On this episode of Humanizing Tech, we’re joined by Bess Campbell, Solutions Engineer at Actable.

After many years in the service industry, Bess decided she was ready to pivot careers and went back to school to become a computer programmer. To her advantage, the service industry taught her all about working with people under pressure - how to be a team player, a keen attention to detail, and the ability to create elegant, efficient systems.

In her Solutions Engineer role, she helps her clients route and transform data, engage with different marketing technologies, and contribute to projects utilizing Airflow, GCP, and Python.

PDXWIT events and programming and most importantly, the Invest In Your scholarship were the springboard to her success. Listen for practical ways to pivot your career with PDXWIT.

Learn more about PDXWIT here, Professional Networking - Women In Technology | PDXWIT — PDXWIT.

We're kicking off a new series for the podcast where we spotlight stories from the PDXWIT Community.

On this episode, we're joined by Cristabel Nichols and Estephany Mitchell – our first sister pair of podcast guests and powerhouse PDXWIT Community Members.

Cristabel currently heads up Web Operations Program Management at Provider Solutions & Development and Estephany supports our Operations here at PDXWIT. Together, they share the powerful impact PDXWIT had on their lives and careers: from free coding education, life changing mentorship, and access to leadership.

Learn about the power of PDXWIT’s events, resources, programming that bridge community and collective success.

PDXWIT volunteer, mentor, and member of the speakers bureau, Deana Solis, is the inaugural FinOps Leader at Smarsh. She attended the first FinOpsX Conference and won the award of first FinOps Evangelist.

As the youngest of four, Deana became known as the most fearful of her family and had to learn how to conquer her fears at a very young age.

Throughout her career, she became fueled by her fears and found them to be a source of inspiration for her professional development, learning new skills, and heightened emotional intelligence. She believes we must acknowledge our fears and to know we have agency in our own outcome.

Tune in to hear how her fears helped Deana choose meaningful goals in life and how they’ve impacted her journey as both a mother and mentor.

Learn more about FinOps and the FinOps Foundation here, What is FinOps? - FinOps Foundation.

Data & Communications Manager Isabel J. Rodriguez joins us on the podcast to introduce PDXWIT’s 2022 State of the Community survey.

Tune in to learn about the history of the survey and this year’s goals, how taking the survey can impact real change, and the principles PDXWIT uses to inform the questions we ask. Visit PDXWIT.org to take the survey, and get your responses in by August 11, 2022. Sharing it with your organizations and networks will help to amplify our impact.

On this episode of Humanizing Tech, Padmashree Koneti (she/her) joins us to discuss her experience with identity assimilation as a first-generation immigrant. As the VP of Product Management of Tableau and vocal advocate of DEI, Padmashree brings a wealth of skills and knowledge to the tech industry.

She defines the model minority myth in her own words, how it shapes the obstacles she overcame, and her hopefulness for future generations entering their careers today. Tune in for some career path inspiration like tips for tackling imposter syndrome, how to turn it into a strength, and why asking “why?” got her where she is today.

On this episode of Humanizing Tech, we’re joined by Tia Hopkins, CTO and Chief Cyber Risk Strategist with eSentire. Tia has 20+ years of experience in Cybersecurity and is committed to nurturing a diverse and inclusive generation of cybersecurity professionals.

We discuss how to build confidence, competence, and influence within any organization. A powerhouse footballer AND philosopher, Tia drops golden nuggets all throughout the episode relatable to young job seekers and seasoned pros, alike. As Tia says, in order to be great at something you’ve first got to “learn the game, play the game, and then change the game”.

Connect with Tia on LinkedIn or at www.tiahopkins.com.

On this episode of Humanizing Tech, we’re joined by Paloma Medina for a discussion on how her love of all things systems and her own personal upbringing has shaped her resiliency throughout her career and in Tech. By way of anarchism, her work in healthcare the tech community, Paloma proves the road you choose may not always be a straight path, but the journey will shape you. Tune in to learn about the 6 core needs we all have and go to www.palomamedina.com/biceps.

On this episode of Humanizing Tech, we’re joined by CEO and Founder at Edify, Kristen Buchanan (she/her). A longtime fan of PDXWIT, Kristen noticed many of the people she was meeting had to “manage up” during their onboarding experience. She kept hearing stories about how difficult that is, especially for people with marginalized identities. Kristen believes the new hires aren’t responsible for shaping an onboarding experience; that it’s the people managers who need to own this part of the process in a systematic way -- beyond gut feelings. This led to her building a solution that offers a ​​functional, holistic onboarding experience tailored for teams to attract, keep, and grow great employees. We learn all about Kristen’s philosophy toward equitable onboarding, team building, and her entrepreneurial journey -- specifically the importance of your mentors challenging you, how she took that leap of faith into business ownership, and her best advice both for others seeking the motivation to get their own business ideas out there and for those interviewing for new employment opportunities.

On this episode of Humanizing Tech, we’re joined by Jackie Wirz. Jackie helps develop creative, confident, and curious critical thinkers by engaging them in socially conscious and equitable STEM experiences as the Executive Director of Saturday Academy. We discussed how she nurtures her mental health, how she defines making an impact, and what being an advocate means to her. Jackie was also this year’s winner for Speaker of the Year with PDXWIT! Tune in to hear about the work Jackie’s putting in toward our collective future.

On this episode of Humanizing Tech, we’re joined by Anna Madill. Anna is the Founder and CEO of Avenue, a digital marketing agency that amplifies the impact of growth-minded and purpose-driven companies through results-led digital marketing.

Anna shares how she boosts her confidence with public speaking, the challenges of running a company as a woman of color, and what goes into becoming a Certified B Corporation. We also took some time to reflect how we’re each acknowledging Asian American Heritage month.

Tune in to learn about cultivating workplace culture in the startup phases and building an environment of safety and trust. From how she balances her passion for business and for being a mom, her self-care favorites, and where she focuses her volunteering efforts, Anna is a business owner we can all learn a lot from.

Join us as we welcome Kistein Monkhouse the CEO and Founder of Patient Orater -- a platform that uses storytelling to improve patient experience and population health. Also a filmmaker, Kistein discusses her documentary “Humanizing Healthcare.”

On this episode of Humanizing Tech, we were joined by Jelani Memory, CEO and Founder of A Kids Book About. Jelani’s company publishes books to help kids and their grownups have honest conversations about things that matter. He authored the first book in the series, A Kids Book About Racism. We discussed that magic time before age 9 where kids and parents are reading together, how parents can become co-learners alongside their kids, and how reading these challenging, empowering and important books to our kids can ultimately enable them to lead better lives. Listen in to hear why our kids are more ready for these conversations than we realize. Learn more about Jelani’s work and find his books at A Kids Book About.

Joy Buolamwini is a Ghanian-American computer scientist at MIT who researches algorithmic bias in computer vision systems and is focused on identifying bias in artificial intelligence and practices for accountability. She’s also the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League. Wildly accomplished, Joy’s research on this subject has been covered in over 40 countries.

In this episode, we discuss how the tech industry has a tendency to center the potential of technology, while often overlooking existing gaps and outcomes that perpetuate harm. In Joy’s case, she identified racially biased facial recognition software that couldn’t detect her skin color due to outdated code. By re-writing the practices that perpetuate harmful bias, Joy calls herself a “poet of code.” Listen to learn about how Joy’s discoveries are evidence for why developing ethical software matters.

Our very own April Leonard (she/her) joins us on the PDXWIT podcast! April is an Engineering Manager at GitHub and also leads our Podcast Volunteer Team. With a passion for playing music, ballet, and growing people, April pivoted from the arts, to math, to eventually tech, and ultimately managing teams.

We asked April where she gets the inspiration to “stay up” even in the dark days, how she approaches management, and how she creates and facilitates joy. She regales us with what happens from networking and being a little scrappy, why moms make good managers, and why staying curious and seeking common ground with others matter. Thanks for listening! Find some joy out there.

Alexis Williams (she/her) is currently a student at NYU, majoring in integrated digital media with a concentration in computer science and web development. Today on Humanizing Tech, Anusha and Ochuko share insights around Alexis’s rising career in tech, her experiences and how they relate, and how she uses digital content to inspire other young women in computer science. Alexis is known for her action-oriented solutions and multidisciplinary perspective, which she makes accessible through social media, her podcast, and her website. In this episode, our hosts reflect about how important it is for tech environments to hold the space for young women and BIPOC coders to thrive and encourage listeners to bring your individuality to the table, no matter what your differences are.

Find Alexis on TikTok @lelegenevieve. Listen and support her podcast, Clueless with Alexis. Take action on her website and resources, www.pb-resources.com/.