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photo by steed media service
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Principle, Deloitte Consulting LLP
The League of Black Women (LBW) recently conducted a survey which
concluded that black professional women are vastly underrepresented in
leadership roles. Therefore, cheers were not out of line when Tonie
Leatherberry shared with ro that she would be promoted to principle at
Deloitte Consulting LLP at the end of August. And that’s cause for
celebration for every working woman, from blue-collar workers to
corporate executives. Leatherberry is a 16-year veteran at Deloitte, a
company that has been named eight times on Fortune magazine’s annual
list of “100 Best Companies to Work For.” In her role as a management
consultant, she specializes in governance, risk and compliance. “I
serve Fortune 100 clients . [I] help [them] understand the regulatory
environment and translate that into day-to-day practices and
operations,” she says.
Leatherberry pointed out that there aren’t a lot of people of color in
her area of special services because blacks have typically chosen
fields that serve the community (e.g., doctors, teachers, social
workers, clergy). Leatherberry retained the services of a labor
economist, and based on the findings, determined that it’s necessary
for companies to realize blacks’ potential and nurture their talents
throughout their academic careers, from high school to post-graduate
school.
Leatherberry, who earned her MBA from Boston University, offers this
advice to women: “Resiliency is really about helping women proactively
manage their careers at the end of the day. We can fall into so many
traps related to our own paradigm and not think about how others
perceive us. That’s how we derail ourselves. We look to others to
anoint us as opposed to claiming what should be ours.” -yvette caslin
