(US and Canada) Ellen Nielsen, Chief Data Officer at Chevron, speaks with Asha Saxena, Founder and CEO, WLDA.tech, in a special International Women’s Month video interview about her 30-year professional journey, learnings from various roles, and initiatives in building Chevron’s women workforce. This interview is part of CDO Magazine’s special series celebrating women in data science, machine learning, and analytics.

Nielsen began her career in systems engineering three decades ago. While working across the automotive, electronics, consumer goods, and finance industries, she gained experience in customer service, sales, procurement, and supply chain. She has been with Chevron for almost five years, the last two and a half of which she has served as the Chief Data Officer.

Sharing key learnings, Nielsen urges professionals to take risks, get out of their comfort zones, and do something where they have to gain knowledge. That way, the learning curve is bigger and opens up other opportunities.

As professionals make career shifts, she encourages them to be true to themselves even when they don’t feel fully confident about their skills and abilities. Nielsen also stresses the importance of support systems such as partners, families, and friends for lifting someone when doubts arise.

Nielsen, discussing diversity and inclusion initiatives at Chevron, reveals that the organization has a woman CTO and a “Women in Digital” group of hundreds of female employees. The group’s purpose is to collaborate, share, and develop their careers in digital and data within the company.

She notes that Chevron also collaborated with WLDA to bring Mastermind Circles into the company. The event was designed to connect middle management and help one another with leadership challenges. Other initiatives included a speaker series featuring women who have built successful careers in the data and AI space.

In conclusion, Nielsen shares a key learning. She urges young professionals to not only think about their careers and responsibility but help others connect, be open to connections, and reach out to others. Nielsen says giving is very important, reminding young professionals that when they give, they get something in return.

CDO Magazine appreciates Ellen Nielsen for sharing her insights and data success stories with our global community.