By Wendy John (she/her/hers), Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Fidelity Investments
For each of us, the way we show up in the world is significantly informed by our own lived experience. It’s important that we reflect on how those experiences have shaped us since it impacts so much about us—the things we pick up on and pay attention to, the people we admire, the language we use, and the decisions we make.
My story begins many years ago in the Caribbean on the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. I lived there until I completed high school. What you may not know is Trinidad has a very rich cultural background and very diverse population in terms of race, ethnicity, and religious beliefs.
Early exposure to this diversity and celebration of Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and other faiths informs my approach to my current role.
My earliest personal experience with being different was based on gender. For high school I attended an all-girl school for the first five years.
I was very good in math and my favorite teacher, who was also my math teacher suggested I consider the actuarial profession. I was sold based solely on her recommendation.
Soon thereafter , I learned that to prepare for the university curriculum in actuarial science at the University of Waterloo in Canada, my top choice, the program I needed to complete for the final two years of high school was not available in my all-girls school.
In fact, it was primarily only offered in the all-boy schools, according to demand.
I navigated the complexity of rival high schools and competitive admissions to gain a coveted spot as one of the girls in an all-boys high school. At the age of 16, I became one of eight girls in a school of a thousand boys.
To say that experience prepared me for the rest of my life in North America is an understatement.
The experience of being different followed me to the University of Waterloo in Canada, where I found myself as one of few females and sometimes the only female and black person in some classes.
I moved to the U.S. after graduation to begin my actuarial science career and again found myself amongst the underrepresented in the field, and also at work in Boston.
Upon reflection, I leveraged my differences to my advantage. It was early in my career as a young whippersnapper that I first was advised to remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Growing up, I had run more sprints than long distances, so I took that advice as a challenge and it prompted me to complete a marathon the following year. Crazy, I know!
The process of training for that marathon made the advice very real for me. I learned the discipline of preparation and appropriate pacing to build up your endurance and the muscle to complete the long distance.
A few years later, I was introduced to an informal group of senior black leaders at Fidelity. It was the first time I found mentors and sponsors who looked like me inside my own workplace and it made a huge difference.
With their support, and as I gained more experience and comfort in the corporate setting across various leadership roles, I honed my voice and learned how to share my perspectives thoughtfully.
My presence and voice brought something new to the conversation. While my path to leading diversity and inclusion at Fidelity may not have been traditional, I tap into many of my prior experiences in cultivating inclusion for our workplace, our customers, and the communities we serve.
