RISKY BUSINESS
BALANCING CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AND JOB EXECUTION
S
SScores Scores of young professionals ficores lled a room to hear high- On a typical day the two Northrop Grumman vice presi-
ppererformforming executives impart their collective wisdom at form dents talked often about business, as well as about the
tthe 200the 2008 Whe 200 omen of Color “Balancing Career Achieve- little things. “We all need to be able to talk to each other
ment and Job Execution” seminart . Northrop Grumman because we cannot live for a day without being with each
Corporation’s Chineta K. Davis, retired vice president other, talking to each other,” Davis said. “I am fortunate
and general manager of operations, Electronic Systems, in having another vice president and general manager I
Patricia A. Newby, then director of Airborne Warning share that relationship with—very seldom do you see that
Systems, Pamela Roberts, director of diversity and inclu- happen among women.”
sion, Information Technology, and Gwendolyn Tillman,
corporate manager, Socio Economic Business program,
Davis, a 1970s mechanical engineering graduate from
all shared their secrets on managing careers and fi nding
Johns Hopkins University, was one of the fi rst women
job satisfaction with a common-sense approach to work.
of color to hold the title of sector vice president at any
Ted Imes, director, Community and Education Outreach,
Fortune 100 Defense company. Most of her career was
moderated the session.
dedicated to programs that saved lives from undersea
to cyberspace. She is actively engaged in repositioning
Networking has engineering as an exciting and rewarding career choice,
been invaluable through initiatives that encourage girls to consider engi-
for Chineta K. neering careers.
Davis, whose
33-year career
Patricia Newby, a 30-year Northrop Grumman Corp. vet-
began at West-
eran met Davis in a co-op program designed to increase
inghouse Elec-
the number of women and minorities in engineering at
tronic in 1976.
Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group. The relationship
Over a period of
they formed would last for years.
more than three
decades, Davis
held several
mission critical
jobs before gain-
ing executive
responsibility for
sector manu-
facturing and supply-chain operations and processes
as VP and general manager of operations in Northrop
Grumman’s Electronics Systems sector. Northrop Grum-
man electronic systems was created by the acquisition of
Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group in 1996.
“I have had a very varied career: 14 different jobs over
32 years,” said Davis, who retired in February 2009. “But
what I want to share with you today is networking and
how important that is. I want to share the person I work
with every day, because I am in a position people never
see with women when they work together. The person I
work with on a daily basis is our vice president and gen-
eral manager of engineering and business. Her name is
Gloria Flach. And Gloria has about 10 - 12,000 people.”
In 2004, Newby was appointed president of Xetron,
a Cincinnati-based defense communications unit of
Northrop Grumman, with responsibility for all program
activities and business growth strategies. While there,
14 WOMENOFCOLOR | FALL 2009
www.womenofcolor.net
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76