Microsoft Executive Leads Innovative Teams

She starts her day at 4:30 a.m., in silence. In the early morning quiet of her home, she meditates for about 20 minutes, or reads, or just sits, before leading Microsoft innovative teams across the entire U.S. 

“The quiet, to me, is an energy source for creativity,” she says. “Because you’re clearing your mind, you’re allowing your mind to focus on anything it wants to.”

That time fuels her for the day, she said, and gives her more patience and calm. 

She has been on a pioneer trajectory through the tech industry and now in a corporate world historically dominated by White men. 

CHILDHOOD

April Walker was born in Southwest Philadelphia, where she was raised. She said she was influenced by her mother, who would tell her, “I want my children to be the knowers in the room, and not just the doers.”

EDUCATION

Walker attended public schools (Harrity Elementary and the Philadelphia High School for Girls) through her high school graduation. She then attended Howard University, one of the best regarded members of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), later earning her MBA (Masters in Business Administration) and an Executive Certification in Artificial Intelligence at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). 

She also possesses an M.S. (Masters in Science) in Engineering Management from George Washington University and a B.S. (Bachelors in Science) in Global Business from the University of Maryland. 

FIRST JOB IN I.T. (INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

Walker’s initial job in IT was one she created for herself. At a nonprofit she worked for as an undergraduate student, she saw some computers sitting, turned off, unused. So, she made a bet with her manager. “I said, ‘Well, tell you what, if I figure out what to do with them, can we make that my job?’ And her manager said, ‘Sure’ “so I ended up staying there overnight, installing these huge IBM computers.” Then she taught others in her office department how to use them. 

FIRST JOBS ARE NEVER A BINDING CAREER COMMITMENT

After her nonprofit job, Walker worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and then for the Department of Energy as a technology engineer. In her early 20s, she traveled the country and the globe, designing and building networks and training U.S. Marshals to understand and use technology as it continuously developed. 

TRAILBLAZING FROM THE TECH WORLD TO THE CORPORATE WORLD

Walker has been the catalyst for driving change, direction and developing enterprise-wide and global strategies for digital transformation ands innovation for many Fortune 500 companies, such as NBCUniversal, MetLife, and AOL/Time Warner, just to name a few. 

Following leadership roles at some major tech companies, Walker was recruited by Microsoft and moved back near her home city of Philadelphia. 

Utilizing advances in technology – especially ‘zoom’ calls – Walker is able to lead Microsoft’s tech innovation teams without much actual traveling, thus avoiding non-productive time in airports and having to adapt to hotels in unfamiliar cities. 

As General Manager of the US Microsoft Technology Centers (MTC), Walker is accountable for 15 innovation centers across the US and leads a national organization of more than 100 employees. She oversees Microsoft’s state-of-the-art technology and industry centers-of-excellence. Her team of MTC directors and senior technical architects guide industry leaders and enterprises across the country while achieving their digital transformation goals and helping them to become digital businesses. 

MINORITY RESPRESENTATION WITHIN EXECUTVE – LEVEL POSITIONS

According to Mercer, the human resources consulting company, as of 2020, African American employees held 12% of support staff roles nationally, but only 2% of executive-level positions. 

In a 2020 report by the combination of Lean In, the women’s workplace advocacy organization and McKinsey consultants – the largest study (as of 2020) on the state of women in corporate American and the largest study on the experiences of women of color at work – only 1.4% of Black women held ‘C-suite’ positions. (‘C-suite’ term denotes the senior executives of a company such as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief financial officer (CFO). Only 1.6% served in Vice President roles. 

At Microsoft, Black employees made up 4.5% of the workforce as of 2020, which falls in line with most other major tech companies. In 2015, 88% of upper-level Microsoft employees were male.

After the protests that followed the May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Microsoft said it was committed to focusing on the hiring and retention of Black employees. 

DIVERSITY PROGRESS BUT WORK STILL TO BE DONE

Walker said “There is still a lot of work to be done in the industry.” Even with her experience, she said, she still faces obstacles that her White counterparts do not. Some of those relate to stereotypes against Black women, said Walker. “You’re not able or given grace to have emotion or to candidly be angry where there needs to be a time to be angry about something,“ she said. “Or just the questioning of why or how you got there, despite a rich experience of very notable, wonderfully impressive, credible credentials.” 

That kind of stereotyping, along with harassment and unfairness experienced by people of color and women in the tech industry, leads to high turnover rates, as reported by the Kapor Center in 2017. 

Early in her career, Walker said, she felt she wasn’t given the same amount of respect as her White male or female counterparts. “The rewards that they were getting were so different from what I was experiencing,” she said, and sometimes credit would be given to someone else for her work.

She said she has also been looked over for opportunities because she wasn’t part of the ‘club.’ “And being part of the club requires that someone has to be in the club that either looks like you or wants you there to add the diversity of thought,” Walker said. 

“It’s an uphill battle to C-suite positions,” said Walker, “And it is because of the lack of that presence, we are less able to bring others along with us.”

ADVICE FOR EARNING RESPECT AND RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CORPORATE WORLD

As someone with a seat at the table now, one of the very few seats, she offered advice to young Black women entering the workforce:

• Find a mentor and a sponsor. A sponsor is someone who has an executive seat who will advocate for you. If there isn’t anyone in that room who looks like you, that’s where allies come in. “Ally, to me, is a verb…. You really have to have someone in the proverbial room that’s willing to say, ‘Hey, let’s bring this person in.”
• Be your own best advocate. That comes from knowing your worth, which can’t be defined by your job title or salary. “It has to first come with you. Know your own value. Come with the authentic you.”
• Make sure that you don’t allow fear, fear of failure, fear of taking risks, fear of not being seen the way that you want to be seen, stop you from going after that next job, or going after the promotion that you want, or going after the need to ask for more money. 
• It’s also the responsibility of the organization, through its executives, to create an environment that embraces authenticity and allows employees to fail without fear of punitive repercussions, and that makes room for growth. Leaders need to be responsive to their employees, ensuring that they are heard and valued. “You can’t be a leader if you turn around and look behind you and there is no one there.”
• Tangible ways employers can create more inclusive spaces include (a) recruit from historically Black colleges and universities, then (b) do the work required to retain people of color. 
• For HBCUs, it’s more than recruitment. “It’s investment in curriculum, it’s investment in the students, it’s investment in helping to ensure that once the students complete their STEM programs at these universities, that they have opportunities.”

SPREADING INFLUENCE BEYOND YOUR COMPANY OFFICE

Having mastered the ever-changing world of technology and earned respect for her leadership roles within the corporate world, Walker was given the opportunity to add what she calls a ‘career milestone’ – writing her own quarterly column for “the very magazine that, for decades, served as part of my toolkit and compass for how I would navigate my career journey: the online magazine, blackenterprise.com.” 

“It was within the pages of this magazine that I gleaned what was possible, for me, for us!” said Walker. “There is nothing more powerful than seeing in print what you, too, can become. I recall the first time in 2014 – when ‘BLACK ENTERPRISE’ featured on its cover and devoted a piece about a Black woman in corporate America reaching the heights of the corporate ladder – Ann Fudge, President of the Maxwell House Division of Kraft General Foods. That was career-life changing, as I would intently read the magazine’s monthly chronicle and features of the likes of former CEOs, Ursula Burns, Xerox Corporation; Kenneth I. Chenault, American Express; Walgreens Boots Alliance, Rosalind Brewer’ to present day business mogul, Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO Ariel Capital Investments. I, too, would aspire to succeed in these very similar corporate ecosystems.” 

“While I share the drive, ambition and yes, courage that these remarkable Black executives possessed to achieve their career goals, our passions differed just as the paths we traversed to get there – hence our industries of focus were markedly different; for me, Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) was where I found not only opportunity and possibility but one that today I celebrate more than three decades in career.”

Within her quarterly magazine column, read widely within the corporate world, Walker intends to educate, inform and enlighten readers who seek discernible value within the words and concepts of tech, such as the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), Generative AI, ChatGPT, data privacy and cybersecurity and how these things will play a critical role in the way every industry shapes and influences society norms, human condition, public health, policy, economic development, skills and careers. 

“The practical use of technologies will have a vast and direct correlation to the overall well-being of our community and all communities-of-color; however, the benefits of proper governance could prove less equitable for the minority populace, particularly since it is these communities least likely to enjoy access to new skills enablement and training, en masse. It’s my personal mission to make a better world for everyone, one step at a time.” 

A community advocate, Walker was appointed by a Philadelphia Mayor (Jim Kenney) to the ‘Philadelphia Works Board’, where she serves as an officer and Treasurer and helps to lead efforts for digital skilling for the community-at-large.

FROM STUDENT TO PROFESSOR

Having earned multiple advanced education degrees, which she combined with her real-world business experiences, Walker shares her knowledge with students at Drexel University in Philadelphia, as an Adjunct Professor within their LeBow School of Management, where she developed and teaches a course: “Accelerating and Navigating Industry Transformation.”

BALANCING WORK AND LIFE

What works for Walker, she says, is “Allowing myself grace when I make mistakes. It’s freeing, having an expectation that you’re not going to succeed at everything.”

Also, Walker said, she laughs at situations, and herself. “Everything doesn’t always have to be so serious. Instead of being hard on yourself, instead think of what you learned from it, think of what was funny about it.”

When the business day is done, Walker says, she leaves her work behind her and tries to relax. “You have to make yourself a priority,” she said, “which is particularly hard for Black women, who often fill the role of caregiver for those around them.”

Walker’s resiliency is her superpower, but it’s led to prioritizing her mental and physical health. “So that I can show up as the best April that I can be, the best leader that I can be.”

____________________________________________________________

(Editor’s note – Scientists and physicians all agree that healthy lifestyles – exercise, sufficient sleep, weight watching, modest alcohol use and not smoking – promote energy to compete in the business world and long life in general.) 

CAREER SATISFACTION

Walker is doing what she can to see more Black women in C-suite positions, the kinds of top corporate roles that set the stage for how a company builds its ecosystems. 

Walker hopes to leverage her position of influence to uplift her colleagues of color to the C-suite board room and inspire others to do the same. “For me, at this stage of my career, it is paramount to use my voice and share my experiences to coach, mentor, and guide. I want to represent what is not only possible to achieve in this field, but to expose the incredible opportunities available to women and communities of color,” said Walker. 

Women’s Resource Center Executive Director Cheryl Brubaker notes that “April Walker is the embodiment of a successful executive role model in corporate America, not only in her professional accomplishments but also in her work to pay it forward for other Black women. Her resilience and courage in pursuing and achieving her remarkable career in tech in the face of current societal challenges holds inspiration for us all.”

___________________________________________________________________________

This career story is based on multiple sources, including an article written by Mojdeh Keykhah, published by the Women’s Resource Center on February 15, 2022, and a news article written by Emily Rizzo, published March 9, 2022, online by WHYY, plus internet research.