CEO Today Magazine - October 2021

19 A Conversation with One of the First Black Women at the Top of an FTSE 25 Company & Her Tips for Black Women in Business Yetunde Hofmann “When I left my executive role in the corporate world to embark on a career change that comprised of a portfolio of activity, I was one of only 5 women in the top 100 of my organisation,” tells me Yetunde Hofmann. She was the only black person and the only woman in senior management. It was a pivotal milestone in her life’s work and career, which taught her a lot about the world of work, culture, change and leadership, as well as gender equality, from a position of intersectionality, although those learn- ings are becoming more profound from a place of looking back. “When you are in the pit and have your head down, spinning multiple projects, competing priorities and diverse and complex stakehold- ers, it can be difficult to take the time out to reflect on the background, reasons, intent and causes behind certain decisions and experiences,” she says. Yetunde shares some of the lessons on gender equality her career has taught her below.