The most effective executives reach up, out and down to make the connections that power their companies and careers.

Patricia David
Managing Director, Global Head of Diversity, JPMorgan Chase
Patricia David, 52, has worked for Salomon Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Citi and now JPMorgan Chase in positions of increasing power, all while raising two kids (Samantha, 21, and Kurt, 19) and mentoring hundreds of people. “You can get good at your job, but you’ll only truly appreciate your firm by connecting with people and developing relationships,” she says. “It makes you feel more engaged.

You’re part of something bigger— you’re included. And I’ve always wanted to feel included.” She also focuses on making other people, men and women alike, feel included. “I connect with people like crazy,” she says. “I’m like my own Facebook.” Her formula: a rare combination of bluntness, heart and an acute sense of what “prescription” her mentees need to advance in their careers—and their lives. “I ask myself, ‘What is it I can tell them that no one else will—the thing they need to work on or they could fall off the rails?’ ”

Patricia David’s Network
Dennis Miranda
VP, Global Diversity, JPMorgan Chase
“Who you work for is huge. At Citi [where Dennis worked for Pat before he joined her at JPMorgan Chase], Pat was an active advocate for me at meetings where I wasn’t present. She helped pave the way. She pushed me to grow. And when I was ready, she pushed me out of her nest—and I was on the radar of the right people. Having a great sponsor like Pat doesn’t just happen, though. I had to earn it by doing a great job consistently.”
Mentee, beneficiary of sponsorship

Jack Morgenstern
Practice Manager, Investment Banking Back Office, Wipro Technologies
“When I interviewed Pat at Merrill Lynch, I saw her drive, enthusiasm and fearlessness. But I had to fight to get her hired. Merrill’s middle management was dominated by white males, and she was up against somebody who fit with that and had an MBA. But my first real mentor—an African-American woman—taught me you get better results when you draw from the whole population. Pat proved herself. It wasn’t long before the people who’d pushed back the hardest on hiring her became her biggest advocates.”
Mentor and sponsor

Sekou Kaalund
Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase, in charge of sales to pension, endowment and foundations segment
“Pat’s very perceptive and astute. She observes who I truly am, not just who I am at work. I have elements of a workaholic, but she makes sure I also focus on my home life. I’ll be at a function with her and she’ll say, ‘Now go home and be with your family, tuck your children into bed.’ And she’s right. It’s hard to balance when you’re moving quickly in your career, but with the right mentors and supports, you can do it. Pat also taught me that mentoring isn’t a one-way street: You’ve got to pay it forward.”
Mentee

Kate Myers
VP in Learning and Development, Citi
“Pat taught me to take my career into my own hands. I was juggling all these projects, and she wanted to make sure I got the credit I deserved. She started introducing me to senior managers, and within months I was promoted and asked to manage a global initiative. When I told her I was expecting, she walked me through how to juggle work and family—and even where to register.”
Mentee

Andrea Mason
Co-founder of AEM Partners, a New York City–based consulting firm working with nonprofits, community-based organizations and corporations (previously worked at Citi)
“What I learned from Pat is that it’s the quality of your performance, not the color of your skin or where you come from, that determines your success. When it comes to meeting your commitments, she’s superb—an absolute role model. She has the highest capacity to get the job done of anyone I’ve ever met: If you want something from her, she’s on it, and she will deliver. But I’ve mentored Mrs. David (as I call her when giving her advice), too. Where I add value for her is in encouraging her to think about herself—to put in some stops along the way, to get the whole flavor, to savor it.”
Mentee and mentor

Kim Nelson
SVP, External Relations, General Mills, and President, General Mills Foundation
For Kim Nelson, 49, deep connection–swith co-workers, friends and community—have been life-shaping. But early on, she didn’t quite grasp the power of a network. “I was all business, trying to do a great job; an efficient, brisk young professional,” says Nelson. “I didn’t really understand how important the relationship-development part was, until one of my mentors took me aside and said, ‘Kim, the people who run this company have spent their whole lives building up this business. They’re not going to hand over the keys to a stranger.’ ” The lesson: Work isn’t just about tasks— you have to let people know you. “Today, that’s common knowledge, but as a woman of color back then, it wasn’t my starting point,” says Nelson, a mom of two (Samantha, 12, and Taylor, 10). So she started opening up and found out that a senior manager saw her as a potential leader. “By the power of suggestion, he changed my mental map. I thought, Maybe I could do this.”

Kim Nelson’s Network

Sylvia Bartley
Senior Manager, Medtronic
“I met Kim through the African American Leadership Forum. We’re working together to close the education gap for African American kids in Minnesota. From day one she impressed me with her gravitas, acumen, passion for the work, professionalism and warmth. Kim’s very aware of who she is. She’s so grounded, she doesn’t have to prove herself or make a point. And even though she’s exceptionally busy, she finds time to get her hands dirty at the community level.”
Mentee

Ann Simonds
President, Pillsbury U.S.A.
“Kim’s played multiple roles for me. She was my mentor early on, the person I could go to with any question, good or dumb. When I had kids, she taught me to make choices and be true to my reality and not to feel guilty about not doing everything. She’s the safe place where I can talk about our diversity work and figure out how I can best help people, though I haven’t walked in their shoes.  She’s always candid and direct—that’s what Kim does.”
Mentee and peer mentor

Marc Belton
Executive VP, Global Strategy, Growth and Marketing Innovation, General Mills
“I met Kim shortly after she came to General Mills and became her mentor five years into her career here. I knew from early on that she could do great work here, and I let her know I saw her potential. She’s a leader, both at General Mills and in the community.”
Mentor

Becky Roloff
President and CEO, YWCA of Minneapolis
“Kim shows up. If she commits to something, she does what she says she’s going to do. And she’s tremendous at keeping her relationships going. She’s always ready to offer a hand or congratulations. She stays in touch; she really wants to know what’s going on in your life. That’s how you build a deeply loyal network. If she needs something, professional or personal, she knows she can always call me. And I know the same about her.”
Peer

Martin Abrams
Marketing Director, General Mills
“Kim’s mission is to nourish lives. She pushes me to stretch: If I’m at one level, she thinks I can go two levels higher. She challenges me to get involved, to volunteer. She believes we can use the roles we have to influence the community. I’m still trying to figure out how she manages to do all she does—work, family and community service.”
Mentee

Kunkun Callaghan 
VP, Business Information Office, Freddie Mac
A network of mentors, peers and mentees has given Kunkun Callaghan, 47, the support she needed to come into her own, as her own unique self. “In the Asian community, there’s a lot of emphasis on earning degrees and working hard and less on showcasing your individual perspective,” says Callaghan, who in addition to heading a software department also leads Freddie Mac’s Asian employee group. “Culturally, we’re not encouraged to be different, so the idea of bringing your whole self to work can be uncomfortable. But being different is valuable. Helping you see that value is one of the things a great mentor can do.”

Her network has also allowed her to find common ground: Every month, Callaghan, who has three kids (Jordyn, 11, Alex, 14, and Ross, 16), lunches with three other working moms from the company. “We talk about everything— about work and family and how to balance them.”

Kunkun Callaghan’s Network
Kara West
VP and Assistant General Auditor, Freddie Mac
“Four of us get together for lunch every month, and Kunkun was the main instigator. We’re all from different areas of the company, and that’s hugely helpful. It gets you out of your own head. Kunkun’s very open and upbeat. She reads people well and gives great advice on how to deal with different personalities. And she never judges you.”
Peer mentor

Johanna M. Loyola
Information Technology Lead, Freddie Mac
“I talk with Kunkun almost every day, and I’m where I am because of her coaching. She taught me about the importance of building strong relationships—about the power of human interaction. Sometimes, people have had bad experiences with IT and you need to rebuild their trust. She showed me how meeting with people face-to-face and how having regular, crisp communications can really help.”
Mentee

Santhosh Ananthakrishnan
Program Director, Freddie Mac
“Kunkun sees me as a person first, an employee next. I have two little kids, and we’ve talked a lot about how to balance work and family. One of her best pieces of advice: Be flexible. If your child’s sick and you have to miss a meeting, that’s life, you shouldn’t feel guilty. She’s a strong champion for flexible work arrangements. She makes me feel like I can be a good parent and a good employee.”
Mentee

Levena Bailey
Mentor Liaison, Women in Technology, and Senior Director of Enterprise Security, Hilton Worldwide
“Kunkun has a busy, challenging work schedule, but she carves time out to help others. As one of our mentors, she works with women in technology who are a few years into their careers. It’s not always easy for them to say, ‘I want to invest in myself, and here are my concerns.’ Kunkun puts them at ease right away, lets them know she wants to hear what they have to say. Her protégés open up to her very quickly. They trust her enough to reveal what’s not working for them and to ask for help in finding solutions.”
Peer

Heather Hudson
System Analyst, Freddie Mac
“There’s a huge energy exchange with Kunkun. She makes you want to be better. She knows everyone by name, knows about their lives. And she goes to bat for us. Last year I had to go to North Carolina for a while to take care of my folks. She said, ‘Family first,’ and let me telework for most of the summer. That trust and flexibility allowed me to help my parents and still do my job.”
Peer

Patricia Sierra Sampson
Advertising Director-International, The New York Times

Pat Sampson was just 4 when she arrived in the U.S. from Bolivia. Hers was the only Hispanic family in her Queens, NY, neighborhood, and at her private school, she was the sole Latina. “I felt different—but my dad called us pioneers,” she says. “If we were going to stand out, he told us to stand out for being the best. He and my mom were my biggest champions, and my first mentors.” She learned English and fell hard for the written word. “Every month I’d go across the street to the beauty parlor and ask for their old magazines—Time, Glamour, Field & Stream, Popular Mechanics. Then I’d take them home and take them apart. I wanted to know exactly how they were made.” When she was just 20, with no experience, she applied for her first job in print—on the production side, where women of color were nonexistent. The production director, a woman, took her under her wing. “I owe her everything,” Sampson says.

Sampson built a broad network based on the lessons she learned from those early mentors: be excellent at what you do—and be on the watch for excellence in those around you, no matter what their age, sex, race or experience. A mother of three daughters—Sarah, Faith, and Mia—Sampson stepped off the career ladder for a decade (she kept her hand in the work world by running a small ad/PR agency out of her home). Today, she doesn’t merely balance work and family. She connects with others and helps them climb. “The word mentoring sounds so formal, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s simply going to someone you trust and asking for guidance, being your own champion. That’s something Latinas—and all women—could use more of.”

Patricia Sierra Sampson’s Network

Barbara Rice 
VP, Communications Strategy, Carat 

“Pat’s passionate about what she does—she loves digital, loves publishing, loves the Times, and she’s a very smart businesswoman. She’s also passionate about her family: Raising her three daughters well is very important to her. On top of that, she loves bringing people together, especially to raise awareness about Hispanic culture—and she does it in a way that’s fun, asking Hispanic celebrities in for events and making everyone feel engaged and welcome.”  

Mentor

Gale Morgan 
Director of Sales Development, The New York Times 

“Pat’s honest. Even if her view’s different than the prevailing one, she’ll speak up—and that’s unusual in corporate life. I also admire how she gets everything done—the work and raising three daughters as a single mother. I came to motherhood later in life, and she’s been a great parenting coach to me, especially when I had doubts about how I was handling a situation with my son.”

Mentor

Gloria Anderson 
VP, International and Editorial Development, New Services division, The New York Times

 “Watching Pat in action is terrific. She’s gifted in her ability to read a situation and respond to what people really need. Maybe that comes from being a parent or from the fact that her childhood wasn’t the typical American kid’s life. She’s warm, outgoing, curious about others and very well-organized. She has a vision of The Times as a global brand, and she’s tenacious in pursuing it.”

Peer

Kerrie Gillis 
Vice President of Advertising, The New York Times

“Pat’s an incredibly hard worker, very savvy about business and a great salesperson. But she brings something more to the game. She works hard to educate people in the organization—and advertisers too, when that’s appropriate—about the Hispanic community. She uses her background in a positive way, helping us reach out to new advertisers as the makeup of our country changes.”

Mentor

Diego Ribadeneira 
Assistant Metro Editor, The New York Times

“Pat and I co-chair Voces, the company’s Latino affinity group. She’s a strong, inspirational leader. She makes people feel their opinions matter, that they’re of value. And she works hard to highlight the contributions Latinos make to the company. Her style is highly collaborative: we’re all on the same team, working together.”

Peer

Lauren Cohen 
Associate Marketing Manager, Meredith mentee

“Pat’s been a great mentor to me. Her style’s strategic: here’s the goal, here are the steps, here’s some ‘homework’ for you to do—like researching my dream job. And she’s very encouraging: she makes me feel like I’m making the right moves. But the biggest thing I’ve learned from her is that if you want something, ask for it—and that it’s fine to change your direction. She encouraged and prepared me to go talk to my boss about what I wanted, and things really took off for me after that.”

Mentee

Valerie Grillo

Vice President, Global Leadership Development, American Express

Valerie Grillo has always stood out—and it hasn’t necessarily been a comfortable thing. As a whip-smart kid growing up in the Bronx with her Puerto Rican family, she won a scholarship to a prestigious private school. “There were only three Latinas in my class,” she says. “That can make you feel like an outsider looking in.” Especially when your classmates arrive in sleek BMWs—and you come by a lumbering, yellow school bus. When she joined the corporate world, she worked hard to fit in. “I chopped my big, curly hair into a bob and dried it straight every morning.” Finally, her mentor took her aside. “She told me I was trying too hard, that I needed to be comfortable with who I was.” The lesson—and she passes it on to her mentees: Bring your whole self to work, and let it shine. For this mother of two daughters—ages 6 and 3—“shining” means calling attention to your successes and reaching out to others, too. “Multicultural women often think that if we work hard, people will see it and we’ll succeed. Talking up our accomplishments feels like boasting, and building a network isn’t something we necessarily think about. But we need to learn to do it.”

Valerie Grillo’s Network

Gabriella Giglio

Executive Vice President of Global Human Resources, American Express
“Valerie thinks about the possibilities instead of the barriers—and she understands how to translate vision into action. She’s a great collaborator, knows who can get things done, and she’s built a strong network: The most senior people at American Express will take her call. Through it all, she’s herself—and she spends as much energy on her family as on work. She’s magic to me. I’d put my career on the line for her.”

Sponsor

Kim Seymour

Vice President, Executive Talent Planning and U.S. Consumer Services, Human Resources, American Express

 “One of Valerie's great strengths is that she really understands the specific value that multicultural women bring to the table, especially in a global company like American Express: our different perspectives, along with new ways of looking at a problem and crafting solutions. Another of her strengths: She knows that value is just one of the many things we bring to the table.”

Peer

Monica Quintero

Manager of Account Development in Merchant Services, American Express

 “I came to my current job from a support role. It was a big change—so I thought I needed to change. I’d always kept a paper to-do list, but everybody else had gone digital, so I did, too. It didn’t work for me at all! Valerie told me I didn’t need to change my ways and take on somebody else’s because I was in a new role—and that if I wanted to reach my full potential, I needed to stay honest with myself and others.”

Mentee

Maria Jimenez

Director of Executive Leadership Development, American Express

 “Learning how to build strong relationships at work and make time for your kids—that’s one of the big things I’m learning from Valerie. She does a great job striking that balance. Maybe she can’t do drinks after work because she’s got to get home, but she’ll find another way to connect. People know her, and trust her to do what she says she’s going to do. But family comes first.”

Mentee