Evie Alexander: Hi everyone, so great to be here today. Very excited to be at a Girl Geek conference and talk with all of you.
My name is Evie, I’m the head of design for all of Opendoor, and I’m also the leader of our consumer products organization. And so what exactly does that mean? That’s a lot. I like to break it down into two teams at Opendoor, kind of two big internal teams in two categories.
One is consumer, and the consumer org is a team that makes all of the products that our customers use, and our goal with this part of the organization is to offer a simple and certain experience for our sellers and buyers to be able to explore their options and transact, as well as be able to really grow our business through solving customer problems first and foremost and so really customer minded and research oriented.
Our teams within consumer do a lot of zero to one research and product work to help us get there to make sure that we’re solving those problems and growing the business.
The second bucket I think of is operations. And obviously with that simple and certain experience I just talked about for customers, we have actually a lot of complexities of real estate that don’t go away.
We want to offer a simple experience for customers, but then on our end, we have to do a lot of work, there’s a lot of internal tools and complicated workflows that we work through.
Our engineering, product and design teams are focused on creating ops tools to help to streamline the process and make sure that we have the right things in place to support the end customer experience. This requires a lot of really deep thinking and complex workflows.
As far as why it’s a great time to be at Opendoor, one of my favorite things is that no matter where you are at Opendoor, no matter what function you’re in or what team you’re on, if there’s always room to have impact. We have really small teams who are focused on big problems, and the real estate industry is just so ripe for change, and so there’s no shortage of ways to grow and be able to see results with your work.
What we look for and value in candidates, we’re always on the lookout for people who love to solve complex problems and are excited to talk with customers and really get in the weeds, get in the details, and find ways that we can build the most impactful solutions. Please talk with our recruiting team and we’ll share some of the roles that we have open. Now, I’m going to go ahead and hand it off to Griselle.
Griselle Astrid Ong: Thanks, Evie. Hi everyone. I’m really excited to be here as well. I’m Griselle, I’m an engineering manager here at Opendoor, working with multiple teams across our consumer organization.
Our consumer organization, as Evie touched on earlier, we are building products and experiences that help people buy and sell homes with a peace of mind. And right now we are hyper-focused on meeting customers where they are, meaning we’re building personalized experiences and unique products that help people sell their homes no matter when, where, or how they want to sell.
This is a very tough product and design problem, but even from a technology standpoint, this really requires a very disciplined and highly maintainable architecture so we can handle all that complexity.
We’re building products today using the domain-driven design principles, flexible UI design system, and a lot of other technologies to help ensure that our products will scale going forward. The products we’re building today, I’m really excited about them, they’re going to be a real estate industry game changer, and I’m excited about all the progress we’ve made so far.
I’m also really excited about our use of artificial intelligence, not just within the consumer organization, but really all across the company. For Opendoor, AI is not just a gimmick, it really is a game changer for us in creating value for our customers, whether it’s in improving customer engagement, customer communication, or just improving our operations as a whole.
In terms of the engineering culture here, I’m really, really proud to be a part of this org. I work with really smart people day in and day out. I learn from them whether they’ve been an engineer for two years or 12 years, and at the same time, everyone’s super collaborative, everyone’s really humble, willing to jump in and help everyone work with our design, product and operations counterparts to solve problems for our customers.
I’m also super excited that we are expanding our team in India. I know India is a huge tech hub, there’s a lot of talent there, and we already have a lot of colleagues based in India who are helping shape the future of technology here at Opendoor.
I’m really excited to meet more folks in India and have them join our team. In terms of what we look for in our teammates, for me there are two important things.
One is being very customer-centric. Everything that we build here, whether it’s a scalable backend, a new pricing model, or really nice UI, this is all ultimately for the customer. So having the customer in mind is super important.
And then the other thing is just having a great sense of ownership. Here at Opendoor, there’s a lot of problems to solve and we really expect everyone to be proactive in finding those problems, finding out the proper solutions and working with everyone as a team. Really excited for all of you to learn more about Opendoor, definitely check us out during the recruiting sessions and I’ll hand it off to Cynthia.
Cynthia Herriott: Hi everyone, I’m Cynthia Herriott. I am an area manager here in Atlanta, Georgia. My team is a mashup of construction, project management, troubleshooters and magicians. We are possibly the only in-person individuals that will meet with a seller or a buyer.
We are a customer service driven team and we’re passionate about the seamless i-buying experience. Our company and culture, it’s the best. We build openness, we love the color blue. What could be better?
We are a team that has the pleasure of experiencing the retool and tooling of our software that happens on a perpetual basis.
Our customers create a scheduled assessment with us and then our HPM team, home project managers, go out and walk the seller through their home, we take photos, a final offer is created. And once we acquire the home, that same project manager goes into the home and manages the renovation. We also assist on the buyer side by managing the home throughout the resale.
We are looking for curious spirits that are change-driven, that is the best way that I could describe one of my teammates. Our initiative constantly evolves based on our market, and our software does the same.
An ideal team player enjoys a challenge. Thank you for joining. Please make sure to stop by our recruiting booth and learn more about our roles and speak with some of our team members. Thank you all so much.
The 7th annual Girl Geek X: ELEVATE Conference and Career Fair on March 7-8, 2024 in celebration of International Women’s Day hosted over 2k women & allies globally, with 88% attendees interested in hearing about jobs, 80+ speakers, 40 mentors, 5 employers recruiting at virtual Employer Booths. Help a girl geek land her next job in tech!
Thank You To ELEVATE 2024 Supporters – They Are Hiring!
Special thank you to our supporters at 18C, AppFolio, Boomi, Opendoor, andU.S. Digital Service for recruiting from the Girl Geek X community of mid-to-senior level technical women. We can’t wait to help another girl geek get her next job in tech.
The conference theme is “Lift As You Climb,” is perfect for celebrating International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.
Mentors from Amazon, Airbnb, Block, Cadence, DocuSign, Gap, Google, Intuit, Ro, Spryker, U.S. Digital Service, WhatsApp (Meta) & more answered questions and shared career advice with attendees during Mentor Hour!
Watch the 10-min intro from AppFolio’s Director of Engineering Holly Gardner, QA Engineering manager Susana Rivera, and Product Development Coordination Manager Perla Vidal!
Watch the 10-min intro from Boomi’s Senior Engineering Manager Bindu Mukundan, Principal Software Engineer NinaFrancis, and Senior Talent Acquisition Advisor ColeAlfieri – and Boomi’s R&D panel speaking about what they’re working on!
Watch the 10-min intro from Opendoor’s Head of Product Design Evie Alexander, Senior Engineering Manager Griselle Ong, and Area Construction Manager Cynthia Herriott – and IWD2024 keynote from CTO Raji Subramanian withVP Merav Bloch!
Voxel51 is a fully-remote Series B startup building a platform that empowers machine learning teams to create more accurate, less biased AI across a number of exciting fields (healthcare, security, self-driving cars).
From an open source project to an enterprise product, Voxel51’s visual AI is used worldwide in academic research labs, startups, and Fortune 10 companies. The engineering team is growing, and looking to hire skilled engineering managers to help us continue to build out the organization and culture. Please consider applying! If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot Josh an email (josh@voxel51.com) or connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also meet Voxel51’s hiring managers at ELEVATE!
18C Partners is a boutique engineering search firm specializing in connecting exceptional technical women leaders with transformational opportunities. By blending strategic executive recruitment with passionate advocacy, we’re creating more equitable environments at the top companies in tech. Check out 18partners.com and tune in to the 18C employer intro at ELEVATE!
Over 100 girl geeks attended the SOLDOUT Rippling Girl Geek Dinner featuring networking and panel discussions on February 6, 2024 at Rippling’s San Francisco office.Learn how to sponsor a Girl Geek Dinner!
Engineering Leadership Mentors:Julia Hu (Director of Engineering), Madison Capps (Engineering Manager, Infrastructure, Airbnb), Sonia Ramnani (Head of Engineering, Amazon Web Services), Vandana Kulkarni (Director of Platform Engineering, CyberTech Systems & Software Ltd)
Table Topics: Engineering Leadership, Career Path/Promotion, Negotiating Total Compensation, Transitioning to Management, Delivering Feedback, Build vs Buy Evaluations & Decision-Making, Creating Compelling Project Proposals, Creating Culture, Managing Up (Managing Your Manager) Career Growth/Development, Empowerment, Software Engineering, Product Development
Table #2 – IC Engineering Career Growth – Mentors:
IC Engineering Career Growth Mentors:Adesola Ajayi (Senior Systems Engineer, BIS), Anjali Gupta (Network Engineer II, TELUS), Cheryl Aranha (Principal Software Engineer, Intuit), Devin Nicholson (Senior Full Stack Software Engineer, BILL)
IC Engineering Career Growth Mentors:Adesola Ajayi (Senior Systems Engineer, BIS), Anjali Gupta (Network Engineer II, TELUS), Cheryl Aranha (Principal Software Engineer, Intuit), Devin Nicholson (Senior Full Stack Software Engineer, BILL)
Table Topics: Navigating Your Niche, Advancing Your Career in Tech, Mobile, IC Career Growth, Leadership, Growth, Manager Discussions, Interviewing, Overcoming Barriers, Cross-Functional Communication, Code Reviewing, Web Development, Backend Development, Moms in Tech
Table #3 – Strategy & Business Career Growth – Mentors:
Strategy & Business Career Growth Mentors:Anh Tran (Strategy Consultant, PwC Strategy), Benita Bankson (Senior Director, PMO / Portfolio / Workforce Experience, Gap), Joyce Chuang (Senior Director, Marketing, North America, DocuSign), Sandra Chen (Senior Manager, Global Supply Chain, Block)
Table Topics: MBA, Consulting, Banking, Running A $100M Portfolio, Demand Gen, Lifecycle Marketing, Regional / Field Marketing, Campaigns, Growth Marketing, Career Development, Professional Development, First-Time Manager, Transitioning From Technical To Business Roles, Women in Leadership, How To Apply Craft To Solve Ambiguous Problems, Managing Remote / Distributed Teams, Self-Funding Advanced Studies While Balancing Job Function, Supply Chain / Operations Management
Table #4 – Product Management Career Growth – Mentors:
Product Management Career Growth Mentors:Anuja More (Product Marketing Manager Lead, Meta), Deep Rastogi (Product Manager), Elena Leonova (Senior Vice President, Spryker), Ira Patnaik (Vice President, Product Management, Ro), Renee Ya (Senior Product Manager, GlobalComix)
Table Topics: Leadership, Product Management, Transition From Engineer To Product, Imposter Syndrome, Mid-Career Change, Career Development, Offer Negotiation, Consumer Growth Best Practices, Hypothesis Driven Thinking, Data Skills, Influence, Health Tech, Management Challenges, PM-ing International Products, Monetization, Game Development
Table #5 – Project / Program Manager Career Growth – Mentors:
Project / Program Manager Career Growth Mentors:Carla Sexton (Electronic Health Record Interoperability & Exposure Project Manager III, T-Rex Solutions), Carrie Browde (Learning Services Program manager, Google Cloud), Elena Ringseis (Senior Design Program Manager), ()
Table Topics: Personal & Professional Goals, Career Transition, ADHD / Neurodiversity, Imposter Syndrome, Early Career Advice, How UX Design & Eng Can Work Better Together, Balancing Career & Family, Managing Up / Managing Through Influence, Networking In An Authentic Way, How To Get Started In Design Ops
Table #7 – Career Transitions & Leadership – Mentors:
Career Transitions & Leadership Mentors:Dana Hehl (Vice President, Services Delivery, Anvil Secure), Ei-Nyung Choi (Technical Advisor, Fractional CTO, Angel Investor), Maia Jones (Vice President, People, Places & Culture, Alphwave Semi), Mina M. (Director of Sales Engineering)
Table Topics: Career Transitions, Promotions, Leadership Skills, Career Development, First Time Manager, Career Levels, Insider’s Look At Engineering Interviews, Leadership Development, Career Advancement Strategies,
How To Find Your Voice, Interview Preparation, Jobs in Cyber, Switching Between Management & IC Engineer
Table Topics: Career Pivots, Building Executive Presence, Combatting Imposter Syndrome, Leading Without Authority, Accents, Public Speaking, Interview Coaching Data-Driven Decision Making, UX / UXR, Networking, Upskilling, Product-Led Growth, Leadership As A Working Mom, Leading With Quiet Strength, Overcoming Layoffs, Surpassing ‘Not-Enoughness’
Table Topics: Creating Productive Systems To Increase Output And Focus Without Burnout, Building Confidence To Embrace Authenticity And Hold Your Own In Male-Dominated Environments Without Being Aggressive, Overcoming Challenges, Career Transitions, Getting UnStuck, Product Marketing, Early To Mid Career Transition, Resume / Interview Prep Coaching, Industry Specific Chats (AR/VR/Early-Stage Startups), Leadership, Networking / Relationship-Building, Communication, Bringing Your Authentic Self To Work, Mastering Technical Depth Vs. Breadth, Mind-Mapping Your Career, Art Of Authentic Networking, Mentorship Vs. Sponsorship
Table #10 – United States Digital Service Mentors:
United States Digital Service Mentors:Jennifer Kramer (Engineering Community Lead, United States Digital Service), Karen Moronski-Chapman (Data Scientist, United States Digital Service), Karin Underwood (Product Manager, United States Digital Service)
Table Topics: Neurodivergence, Interview Preparation, Data Science, Data Strategy, Communication Skills, Handling Conflict, Managing Up, Career Planning, Industry/Company Size Changes, Navigating an IC Promotion Ladder
Introducing The AI Forward Alliance with Technovation!
The AI Forward Alliance (or “TAIFA”) will equip millions of girls and young women worldwide with cutting-edge tech and AI skills.
Become a Technovation Mentor to support this initiative to empower 25 million girls and young women through AI, coding, and entrepreneurship with Technovation’s educational programming.
TAIFA’s network and community partners include UNICEF and Grameen Foundation India, both of which will extend the initiative’s global reach, powering the Alliance towards its long-term goal of seeing six million young women enter the technology workforce by 2030.
Girl Geek Xand theApp Inventor Foundationwill expand access to mentors, and develop enhanced training materials for educators, respectively.
“Mentors check in with the students via a one- or two-hour online video call once a week,” saysBryant Gomer, Technovation’s senior director of volunteer engagement programmes.
“Outside of that time, they keep in touch via email and WhatsApp. They are volunteering to our students, helping them understand more about technology innovations and bringing their own knowledge and resources to their learning. They are really making a difference.”
The next event on March 12, 2024 in New York, NY:
“A World of AI Driven Tech: Addressing a Global Talent Gap“
Join Technovation and UNICEF for a day of conversation and networking that brings together women who have excelled in different areas through tech-driven expertise.
We aim to showcase to girls and women that it is possible, through education, to break the glass ceiling and be champions and leaders of empowerment for other girls.
After hosting 250 Girl Geek Dinners and ELEVATE Virtual Conferences in celebration of International Women’s Day for thousands of women around the world.Here are the most watched 10 videos from Girl Geek X YouTube! You can watch (or re-watch) them at the links below:
Girl Geek X OpenAI Lightning Talks – Christine McLeavey, OpenAI Member of Technical Staff, Alethea Power, OpenAI Member of Technical Staff, Tyna Eloundou, OpenAI Member of Policy Staff
Girl Geek X’s highly-anticipated WINTER ELEVATE Virtual Conference on December 6, 2023 hosted over 1,000 mid-to-senior women in tech around the world online for inspiration, mentorship, and networking.
Thank you to our 88 speakers & mentors for helping make ELEVATE conference an incredible experience. Check out special packages from Formation & ApplyAll!
Here are the most popular talks from December 6th’s ELEVATE 2023! You can watch (or re-watch) them at the links below:
Mentors joined from companies like Amazon, Autodesk, Blue Shield, Gap, Google, Intuit, Salesforce, Sweetgreen, WP Engine and more. Mentors ranged from CTO to engineering managers, VPs to senior engineers, product and non-coding roles in tech.
We want to hear from you. The next ELEVATE Virtual Conference is March 8, 2024. We also partner with companies monthly on Girl Geek Dinners in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Pop in to *ELEVATE Mentorship Lounge* in the morning (8AM – 9AM Pacific, Dec. 6th) for FREE MENTORING & NETWORKING atELEVATE Winter Virtual Conference:
Table #1 – Eng Growth as Individual Contributor – Mentors:
8AM-9AM Pacific – Table Topics: Interviewing, Negotiation Leadership, Career Changers, Promotions, Growth, Breaking Barriers as a Woman in Engineering, Breaking Into Tech, Bringing Your Authentic Self to Work, Startups, Women in Engineering, Backend Development, Full Stack Development, Product Development, Angular / React, Typescript, Java
Eng Grow As IC Mentors:Allison Colyer (Senior Software Engineer, Sweetgreen), Devin Nicholson (Senior Full Stack Engineer, BILL), Gloria Chen (Senior Software Engineer, EasyPost), Sneha Natekar (Senior Partner Engineer, GitHub)
Table #2 – Product Management – Mentors:
8AM-9AM Pacific – Table Topics: Getting Into Product Management, Transitioning from Systems Engineering to Product Management, Searching For PM Job in the US Without Work Experience / Degree in Country, SaaS or B2C Product Management, Career Transition to Product, Transition to Fintech, Assimilating to a Tech Culture from Growing Up in a Blue Collar Life, Working on H1-B, Cross Functional Collaboration, Communicating for Impact
Product Management Mentors:Divya Prabakar (Product Manager, Electric Vehicle Growth, TrueCar), Shannon Cassidy (Senior Product Manager, Split), Karly Bolger (Senior Product Manager, One Main Financial), Neha Dobhal (Senior Product Manager, Intuit)
Table #3 – Program Mgmt & Engineering Mgmt – Mentors:
8AM-9AM Pacific – Table Topics: Career Journey Support, Navigating Challenging Situations, Salary Negotiation, LinkedIn Branding, Networking Skills, How to Build Your Elevator Pitch, Career, Burnout, Communication, Leadership, Self Worth, Early Career Advice, Transitioning from IC to Management
Program Mgmt & Engineering Mgmt Mentors:Dana Stodgel (Principal Technical Program Manager, Amazon), Hana Rasheed (Senior Engineering Program Manager, Virtualization, Data Analytics & Office of CIO, Adobe), Joya Joseph (Engineering Manager, Big Health), Richa Gandhi (Software Development Manager, GoDaddy)
Table #4 – Non-Coding Roles in Tech – Mentors:
8AM-9AM Pacific – Table Topics: Project Management, Transition to Tech, Career Transition, ADHD / Neurodiversity, Non-Traditional Backgrounds, Mental Health Advocacy, Customer Success, Personal Growth, Speaking Up, CareerJourneys, Teaching Non-Technical People Technical Ideas
Table #5 – Career Development / Promotion – Mentors:
8AM – 9AM Table Topics: Career Advancement, Bringing Your Authentic Self to Work, Mastering Technical Depth versus Breadth, Mind Mapping Your Career, Art of Authentic Networking, Mentorship versus Sponsorship, Supply Chain / Operations, Manufacturing, Product Development, Leading Teams, Managing Distributed Workforce, Career Ladders, Hiring / Recruiting, Project Management, Performance Management, Mentoring Resources, Money Management, Women in STEM, Career Transition from Journalism to Tech, Building a Team, Digital Project Management, First-Gen American
Career Development / Promotion Mentors:Cheryl Marquez (Senior Program Manager, Cohesity), Madhuparna Datta (AE Director, Cadence Design Systems), Sandra Chen (Senior Manager, Global Supply Chain, Block), Walyce Almeida (Program Manager, Amazon Web Services)
Table #6 – Leadership / Building Good Networks – Mentors:
8AM- 9AM Table Topics: Leadership, Career Planning, Career Development, Executive Presence, Communication, Networking, Product Management, Cyber Security, Job Searching, Startup Lessons Learned, Building your Reputation Inside and Outside of Your Organization, Paying it Forward
Leadership / Building Good Networks Mentors:Elena Leonova (SVP, Product Management, Spryker), Liesel Mendoza (Founder & CEO, The Mentoring Club), Saskia Hoffmann (Cybersecurity Leader), Tamar Bobys (Account Executive, Amazon Web Services)
Table #7 – Managing Your Career – Mentors:
8AM- 9AM Table Topics: People Operations, Leadership, Navigating Difficult Conversations, Working In / Around Bureaucracy, Communication, Personal Branding, Non-Technical Jobs, Career Progression, Job Opportunities, Imposter Syndrome, Building Career Roadmaps, Interviewing, Assessing Next Steps, Negotiation, Communicating Effectively
Managing Your Career Mentors:Ashley Wichman (Employee Engagement Lead), Caitlin Anderson (Senior Manager, Internal Communications, Autodesk), Judalyn A. (University Recruiter, Equinix), Kristi Allen (Chief of Staff to Chief Communications Officer, Intel)
Table #9 – Career Transitions / Networking – Mentors:
8AM- 9AM Table Topics: Career Transitions, Career Transitions into Tech or Senior Leadership Roles, Career Mapping, Building Relationships, Avoiding Getting Fired, Product Management, Product Strategy, Influential Communication
Table #1 – Eng Growth as Individual Contributor – Mentors:
1PM- 2PM Table Topics: Individual Contributor Career Growth, Switching Technology as Software Professional and Advancing, Mobile Development, Self-Promotion, Work / Life Balance, Importance of Networking, Empowering Young Professionals & Women in Tech, Career Paths, Interviewing, Negotiating, Technical Learning Paths / Opportunities, Backend Engineering
Eng Growth as IC Mentors:Cheryl Aranha (Principal Software Engineer, Intuit), Dotty Nordberg (Senior DevOps Engineer, Pure Storage), Fatemeh Saremi (Senior Software Engineer, Autodesk), Nihara Thomas (Principal Software Engineer, Posit PBC)
Table #2 – Product Management – Mentors:
1PM- 2PM Table Topics: Program / Project Management, Product Management, Leadership Roles, Paving your Path as a Woman in Tech / PM, Navigating Early Career for New Grads or Students, How to Support and Rally Each Other to Cultivate a Diverse Workplace, Navigating Internal Mobility, Setting Strategy / Vision, NLP / ChatBots, Future with AI
Product Management Mentors:Benita Bankson (Senior Director, Program / Portfolio / Product Management, Gap Inc.), Diane Huang (Product Lead, Canva), Rekha Venkatakrishnan (Head of Product, Amazon), Ying Ge (Senior Product Manager, Intuit)
Table #3 – Design / UX / PMM – Mentors:
1PM- 2PM Table Topics: Fostering Team Culture, Career Development, Upleveling, Product / UX Design, Design Process, UX Research, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Performance Management, Innovation, Healthcare, Startups, Fundraising / Investment Decks, Design, Leadership, Business Career Growth, Product Marketing, Public Speaking
Design / UX / Product Marketing Mentors:Deanna Alcorn (Product Design Manager), Joselle Ho (Senior Manager, UX & Design, Blue Shield of California), Keri Ashton Fullwood (Head of UX, US, Air India), Meenakshi Ganesh (Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce)
Table #4 – Data Science / AI / ML / LLM – Mentors:
1PM – 2PM Table Topics: All Parts of the Data Pipeline (Collection, Curation, Analytics), Product Based on Data, Data Science, Machine Learning, NLP, LLMs, Management, Balancing Family & Tech Career, Analytics, Leadership, Transition from IC to Manager, Seamless Products at the Intersection of People / Data / Efficiency
Data Science / AI / ML / LLM Mentors:Amina Penoff (Data Scientist), Nina Lopatina (Director of Data Science, Nurdle), Sara Wetzler (Senior Director, Product Analytics & Data Intelligence, Procore Technologies), Tanny Ng (Senior Product Manager, Data & Analytics Platform, WP Engine)
Table #5 – Leadership in Tech – Mentors:
1PM – 2PM Table Topics: Team Building, Leadership, Management, Quality Engineering, Hiring, Program Management, Technical Program Management, Tech for Social Good, Technical Leadership, Entry-Level Roles, Promotions, Total Comp Negotiations, Career Progression, Executive Presence, Navigating Conflict
Leadership in Tech Mentors:Brienna Ransom (Quality Engineering Leader), Fatema Kothari (Director of Engineering & Program Management, Microsoft), Julia Hu (Director of Engineering), Madhura Belani (Product & Business Development Executive)
Table #6 – Leadership Mentors:
1PM – 2PM Table Topics: Revenue Operations Skills, Founding Team Member, Non-Technical, Startups, MVP Building, Web Development, Leadership for Women of Color, Agile Leadership
Leadership Mentors:Ana Rottaro (Head of Revenue Operations, Clockwise), Maia Jones (VP, People, Places & Culture, Alphawave Semi), Mariane Bekker (Founder & CEO, Upward), Saima Jamshed (Director, Office of Project Management, Magnit Global)
Table #7 – Non-Coding Roles in Tech Mentors:
1PM – 2PM Table Topics: Career Transitions, IT Operations Roles, Women in Technology, Imposter Syndrome, Data Visualization, Careers, Building a Portfolio, Python, Sales, Demoing, SAAS
Non-Coding Roles in Tech Mentors:Belisa Mandarano (Operations Technology Leader), Liz Garcia (IT Process Manager, Impossible Foods), Michelle Maraj (Senior Business Intelligence Manager, Gigpro), Sarah Hudspeth (Solutions Architect, Chronosphere)
Table #8 – Career Transitions / Networking Mentors:
1PM – 2PM Table Topics: The Importance of Mentoring, Project Management, Career Transitions, Determining Where to Upskill, Troubleshoot Challenges, Build Confidence, Career Advice, Work / Life Balance, Industry-Level Coaching
Career Transitions / Networking Mentors:Carla Sexton (Electronic Health Record Interoperability & Exposure Project Manager, T-Rex Solutions), Jo Gruszka (Director of Project Management), Khushboo Malik (Senior Manager, Global Procurement Operations, Salesforce), Padmini Misra (Senior Engineering Manager, Arista Networks)
In fact, many of the world’s biggest brands and companies are helmed by female CTOs you should know — at tech giants (Autodesk, Intuit, Microsoft, Twitch, and VMware), you can find technical women at the top of the executive chain.
You will also find technical women leading teams at your favorite consumer brands like Etsy, Expedia, Johnson & Johnson, Lululemon, Redfin, and Sweetgreen.
This year, we welcome Autodesk CTO Raji Arasu, Etsy CTO Rachana Kumar, Opendoor CTO Raji Subramanian, and Slalom CTO Michelle Grover to the top technical brass!
Here are 60 leading female Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) to watch in 2023:
Raji Arasu is Chief Technology Officer at Autodesk in California. Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) makes leading software for architecture, design, construction, engineering, and manufacturing. Prior to Autodesk, she was Senior Vice President of Platform at Intuit for 4 years, Chief Technology Officer at StubHub for 4 years, and spent over a decade at eBay, where she began as a senior manager and worked her way up to Vice President of Technology. She earned her bachelor’s in engineering at Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Emily Castles is Chief Technology Officer at Boundless in Ireland. Boundless is an employment platform for compliance and human resources. Prior to starting Boundless, she was head of engineering at Bizimply for 3 years. She has worked as a software engineer at Red Hills Software, Grontmij, and RPS Consulting Engineers. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at University College Dublin.
Patricia Hubbard is Chief Technology Officer at Cabot in Massachusetts. Cabot (NYSE: CBT) is a leading global specialty chemical and performance materials company. Before Cabot, she was Vice President of R&D at Avery Dennison, Vice President of Corporate Technology at Avient (formerly PolyOne), and CVD Technology Manager at GE, where she worked for over a decade. She earned her Ph.D. in Polymer Science at The University of Akron and her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Case Western Reserve University.
Medha Parlikar is Chief Technology Officer at Casper Labs in California. Casper is the first blockchain built specifically for business adoption. Before starting Casper, she was Program Manager at Pyrofex, a Senior Director of Product and Engineering at Avalara for 5 years, Director of Product at Temboo, Senior Manager of Quality at Omniture (acquired by Adobe), Manager of Quality Assurance (QA) at Visual Sciences, QA Engineer at DivX, Managing Director at Cactus, and Director of QA at MP3. She began her career as a Software Engineer at Compass Learning. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology at Western University and her bachelor’s degree in Programming at Coleman College.
Elaine Zhou is Chief Technology Officer at Change.org in California. Change.org is the world’s largest nonprofit-owned platform for social change. Prior to Change.org, she was Chief Technology Officer at Vidado for 5 years, Chief Technology Officer at Vidado (formerly Captricity) for 4 years, Senior Vice President of Product Development at Clean Power Finance, Senior Director of Engineering at Ask, Vice President of Product Development and Technology at PlanetOut for 4 years, Director of Engineering at Classified Ventures for 2 years, Senior Consultant at Resources for 2 years, Chief Architect at Homestore for a year, Tech Lead at MedChannel.com for 2 years, Senior Application Engineer at PeopleSoft for 3 years, and a Web Developer at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center for a year. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering / Operations Research at UC Berkeley.
Kelly Kinetic is Chief Technology Officer at Charm Industrial in California. Charm Industrial makes bio-oil from plants and puts it back underground to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Before she started Charm Industrial over 5 years ago, she was a Mechanical Design Engineer at Astra for a year, Spacecraft Engineer at Planet for 2 years, Shop Manager at Brown Design Workshop and Makerspace for 2 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering Systems Design at Brown University.
Simone May is Chief Technology Officer at Clutch in Texas. Clutch gives next-generation creators access to digital work opportunities so both creators and businesses thrive. Prior to starting Clutch, she was a Consultant at Accenture for 3 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Purdue University.
Annabel Liu is Chief Technology Officer at Curated in California. Curated provides a collaborative shopping experience brought to life with a community of passionate experts for outdoor sporting goods / gear. Before starting Curated, she was Vice President of Engineering at LinkedIn for 7 years, Senior Engineering Manager at Ariba for 9 years, Software Design Engineer at Escalate for a year, and Software Engineer at Netfish for 2 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Columbia University and her master’s degree in Computer Science at Stanford University.
Barbara McCarthy is Chief Technology Officer at Dingin Ireland. Ding is a leading international mobile top-up platform. Prior to Ding, she was Director of Engineering at HubSpot for 3 years, Vice President of Software Development at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for 7 years, Software Development Director at Inspired Gaming Group for 7 years, and began her career as a Project Manager. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics and Applied Maths and her master’s degree in Information Technology, both at University of Galway.
Julia Song is Chief Technology Officer at ESSin Oregon. ESS (NYSE: GWH) accelerates global decarbonization by providing safe, sustainable, long-duration energy storage to power people, communities, and businesses with clean, renewable energy. Before starting ESS over a decade ago, she was Vice President of Research and Development at ClearEdge Power for 7 years, Industrial Research Chemist at Milliken & Co for a year, and Research Assistant at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 5 years. She earned her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Peking University.
Rachana Kumar is Chief Technology Officer at Etsy in New York. Etsy (NYSE: ETSY) is a global marketplace for unique and creative goods. She was promoted from Vice President of Engineering in 2021, and has been at Etsy for 8 years, when she joined as an Engineering Manager. Prior to Etsy, she co-founded ShaadiKarma for 2 years, was a Graduate Consultant at Columbia University for 2 years, interned at United Nations Population Fund, worked as Lead Software Architect at Brighter India Foundation for 2 years, managed Web Development at BET Networks for 3 years, consulted at Ernst & Young for a year, and began her career as a Programmer Analyst at Cognizant for a year. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication at RV College of Engineering and a master’s degree in Public Administration at Columbia University.
Rathi Murthy is Chief Technology Officer at Expedia in California. Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) is a leading platform for travel. Prior to Expedia, she was Chief Technology Officer at Verizon Media for a year, Chief Technology Officer at Gap for 3 years, Senior Vice President at American Express for 3 years, Senior Director of Engineering at eBay for 2 years, Senior Director of Engineering at Yahoo for 5 years, Director of Engineering at Metreo for 5 years, Senior Engineering Manager at WebMD for 4 years, Senior Software Engineer at Sun Microsystems for 3 years, QA Manager at Sun for 1 year, and began her career as a QA Lead at Informix. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Bangalore University and her master’s degree in Computer Engineering at Santa Clara University.
Erin DeCesare is Chief Technology Officer at ezCater in Massachusetts. ezCater is the leading marketplace for corporate catering. Before ezCater, she was Vice President of Data and Analytics at Bottomline Technologies for a year, Vice President of Data and Analytics at Vistaprint for 8 years, Director of Program Management at Fidelity Investments for 3 years, Project Manager at Sovereign Bank for 5 years, Project Manager at Woodman Design Group for a year, and began her career as an Information Technology Account Manager at Signature for a year. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology at Boston University and her MBA at Northeastern University.
Meital Segev-Bar is Chief Technology Officer at FeelIT in Israel. Feelit Technologies provides sensing solutions for real-time insights for manufacturers. Before starting FeelIT over 6 years ago, she was a Development Engineer at Alfred Mann Institute in the Technion for a year, and held a Research and Development position at Tower Semiconductor for a year. She earned her Ph.D. in Nanotechnology and her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Material Engineering, both at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Danielle Merfeld is Chief Technology Officer at GE Renewable Energy in North Carolina. GE (NYSE: GE) Renewable Energy provides solutions for customers demanding reliable and affordable green power. Prior to GE Renewable Energy, she was Vice President and General Manager of GE Global Research US for 5 years, Solar Business Leader at GE Energy for a year, Solar Platform Leader at GE Global Research for over a decade, and began her career as a Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Researcher at GE. She earned her Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Northwestern University and her bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at University of Notre Dame.
Claire Hough is Chief Technology Officer at Getlabs in California. Prior to Getlabs, she was Chief Technology Officer at Carbon Health, a tech-enabled healthcare company providing primary and urgent care. Prior to Carbon Health, she was Chief Technology Officer at Lyte, Vice President of Engineering at ApolloQL, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Udemy, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Nextag, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Napster, and Vice President at Netscape. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Engineering and master’s degree in Operations Research, both at UC Berkeley.
Hannah Wolfe is Chief Technology Officer at Ghost Foundation in England. Ghost is an open source publishing platform for new-media creators to share and grow a business around their content. Before co-founding Ghost Foundation 9 years ago, she worked as a Senior Developer at Moo.com for 2 years and began her career as an Interactive Developer at Engine Creative for 2 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at University of Nottingham, and her MBA at Nottingham University Business School.
Catherine Michel is Chief Technology Officer at Halma in England. Halma (LON:HLMA)is a global group of life-saving technology companies, from safety to environmental and medical. Before joining Halma over 3 years ago, she was Chief Technology Officer at Sigma Systems for 6 years, Executive Committee Member at TM Forum for 11 years, Trustee at Skylarks Charity for 6 years, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Tribold for a decade. She began her career at Accenture as a Senior Manager for 9 years. She earned her bachelor’s in Finance at University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
Charity Majors is Chief Technology Officer at Honeycomb.io in California. Honeycomb provides full-stack observability designed for high cardinality data and collaborative problem solving for engineers to understand and debug production software. Prior to co-founding Honeycomb over 7 years ago, she was a Production Engineering Manager at Facebook for 2 years, Infrastructure Tech Lead at Parse for a year, Cloud Systems Engineer at Cloudmark for a year, Systems Engineer at Shopkick for a year, and began her career as a Systems Engineer and Systems Engineering Manager at Linden Lab for 5 years. She attended University of Idaho. She has published books on database reliability engineering and observability engineering.
Marianna Tessel is Chief Technology Officer at Intuit in California. Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) is a global financial technology platform with TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma and Mailchimp. Before joining Intuit 4 years ago, she was Senior Vice President of Engineering at Docker for 2 years, Vice President of Engineering at VMware for 6 years, Vice President of Engineering at Intacct for a year, Vice President of Engineering at Ariba for 6 years, Vice President of Engineering at General Magic for 6 years, and began her career as Captain at IDF for 4 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Rowena Yeo is Chief Technology Officer at Johnson & Johnson in Singapore. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is the largest and most broadly based healthcare company in the world. Before joining Johnson & Johnson 4 years ago, she was Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Asia Pacific at Janssen Pharmaceutical for 6 years, and Global Group Chief Information Officer at Cargill for 11 years, and her early career began as a Systems Engineer at IBM for 3 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Engineering at National University of Singapore.
Alex Cesar is Chief Technology Officer at Kantar in England. Kantar is the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company. Prior to Kantar, she was Chief Information Officer at London Stock Exchange Group, Chief Technology Officer at Refinitive for 4 years, Chief Technology Officer at World in Banking and Finance – UK for a year, Global Head of Risk Technology at Thomson Reuters for 2 years, Governance and Legal Technology Head at Deutsche Bank for 2 years, Head of Compliance Technology Strategy at JP Morgan for a year, Head of Compliance and Assurance Technology at Standard Chartered Bank for 4 years, Head of Enterprise Shared Services Technology at Barclays Capital for 2 years, Senior Engineering Manager at First Data Utilities for 2 years, Project Manager at Morgan Stanley for 5 years, and she began her early career as a Technical Analyst at HSBC for 2 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Faculdade de Engenharia de Sao Paulo and her MBA at Cass Business School.
Ketaki Shriram is Chief Technology Officer at Krikey in California. Krikey is an artificial intelligence (AI) tools company whose products include text to-animation, custom 3D avatar tool, augmented reality gaming toolkit and more. Before co-founding Krikey with her sister 6 years ago, she was a PhD Researcher at Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab for 5 years, a PhD Researcher at Oculus, and User Experience Researcher at Google Glass. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication, master’s degree in Virtual Human Interaction, and Ph.D. in Virtual Human Interaction Lab, all at Stanford University.
Lili Gangas is Chief Technology Community Officer at Kapor Center in California. The Kapor Center is leveling the playing field and building a future where the tech industry makes a positive impact on culture, society and the economy. Prior to joining Kapor Center 7 years ago, she was Lead Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton for 2 years, NYU Entrepreneurial Institute Programs MBA Intern for a year, and a Senior Multi-Disciplined Engineer at Raytheon for 7 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at USC and her MBA at NYU Stern School of Business.
Carlonda Reilly is Chief Technology Officer at Kennametal in Pennsylvania. Kennametal (NYSE: KMT) is a global industrial technology leader delivering productivity to customers through materials science, tooling and wear-resistant solutions. Before joining Kennametal 4 years ago, she was at DuPont for over two decades, most recently as Global Technology Director of Nylon, Polyester and Filaments. In her early carer, she joined DuPont as a Senior Research Engineer for Crop Protection and Central Research and Development. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at MIT, and an MS, Chemical Engineering and PhD, Chemical Engineering at University of Delaware.
Helga Alvarez is Chief Technology Officer at Leaf in England. Leaf combines years of full-funnel marketing expertise with proprietary growth-engine technology to deliver revenue and sustainable growth for clients. Prior to joining Leaf over a decade ago, she was Co-Founder and Creative Technologist at Cometoide for a year, Software Developer at Possible Worldwide for a year, Visiting Research Scientist at Korea Institute of Science and Technology for a year, and Product Management and Marketing at FMWebschool for a year. She earned her bachelor’s in Software Engineering at Universidad Latina de Costa Rica.
Chantal Emmanuel is Chief Technology Officer at LimeLoop in New York. LimeLoop’s smart shipping platform combines reusable packaging and a simple sensor for a real-time lens into the e-commerce experience. Retailers have a powerful platform to effectively understand and communicate with their customers, while providing the insights necessary to inform ESG and supply chain decisions. Before co-founding LimeLoop 5 years ago, she was a Software Engineer at SYPartners for a year, Lead Software Engineer at Red Clay for 3 years, Community Program Officer at New York Cares for 3 years, and began her early career in AmeriCorps VISTA. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Binghamton University and studied entrepreneurship at Cornell University.
Julie Averill is Chief Technology Officer at Lululemon in Washington. Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) is an athletic apparel company for yoga, running, training, and most other sweaty pursuits, creating transformational products and experiences which enable people to live a life they love. Prior to joining Lululemon 6 years ago, she was Chief Information Officer at REI for 2 years, Vice President of Selling and Marketing Systems at Nordstrom for 11 years, and an Adjunct Professor at Seattle University for 3 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Seattle Pacific University and her MBA at University of Washington – Michael G. Foster School of Business.
Jenny Gonsalves is Chief Technology Officer at Lyra Health in California. Lyra Health is a leading provider of mental health benefits for over 2.5 million global employees and dependents and is transforming mental health care by creating a frictionless experience for members, providers, and employers. Before joining Lyra Health over 6 years ago, she was Vice President of Engineering at SugarCRM for a decade, Senior Software Engineer at Epiphany for 6 years, and began her early career as Programmer Analyst at RBC Dominion Securities for a year. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at University of Toronto.
Laila Abudahi is Chief Technology Officer and co-founder at Manara in California. Meaning “lighthouse” in Arabic, Manara is on a mission to untap the full human potential in MENA and diversify the global tech sector. Before Manara, she was a Senior Software Engineer at Nvidia for 2 years. a Dataplane Software Engineer at Palo Alto Networks for 2 years, and founded MOTION in Gaza to develop Kinect-based interactive educational solutions for kids. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, and her master’s degree in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering at University of Washington, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.
Nancy Avila is Chief Technology Officer at McKesson in Texas. McKesson (NYSE: MCK) is a global healthcare organization dedicated to advancing health outcomes for all. Prior to joining McKesson 3 years ago, she was Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Johnson Controls for 2 years, and worked at Abbot for over two decades, most recently as Vice President of Business and Technology Services. She began her career at Abbott as an IT Manager in Quality and Research and Development. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at Regis University and her master’s degree in Mathematics at Colorado School of Mines.
Lakecia Gunter is Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft Global Partner Solutions in Oregon. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the largest computer software company in the world. Prior to Microsoft, she was at Intel Corporate for over a decade, most recently as Vice President of Programmable Solutions. She serves on the board of directors for IDEX Corporation. She earned her bachelor’s in computer engineering at University of South Florida, and her master’s in electrical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk is Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft Security in Israel. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Security provides comprehensive security solutions. Prior to joining Microsoft a decade ago, she worked as General Manager at RSA (the security division of EMC) for 7 years, Chief Operating Officer at Cyota (acquired by RSA) for 3 years, and Vice President of Product Development at RadView for 7 years. She earned her master’s in Computer Science at Columbia University.
Robin Ducot is Chief Technology Officer at Momentive in California. Momentive (NASDAQ: MNTV) provides enterprise solutions for agile experience management and insights from Momentive, GetFeedback, and SurveyMonkey. Before joining Momentive 5 years ago, she was Senior Vice President of Product Engineering at DocuSign for 6 years, Vice President of Engineering at Eventbrite for a year, Vice President of Web Development at Linden Lab, Vice President of Web, User Experience and Engineering Group at Adobe Systems for 7 years, Vice President of Professional Services at Avolent for 4 years, Senior Manager of Internet Development for a year, Lead Software Engineer at AT&T for 2 years, and began her early career as Senior Software Engineer at BGS Systems for 6 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Art History at UMass Boston.
Niki Trigoni is Chief Technology Officer at Navenio in England. Navenio develops infrastructure-free, highly scalable, accurate and robust indoor location solutions built on award-winning and world-leading research from the University of Oxford, utilizing existing smartphone devices to localize people within a broad range of contexts and markets. Prior to starting Navenio, she was Professor of Computer Science and Head of Cyber Physical Systems Group at University of Oxford for 15 years, Lecturer in Computer Science at University of London Birkbeck, and Postdoc Researcher at Cornell University. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science at University of Cambridge and her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Athens University of Economics and Business.
Farnaz Ronaghi is Chief Technology Officer at NovoEd in California. NovoEd provides a collaborative learning platform to empower organizations to design and deliver experiential learning. Before co-founding NovoEd over a decade ago, she was working on a PhD at Stanford University with a dissertation on collaborative learning at scale. The company spun out of Stanford University’s social algorithm laboratory in 2012. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering at Sharif University of Technology and her master’s in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University.
Christine Spang is Chief Technology Officer at Nylas in California. Nylas allows developers to access communications channels such as email, calendar, and contacts using rich application programming interfaces (APIs). Prior to co-founding Nylas almost a decade ago, she was working as a Principal Developer at Oracle for 2 years, Software Engineer at KSplice for 2 years, Perl Hacker at Best Practical Solutions for 2 years, and Residential Computing Consultant / Lab Assistant at MIT for 2 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at MIT.
Mira Murati is Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI in California. Developer of ChatGPT, OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose AI benefits all of humanity. Before joining OpenAI 4 years ago, she was Vice President of Product and Engineering at Leap Motion for 2 years, Senior Product Manager for Model X at Tesla for 3 years, Advanced Concepts Engineer at Zodiac Aerospace for a year, and began her early career as a Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Dartmouth College.
Raji Subramanian is Chief Technology Officer at Opendoor in Washington. Opendoor (NASDAQ: OPEN) is an online company that buys and sells residential real estate. Prior to joining Opendoor 2 years ago, she was Chief Technology Officer at Pro.com for 8 years, Head of Kindle Content Management at Amazon for a year, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Radien Software for 3 years, Finance Engineering Leader at Yahoo for a year, held multiple leadership roles including Principal Engineer at Amazon for 6 years, Manager of Software Development and Lead Engineer at Microland for 2 years, and began her early career as a Research Engineer at Indian Institute of Science.
Jen Carlile is Chief Technology Officer at Outer Labs in California. Outer Labs makes technology for real estate developers to design, build, and operate space. Prior to co-founding Outer Labs 5 years ago, she was Vice President of Engineering and Co-Founder at Flux Data for 5 years, Software Engineer at Google[X] for 2 years, Senior Software Engineer at Avid Technology for a year, Software Engineer at Sennheiser GmbH for a year, Software Engineer at Euphonix for 2 years, and began her early career as an Audio and Acoustics Engineer at AuSIM. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Media Arts and Computer Science at Wellesley College and her master’s degree in Digital Audio / Music at Stanford University.
Jessica McKellar is Chief Technology Officer at Pilot in California. Pilot provides the most reliable accounting, CFO, and tax services for startups and small businesses. Before co-founding Pilot 6 years ago, she was Director of Engineering at Dropox for 3 years, Vice President of Engineering and Founder at Zulip for 2 years, Engineering Manager at Oracle for a year, and Software Engineer at Ksplice (acquired by Oracle) for a year. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and master’s degree in Computer Science, both at MIT.
Meri Williams is Chief Technology Officer at Pleo in England. Pleo offers smart company cards that enable employees to buy the things they need for work, all while keeping a company’s finance team in control of spending. Prior to joining Pleo, she was Chief Technology Officer at Healx for 2 years, Chief Technology Officer at Monzo Bank for 2 years, Chief Technology Officer at Moo.com for 2 years, Chief Technology Officer at M&S.com for a year, Chief Technology Officer and Founder at Balloon Studios for 2 years, Head of Operations for North Europe Site Services at Procter & Gamble for a decade. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at University of Bath.
Theresa Vu is Chief Technology Officer at Praxis Labs in New York. Praxis Labs is making society more equitable by advancing workplace inclusion and belonging. Before joining Praxis Labs, she was Senior Vice President of Engineering at Xandr, where she worked for 12 years – starting as a Senior C Developer. She began her early career as an Analyst at Yahoo! and Right Media. She earned her bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley and her master’s degree in Computer Science at Brown University.
Tendü Yoğurtçu is Chief Technology Officer at Precisely in Massachusetts. Precisely is the global leader in data integrity, providing accuracy, consistency, and context in data for 12,000 customers in more than 100 countries, including 99 of the Fortune 100. Prior to joining Precisely 4 years ago, she worked at Syncsort for 12 years, most recently as Chief Technology Officer. She began her early career as an Adjunct Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in the Computer Science Department. She earned her PhD in Computer Science at Stevens Institute of Technology, her master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, and her bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, both at Boğaziçi University in Turkey.
Bridget Frey is Chief Technology Officer at Redfin in Washington. Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN) is the modern way to buy or sell a home. Redfin serves 100+ major metros in the U.S. and has saved customers more than $1B in commissions. Before joining Redfin 12 years ago, she was Director of Engineering at Lithium Technologies for 3 years, Vice President of Development at IntrisiQ for 2 years, Senior Program Manager at IMlogic for a year, and began her early career as Software Engineering Manager at Plumtree for 4 years. She earned her bachelor’s in Computer Science at Harvard University.
Katie Nykanen is Chief Technology Officer at QA in England. QA is the UK’s leading tech training and talent services provider, helping businesses and individuals win in the digital revolution by upskilling FTSE100 and government clients. Prior to QA, she was Chief Technology Officer at Adstream for almost a decade, Marketing Solutions Development Manager at Nokia for 6 years, IT Project Leader at B&Q for a decade.
Urvashi Tyagi is Chief Technology Officer at ResMed in California. ResMed (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD) provides cloud-connected medical devices for patients. Before joining ResMed, she was Chief Technology Officer at ADP for 2 years, Vice President of Commercial Data Engineering at American Express for 2 years, Director of Engineering at Amazon for 3 years, Engineering Manager at iCIMS for a year, Senior Engineering Manager at Microsoft for 5 years, Team Lead and Architect at IBM for 5 years, and began her early career as a Software Engineer at NuGenesis Technologies (acquired by Waters) for 2 years and Senior Design Engineer at Batliboi for 5 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in engineering at Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya, MBA at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, and her master’s degree in Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Kasia Gora is Chief Technology Officer at SCiFI Foods in California. SCiFi Foods is on a mission to make meat the world can depend on, using bioengineering to create the next generation of meat products. Prior to co-founding SCiFI Foods, she was Head of Portfolio Management at Zymergen for 6 years, and began her early career as Scientist at Pronutria for 2 years. She earned her Ph.D. in Biology at MIT and her bachelor’s degree in Biology at Caltech.
Michelle Grover is Chief Technology Officer at Slalom in California. Slalom is a global business and technology consulting company that is purpose-led. Before joining Slalom, she was Chief Information Officer at Twilio for a year, Consulting CTO at Softcom for a year, and Vice President of Research and Development at Tripit for 7 years.
Ivneet Kaur is Chief Technology Officer at Sterling in Florida. Sterling (NASDAQ: STER) is a leading provider of background and identity services with background and identity verification to help over 50,000 clients create people-first cultures built on a foundation of trust and safety. Prior to joining Sterling, she was Chief Technology Officer at Silicon Valley Bank for 3 years, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer at Equifax for 4 years, Technology Leader at Equifax for 6 years, Product Development Manager at Claritas for 6 years, and she began her early career as Software Engineer at Microsoft for 2 years. She earned her master’s degree in Engineering Management at University of Maryland.
Wouleta Ayele is Chief Technology Officer at Sweetgreen. Sweetgreen (NYSE: SG) believes that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone, making salads from scratch at scale. Before joining Sweetgreen, she was Senior Vice President of Technology at Starbucks for 15 years, Senior Director of Information Systems and Business Intelligence at Attachmate for 11 years, IT Leader of Corporate Technology at The Coca-Cola Company for 4 years, Engineering Manager at Hyundai Motor America for 4 years, and she began her early career as Enterprise Architect and Engineer at CIBA Vision. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Cumberland University and her master’s degree in International Finance at Mercer University.
Sue Li is Chief Technology Officer at SwipeGuide in Amsterdam. SwipeGuide empowers frontline teams to boost operational performance with crowdsourced knowledge. Improve productivity, safety, and quality across operations with collaborative work instructions. Prior to joining SwipeGuide 3 years ago, she was Product Owner at Albelli for 2 years, Interaction Designer at Poki for a year, and Chief Product Officer at Bomberbot for a year. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Duke University and a master’s degree in Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Tacita Morway is Chief Technology Officer at Textio in Massachusetts. Textio has developed the world’s most advanced workplace language guidance, so you can see where social bias is hiding—and know exactly how to fix it. Our solutions help organizations attract, develop, and retain diverse, inclusive, and equitable teams—at scale. Before joining Textio, she was Executive Vice President of Engineering and Product at ActBlue for 3 years, Director of Engineering at Salsify for 2 years, Vice President of Engineering and Product at Ditto Labs for 2 years, Director of Technology at WGBH for 2 years, Founder at Tacita Gardens for 3 years, Founder at Tacita Designs for 6 years, Software Engineer at Context Integration for a year, IT Consultant at Wellesley College Information Services for a year, and began her early career as an Apprentice Mechanic at Chicago Auto for 2 years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Wellesley College, and a bachelor’s degree in Painting and Drawing at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Pawan Uppuluri is Chief Technology Officer at Thrasio in Massachusetts. Thrasio is a next-gen consumer packaged goods company using a data-driven approach to analyze Amazon rankings, ratings, and reviews to identify and acquire breakout brands. Prior to joining Thrasio, she was Chief Technology Officer at Glossier for 2 years, and Director of Product and Technology for Alexa at Amazon for 14 years. She began her early career at i2 Technologies for 8 years, most recently as Engineering & Product Director. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and her master’s degree in Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.
Rebecca Parsons is Chief Technology Officer at ThoughtWorks in Washington. Thoughtworks (NASDAQ: TWKS) is a global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design and engineering to drive digital innovation. She has been at ThoughtWorks for over two decades. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science at Rice University.
Ekaterina Kuznetsova is Chief Technology Officer at TokenTransit in California. Token Transit is a shared mobility marketplace for over 60 cities across the United States, including Santa Monica CA, Tallahassee FL, Lincoln NE, Reno NV and more. Before co-founding TokenTransit, she was Core Developer at Meteor Development Group for 2 years, Software Engineer at Google for 1 year, and began her early career as Software Engineer at Akamai Technologies for 3 years. She earned her bachelor’s in Computer Science at MIT.
Tina Huang is Chief Technology Officer at Transposit in California. Transposit keeps track of everything that happens during daily operations and incidents, while streamlining communication, augmenting your team with interactive runbooks, and accelerating actions between systems with the context you need. Prior to founding Transposit, she was Founding Engineer at Sigma Computing for a year, Staff Software Engineer at Twitter for 5 years, Senior Software Engineer at Google for 4 years, and began her early career as Software Engineer at Apple for 3 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.
Kendra Kuhl is Chief Technology Officer at Twelve in California. Twelve is a chemical company built for the climate era providing technology that eliminates emissions by turning CO2 into essential products by way of carbon transformation. Before co-founding Twelve (formerly named Opus 12), she was Cyclotron Road Project Lead for a year, Postdoc at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for a year, and Graduate Researcher at Stanford University’s Jaramillo Lab for 5 years. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Stanford University and her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at University of Montana.
Christine Weber is Chief Technology Officer at Twitch in Colorado. Acquired by Amazon, Twitch is where thousands of communities come together for whatever, every day. Prior to joining Twitch, she was Interim Chief Technology Officer at Liberty Latin America, Senior Vice President of OTT Engineering at Sling TV for 3 years, and was at EchoStar for 18 years, most recently as Vice President of OTT Engineering. She also spent 7 years at Coastal, most recently as Manager of Worldwide DBA Services. She began her early career as a Software Engineer at In-Situ for 5 years. She earned her degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at University of Wyoming.
Amanda Blevins is Chief Technology Officer at VMware Americas in Colorado. VMware is a leading provider of multi-cloud services for enterprise. Before joining VMware over 12 years ago, she was Principal Architect at IHS for 2 years, Senior Consultant for Electronic Data Systems for a year, Technical Lead for ITD Server Solutions at Johns Manville for 3 years, Network Engineer at DCS for a year, Senior Network Administrator at FrontRange Solutions for 2 years, and she began her early career as Network Administrator, Lab Administrator, and Helpdesk Technician. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at American Sentinel University.
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We love seeing where women’s careers take them over the years! Technical women leaders of large and small organizations have demonstrated different pathways to moving up. Sometimes they move up over a decade. Sometimes they are recruited and hired to the top. Some of our favorite technical women are entrepreneurial and spend time outside of the corporate race to the top and instead build their own company, or join an early-stage startup. And there are many more women coming up in the corporate and startup ranks.
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Hear from 55+ women speakers sharing their expertise on engineering, leadership, career planning, interviewing, AI, much more!
On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, Girl Geek X community members volunteered to share career advice with the senior class at CCPA in East Oakland, California.
An Nguyen (Lead Product Designer at Medallia), Molly Dubow (Customer Success Leader most recently at Webex),Bryanna Valdivia (Software Engineer at Flexport), andElizabeth Orpina (Security Awareness & Education Manager at GitHub) spoke on a career panel to share their path from high school to successful careers in the tech sector. They offered valuable advice to students.
Below are key takeaways from the college and career panel discussion:
Girl Geek X CCPA Career Panel moderated by Vanessa Magaña with An Nguyen, Molly Dubow, Bryanna Valdivia, and Elizabeth Orpina speaking as first-generation students now working in the technology industry.
#1 – Diverse Backgrounds and Successful Paths to Tech
Panelists highlighted their diverse backgrounds and unconventional routes into the tech industry. The first-gen students shared their experiences with navigating financial aid and the school-to-tech-job trajectory!
An Nguyen shared her background of being a self-funded college student who pursued education while working multiple jobs. She emphasized the need to communicate and gain trust from family when pursuing non-traditional careers like design (specifically, UX design and now product design. She encouraged students to study what interests them, and believes “education is there for you to study to be as good as that ‘naturally good’ person.”
Molly Dubow wishes she knew about paid tech internships during her high school days, stressing the significance of early awareness about opportunities. She encouraged students to take advantage of the college opportunity to leave home for a new experience, and pondered if junior college could have been a better step for her.
Bryanna Valdivia, the first in her family to attend college, described how a coding bootcamp propelled her into a tech role at a startup, emphasizing the effectiveness of networking through alumni at her bootcamp Hack Reactor that landed her first job in tech one month after completing the coding bootcamp. She has since paid off her student loans. Sstartups are a good way to break into the tech industry.
Elizabeth Orpina, whose entry into tech was facilitated by a volunteer opportunity while working at a foundation, revealed the importance of seizing unexpected pathways to success. She started working in tech at Autodesk, first as a contractor and then in a full-time capacity, before joining GitHub (a Microsoft company) where she is working now. in
#2 –Overcoming Financial Challenges and Scholarships
Addressing financial challenges, the panelists shared their experiences with loans and scholarships. Bryanna Valdivia explained that FAFSA gave a lot, and she took out loans to complete her education. She expressed the wish to have applied for more scholarships in high school and in every year of college.
Elizabeth Orpina advised students to opt for federally-funded loans over private ones, and highlighted the opportunity for additional grants for first-generation college students. Her loans covered books and housing, and her jobs “paid for the fun stuff” in college.
An Nguyen encouraged students to apply for all available scholarships, emphasizing the potential for unexpected opportunities.
Molly Dubow stressed the importance of seeking help and utilizing the myriad resources available to alleviate financial burdens. She underlined that students are welcome to connect with panelists on LinkedIn, the professional social network, so they can better ask questions and seek referrals in the future.
#3 – Studentsto Chart Unique Paths with Guidance, Pursue Interests
During the panel, the speakers offered advice to students navigating their paths. Molly Dubow encouraged students to consider junior colleges as an affordable and valuable starting point in higher education.
An Nguyen emphasized the importance of courage in pursuing one’s passion and interests from an early age. She underlined that education is just studying your interests, so pursue your interests! Her career in product design came after she initially pursuing a computer science degree; it was then she realized that she loved the design side of engineering, not the coding side.
Bryanna Valdivia advised against excessive stress during the transition from high school to college and emphasized focusing on long-term goals.
Elizabeth Orpina encouraged students to make decisions based on what’s best for them, urging them to listen to respected individuals rather than conforming to immediate circles.
#4 –Balancing Family and Career, Finding a Community
An Nguyen, currently on her maternity leave, highlighted the challenges faced by caregivers in the tech industry. She stressed the significance of support groups and employee resource groups for caretakers. Addressing ageism as well, she stressed the importance of finding allies and coworkers who understand and support one’s journey.
Both Molly Dubow and Bryanna Valdivia expressed feelings of isolation as first-generation college students and women. Molly Dubow underscored the importance of not allowing one’s voice to be silenced and encouraged finding ways to communicate effectively, even when faced with gender bias. Bryanna Valdivia advocated for joining employee resource groups (ERGs) and seeking connections beyond one’s immediate team to foster a sense of community and support.
Elizabeth Orpina emphasized the role of team and company diversity in creating an inclusive work environment, urging students to seek companies that value and promote diversity and inclusion.
In conclusion, the CCPA Career Panel offered invaluable insights into the unique journeys of successful tech professionals. The advice and experiences shared by the panelists will undoubtedly serve as a beacon of guidance for students and volunteers navigating their career paths in the tech industry.
Girl Geek X CCPA Career Panel (from left): Molly Dubow, Vanessa Magana, Bryanna Valdivia, Elizabeth Orpina, and An Nguyen.
An Nguyen shared her background of being a self-funded college student who pursued education while working multiple jobs. She emphasized the need to communicate and gain trust from family when pursuing non-traditional careers like design (specifically, UX design and now product design. She encouraged students to study what interests them, and believes “education is there for you to study to be as good as that ‘naturally good’ person.” 
Molly Dubow wishes she knew about paid tech internships during her high school days, stressing the significance of early awareness about opportunities. She encouraged students to take advantage of the college opportunity to leave home for a new experience, and pondered if junior college could have been a better step for her.
Bryanna Valdivia, the first in her family to attend college, described how a coding bootcamp propelled her into a tech role at a startup, emphasizing the effectiveness of networking through alumni at her bootcamp Hack Reactor that landed her first job in tech one month after completing the coding bootcamp. She has since paid off her student loans. Sstartups are a good way to break into the tech industry.
Elizabeth Orpina, whose entry into tech was facilitated by a volunteer opportunity while working at a foundation, revealed the importance of seizing unexpected pathways to success. She started working in tech at Autodesk, first as a contractor and then in a full-time capacity, before joining GitHub (a Microsoft company) where she is working now. in 
