An Investment of Priceless Returns
Executive Profile: Carla Foster makes it her business to see that African Americans reap the benefits of participating in the stock market
By Tennille M. Robinson

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Carla A. Foster
Vice President Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.
Founder and Director, African American Investor Services Program, Charles Schwab
Age: 45
Work philosophy: “You are happiest and do your best work when your work and your personal life can be integrated.”

Since starting at Charles Schwab & Co. in 1997, Foster made it a personal goal to assist the African American community in expanding its investment knowledge. Today as a company VP and founder and director of the African American Investor Services Program, Foster sees this initiative as an opportunity to educate and inform African Americans in an area they have historically lagged in comparison to whites.

An Investment of Priceless Returns
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And while Foster's professional efforts are focused on narrowing the color gap in stock market participation, she also recognizes that the dearth of minorities in the financial services field also needs addressing.

“I'm in the finance industry, which is a very male-dominated industry,” she says. “Although there are a lot of people fighting the battle about the glass ceiling for women, for minorities that is not as prevalent,” says Foster. “I think first and foremost, being a person of color is the biggest challenge in corporate America.”

Nevertheless, Foster, a Berkeley, California native and mother of two, has been able to excel, attributing her success to finding dedicated mentors she could look to for advice.

“You have to be able to hear their feedback and use it constructively to make yourself a better professional,” she offers. “These individuals are a source of information and offer advice that you need to be willing to incorporate into your performance and behavior. They can help you help yourself.”

Foster has certainly helped herself to an accomplished career, which she says is driven by internal motivation.

“It's a sense of personal pride and accomplishment that motivates me to push myself,” she reveals. “A personal voice inside me tells me that I can succeed in what I do, that I can excel, that I can go beyond what anyone would expect of me.”

Recommended Reading: Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers (Warner Business Books; $19.95). Buy it .

“It's a very quick, easy read,” says Foster. “It's very easy to do a self-diagnostic, and as a woman of color in the workplace, I think it's even a more powerful tool because there were a lot of things in that book that spoke to me.”

09/02/05