When I started this podcast, I imagined all my guests would be women. But David Smith breaks the mold in a unique way - as a much needed expert male voice in the gender equality conversation. I couldn't wait to meet him and hear about his work helping men learn to be better allies and more effective mentors for women at work.

David and his co-author, Brad Johnson, wrote Athena Rising - How and Why Men Should Mentor Women when they realized many of the gender equality policies and programs being implemented by the US military weren't working as well as expected and they began to research why. What they found was that the issues plaguing women at work across society (bias, stereotypes, discrimination) were affecting the ranks in the military as well. Their idea is that teaching men how to be effective allies and mentors to women at work will help everyone become better leaders and build stronger organizations.

David is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the National Security Affairs Department at the United States Naval War College. His research focuses on gender, work, and family issues including dual career families, military families, women in the military, and retention of women. A former Navy pilot, Dr. Smith led diverse organizations of women and men culminating in command of a squadron in combat and flew more than 3,000 hours over 19 years including combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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