Michelle Gadsden-Williams (Author & Managing Director, Inclusion & Diversity Lead, Accenture)

Michelle Gadsen-Williams discusses why she decided to write The Climb: Taking Every Step with Conviction, Courage, and Calculated Risk to Achieve a Thriving Career and a Successful Life. She talks about how it was always her intention to write a book where she could be vulnerable and truthful about what it takes to succeed in corporate America as a woman of color. According to Gadsen-Williams, the book is meant as a playbook of sorts for all women and men who are allies of women, on how to pursue professional dreams achieve their goals. She talks about what it was like to reach the C-Suite with “having to take the stairs, with a backpack and no air conditioning.”