\u00a0Despite decades of progress and great strides in recent years for women in the workplace, women still face inordinate challenges in corporate America.<\/p>\n
Trends for women in the global workplace show the pipeline for top leadership positions still hasn\u2019t recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Women held just 14% of senior leadership positions in 2023, down from 18% in 2019. In 2020, 5 million women in the U.S. alone lost jobs. Many still have not come back to work, and many of those who have are often returning at lower professional levels than when they left.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a problem. And it\u2019s one Advantage Solutions marketing<\/strong> is actively seeking to help solve.<\/p>\n Driven by its commitment to elevating women in the workplace, Advantage is expanding its partnership with NextUp, a nonprofit network of women, men, allies and corporate partners working together to eliminate barriers for women in the workplace. This year, Advantage has significantly increased its investment in sponsorship, moving from Supporter level to Advocate level, which allows more available memberships for teammates and increased speaking and networking opportunities at NextUp events.<\/p>\n \u201cThis partnership is a tool to help us provide equitable development opportunities to the women in our organization so they can rise into those director and VP and above roles,\u201d says Rebecca Grey, vice president, belonging & impact, DEI & ESG. Developing women\u2019s careers and expanding the number of women in leadership roles \u2014 particularly where representation of women declines \u2014 is a priority and necessity at Advantage, Grey says.<\/p>\n In a country where women comprise 50% of the population, Advantage is a leader in women\u2019s representation in the workforce with 65%. But that number decreases as it rolls up to the director and VP level, Grey says.<\/p>\n \u201cAll dimensions of diversity offer unique experiences that impact a teammate\u2019s career journey. So it’s important as an organization that we recognize that, meet people where they are, and give them the tools and resources that they need to achieve their personal and professional goals and in an equitable way,\u201d Grey says.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s expanding partnership with NextUp is a key lever. NextUp, which offers leadership training and development programs for members and, significantly, the opportunity to network with women leaders from different businesses on a national scale through online and in-person events, grew its membership to a record 17,131 in 2023.<\/p>\n It now has more than 100 corporate partnerships, with Advantage ranking in the top three in terms of engagement, says Lisa Baird, the organization\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n For Advantage, which has invested heavily in internal Belonging & Impact initiatives and employee resource groups such as its Women\u2019s Interactive Network (WIN), the partnership with NextUp expands the opportunities available to its teammates to grow and develop their careers.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies have done an extraordinary amount to build internal development programs, and we work with them to supplement and create programs that are complementary,\u201d NextUp\u2019s Baird says. \u201cWhat an internal program can never replace is the awareness and the ability to learn in the context of other people from other companies that a national organization like NextUp offers.\u201d<\/p>\n Michelle Tonner, director of client services for fresh foods at Daymon, an Advantage business, is a longtime NextUp member. She says her involvement with the organization has allowed her \u201cto take hold of my own development plan and build a leadership platform by using their resources and tools.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always an opportunity to learn from the outside and to work with people who are like-minded in our industry but may be at different points on the path,\u201d Tonner says.<\/p>\n For Advantage\u2019s Ericka Prentice, being a NextUp member proved a critical stepping stone into a new corporate role. After joining Advantage eight years ago as a part-time field engagement trainer, Prentice worked in a variety of sales roles across the company. An active member of WIN, Advantage\u2019s employee resource group for women and allies, she was invited to speak at last year\u2019s NextUp Summit.<\/p>\n The Summit was where Prentice was able to connect with members of Advantage\u2019s executive leadership team, including Grey and CEO Dave Peacock. After meeting Prentice and hearing her speak on stage, Grey invited her to join her team as manager of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging \u2014 a dream job.<\/p>\n \u201cThe exposure that NextUp gave me between speaking there and being able to network with our own leadership made all the difference in the world,\u201d Prentice says. She\u2019ll be onstage again at this year\u2019s Summit, sharing the story of her experience.<\/p>\n A self-described \u201clearner,\u201d Prentice joined NextUp two years ago and took full advantage of the organization\u2019s training, courses and self-assessments. She estimates that those programs would have cost her thousands of dollars on her own. But with Advantage investing in career growth across levels, she was able to participate for free.<\/p>\n Speaking at the Summit in front of more than a thousand attendees \u201cwas one of the best experiences I ever had,\u201d Prentice says. \u201cNot just because I spoke, but to be there and experience the variety of speakers and topics, and to network with these leaders at the breakout sessions, to even interact with your own coworkers.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the women I\u2019ve met at the NextUp Summit, we still meet once a month to talk about different issues that may be coming up within our companies and to brainstorm,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Advantage\u2019s partnership with NextUp sends a strong message to people across the organization that the company\u2019s leadership values their growth and development, Prentice says. \u201cWe want you to grow within your career with Advantage and we want you to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n Dianne Galang, vice president of operations for Daymon and a NextUp board member, says the partnership \u201cshows that we\u2019re really leaning into diversity \u2014 and not just women, but overall diversity. NextUp isn\u2019t just about women, it\u2019s about promoting diversity in business.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0Despite decades of progress and great strides in recent years for women in the workplace, women still face inordinate challenges in corporate America. Trends for women in the global workplace show the pipeline for top leadership positions still hasn\u2019t recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Women held just 14% of senior leadership positions in 2023, down from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2814,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"mrktblog-category":[43],"class_list":["post-2918","mrktblog-posts","type-mrktblog-posts","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mrktblog-category-people"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA National Platform to Learn, Grow and Lead<\/h2>\n
A Career-Changing Opportunity<\/h2>\n