• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Summer camps remain a battleground over what it means to be American

2

Current price of oil as of July 13, 2026

3

The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents

1

Summer camps remain a battleground over what it means to be American

2

Current price of oil as of July 13, 2026

3

The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents
MPWMost Powerful Women

3 Big Ideas From Fortune’s Next Generation of Powerful Women

Anne Sraders
By
Anne Sraders
Anne Sraders
Down Arrow Button Icon
Anne Sraders
By
Anne Sraders
Anne Sraders
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 13, 2019, 3:41 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Attendees at Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit had big ideas for how to fix problems throughout corporate America.

Senior editor Ellen McGirt led the group in a conversation about building intersectional networks to solve those problems. Here are the solutions they found:

Be courageous enough to be vulnerable

As a trained therapist, Vivianne Castillo, a senior design researcher at Salesforce, suggests giving voice to the feelings—like fear, shame, and unwritten rules of leadership—that get in the way of innovation.

Castillo said during the town hall that the “hyper-awareness of lack in a culture of scarcity at times can make that question of ‘enough’ feel not only constant, but crippling. How much is enough influence?”

Instead of prioritizing work and material success over emotional, physical, and mental health, Castillo says, we should be vulnerable. “Being vulnerable and transparent is probably one of the most courageous and inspiring things we can do,” she said.

Proactively push for diversity

Seventeen years ago, there were zero women on the field as scouts, officials, or decision-makers in American football. That didn’t sit well with Samantha Rapoport, senior director of football development for the National Football League. “We boast that 45% of our fan base is female—this needed to be fixed,” she said.

Rapoport helped create the NFL Careers and Football forum, an annual gathering that puts 50 women interested in NFL jobs in front of head coaches, general managers, and owners. To make that happen, Rapoport recalled, she and her colleagues asked top coaches and managers directly why there weren’t women coaching in the league. Putting coaches on the spot inspired action and ultimately resulted in several female on-field hires.

In another example of action over talk, at least 50% of the women included in the program must be women of color; if not, the program isn’t hosted.

“We’re not looking for firsts, we’re not looking for trailblazers—we’re looking to create the norm,” Rapoport said.

Open up opportunities for all

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah is president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service—and a former Democratic primary candidate for governor in Maryland. Her organization’s mission to provide aid to refugees and immigrants became more critical last summer, she said, as the crisis over separation of migrant parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border reached a fever pitch.

“I’ve learned to love and to leverage my identity and my experience as a woman, as a woman of color, as an immigrant, and as a mom,” she said. “Together, we will change the world because we must.”

More must-read stories from Fortune’s MPW Next Gen Summit:

—Chanel Miller is more than “Emily Doe”
—The “blameless post mortem” and other techniques that spur innovation
—Career pivots are daunting. Here’s how three powerful women made them work
—Goldman Sachs removed one word from recruiting materials and female hires soared
—Exclusive: Enterprise scion Chrissy Taylor to become car rental giant’s CEO
Keep up with the world’s most powerful women with
The Broadsheet newsletter.

About the Author
Anne Sraders
By Anne Sraders
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

‘Close to as good as it gets’: Jamie Dimon just offered another warning on bubbly markets as Wall Street had a monster quarter
BankingJPMorgan Chase
‘Close to as good as it gets’: Jamie Dimon just offered another warning on bubbly markets as Wall Street had a monster quarter
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 14, 2026
3 hours ago
e
Arts & EntertainmentSocial Media
American influencers turn Erling Haaland into the World Cup’s breakout brand
By Kaitlyn Huamani and The Associated PressJuly 13, 2026
1 day ago
Taylor Swift paid New York City more than $160,000 to cover the costs tied to her wedding, Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed
Arts & EntertainmentTaylor Swift
Taylor Swift paid New York City more than $160,000 to cover the costs tied to her wedding, Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed
By The Associated Press, Catherina Gioino, Andrew Dalton and Kimberlee KruesiJuly 10, 2026
4 days ago
Around 2.6 million fewer Americans have affordable healthcare access plan as affordability becomes top issue ahead of midterms
North AmericaAmerican Politics
Around 2.6 million fewer Americans have affordable healthcare access plan as affordability becomes top issue ahead of midterms
By The Associated Press and Ali SwensonJuly 7, 2026
7 days ago
bernie
PoliticsBook Excerpt
Bernie Sanders told me exactly why he had to run. The Democratic Party still isn’t listening
By Tad DevineJuly 7, 2026
7 days ago
Indra Nooyi sitting in a chair behind a red background.
SuccessCareers
Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it
By Preston ForeJuly 6, 2026
8 days ago

Most Popular

Summer camps remain a battleground over what it means to be American
North America
Summer camps remain a battleground over what it means to be American
By Seth T. Kannarr, Derek H. Alderman and The ConversationJuly 13, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of July 13, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 13, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 13, 2026
1 day ago
The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents
Innovation
The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 12, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 13, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 13, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 13, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of gold as of July 13, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of July 13, 2026
By Danny BakstJuly 13, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, July 14, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 14, 2026
12 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.