Mentoring from the World's Most Powerful Women at the Forbes 30/50 Summit
What advice do the world’s most iconic women have for the next generation of innovators?
By Jenna Jablonski
We’ve all pondered the popular ice-breaker question, “If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?”
Now imagine… What if you were invited to have dinner with several of today’s most influential women? What would you ask them, and what wisdom might they share?
Yajing Zhao and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Activate Fellows Kezi Cheng (Cohort 2021, CEO of FLO Materials) and Yajing Zhao (Cohort 2022, CEO of Mesophase) had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in March at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi, where they both met Hillary Rodham Clinton and heard from other icons like Malala Yousafzai, Billie Jean King, Gloria Steinem, Misty Copeland, Olena Zelenska, and Catherine O’Hara, to name a few.
Kezi Cheng at the Forbes 30/50 Summit.
Alongside luminaries from around the world, the event brought together high-powered women from the most recent Forbes 30 Under 30 and 50 Over 50 classes for cross-generational mentorship. Cheng and Zhao were invited as 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 “listers”—Cheng in the “Manufacturing & Industry” category for her work on infinitely recyclable polymers, and Zhao in the “Energy” category for her work developing a surface coating to improve energy-efficiency at industrial plants.
“Fabulous.” “Inspiring.” “Empowering.” This is how Cheng and Zhao described the Summit, which included panels, networking, sightseeing, and a gala on International Women’s Day. The event was unlike any other that Cheng or Zhao had attended before—and a shift from their usual routine. “We didn't need to close any deals or show off our technologies,” said Zhao. Moreover, Cheng said the Summit provided a safe space for women to share advice, both professional and personal.
Advice from the Greats
All-star speakers from the top tiers of politics, sports, media, and the arts shared lessons from their own trailblazing paths with the 500 attendees.
Billie Jean King spoke about a widespread issue that she’s noticed: how women are more likely than men to disqualify themselves from an opportunity if they’re missing one out of ten requested qualifications, for example. “Guys can do five out of ten and they’ll say to me, ‘I’ll get the job.’” She said this is where leaders can intervene. “When you’re hiring someone, you’re going to tell them, ‘I’m not going to let you fail,’” she coached.
Catherine O’Hara shared a hard-earned lesson about entering new relationships. “Be conscious of how you’re presenting yourself right at the beginning because the foot you go in on will be the foot you’ll stay on,” she said. “It’s really hard to change that dynamic.”
Gloria Steinem’s message aimed at systemic change: We will simply not achieve gender equity until household work is divided equitably, especially between mothers and fathers, she urged.
Many other themes came up repeatedly: Hire more women. Get women into the top ranks. Fight bias. As Clinton and King emphasized, there is so much more work to be done.
Lessons from Mentors and Peers
In addition to hearing from iconic speakers, Cheng and Zhao had inspiring conversations with the “Over 50” mentors. One shared impactful advice with Cheng: Be selective with your funders. “She gave me the advice that there are a lot of people who are banner waving about their commitment to gender and racial equity… but few walk the walk,” Cheng recalled. “Your job as a female CEO is to focus on who sees the value of backing female founders—who is writing the checks and who is committed to helping you succeed. Use that as sorting criteria when you're looking for funders.”
Kezi Cheng and Yajing Zhao riding camels at sunset in Abu Dhabi.
A memorable moment for Zhao was riding camels at sunset—which she described as one of the most beautiful experiences of her life—and coincidentally standing in line next to another MIT alum. Zhao swapped stories with her new acquaintance, a more senior attendee of the Summit who had pursued computer science and mathematics as an undergrad, earned a degree from MIT in management, and later in her career, discovered her passion for gender studies and earned a Ph.D. in psychology. “It was really amazing to see how many possibilities you can pursue throughout your life,” reflected Zhao.
“There are a lot of people who are banner waving about their commitment to gender and racial equity... but few walk the walk.”
Cheng and Zhao also exchanged lessons with their “Under 30” peers. “The glass ceiling gets thicker as you climb the ladder,” one of them told Cheng. “It's more isolating as you try to achieve more in the space that you're in… it doesn't get easier; it actually gets a lot harder.”
Overcoming “Mind-Boggling” Disparities
A sobering statistic stood out to both Cheng and Zhao: only two percent of U.S. venture capital funding went to all-women-led teams in 2022. Clinton presented this fact alongside other “distressing” measurements of progress (or lack thereof), including a recent United Nations report that said it will take nearly 300 more years to achieve gender equality based on current data. Cheng said it was “mind-boggling” to hear about the staggering gender gap in venture capital. “I just could not get that out of my head,” she said.
For Cheng, these statistics contextualized the challenges she’s personally faced, and they illuminate a long history of structural inequity. “When you have a bad day because someone is talking down to you, or your voice is silenced, or you see an 'other' being treated unfairly… it’s not just another annoying thing that comes up,” Cheng said. “It piles on top of centuries of inequality that are already there. That adds up, and it warrants not just frustration but anger and action.”
Cheng and Zhao also noticed the lack of science entrepreneurs at the event itself—a reflection of the larger issue of women being underrepresented in STEM and entrepreneurship. “There are biases around the type of companies that women should have,” stated Cheng, noting the prevalence of women entrepreneurs with socially driven missions or women-focused products. “There’s an assumption that women’s companies do good rather than make a profit and grow big… [These biases] make it even harder for science-based, hard-tech entrepreneurs to make it.”
“There are biases around the type of companies that women should have.”
But seeing the “firsts” at the Summit gave Cheng hope that she can break down these barriers for other women science entrepreneurs, as belated as this progress may be. Among the many pioneers present were Misty Copeland, the first Black woman to become a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, and Zahra Lari, the first Middle Eastern figure skater to compete internationally. “We're still seeing ‘firsts’ in so many different categories, and that's kind of shocking to me, but also inspiring,” said Cheng.
Paying It Forward
Connecting with high-achieving women was not new for Cheng and Zhao, who both have been deeply impacted by cross-generational mentorship. Cheng’s mentors and role models have included her mother, her first chemistry teacher, her close friends from MIT who are tackling some of the biggest societal challenges from deploying efficient hydro-turbines to early cancer detection, a community of powerful women leaders in Silicon Valley, and many others in between (her male advocates have been crucial, too, she notes). Now, she relies on a network of women: “I have a mental list of trusted female mentors who I seek advice from when I'm lost or deflated. And that has helped me tremendously in everything from hiring to fundraising to team dynamics.”
Yajing Zhao with her Ph.D. adviser, Evelyn Wang, after Zhao's defense at MIT in 2022.
As for Zhao, she had the amazing opportunity of having Evelyn Wang, now the director of ARPA-E, as her Ph.D. advisor. In addition to being her personal role model, Wang is “a role model for every woman in STEM,” said Zhao.
Both Cheng and Zhao said the Summit will impact how they do business going forward. One of Zhao’s biggest takeaways was the importance of resilience in the long run. “I met senior mentors who've been in low valleys before and managed to come up again through resilience,” she said. “That really inspired me to be strong, and not be afraid of challenges or obstacles along the way.”
“We’re still seeing ‘firsts’ in so many different categories, and that’s kind of shocking to me, but also inspiring,”
Cheng is determined to affect change through her role as a CEO. “As we grow, our company will not contribute to the pay gap,” she stated. “I will not hesitate to bring more women into the company if I can and do so with merit, and also with the knowledge that there has been a lot of inequality in the past, and we need to adjust for that moving forward.”
Drawing on the examples of the Summit’s headlining women, Cheng recognizes her responsibility to the next generation—and the power she holds as one individual to shape the future. “I want to make sure that those people who come after me are not dealing with the same problems I've had to deal with,” she concluded. “In addition to building new plastics, my job is also to make it easier for the next woman who is starting her first day as a CEO.”
