JA Worldwide Board of Governors Spotlight: Pamela Maynard
August 19, 2021
Last month, the JA Worldwide Board of Governors welcomed our newest governor: Pamela Maynard, CEO of Avanade, the global leader in digital, cloud, business, and design services through Microsoft technology.
Born and raised just outside of London, England, Pam grew up wanting to be an architect and, later, a lawyer. The daughter of a carpenter, her father taught her how to draw, to which she attributes her perfectionist nature. Active and sporty, Pam had a variety of interests growing up including cricket and tennis. It was on the heels of her last A-level exam that she had a transformative conversation with her mother, who asked, “What do you enjoy?” and encouraged her to “trust her gut.” Pam, the first in her family to attend university, opted to pursue a business degree, which led her down a path of fascinating jobs and leadership opportunities.
While at university, Pam landed an internship at IBM. “I enjoyed the marriage between technology and business,” she said. “And I thoroughly enjoyed working with clients.” After graduation, Pam joined Oracle’s graduate program, and then worked at EY and Capgemini before joining Avanade in 2008.
“I stay at Avanade because there are always new challenges and opportunities to grow my skills, expand my thinking, and help me continue to be the leader I want to be,” she said. “It certainly helps that the company’s culture is focused on its people, making employees feel confident, inspired, and cared for. By building a strong foundation, the company empowers its employees, giving teams the resources they need to make a genuine human impact on clients, their employees, and their customers.”
After eight years serving in leadership roles across Avanade’s Growth Markets, Europe, and global business, the company appointed Pam CEO in 2019, following in the footsteps of Avanade’s previous two CEOs, Mitch Hill and Adam Warby, who, as JA Europe Board Chair, also serves as a member of the JA Worldwide Board of Governors. In fact, it was Adam who introduced Pam to JA in 2016 when Avanade began to formalize a global technology partnership with JA Worldwide. “Avanade was ramping up its corporate citizenship activities with a mission to enable young people and our communities to achieve more through the power of our people and digital innovation,” Pam said. “And because JA’s mission is to ‘Inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy,’ it felt like the perfect match!”
In addition to serving as JA Worldwide’s global technology partner, Avanade employees volunteer with the organization across 15 countries on initiatives like coaching students on interview skills and more. That involvement continues with Pam as she takes her seat on the JA Worldwide Board of Governors: “It’s an honor to be part of a board with so many changemakers and leaders—together we can help advance JA Worldwide’s mission to equip young people with the employment and entrepreneurship skillsets and mindsets they need to succeed.”