Tech in the Right Direction

How to Grow Your Career With a Global Perspective

This week's guest is Lisa Heite, a Partner Development Manager at Microsoft with a passion for helping others. Lisa's story revolves around living, studying, and working around the world. She gained a wide range of experience throughout her international travel and has used that to bring a unique perspective to the tech industry. Her ideas and approach give her an edge when it comes to solving problems and bringing people together.
While volunteering at an NGO, Lisa developed a digital strategy and saw how digital transformation could further women's rights and give them a voice throughout the world. This passion for women's rights led Lisa to the WIT Network, and she is now lending her skills to their cause.
Thank you for listening; we hope Lisa's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career. To learn more about the WIT Network, visit their site here: https://thewitnetwork.com/
To Reach Lisa Heite on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-heite/
 

Conversation with Amber Ivey

Join Jennifer Didier as she speaks with Amber Ivey.  Amber has a unique career path that eventually lead her from the private sector to the government sector.  Listen as she shares her journey and educates us on the positive work that is going on. 
More about Amber Ivey:
Amber Ivey “AI” is currently a Vice President at a non-profit where she leads a team that helps governments drive impact. In her prior role, as the Senior Director for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, she led a team that assisted governments in utilizing data and performance management for decision-making. Furthermore, she played a key role in the design and launch of the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance. The program aims to train 100 mayors and their senior leaders throughout the Americas on utilizing data to achieve better outcomes. Formerly, she worked at The Pew Charitable Trust—a nonprofit focused on solving today's challenges by using data-driven, nonpartisan analysis. Here, Amber led the data collection and organization efforts of a first-of-its-kind research study on how all 50 states and the District of Columbia use data to solve complex problems, improve the delivery of government services, manage resources, and evaluate effectiveness. Most recently, Amber led a team that provided technical as well as strategic assistance to states and counties, who were working towards streamlining their business processes and launching technology, like legal assistance websites and online courts, to modernize and improve access to the legal system.
Before joining Pew, Amber served at Maryland StateStat, a performance-measurement and management office established by former Governor Martin O'Malley (D). Following the change in administration, she helped facilitate the transition by demonstrating the effectiveness of data-driven decision-making through StateStat. Additionally, she played a key role in the establishment of the Governor's Office of Performance Improvement under Governor Larry Hogan (R).
Before joining the State of Maryland, Amber was a logistics manager for a Fortune 50 company where she used data to drive efficiency, productivity, and profits. She switched from private to the public sector to use her skills in service of government efficiency. She has her MPA and J.D. and is excited to serve at the intersection of data, technology, public policy, and law.
She is also the creator and host of the AI for Kids podcast–a series of podcast interviews with industry experts and everyday people who help explain topics related to AI for kids and their parents and the creator of AiDigiTales—an edutainment platform that focuses on AI for kids.
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberivey/

What Venture Capital look like for Women in Technology

Melisa Widner joins Jennifer Didier to talk about Venture Capital for Women in Technology.
Melissa Widner from Lighter Capital talks to us about the evolution of the Venture capital space for Women Entrepreneurs. 
Melissa Widner is the CEO of Lighter Capital, the pioneer and leading provider of revenue based financing to SAAS companies. She has a deep understanding of the entrepreneur's journey and the importance of growth capital. Previously, she was the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, the venture capital arm of National Australia Bank, where she invested in and served as a director for several global fintech companies, including Lighter Capital.As CEO, she led two companies to successful acquisitions that provided over a 10X return to investors. She co-founded and was the CEO of Silicon Valley enterprise software company, 7Software (acquired by Concur Technologies NASDAQ: CNQR, acquired by SAP).Melissa served as a general partner at SeaPoint ventures, a US based venture capital firm focused on mobile technologies and SaaS enterprise software solutions. She is an active angel investor who served on the board of US based Alliance of Angels, one of the longest running and most active angel groups in the world. She was a lecturer in the subjects of Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship at University of Washington’s MBA program.In 2009, Melissa relocated to Sydney with her Australian husband. She is the co-founder and chair of Heads Over Heels, an organization that works with women entrepreneurs leading high growth companies. She served on the boards of AIC (The Australian Investment Council--formerly AVCAL), and currently serves on the board of the Shore Foundation and Heads Over Heels. She is the proud mother of four boys.
Find Melissa at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissawidner/
 
 

How-To Overcome Obstacles and Find Your Purpose

This week's guest is Kate Roberts, the founder of Maverick Collective, The Ikigai Company, and Katmondo Lifestyle. Kate is a global social entrepreneur, philanthropist, investor, artist, women's advocate, and public speaker. As a serial entrepreneur, Kate has used her influence and platform to find opportunities and gaps in world health, specifically women's health, to put together teams and address these issues. Kate has most recently worked with PSI, Melinda Gates, and HRH (The Crown princess of Norway) to fund Maverick Collective, a $100M groundbreaking philanthropic initiative led by women for women, which has been innovating and scaling women-focused public health solutions across 60 developing countries.
Kate is truly a difference-maker through the work she is doing in women's healthcare, and she is essential for making real change throughout the world. Thanks for listening, and we hope that Kate's story inspires everyone to be a part of the global programs that are making a significant difference in the world of women's health.
Get involved with Kate’s organizations here:
Maverick Collective
PSI

Building a Business from the Ground-Up

This week's guest is Denise Cagan, a graduate of James Madison University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Quality Systems Development. Denise never thought she would be a business owner, but as time went on, she found that her skillset coincided with her ideas and so she started her first business in 2001, followed with another in 2011. Her newest business is DCA Virtual Business Support, a company that supports small businesses with marketing and administrative tasks.
Denise credits her hard work for getting her to where she is today. She views work ethic as monumental for getting any job done and advancing your career. This hard work philosophy has been the foundation for how Denise has built her company into what it is today.
Thank you for listening; we hope Denise's story helps inspire the next generation of women entrepreneurs. If you would like to learn more about Denise and her company, visit her site: https://dcavirtual.com/
Find Denise on LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisecagan/

Opening Doors Through the Power of Tech Education

This week's guest is Sandee Kastrul, the President of i.c.stars - a technology-based workforce development and leadership training program for underserved adults that connects them with career opportunities through their social enterprise and partner organizations. Sandee is also a board member of both Goodcity Chicago and HICC (Hispanic Innovation Center of Chicago). She is currently working on a new book, "Change and Equity" By Sandee Kastrul.
Sandee knows that education opens doors and allows people to reach their potential, and she has dedicated her life to this cause. i.c.stars is the culmination of her ideas around education and training and has grown into a fantastic organization. The program allows individuals to showcase their skills and develop new skills to help grow their careers.
Thank you for listening; we hope Sandee's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career. To learn more about Sandee and her business, visit their website below.
i.c.stars: https://www.icstars.org/

Creating Opportunities for Real World Change

Enjoy this replay:
This week's guest is Chaitra Vedullapalli, an influential business leader with a passion for enabling business equity throughout our communities. Chaitra is also the Co-Founder and CMO of Meylah, a cloud solution provider that helps businesses grow their digital presence through a wide range of solutions. She is also a Board Member, Forbes & YourStory Contributor, Entrepreneur, TEDx & Public Speaker, Strategic Partnerships, Top100 Global Change Leaders Seeking opportunities to contribute to public or private boards.
 
Chaitra began her technological career in college, where she was exposed to COBOL Programming, Oracle Databases, and Windows. This experience opened her eyes up to the opportunities technology can create to change the world for the better. She also saw the glass ceilings for women and saw a chance to make meaningful change. Seeing these glass ceilings led her to become a Co-Founder of Women in Cloud, 'a community-led developmental organization for women that celebrates the female entrepreneurs in the tech world; creates opportunities and access for entrepreneurial acceleration.'
 
Thank you for listening; we hope Chaitra's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career. To learn more about Chaitra and to get in touch with her, visit her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaitrav/

MENtors that Make a Difference Featuring Vince Menzione

This week on our MENtors that Make a Difference segment is Vince Menzione, an award-winning business leader who has delivered and advanced four successful business transformations by embracing disruptive technology and building successful partnerships to transform organizations. 
Today we talk about Vince's career journey and how it can be summed up into four business transformations that have culminated into the start of his very own podcast. We also talk about the changes happening in tech with regard to women's influence in the industry and how male allies can help support their female counterparts.
Vince also hosts the successful Ultimate Guide to Partnering Podcast, where he spotlights leadership and partnership principles to help technology organizations thrive and survive during this age of rapid transformation. 
You can listen to and learn more about the Ultimate Guide to Partnering Podcast here: https://ultimateguidetopartnering.com/
Thank you for listening; we hope Vince's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.