Tag Archive for: women in technology

Voice of Experience: Marianne Bachynski, Chief Transformation Officer

Always be networking, suggests Marianne Bachynski.

Marianne Bachynski “Men are so good at this, and often we as women are so busy trying to deal with the work at hand that we don’t make the time to engage. But you must always treat your career as a project. Ask yourself if you are in a promotable position, and if not, determine what you have to do to get there.”

The reason is simple, she says. “My father always reminded me that you are the only person who knows your entire history and can best tell your story. Make it known what you’re good at, what you have achieved and what you want to do. Build a personal brand.” For example, she found that people would make assumptions about what roles she might like as a working mom. It’s up to you to dispel inaccurate assumptions and voice your interests, particularity to new managers.

Finding Her Niche in Technology

As Bachynski explains, she “grew up at Morgan Stanley” where she spent 25 years from the start of her career. Always focused on technology, she began as an application developer, supporting many different businesses on the sell side and then pivoted to the buy side. The technology on the investment management side wasn’t nearly as mature as the sell side, so she found it to be an ideal opportunity to spur growth and innovation.

When she was moved to support investment management, she found they had so much capacity to evolve, making it akin to a startup embedded in the bigger firm. She built it out, front to back, creating a team from zero to 700. Since some of them came from acquisitions along the way, she learned about integrating companies both technically and culturally. “We had to design a Brady Bunch-style blended culture that could work well together because we couldn’t execute or communicate effectively if we didn’t have a common way of working,” Bachynski explains.

She eventually moved to Citibank, providing technology solutions to external clients for whom they covered investment management, private equity and hedge funds. She reveled in the fact that it was such a global company, with clients in 160 countries. She then became COO of North America Wholesale Banking at Rabobank, which specialized in food, farming and agriculture. She then spent a year at a fintech company, FIS, which supports banks of all sizes with banking and payments and brokerage technology. She enjoyed her role creating products that serve multiple clients and being more directly tied to revenue.  But when Marianne was offered the lead role in a multiyear transformation program working for the CEO of the #1 most innovative InsureTech firm, she couldn’t resist.

Bachynski helps transform companies to become more agile. She recognizes the importance of speed, which in many ways is replacing size and scale as the key metric.

More Gains To Be Made

Bachynski finds it sobering how little has changed for women in technology from when she began. For instance, her daughter, who is 25 and went to MIT, works at Instagram as a data scientist, and she is still many times the only woman in the room.

“Women need to come together and support each other and have meaningful dialogue,” Bachynski says, adding that she has had few tech peers who were women.

She advises women to take the advice she heard early on from one of the few senior women she worked with. “Don’t ever apologize. If you must leave early, just walk out the door.” In other words, take control of defining the critical parameters for your work-life balance.

Bachynski is a big believer in mentor programs, where you are assigned to someone more senior outside of your purview. Mentorships are an opportunity to gain a different perspective and a chance to glean valuable insights on what really goes on in senior management. “It’s so enlightening to create a line of sight to the big picture,” she says.

Her routine has always included one hour a day all to herself, which she typically devotes to working out. In the past she has run marathons, which she found helped build both physical and emotional stamina for the work roller coaster you often ride on; and the discipline allows you to think calmly and look to the long term.

Even when her work was calling, Bachynski made the effort to be home at a decent hour every night to spend time with her children and held sacred time each year to take a trip. “We intentionally chose to travel internationally, because it allows you to experience and learn about so many ways to live your life, and it’s invigorating to step out of our element and focus on each other. Vacations are critical to reenergize.”

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Rising Star: Sarah Zilenovski, Marketing Manager; ClearSale

Sarah ZilenovskiBefore starting her career, Sarah Zilenovski had always believed you had to choose your area of expertise while still in college; while in reality, as she found you can build your path as you go.

While obtaining the necessary skills is vital, of course, she believes it’s important to plan while keeping an open mind. “We must remember that we can’t control external variables and that the person we are today is not the person we will be in the future. And as we change, so do our dreams and desires.”

And that means that your career might take unexpected twists, which you can embrace if you are confident in your abilities and potential. “I always believed that I could choose the companies or assignments that were appealing to me, not rely on it going the other way around,” says Zilenovski.

A Career Built on Seeking New Challenges

Born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Zilenovski moved to the United States in 2015, bringing solid credentials—including master’s and bachelor’s degrees in finance and business management from a top Brazilian business school—and experience.
She began her career in 2007 as an intern for P&G, working on customer business development. Soon after, she was hired as a finance manager for P&G largest manufacturing facility in Brazil. One year later, hoping to become more involved with the business side, she moved back to P&G’s headquarters to work as a finance manager for the commercial team, specifically working with P&G’s distributors and wholesalers.

After five years of a successful career at P&G, she began to think she’d like to try a smaller company, ideally one with a more direct social impact. For her, it was a leap, but she landed successfully at ClearSale, a company fighting against fraudsters—and was the fastest growing medium-sized company in Brazil.

There, she pivoted back to sales and marketing, where she had started at P&G; her first role was to manage the sales team during a large restructuring in the commercial area. That entailed recreating everything from the sales teams’ portfolios to the go-to-market strategy. In addition much of her focus was on the joint creation and customization of solutions with enterprise prospects and clients.

At that point it became clear to her that she preferred combining her business background with her proven communication and analytical skills, rather than leading the sales teams. She was subsequently invited to join ClearSale’s international team, with three other Brazilian peers, to open ClearSale’s first foreign branch, based in the United States, entirely from scratch.

After that successful launch, she is responsible for ClearSale’s global marketing and sales strategy, excluding the native market of Brazil. Zilenovski also recently started her MBA at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, which she says is “a childhood dream, to attend one of the top American schools.” That’s one of the professional achievements she is most proud of so far—working in a position of great autonomy, at a company that trusts her insight and skills, while attending one of the best business schools worldwide.

A Work Culture That Meets All Her Needs

While Zilenovski has had a number of role models along the way, her first positive impressions started at home, with her parents who both held PhDs and instilled in her the importance of investing in knowledge.
In addition, her first boss at P&G, Ricardo Wasserman, gave her an early education in integrity—making it clear that rules are needed to define right and wrong, and there’s no space to question them.
At ClearSale, she finds the current EVP, Rafael Lourenco, to be a great example of being excellent while respecting your own desires, needs and weaknesses, by truly believing that we first must like what we do on a day-to-day basis. “After all, if our work makes us miserable it will be a lose-lose situation in the long term, even if we make it work in the short term.”

And that fits well with her goals of future success, which to her is far more than aspiring to a specific title or salary. For Zilenovski, success comes from working for a company with a high social impact, while considering that work/life balance can be a day-to-day challenge—it’s a marathon, not a sprint, she says. She appreciates she can build a routine that fits what she wants or needs in any given situation, such as flexible working hours and the ability to work from a home office. ClearSale’s culture, which focuses on diversity and flexibility, has been the perfect fit for her. “There are no distinctions regarding gender,” she says. “And it’s important to me that I have autonomy in an environment where titles don’t shape my possibilities,” she says.

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Mover & Shaker: Clare Murphy, Commercial Director – Europe, WEX

Clare MurphyHaving served in customer-facing roles for more than 20 years, WEX’s Clare Murphy has learned an important truth.

“Most people believe the customer has to come first, but I’ve found that the key is to get the team dynamic right first instead. If you have that, they will naturally put the customers at the center, and you have a win/win.”

And, she adds, a key component of building that team rapport is collaborating to find out how you can be a better manager. “Ask them for feedback on an ongoing basis so you can fine-tune your own performance,” she recommends.

Collaboration is the key to success

Murphy ran her own consultancy for seven years buying corporate travel, and became curious why there was a general lack of innovation in the payments sphere, despite existing options such as payment cards. So when she was approached by Travelport where she had previously worked, she jumped at the chance to help with its newly formed payment division. As only the second hire, she helped build its capabilities from the ground up, helping set up the office and spearheading major bids.

About two years into her tenure there, WEX approached her with an appealing role as commercial director, where she’s now been a year. For Murphy, it’s the perfect intersection of the travel and tech/payment industries that she knows will continue to provide exciting developments. “We have such a fantastic opportunity to make the payment experience more simple and efficient for our customers, and it’s exciting to be on the front line,” she says.

Over the past year she has helped lead the transformation of WEX’s commercial team in Europe, and she has been delighted to see the evidence of their efforts in living the WEX values, specifically related to integrity, she says, adding that their recent appointment to the “Great Place to Work” list reinforces they are on the right track.

Rising With the Support of Others

Over the course of her career, Murphy knows she has been fortunate to have worked with senior leaders who were invested in her career, and assisted with the opportunities and networking that would allow her to move to the next level. And she was fortunate to have a mentor in former supervisor Elaine Halt, whose gravitas and ability to help teams coalesce around a goal was particularly inspirational. “When she left, we were all devastated, but I still keep in touch with her. Even though I haven’t worked with her in 15 years, I still see her regularly and appreciate her counsel and feedback that has helped me throughout my career,” Murphy says.

In her position at the cross section of travel and payments, she has become a part of a number of industry groups that have strengthen and motivated her professional development, including; Women in Payments, the Emerging Payments Association, Women in Fintech and Women Travel Executives. Not only does Murphy see personally benefit, but she makes sure that her female and male colleagues do too. She regularly invites junior team members to sessions, giving them experience and exposure to the great work these groups offer.

Balance Leads to a Full Life

Over the years, Murphy has realized the importance of not letting yourself get caught up in the day-to-day struggle of determining what is and isn’t urgent. She has learned to take a long-term view to find time to focus on things that are important, but not necessarily urgent, such as professional development and networking. That helps her find a good balance where she calendars those in, and treats them as equally important to other items on her to-do list.

And of course, her top priority remains her family – her husband and two children. As an “extreme sports” family, they take time to build bonds by skiing and scuba diving, having just returned from a trip to Cancun.

They also work together to fundraise for the Bone Cancer Research Trust, and have raised more than £2,000 while continuing to do charity events in support. Her daughter even donated her hair to charity. While she is proud of the money they have raised, there has been another important byproduct that comes from having her children see her ask for money and instilling a sense of philanthropic interest.

In addition, Murphy has been on the Board of Governors for her children’s school for eight years, overseeing strategy and curriculum. “It’s been a pleasure to see the school flourish, and I look forward to returning to even more volunteering when my career is less busy,” she says.

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Mover and Shaker: Carolyn Fitzpatrick, Director, IFCS Application Development and Portfolio Management, WEX

Carolyn Fitzpatrick HeadshotWEX’ Carolyn Fitzpatrick encourages professionals to accept offers of assistance with networking or career guidance because it’s offered as a gift….both to the giver and recipient.

“People grow and learn when receiving guidance and when mentoring and supporting others.”

Once you’ve built relationships with coworkers, it’s important to maintain them—even if it’s just a quick touch base or unexpected lunch. “You can continue to learn from the people you’ve worked with in the past as you already have a basis of trust. They’re likely experiencing some of the same challenges and having different experiences that you can all share.”

Finding Satisfaction in Program and Team Management

For Fitzpatrick, all those disparate career moments and teams have added up to a fulfilling path. She began her career at LL Bean in IT as a developer—not because that’s what she was interested in, but because that’s where the money was. Her position evolved into different roles ending as a Manager of IT Application Development, which provided the challenge she was looking for.

“It gave me the opportunity to work with different areas of the business and people at all levels of the organization and make a material contribution. That was exciting and fun and didn’t feel like work at all,” she says. “I love the excitement of pulling a team together and accomplishing things that most think are not achievable, and then looking in the rear view mirror and seeing a successful milestone along the journey.”

A stint at IDEXX Laboratories followed, and then she transitioned to WEX about eight years ago, starting out in the North America Fleet division and advancing to the Emerging Technologies business where she started working more globally. She found it fascinating to partner with executives from around the globe and oversee programs of work that had significant impact to the bottom line. While the days grew long partnering across regions, the challenges are exciting and provide a sense of accomplishment.

In October 2014, she was asked to help with a strategic project; with the technology being delivered in New Zealand, the project needed recovery to hit a critical December delivery. Fitzpatrick was sent to ensure the milestone was met successfully, and she’s been leading aspects of this portfolio ever since. She is proud of what her and her team have accomplished; over the past three years her division has delivered multiple programs in APAC and Europe, has made major improvements in IT delivery and is turning the corner to become a more profitable line of business.

While building teams is one of the professional achievements that brings her the most satisfaction, she also is always focused on improving the bottom line. For example, at IDEXX her team was implementing a new Application Development Environment, and the CTO recommended creating a throwaway system to learn how to use the tool.

Fitzpatrick realized that it would be better to invest the time in creating a system that would live on, so she suggested an alternative—build a replacement for the green screen customer service system. She put a small team in a room for nine months, and after many long and challenging days using an iterative agile process, they succeeded in creating a system that set the foundation for what is still in use today.

Even now, it remains one of her most memorable work experiences. “It’s one of those projects that whenever you run into someone else who was involved, you can’t help but smile at how we were able to achieve so much.”

Soft Skills Nurture Success

Like many who enter the corporate world, Fitzpatrick initially assumed that top-notch skills and technical abilities were what made a professional successful, but she soon found that those are things you can “learn.” What is more difficult to develop are the soft skills that professionals need, such as collaboration and communication, and understanding how building relationships can impact results.

“While I have high expectations of myself and others and always drive to deliver the best for our customers and company, it is also important to balance that drive with caring and support of the people who make it all possible. I look at the people with whom I work as a family and treat them in an encouraging and supportive way, but I also know that it’s ok to have disagreements and challenge each other to gain the optimum results,” she says. “The key to success is to stay positive, focused on what a successful outcome looks like and then do everything possible to make it happen. Where you focus your energy is what will grow,” she says.

Fitzpatrick has benefitted from informal mentoring over the years and so she works to provide that to her team. She says one of her best qualities is being able to see in other people what they are capable of, often before they even see it in themselves. “I especially try to encourage younger women to be more confident in themselves and what they bring to the table; when you give them opportunities to shine, it is rewarding to watch them grow and thrive as they see themselves be successful,” she says, adding that she is often thanked for taking time to share what people need to hear instead of what they want to hear. “It’s important to hone your skill of supplying feedback in a supportive manner that will help team members accept the feedback needed to help them develop.”

Embracing Professional Development At Every Stage

Some of her best career advice came from a leadership development coach who helped her see that when people come to work you likely only see the tip of the iceberg of their whole self. “Leaders need to take into account that we are all humans who come from different perspectives and have different goals. When you connect with the heart and mind, success will always follow.”

One of her most fulfilling career development experiences was the opportunity to go to the International Leadership Development Programme (ILDP) with a group of global peers. After the session she was assigned an executive coach for the year, and hers was instrumental in helping her navigate the challenges of a global team. She also helped Fitzpatrick see that as a leader attending a meeting, she needs to be clear with the team whether she is communicating a direction or requirement, or if in fact she is just approaching the meeting as a participating team member looking for ideas in the spirit of collaboration.

Overall, one of the facets of WEX that she loves the most is the chance to work with a number of strong female role models who are genuinely supportive and encouraging. “It’s wonderful to know you’re in a company where you can call a colleague when you have an issue, and they’ll give you time to discuss and explore options,” she says.

Equally important is the emphasis WEX puts on appreciating the supporting role a family plays in our success. “The reason I can give WEX the time and focus I do is because I have an incredibly supportive family, and I know it’s important to appreciate those who help get us where we are,” she says, noting a former CTO who had a ritual at the end of meetings that emphasized this point. “He would recommend that we go home and thank our family for their support and commitment to us, which is what allows us to do what we do.”

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Mover and Shaker: Jodi-ann Johnson; Director, Executive Communications and Strategic Initiatives; WEX

Jodi-ann JohnsonNever underestimate the power of a great conversation, says WEX’ Jodi-ann Johnson.

“I value my relationships and act with intention to make strong connections with people,” she says. “You have to be bold and brave, but also true to who you are: When you act authentically, you can build trust.”

That instinct to be bold was the catalyst for an important moment in her career, that didn’t necessarily seem so at the time. She was attending an internal leadership event, but arrived late due to travel delays. She ended up being seated at the same table as the new CEO; she figured that this was her opportunity to ask him if he would be the featured speaker at an upcoming customer meeting. The ask and event went well, cementing her reputation as someone who gets things done. “You can’t wait for things to happen; you have to ask for what you need,” Johnson advises.

A Career That Revolves Around Leading through Change

With 25 years of career success under her belt, Johnson has worn a wide variety of hats, which gives her a strong background to draw from. Over the years, she’s tackled organizational and business change and been involved with strategic planning, program management and communications – broad experience she can tap into it for whatever work adventure comes next.

Although she has lived in the corporate world for the bulk of her career, she actually started in an entrepreneurial environment, the kind of start-up company where employees knew their “number.” As the company grew, she grew with it, experiencing everything from internal marketing communication to customer-facing outreach and consulting.

The customers she visited around the country were Fortune 100-level companies who were launching work/family benefit programs, a sector that was groundbreaking at the time. The company was a pioneer in the work management and training world, and since her boss was a woman, Johnson never experienced the male-dominated hierarchy that seemed prevalent in other companies.

“The founder started the company based on an idea that became a mission and passion so that intent has always been core to my beliefs,” she says.

Even in the corporate environment, she still found herself working among strong women, and Johnson noticed that one of the women she worked for had become the president of the division without ever going to college. To her that signaled that there were no boundaries, and she found that to be true as the company grew and evolved, and she was always able to jump into new things.

After working in Minneapolis and Boston and traveling globally, she decided it was time to pivot to being “home,” which for Johnson is Portland, Maine, so she sought an opportunity at WEX—a company with a strong growth story—and has been there almost nine years in different roles in both corporate communications and program management, most notably assisting with the CEO transition. What she immediately recognized and appreciates about WEX is that there’s a spirit of entrepreneurism; it’s a place where what matters most is if you deliver, rather than your title and level. What really matters, she says, is what happens when you walk in the door.

“The best parts of my job are helping others manage through change and ambiguity, whether that’s bringing structure and clarity to multifaceted initiatives, facilitating an efficient meeting or helping our senior executives craft the right message,” Johnson says.

Her desire to play the helper role has always been prominent in her career and came to its largest light right after 9/11 when she was working with the company that provided counseling programs to those directly impacted by the tragedy. She helped develop educational materials to support employees and organizations, overseeing a constant evolution of needs in what she feels was one of the most meaningful times in her career.

Currently, she is proud of the forward-thinking planning WEX is doing as they look ahead to 2019 and maximizing the opportunities for a newly acquired company that will spur growth as they consider expanding into additional markets. “It’s exciting to be part of the process and help bring together new ideas and concepts that will help us become a richer, deeper place as we hone our focus and find alignment among a wide variety of critical initiatives for 2019.”

Finding and Sharing Strength With Colleagues and Family

Although Johnson says she has been fortunate to have been mentored by phenomenal women over the years, none stands brighter than her own mom, who supported two kids while leading a busy working life. Johnson views her mom as a pioneer in her day who paved the way as a strong role model in both career and family life.

And she knows the importance of relying on strong relationships as the cornerstone of a career, whether it’s the leaders she supports, her peers or her own team.

Johnson appreciates being part of Women at WEX, particularly when she is able to help people navigate the company and their career. “There’s this great spirit here, and we have a lot of Type A personalities, but finding a way to volunteer and give back has been really exciting,” she says.

In addition she has forged strong connections with many women outside of WEX who have been pioneers in their own career, such as one who became one of the first women partners at a financial services company. “I have learned lot about being honest, open and brave from this network of women,” she says.

Married to her high school sweetheart, they have two girls and a boy — two in high school and one in college. While it’s not easy to get together, she says they are fortunate to have a family camp two hours north on Green Lake. Aptly called “Second Wind,” it’s where they can recharge and reconnect even if they can only grab 48 hours as they did recently.

In addition, they love to travel; they have hiked throughout Utah, Maine and New England and are excited about an upcoming trip to Italy.

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Women in Technology: 4 Tips to Advance in your career in tech

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Guest contributed by Avery Phillips

Interestingly, despite the noise, the number of women in computer science jobs is actually lower than it was in 1995 — by 37 percent.

Research from Ohio University shows that organizations with greater levels of gender diversity can see sales revenue up to 1325 percent higher than those with the least amount of gender diversity. Still, the stereotypical Silicon Valley crowd remains predominantly male, despite the gains being documented on several levels.

Set Yourself Up for Success

It’s still an uphill climb, unfortunately — women are granted less than 2 percent of venture capital funding, despite accounting for 38 percent of small business ownership. Networking is incredibly valuable before you take the plunge and head to Silicon Valley. Arm yourself with great people, good ideas, and a lot of perseverance.

Here are 4 tips for setting yourself up for success:

  • Cultivate real-life positivity. According to Fortune 500, companies with three or more female executives see an incredible 66 percent increase in their return on investment. What you bring to the table is invaluable, and you shouldn’t let potential investors forget it.
  • Diversity breeds innovation, and innovation in tech means money — something an investor is happy to hear about. Build a team that you can count on and trust them. Pushing the tech sector outside of its current homogeny will benefit companies and consumers alike.
  • Embrace your strengths. Society will tell you that to be successful in tech and business, you must eschew traditionally female traits and conduct yourself as a man. Throw that idea out the window. Society sees men as the standard for business conduct because that’s what it’s always looked like. Interrupt that idea, embrace your differences, and use them to your advantage.
  • Believe in your work. Being a woman in tech is hard, and it will continue to be hard for quite some time. Change does not happen overnight, but the implicit biases that individuals bring to the table do not diminish your work. Have faith in your cause and hustle until it happens. The next generation of workers will thank you.
Taking Advantage of Current Opportunities

Advances in augmented reality, device connectivity, and remote monitoring are changing the way we look at education and personal health. Historically, these fields (sans technology) have been dominated by women, which makes a female tech-takeover more widely palatable although not a given.

Though it may unfairly gendered, investors perceive women as having more authority in these fields based on previous career trends, making investment in female-founded startups more likely in the health and education sector.

Classrooms are quickly becoming highly digital, requiring students to use laptops and tablets proficiently for many activities. Education requires applications designed to be understood by a variety of learning styles, applicable across subjects, and available at a cost reasonable to educational institutes. Unfortunately, the lack of a consumer market makes it less appealing to existing tech companies; there simply isn’t as much money to be made, despite the long-term benefits of a more educated population.

Healthcare is becoming increasingly digitized, with individual health data being collected and used to make treatment decisions from afar or to monitor patient adherence to treatment plans. While this presents an incredible advancement in the accessibility of care, it places patient data at high risk. The tech sector is charged with responding to the risk and protecting patient information — whatever that may look like.

Currently, solutions in both markets lack efficacy and practicality, creating huge opportunity for innovative thinkers to disrupt the industry. With women being more welcome in these sectors, it’s the perfect bridge to a Silicon Valley C-Suite.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

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Why Women Are Crucial in Design and Tech

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Women-working-on-a-computerGuest contributed by Sara Wachter-Boettcher

I was chatting with a woman at a tech conference a while back about sexism in the industry. She rolled her eyes: “Oh, have I got a story for you.” A couple years ago, she was working at a large company’s Silicon Valley innovation center. She was excited. Her company was partnering with a fashion brand to produce a new “fashion-forward” women’s smartwatch, and she would be leading the design research. But when she walked into the kickoff meeting, her stomach sank: she was the only woman at the table.

While the men droned on about their wives, using them as proxies for the “female market,” she hatched a research plan to find out what women actually wanted from a smartwatch. More than a thousand respondents later, she brought her results back to the group. The top insight: women really wanted their smartwatch to help them discreetly keep an eye on things during meetings. But the men wouldn’t listen: women want apps for shopping, not work.

“I felt like I was in an episode of Mad Men,” she told me.

Eventually, the project stalled, and the brand brought in a celebrity to design the smartwatch. It flopped. “It wasn’t based on needs; it was based on stereotypes,” she said.

Her story is over the top, but it’s not rare. While writing my new book,Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech, I saw plenty of products that left women out (like Apple’s Heath app, which didn’t bother to include a period tracker for a full year after it launched). The companies behind those products? Mostly male.

Meanwhile, I also found loads of research confirming what I’d long felt: that diverse teams perform better because they spur new thinking rather than encourage people to rely on the same stale perspectives. As a result, they’re more likely to develop innovative product ideas, and less likely to rally around incorrect assumptions.

That’s why we need more women—and people of color, and LGTBQ people, and people with different abilities, and so much more—working on design and tech at every step of the process, from deciding what to make in the first place to testing products before they go to market.

But as the smartwatch researcher found out, it’s not easy being a woman in tech: we’re routinely passed over for funding, pushed out by harassment, and even subjected to demoralizing pseudoscience claiming we’re just not as good as men.

So how do you create a thriving career, do your part to change the system, and avoid burning out in the process? Here’s what I’ve learned during my career, and in my research talking with dozens of women across the industry.

Make “microchanges” that matter

Diógenes Brito didn’t mean for it to be a big deal when he used a brown hand for a new graphic at Slack, the group-chat platform. But it was—because people of color so rarely see their skin tones reflected in the world (just think about all the so-called “flesh-colored” Band-Aids on the market). “It may seem like a small thing,” tweeted Kaya Thomas, a college student studying computer science. “But when you see graphics over and over excluding your skin color, it matters.”

Seemingly minute design or tech choices—like including women in photos depicting technical teams or removing unnecessary binary gender questions from forms—can make a big difference to users, and can even make a company’s culture more aware and inclusive over time. And since they’re small—as small as depicting a brown hand in an illustration—they’re the kind of thing you can often slip in without getting pushback.

Oh, and Kaya Thomas? She graduated in May. Now she’s an engineer at—you guessed it—Slack, where I’m sure she’ll shake things up even further.

See what others have missed

You know how dating apps used to be cesspools of unsolicited porn? Yeah, okay, so that’s still largely true. But now there are tons of women-run apps offering an alternative. There’s Bumble, of course, founded by ex-Tinder exec Whitney Wolfe. Disillusioned by harassment (including from one of her fellow Tinder founders), Wolfe set out to solve some of heterosexual online dating’s endemic flaws by doing something no one had thought of before: only allowing women to make the first move.

Or, there’s Coffee Meets Bagel, designed as an alternative to “swiping your life away.” Frustrated by the constant ghosting of other apps, the founders—sisters Arum, Dawoon, and Soo Kang—designed their product to give users fewer, better matches each day, and to discourage flakiness by only showing women a short list of men who’d already liked them.

While none of the new women-run dating apps is perfect (for example, many still don’t serve the LGBTQ community very well), they’re all exploring new ground—ground traditional male-run apps never would have considered.

Serve the underserved

Tech has also enabled a bevvy of new fashion startups, and some of the most exciting examples are in a space that used to be a dead zone: plus sizes. Today, loads of women are helming companies that—finally—are focused on combining on-trend and luxury pieces with more inclusive sizing options.

One particularly innovative option? Universal Standard’s “Universal Fit Liberty” policy where customers can exchange a product within a year if their size goes up or down.

While getting funding for a fledgling business still isn’t easy, the world is starting to wake up to the fact that designing for women isn’t a niche case. It’s an underserved audience­­­—one that controls most of the purchasing decisions in the United States, and that’s increasingly fickle about where it spends its money. The more we push for inclusion—and stand up to all the sexists, bad bosses, and other toxic influences out there—the more opportunities we’ll have to make sure that the tech products of the future serve all of us.

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Women in Tech: Climbing the Ladder

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Woman-on-a-ladder-searchingGuest Contributed by Evan Fraser

Working in the tech industry can be incredibly exciting. It is a fast-paced industry with seemingly unlimited potential. Technology also has one of the smallest income gender gaps, high work schedule flexibility and generous pay in many positions. While that draws many women down this career path it is still a male dominated industry which makes climbing the corporate ladder a challenging task. These 6 tips will help you navigate your way to the top.

1. Be Assertive.

The best way to learn in the tech field is to jump in and build things. As a woman you will often have to fight for that right. Moving up the ranks will not come naturally, you need to be assertive and make your own place within the company. Being a dominant and assertive woman in technology can be a struggle as it is often interpreted as bossy or aggressive by male colleagues. Don’t let that deter you from taking the lead. Sheryl Sandberg has had incredible success in her life and has dealt with this issue throughout her career. She addressed this issue in a interview by saying “Every woman I know, particularly the senior ones, has been called too aggressive at work. We know in gender blind studies that men are more aggressive in their offices than women. We know that. Yet we’re busy telling all the women that they’re too aggressive. That’s the issue.”

2. Don’t be intimidated.

There will always be people that know more than you. This is a good thing as it will help you learn and grow. Don’t be intimidated by those with more experience or lots of technical know-how. It’s very easy to feel out of place in a boardroom, especially within a big technology company. Never be afraid to ask questions if you have problems understanding, you will not be the only one in the room.

3. Choose your employers well.

Lots of companies in Silicone Valley are progressive and forward thinking. Many aim to create environments that encourage creativity and efficiency but there are still major differences in how these companies are run. Be sure to do your research on the companies you apply to. Your environment will be a big factor to your personal success so look for progressive and diverse leadership teams with a product that you are passionate about. This will allow your career to flourish and grow.

4. Don’t create your own glass ceiling.

The term ‘glass ceiling’ is often used in regards to outside factors creating boundaries for women in business. This is a difficult issue women have had to deal with for generations. Therefore, it is important to avoid constructing any additional, self-restricting boundaries. Sometimes the boundaries we create for ourselves are easily overlooked and often more harmful than external factors. Believe in your talents and skills. Avoid creating your own boundaries by limited thinking and be sure to set smart goals. Do not consider yourself ineligible for any role within a company, think big and make your strengths work for you.

5. Learn to negotiate.

Negotiating is a part of business. Women and men in management positions expect it when dealing with employees, clients or partners. You need to go in ready to negotiate and prepared to articulate what you want. Avoiding a negotiation will leave you with less than you deserve. Be assertive, but also listen to understand. Being able to listen to the wants and ideas of the person you are negotiating with will make them more willing to meet your needs. Be concise and reasonable in your negotiation but do not be afraid to ask.

Also, keep in mind that negotiation is a skill that needs to be learned. It will help you in many aspects of your life so make the effort to learn about the subject as much as you can. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher is a great read on the skill of negotiating.

6. Find a mentor.

This piece of advice will apply to you whether you are 20 years old starting out your career or 55 and looking to retire. Mentorship is something anybody can benefit from. People that have gone down a path you wish to follow can give you valuable advice and help nudge you in the right direction when you reach a crossroads. Finding an experienced woman in technology would be ideal as they will be able to share tips on how to deal with the struggles women face in the industry. Once you have gained experience, help out younger women by sharing your knowledge. Being a mentor can teach you as much as having a mentor.

Find a mentor in your area.

women in tech infographic

Evan Fraser is a writer and advertising expert with over 10 years of experience in Marketing. He is passionate about tech and loves traveling the world to taste international foods. When he is not writing you can catch him playing sports or listening to some 50’s Blues.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of Guest Contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer

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Op-Ed: What I’ve Learned as a Woman in Technology

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Women-on-computerBy Avis Yates Rivers

As a woman and leader in technology over the past 30+ years, I have seen a lot. I have witnessed and experienced the tremendous progress we have made. Yet we still have a long way to go to reach an equitable playing field in attracting and retaining more women in technology. Not to mention, leading!

It is undeniable that women leadership has had a successful impact in the world of business. Currently in the US there are just over 9.4 million women-owned businesses generating revenues of $1.5 trillion — up 79% in nearly a 20 year period. According to Dow Jones Venture Source, analysis of more than 20,000 venture-backed companies showed that successful startups have twice as many women in senior positions as unsuccessful companies. Tech companies led by women delivered higher revenues using 30-50% less capital. They were also more likely to survive the transition from startup to established business.

Yet, the overall percentage of women in technology is woefully low. In 2015, women made up 25 percent of computing-related occupations. The retention rate is even more troubling. In the high tech industry, the quit rate is more than twice as high for women (56 percent) than it is for men.

The sad and hard truth is that Women in STEM also were more likely to leave in the first few years of their career than women in non-STEM professions.

I was fortunate that early in my career I got involved with technology. I worked for Exxon Corporation in NYC in various staff positions and then made the jump to sales — selling Exxon’s line of office technology on Wall Street. I immersed myself in the technology, early as it was, and found that I had a natural affinity to it.

More than any other role, Sales prepared me for 31 years as an entrepreneur in so many ways —-it taught me to be courageos and fierce every single day!

These qualities serve me well in my current role as the Chief Executive Officer of TCGi. It is my responsibility to craft the vision and strategy for the firm. I also am chiefly responsible for cultivating and managing excellent client and partner relationships.

Life as a CEO keeps me on the go 24/7, but it is the giving back that completes the circle. Sharing the experience of my journey, lessons learned, successes and failures with women who are entering the field will help them tremendously.

Being a successful woman leader in technology inspires me to want to see more women of color participate and succeed in this field as well. My work with NCWIT (National Center for Women & IT) supports this desire. I am an active Board Member as well as the National Spokesperson for the ‘Sit With Me’ Campaign.

Early education is key to attracting more girls, women and people of color to Tech. Another is mentorship and advocacy. Senior Leaders must actively advocate for and sponsor diverse candidates for leadership positions within corporations. With too few women in tech positions and tech leadership roles, it is impossible for girls and women to aspire to positions or cultures where they see no one who looks like her.

Women have made great strides in the workplace today, and we shouldn’t downplay this progress (0 CEOs of Fortune 500 in 1996 and 20 years later there are 21). But we need to accelerate progress—and I believe progress in increasing women in leadership goes hand-in-hand with increasing women in technology.

Conclusion

Technology is still a very male-dominated industry. What that means is the technology being invented by largely homogeneous groups (White and Asian males) isn’t as deep and rich as it could be. Once women and people from all cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds begin to fully participate in the invention of technology, we will solve societal problems in a mighty way and ultimately change the world!

Avis Yates Rivers is the President and CEO of Technology Concepts Group International, LLC, (TCGi), an asset, expense and procurement management firm. Ms. Yates Rivers has worked tirelessly to increase the development and utilization of minority and women-owned businesses in both the public and private sectors. She has held leadership positions in various supplier diversity advocacy organizations. Ms. Yates Rivers is also a staunch advocate for increasing girls’ and women’s participation in Information Technology. She is on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Women and Information Technology and serves as the spokeswoman for the organization’s Sit With Me campaign.

You can learn more about the lack of women in technology and Avis Yates Rivers by purchasing her book ‘Necessary Inclusion: Embracing the Changing Faces of Technology’ which will be in bookstores and online in early December.

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Voice of Experience: Miruna Stratan, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

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miruna-stratanBy Cathie Ericson

As a technologist, there is no better time to enter the financial services sector, asserts Miruna Stratan, Goldman Sachs Managing Director in the Technology Division. “Technology is no longer a cost center, but is at the core of digital transformations across the industry, providing the opportunity to impact and shape new business models.”

Driving Technology Advances Throughout Goldman Sachs

Miruna joined Goldman Sachs after studying communication and electronics engineering at Bucharest Politechnica University and earning her graduate degree in telecommunications from Stevens Institute of Technology. Building technical teams and developing new innovative infrastructures have been the hallmark of her career throughout her time at the firm.

During her 17-year tenure at the firm, she has held multiple roles. Early on in her career she built technology solutions for the banking business. Subsequently, Miruna took a series of technology infrastructure engineering roles, focusing on data center engineering products across the computer storage and networking space and working closely to drive the firm’s global data center architecture and strategy.

Over the years, she had the opportunity to work directly on building innovative technology stacks that transformed Goldman’s operational model and enabled the firm to be increasingly agile. Miruna was also part of the team that engineered the virtual desktop platform for the firm, and more recently she drove a security engineering project that enabled Goldman Sachs to extend its cloud platform securely to public cloud providers. Currently, she manages the external cloud access platform, cloud desktop and remote access function for Goldman Sachs engineering. She was named Managing Director in 2015.

Being named “Technology Fellow” in 2014 was a notable achievement for Miruna. The role of Technology Fellow is a distinction reserved for the best engineering and architectural talent at Goldman Sachs, a select group of engineers whose authoritative knowledge is demonstrated through strong technical leadership, innovation and problem-solving expertise.

“At Goldman we manage complex technology stacks and control frameworks; we think of ourselves as a technology firm building the platforms that allow our colleagues to transform our businesses into a data-driven model through applied technology,” Miruna says. “It is exhilarating to be at the forefront of emerging technologies in the infrastructure organization when the rate of technology change has been so tremendous.”

Lessons Learned – and Now Shared

Over the years, Miruna’s career has progressed in large part because of the opportunities she took to move laterally throughout the firm. “I had to prove myself each time in these new roles, on different types of technologies, but these opportunities were the most amazing learning experiences I had,” she notes. “I am quite proud of the engineering teams I have built over the years as well as seeing many of my mentees grow and develop.”

One important lesson she has learned is the significance of communicating your contributions to others. Early in her career, she focused on building her technical skills while avoiding the spotlight. She recommends that women develop their technical skills and establish themselves as an expert in a specific technology or platform early on, but once they get there continue to accept lateral opportunities and embrace the challenge to work on something completely different. Miruna also realized it’s essential to listen to feedback and be thoughtful about how to align others to your vision.

“You have to modulate your message to the audience and understand how to be practical when delivering a product,” she said. “Communicating your strategy effectively to stakeholders ensures buy-in for a new project or platform.”

Ensure Women Have a Seat at the Table

Initially, Miruna felt intimidated as the only woman in most situations, but over time, she found diverse role models within the firm and across the tech industry. Connecting with these individuals helped her realize that being different allows others to naturally notice your contributions more.

“It’s so important to have strong female and diverse role models in executive and senior technical roles,” Miruna says. “We have to carefully mentor the technical talent not only as they enter the firm, but throughout their career.”

Due to her own experience in the sector, Miruna is passionate about building a thriving female tech community and has participated in industry conferences such as the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, ABI.NY events and Lesbians Who Tech.

She also focuses on giving back to the Women in Technology organization and devotes significant time to recruiting and retention programs, partnering with external organizations such as Girls Who Code and the Anita Borg Institute. Additionally, she has been involved in the Geek Speak program, which provides individual coaching and feedback to help women improve their presentation skills when discussing technical topics.

Throughout her career, Miruna has been involved with Goldman Sachs’ affinity networks, serving as the Managing Director sponsor for the technical pillar of Women in Technology. She has also participated in the Disability Interest Forum and is an ally to the firm’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community.

Supporting Children With Disabilities

Separately, she actively works at balancing her family and career while simultaneously addressing complex special needs situations. “I have learned how important it is to prioritize, delegate and recognize the activities that are the best use of my time,” she says.

Miruna is passionate about helping kids with disabilities by ensuring kids with dyslexia have access to specialized education accommodations and programs. As October 15 is both World Sight Day and World Dyslexia Day, in October she reflects on her future impact and contributions to this important issue and creates a specific action plan for the upcoming year.

“There is now so much technology available that can be leveraged to help kids with disabilities participate fully and successfully at their grade level in the learning process,” she says. “I regularly research innovation that creates accessible, technology-based solutions in the areas of communication and advocate for such solutions in the special needs community and within my school district.”

An avid reader of both science books and literature, Miruna enjoys traveling with her husband and their 12-year-old twins. Recent trips have included Spain and Romania, and this year they traveled to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and learned about the amazing geology of Yellowstone County.

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