Meet & greet in the Mentorship Lounge with virtual MENTORS in engineering, product, no-code / operations, legal, health, cybersecurity, AI & more – discussing career stuff, interviewing, promotions, & more! Mentors are here to answer your questions! See who’s coming & the table topics / expertise!

Did you know that both introverts and extroverts are equally creative, passionate and articulate leaders?

In her keynote “Why Companies Need More Introverted Leaders”, Nicole Husain (Chief Operating Officer at Lighthouse Labs) will talk about how introversion is not a barrier to leadership. The skills of listening, observing, reflection are super powers that companies need more of.  By putting a ‘quiet’ leader in a visible role creates a more inclusive environment highlighting the diverse personality types that can be managers and leaders.

Dr. Sylvia Martin (Chief Nursing Officer at Kaiser Permanente) will be sharing how to prepare for an interview, understanding how to engage and connect with an interview panel.

She covers interview goals, building rapport, command and executive presence – with a focus on situational interviews.

Attendees leave with her framework for success and over a dozen interview tips for success.<//span>

Do you ever wonder how to advance your career, what is your colleague’s secret to success, or how you can make more of an impact at work?

Rachel Rogers (VP of Product & Industry Marketing at Bentley Systems) will share some of the best advice she has received from others as well as her own learnings while growing her 30-year career in infrastructure software.  If you want to hear real talk on growing yourself and your career, this is the session for you.

Natalie Plummer (Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Bentley Systems) will be fielding audience questions with Rachel.

In this session, Karen Lo (Director of Engineering at JLLT) will share her experience as a seasoned engineering leader on the playbook for influencing others, from the rules to break the rules, to de-weaponizing incompetence. She will also discuss how to legitimize invisible work. This is a session you won’t want to miss!

Are you a software engineer with keen interest in business? Have you ever considered a career in technology sales?

Geetha Anne (Senior Solutions Architect at Elastic) believes that if you have the drive and interpersonal capability to tell great stories, a software engineer in sales is a dream combination! With in-depth product and system knowledge that computer engineering background, you can become an expert sales engineer who adds value to the customer’s experience and accelerates deal closure. She will share her personal journey from writing code to furthering a career in the sales engineering world.

In this session, you’ll learn how to prepare for negotiations at early stage ventures from co-founder negotiations to founding engineer roles at pre-seed or seed start ups.

Danielle McLaughlin (Founding Head of Talent at The New Club) will talk details on how to think about equity percentages and basis points, and how to approach negotiation for titles, responsibilities and more.

Attendees will participate in an exercise for getting clear on your non-negotiables before entering the negotiation, resources for finding jobs at early stage ventures and how to approach equity. 

Like puberty, every woman will experience menopause – a natural evolution of the reproductive cycle. Yet, there is shame associated with aging and menopause which leads to isolation and suffering in silence.

Thermaband founders Debbie Dickinson and Markea Dickinson-Frasier believe that you are in control of your comfort, and that empowering women in this important stage of your life is crucial. They will discuss how women’s perspective, voices, and ingenuity are essential.  Numbers don’t lie, so know your numbers, lead with them, stick to your market segment despite pushback, and be empowered to “Make the Ask”.  These entrepreneurs believe you should take advice with a grain of salt because female founders are often over-mentored and under-funded.

Employers will share more about a company’s culture, values, and mission, as well as the opportunities for growth and development within the organization. Learn about how the company grows employees professionally, any initiatives or projects that the company is working on, more about the roles and teams hiring, and the interview process!

Check out the virtual BOOTHS to meet employers and learn about their job opportunities! ELEVATE’s partner companies are actively hiring for many roles.

Former Google developer relations engineer Jessica Dene Earley-Cha will teach you great resources to prepare you for technical interviews.

In her session, she will walk you through her 7-step process to guide you during your technical interviews. She will share invaluable tips, resources, and strategies for overcoming challenges when you find yourself stuck. Get ready to level up your technical interviewing techniques!

Her journey began aboard the USS John F Kennedy, where she served as an electronics repair technician. After law school and a Manhattan law firm for seven years, life interrupted, and following a personal hiatus, she found herself at a crossroads and wondering if it was possible to leave behind the field she spent so much time and money to enter, and start anew?

Spoiler alert: It was. By leveraging her technical roots, Melissa Blades began anew in tier 1 tech support at a startup. Within seven years, she climbed the ranks to a engineering manager position in software engineering. Her story offers a roadmap for those who feel stuck in their current positions, illuminating the possibilities and practicalities of drastic career shifts.

Nina Lopatina (Director of Data Science at Spectrum Labs) will share the skills you need to advance in your career, whether it’s in your current org or interviewing elsewhere (and how to interview).

In this session, Rekha Venkatakrishnan (Head of Product at Amazon) will speak about breaking through into product from engineering. She will share strategies to make it happen, explain how to execute it, and provide tips for what not to do when you are trying to make a successful career switch.

Whitney Stewart (Senior Cloud Solution Specialist at Microsoft) will discuss the typical cloud migration journey (from on-prem to cloud), multi-cloud security and compliance, AI and automation (common trends issues with migration: explain multi / hybrid cloud, legacy system and app migrations, security and compliance consideration, and AI / automation trends common with cloud).

She will talk about skills services to know (large language models, automation / production services to make life easier, and AI ethics and considerations.

This talk is for mid / senior engineers looking to continue as an individual contributor. Staff engineering is a newer concept.

In this session, Stacey Shkuratoff (Staff Engineer at Guild) will be sharing knowledge about what the staff engineer role can look like in industry, how to set yourself up for success in the role, and discuss strategies for making change by building consensus and trust across teams.