WOTC Panel: ‘Allyship Is A Team Sport’

A panel at this week’s Women of the Channel East discussed a host of topics such as the importance of male allies in driving gender equity in tech and practical approaches for male leaders to mentor, support and advocate for female colleagues.

In an insightful panel discussion about women allyship, executives from Amazon Web Services and Deloitte Consulting spoke about the transformative role of intentional allyship in reshaping the workplace, particularly for women in the tech industry.

The panel, held at CRN parent company The Channel Company’s Women of the Channel East conference in New York City this week, shined a light on how men can act as allies and actively contribute to advancing women’s professional experiences.

“Allyship is a team sport, but it’s also a contact sport,” said Dan Helfrich, chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting. “There is no substitute for spending time with people who have different lived experiences than you, listening, asking questions and creating comfort.”

Helfrich was joined by AWS’ Brian Bohan, director of worldwide consulting partners, and Matt Yanchyshyn, vice president of AWS marketplace and partner services. The panel was moderated by Rima Olinger, director of AWS consulting partners.

The panel discussed a host of topics such as the importance of male allies in driving gender equity in tech, practical approaches for male leaders to mentor, support and advocate for female colleagues, ways to create and sustain an inclusive workplace culture that empowers women at all level,s and the broader impact of intentional allyship.

Here’s what the executives had to say.

Dan Helfrich

On Role Models

The thing they taught me is they have role models that come in all shapes and sizes. The power of understanding that there’s not a single archetype for who women want to be is incredibly powerful.

On Interview Bias

I discovered this bias ... called the ‘one-turn-away bias.’ Every one-turn-away person was a woman. ... People are attributing a certain set of experiences as prerequisites without ever having a conversation about whether they should be prerequisites. We’ve gone, in the last four years, from 30 percent women to 55 [percent] to 60 percent women. That was not because of any set goal to pick more women. It’s because of a more thoughtful process to give a broader set of people opportunities.

On Allyship

Directness is extraordinarily important. Being willing to share how you’re feeling, how you consume a piece of information, these are really important.

On Allyship As A ‘Contact Sport’

Allyship is a team sport, but it's also a contact sport. There is no substitute for spending time with people who have different lived experiences than you, listening, asking questions and creating comfort. It’d be crazy if I didn’t do the things I need to do to understand the perspectives that I don’t have.

Brian Bohan

On Encouraging Openness To Feedback

You have to be conscious of the diversity of thought and perspective. Be vulnerable or be prepared to be vulnerable.

On The Need For Diverse Perspectives

You need people on your team, male and female, who are going to call you out. They’re going to tell you where you’re wrong or you’re just missing something that, to them, is obvious.

Matt Yanchyshyn

On Not Accepting The Status Quo

Acknowledging there’s a problem creates a culture where you’re not just accepting the status quo and then doing something about it. It’s not rocket science: Install women in the tech leadership roles and then listen and learn from the successful women around you.

On Creating A Culture Of Allyship

You have to move beyond the individual. Move beyond the teams. Move beyond even the org-level mechanisms and have something companywide that’s actually written down that this part of the culture.