“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” — Maya Angelou
All throughout March, we celebrate Women’s History Month, a time to highlight and honor the contributions of women today and throughout history. While March brings International Women’s Day and shines light on the achievements of women, I’m proud that I work for an organization that empowers women throughout the year. Last year, Insight was recognized for advancing gender equity — with a third of its corporate board being comprised of women, exceeding the current average of 23.4%. This month, we celebrate our one-year anniversary of Women With Insight, a teammate resource group created to honor, empower and grow the skills of women throughout our company. And, I am honored to work on an executive team that has strong female representation.
One of the primary messages that comes out of Women’s History Month is the importance of supporting other women. Earlier this year, I was invited to speak at the Women in Cloud Summit 2020, which focused on how we can advance, together. I love communities like Women in Cloud because they grant me the opportunity to learn from, be inspired by, and share wisdom with fascinating female leaders.
My topic was “High Performance Culture: Managing Multiple Generations.” I focused on how to support and ensure all teammates are working in an optimal environment, why trust and respect among all teammates is crucial and how meaningful results increase when you can achieve this kind of team culture.
If you reflect on your own career, it’s likely there was a person or moment that changed the course of your path for the better. Maybe, it was a coworker or someone close to you who gave you tough criticism. Personally, making a positive impact on one person’s career is a tremendous honor and joy. I hope that by sharing my own life and professional experiences, I can create meaningful connections and enable women in their own journey.
I think it’s important to support fellow women in their career paths — particularly in an industry that has, historically, been dominated by men. Today, women are finding their voice in technology, and that’s worth celebrating.
Women in Cloud has created a 21 Days of Action campaign to #empowHERaccess to fair and equitable economic opportunities for all. I pledged my support and now you can do the same. You can add your name here: https://www.womenincloud.com/pledge/
Behind every successful women is a tribe of other women who have her back. I encourage everyone to not only wish for equality, but to show up and take action. You don’t have to be in a leadership position to be a force for change, to impact your community and those around you. From the conversations we have over cups of coffee, to the mainstage speeches we give, we’re working towards a better future, together… because our paths are not walked in isolation.
About the Author
Amy Protexter has always been fascinated by ideas. As a history major at Augustana College, she noticed the way a single idea expresses itself in different forms through the conduct, art and culture of a society. Her talent for connecting those ideas into a compelling message led Amy to her master’s degree in executive leadership from the University of Nebraska. Her success at leading change in corporate cultures brought her to Insight, where she guided the
company’s 2015 global rebranding and works daily to distill its message to the world through some of the channel’s most compelling digital marketing strategies. Amy started her career in healthcare, where she developed an ability to challenge an organization’s status quo and better align its mission and messaging. As senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for Alegent Health — and later as a vice president at Vanguard Health Systems — she created messaging, projects and advocacy efforts to push structured corporate healthcare systems to a more patient-centric model. In 2012, Amy took her innovative approach into education. As vice president of marketing at Edgenuity, she led a complete renaming
and rebranding of the digital learning provider. She also fostered internal and external strategies that focused the corporate message and emphasized student empowerment. Amy joined Insight in 2014 as vice president of marketing, and was promoted to senior vice president North America marketing in September 2017. A lifelong learner, Amy applies the latest marketing ideas to the global rebranding (her fifth) and supports Insight’s identity as a problem-solving provider that puts the client first.
