Bridget Griswold, the 25-year-old CEO of Lean In, is pressing the case that the first promotion matters most. Speaking at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women conference in Santa Barbara, Calif., she said the 'broken rung' is 'one of the most entrenched problems that women face' and that it begins at the move from entry-level to manager.
The numbers come first. Griswold said only 93 entry-level women were promoted to manager for every 100 entry-level men in 2025. She said that small gap becomes a larger career problem because 'if women—if once you don’t get that first promotion—it’s then really hard to catch up.'
She also said the problem has moved in the wrong direction for Black women. Griswold said that in 2021, nine out of 10 companies made diversity a priority, and that the progress nearly closed the broken rung for Black women the following year. But she said the issue reemerged without sustained effort. In 2025, she said, only 60 Black women were promoted for every 100 men.
Griswold’s own rise has made her an unusual figure in the nonprofit world. She was appointed CEO by Lean In founder and former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg after a brief stint as a Meta product manager. Fortune noted that it is rare to see Gen Zers at the helm of companies, especially ones they did not found themselves.
She said youth can still be an advantage. Griswold described herself as 'quite fearless' and said being young allows her to rely on her leadership team for 'counsel and domain expertise.'
She also pushed back on the scrutiny that came with her appointment. Griswold said a conversation with Sandberg highlighted double standards in how young leaders are judged. 'When a young man gets a big job in our world, it’s not really that interesting, because it happens often,' she said. 'When a young woman gets a big job, which happened to me, it’s a little more interesting because it’s rare.'
That is the real business lesson buried inside the diversity pitch: promotions are incentives, and incentives shape outcomes. If firms want more women in senior roles, they have to get the first rung right and keep the rules consistent. Capital rewards clear rules, not symbolic commitments that fade after one news cycle.
For companies, the issue is not abstract. A pipeline that stalls at entry level narrows the bench, weakens productivity, and leaves leadership talent underused. In the market, merit and advancement are supposed to be aligned. When they are not, the cost is paid in lower confidence, weaker execution, and fewer women reaching the top where decisions are made.
