In consulting, it’s (unfortunately) fairly rare to find a team where the majority of its members are women. That’s especially regrettable considering gender diversity on working teams has been proven to benefit both women and men. Avanade recognizes the benefits to gender diverse teams, which is why we’ve introduced programs like the Avanade Leadership Program for Women (ALPW) to develop women for leadership roles and why we celebrate International Women’s Day annually across the globe.

This year, as we look to Innovate for Change in search for a more equal and diverse world, highlighting a a special team of Avanade consultants who are flipping the gender dynamic of consulting on its head seems more than fitting:

Our Italian Change Enablement team certainly has an interesting look … All seven of them are women!

• Luisa Di Prima, Manager and Talent Community Lead
• Arianna Angaroni, Senior Analyst
• Laura Arnaboldi, Consultant
• Laura Oliva, Senior Analyst
• Sonia Cavalliere, Analyst
• Marianne Craman, Analyst
• Ambra Minotti, Intern

Although they are all very accomplished in their careers so far, this team has not had it easy; they acknowledged that clients are often skeptical of working with a “pink” team and believe that they lack as much technical knowledge as men. However, under the strong leadership of Luisa, a manager who is not afraid to stand up for her team, this group has really been able to show their stuff and prove their critics wrong with their skills and expertise.

Not only does this group do great work for clients, they love to do it. Working on an all-female team does have some great advantages. They are able to connect on a personal level, as well as professional, and chat about their daily struggles to a team where they know everyone will understand. Empathy goes a long way in the workplace, helping teams find synergy within themselves and being more sensitive to clients’ needs.

At Avanade, we’re proud to have teams like the Italy Change Enablement team, who are a great example of how supporting women at all points in their career makes good business sense. These pink ladies are setting a high bar for innovative tech teams!