URSULA BURNS WITH 2011 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT VERNON JORDAN, HER MENTOR WAYLAND HICKS, AND VISITING HER HIGH SCHOOL ALUMA MATER.
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LEAVING MORE THAN YOU TAKE Burns is on a crusade to show students the value of an educa- tion in science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM. She can’t comprehend why people would forego a career as an engineer or in the sciences. Tere is almost a guar- antee that a student who is passionate about STEM will earn a good living and contribute to society, Burns says. “We have so many people opting out of it; it’s amazing,” she marvels. In 2009, President Obama tapped her to lead the White
House STEM program. Along with other major CEOs, she leads a nonprofit initiative called Change the Equation. Te program expands summer science camps for girls, allows more students to take part in robotics competitions, increases teacher training, and helps students take more advanced placement courses in math and science. “She’s in Washington doing a lot of things; push-
ing STEM initiatives and so forth,” says Ivy Tomas McKinney, Xerox’s deputy general counsel and chief ethics officer. “And I think it gives visibility to what she stands for, and diversity is one of those things that she stands for.”
But even her daughter, described by Burns as a “great
mathematician, very smart,” is attending NYU to study writing or social anthropology.
NUMBERS DON'T LIE Like a true engineer, Burns’ analysis of numbers drives her feelings on diversity. “Tere’s a tidal wave coming. Look at educational structure. Look at birthrates. If we want to prepare for the future of this nation, we must prepare for a future of diversity,” she says. “And society still [spends] a lot of energy trying to
exclude—and that’s one of the reasons why Minority Corporate Counsel Association and the National Black Employees Association (a caucus of black Xerox employees) and the National Association of Black Engineers—all of these organizations, why they exist is because they’re trying to push against trying to keep people out. So, I think it’s a business imperative; it’s logical. It’s a social imperative; it’s logical. It’s mathematical. I’m an engineer. Just look at the numbers, you can’t avoid it.” D&B
“ IF WE WANT TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS NATION, WE MUST PREPARE FOR A FUTURE OF DIVERSITY.” —URSULA BURNS
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
MCCA.COM
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