In its story on African-Americans who broke the color barrier in a number of fields, Phyllis Currie was interviewed. For those who don’t know, Ms. Currie is the Director of Pasadena’s Water and power Department. She’s not the first black leader of the department, her predecessor Rufus Hightower led the department for a number of years. She is, however, the first woman to hold the position, and may be the first woman, black or otherwise to lead a utility anywhere.
I can tell you, from experience, she is a tremendous professional with a real talent for leading the department. One of her strengths is her ability to convince political leadership to take action on complex issues that may not be politically palatable.
I also think it says a lot about Ms. Currie that she credits a high school English teacher with helping her on the path to success.
Here’s Phyllis Currie’s bit:
In 30 years with the city of Los Angeles, Currie held various jobs, including chief financial officer for the Department of Water and Power. Currie, 61, is now general manager of the Pasadena Water and Power Department, the first black woman to run the agency.
Looking back, I’ve come to think that perseverance can be more valuable than sheer brilliance. People who don’t give up learn to lead, and succeed, in small steps. One after another.
When I was growing up in South-Central Los Angeles, the mantra repeated by my parents, grandmother and church members was this: “Get educated and be prepared.”
Today, it’s a message I convey to staffers when we go before the City Council with a proposal that gets shot down, and to Girl Scouts launching a new project, and everyone else.
Racism? It’s always taken a back seat. Oh sure, there were racist attitudes manifested by some teachers who had low expectations of black students.
But I graduated from Manual Arts High School, where I was privileged to have had Mr. Gann as an English teacher. I don’t know where he is today, but he will always be my hero.
On the first day of class, he said, “Students, when you finish this course, you will be able to pass the English placement exam for freshmen at UCLA, and you will not take dumbbell English.”
It worked! I did that. And I earned a master’s degree in business administration at UCLA. There weren’t many black students there at the time.
I went on to become the first African American in many different positions. I still get phone calls or e-mails from people congratulating me for being the African American this or that.
“We’re proud of you,” they say. But I don’t think too much about that. Being first is not as important as just doing a good job.
It’s a terrific story.
Black ‘firsts’ share their challenges
Paul
No Comments so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.