or flight risk.
The typical barriers to an inclusive workplace, and how to overcome them.
The mindset that expands all possibilities into “Both…and!” vs. having to choose and limiting ourselves. This is what has made Netta so incredibly successful in a relatively short amount of time.
Owning your message, and your voice as an expert— being invited to speak at events.
Being brave, and letting your employer, (or your clients) in. Netta shares a story of how she was afraid to share her pregnancy when she was up for a big promotion, and how everything worked out better than she could’ve planned.

About Our Guest

Netta Jenkins is the VP of Global Inclusion for Mosaic Group and Ask Applications, an Interactive Corp company (NASDAQ: IAC).

She leads the company’s mission to foster an inclusive, collaborative and forward-thinking workplace. She currently runs a career development program for many diverse groups, including women, people of color, LGBTQ, and differently-abled.

Beyond her full-time leadership role, Netta has been a regular featured speaker on Diversity and Inclusion, and women empowerment. She recently co-founded Dipper (ourdipper.com), a community for professionals of color to share their workplace experience. In the few weeks since launched, Dipper has amassed thousands of reviews.

Of Netta’s inclusion work, Forbes has said she “…has a strong understanding of what empowering people in the workplace can do for the growth of the company”. Under Netta’s leadership, Google has said “IAC Applications (now known as The Mosaic Group and Ask Apps) is a star example of a company pushing towards gender equality as well as overall cultural equality.”

Netta Jenkins lives in New York City.

Connect with Netta:

Netta on LinkedIn