Diversity MBA Magazine - Summer 2008 - (Page 19)

COVER FEATURE your boss and the people you work with. Don’t wait for them to approach you. Consider reaching out part of your job. You can’t rely on just your work alone. It’s about relationships.” For mid-level professionals hoping to move upward, he says, the word is "leadership," -- “What kind of leader are you? Do you have fellowship? Can you rally people?” At all levels, Williams adds, don’t shy away from risks. He also relocated, from New York to California, and moved from his familiar expertise, marketing, into general management, a promotion that was viewed by some as risky because he was venturing into new territory. “It paid off though, because I had the opportunity to have a greater impact on the organization and to show abilities in more than one area,” he says. He also credits mentors for their role in helping him successfully navigating the corporate terrain, but is quick to point out that they weren’t necessarily a mirror image of him – they weren’t African-American or more senior. “But they were brutally honest with me and gave me key insights,” he says. Though he’s doing what he always dreamed of, he says when it comes to what makes him proud, it’s not so much about what he’s done at work, but at home, especially his two children. “I’ve always tried to be a producer, to build a track record of results,” he says. “But a lot, I have to say, comes from being at the right place at the right time; to being prepared when you have good luck.” ANNE PRAMAGGIORE There are at least two things Anne Pramaggiore really got right – going to law school and accepting a position at ComEd, where she’s now executive vice president of customer operations, regulatory and external affairs. DePaul University School of Law gave her analytical rigor that provided the foundation for broader problem-solving that has served her well in her career. “I learned to think quickly, carefully and analytically,” she says. She oversees distribution and transmission rate making, customer operations, and state regulatory affairs and strategy for ComEd. A decade ago, she left McDemott, Will & Emery, where she was partner in the trade regulation practice. “It was a leap of faith,” she says. “I had a great job as an attorney, but as an anti-trust lawyer I wanted to jump on the bandwagon, to be in on the ground floor of one of the last major industries that was moving from regulation to deregulation. It would be an exciting time, with all the industry change, but it also could have gone the other way.” Essentially, Pramaggiore gambled and won. “It’s been tremendous for me,” she notes. “I have expanded beyond my legal horizons. You have to be flexible; you have to deal with change. When I didn’t, it wasn’t pretty.” Another discovery for her was the reality of how decisions happen in corporate America. It’s never simple black and white, “Initially I was surprised by how complex the decision-making process is,” she says. “It’s not just looking at numbers, but many factors -- emotions, people, analytics.” One thing Pramaggiore enjoys most is how her job allows her to touch lives. Recently, ComEd, after negotiating with the state legislature, was able to launch environmental programs for customers to reduce their bills, no small matter given rising energy costs. In addition, the company has set up a fund to assist people struggling to pay their bills. “We worked hard to get a difficult piece of legislation passed, and what resulted will be a help to people. I feel good about that,” she says, She admits to having a thing for helping; she currently has four dogs and four horses, some of which she got from shelters. She’s grateful to the mentors who helped chart her course, and surmises that if she had gone directly to law school after getting her undergraduate degree, she might have moved faster. But the six years between undergrad and grad school gave her work experience that put a different spin on law school. “Your 19 June 2008 Top 1 0 0 Unde r 5 0 D i ve rse Le ade rs

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Diversity MBA Magazine - Summer 2008

Diversity MBA Magazine - Summer 2008 Contents Letters to the Editor In Your Own Hands Editor's View Find Your Power Voice Business Briefs Off the Shelf The Fourth Annual Top 100 Under 50 Diverse Corporate Executives Negotiation: The Art of Persuasion or Zero Sum Game? Career Planning for Tomorrow's Hispanic Workforce Who's Who In Diversity Entrepreneur Profile: Anita Santiago: Doing It Her Way Businesses that Keep On Giving Rising Sun Going Global: Will An International Assignment Benefit Your Career Work-Life Balance and the C-Suite: An Oxymoron? A Call to Save Travel: Off the Beaten Path - Chile Drawing the Line – Latin Art Exhibit The New Taste of Latin Cuisine American Sabor: Exhibit Highlights Latino Influence in Pop Music Crafting Specialized Business Degrees Latest MBA Salary Suggests MBA Is A Safe Haven Gadgets & Gizmos Gone Phishing – How Scammers Mine Private Data From Web Surfers Advertiser's Index The Meaning of Sanctuary

Diversity MBA Magazine - Summer 2008

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