Video Q&A: Boeing's Donna Hrinak on Women in Leadership

"Madeleine Albright said famously once: 'There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women," says Boeing Brazil's President Donna Hrinak when making the case for women to help other women advance in the private sector. "You have to look at opportunities when women are taken off course along their careers. That means being sensitive to the fact that women bring other qualities to the table, that a flexible working environment to accomodate those qualities is important for the company."   

After participating in the Women's Hemispheric Network's conference in São Paulo on March 19, Hrinak spoke with AS/COA Online's Luisa Leme about her experience both in the public and private sector, her views on how women can surpass middle-management positions and reach top leadership, and what means to have a work-life balance. For Hrinak, women's professional and personal goals need not be mutually exclusive; they are part of "a pie chart," she explained. "Work is one of those slices in your pie; it's not a competing force with your life. You have the choice of how to cut your pie and name your slices."

Learn more about the AS/COA Women's Hemispheric Network at as-coa.org/women.