Role Model Event
Zurich, December 5, 2019
At the last 2019 Role Model Event @ SAP, we were taken to a fascinating journey. Angela Mattes, CEO Baloise Life (LI), shared her first hand experience on what it means to take a major decision in life: be bold, accept yourself, fight stereotypes – and change your gender.
Did it ever happen to you that you were confronted with the question: Why do you think you are female? What would your answer be? Probably, you have never questioned your gender before nor had to explain yourself for it. Angela Mattes was accompanied by such questions since her youth when she grew up as a boy and young man. She described how she denied her wish to live as a woman and fully concentrated on her carreer instead. However, she could never repress the woman in her completely and it came to the point when she wanted to give up resistance.
First, she had to find the courage to step out of her appartment as a woman. Initially, she did it only outside of Switzerland. The day came when she realized that she didn’t want to hide herself anymore. So, she confronted her manager and the companies’ executives and gave her coming out. Surprisingly, she experienced support and acceptance of all her superiors. Afterward, she stepped in front of her employees and told them that their male CEO would be a female CEO from now on.
“It was thanks to my team and the personal relationship to each and everyone that this transformation
was accepted in my company so well” Angela Mattes, CEO Baloise Life (LI)
It was very fascinating to listen to Angela’s personal story as a transgender woman. Here are the main take-aways:
We left this event greatful and full of respect for the courage and determination shared by a female leader who was once a man.
A big thank you goes to Angela Mattes for that inspirational talk and to Leona Tscherter for the great moderation. A very warm thank you as well to our member company SAP for hosting us so generously and making this event possible.
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