Paradigm for Parity® CEO Spotlight Series: Frank Calderoni, Anaplan

The Paradigm for Parity® coalition CEO Spotlight Series showcases the CEOs who are transforming the culture within their companies to advance women of all races, backgrounds and ethnicities.

This week we are pleased to showcase Frank Calderoni, CEO of Anaplan, who shared insights on how his company is prioritizing diversity and inclusion to create an environment where all women can thrive.

1) What motivated your company to join the Paradigm for Parity® coalition?

Anaplan signed the Paradigm for Parity® pledge because women and non-binary or non-gender conforming individuals should have a seat at every table and have their voices heard.

Being a member of the Paradigm for Parity® coalition has connected us with likeminded organizations and has helped keep us accountable in our own goals for gender parity.

2) What role can/should CEOs play in leveling the playing field for marginalized groups, including women and people of color, in the workforce?

Closing the gender gap means that when women and non-binary or non-gender conforming individuals look to join our organization, they can envision their future at Anaplan. They can already see women in leadership at every level, including our board of directors and in our C-suite. I am proud that we have women in positions across our country, including platform engineering. Our progress would not be possible without the full commitment from leaders at every level.

3) What do you consider to be the benefits of leveling the playing field for women in the workforce for your company and society as a whole?

The most successful businesses will be representative of societies they serve. It has been proven time and time again that having women with diverse backgrounds leadership positions makes a company successful. But more than that, it’s just the right thing to do.

4) How is your company advocating for, lifting up and supporting women of color in your workplace? What has made the biggest difference in advancing all women in your company?

Gender parity is a business priority to Anaplan because inclusivity is one of our core values. Using the Anaplan platform, we’ve actually been able to achieve pay parity, top to bottom across the organization at every level in the company. We want to make sure every voice in our organization is heard, and that those voices are representative of the world around us. Gender is just one of those areas. It’s equally important to have viewpoints from a wide array of backgrounds, cultures, nationalities, LGBTQ+ individuals, neuro diverse individuals, and non-binary or non-gender conforming individuals. Everyone has something to contribute, and the more voices you listened to, the better off you will be.

Frank A. Calderoni is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Anaplan, a cloud-native SaaS company that helps enterprises orchestrate business performance. A technology industry veteran with over 30 years of leadership experience, Calderoni has helped to guide organizations through disruptive change and incredible growth.

Before joining Anaplan, Calderoni served as the Executive Vice President of Operations and CFO of Red Hat. He also spent more than a decade at Cisco, during which he was named one of the best CFOs of 2012, 2013 and 2014 by Institutional Investor and CFO of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times in 2015. Prior to Cisco, Calderoni held senior leadership roles at QLogic Corporation and SanDisk Corporation. Earlier in his career, he spent 21 years at IBM. Calderoni previously served on the board of Palo Alto Networks and currently serves on the board of Adobe Systems, Inc.

Calderoni is also now a published author. His book, “Upstanding: How Company Character Catalyzes Loyalty, Agility, and Hypergrowth,” explores the powerful link between corporate strategy and company culture and how activating this link is essential to realizing strong company character.