barbara bowles – money makes the world go ’round

Barbara Bowles 

is considered a modern-day champion for equal opportunity in the workplace. The newly retired vice chair of Profit Investment Management, an institutional money management firm, has always been an advocate for diversity and female empowerment as it relates to business and employment opportunities in corporate America. An accomplished financier who has shepherded such companies as Kraft and Bank One into unprecedented levels of success, Bowles is adamant about women working on an even playing field.
“We are certainly a world that is not monolithic. We are a very diverse world. We have diverse interests.We have people of all strides and corporate America cannot do its best job if it does not recognize that, and if it does not play into that. I think it’s very important that companies think about who they hire, what they can contribute and that they understand the varied interests that people of color and women can offer,” says Bowles.
Her leadership at Profit Investment Management is being credited for the company’s ability to handle approximately $1.3 billion across the U.S. in institutional investments. Bowles strongly believes that such achievements are an example of the great things that minorities can accomplish in the corporate arena. “What I think is important to know is that we have great performances but it’s just a sliver of money being managed by minorities. I think that those people who have pension dollars who expect … performance, should look at minority firms and they will find a wealth of experience there, as well as great performance,” she says. –jason thompson