DENVER — Research has shown that companies with diverse management teams, including more women in leadership roles, perform better than their less diversely led peers.

But women are underrepresented in the top management of retail and health care companies in the United States, and a new organization called WE was launched at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores conference in April to help the industry develop and retain the women leadership talent it needs to succeed in the years ahead.

In a panel discussion at the NACDS Total Store Expo last month, member Annie Walker, vice president of over-the-counter merchandising at Walmart, described the organization as a community rather than a group with paid membership, and said the aim was to support “women who have already risen to leadership roles within their organizations, but also to think about the next generation.”

Panel participants shared their stories about moving up within their organizations, which often meant changing directions or roles in sometimes unexpected ways. Walker described starting her career with Walmart as an engineer and transitioning to merchandising roles that better suited her passions, if not her original skill set. Heather Hughes, divisional vice president and general merchandise manager for seasonal and general merchandise at Walgreens, and Jocelyn Konrad, executive vice president of pharmacy at Rite Aid Corp., who both began their careers as pharmacists, described how their career paths shifted as the result opportunities that presented themselves.

Also on the panel were Michele Muhammad, chief sales and marketing officer at DSE solutions, and Richelieu Dennis, founder and chief executive officer of Sundial Brands. Dennis described how many women who work in corporate jobs end up running their own “side hustle” businesses to supplement their income because they are not being paid what their male counterparts are paid.

Dennis noted that the $100 million New Voices Fund, established by Sundial Brands and Unilever, is meant to provide financing for businesses owned or managed by women of color, potentially turning some of those side hustles into successful firms.