As it sought to launch an effort to advance women in the company, American Express began by asking senior employees if they considered themselves ambitious and if they had ever publicly shared their desire to grow professionally.
"Unsurprisingly, our women told us 'yes, we're ambitious,' but what really surprised us is only a third of that group of women said they had ever publicly declared that ambition," Sonia Cargan, chief inclusion and diversity officer at American Express told Cheddar on Friday.
Internally, two years after asking those questions, more than 100 women have been promoted or entered the company at the executive level or above. Globally, women at the company are paid at parity to male counterparts, according to the company.
Now, Amex and the New York Women's Foundation will launch a joint program called "The Ambition Project" on International Women's Day March 8.
Part of the project’s goal is to create conversations both inside and outside the company to help women embrace and own their career goals.
"We want women to be ambitious for themselves and ambitious for others, whether that be for their professional life, personal life, or their communities," Cargan said.
Over the next year, the Ambition Project will share and spread blog posts and videos highlighting examples of success at all levels, host leaders and influencers to discuss professional growth, expand shadowing programs within the company, and publish research on the topic.
Arjan Stephens, President of Nature's Path, discusses the company's origin, how it has evolved today and the interesting product that came from his wedding!
Small business reporter, Gene Marks, joins Cheddar to give analysis on how small businesses are tackling incoming tariffs and how it will affect the consumer.
Babylist CEO Natalie Gordon joins Cheddar to discuss how the website is helping new parents, how to make a registry and how secondhand options are available.
ReturnPro CEO Sender Shamiss to discuss how his company is changing the way we make returns and how Trump's tariffs are affecting the return business. Watch!
Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG International, joins J.D. Durkin to give analysis on the recent trade truce between the U.S. and China. Watch!
Shan Aggarwal, VP of Corporate and Business Development at Coinbase, discusses the company's acquisitio of Deribit as it heads into the S&P 500. Watch!
Shopping expert Trae Bodge discusses how talks between the U.S. and China is good news for now, but uncertainty remains for back-to-school and the holidays.
