UCPLA President, CEO Lori Anderson talks importance of women leadership on L.A. Business Journal panel
Some of Los Angeles’ best and brightest women held a discussion on the importance of women leadership and how to change organizations for the better during the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Women Leadership Series & Awards 2020 on Wednesday.
UCPLA President and CEO Lori Anderson spoke on the need for women on organizations’ boards and how she has helped create opportunities.
“UCPLA’s Junior Board was established in 2016 and it was to create the next generation of leaders,” Anderson said. “It offers opportunities for young professionals to learn more about the importance of supporting nonprofit organizations and their mission. Right now, we have 15 ambitious up and coming professional leaders on our board. Interestingly 67 percent of them are women and all of the officers, the positions, are filled by women.”
Anderson talked about how UCPLA has created “win-win” partnerships with local universities, teaming up with the UCLA Anderson School of Management and Pepperdine University. The students of UCLA Anderson School of Management helped create a business plan for a new UCPLA enterprise set to be unveiled in March 2021.
“This partnership has allowed the students the opportunity to connect with our staff, our team, our agency, and really embrace our mission,” Anderson said. “And it’s also been a really great recruiting tool for junior board members.”
Moderator Donella M. Wilson, of Green Hasson Janks and GHJ Foundation, later asked Anderson how she was able to successfully add more women in leadership roles on UCPLA’s board.
“Change is a challenge. Boards and companies that don’t start to embrace change and do things differently are absolutely going to get left behind,” Anderson said. “Managing change requires a lot of work and it’s a seamless transition from a current state to what the desired future state is.”
To make change easier, Anderson recommended to have very clearly defined goals for the organization, clear and transparent communication for all members.
“You need to manage everyone’s expectations of what the board is and what the board is going to look like in the future. Of course, as you make little milestones and you see new members coming on, celebrate those wins. No matter how small the win is, celebrate the win.”
Anderson went on to add the change she has witnessed within the organization. “The board members at UCPLA and the staff, really just everyone, start to gain the momentum they need in order to embrace change, explore new and more innovate ways of thinking and doing things, and really, new ways of doing business.”
As the portion of the panel wrapped up, Wilson directed one of the final questions toward Anderson, asking what should boards stop doing in order to improve.
Anderson said from her perspective, after spending years of her career on boards, members need to stop coming into meetings with all of their opinions.
“They need to do their homework,” Anderson said. “I think it’s really important they do their homework before showing up to meetings. Boards are the highest governing authority within a management structure in a company. And they need to understand how the company is performing financially and if the company is operating in compliance with standards. So it’s just important that accountability means the board understands and knows what is going on in the company.”
“I’ve had the privilege of watching our board’s engagement increase dramatically over the last year. And no doubt, that’s going to lead to the long-term success company.”
You can watch the entire discussion here.