Future women leaders from Hoover Academy of Information Technology enjoy a Women in Tech event at the Microsoft Store
Today from 11am - 1pm, Managed Solution hosted a Women In Technology event for young women from Hoover Academy of Information Technology. Students who are interested in pursuing careers in technology enjoyed the screening of Big Dream, hearing success stories from women leaders in technology and playing some fun games at the Microsoft store including Just Dance.
Tina Rountree, Business Development Manager of Managed Solution and President of the San Diego Women In Technology Community kicked off an interactive panel session with Rocio Uriarte, VP of IT at Hyundai Translead, and Melissa Pike, whose career includes high profile technology and management positions at her current company Sempra Energy and her past company, IBM. These two women leaders shared their success stories with the young women and answered questions on how they got where they are today. Rocio shared her experience getting started in technology and the steps necessary to get there, as well as become successful in the field. Melissa inspired the girls to follow their dreams and encouraged goal setting as an important element to achieving success. Both woman also stressed the importance of teamwork and collaboration. The dialogue was interactive throughout the panel session and students were asking and answering questions related to working in the field the entire time.
Managed Solution is hosting a similar event open to the public this evening at 5:30pm. Learn More.
What Is Big Dream?
Big Dream follows the intimate stories of seven young women who are breaking barriers and overcoming personal challenges to follow their passion in science, math, computing & engineering. From small town Iowa to the bustling streets of the Middle East, Big Dream immerses viewers in a world designed by and for the inspiring next generation of girls.
Contact: Tina Rountree, Business Development Manager, Managed Solution
Phone: 800-236-6012
Email: trountree@managedsolution.com
Tina Rountree and Sonya Meline, San Diego Community of Women in Technolog at the 2015 AITP Holiday Mixer
Meet the San Diego Community of Women in Technology (WIT)
By Tina Rountree, Business Development Manager, Managed Solution and President of the San Diego WIT Community
My career began in the finance industry, but I am proud to say I’ve been working at Managed Solution, a full service technology firm, for over two years now. Since my career in technology began, I’ve been focused on not only learning the ropes, but continuously educating myself on existing and new technologies so I could educate our customers. Technology is exciting in that it is a chance for me to have a real impact in my customers daily experience and I am passionate about helping small businesses flourish, so I’m proud to now consider myself a “Woman in Technology” and I’m excited to celebrate female leaders everywhere.
I have recently been called to sit on the board of IAMCP – San Diego as the chair for Women in Technology. I am very excited and jumping in with both feet to be a part of creating a community that provides women in technology networking opportunities and as importantly reaches out to the young women in our community to encourage them to explore their dreams and pursue careers in this field.
The San Diego Community of Women in Technology’s mission is to connect creative, innovative and hardworking women for the purpose of providing mutual support in achieving professional and personal goals.
Currently we are inundated with headlines that are illuminating the wage gap between men and women. We are also seeing more awareness around the culture of technology companies and how they can produce a very challenging culture for women. Yet, I’ve found several articles citing that women are the fastest growing category and biggest users on every social networking site except for LinkedIn. Women are also more likely to be using their cell phones and spending more time on them than their male counterparts. I know I am guilty of this.
So, I’ve joined forces with two powerhouse women (Sonya Meline and Heather Atkins) to start a community providing more space for women to come together, to support each other, to share ideas and to honor each other’s achievements.
We are excited to share with you our first event, it is a screening of the movie Big Dream and is scheduled to take place today, December 10th. We will be honoring both facets of our mission with an afternoon event hosting young ladies looking to pursue careers in technology from Hoover’s Academy of Information Technology. Later this evening we are rescreening the film for anyone in the community who would like to attend, (bring your daughters!) as a networking opportunity and also showcasing two women CIO’s working locally in San Diego Alicia Fettinger of VOXOX and Leslie Jefferies of California Coast Credit Union. Learn more about the event and register here.
San Diego Community of Women in Technology (WIT) Members
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Tina Rountree, President of the San Diego WIT Community
Tina is a lifelong learner and expert at multi-tasking between work and being a mom to four teenagers. She fills multiple roles in the office and on the home front such as coach, teacher, cheerleader and motivational speaker to name a few. Tina's career started in Finance where she spent decades developing and managing relationships with large accounts such as Enterprise Rent A Car. She's now passionate about being a student of technology and says she eats, drinks and breathes Microsoft. With fifteen years of experience working with the small business community here in San Diego Tina has a deep understanding of how the right technology and systems can have a profound impact on the growth of an organization. Tina lives in the Rancho Penasquitos area and loves spending time with her husband, children, cats and their dog - her and her family are huge animal lovers |
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Sonya Meline – Vice President of the San Diego WIT Community
Sonya is a consummate organizer, group facilitator, and motivator with an entrepreneurial flair and a passion for sharing the tools for success with others. She currently champions sales and marketing for Effortless, a cloud technology firm based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sonya has had an interesting and varied career, which includes starting and growing her own California coffee shop joint venture franchise; consulting as a professional corporate organizer and efficiency coach; working as executive assistant to motivational guru, Tony Robbins; and serving as Paralegal and Executive Assistant to the JAG Officer & Command Master Chief of a Texas Naval Base. During her tenure in the U.S. Navy, she helped fundraise over $100,000.00 for the 9/11 fund, and was distinguished as a recipient of the Presidential Service Award.In her free time, Sonya enjoys spending time with her husband on their permaculture ranch in Southern California, and wilderness trekking with her pack-goats. She is the Vice President of IAMCP Women in Technology’s San Diego Community, Mentorship Committee-Member for Women in the Channel, and Board Chairwomen of Friends in Deed Helping Friends in Need (aka Friends 5o1c3). She supports the Moyer Hospice Foundation and its Camp Erin, and gives freely of her time and talents to the Breast Cancer Fund. She hopes to be remembered by those who know her as a dedicated and compassionate woman of enthusiasm and integrity. |
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Heather Atkins – Secretary of the San Diego WIT Community Heather has spent two decades on the front lines of technical sales, product innovation, and customer program management. In that time, she has helped some of the world’s leading technology companies grow their analytics, data, and collaboration products through a combination of technical depth and direct customer engagement. She has deep expertise in Federal- and State-level sales, as well as in document management, search, and workflow solutions; creating complex demonstration environments; and working with technical teams to define and test new product functionality. Heather has a BA from the University of Virginia and an MBA from George Mason University along with numerous technical certifications starting with an MCSE on Windows NT 3.51. She lives in Point Loma in San Diego with her son, her partner, and three very energetic dogs. |
Famous Women of STEM: Shaping the Future of Women in Tech Careers
Women have made significant contributions to the development of new technologies, overcoming many barriers to study and work. In years past, women have been barred from colleges and universities, denied the opportunity to work in certain fields, and had their work obscured or stolen by male scientists. As a result, the history of technology is told as a story of great men. But these women, among many others, shaped the technology that we use daily along with the futures of those inspired to go into tech careers.
Hedy Lamarr
Film buffs know Hedy Lamarr as the sultry female lead of "Algiers" and "Samson and Delilah", but the world owes her a much greater debt. She is the co-inventor of frequency-hopping and spread spectrum, techniques that were used to shield military and other sensitive communications during World War II are now used in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies.
The Human Computers
The work of Frances Spence and Kay McNulty Mauchly Antonelli also helped shape the outcome of World War II. They worked during an era where a computer was a person who calculated sums, and during the war, computers were mostly women. Performing these calculations by hand, or even simple machines, was too slow for a war that moved at the speed of flight, so they were chosen to help program the first electronic digital computer, known as ENIAC, in 1946.
Ellen Ochoa
Women's contributions to peacetime technologies have been vast. Ellen Ochoa took women's technological innovations to the stars through her work with NASA. She developed optical inspection and image refinement methods for automated examinations of images from space. Ochoa became the first Latina to head NASA's Johnson Space Center. She also got the chance to experience space personally as the first Latina to go into space, eventually completing over forty hours of space missions.
Kimberly Bryant
Kimberly Bryant is doubly shaping the future of technology with her organization Black Girls Code. Bringing both innovation and diversity to programming, Black Girls Code makes programming careers accessible to a population historically shut out of STEM careers through a six-week course on coding and robotics.
Rana el Kaliouby
Many consumers struggle to understand new technologies and advances in computing. Rana el Kaliouby is helping computers understand us with her innovations in facial recognition and reading technology. One of the founders of Affectiva, her inventions help people on the autism spectrum read facial expressions, assist researchers as they track subjects' emotional changes, and advertisers track reaction to campaigns in real time by reading viewers' expressions.
Dr. Crystal Jensen
Technology must be accessible in order to improve people's lives. Dr. Crystal Jensen, founder and president of Integrity Technologies, Inc. makes educational technologies available to Native and indigenous communities, which often lack technology-rich learning environments. Through online learning and social media, Jensen helps people access educational and economic opportunities and other information to improve the quality of life in traditionally marginalized communities.
Sandrine Mubenga
Improving energy efficiency and expanding the use of renewable energy sources will be one of the chief challenges of the 21st century. Sandrine Ngaulula Mubenga is helping us meet this challenge by developing a hybrid car that runs through hydrogen and solar-powered hydrogen fueling stations. Mubenga's prototype reaches a maximum speed of 119 miles per hour, outpacing concerns about the effectiveness of hybrid cars.
Amy Sheng
Technological advances have rapidly improved access to health care. But your doctor's office may soon be as accessible as your mobile phone, thanks to Amy Sheng. Sheng's team at CellScope is developing tools that work with mobile phones to connect with medical offices for remote examinations and tests. The hospital trials, if successful, could transform models for triage and monitoring chronic conditions.
Source: http://www.ecpi.edu
Next Level Nail-Art Aims To Draw Women To Technology
The tech world is still pretty much dominated by men and only a few women are currently drawn to it. Now, a new technology aims to change that and make even more women get into tech. It also takes nail art to the next level. NPR featured the genius behind the company called Preemadonna, the creator of Nailbot.
This technology's goal is to attract girls in an industry dominated by men. The company is based in San Francisco and they are mainly about products that cater more to women and young girls.
Their current product that seems promising is the Nailbot. This allows printing any nail art directly on the nails of their customers through the help of a smartphone.
The CEO and Co-founder of the company, Pree Walia sat in for an interview with NPR and revealed a lot about their business and new technology. According to the publication, they treated this innovation as if a gateway drug for girls to enter the world of technology. The company also aims to make girls free from expressing themselves through nail art and have fun while they're at it. Walia explained, "It is a beauty tool, but for young girls it's a learning tool."
The price of this device is around $199 and it would definitely spark up the interest of both girls and boys, as they would be curious about the technology behind its entire operation. The company is pitching their product not just as a beauty tool, but it also does work as part of the arts and crafts tool.
This product would also come in handy for those who treat nail art as their business. Now, nail artists won't have to manually create designs onto their client's fingernails. A 3D printer can now do it for them.
Source: http://www.foodworldnews.com/articles/51684/20151109/next-level-nail-art-aims-make-women-drawn-tech.htm
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Join us on December 10th to listen to success stories from women professionals who are leaders in technology and are passionate about changing the ratio of women in tech. Bring your daughter or family so together we can share our knowledge and resources and help young women understand and expand their potential as future leaders in technology – from the classroom to the boardroom. Learn more.
More Women Are Choosing Software Development Jobs
More and more women are choosing software development jobs- but how can the IT industry keep them there? As written by Jennifer S. on nhsocal.com
It's not much of a secret that the IT world is a bit of a boys club. This is even more true for software development and programming. A Bureau of Labor Statistics study in 2014 found that more than 80 percent of American software developers were male. That's not just a small majority; that's an enormous gender inequality problem.
More women breaking the glass ceiling
But despite this extreme imbalance, more women are choosing programming careers. Although the entire industry is about 80 percent male, 42 percent of software developers with less than one year's experience are now women.
This survey of 855 developers, recently conducted by the Application Developers Alliance and International Data Corporation, also reported that this percentage of women as new-hires corresponded with female enrollment in computer science programs and corporate computer training courses. That means this isn't just a fluke, but rather a trend of more women being comfortable with going into IT.
What are the hurdles and how should women overcome them?
Although this trend of more women going into software development is certainly good to see in terms of gender equality, there's still a long way to go. Women seem to be leaving the industry in droves, much more than their male counterparts. The Harvard Business Review reported on a Center for Talent Innovation study that found women working in science, engineering and technology are 45 percent more likely to leave the industry than the men in these particular fields.
So why are they quitting? The CTI study also states that 44 percent of women in SET fields feel that without female role models in executive positions, they must "behave like a man" to move up the corporate ladder. Along with problems in advancement, women in technical jobs also don't seem to be happy with their pay. About 30 percent of women leaving the industry are doing so because of work conditions such as low salary and no advancement.
That being said, there are greater numbers of options for women to earn more and get promoted to a position where they can become a role model within IT versus other fields, especially when they have IT certifications.
A joint survey conducted by Network World and SolarWinds in 2011 found that out of 700 IT professionals, 56 percent stated that a certification lead to a salary bump while 28.8 percent said it leads to a promotion. This survey showed that any woman who wants to earn more and advance higher in the world of IT should seriously consider a computer-based training certification. New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Southern California is a great place to find education ranging from basic computer training all the way to specific training like CompTIA certifications.
