From left to right: William “Buddy” Scarborough, a University of Illinois Chicago researcher and author; Megan Horn, process engineer at Hendrick Motorsports; Mark Nation, consultant/author and owner of Nation Leadership; and Chantelle Roberson, assistant vice president of senior regulatory counsel at Unum, lead a panel at the “Minding the Gaps” women’s workforce symposium on Thursday. / Staff photo by Allison Shirk
Chantelle Roberson remembers 20 years ago when she started her own law firm and faced discrimination often. Roberson, a black female, had more experience than the other male at her firm, was the managing partner, and yet, everywhere they went people assumed she worked for him.
“Fast forward 20 years and he and I can now laugh about that – sometimes,” Roberson said to a room full of women at the Volkswagen Conference Center Thursday.
She received a few laughs from the crowd and a lot of empathetic head nods.
The now-Unum assistant vice president and senior regulatory counsel was one of the panelists at the “Minding the Gaps” women’s workforce symposium organized Thursday as part of the “All Lanes Open” initiative to reduce gender disparities in the workplace. Women – and a handful of men – attended from places around the Chattanooga area, including Shaw Industries, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga State Community College, Unum, Volkswagen and more.
Keynote Nicole Koesling, senior vice president of Human Resources at Volkswagen of Chattanooga, discusses how the company is addressing gender disparities in their workforce. / Staff photo by Allison Shirk
University of Illinois Chicago researcher and author William “Buddy” Scarborough introduced some research on gender disparities in Chattanooga that many said they found “surprising” and even “tragic.”