In her current role at State Street, Kathy Horgan leads all global functions related to talent acquisition, career and leadership development, compensation and benefits, succession planning, diversity and inclusion, and corporate citizenship.

Since joining State Street eight years ago, she has advanced rapidly and is now the global head of human resources and corporate citizenship, and a member of the Management Committee, the company’s most senior strategy and policy-making team. She works to ensure that State Street’s 34,000 employees feel engaged, valued and committed to the markets and clients they serve. She also advocates for issues related to diversity and inclusion, gender pay equity and flexible work.

Horgan chairs the company’s North American benefits committee and is a member of the professional women’s network global advisory board. As a member of Leading Women, a sponsorship program for senior women across the company, she has been a mentor for countless female employees.

Describing her journey to becoming the leader she is today, Horgan says, “I have always operated best as part of a team, and that has allowed me to develop informal and formal leadership skills over the course of my career. At State Street, we have a very strong professional women’s network, and through their programming, including mentoring, panel discussions and other events, I have been able to share my story with State Street women around the world.”

For Horgan, diversity means “creating an environment where everyone can be successful, thereby fostering creativity, innovation and better solutions to problems.” She explains, “Talent is a critical input for all businesses. Without an ability to create an inclusive environment that attracts and retains a diversity of talent from all sources, businesses will not be able to compete in today’s world.”

Horgan offers this advice to other women: “Keep pushing, trying new things and putting yourself in challenging situations. The earlier in your career you face adversity – whether that is balancing the demands of your job, working with a difficult colleague or manager, or having to stretch yourself in order to solve a business problem – the better prepared you are for the uncertainty and hurdles that come with advancement.”