Dr. Lovetta Sebbern

I attribute my success to having an internal drive that was there before I even became a leader - I was already set on promoting and doing what I wanted to do. I've always believed in merit, that if I do right and follow the rules, I can get there, even though I came into the department on my own without friends or connections to help me. Anytime somebody told me no, that meant I was going to work 10 times harder. When I faced discrimination or bias as the only female executive in the room, I didn't let it defeat me - I learned from it and it made me stronger. I also had two important mentors who made a real difference. One was a female associate warden who put me through boot camp and taught me the reality of executive leadership, even though I didn't like her very much at the time. The other was a male chief deputy warden who told me 'you're more than you realize' and encouraged me to believe I could succeed. Having someone tell you that you can do it makes you believe you can. I've always had twice as much education as my peers, and I believed that education and doing the right thing would get me where I wanted to go, even if it slowed me down a little bit because I didn't have connections.

The best career advice I received came from my mentor, a female associate warden who was preparing me to move from supervisor to manager and eventually to her position. She told me straight up, 'they don't care nothing about you and your degree,' and I used to be mad at her about it because I had always had twice as much education as my peers. But she was speaking from her experience at the executive level, and she was preparing me for the reality of what it would be like. She said, 'it's different here. It's different up here. It's not the same as being out there on the line.' She put me through what I call boot camp - she was hard on me, training me with tough love because you have to have thick skin in that environment. At the time I didn't really care for her approach, but down the road I realized how important she was and how she was getting me ready for the challenges ahead. The other powerful advice came from a male chief deputy warden who told me, 'Lovetta, you're more than you realize.' Hearing that from someone at the top, someone telling you that you can do this, makes you believe you can succeed.

I would tell young women that you have to believe you can succeed before you even start. You can't work in this field just because you want to - you have to believe that you could succeed in it. It starts within you first, with that internal drive. You need to be already set on what you want to do and where you want to go before you even get into leadership positions. When you face discrimination or bias, especially as a woman in a male-dominated environment, don't let it defeat you. Learn from those experiences and let them make you stronger. When someone tells you no, work 10 times harder. Also, find mentors - whether they're male or female - because having somebody tell you that you can do it, that they believe in you, makes a real difference in helping you believe you can succeed. You might not always like what they tell you or how they train you, but down the road you'll realize how important they were in getting you ready for the challenges ahead.

Community service is incredibly important to me - I'm big on it. I believe in helping others and giving back, whether that's through walking with women to promote health, giving Valentine's Day gifts to seniors who are home alone, feeding the homeless at Christmas, or encouraging people to vote. I'm passionate about education and helping young people, especially students of color, navigate their way to college. My husband and I work together on this - we think alike and run together as a team. We're dedicated to the students at our local high school through coaching basketball and advising the Black Student Union, and we still support the kids even after our own children graduated because they grow on you and you care about them. Family is central to everything - my three kids were my priority all through high school with their activities, and now I'm helping them succeed in college. I also believe strongly in merit and doing the right thing - I've always believed that if you follow the rules and do right, you can get where you want to go. Even though I'm retired, I stay busy because this work is my passion, and honestly, it also helps pay for my kids' college tuition.