Closing the Gap for Gender Equality

With the percentage of women in senior leadership positions remaining less than 20 percent for the past decade, one of the biggest challenges facing corporate America today is how to put more women in senior leadership roles, according to former Dow Chemical executive Julie Holder. Holder sits down with GLG to discuss her 34 year career at Dow, how companies can rethink their culture, and why closing the gap for gender equality in the American workplace is still a long way away.

Julie Holder is the founder and CEO of JFH Insights LLC, a management advising firm specializing in executive coaching and corporate leadership development. She previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing, Sales and Reputation Officer, at Dow Chemical Co. Holder began her career at Dow in 1975 as a sales representative before taking on a number of senior roles, including Business Vice President of Specialty Plastics and Industrial Chemical, and Corporate Vice President of Human Resources, Public Affairs, and Diversity and Inclusion. A strong advocate for the advancement of women in the workplace, Holder founded Dow’s Women Innovation Network and won the company’s prestigious GENESIS Award for Excellence in People Development in 1999.

Since 2011, Holder has been a Director at Eastman Chemical Co. She previously served as Vice President on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for Midland Tomorrow and Midland’s Economic Development Council. In addition, she served on the Board of Directors at the Soap and Detergent Association, Wolverine Bank, and Dexco Polymers—a Dow/ExxonMobil venture. At its January 2007 national conference, the National Association for Female Executives honored Holder as one of their Woman of Achievement. Holder holds a degree in Business Administration from Michigan State University.

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