The Power of Dialogue: Women’s Topics at the Fore in November 30 Community Events

Last week, I was honored to join many of our Singapore-based team members for a November 30th coffee chat hosted by Simon Green, senior vice president, Asia-Pacific. During the session, we covered a wide variety of topics: preparing for the career you want, work-life integration, and ways to approach communication and personal leadership to be more effective. I shared my professional journey, and spoke about the importance of inclusion and women supporting women, as well as men supporting women – and vice versa. I firmly believe that it takes all of us working together to ensure an inclusive workplace.

A couple of local leaders then shared their career journeys with the group. Ashwini Krishnamurthy, channel business manager, talked about being a working mother whose career took her and her family to a dozen countries. Sally Nguyen, corporate sales rep, discussed personal development, including the challenge of learning English after relocating to Singapore.

On the other side of the world, HQ-based employees were, that same day, treated to the first of an ongoing series of fireside chats introducing our executive-level women. In the inaugural “Meet with HER” session, Linda Moss, vice president, Global Enablement, talked candidly about what brought her to Palo Alto Networks – from her childhood in Wales to roles around the world (with the trade-offs made along the way), plus her passions and guiding principles. These three women truly inspire us.

The events were hosted by respective chapters of the Palo Alto Networks Women’s Networking Community (WNC), an employee networking group founded in 2015. Today, there are several WNC chapters around the world, with more starting soon. We regularly encourage our employees to establish other employee networking groups to further build community at Palo Alto Networks.

The events last week reflect a genuine interest in fostering a work environment that welcomes and respects all – very much in keeping with our culture. Kudos to our WNC Founding Committee members, including co-chairs Vonnie French and Ronit Polak, as well as our extended group of supporters and sponsors, for making respect for all a priority.