Curating Career Life Stories: How Did I Get Here? Episode 96 – An interview with Helen Young Hayes
Join me for the career reflections of Helen Young Hayes, founder & CEO of Activate Workforce Solutions PBC. A journey with roots in China and Mississippi, then onto Yale, Wall Street and Colorado. She discovers her love for economics at Yale then takes a research analyst position at an investment firm which leads to a 20-year career retiring as Chief Investment Officer.
Having grown up in the south during times of segregation and witnessing generations of poverty she’s feels called upon to champion for individuals who have been marginalized. After stepping out of the workforce for about a decade to focus on raising her five children, she starts researching how to best make an impact on poverty and launches Activate Workforce Solutions a Public Benefit Company (PBC). Her goal is a formidable one — to end poverty for people in Colorado.
What’s served Helen best throughout her career: “My ability to work with a tremendous amount of passion and enthusiasm at whatever I’m doing. And integrating my faith into my work.” Her words of wisdom: “At a micro level – make yourself indispensable, then you can call the shots. At a macro level – think about what it is in the world that brings you joy or that makes you mad – then figure out how you’re going to leave the world a better place than when you got here.”
Find Helen at: https://www.activatework.com/
