Working in a male-dominated industry for most of her career, Ann Cairns, Executive Vice Chair of Mastercard, shared lessons on managing the work environment and strategies to successfully navigate a fulfilling career path.
The Mastercard mentees were motivated and inspired by Ann’s visit. Read mentee feedback and the impact Ann Cairns has left on them.
“When Ann Cairns walked into the room, you could feel the positive energy. Her confidence was overflowing, which is something truly admirable that I wish to have one day. The advice and stories Ann Cairns shared with us today were very valuable. Her life story is also one of a kind. She’s a very powerful woman and I’m so glad that I was able to meet her. Her words will stay with me for years to come” - Karizma Butrus, Saunders Trade &Technical High School
“Meeting Ann Cairns opened up all the possibilities I can achieve if I just put my mind to it. Ann Cairns started off with something she loved math and put that to use in her career in the oil and gas industry. Ann Cairns inspires me as a woman in this world. She reminded me anything is possible. She overcame many obstacles on her ladder to success” - Kiana Mitchell, Nellie A. Thornton High School
“Really inspiring to meet with Ann Cairns. She is very interesting and empowering. I really liked listening to what she had to say about women and the future of the world. It was an amazing opportunity to meet her and her advice really resonated with me” - Marysable Morales, Saunders Trade & Technical High School
“My favorite part of today was meeting Ann Cairns. I was nervous about meeting her at first, but she was so down to earth. Her life and her outlook on things were so interesting to learn about. We had so many things in common, it was like hearing myself talk. I’m beyond grateful that I had the chance to meet her” - Ashanti Palmer, Nellie A. Thornton High School
“The meeting with Ann Cairns gave me lots of insight on how to face a male-dominated industry or environment. She dispensed great advice and was very relatable in her manner of speech” - Carolina Perez-Hernandez, Nellie A. Thornton High School
"Ann Cairns mostly worked with men her whole life, and she talked about how that felt for her. Knowing that she had to work with only men and was singled out many times by her bosses, and still managed to get where she is now, really inspires me. My main takeaway is to never quit when things get difficult" - Eglentina Prozihmi, Saunders Trade & Technical High School
“Ann Cairns was really motivational. At first, she was very intimidating but after hearing about the struggles she had to go through made me want to work harder. The meeting was incredibly interesting and funny” - Yarley Tlatelpa, Nellie A. Thornton High School
“I loved listening to Ann Cairns and how she dominated a role in engineering which was said to only be taken by men. She broke these barriers and set herself apart from any gender separations” - Litzy Valdovinos, Saunders Trade & Technical High School