Phyllis E. Bernard, M.A., J.D.

I’m in my 15th year on the Board of Directors for a non-profit corporation that operates and is responsible for reliability and cybersecurity for the electric power grid in a 14-state region. During my tenure on the Board we created and now operate a multi-billion dollar energy trading market. So, I can offer insights about being a woman in a leadership position in “a man’s world.” I chaired the Human Resources Committee during our growth from 150 employees to 600. My emphasis on identifying attributes of the corporate culture that are replicable and tied to the mission helped to expand a traditionally white, male, Southern workplace into one that is now inclusive and diverse. My pro bono work in American Bar Association Rule of Law Projects in Africa developed deep, lasting systems for what I prefer to call not peacemaking, but “relationship-based justice.” Our models of culturally appropriate mediation-arbitration systems at the grassroots level empowered women to work with men to effect human rights, civil and criminal justice in Nigeria, Rwanda and Liberia. U.S. Military Intelligence embraced my work on Islamic business ethics; and that much of what we categorize as “feminine” ways of communication and perception are, in fact, non-Western irrespective of gender.  (A place where HommeQ and FemmeQ meet?) Ideally, there will be ways to combine these experiences in service to others; perhaps with corporations that recognize the value of a sustainable, ethical global supply chain.