Roberta Bortolotti on Driving Impact Through Community Service

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we interviewed Purpose-driven employees throughout Nasdaq about their roles, community engagement, and the importance of this month’s celebration. We spoke with Roberta Bortolotti, Senior Director, Index Business Transformation & Strategy, on how she advocates for inclusion and makes a difference in her community.

 Please tell us about your role at Nasdaq and what it entails.  

My name is Roberta Bortolotti. I am a Senior Director in the Index Business Transformation & Strategy group. Currently, I manage a team of 7 senior business analysts. The team supports index teams and efforts related to the launch of index products, as well as initiatives to transform the index business. 

My responsibilities entail collaborating with multiple stakeholders across different groups; coaching team members while they grow their expertise and skills; and providing direction for the scope of work and expectations to my team. 

This year, the theme of Nasdaq’s WHM celebrations is female inclusion and allyship, leadership, and success. What does that mean to you?  

It means actions, behaviors, and practices that leaders in organizations take to support, amplify, and advocate for women. I feel fortunate to say that I work for an organization that embraces and takes collective responsibility to create positive change in addressing gender disparity.   

To celebrate the "history" part of Women's History Month—is there a woman from history that you find especially inspiring?  

I feel inspired by the determination of Marie Curie, a Polish-French physicist and chemist, who pioneered the research of radioactivity leading to treatment of neoplasm by radioactive isotopes. She developed mobile radiography units during World War I. She was the first woman to win a Noble Prize, and the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice.  

Passionate for science with a brilliant curious mind, she presented a calm personality and strong conviction the benefits her work brought for humanity, she had to overcome challenges placed on her because she was a woman. 

What concrete steps can we take to advance female inclusion and create a more equitable future?  

• Support women networks like WiT (women in tech). 
• Address gender disparity in tech as a collective responsibility. 
• Optimize recruitment for female talent retention. 
• Ensure equal promotions for women and men.  

Can you talk to us about your community involvement? What purpose-driven efforts are you passionate about?   

There are 3 community service experiences that had a huge impact on me and became the drivers of my passion and involvement: 

• Volunteering as a translator at My Sister’s Place, a non-profit organization that provides shelter and support for women and their children who suffered domestic violence or were human trafficked, opened my eyes to the horrific reality of unsafe situations and abuse towards women and their children that still exists. Listening to their stories and hardships first-hand was sometimes hard to take. (Human trafficking) 

• As a volunteer facilitator of a Girls Who Code club at a local library in Alexandria, VA, the young generation left me in awe by seeing brilliant smart minds motivated and engaged in learning about computer science. (Education) 

• And finally, as a volunteer EMT at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue for almost 12 years, I provided medical and rescue services to the community of Fairfax County where I was extensively trained on the core values of teamwork, shared leadership, integrity, professional excellence, diversity, health, safety, wellness, and community engagement. (Community service) 

What employee networks are you a part of? How do the initiatives you’re involved in help advance economic progress for all?  

Besides being a member of Adelante, GLOBE, Global Green, OPEN, WIN, and SEEN, I am a co-lead of the Nasdaq Women in Tech (WiT) network with the mission of creating a space where women in technology roles at Nasdaq can find a supportive community, grow professionally, enhance their leadership skills, and make creative contributions to technology.  

If you had to choose one organization to spotlight for Women’s History Month, what would it be? 

Nasdaq. Nasdaq’s mission and vision “to create a future that advances economic progress for all” aligns with my own beliefs of more equitable opportunities and support to empower individuals and communities to reach their full potential.