To the Top

CHAPTER 6Up, Not Out

[My mother] had handed down respect for the possibilities – and the will to grasp them.

—Alice Walker

From the time she was an undergraduate at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, Donna Morris, whom we first met back in Chapter 3, knew exactly what she wanted to do. A summer job assisting the director of pensions and benefits in the HR department at the City of Ottawa revealed that she could combine her two passions: helping others develop their skill sets, and business. Under the guidance of her boss and first mentor, she became laser‐focused, pursuing the Canadian Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation and intentionally building specialized skills and seizing every opportunity that came her way. Today, Donna is arguably one of the most powerful human resource executives in the world as chief people officer of Walmart, where she is responsible for the professional and personal well‐being of 2.3 million employees in 24 countries. To reach that level, Donna made few compromises in her career, leading her into the highest ranks of the global retail giant. But she did not compromise on what mattered to her just as much as building her career: having a family.

Early in her career, Donna vowed to herself that she would have both motherhood and a successful career. There was never any debate in her mind about giving up one for the other.

“When people ask about the accomplishment I'm most proud of, it would absolutely be that I am a mom ...