Celebrating Women At Rocket Companies®

March is Women’s History Month, so we decided to take a look back at the 2020 Rocket Companies^® Annual Women’s Conference For All. As a company, we wholeheartedly believe that we have a responsibility to educate, inspire and empower all of our team members. As we have taken on new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives over the past year, we are focused on fostering a culture of inclusivity within our companies that directly impacts everyone, especially our amazing female team members who play a vital role in our success.

Our 2020 annual Women’s Conference For All was held in all-virtual environment in order to keep our team members’ safety a priority. But, we still put on an incredible show for all attendees (all team members are welcome, not just females!). We focused on bringing an empowering message of sisterhood and teamwork, regardless of this past year’s unprecedented conditions that have made networking events like this a real challenge.

Chief Diversity Officer, Trina Scott, and Executive Vice President, Heather Lovier, hosted a series of presentations and discussions over the course of two days focusing on a variety of women’s issues, and what success means in both professional and personal environments for women. Several keynote speakers spoke about mental wellness, side hustles and intersectionality throughout the interactive virtual conference. 

The must-see presentation included speakers like New York Times' best-selling author Elaine Welteroth and Chief Learning Officer KimArie Yowell, who discussed their take on life, love and wisdom. These presentations were followed by a variety of breakout segments all focusing on relevant issues for women in and out of the workplace.

Sessions included:

Men As Allies: Senior team members held a discussion panel that truly showed how this conference was intended for everyone. They initiated conversations around male allyship and the steps men can take toward becoming an ally. 

Rising Above The Negative Self-Talk: This session taught team members how to articulate their value. Team members learned best practices on how to rise above negative thinking and other mental roadblocks we all face.

Growing Your Wealth: On day two of the conference, team members learned tips on how to track personal finances and the resources our company provides to help build a stable financial future.

Intersectionality: Finishing up the conference, DEI Director, Jazmine Williams, discussed the importance of recognizing the variety of different social categories both in and out of the workplace.

One message that was clear throughout the entirety of the conference is that representation matters. Seeing diverse people in power that invest in and uplift each other is a huge contributor to positive change within our companies.

Women’s leadership skills are critical to the success of any work environment. When diverse groups can contribute to innovation, it reinforces values and enforces accountability.

In addition to hosting several events throughout the year tailored to women, we also have Team Member Resource Networks for women and benefits that support women’s health issues.

Our company is also working to combat female-oriented corporate issues found in the workplace. One of these issues is the low rate of female promotion. We are working to filter out any possible inequalities that could happen during our hiring and promoting processes. We’re also building out a data driven promotion strategy that uses performance metrics to increase opportunities and tackle these issues head on.

Our goal is to empower, educate and inspire all of our team members, and we’re proud to have been able to produce this conference. As we power through 2021, we plan to host even more events and activities where our team members can have group discussions about important topics and gain resources to improve both their personal and professional lives.