Ep 74: Grace Hopper Conference 2018: Diversity Leadership Series Launch
Release Date: 10/19/2018
Ep 101: Catherine Tabor: Making Sparks Fly
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , CEO and Founder of , a cloud-based offer management solutions company maximizing customer acquisition by connecting real-time behavior with online and in-store sales. Catherine’s father was a physics professor, and she visited his university classes as a child. “I was mesmerized as he used math to solve real problems. I am a believer in technology solving problems, not just ‘tech for the sake of tech’.” That was demonstrated when, as a undergraduate, Catherine was recruited by to manage their employee discount program. “I grew it to...
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Ep 100: Michelle Accardi: Jump in With Both Feet
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , President and Chief Revenue Officer at , a global VoIP telecommunications vendor. Headquartered in , Star2Star offers proprietary, hybrid unified voice and data communications solutions, in “the cloud.” A well-known aphorism is: “Life is what happens, after we make other plans.” Michelle’s original aspiration was to be a Broadway star. Discovering that Manhattan was an exorbitant place to live, 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...
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Ep 99: Sandra Estok: Changing Perspectives Through Storytelling
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed expert, author, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur, Creator of the international book series, , Sandra founded her own company: Way2Protect LLC, after an extensive corporate career. Originally from , at age 11, Sandra and family were evicted from her childhood home. They found refuge in a shack. “It had one window, one door, and no water or bathroom inside,” she recalled. She felt ostracized from other children in the neighborhood, who lived in more conventional conditions. When she...
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Ep 98: Amelia Ransom: Inclusion Leadership -- Not for The Faint of Heart
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , Senior Director, Diversity and Engagement at , a tech company that ensures global tax compliance is done right. Amelia is dedicated to “trying to solve a problem that the world has not solved. It is not for the faint of heart.” “I didn’t plan to be in diversity and inclusion,” Amelia said. 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...
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Ep 97: Dr. Nicki Washington: Armor Up, Every Day
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , author, Associate Professor of Computer Science at , founder at Washington Consulting LLC and passionate advocate for women of color, in technology. Winthrop University her work. “I was born and raised in ,” site of world-class universities and home to . Her mother was a 32-year 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 network doing inspiring things in science and math.” Her mother...
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Ep 96: Sunitha Vinnakota: Don’t Give Away The Remote Control for Your Life
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , tech/IT security leader for , a trailblazer in automotive solutions for almost a century. Headquartered in , global GM employs over 180,000 people; serves customers on 6 continents across 23 time zones in 70 languages; and focuses on pushing the limits of automotive engineering, while maintaining stewardship of the world’s environmental resources. Currently #10 on the , GM is the largest U.S. automotive manufacturer, and is led by , the first female CEO of a major automotive company. Sunitha brought 25-plus years of evolving technology skills,...
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Ep 95: Linda Rose: Raise Your Personal Ceiling
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , merger and acquisitions advisor at , and author of --- offering wisdom and a practical roadmap to business owners interested in divestiture. Linda has owned four companies and has served hundreds of others. In 7th grade, Linda knew she wanted to become a CPA, after visiting with family friends in that field, who had an idyllic lifestyle. Fortunately, her PSAT’s pinpointed strong math proficiency. She graduated with a bachelors and a master’s in accountancy from and spent four years at “working on very esoteric tax applications and...
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Ep 94: Jeanine Heck: No Day but Today
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , Vice President, AI at , the world’s second largest broadcasting and cable television company; the U.S. largest pay television, cable TV and home internet service provider; and third largest home telephone supplier in the U.S. As a child, Jeanine sometimes felt like “the lone soldier” as a female “mathlete,” consistently drawn to numbers, and science. “I loved things that had to do with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Engineering popped up” as she chose a college major. “I loved programming.” As an undergraduate, she...
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Ep 93: Liz Armbruester: Reframe Your Possibilities
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , SVP, Global Compliance, at , which helps businesses get tax compliance right. Avalara partners with ERP providers, accounting, e-commerce and financial systems companies, to deliver cloud-based tax compliance solutions, for all transactions. Headquartered in Seattle, WA, Avalara was founded in 2004; went public in 2018; and has offices across the world From her early years, Liz was a multitasker. “I thrive on doing more than one thing at a time.” Her early aptitudes were in science, and math. From , she transferred to the . Originally planning...
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Ep 92: Liz Siver: Winning Through Networking
Diva Tech Talk Podcast
Diva Tech Talk interviewed , former executive for the U.S. Central Region, now General Manager for , a breakthrough company, leading transformation of state lottery systems online. Liz credited her “network: the people I knew and encountered” for introducing her to technology. She attended the , graduating with a degree in English. “I kept it simple. It was hard to identify all opportunities, so I took a generic path.” Liz worked her way through college. Among other assignments, she worked for of Western Ohio; government of in Ohio; Berry Yellow Pages; and...
info_outlineThe Diva Tech Talk team was grateful to have the amazing experience of attending Grace Hopper Conference 2018. We highlighted many conference details, discussed the Abie awards, and shared the voice of attendees on the Episode 73 Podcast. If you didn’t get a chance to listen, please check it out here: http://www.divatechtalk.com/blog/ep73
There was so much material and insight that we had to create another article and episode for our listeners to stay with us on this journey. This podcast has a special announcement for our listeners.
One incredibly worthy outcome of the Grace Hopper Conference and the AnitaB.org effort is the Top Companies report for women in technology. This is a national program that identifies key trends around the representation of women in the workforce. First launched in 2011, it pairs wonderfully with the conference “vibes.” Although there are many other female technologist benchmarking programs, this is the only one that measures technical employees using a rigorous, standardized definition of the technical workforce. The 2018 Top Companies report was compiled with participation by 80 companies, 628,000 + technologists with 150,000 + women technologists in that group. Congratulations to the companies who took top honors for female tech diversity for 2018. Special Diva Tech Talks “shout-out” to Tarsha McCormick and Shuchi Sharma, two leaders in that cohort we were fortunate to interview.
Check out the full Grace Hopper Conference 2018 Press Release on Top Companies here: https://anitab.org/news/press-release/2018-top-companies-report/
In addition to the keynotes, and breakouts on topics ranging in complexity from exploratory data analysis to mentoring, there were also some amazing women with whom we spent time to capture their experiences for our Diva Tech Talk audience. After reviewing their insights, the Diva Tech Talk team is proud to announce a new Diversity Leadership Series, following this event. The series will feature senior level leaders from a variety of organizations, who lead diversity and inclusion programs in their respective organizations. In this Grace Hopper Event Recap podcast, we include audio teasers for these full-length episodes, rolling out over the coming weeks and months. Here are some of the women we will include in our upcoming Diversity Leadership Series:
In this episode, we feature short clips from the following amazing women in technology that we interviewed. Later, we will publish their full stories in our newly announced Diversity Leadership Series:
- Monica Bailey, Chief People Officer at GoDaddy
- Sonja Gittens Ottley, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Asana
- Tarsha McCormick, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, North America for Thoughtworks
- Rebekah Bastian, Vice President of Community and Culture at Zillow Group
- Shuchi Sharma, Global Lead for Gender Intelligence at SAP
- Paulette R. Gerkovich, PhD, Senior Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Micron
We hope you enjoy this teaser and look forward to the upcoming series as much as we do. Make sure to subscribe today so you don’t miss an episode.
Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com on Twitter @divatechtalks, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk.