Jessica Kimball (’15) was recently named head of global diversity at Mattel, after working with the legendary company for just two years. Alumna Bhavna Sivanand (’14), UCLA Anderson’s director of [email protected], caught up with her to learn more about her promotion.
Q: First and foremost, congratulations! We should know a bit about where you come from. What is your background?
Thank you, Bhavna. The core tenets of diversity and inclusion have always been important to me and, whether I was aware of it or not, I have always worked to help level the playing field, giving those from underrepresented backgrounds a better chance of achieving their goals. Between graduating from Yale and attending UCLA Anderson, I ran my own college admissions consulting company, helping students prepare for and apply to college. My students came from culturally and economically diverse backgrounds, and within those five years we helped students throughout America, as well as from international locales such as Spain, Turkey and Hong Kong. What I loved most about that experience was helping my students grow, not just as students, but as young and driven changemakers.
Q: You were a star leader while you were at Anderson. You created the Anderson Student Association position VP of diversity and inclusion. What were some of your most meaningful experiences at Anderson?
My favorite part about Anderson was meeting so many amazing people! My classmates were all so brilliant and inspiring, and I felt that the best way I could contribute to Anderson was by serving my classmates however I could. It was an honor to be chosen as first-year Section B president (shout-out to the BEST SECTION EVER!).
As my second year approached, I knew I wanted to join ASA but the specific issues I wanted to tackle weren’t officially addressed by the ASA roles at the time. I wanted to focus on increasing our diversity and inclusion efforts from the student perspective, so I created the ASA VP of diversity and inclusion role and worked with Kimberly Freeman, assistant dean of diversity initiatives and community relations, to outline the responsibilities. Most of the first year as ASA VP of D&I revolved around working with our various professional and identity clubs such as Black Business Students Association and Women’s Business Connection to increase our diversity programming. We had quite a few big wins that first year, but the initiative that was the most meaningful to me during my time at Anderson was starting FIRESIDE, a biweekly TED-like speaker series in which Anderson students, faculty and alumni came together to share their inspiring personal and professional stories. I still get chills and a little teary-eyed when I think back to some of the FIRESIDE stories told by my classmates. It’s one thing to “teach” what diversity and inclusion are, but I strongly believe that one of the best ways to really understand the importance of D&I is to learn from diverse perspectives and to hear stories told directly by the people who have experienced them.
Q: Tell us about your career at Mattel and what led you to your current role.
I had never worked in human resources before my MBA internship at Mattel, and if it hadn’t been for my Emily Taylor, my Parker Career Center advisor, I might not have considered HR as the next step in my career. Thank you, Emily, for helping me realize that strategic HR was the perfect way for me to combine my love for addressing large, strategic questions while still focusing on people development.
For my first one-and-a half years as a full-time employee at Mattel, I spent most of my time in talent management, leading the development of our new global succession and workforce planning model, and in talent acquisition, leading the MBA recruiting program. But all the while, I also spent about a quarter of my time leading our employee resource groups within our office of diversity and inclusion. By always having a hybrid D&I role, I could consistently think about how our diversity initiatives factored into our leadership planning and recruiting efforts. With mentorship from both the chief HR office and the former head of diversity and inclusion, I was able to learn so much so quickly, ultimately preparing me for my current role.
Q: What does this position as head of global diversity and inclusion mean to you personally?
What excites me most about leading global diversity and inclusion at Mattel is the level of impact we can have on how the next generation sees the world. As our communities become more and more diverse, Mattel can help teach the importance of inclusion. I am proud to work with our Mattel leaders and my team of employee resource group leaders to do whatever we can to help shape a more inclusionary mindset.
Q: Would you call diversity a social impact issue?
Absolutely! Diversity in all forms (race, culture, gender, sexual orientation and even professional experience and education) contributes to a more representative perspective, no matter the question at hand. How can we expect to solve our largest social problems, like educational and economic disparity, without leaders who have come from diverse backgrounds? To increase diversity in education and in the workplace, focus on diversity and inclusion needs to be everyone’s responsibility in an organization and not just the responsibility of one team or a few interested stakeholders.
Q: Looking back at your time at Anderson, do you have any advice for our incoming class?
You will be extremely busy during business school, but be sure to take time throughout your experience to stop and reflect on your life goals, both professional and personal, to help guide you and to remind you of all the amazing things that you’ve already accomplished! Not sure what your life goals are at this moment? No worries; take time this summer to think about who you are, who you want to become and what’s important to you in life, and you’ll already be off to a great start before you even step foot onto the Anderson campus.
Q: When you’re not busy advancing your career and your causes, what keeps you entertained?
Adventures with my girlfriend, exploring L.A. with friends and family, Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, taking classes on Coursera and thinking about working out.
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