Ep 101: Catherine Tabor: Making Sparks Fly

Diva Tech Talk interviewed serial entrepreneur and patent-holder Catherine Tabor, CEO and Founder of  Atlanta, Georgia-based Sparkfly, a cloud-based offer management solutions company. Sparkfly empowers marketers to maximize customer acquisition and loyalty programs, by connecting real-time behavior with online and in-store sales. 

Catherine showed evidence, as a child, of early leadership.  “My mom said that they used to refer to me when I was six or seven as ‘the judge,’” because she would offer her educator parents advice to consider. “We believed you knew what you were talking about!” said her supportive mother. Catherine’s father was a physics professor and she also visited his university classes as a child. “I was mesmerized as he used math to solve real problems. The root of my entrepreneurial journey is that I spend a lot of time thinking about gaps and inefficiencies in the market. I am a believer in technology solving problems, not just ‘tech for the sake of tech’.” 

That was clearly demonstrated when, as a Georgia State University student, (running a small business to pay the bills), Catherine was invited by The Coca-Cola Company to manage their employee discount program.  “I grew it to manage 1 million employees, nationally, with companies like Delta Airlines, Suntrust Bank, and others. I ran it as a bulletin board, where these companies would list offers.”  Employees would visit the online system, use coupon codes, and make purchases. “There was this gap because you could not get a coupon code that was ‘one to one’ personalized for the user.” The system did not allow for customers to redeem offers at physical locations. Additionally, merchants were unable to get accurate data about which offers were most successful.  The resulting challenge, in Catherine’s mind, was “how could we layer technology on top of antiquated POS systems, to do innovative things.”  

Creating Sparkfly was “tricky” as Catherine moved to connect the digital world with the physical POS world. Partially funded by a $5000 loan from her parents, she needed to find a customer “open to risk” to test innovative concepts and systems.  She began by convincing POS providers “that there was a gap.”  Her first integration success was with Radiant Systems, in Atlanta, (eventually acquired by the venerable NCR in 2011). “Radiant had a Chief Marketing Officer, Kim Eaton, who believed in me,” said Catherine. (Note: Kim is now on the board of directors for SparkFly.) Radiant “embraced my concept; agreed to integrate my platform; and then got acquired by NCR. By the nature of ‘being included in the fold’, it enabled me to build out, and begin networking.”

There have since been some major milestones for SparkFly.  After competing with far larger, better-funded companies, “in 2017, we signed a contract with Chipotle,” Catherine said. This adoption of the SparkFly platform became the basis of Chipotle’s core digitalization transformation.  This also marked a learning experience for Catherine. “It was a lesson in the tactics those larger competitors would deploy,” she said.  “But at the end of the day, Chipotle called and said it is your team, your philosophy of business, your technology” that won out. “That’s the best, and it was years in the making!”  Sparkfly has been the recipient of numerous awards, being named as one of Atlanta’s Best Place To Work;  getting the prestigious Silver Stevie Award. Catherine has also been named as a WOMAN TO WATCH by Mobile Marketer, s one of the Hospitality Technology Magazine’s TOP WOMEN IN RESTAURANT TECHNOLOGY, and as one of Atlanta INNO’S Top 50 Women Leaders in SaaS.

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted SparkFly, as it has many other businesses. “A lot of my customer base is in hospitality,” Catherine said. “Around April/May (2020), there was some panic. But people are resilient and figure things out.”  Fortunately for SparkFly, a digital platform, the company found themselves “becoming more and more critical” for its customers, and continues to be a force that pushes greater levels of digital participation/presence. Practicing everyday leadership, Catherine instituted a weekly “all-hands” phone call so that her team continuously feels close to each other, and their client base. “I tell them all the time that I cannot promise you good news,” Catherine said.  “But I promise you that I will always tell you the truth.”

More lessons and entrepreneurial wisdom from Catherine Tabor:

• “The driving force for me is having passion around the objective.” In the face of setbacks, it is Catherine’s core belief in what she is achieving that keeps her going. “Know your own value.”

• “There’s no reason not to take a chance. You just have to go for it.” Catherine looks at any potential failure and asks, “what is the worst that can happen?” Facing that answer realistically allows her to shed fear.

• “If you truly believe in what you’re doing, you never give up.” Catherine met with over 300 venture capitalists while building her company but has not (yet) accepted VC funding.  “One of the most memorable experiences I had was when one of the VC’s looked at me and said: ‘Catherine, sometimes you just need to know when to quit.’ I walked out of that meeting, emboldened.”

• “I have a 14-year-old daughter, and I believe that ‘grit’ is the most important character trait leading to success.” Her advice to her daughter and her SparkFly team is “when someone has told you ‘no’ there is nowhere else to go but up. Because if you don’t try, you know your answer.”

• In juxtaposition, “one of the things I have had to learn is realizing quickly when I’ve gone down the wrong path.” This has guided Catherine’s decisions about system nuances, doing business with the “right” customers, acquiring appropriate investors and advisors, and hiring/retaining the right employees.

• “Surround yourself with people who support what you want to do, and what you want to be.”

Catherine can be reached at the SparkFly website, via the contact us link. 

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Ep 100: Michelle Accardi: Jump in With Both Feet

Diva Tech Talk was honored to interview Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer at rapidly growing Star2Star Communications, a global VoIP telecommunications vendor. Headquartered in Sarasota, Florida,  Star2Star offers proprietary, hybrid unified voice and data communications solutions, in “the cloud,” to tens of thousands of customers globally.

A well-known aphorism says: “Life is what happens, after we make other plans.” That is true of Michelle, whose original aspiration was to be a Broadway star. “So, I moved to New York City” after early graduation from college.  Discovering that Manhattan was an exorbitant place to reside, (“and I didn’t want to wait tables”), she took her first job in sales and “wound up, really liking it!” 

In karmic fashion, the CFO of a small technology company was at the front desk when a young Michelle cold-called with her resume. Infresco Corporation, (a joint venture with CA Technologies/Computer Associates), was “willing to take a risk” on her: a political science major, with no tech experience, studying for LSAT’s, and exhibiting boundless energy and drive.  “I took a job as a ‘Gal Friday…’ and when I got there, I was so intrigued.” The company was creating “really interesting technology” to convert “green screen” mainframe applications and databases and “make them look like really beautiful Websites.”  Quickly, fearless Michelle was talking to every team member to discover how she could be of ultimate help to the mission. “I was doing things I had never done, before,” she said, like creating Access databases, and loving it.  Her boss, who headed Infresco’s marketing, counseled her to reconsider becoming an attorney. “You have a natural aptitude for technology and people.” She took his advice and “never looked back.” 

Within one year, CA Technologies merged Infresco into the larger corporation, and Michelle began her upward CA trajectory. “They were starting a reference program at CA and needed someone who knew all the (Infresco) customers. I was recommended.” CA offered Michelle a $25,000 bonus to make the customers referenceable.  She misunderstood CA’s timeline for this, and beat it by a dramatic 11 months, enabling 200 customers to become referenceable in slightly more than a month vs. the year CA had forecasted. “CA had never seen anything like that, so they offered me a big salary jump to move to Long Island, New York.  Within 6 months, I was managing a customer reference team in North America and, in a year, managing that globally. Then I met a gentleman, running our product marketing group (Tarkan Maner, now Chief Commercial Officer for Nutanix). I followed him into product marketing, and years later, field marketing.”  Then Michelle worked with the talented George Fisher, (now President for Verizon) who eventually headed sales for CA.  Michelle’s team was able to create portals to provide North American customer insights to a highly dispersed sales team. This catapulted her into many successively more important CA Technologies roles. 

Along the way, Michelle gained valuable insights.  In her field marketing role, she was struck by how much more she learned by “getting close to the customer.” In her sales enablement position, she implemented “fun projects to motivate people.” She eventually wound up as Vice President for digital transformation at the end of her 17-year CA tenure. “Digital, for me, was the biggest ‘leap’ because this was the time when digital marketing was just starting, and I was asked to take on a technology team, lead a web design, architecture, and IT team. I learned a lot about ‘agile’ as a methodology.”  Michelle acknowledged that, without even knowing systematic agile development, she had been a practitioner of this communication-heavy process for her entire career. “Technology is always going to change,” said Michelle. So, her mantra is “drop in with both feet.”

Moving to Star2Star is a full circle story for Michelle.  The company was co-founded by Norm Worthington, who was also the co-founder of Infresco.  When Michelle reconnected with Norm, and his cofounder, “it was Kismet,” she said. “I could see the opportunity and the awesome technology.” She started as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Actually, I was marketing employee #2.  My job over the next 18 months was to build a team and a strategy. We built every piece of content, and the Website; and recruited a great team. Then I turned my attention to other areas of the business.”  She became Chief Operating Officer and was mandated to drive operational systems and excellence.  “We recruited other talent.  Then I was asked to become President and Chief Revenue Officer and took my next leap!” Michelle has been having fun.  “It has been really challenging to learn all these different aspects of running a technology company, driving it to the next level.”  She describes the broad offerings of Star2Star as consistently expansive. “We offer so much:  collaboration, contact center, text messaging, workflow integration of communications into every business process you can think of, mobile applications, text-based alerting, desktop communications as a service, and much more.” Michelle noted “we also have the only desktop solutions certified to work in a Citrix environment. We don’t just do cloud communications. We help you with your entire network.” Star2Star offers an optimized SD-WAN service to ensure call quality, essential when people are working from home. “We have a lot of proprietary technology that allows us to do things that our competitors can’t.” Industry analysts have noticed.  The behemoth of market research/analysis, Gartner, has recognized Star2Star for the last six years as a Magic Quadrant leader in unified communications. Michelle, herself, has been named a role-model channel leader for the last six years as well by CRN.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated Star2Star adoption. In response to the crisis, Michelle is justifiably proud of the company’s stellar customer-focused philosophy.  Ever the empathetic leader, her team ensured all company employees moved into a work-from-home environment, using Star2Star’s own technology.  “Then we went to our base of customers.” Star2Star helped each customer deploy effective remote working scenarios; and created innovative payment programs to support customers experiencing negative economic consequences. “Communication is the lifeblood of any business. We didn’t want to be the bill that put any of our smaller companies over the edge.” Star2Star has also used this period to diversify even further. “We moved into digital transformation projects for a number of customers in the restaurant and retail spaces. They needed curbside pickup applications.” So, Star2Star provided those. “Doctors’ offices needed testing.” Star2Star provided that.  Many customers needed enhanced employee alerting systems.  Star2Star provided them. For a nonprofit customer, and other health facilities, Star2Star provided text alert services. The company has pivoted consistently to assist clients, which has fueled their own constant growth.

Michelle acknowledges that being a woman has only minimally affected her career. She and her husband juggle a large family of 6 children. Her husband serves as the “stay-at-home” parent, and “I see a lot of ‘reverse sexism’,” which is a challenge,” she says.  But she revels in the fact that “women are built to adapt” and she feels capable of taking on many increasing responsibilities. If she has a regret it is that “I should have gone into entrepreneurship” at her career’s advent. “People who take the risks when they are young” succeed more dramatically, and sooner. “I think balance is a fallacy,” opines Michelle. “Do things that you love, with people you like,” is her philosophy of success. “And just have perseverance. Nothing is going to be perfect, anywhere.” She vividly remembers her realtor father noting that “the grass may look greener, over there, but it’s generally because there is a septic leak.”

Michelle’s essential advice to other aspiring women in tech is succinct. “Feel the fear and do it, anyway.” Seize opportunities; make the most of them. “You really have nothing to lose.”

Michelle Accardi can be reached at maccardi@star2star.com and followed on Twitter at @1marketingmaven.

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Ep 99: Sandra Estok: Changing Perspectives Through Storytelling

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Diva Tech Talk was honored to interview bestselling international author, cybersecurity expert, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and company founder, Sandra Estok, - a citizen of the world.  Like the Diva Tech Talk team, Sandra’s “purpose is to motivate, and empower women out there.”  One way she accomplishes that is through resonant, “relatable”  stories --- graphically demonstrated in her book series, Happily Ever Cyber.  Evolving into entrepreneurship on the heels of an extensive corporate career, Sandra also runs her own company:  Way2Protect LLC.

Sandra is originally a native of Venezuela,  on the northern coast of South America.  At the tender age of 11, she and her family were evicted from her childhood home. They found initial refuge in a shack.  “It had one window, one door, and water or bathroom inside,” she recalled.  Sandra’s family sacrificed privacy, and were publicly forced to use a latrine located in the middle of  the owner’s property on which they were living.  From an early age, she initially felt ostracized from other children in the neighborhood, who lived in more conventional conditions.  In one heart-wrenching anecdote, she tried to join their neighborhood volleyball game. “One of the kids said ‘you’re never going to make it; you’re a loser.’“ Another suggested she play a new game which involved kneeling in the center of a circle, and being hit by a ball.  Bruised, emotionally and physically, Sandra was grateful for a teacher’s revelatory inspiration: “Happiness is a choice.  No matter what, you can choose happiness.” From that day forward, her guiding principle has been: “Always Choose Happiness.”  Sandra went on to master volleyball (to the point of qualifying for a national championship), and all aspects of her life, by becoming highly proficient at whatever she tackled, embracing that “everything is in me; whatever you put your mind to, you can achieve.”

“Technology was, somehow, in my veins,” said Sandra.  When she graduated from high school at 16, with no money for college, she enrolled in a government program that trained her as a secretary. This led a Heinz Company internship, where she rotated through various departments including information technology.  “It was  the first time I saw an (Apple) Macintosh computer.” It mesmerized her.  She enrolled in night school, in a technical certification program, that led to full completion of college, graduating as a systems’ engineer.  “Throughout my journey, I moved from company to company” (including some of the world's powerhouses: Kraft Foods, the Coca Cola Company,  PepsiCo and SC Johnson), “in technology-related roles, on the infrastructure side, building all kinds of things.” Sandra was promoted to progressively more responsible management roles. SC Johnson, where she worked for 19 years (6 in Venezuela and 13 in the U.S.), transferred her to the Midwest (Wisconsin).  “It was my dream,” she gushed, to live in the United States. “I love it!”  

One of Sandra’s career advantages was “I was able to apply what I was learning at school to my jobs.” She built a “connected” fabric between academia and work. She also accepted new challenges readily, including completing an MBA while working full time and leading a major technical project at SC Johnson.  An expert in the Microsoft environment, Sandra moved on to conquer Linux/Unix and SAP.  “You just face it. You know you can succeed,” she said.  Her hard work, focus, appetite for conquering new technology and reputation created exciting opportunities along the way. A key tip Sandra shared for ambitious tech women is to anticipate the newest trends and evaluate them in terms of the skills you must acquire. Then acquire those skills and “success will find you.”  

Her final role, before leaving SC Johnson, was directly reporting to that multi-billion-dollar corporation’s Chief Information Security Officer, as Director, Global Information Security Business Operations.  Sandra was responsible for developing and coordinating the global security business operation functions, including worldwide Security Training & Awareness, IT Compliance & Governance and Manufacturing Security services. Her most cogent leadership advice is: “Always walk the talk.”  As a leader, model appropriate behavior and achievements for your team and colleagues. “Don’t try to evangelize with words. Do it with actions.”  

In her transition to the U.S. while using her working visa, Sandra had a watershed experience. Returning from a personal visit to Colombia, she was detained, and her passport was temporarily revoked.  A smuggler from China had appropriated Sandra’s personal information and had been smuggling women into the United States using her identity! Weeks later after that frightening mistake was straightened out, (through SC Johnson attorneys with the help of Embassy officials), she was returning from a European trip, and detained again.  The upshot was that each time she traveled internationally, before she became a full-fledged U.S. citizen, she had to prove her identity incessantly --- often interfering with connecting flights and travel plans. It was this experience that strengthened her laser-like focus on deployment of foolproof security through adroit technology. “That negative experience ‘connected the dots’ and is driving me today.  Identity theft and cyber crimes can happen to anyone!”

That revelation, plus Sandra’s gift for making complex technology concepts comprehensible to non-technical people, and passion to make a greater impact, outside of a single corporation, led her to become a startup founder.  “Leaving the corporate world is a big decision,” Sandra acknowledged. “But I say…just go for it!”  Like her 11-year old self, longing to play volleyball with kids who were rejecting her, she relied on internal fortitude, focus, faith, and fearlessness to make the leap. “You will find the answers. You will find the mentors on your way,” to realize your crystal-clear dream.  To transition, Sandra adopted a “low-risk approach.” She became a consultant in the first year of founding her company, which helped her evolve to the “entrepreneurship mindset” while maintaining cash flow. 

An outgrowth of consulting and analysis is Sandra’s first book: HAPPILY EVER CYBER: Protecting Yourself Against Hackers, Scammers and CyberMonsters.   This book arose from recognition, both in her own life and through stories she can tell about loved ones and colleagues, that cybercrime can affect anyone, at any age or walk of life.  Essentially, Sandra believes that if you understand cybersecurity basics, on a non-technical level, you will be galvanized to take action to protect what matters most to you. Her book encapsulates a very timely, scary subject and transforms it to be both non-threatening and empowering. “It helps you pinpoint what is most important to you, that you most want to protect.  And you can take measures to protect it.”  

On her blog, she offers many tips for anyone to become safer and makes cybersecurity easier to learn by incorporating stories. An extension of the book is a foundation that Sandra envisions centered on orphaned and foster children.  “So many kids can find their way through technology,” she said. “There are 153 million orphans in the world.  And we have a global shortage of cybersecurity talent.” Sandra wants to ameliorate those two situations in some way.  “I don’t know how.  But I know it will happen.” 

Sandra’s essential advice includes:

1. Always remember:  you are the architect of your own life. And you can build anything.

2. Find a leader, a mentor, in the space in which you want to operate. Expertise is key. Sandra is grateful to have found programs run by award-winning author and educator, Jack Canfield, as one example.

3. Cultivate coaches who can guide you to become better in any area you want to tackle. (For Sandra, she engaged coaches who have worked with performers and actors to improve her public speaking such as https://boeason.com and Jean-Louis Rodrigue). 

4. Find your purpose. Combine it with your passion. Marry the clarity in your mind with the feelings in your heart. “Don’t worry about the 'how.' Just get clear on the ‘why’ and act on it.”

5. “Practice gratitude in everything you do in your life.”  Take nothing for granted.  Be thankful for everything.

Sandra Estok can be found via the web at https://sandraestok.com. Follow her on social media @Way2Protect. Her books can be accessed HERE.

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Ep 98: Amelia Ransom: Inclusion Leadership -- Not for The Faint of Heart

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Amelia Ransom, currently Senior Director, Diversity and Engagement at Avalara, a Seattle-headquartered tech company dedicated to ensuring that global tax compliance is done right.  Amelia is focused on “trying to solve a problem that the world has not solved.  It is not for the faint of heart.”  In contemplating her work and life, she said: “I stand on the shoulders of black women, some who we know and some we don’t know. To whom much is given, much is required.”

“I didn’t plan to be in diversity and inclusion,” Amelia said. “I joined (luxury retail giant) Nordstrom right out of college.” She started in sales, moved to management and eventually was tapped to be the regional Diversity Director. “That role was pivotal for me. I felt like I was using my skills, knowledge and background to help make the company better.” After seven years in that role she moved into store management and later led all the diversity initiatives for the company. “I wasn’t aiming to become a diversity and inclusion leader,” she said. "Like most executives,  I was in another different line role." Then, like others, Amelia found the opportunity to leverage unique personal portfolio and experience, and combine it with individual skills, to lead diversity and inclusion. 

Amelia emphasized that it takes the full gamut of business proficiencies to tackle employee engagement, diversity and inclusion.  Amelia noted that much of her diversity/inclusion skills have come through leveraging leadership skills learned through solving business challenges, and also through reading, face-to-face management challenges, and trial and error. “You have to learn when to use your own voice, and when to pull back and amplify everyone else’s” noting that you can’t “be all things to all people, without leveraging all voices.”  Her role requires that she be “constantly willing to learn, shift and change as the community needs shift and change.”

Amelia’s professional inclusion and diversity work began at Nordstrom where she was part of the team who helped open stores and introduce this Northwest company to places like Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. She learned quickly the work of truly inclusive teams would have difference challenges in the South. “Our challenges were different in the South than they were in Seattle, where Nordstrom is based. The structural components of discrimination and oppression still live on street names, flags and courthouses. Our folks really needed to know that we understood the history of the area we were going into and that we could create a safe space for all voices. I had to earn their trust through candor, authenticity and transparency." She forged partnerships with the store managers and HR teams to help them lead these diverse teams. “Difficult and honest conversations were at the foundation of our success. Some of our managers were raised not to talk about these things, but we had to in order to gain the trust of our teams.” She emphasized that success was often directly intertwined with the willingness to say "we got it wrong, that we needed to pivot and do something different when necessary."

Amelia believes successful programs depend on noticing repetitive patterns and internal situations coupled with “knowing what’s going on outside of the walls, what’s going on in the world.” According to Amelia, “You have to be part of society.  What is happening in music? What is happening in the news? What is happening on TV? What is happening in the community groups your employees come from? You have to listen and be asking questions constantly.” To gain top-level support for her initiatives, Amelia critiques her own proposals. Then she goes to her “naysayers” to shoot holes in an idea. By the time she gets to ultimate decision-makers, she has bullet-proofed any concept.

Amelia joined Avalara in 2018. To evolve her organization, she supports the concept of ERG’s (Employee Resource Groups) which she sees as “a conduit to deeper engagement, a tool to drive more community…”  She instituted them, beginning with a prototype woman-oriented global ERG, to “show everyone what could be.” This was quickly followed by three other groups:  Ujima (for African Americans), Veterans of Avalara, and the Prism Group, geared toward LGBTQIA individuals. “We did not say what they had to be. We just said: ‘here’s the model and the framework.’ They have been very instrumental in driving more inclusion, more voices, and more ‘safe space’ for those voices,” said Amelia.  

Avalara measures the success of its inclusion programs through raw data, anecdotal feedback, the level of engagement of various populations, as well as metrics around recruiting pools and populations, and recognition external candidates express about Avalara’s D/I efforts.  Amelia’s goal is that diversity and inclusion are “deep and rooted in the DNA” of Avalara, and always connected to the overarching strategic goals of the company. “Avalara’s goal is to be involved in every tax transaction in the world,” according to Amelia. That implies reaching and engaging every possible permutation of population in the world, too. “My goal is to make us ready, truly ready to reach our global goals.”

Amelia’s personal practices for developing as a leader include:

• Scheduling 30 minutes every day to read about something that she knows nothing about (“I force myself to stay curious;”)

• Retaining mentors “who will tell me the absolute truth;”

• Checking herself, including her “goals and motivations” before embarking on any project or important conversation;

• For her last birthday, asking key people to give her the link to a book that changed their life, so that she could “drive deeper relationships.” The sheer variety of those literary recommendations have “made me a better D and I practitioner.”

Amelia loves to travel and situate herself in others’ cultures and environments.  She then brings those experiences back to those who may not have had the opportunity to gain that knowledge.  In her community life, she serves on the boards of Seattle’s Goodwill Foundation, Seattle’s Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, homeless advocacy nonprofit Building Changes,  the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion, and the advisory board of the Seattle chapter of ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals For America). That community involvement makes sense since “If you are doing D and I, well,” said Amelia, “you are pushing people to be the best versions of themselves, helping them know where they are; and help them move along.  My job is to amplify the voices of the marginalized, and underrepresented.”  

In Amelia’s view, “the biggest threat to the planet, and to business, is the untapped potential in people’s minds.”  She believes in plumbing that potential deeply. “I don’t have time to make people comfortable,” Amelia said. Instead she wants to inspire everyone to think, engage, evolve into their greatest potential, and “have seats at the table, which makes all of us better.”  Amelia noted that diversity and inclusion leadership can feel lonely, at times, even Sisyphean.  When Amelia feels like that, this quote of Presidential Medal of Honor recipient, famed poet Maya Angelou,  gives her strength: “I go forth alone.  I stand as ten thousand.”

Amelia Ransom can be reached on Twitter at @ameliajransom.

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Ep 97: Dr. Nicki Washington: Armor Up, Every Day

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Dr. Nicki Washington,  author, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Winthrop University, and founder/principal at Washington Consulting LLC.  Dr. Washington is a passionate, candid champion of diversity, and an outspoken advocate for women of color, in technology. Winthrop University recently featured her on their Website.

“I was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina,” site of world-class universities, home to Research Triangle Park, the “Silicon Valley” of the U.S. South. Dr. Washington feels fortunate. Her mother was a 34-year IBM programmer, and father was a K through 12 educator and administrator. “I was surrounded by black men and women who were educators, engineers, college professors, business leaders, attorneys, doctors and more: a rich network of people who looked like me, doing inspiring things in science and math.” Her mother would purchase a new computer every few years. “We always had computers in our home.” Dr. Washington was allowed, at an early age, to assemble each one.  Her mother “introduced me to programming opportunities,” mastering Pascal and Basic, then moving in 9th and 10th grade to more advanced languages.  In college, at Johnson C. Smith University, Dr. Washington intended to minor in computer science, and major in marketing.  But her path changed when an influential professor convinced her to accomplish more by concentrating in computer science. “There was always someone else in my life who could see something bigger than I could ser.# This included Dr. Dorothy Cawser Yancy, University President, who nominated her for the David and Lucille Packard fellowship, a $100,000 5-year grant for students from historic black universities to pursue STEM doctorates, including an annual week-long symposium, with professional workshops and “honest safe spaces” for experience-sharing.  Dr. Washington graduated as valedictorian of her undergraduate class and won the award. “My trajectory changed from there.” 

Dr. Washington became “a black woman in a program where only one other person looked like me:” the masters/doctoral program at North Carolina State University.  “I had self-imposed struggles, suffered from ‘impostor syndrome;’ and would lean on my community,” she said, since campus was 20 minutes from her childhood home (“my village”).  She experienced marginalization as do many in disenfranchised groups. She often had to “armor up” every day, paying attention to balance and self-care. Dr. Washington was fortunate to gain an empathetic advisor, Dr. Harry Perros, with whom she had many “real talks” about struggles as a black woman in a post-graduate computer science program.  She also won another fellowship in her last three years of graduate school: NASA’s Harriet G. Jenkins award, giving monetary support and other unique experiences tailored to graduates from historically black colleges/universities. “It was an amazing time to recharge with people who looked like you, who were in the struggle,” she said.

Dr. Washington shared advice for programmers, technologists, application developers.  “When you reach a roadblock, take a break and step away, because sometimes you are so engrossed, you cannot see high levels.” She also decried students’ misconceptions that, during coursework, they must “know everything” and advised “be unafraid to ask for help. We all lean on resources.”  When faced with bias, she shared hard-won lessons. “It is not you. You are not the first. You will not be the last. Learn to navigate these spaces. Take up space without losing yourself in the process. Maintain a level of self-care.” Dr. Washington’s strong message is “until there is a major shift in the narrative, we are going to see major challenges. Find the tribe who can get you through.”  

Dr. Washington is now doing appreciable research in identity and cultural competence in computing.  “There’s a lot of work being done in the K through 12 space,” she said, but not enough on the university level.  “We send them off to institutions throughout the country, who have faculty who are not diverse,” since approximately 85% of university computing faculty are Caucasian or Asian, not serving as full role models.  “We lose students in the middle ground, between K through 12 and careers.” She noted that while undergraduate curriculum emphasizes a progression of technology skills, it does not emphasize cultural competence, germane to disenfranchised groups. “We see, every day, technology announcements that are biased,” as a result of this. She cited self-driving car and healthcare database applications as just two examples where “people developing them are not recognizing biases.” Dr. Washington is proposing cultural competence and discrimination training accompany all tech training to empower a long-overdue revolution.  She has developed an assessment for cultural competence in computing. “I am also trying to force a conversation around cultural competence for all computer science students before graduation,” beginning with a required 3-credit course called Race, Gender, Class and Computing as a foundation to address the issues. “But it needs to be nationally-focused.” Dr. Washington’s dearest wish is to accelerate her work as the basis for a country-wide movement on computing cultural competency, through collaborative alliances using the right role models, “people who live, eat and breathe this thing for a living.”

During her nine year stint at famous Howard University, Dr. Washington partnered with Google to bring a middle school course to 300 Howard University’s Middle School students; then co-championed an Exploring Computer Science program to bring computer science to Washington DC public high schools, with training for both students and faculty.  She also helped establish the first Google In Residence program at Howard. “That expanded after the first year to other historically black universities including Fisk, Morehouse College, Spellman and Hampton.”  Since relocating from Howard to Winthrop, Dr. Washington is working on a national initiative with Code.org to develop the framework for K through 12 computer science curriculum to “serve as a blueprint in every state, to ensure every student has access to computer science at every step of their educational journey.” She has also served as lead writer on South Carolina state’s K through 12 computer science and digital literacy standards. She is very proud of work with sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., leading detailed college preparation workshops for both students and parents. “It is important that students know the options available to them” in the face of rising student debt, and complicated application processes. 

Dr. Washington wants to continue to inspire women of color to “stay the course” in technology journeys.  So, “as your average, every day black woman” she has written a book: UNAPOLOGETICALLY DOPE,  “to speak to every black woman and girl who may not have accesses to resources, but needs to know there was someone just like them who went through the same things.”  It is available through Amazon in both eBook and paperback versions. “People like them are excelling and waiting for them to get there, with us.” She also speaks to computer science and technology departments across the country on her research.  

Dr. Washington’s essential advice for women tech leaders, especially women of color, is: “don’t be afraid to fail. Being unafraid to ‘take up space’ and own your narrative will help you. And be intentional with everything you do. Recognize that it’s always bigger than you. It’s not just happening to you. Make sure your intention is the best possible.”

Dr. Nicki Washington can be reached at her website: https://nickiwashington.com and followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/dr_nickiw.

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