Shannon Block: CEO of For-Profit and Non-Profit Organizations – 085

Today's Extraordinary Women Radio guest, Shannon Block, has broke the CEO glass ceiling numerous times.

She’s currently helping lead the startup of Skillful, a non-profit initiative of the Markle Foundation, dedicated to enabling all Americans to secure good jobs in a changing economy.  Shannon has been Chief Executive Officer of multiple organizations including World Forward, The Denver Zoo and the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center. Prior to that she was the chief business development officer for Denver Health.

Shannon has moved through lots of change over her career.  The question she asks herself, when she starts to hear a call for change is "What conversation do I want to have with the world?"

I love this question - and it was this question that led her from daily conversations around baby zoo animals to conversations centered around the future skill needs of our nation's workforce.

We talk about her current passion around creating more opportunities for Americans to thrive in the digital economy.

As technology increasingly influences the way we work, Shannon's focus today is to help employers focus on finding the right people faster and keep them longer by changing to a skills-based approach in hiring.
"Technology is changing so fast - we have to remind ourselves to focus on the problem, instead of being so tied into our particular solution. In the future world, we're going to need to iterate a lot and allow ourselves to fail fast." ~Shannon Block
We talk about #MeToo and what male execs might need to do differently today, what it takes to become a woman CEO and why women in STEM is so important! AND we jam on our shared passion for women uplifting women. I love the depth of this interview and you will too!

Shannon currently sits on a number of boards including: Young President’s Organization (YPO) Executive Committee Board as Regional Director; Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center Advisory Board; International Women’s Forum of Colorado Board as Chairman & President; and Children’s Hospital Board, Quality and Safety. In addition, Shannon has won countless awards including being nominated as Entrepreneur of the Year by APEX Technology Awards this year, Outstanding Women in Business Nominee, Denver Business Journal 2017
CEO of the Year Finalist, Colorado Technical Association 2016, Top 40 Under 40, Denver Business Journal 2016 and VISIT Denver Tourism Star, 2016.

To learn more about Shannon, follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter or visit the Skillful Web Site or their Twitter or Facebook page.

Shannon is so wise and full of leadership wisdom and it was such an honor to get to interview her. She’s a perfect woman to kick off our 2019 season – so let’s welcome Shannon Block!