Bushnell shares on her passion for Ireland’s technology prowess, the importance of equitable AI and the challenges for women in technology.
Despite the observation that society has a harder time accepting and encouraging women through failures, she encourages women to learn to embrace racking up some failures along the way.
More women in tech leadership would catalyze innovation, increase revenue and enhance profitability for tech firms. It would challenge the default male world and address the economic liability that the absence creates.
Afua Richardson-Parry had always strived to be a hands-on person, prone to learning new things in keeping with the pace of a dynamic and changing healthcare ecosystem. She didn’t set out to be a “Jill of all trades,” but rather to be adaptable and flexible. However, this drive shaped a sense of focus that sharpened when she came across a quote that really spoke to her; “Know your strength, staff your weakness.”
Pamela Yoon finds her business incredibly rewarding, although also challenging. “I encourage newer professionals that the first few years will always be tough so you have to adjust for playing the long game,” she says. “It’s like training for a marathon and while it can be hard to stick with, it pays off.”
Venture capital money is still going to all male teams creating a blindspot which is worth $4.4 billion dollars of unfunded ideas from women.
Most of us have become incredibly comfortable within our own four walls over the past several months.
If you were someone who used to commute to an office every day, the first few weeks of the pandemic might have felt particularly unsettling as your routine was upended: No corridor chit chat where you found out what was really going on behind the scenes with a particular deal; no lunches with colleagues to get caught up on projects.
And then, you might have realized that you were able to plausibly replicate those experiences, making them work virtually…
“Keep an open mind. Just because you start your practice one way doesn’t mean you’re wedded to that,” says Katten’s Cathy Yoon. “When I mentor college and law students as they start their careers, they always ask how I ended up where I am today, and I tell them it’s ok if you have no idea what you want to do because you’ll figure it out.”
Throughout her career, TPG’s Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri has often been the “first” or “only” in many situations. While she is proud of breaking barriers, she says her goal is to not be the last one or the only one.
“I wish I had known from the start of my career that I should have more confidence in myself,” says Avante Capital’s Ivelisse Rodriguez Simon. But, as she says, when you enter an industry where no one looks like you, it can be challenging.
From entertainment to Wall Street to PR entrepreneurship, Gia Morón has repeatedly found herself in spaces she never imagined.
With a gift for drawing connections and a super keen gut instinct, she’s now at the forefront of women leaders driving diversity in the emerging cannabis industry.