Charmaine Brown Reflects on Her HKS Executive Education Experience
Charmaine Brown
Director of Diversity and Inclusion,
Fannie Mae, Washington DC
Charmaine Brown attended the Strategies for Building and Leading Diverse Organizations executive education program in 2017.
Why did you choose to attend a Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education program?
I was impressed with the curriculum, and most especially the facilitators. I felt that I could further expand my diversity and inclusion capabilities through the program.
What would you consider the key takeaways from the program?
Professor Livingston, the speakers, and participants were among the most thoughtful and deeply committed people I've encountered in my diversity and inclusion work. My takeaways include going beyond the traditional approach to strategy development and execution, to focus on identity, context, culture, and our role as leaders to tackle the hard work. I have used my lessons in my work here at Fannie Mae as well as with the financial services executives I partner with in mortgage lending.
How have you implemented lessons from your executive program upon returning to your organization?
Upon returning to my work, I immediately began incorporating data from the sessions into our diversity and inclusion platform.
How would you describe the value of HKS Executive Education to someone who is considering attending a program?
The Strategies for Building and Leading Diverse Organizations executive program was the most impactful experience I've had in my 10-year diversity and inclusion career.