The Gen Z CEO of Lean In says the ‘broken rung’ is one of the most pervasive issues women face in their careers

Women are looking to climb the corporate ladder, but broken steps are holding them back from reaching their full potential. Bridget Griswold, the 25-year-old CEO of women’s empowerment non-profit Lean In, is already witnessing how early-career setbacks reverberate in leadership representation around the country.

“That is a huge problem that women face, and where this is manifesting is in this thing that we call at Lean In, the broken rung,” Griswold told editorial director Kristin Stoller onstage at Fortune’s annual Most Powerful Women conference in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Tuesday. “The broken rung is one of the most entrenched problems that women face, and it’s early in their career. It’s the first promotion, from entry-level, to manager.”

The Gen Z CEO noted that only 93 entry-level women were promoted to manager for every 100 entry-level men in 2025. It may seem like a small gap, Griswold said, but it’s just the first hurdle that has a domino effect on their career success. 

“This really matters because if women—if once you don’t get that first promotion—it’s then really hard to catch up,” the Lean In leader said. “We can’t fix the problems for underrepresentation of women at the top if we can’t fix the broken rung at the bottom.”

But mending the step and leveling the playing field for women isn’t impossible. Griswold said back in 2021, nine out of 10 companies made diversity a priority. The progress nearly closed the broken rung for Black women the following year—but without sustained effort in the years since, the problem has reemerged. In 2025, only 60 Black women were promoted for every 100 men.

“These numbers were going in the wrong direction,” Griswold said. 

While women continue to face barriers to advancement, Griswold’s own career trajectory offers a glimpse into what leadership can look like when young women get the opportunity to break through. Griswold’s meteoric rise as CEO of the massive global women’s empowerment nonprofit has been anything but ordinary: The organization’s founder, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, appointed Griswold to the top role following her brief stint as a Meta product manager. It’s extremely rare to see Gen Zers at the helm of companies—especially ones whom they didn’t found themselves. However, she said believes her age is actually an asset as CEO.

“I like to believe I’m quite fearless, which I think has treated me well in this role,” Griswold said. “And in being young, it really allows me to trust in my leadership team…for a lot of counsel and domain expertise.”

As the fresh-faced leader of Lean In, the Gen Zer believes women shouldn’t have to wait for their turn to lead. Her appointment as CEO drew a lot of attention, with critics wondering if she was too young for the job. But in response to the scrutiny, Griswold said a conversation with Sandberg illuminated double standards, and reinforced the need to change the expectations about where young women could go.

“When a young man gets a big job in our world, it’s not really that interesting, because it happens often,” the Gen Z leader said. “When a young woman gets a big job, which happened to me, it’s a little more interesting because it’s rare. And that is why I do this work: so that when women get big jobs, it won’t be something that’s surprising. It will just be a matter of fact.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com