LT Alumni Spotlight: Sumana Ramadurgam, LT’21, B-Yond, Inc.

Sumana is a recent graduate of Leadership Tomorrow. She’s a member of the LT’21 cohort, the first class in LT’s history to meet entirely virtually. See how she’s leveraging what she learned in LT to ask difficult questions, build connections and relationships with her colleagues while working fully remote, and get more engaged in the community.

Can you give an example of how LT impacted your leadership (at work or in your community)? How have the events this past year and your LT experience influenced your leadership?

Despite being remote, LT’s curriculum design and constant support helped the class build connections and relationships. LT’s approach of bringing together a cohort with diverse backgrounds, collaborating with community partners and working on action projects, and the information I learned at Challenge Days have empowered me to step into a leadership role at work.

“My Leadership Tomorrow experience gave me a voice to ask bold questions and to question the status quo.”

This year at my company's All-Hands (Town Hall style) meeting, I asked our CEO to elaborate on Leadership’s plans to help employees adjust to our new remote work lifestyles. I expressed that now more than ever, due to uncertainties created by Covid, we need everyone to collaborate and connect at a core level. This conversation helped me get noticed by our Leadership Team. As a result, when they created an Advisory Council, I was selected as a member. This council advises on company culture and works on initiatives to foster collaboration between employees while adapting to a fully remote work lifestyle.

I’ve also applied strategies I learned in LT to build connections with my team. I recently hired two new engineers for my team. One engineer is based in Argentina and the other is based in Mexico. Initially, it was tough to make these new hires feel part of the team since they had never met anyone in the company. This inspired me to try a few strategies from LT that helped me build connections with my classmates (e.g., Open Space Technology, Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, LT’s Lab Team norm of putting relationships first). Using Open Space to build connections has been especially successful. My team has enjoyed the conversations that are a mix of technical and non-technical topics. Since it’s a new topic every session, I’ve noticed an increase in the number of engineers attending the meeting. This has helped some of our engineers feel more connected at work and truly feel a part of our company.

What is a highlight from your LT experience?

When my Lab Team interviewed regional leaders, I was really inspired when one of the leaders we interviewed was a woman of color (WOC) and, similar to my professional experience, came from an engineering background. She pivoted to law and is now the CEO of a top law firm in the Puget Sound Region. Her story of being an immigrant and a woman of color and the way she navigated life’s curveballs to make it to a top influential position at her law firm was especially inspiring.

Can you give an example of how your perspective (about regional issues, leadership, yourself, race and racism, etc.) has changed because of LT?

Interactions with my Lab Team while working on our community project helped me learn how to navigate uncomfortable situations that arose when we didn’t reach consensus. Though it takes time, reaching creative solutions requires doing the hard work first. I'm grateful for this experience because these learnings will equip me to tackle challenging situations in the future.

Further, based on the support and guidance provided by my Lab Team Coach, I was inspired to apply to be a Coach for the LT’22 cohort. "Don’t give to get. Give to inspire others to give." - unknown. This quote sums up what it means for me to be a Coach for the LT’22 class.

Photo: Sumana and her lab team interviewing Ben Reuler, LT’16, Seattle Works

Is there anything you’re going to do (or are currently doing) differently because of LT? / How do you envision carrying equity, social and environmental justice, and belonging forward so the most vulnerable can thrive?

Leadership Tomorrow has helped me be more active in the community by providing the knowledge and tools needed to participate in initiatives that contribute to increasing representation and belonging for underrepresented groups. I am now involved with Pacific Community Ventures (PCV). I collaborate with a small group of WOC (Women of Color), particularly those whose jobs have been affected by the pandemic. I support them with setting up small businesses to help them gain financial independence during these challenging times.