Leadership
WOMEN LEADING
THE WAY AT SONY
Advancing the Leadership of Women is not a
CSR Initiative; It’s a Competitive Imperative
A
robust pipeline
to me!”
Erna Adelson
Lee Wills
global innovator
founded 72 years ago in Tokyo, with
its North American Headquarters here,
in Rancho Bernardo, Sony leads in
broadcast technology, gaming, motion
pictures, music and with the hardware of
Sony Electronics. Sony’s excellence can
be seen not only in its technology, but
in its commitment to inclusion, diversity,
STEM and the advancement of the female
workforce not only around the globe, but
here in San Diego.
As part of its commitment to advance
women in leadership, Sony has
supported Athena
for two decades.
Athena is a women’s
empowerment
organization that fast
tracks women in STEM
through leadership
development. “Athena
provides women in
technical leadership
roles the opportunity
to network and get
mentoring from
others in similar
positions,” explained
Erna Adelson. These
82 GBSAN.COM | MAY 2019
Maya Wasserman
Theresa Alesso
opportunities allow for women pursuing
technical careers to access the contacts
and experience to excel in their fields.
Mike Fasulo, President & COO of Sony
Electronics Inc. shared with Giving
Back Magazine, “Many organizations
falsely assume that the lack of women
in leadership is due to a weak pipeline
of qualified women. However, the data
tells a different story: Women outnumber
men in college graduation rates – 57%
of bachelor’s degrees, 60% of master’s
degrees and 51% of doctoral degrees are
completed by women. That seems like a
The relationship
between Sony
and Athena is
one that is close
to their hearts: Erna Adelson, Sr. Director
of Finance Systems for Sony Interactive
Entertainment spent 6 years on the
Board at Athena, who then recruited
Cheryl Goodman, Head of Corporate
Communications and Corporate Social
Responsibility, at the time a Senior
Director at Qualcomm and led Athena
for 2 years and Lee Wills, Head of Talent
Acquisition & Employee Engagement at
Sony Electronics Inc. who currently serves
on the board of Athena. Cheryl Goodman
shared: “Investing in the development of
all employees is
not just the right
thing to do - it is
the smart thing
to do!”
Cheryl Goodman
“Plenty of
arguments exist
for increasing
the focus around
closing the gender
gap, but the most
compelling is the
growing body of
research showing
gender-diverse