Ep 73: Grace Hopper Conference 2018: Diva Tech Talk is Here!

“A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.” - Grace Hopper

The Diva Tech Talk team was ecstatic to attend the 3-day 18th Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing #GHC18 (ghc.anitab.org) --- the world’s largest gathering of women in computer technology --  September 26 through 28, 2018 in Houston, Texas. The conference has taken place since 1994, with a yearly cadence since 2006. Named for the inspirational and courageous U.S. Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, the annual conference is a tribute to her work on the Mark I computer and creation of one the first industry compilers, that eventually led to the development of COBOL, still a relevant programming language. Grace paved the way for many women to follow in technical careers.

The Grace Hopper Celebration convenes many thousands of women in computing in a single venue to discuss topics of interest, and share research related to women in technology. Students flood the halls to get exposure to tech companies and tech departments. Many engage in onsite career interviews. There are a variety of presentations, poster discussions, and meet-ups throughout the week. It is also an ideal gathering for veteran tech women, employed in the field, to present and listen to each other, while networking and meeting the next generation of upcoming tech women. This year’s conference boasted a record attendance of over 22,000.

#GHC2018

If we want technology to serve society rather than enslave it, we have to build systems accessible to all people - be they male or female, young, old, disabled, computer wizards or technophobes.

-Anita Borg

While Grace is celebrated as a pioneer, it is appropriate that this conference is organized by the research-oriented Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology (https://anitab.org/) and Association for Computing Machinery (https://www.acm.org). The Anita Borg institute was founded by Anita Borg, PhD and Telle Whitney, PhD to recruit, retain, and advance women in technology. Anita Borg was also a significant contributor to technology history, innovating in Unix operating systems, analyzing computing memory, and doing extensive work in early email and messaging applications. Telle was a computer scientist by trade; significantly contributed to the microprocessor industry; and founded the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT.org), another non-profit focused on increasing meaningful participation of girls and women in technology.

The Diva Tech Talk team is so passionate about strengthening women in tech, we could clearly write a novel sharing the names and accomplishments of a multitude of women highlighted at this conference. Instead, we encourage our listening “divas” to visit the Grace Hopper Conference website here: ghc.anitab.org for event immersion, and to experience the wide range of speakers and featured talent. We also encourage our listeners to consider attending, starting now to get your company’s support for your attendance in the future.

Three primary keynotes dominated the 2018 GHC mainstage. Justine Cassell is the Associate Dean of Technology Strategy and Impact at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, and Director Emerita of the Human Computer Interaction Institute (https://hcii.cmu.edu/). Her work furthers the development of human and robot communication in addition to advancements in Artificial Intelligence. It was amazing to see her showcase innovations in this area, noting that we are living in a robot-embedded world.  Jessica O. Matthews was the first woman we ever witnessed jump rope in high heels during a keynote! She is the Founder and CEO of the unique Uncharted Power (https://www.u-pwr.co/).  Her company strives to leverage more energy in motion to derive a greater degree of innovative power solutions for the world, much like the light she powered from rope-jumping. There was one other keynote speaker, no stranger to the corporate side of technology. Padmasree Warrior is the CEO and Chief Development Officer for NIO U.S (https://www.nio.io/) developing innovative solutions surrounding the Connected Car. She previously worked as the Chief Technology Officer for Cisco Systems (www.cisco.com). This female triumvirate represented just some of the variety of opportunities available in three key areas for women in technology: research in academia, the fast-paced startup space, and the impact of a large, global technology corporation. Each of them vociferously voiced wisdom and inspiration during the conference. We hope to feature each of them in future Diva Tech Talk podcasts.

The Grace Hopper Conference also offers a variety of awards programs to highlight the achievements of individuals and organizations in technology. The individual series recognizes distinguished women, whose achievements and life stories demonstrate that all of us have the power to improve our world, individually and collectively. The Technical Leadership Abie Award and the Student of Vision Abie Award are granted every year at the conference. AnitaB.org also sponsors hundreds of student and faculty scholarships to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration each year as well.

Congratulations to two winners for this years Abie awards in 2018! The Technical Leadership Abie Award (the Conference’s most prestigious award)  celebrates a woman who led or developed a product, process, or innovation that made a notable impact on business or society. This year’s winner was Dr. Rebecca Parsons, ThoughtWorks’ (www.thoughtworks.com) Chief Technology Officer. For decades, Rebecca has used her knowledge and technical experience in applications development across a range of industries and systems. She led the creation of large-scale distributed object applications and the integration of disparate systems. Furthermore, she is a strong advocate for diversity in the technology industry. Committed to increasing the number of women in coding and STEM fields, Rebecca served on the board of CodeChix and acted as an advisor to Women Who Code.

The Student of Vision Abie Award honors a young woman, dedicated to creating a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for which they build. This year’s winner is Chiara Amisola, an incoming college freshman at Yale University (www.yale.edu) from Manila, Philippines. She plans to major in computer science. First encountering technology at the age of seven — post-after school ballet practice and pre-Warcraft II gaming session — Chiara picked up web and basic game development before turning it into a long-time hobby, and later into a passion and vocation. After several years of international experience in competitions and research with the Philippine Robotics Team, she began to recognize the disparity in inclusiveness and accessibility within the technology sector, finding a gap where students with the most socially-conscious and transformative ideas towards innovation had no opportunity to even enter the tech landscape.

At the event, we spent some time with past winner of the Abie award to learn more about their experience. Here is a quick look at insight we gained from speaking with them.

• Ashley Conard with Brown University (www.brown.edu) helped judge the Abie award and shares information about the video portion of the contest submission.

• From 2016, Past Winner Canadian Alyssia Jovellanos won the award and continues to build for change.  She is a Computer Science student and undergraduate teaching assistant at McMaster University (https://www.mcmaster.ca/) , and Outreach Instructor in the program Software: Tool for Change, which exposes girls and other underrepresented minorities to computer science.She has built education tools for 10,000 disadvantaged students in Canada and gives dated technology to those students in need. She found out about the awards on Twitter and since winning in 2016, she has continued to find success.

  • “It was absolutely incredible. It was such an overwhelming experience in the best way.”

• From 2015, Past Winner from Brazil Camila Fernandez Achuttiis is the Founder and CEO of Women in Computing, the biggest site, in Portuguese, to support and encourage female participation in technology. Camila also works as a software engineer at Iridescent Learning, (http://iridescentlearning.org/) a non-profit that creates and delivers powerful science, engineering and technology education to help underprivileged children develop curiosity, creativity and persistence. She went on to found and create a school that is now comprised 61% of girls.

  • “This award means everything. It was more than a boost of confidence. It was a message that you are on the right path, so just keep going. It was a wake-up call.”

There was one additional interview that will also be published, in full, at a later date.  But, we wanted to introduce you to Noramay Cadena, Founder and CEO, Make In LA.  A three time MIT graduate and now founder of a hardware accelerator, she will be featured as a future standalone podcast episode.  Noramay also co-founded a group called Latinas in STEM (latinasinstem.com). She spoke candidly about her challenges, not having as many role models and being a young mom. Her continued journey to success in education and career prove that you can do anything to which you put your mind.

Why are you HERE at Grace Hopper Conference?
We love all the people we met throughout the time at the conference. Many were featured in the podcast audio. We wanted to provide a bit more information on the projects featured in this section of the podcast:

• We spoke with Jennifer Cloer who is working on an inspiring film project called Chasing Grace that highlights women in the technology field. More information is available here: http://www.chasinggracefilm.com

• Trish Costella, CEO and Founder of Portfolia, stopped by to share her passion for backing tech women for things they require in the market.

• We also ran into the Black Girls Code (www.blackgirlscode.com/) team, who shared their vision. They are a well-known and celebrated organization, that encourages black girls to become programmers/coders. More info: http://www.blackgirlscode.com/

• Digital Undivided (https://www.digitalundivided.com/) was the main organization behind the first ever PitcHER Competition held at Grace Hopper to encourage female entrepreneurs, from all industries, leading early stage technology startups. They stopped by to share with us why they love the Grace Hopper Conference.

“Go to as many things like this as possible [like Grace Hopper] and surround yourself with a community of women that build each other up.”

-Anita Hill, inspiring Grace Hopper Conference 2018 speaker

Sincere thanks to Hotwire, the Anita Borg Institute, and Melissa  Iarocci, all amazing hosts who accommodated us at the conference, and support the work we do on the Diva Tech Talk podcast. We are so grateful to them, our featured guests, and listeners!  The Diva Tech Talk team left this experience feeling empowered and humbled. It further fuels our energy and resolve to continue our mission to inspire more women and girls in the field of technology with our podcast.

Interviewing these organizational and corporate change-makers was truly moving. In fact, we were so motivated from this event, that Diva Tech Talk will be announcing a special project next week to explain more an upcoming Diversity Leadership Series: We Lead Diversity.  Stay up to date on this special series and other upcoming episodes by visiting our website or following us on social media.

Most of all, Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss an episode!

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Ep 72: Stephanie Espy: Exposure to The Possibilities

Diva Tech Talk was delighted to interview Stephanie Espy, Founder and CEO of MathSP (https://mathsp.com/) and STEM Gems (http://stemgemsbook.com/).  A leader, engineer and author, Stephanie shares a common goal with Diva Tech Talk (www.divatechtalk.com) to educate, support and serve female STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) practitioners as well as inspire the next generation of female STEM leaders.  

Stephanie is lucky.  “I think it is important to note that both of my parents are engineers,” she said.  One of four siblings, “all of us are connected, in one way, shape or form, to STEM. Growing up in a home where both of your parents are creators, problem-solvers, builders,” was a distinct advantage. In her extended family, “I had aunts and uncles who were in STEM as well.  Engineering and science are two main career paths my family has taken.” She fondly recalled family gatherings where “we would play a lot of chess; do board games, logic-type puzzles.” Stephanie was also influenced by “really fabulous teachers” as early as elementary school, extending through secondary education and college.

After high school, Stephanie moved from Georgia to Massachusetts to attend the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: www.mit.edu ). There she “thrived because of the community” and obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering.  “MIT brought engineering to life,” for Stephanie, since she could implement “hands-on projects,” and collaborate with other brilliant students. “We were able to take an idea from inception to creation” repeatedly.  Her penchant for bonding with others in her dorm, in her major and “with other women of color on campus” got her through the “difficult moments.” Supplementing her academic program, Stephanie successfully completed research projects, and worked at many internships (“they are absolutely critical.”)  Internships “helped solidify my understanding of how engineers make a difference in the world,” and acquainted her with post-graduation career options. “My first two internships were in a manufacturing plant,” and helped her apply fundamentals of process design and engineering in a real-world application.

She matriculated to the University of California, Berkeley (https://www.berkeley.edu/) for her graduate degree in chemical engineering.  Stephanie’s work there was more independent. She implemented a variety of approaches to “get my experiments to work;” published her research, (“that was exciting,”); and built another supportive community on campus.  “Having community leads to confidence, empowerment, and helps you believe you can get through any challenge that comes your way,” Stephanie said.

As she proceeded in her education and career, Stephanie accrued significant experience, working with polymers; using various rubber-producing plants at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve quality and yield of U.S.-grown natural rubber; and as a chemical engineer in the oil and gas industry at BP (www.bp.com).  Along the way, “I saw the value of having an impact at the highest levels of an organization.”  So, she decided to get a business degree to complement her graduate degree in chemical engineering.  “Engineering is its own language,” Stephanie exclaimed. And she “wanted that other set of skills,” so she completed a joint program at UC Berkeley’s HAAS business school (The Management of Technology – a certification program combining engineering and business).  Then, “I landed at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School” (http://www.goizueta.emory.edu/) where she earned her MBA. At Goizueta, Stephanie “shifted gears; I got this entrepreneurial ‘bug’ and it came down to my experience as being one of the few women of color in the room” in her engineering and business environments. “That drove me to want to create something, my own way of helping to close the gender gap in STEM.”

Throughout her career, Stephanie said “most of my experiences had been in male-dominated environments. I yearned for more representation” by women of color.  “In thinking about my legacy, it really came back to my desire to help to fill the pipeline with more girls, young women, and people of color.” To accomplish this, she founded MathSP a decade ago. “S stands for strategies; and P stands for problem-solving.”  The company’s premise is that “in order to enter a STEM career, you absolutely must have a solid foundation in math and science.” Her venture helps male and female students at all levels “find their gaps in education, and close them, helping them become more ‘STEM-fluent:’ better problem-solvers, independent thinkers, and self-sufficient learners.”  

She also saw a need to serve girls “in their own special way.” To that end, in 2014, Stephanie founded STEM Gems (http://stemgemsbook.com/) which began as a book but has morphed into “a movement.”  Its aim is “to expose girls and young women to careers and role models in STEM.”  It offers its audience exposure to career opportunities that “they did not even know existed.”  Stephanie lamented that movies, television shows and other communications channels don’t offer enough female engineering role models to young audiences.  “So many of these careers go unnoticed!” In addition to a variety of career choices, STEM Gems also give girls exposure to role models, working in science, technology, engineering and math. The basic premise is “these careers are not only for boys, only; these are things you, as a girl, can do!”  The STEM Gems book features 44 different careers. “I brainstormed careers that I had never heard of when I was a tween/teen but I wish I had,” Stephanie said. They include a wide variety like data science, global health science, environmental engineering, archaeology, entomology, biotechnology, animation and a plethora of others. “There are so many careers out there that people don’t really think about, especially girls,” Stephanie exclaimed.  STEM Gems is shining a light on many of them.

“A lot of research went into finding STEM women leaders, highlighting their accomplishments and advice, interviewing all of them,” and spotlighting the biggest thing: “how they make a difference in the world and help people.”  A challenge was also to put those stories into the language of children “so a 10-year old girl could pick up the book, read it, and understand!” Stephanie noted how grateful she is to the women who participated. “It has touched so many lives, both through the book and through the STEM Gems Clubs!” The clubs focus on groups of girls (boys welcome too) reading the book and following a curriculum (with adult community members leading).  They began in the last 12 months, and have spread throughout the United States. “It is a ‘tribe setting,’ and shows you that you are never alone in your pursuit of greatness,” Stephanie said. “Girls who were singularly uninterested, before, have transformed through these clubs.”

Stephanie has learned many leadership lessons in her own educational journey, through her career and creating MathSP and coming to know her STEM Gems role models.  They include:

• “Never, ever, give up, despite the odds.”  The common theme is that the successful women Stephanie has profiled have a “prove them wrong” attitude.

• Do not be intimidated. “These women have walked into a room and pulled up to the table…” invariably letting their voices be heard. Speak up and speak out.

• “You cannot shy away from a challenge.” Get comfortable “being a trailblazer.”

Stephanie’s parting tips for women and girls to succeed include:

• “Be a part of a community. You can’t do much alone.”  To that end, she recommends membership in many of the national and regional professional associations that offer resources, support and fellowship.

• “Be a mentor to the next generation. Be a role model to many; and pick a few for whom you can really have an impact on their journey.”

The inspirational Stephanie can be reached via LinkedIn at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-espy/, via Twitter/Facebook, and Instagram @STEMGemsBook, and via her website at www.STEMGemsBook.com.

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Ep 71: Lori McColl: You Can Cry, but You Can’t Quit!

Diva Tech Talk was thrilled to hear the entrepreneurial journey of Lori McColl, Founder and CEO of Whim-Detroit, a digital transformation consultancy and innovation lab, dedicated to empowering agile change for its customers, and the world.

Growing up in rural Canada, Lori completed her undergraduate BBA in marketing, through a scholarship as a star Division One Volleyball player, at Ohio University. “I grew up in a very small town, on a farm,” she said.  “A lot of what I was exposed to were the professions that were ‘small-business driven’: doctors, nurses, lawyers, famers. There was not a lot of tech.”

It was her college journey, and friends she made at OU, that “opened my eyes.” She moved on to complete her MBA at Bowling Green State University,  with a minor in MIS (Management Information Services) and discovered that she was fascinated by technology. “Having that understanding of how you run a business and putting it together with tech and data creates a holistic lense” on any endeavor, according to Lori.

Her first career role was at “Big Four” consulting company, PwC, a global network of professional services firms, in 158 countries, employing 236,000 people, that delivers assurance, advisory and tax services to other corporations.  “I joined the assurance practice in tech services, while PwC was selling off the consulting side,” Lori said.  Her work was exciting and diverse. “I moved around. Went from working on the compliance side to transformation projects, U.S.-wide, and globally. I’ve had a chance to work with some of the best companies, either on process optimization, data analytics, or enterprise-wide implementation programs.”

“You name it --- we did it,” she said. “I worked in high tech, with some of the big tech companies.  I worked in automotive companies at the OEM level. I worked with some of their suppliers. I worked in industrial products.  I worked in the oil and gas industry.” From that rich experience, Lori gained insight. “One of the things I learned personally, was how to refine messaging, how you spoke with the executive-level team about the risks and challenges they could encounter.”  She learned “how you share key findings, so they are in ‘their language.’”  Lori also absorbed how large organizations implemented, managed, navigated and adapted to major change.  “How you get people onboard (with change) still sticks with me, today.” She is grateful for the 15 years she spent at PwC. “I got a chance to work with some of the best leaders.”

Along the way, as SaaS and cloud-based solutions were beginning to dominate the tech landscape, Lori said, “one of the things that I was keeping an eye on was that I was always in a box:  big corporate ‘box’ and massive systems boxes.” She tried to envision her future: “where did I want to be in 5 years, 10 years?” Her answer was: “I wanted to broaden my experience to shatter some of those ‘boxes.”

Lori then spent the past year diving deeply into the startup world in Detroit.  And she realized: “When you go from big corporate Fortune 500 to the startup world, you are in two different worlds!”  Lori made her first move by relocating from the northern suburbs of Southeast Michigan to the heart of Detroit and learning from, the various startup founders and community supporters there. “I spent a large portion of my career traveling all over the world. I really love supporting our community in a different way.” So, she founded her company.

“My vision is that Whim-Detroit does really cool things with really cool companies. The end goal is that we are a ‘tech forward’ company. We focus on digital transformation: the future of technology, people and processes. That ties into what is coming with some of the newest commerce platforms, customer acquisition, and all the new channels; how you use data analytics and build predictive analytics programs.  It’s all in those up and coming front-end commerce and content systems, and ties into existing enterprise systems technologies. We focus on transformation, implementing systems, data and processes.” And Whim-Detroit solutions are “in the space I love the most,” said Lori, “fashion and sports!”

Whim-Detroit has two main components:  a consulting practice and an innovation lab.  “Part of what I am trying to do is create a sustainable model, using one side of the business to support the other side.” Consulting has helped create cash-flow so that Whim-Detroit can experiment with pre-MVP (Minimum Viable Product) offerings.   Lori “works with really great brands. Most of them are with products that I am either a supporter or a customer of.”

In the consulting practice, a current representative Whim-Detroit client is with a premier, historic athletic club.  “We are embarking on a 3-year transformation project,” of this long-standing facility and service-oriented membership organization, Lori said. “They have global and national awards. And soon will have leading edge technology to match. What is fascinating is that you have to figure how to make technology invincible in a place that has such a great history” and how to use technology to “deliver an experience before a customer even asks for it.”   On the innovation side, Lori is proud that Whim-Detroit just delivered the first fashion and technology hackathon in the city’s history. To do that, she worked with Pure Michigan Business Connect (part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation) with brand sponsors providing the problem statements for the teams to hack.  

Self-reflecting, Lori thinks some of her strengths are personal courage, the ability to eloquently communicate, and her penchant for creating and refining a vision. “I would also add creativity and perseverance,” to that list. “In this new entrepreneur space, never give up! Passion equals resiliency.” Lori also values experience. “War stories and post-mortems” yield pearls of wisdom to her.

While never experiencing gender discrimination at a younger age, more recently Lori has faced challenges related to being a woman leader. “Because I was in tech, and only 25% of tech professionals are women, and 40% drop out, I started to have typical scenarios:  the ‘man-splaining’ or being demoted to work under a peer. I really became more mindful of it, over the last two years.” One of the solutions she suggested is “having ambassadors, or ‘table-pounders’ to help you navigate through things” in your career. Lori generously tries to do the same thing. “I have always made it a priority to do it for others.”

A revelation for Lori was that “life will be about what you don’t like vs. what you do like!” She carved her path by process of elimination and would have told her younger self, to “try a lot of things; anything you are curious about – try it!”   As an entrepreneur, Lori acknowledges: “you don’t have balance. But what you do have is a rounded career that merges work, passion and people.” To “turn off her brain” she relies on her athletic prowess, runs, goes to yoga classes, and has recently taken up squash.  She also spends a lot of time with other startup co-founders.

Lori believes that women have the gift of unique perspectives, based on  compassion and empathy. “Compassionate leaders, historically, have built stronger, more long-lasting, organizations.” As a leader, “you should be the last to speak. You’re there to listen; you’re there to inspire. You’re there to bring in the other, best, people you can find….and unlock talent.”

Lori noted that conscious gratitude is a way to get through the startup hard times. “During the tough times, there is always something you can be grateful for!”  Having passion is also key. “It brings a lot of joy and can overcome the need for other things, material things.” She struggles with a fear of failure, despite knowing that the path to success is often paved with failures. To overcome that fear, she “does it in small pieces.” Lori shared that her athletic mantra has always been “left/right, left/right, one step at a time; keep moving.” Concentrating on that has helped her quiet the “internal voices” that are fear-engendering.  

The motto that sticks with her has been “you can cry but you can’t quit!” - a mantra that has helped her get through some of the toughest physical endurance races.

To give back, she has enlisted Whim-Detroit as a FOUNDERS FOR CHANGE company, taking the pledge to #changetheratio and to consistently encourage diversity on her teams, boards and investors.

Lori McColl can be reached at Lori@whim-detroit.com and on Twitter at @WhimDetroit.

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Ep 70: Kanika Tolver: Find Your Authentic Self

Diva Tech Talk had the honor to interview Kanika Tolver, Washington, D.C. native, Founder and Product Manager at BrandDMV Inc., (http://branddmv.com/).  Her company is a digital transformation agency that specializes in creating Digital Mobile Visuals. With a diverse and fascinating career in our nation’s capital, Kanika has consistently focused on improving U.S. government effectiveness.  Along the way, she has developed a wide range of impressive technology proficiencies, while consistently connecting those skills to improving the “human experience.”  She is also a career coach, author and mentor.

From high school, Kanika was fascinated by the interconnectedness of the world, and the way that even “dial-up” connections (like AOL Instant Messenger) could be used to make transactions more efficient. “Initially my mom wanted me to be a pharmacist,” Kanika said. “But I said ‘no’ I want to go into computers! It was fun, to me, to be on the Internet.”   

Kanika went to Bowie State University (https://www.bowiestate.edu/ ), an historically African-American college, where she majored in computer science, with a focus on Internet technology, programming in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.  “That’s when I started to say, ‘wow, I really love creating Webpages and Websites’ “ and also discovered a passion for mobile applications, e-commerce, content management systems.  She worked part-time at the U.S. Department of Urban and Housing Development  (https://www.hud.gov/) , while attending university.  There she found some of her first mentors, and later in this podcast gave a “shout-out” to those who inspired her and offered her early life lessons about work ethic and attitude.

After college, Kanika’s first opportunity was with Verizon (www.verizon.com/ ) where she was a leader at their network control center in Virginia. “I had to learn the telecommunications industry.”  Then she returned to government service, first working for 2.5 years as a SaaS developer for the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/ ),  where she “learned a lot about collection of data.”  She then moved to the U.S. Department of Transportation (https://www.transportation.gov/ ). “That was where I really got into digital strategy,” Kanika said. “During the first and second Obama administrations, I got a passion for understanding the use of Internet vs. Intranet: how to build sites, how to do website migration, how to redesign, how to do mobile apps.”  

With a considerable tenure in the public sector, Kanika left in 2014 because “I felt it was not such a great fit for me, because I had such an entrepreneurial spirit; I had an innovative way of thinking.” She was excited to take a role at Deloitte (www.deloitte.com/ ) (“I didn’t even know who the company was; all I knew was government!”). There, Kanika “learned the global aspect of business. “  In the private sector, for the first time, she faced the challenge of working in predominantly white male environments. “I learned I had to ‘boss up’ “, Kanika said.  “I had to come to the table with subject matter expertise. If I was going to make sure I was respected, had a seat at the table, I had to merge my personal brand as a woman of color with my technical experience, so people would not see color, or that I was female.”

Along the way, Kanika formed strong opinions about digital transformation of companies and groups. She believes it is less about the technology tools and “more about the people, processes, and structures.” She sees digital transformation as pervasive.  “It encompasses social, cloud, security, data, and the aspect of governance. As a tech community, we haven’t caught up with digital transformation. It’s hard to get it right, because it’s so many pieces. And we work in silos, a lot.” As a consultant in the private sector with an expertise in government, she grapples with many issues. “The government has had a lot of data breaches. And the government has a huge problem with creating these individual strategies: its own security strategy, its own data strategy, its own digital strategy.” Kanika’s perspective is that they, all, must be coalesced under the umbrella of digital transformation.

Evaluating her own success, Kanika’s credits her penchant for collaboration (“I really love people; it has helped me get the visibility I wanted and learn from people way smarter than me”), laser focus on her goals, fortitude (“I have been knocked down, but not knocked out”), and fearlessness.  She also has changed her perspective, along the way. “Now I look at failures as accomplishments, rather than defeats,” she said. “If I learned something, and was able to move forward, it makes me a conqueror.” Kanika defines true “servant leaders,” as those “who care about culture, people, and about people growing.” In the course of her career, to date, “those are some of the best leaders I have seen.”

In addition to founding her company, Kanika is also the author of LIFE REHAB: DON’T OVERDOSE ON PAIN, PEOPLE, AND POWER written when she was a Federal Government employee in 2013.  “We, all, come to a point where we try to live an authentic life.”  To assist others, Kanika authored this journey of self-discovery, which catalogued “letting go” of relationships which didn’t work, pain that was unnecessary, and superficial things which didn’t matter.

Kanika is a strong proponent of in-person networking, supplementing online connections.  “For people who want to maximize their opportunities, it’s so important to go out and meet people at conferences, workshops, seminars.” Additionally, she meets people regularly online, using tools like LinkedIn (“the best place for me to connect with the right people, professionally”) including LinkedIn Groups , where she often finds expertise and help. She also gives back often through mentorship, and “it makes me so happy,” she said. “Mentoring shouldn’t be looked at as a job; it should come from a place of passion and purpose.”  Her advice for potential mentees is to concentrate on creating a meaningful relationship with potential mentors, before asking for assistance; formulate a “brand pitch” about yourself; and persist in cultivating a chosen mentor.  In her own life, Kanika’s “dream team” of mentors are diverse, spanning fields, ages, races, and talents.

Kanika is a self-defined “hustler” in the most positive definition of that word, a champion of diversity in the workplace, particularly in the tech field.  She often writes articles for the well-known GLASS DOOR career enhancement community.   In 2014, she was interviewed by CNN, and expressed her candid opinion of tech hiring in a MONEY ECONOMY column entitled “Google Should Hire Me”.  She forthrightly said that Silicon Valley companies, in order to diversify, must “come out to where the people are,” including colleges and universities that have large minority populations. “Diversity in technology is a ‘heart condition.’  Either companies want to do it, or they don’t.” Kanika is planning to develop a diversity roadmap and publish it in a blog. It would include other diversification recommendations like companies should join alliances dedicated to diversity (similar to Black Girls Code); create a database of HBCU’s and aim recruiting campaigns there;  and work on “starting out younger” by making investments in early childhood STEM education programs focused on girls and minorities.

Kanika recommends tools for keeping up-to-date in the fast paced, changing technology world.  She reads a minimum of one tech book per month. Her other tools include:

1. Podcasts which focus on tech trends (including any that discuss IoT, AI, the “cloud”, machine learning, and big data/data science and analytics);  

2. Udemy, the technology learning site (https://www.udemy.com/ );

3. Tech information sites like Tech Republic (https://www.techrepublic.com/) as well as  government tech blogs;

4. Meetups, and other meetings, which connect a variety of diverse tech experts, in a networking environment.

Kanika’s advice for other women is:

• “DEMAND respect in a respectful way. You want to be firm in who you are. You have to take the high road.”

• Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses; capitalize on your strengths. “Bring something that adds a lot of value.”

• To keep up, read a minimum of one or two focused articles per day from blogs and other informational sites.

• “Look for ‘virtual’ mentors,” if you can’t find the right kind of mentor, in-person.

Her overriding message to women is “just strive toward equality --- with pay, and opportunity. Keep moving forward; keep evaluating what culture fit is good for you.”  Her philosophy is that when people are in tune with their essential selves, they can evaluate which companies or organizations are truly the correct ones in which to grow and evolve. “We need to evaluate what kinds of organizations work for us, so we can thrive.”

Kanika can be reached via her Website: https://kanikatolver.com/; on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kanikatolver; and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanikatolver/.

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Ep 69: Christine Rice: Journey of a Successful Leader

Diva Tech Talk was thrilled to interview Christine Rice, formerly President of the three combined divisions of VisionIT (www.visionit.com) Corporation, and now CEO and President, solely of its IT staffing division: VisionPro (http://www.visionproteam.com/). VisionPro has 20 offices throughout the United States, and helps its clients hire highly-specialized technology talent.  The company is also global since it supports its parent, 21-year-old VisionIT, with offices in Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

As a child, from a modest background (“My dad was a blue-collar worker at Ford”), Christine had not been partial to technology subjects. “I got involved through my siblings,” she said. Both her older brother and sister worked at EDS (Electronic Data Systems), a $22 billion company acquired first in 2008 by HP (www.hp.com/), spun into a product division, and then in 2017 merged with Computer Science Corporation to form DXC Technology (http://www.dxc.technology/), publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol: DXC.  While she was in high school, “hearing my sister talk about IT, and the projects she was working on,” spurred Christine. “You could see the joy in what she was doing.”  When Christine graduated, “I had a choice,” she said. “Did I want to go to school, in the evening, and work? Or did I want to go away?” Close to her religious family, she prayed; and was inspired to assume the multitasking role of attending college while working. She, too, began at EDS, while first attending Wayne County Community College in Detroit (www.wcccd.edu/), and then transferred to Central Michigan University in Midland, Michigan (https://www.cmich.edu/) from which she graduated with a B.S. in Business Management, while still maintaining a fulltime job.

Christine’s first EDS position was as an orientation specialist charged with onboarding newly-minted engineers joining that rapidly growing company. “I met a lot of people. It was a great entry into the workplace.” Although young, “I always had a confidence about me,” and that helped her move ahead at EDS, throughout her 15-year career there. After her first job, she moved into employee relations/human resources. “We were very aligned to the company’s legal department,” she admitted. “Our job was to lower the company’s liability in hiring, firing, and disciplining employees.” Starting as a specialist, she was promoted multiple times, working her way up to regional HR manager, directing a substantial team, and working with EDS leaders at every level of that corporation.

Christine left EDS to join her brother, technology leader David Segura (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidseguravisionit/) several years after he founded VisionIT in 1997. VisionIT, today, is a global software development company, systems integrator, reseller of key solutions (like SAP), and innovation lab for the development of new applications.  But at startup, it was founded as a technology services and Web development venture. As David realized his need for increasing organizational talent “He came to me for help,” Christine said. “I didn’t realize helping would quickly turn into a full-time job. What a journey!”  

With David’s tech background, and Christine’s human resources and legal expertise, VisionIT flourished.  “As a startup company, you really wear multiple hats,” she acknowledged. “I started selling and promoting the company.”  Due to her strong network of established relationships through EDS, Christine cemented a number of large clients quickly, and the customer base multiplied. She concentrated on human resources, hiring/firing, fostering talent at VisionIT. “As we were serving companies, doing application development and a variety of projects, they would come back to us,” and ask for resources to make additional progress. So, Christine decided “why don’t I concentrate on building the staffing side of the business?” Later In this interview, she exclaimed that “we are in interesting times in IT,” (with the rise in connected vehicles, connected homes and connected cities) and that energizes her, and is part of her company’s future vision.

Two of Christine’s strengths are the ability to clearly communicate at all levels of an organization, and consultative business-building. “I like being in front of the customer,” she stated. “As a company, it is where we get our best ROI, because I truly take an interest in the customer’s problems, and how we can solve them.”  She mentioned a variety of recent projects including a large information technology cost-reduction program for a key client that resulted in a $4 million savings. She also points to her relentless work ethic: “I was wired to work hard and deliver. And people will focus on that.”

Christine shared some of her lessons for entrepreneurs. “When you are hiring people,” she said, “hire slow, but fire fast.”  As

a leader she stressed that “integrity is very important,” and that any leader needs to “build trust with your organization.” To do that, she behaves with utmost transparency, freely sharing with her team the reasons why something can or cannot be done at any point in time. In her own life, what offers Christine ultimate happiness is the combination of caring for her family (two college age sons and her husband) and “corporate success and hitting our goals --- I get so much satisfaction out of those. It’s a feeling you just can’t describe.”  To achieve balance, she stresses time management: carving out time for things that have the most priority and being disciplined in using time well.

Christine’s guiding principles for aspiring leaders are:

1. Surround yourself with other strong leaders “because you’re not going to have all the answers.”

2. Network, and “get involved” in your community and professional associations.

3. Listen, attentively, as much as possible.

4. Never stop learning (“I have a picture frame on my desk that says that!”).

In her philanthropy life, Christine works with children and young adults of Hispanic origin. “It’s important for inner city kids to see people who look like them be successful,” she said. She speaks frequently to students and gives presentations on behalf of Latina/Latino organizations who concentrate on education and career path mentorship.

Her advice, especially for “the young folks” is: “Take that risk.  If you’re not making yourself uncomfortable” according to Christine, you are not making progress.

Her final piece of wisdom is “dress for success --- mentally!  Focus on the positive.”

Christine Rice can be reached at crice@visionproteam.com.

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