In honor of Women’s History Month at RGE, we're sharing inspiring stories of women leaders. Last week, we spoke with HBS alumnae Selena Cuffe and Janelle James about their paths to success, their experiences as Black women leaders in the workplace, and how they envision the future of global equity.
Selena Cuffe (MBA, 2003) is the Chief Growth Officer at the $800m Black-owned consulting firm Blackstone Consulting Inc. (BCI) that manages food service, janitorial, and security. She also co-founded Heritage Link Brands with her husband to showcase the incredible stories of Black wine producers from South Africa and the African diaspora.
Janelle James (MBA, 2008; Harvard College, 2000) is a Senior Vice President at Ipsos North America leading media and tech qualitative research and championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The following conversation revealed truths about how today’s challenges can affect tomorrow’s changes and provides some insights into the importance of an ecosystem to support women in leadership.
--------
RGE: How did you get started on your career journeys? What in your professional or personal life has inspired or guided you?
Selena Cuffe: My journey has been fueled by passion and a quest for more. I grew up in a blue-collar household, and my mother worked in customer service at Hertz Rent-a-Car at LAX airport. Her job was often tied to the whims of her manager, leading to countless discussions where I questioned why she didn't quit a job she clearly despised. Her response was consistent: "You need to go to school, get good grades, so you have the option to quit a job. I don't have that luxury." This perspective deeply resonated with me.
During my teens, I discovered the INROADS (Internship) Program*, which opened doors to corporate exposure. My career shifted through banking roles, including a stint at Goldman Sachs in Latin American finance, and eventually led me to Procter & Gamble, where I honed my marketing skills until I made a career shift.
Janelle James: My career trajectory started with an internship at Leo Burnett in advertising before joining them full-time. I've had a unique career journey where I've had many seats around the “integrated marketing” table (like PR, Consulting, Advertising, etc.), which ultimately led me to my current role in research.
On a personal level, I'm a first-generation American, with parents from Guyana, South America. My heritage has always kept me mindful of the world beyond the US. My family’s focus on education and giving back put me on a path where education, cultural awareness and celebration, and service were intertwined. In middle school, I took part in a program called Prep for Prep**, which helped get into an independent school in New York City. In high school, I spent my summers as an advisor to students currently in Prep for Prep and abroad in France with a family. Prep for Prep and [The Chapin School] led me to Harvard College and eventually Harvard Business School. In college, I founded the Caribbean Club Dance Troupe and, immediately after college, co-founded the Harvard Black Alumni Society. At Leo Burnett, two years after starting, I became the youngest expat and worked in Italy for 4 years. When I returned, I founded their first-ever employee resource group, leading 200 people in an agency with roughly a thousand employees.
RGE: Was there a turning point in your career that has influenced who you’ve become?
Selena Cuffe: There were two turning points. One was getting to HBS. At the time, I was in an operating role for United Airlines, and a friend invited me to sit in on an HBS class. And I remember sitting in on that class and thinking, “Oh, my God—I want to raise my hand! I totally disagree with what that guy over there just said.” That experience enhanced my desire to be at HBS.
And HBS was a turning point. 9/11 happened right after I started. And I saw that every single person that I worked with at the airline was either furloughed or at a place where their future professionally was in danger. I thought, “Okay, I am not going to be able to go back to the airline.” I realized that the airline taught me a great amount about sales, but I felt like there was more to learn about marketing, to really round out how I could be a growth leader. And so, after graduating I went to work for Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati to learn how to take products to market commercially.
I had a fulfilling role marketing Pringles in Latin America, but I started to feel like I was batting for the other side. There were all these organic, healthy, better, free snacks kids could eat. My focus was on marketing Pringles to kids ages 6 to 11, and what I had to offer would not fit that mark at all. So, before my wedding (in the Class of 1959 Chapel on campus, to another HBS grad!), I decided to quit my job at P&G and relocate to Boston. I went to work for an agency that marketed study abroad and work exchange programs and issued visas for close to 50,000 people a year to come to the United States. I learned during that process that less than 50 of those 50,000 people came from countries with a majority Black population. Then, on a serendipitous trip to South Africa, I noticed a significant gap in the wine industry. There was the second turning point. A bright light going off in my head like, “Maybe this is why I learned about commercializing food and beverage at P&G. It was to bring these producers to the market!” And that is really just a brief glimpse of my career trajectory and how I looked at creating a career focused on supply chain diversification.
What started with wine producers ultimately led to doing it for a greater population of producers in the food and beverage Industry, including having served as the president of a joint venture for SODEXO, the French food and facilities company, and Magic Johnson (who I grew up thinking of as a hero, being an LA native). Serving as the president of joint venture SodexoMagic and drawing inspiration from Magic Johnson paved the way for my current position. Leading an organization to the $1 billion level presented an opportunity to impact various facets of professional services.
Janelle James: Two years into my advertising career, I got an opportunity to become an expat in Italy and worked there for four years, immersed myself in the culture, and learned the language. And that led to a couple of other overseas assignments working with other firms and immersing myself in other cultures. Doing business where the politics, economics, and even the country's demographics are totally different from what I knew and very far away from headquarters provided a multitude of varied experiences that have been interesting and impactful.
When I reflect on my career trajectory, I see a common thread of impact through customer, media, technology, and cultural intelligence. My experience at HBS was phenomenal, and one of the moments I'm proudest of in my career (even though it's a relatively small blip) is getting an internship in investment banking. I probably had the hardest interviews of anyone because I was a Sociology major in college, and I worked in advertising before HBS. Because my background was so atypical for an Associate, they actually made me do DCFs (Discounted Cashflow Analyses) and I had a third round of interviews off campus in their London office where most other interviews were two rounds with few actual quant exercises. Working for Deutsche Bank in London that summer changed the way I think about business, finance, and research. Even though I didn’t take the full-time offer, the experience was incredibly instrumental to how I think about my career, navigating organizations, and building relationships.
In the qualitative business at Ipsos, I also created a go-to-market strategy for marketplace and workplace Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion efforts and ended up leading that across my business unit. Now, I'm working with the company to see how we can expand that focus on inclusive research across North America.
So, there's a common thread here, right? These unexpected or novel experiences really helped shape you personally and professionally.
Selena Cuffe: Absolutely. INROADS was a game-changer, and other impactful programs like Management Leaders for Tomorrow or Sponsors for Educational Opportunity are also very important. These matter, especially for communities with limited exposure to opportunities accessible to many at HBS.
Janelle James: Access is crucial. Despite societal challenges, there are positive things happening to increase access today. Remote work and online interactions, like our video chat now, provide unprecedented access. When I applied to HBS from Italy in 2006, I wanted to participate in MLT, but couldn’t because nothing was remote at the time, and it wasn’t possible for me to be part of the program while living in Italy. The shift towards leveraging technology and online resources in work and education is a huge advantage today.
Growing up, my mom worked full-time as a Comptroller at a fragrance firm and for a few years went to night school as well, and I remember her saying to me recently, “If online education even existed, my life would have been 50% easier [in the 80s].” The opportunities that are available to so many of us today, be it flexible/hybrid work, the ability to get a degree or even a certification, whatever it is, through technology, is huge… particularly for many underrepresented people who must navigate educational and work-related systems not originally designed for them. Women, people of color, [and] people with disabilities have greater access today in a number of ways.
RGE: On that note, are there programs or initiatives that you see as useful for advancing women and people at mid-career, maybe after they get that initial access to business school or a key job?
Janelle James: Information on doing well at work often comes through informal networks. So, programs are critically important for those with weaker networks and fewer corporate relationships. I started the first employee resource group at Leo Burnett in 2010 to formalize many of those informal lessons and to provide more support and access to employees from underrepresented groups. Depending on your outsider status or the strength of your network, you’ll need more intentional ‘programming’. For instance, when I interned at Deutsche Bank, they had a mentorship program for summer interns, recognizing our outsider position. Of about 20 Summer Associates in Banking, there were 4 women including me… and one Black person (me!), so while that program was valuable to all of the interns, it was particularly valuable for me since there was less diversity in the permanent staff and less people “like me” to organically connect with. At many firms, mentorship programs are vital to support everyone from new hires to those with nontraditional backgrounds to those with potential for greater leadership.
Selena Cuffe: Identity matters in programming effectiveness. Women of color face unique challenges. Research from HBS faculty has highlighted their isolation and psychological pain. It's on us to create and leverage our own programs—coaching, personal boards of directors. Recognition often comes from outside our organizations. Kudos to alumnae Lisa Skeete Tatum and Sheila Marcelo, by the way, for founding Landit, a platform that personalizes career paths. They're addressing the need for a holistic approach to support professional growth and diversity in the workplace.
RGE: From your vantage point today, being in senior leadership, what would you say are the challenges for individual women of color and for society more broadly when it comes to promote equity and inclusion?
Janelle James: The biggest challenge is navigating company politics, especially in the current DEI backlash. People acknowledge the importance of diversity, but often see it as separate from business. My role often involves helping others understand that DEI is integral to business success, tied to the marketplace and the workplace. It's interesting how a short-term focus can persist despite the proven business case for more inclusive products, services, and communications and how inclusivity can support long-term business growth.
Selena Cuffe: I empathize with your challenges, Janelle, particularly in an industry where [a] scarcity mentality prevails. Navigating perceptions and advocating for diverse supply chains while managing the political landscape has been intricate. For example, there are [Black] producers from South Africa who have been trying to break into the US market, [which is dominated by producers who] are sixth generation, seventh generation producers. Multigenerational vintners perceive the “new crop” of Black wine producers as both lacking industry knowledge and the experience to produce quality wines. There’s this feeling of, “We have been working at this for years. How are you able to get distribution or win these awards. [But] our wines win quality awards despite being relatively new to market.
Trying to navigate that while also, then across the pond, trying to advocate for all the reasons why diverse supply chains are better because they bring in more high-quality products, introduce innovation into your service experience. At the same time, finding a place like BCI, aligned with my values, feels like home—a testament to the positive results of diverse perspectives.
Janelle James: I'm still waiting to experience that cultural synergy that can exist when you’re working in an environment [where one is] part of the dominant group, having always worked in spaces where I’m part of an underrepresented group. Achieving equity is a goal, but resistance persists despite the proven business case at times because how fairness is perceived varies.
Professor Robert Livingston’s cookie analogy about fairness is relevant here: he tells this story about Betty's unfair cookie sharing between her daughters, Francis and Zelda. At first, Francis got four cookies, and Zelda got none. When the school steps in, Betty changes it to three cookies for Francis and one for Zelda. Both daughters end up unhappy given [that] Francis was accustomed to 4 cookies and Zelda understands that she should have 2 cookies if they are shared equally. Although White males are less than 30% of the US population, they’ve historically held 100% of the top positions (four "cookies"). Now with 85% of those top positions, it can seem unfair to them [that they’ve lost 15%]. Going from four to three cookies, though still a privilege, can make them feel like victims.
Selena Cuffe: It's fascinating how navigating a headspace not focused on scarcity can lead to a positive environment. For example, our diverse C-suite at BCI, united by a simple mission, exemplifies the power of embracing diversity.
RGE: With all the challenges in mind, how optimistic are you about getting to gender and racial equity?
Janelle James: I'm optimistic. I recently attended a conference where another HBS woman, Dr. Renee Richardson Gosline, was presenting on creating value with a human-first approach in AI. And I love all the conversations we're having today about AI because I do think there are huge parallels to DEI. Both AI and DEI should be integrated into the business strategy. Both are integral, as we think about future innovation and business growth. Friction in design is often seen as a pain point. What Dr. Richardson Gosline shared was ‘good friction,’ [which represents] a critical opportunity for human input, a more customer-centric approach---given 100% automated systems can be harmful, particularly for underrepresented groups not considered in the design. She goes onto share that scientifically, friction is integral for 2 reasons: acceleration and changing direction.
The analogy she used is based on physics, but I think it's applicable here. The DEI backlash and the resistance many of us are feeling is a form of friction. And hopefully, this friction will not only allow us to accelerate how we advance and ensure that DEI is integrated into business systems, but it will also allow us to change course so that we can improve. I think sometimes, when you are in it, in the midst of friction, you are mired in things that feel exhausting. I mean, when I look at some of the things happening today from a woman's rights perspective for example, it's unbelievable. I'm like, “Where are we?” But I think when we ask ourselves, “What is going on?”; “Why are we experiencing this resistance, this societal friction?” It’s an opportunity to get better at effecting change, building DEI initiatives, and developing policies that are empowering and equitable for everyone in our society… so that they can be airtight the next time.
Selena Cuffe: I'm sitting here in Los Angeles, where our mayor is a woman. If you look at LA County, which is larger than many countries, we have for the past two years been governed by the “five queens” ---our county supervisors. It’s the first time ever in history that all that [land] is being driven by decisions that badass women are making, and so I can't help but be optimistic. I also think about how my nine-year-old daughter interprets this moment and navigates this environment, knowing that her mom's the boss and everyone around her is a boss. While we do face bumps and bruises, hiccups and challenges, from my perspective there's nothing new about that, right?
When I get into moments where I get frustrated, discouraged or feel like I want to explode because the nonsense is so loud, I think a lot about my great-grandfather. My father's grandfather was born a slave. When the Emancipation Proclamation occurred, he was eight years old. It's a very powerful fact that helps me to recalibrate my emotions and think about the fact that this man ended up having 16 children, the youngest of which was my grandfather who matriculated into the Tuskegee University, where he met my grandmother, who was one of just six women in her graduating class, where she majored in math. I recognize the real sacrifices that he and my ancestors had to make, that it probably wasn't an easy journey for any of them along the way. I very much leverage their memories as fuel to continue to trailblaze.
