Gaining Altitude: Learning from Spelman President Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell

I was grateful to have the opportunity last week to sit down with Spelman College President Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell as part of our live series, Gaining Altitude . We launched this series almost a year ago after receiving several requests by Delta people who had asked if they could share our internal Town Halls with their family and friends.

That’s when we realized that our Town Halls, featuring great, impactful leaders from Ambassador Andrew Young to Dr. Bernice A. King, should be available for our Delta customers and the community, as well. These conversations gave us the chance to pause and learn from insightful guests about the topics that matter most to us such as sustainability, DEI, and overall well-being. From there, Gaining Altitude was created.

As the sixth guest in our series, Mary touched on so many important topics. An hour wasn’t enough time to hear about her accomplishments and her reflections over the course of her rich and fulfilling career as she looks ahead to retirement at the end of the academic year. We talked about how education has shaped who she is today, her love of arts and art history, how we can create opportunities within companies and the importance of role models to name just a few. We also looked at how we can remove barriers and promote inclusion.

“There has to be clear goals and objectives for bringing people into the company, for having people develop in the company, for having them move up in the company, for having them be able to participate in a meaningful way. I think DEI has to be part of the DNA."

Our time closed with a special moment. I announced a grant from The Delta Air Lines Foundation to Spelman College for their Center for Innovation and the Arts as part of the Spelman Ascends campaign. This grant will help fund integration of the arts into their already robust STEM education program for women. To learn more, please see here .?

If you were unable to join us live last week, I hope you'll check out the episode here. Thanks again, Mary, for touching the lives of your students, our viewers and my own.?

You may also listen to our other recent guests – Tristan Walker , Danny Meyer , Mary Barra , Porter Braswell and Larry Fitzgerald – via Delta.com/GainingAltitude . Each brings a unique perspective across a range of conversations that matter most to our world from protecting the planet, to entrepreneurship to continuing to pursue equity.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts below and to the next episode later this spring.

Ed