The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) today unveiled its Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), seeking to significantly increase the number of women entering the semiconductor market, as well as elevating their participation as founders, leaders and board members. As part of this initiative, the GSA has established the WLI Council that will create and implement programs and projects towards meeting the WLI objectives.
“The WLI Council is passionate about increasing the number of women in leadership positions in this industry, the number of women running companies and the number of women entering the industry and we plan on monitoring and benchmarking our efforts. The semiconductor industry needs a highly talented, diverse and educated workforce and women are simply not adequately represented so we are missing a huge opportunity. We have the full commitment of the GSA leadership including the Board of Directors which is a who’s who of semiconductor leaders.” Jodi Shelton, President, GSA
The WLI vision is to “Apply the spirit of Moore’s Law, which catapulted innovation by doubling the performance of electronics, to significantly increase the number of women in leadership roles in the industry, the capital dedicated to women-led start-ups and the number of STEM-focused female candidates joining the industry.”
Co-chaired by Vicki Mealer-Burke, Chief Diversity Officer and VP, Human Resources, Qualcomm Incorporated, and Debora Shoquist, Executive VP, Operations, NVIDIA, the WLI Council harnesses the leadership of women who have risen to the top ranks of the semiconductor industry. Utilizing their experiences, these women provide inspiration for and sponsorship of the next generation of female leaders.
Women today comprise 47% of the overall workforce; however, only 15% choose engineering.* With such small participation in the semiconductor industry, the first priority of the WLI Council focuses on elevating the visibility of women already making an impact in the industry. The group will establish best practices for companies to better nurture, network, mentor, and promote women.
GSA led efforts through internships, conferences, and university/industry connections, help create great awareness about opportunities for women entering the semiconductor industry. In addition to elevate women’s participation in the semiconductor industry the GSA will develop programs to support women entrepreneurs.
The GSA’s Chair, AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su, has joined the Council and helped guide the establishment of the initiative. “The WLI Council is an impressive group of women who will provide inspiration and sponsorship for a rising generation of industry leaders,” said Dr. Su. “Women are under-represented in the semiconductor industry and efforts to strengthen and grow this important talent pool are critical to the long-term competitiveness of our industry.”
Last year as a part of the GSA Annual Awards dinner, hosted in Silicon Valley, the GSA inaugurated the Rising Women of Influenceaward. This award recognizes and profiles the next generation of women leaders in the semiconductor industry. The award winner highlights women that have made exceptional contributions toward the development, innovation, growth, and success of the company, resulting in her being one of the top leaders at their company in the next three years. These women, as well as others making a leadership impact within the semiconductor industry, will be featured throughout the year providing guidance and mentoring for those entering and those already participating in the field.
Current participants in the Women’s Leadership Council include:
- Vicki Mealer-Burke – Chief Diversity Officer & VP, Human Resources: Qualcomm Incorporated
- Tali Chen – CMO: DSP Group
- Weili Dai – Co-Founder, President & Vice Chairwoman: FLC Global
- Mouna Elkhatib – CEO & Co-Founder: AONdevices, Inc.
- Ritu Favre – CEO: NEXT Biometrics
- Jean Hu – CFO: Marvell Technology
- Ann Kelleher – SVP & GM of the Manufacturing & Operations Group: Intel Corporation
- Lori Knowlton – SVP and Chief People Officer: Silicon Labs
- Jane Li – High Tech Industry GM & COO and Private Equity Operating Partner, Board Member: Semtech, Knowles
- Xiaotong Lin – CEO: Coolstar Technology, Inc.
- Maria Marced – President: TSMC Europe
- Jennie Raubacher – Managing Director, Global Head of Semiconductor, CleanTech & Auto Tech Investment Banking: Wells Fargo Securities
- Maryam Rofougaran – Co-Founder & Co-CEO: Movandi Corporation
- Jodi Shelton – President: GSA
- Debora Shoquist – Executive VP, Operations: NVIDIA
- Lisa Su – CEO, President & Board member: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)
- Dipti Vachani – SVP & GM, Automotive and IoT Line of Business: ARM
More information on the Women’s Leadership Initiative may be found at https://www.gsaglobal.org/womens-leadership/