Gavriella Schuster to Focus on Enabling Diversity, Gender Equity in IT
Gavriella Schuster
Now that Gavriella Schuster has exited Microsoft after 25 years, she is revealing the next step in her career. Schuster is joining several boards and will advise various companies on bringing gender equity to their respective organizations and ecosystems.
(Editor’s Note: Schuster is a charter member of the Channel Futures DE&I 101 list.)
The former Microsoft channel chief, who stepped down in March, recently confirmed that she is leaving the company this month. Schuster has indicated that she would continue to focus on gender equality, but until now, has refrained from disclosing specifics. Schuster is making her plans official on Wednesday in a post on her website.
Schuster plans to become an adviser to various organizations, IT solution providers and other businesses. In her roles, Schuster will help organizations advance their respective efforts to achieve equity and inclusion and in their ecosystems.
Among the boards of several prominent associations Schuster is joining are Women in Cloud, Women in Technology Network (WIT), International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP), the SHE community and the Women’s Business Collaborative.
Also, Schuster will sit on the board of Corent Technologies, a company that provides automation software for MSPs and ISVs. Schuster will also become chairman of the advisory board of Artificial Solutions, a provider of conversational AI software. And she is joining the advisory board and becoming a strategic adviser to private equity firm Berkshire Partners. At Berkshire, Schuster said she plans to focus on bringing more diversity, equity and inclusion into the tech industry.
“This is a big change for me to be able to do something that I am truly passionate about, and use my voice and you, my network, to drive change,” Schuster noted in her announcement. Schuster recalled the common experiences that she and many women leaders in the IT industry have faced when they “felt dismissed, disconnected, overlooked or invisible.”
Schuster described these incidents as “microaggressions” that individually were small. “But over time [collectively they] built up into insurmountable walls for many of these women to progress and succeed in their teams.” That’s when she determined that the best way to push back was to “become an ally and to act with greater intentionality.”
Power of ‘Allyship’
Schuster wants to make this the focus of her work moving forward. “I have decided that I want to spend all my time building momentum, educating people and raising their awareness to the power of allyship and the behaviors allies demonstrate,” she noted.
Feyzi Fatehi, Corent Technology’s chairman and CEO, has known Schuster for about a decade. Upon learning she was leaving Microsoft, he wanted her to help Corent have as diverse and equal a culture as possible. “I am a father of two daughters,” Fatehi told Channel Futures. “I want my daughters to live in a world that is more equal, and for them as human beings to have the same opportunities to be successful. Adding Gavriella Schuster with her unique capabilities, reputation and following will be a tremendous benefit to us.”
Per Ottosson, CEO of Sweden-based Artificial Solutions, also shares that view. At Artificial Solutions, which has a conversational AI solution designed to enhance Microsoft’s AI capabilities, 37% of the workforce is female. And Artificial Solutions is ahead of the industry average. According to a recent World Economic Forum report, only 22% women hold jobs in AI. In machine learning, it’s only 12%.
“The slanted gender demographic in AI is appalling, and we are determined to do something about that as it effects work results and the solutions,” Ottosson told Channel Futures.
In advance of revealing her plans, Schuster discussed them with Channel Futures earlier this week.
CF: So, what’s next?
GS: The primary thing that I’m focused on is driving for gender equity, both in terms of representation and pay in high tech. I’m hoping by being on the boards of multiple organizations that I have the opportunity to bridge and bring a lot of these organizations together so that we collectively have a more powerful voice in the market and can drive for what I see as two primary things that need to be done. One is much stronger allyship, enabling everybody to understand what it means to be an ally to diverse underrepresented groups, to create a more inclusive environment. The second…
