Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Acquisitions
When the company was bought out, there was a culture change and there were a lot more silly rules. For example, I had people who worked for me on the road. They were elites at the time who were constantly going out to put out fires.
The last few years at the company, I didn't want to go any further up, I didn't want my boss' job and I didn't want my boss' boss' job. It just wasn't interesting to me. And then when they merged us, it was a bloodbath.
I left when the company got bought out. The new company was not going to value my work. I didn't think I could do it again. I was always educating people. Whether it was people asking they could touch my hair or if I had gotten a hair cut, I'd have to explain, "No.
When finally the company was bought out, I left. They didn't want to let me go. So the VP called me and said, "We'll put you in HR and recruitment. It will be such a good experience for you." I almost laughed.
The company started recognizing that they needed to retain and attract minority women. I became part of their advisory board. I had a lot of exposure to senior level officers and I think a lot of them recognized the importance of diversity.
When our company got bought out, there were a lot more white ignorant people. When I went to present at the first meeting I had with the new VP, he asked me if I could pour coffee. I thought, "I'm the marketing director and you want me to pour coffee?" I put myself in his place and I thought, "Well, that's probably what he is used to seeing." So I introduced myself to him.
I was associate general counsel and my primary client was the vice chair of the bank. I did a lot of very exciting cutting edge deals. I had been able to bring my expertise to the table. I gave the bank great advice.
Before the bank was acquired, I had been involved with their diversity programs for ten years. But the new bank's diversity programs had just started. Diversity for the new bank meant programs for African-American people.
In regards to the leadership, it wasn't just the color of their skin. The bank's old leadership was all white men and they were perfectly fine dealing with a short black woman in glasses. But the new bank wasn't ready for that.
When my company was acquired, I went from having a window office and all the perks of being a manager in a major corporation to sitting in a cubicle, where everyone sat in a cubicle. They had this value of "everyone is equal." This was the place where values were a really cool thing so it made it more tolerable to have lost my office.
