Tech in the Right Direction

Leadership to Drive Social Change in the Tech Industry

This week's guest is Anne Bathel, CEO, and co-founder of ReDI School of Digital Integration. In 2006 Anne graduated from KaosPilot in Denmark, a hybrid of a business and a design school. From 2006-2009, she worked as a corporate social responsibility consultant. While in this role, Anne developed and implemented Samsung Electronics' award-winning corporate social responsibility strategy for Scandinavia. Anne eventually moved to Japan, researching open social innovation, where she received the prestigious Rotary Peace Fellowship.
Today we talk about Anne's journey into the tech industry and how her experiences helped shape her career. We also cover how in 2012, she moved to Berlin to set up the Berlin Peace Innovation Lab in association with Stanford University. The lab focuses on how technology is facilitating emerging and measurable social change toward global peace. In 2015, in response to the refugee crises, Anne co-founded ReDI School of Digital Integration, a vocational training program teaching programming and tech skills to refugees and marginalized people. ReDI is currently teaching 1500+ adults and kids per year - with 65% of these being women and girls.
Thank you for listening; we hope Anne's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career.

Breaking the Glass Ceilings: Creating Opportunities for Women

This week's guest is Chaitra Vedullapalli, an influential business leader passionate about enabling business equity throughout our communities. Chaitra is the Co-Founder of Women in Cloud and the 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 & Your Story Contributor, Entrepreneur, TEDx & Public Speaker, and avTop100 Global Change Leader.
 
Today we talk about Chaitra's career journey and how her early experiences helped form her passion for technology. Chaitra saw the potential technology had to advance people's lives for the better and she wanted to be a part of these advancements. However, she also saw the glass ceilings that women faced in the industry. To break these glass ceilings, Chaitra co-founded Women in Cloud to give women access to opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have. Listen to today's episode and learn more about Chaitra's story and the progress she’s making.
 
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/

Finding Your Purpose

This week's guest is Ayumi Moore Aoki, the Founder and CEO of WOMEN IN TECH - a leading global organization whose mission is to empower and grow women and girls’ presence in STEM. The organization focuses on four primary areas that are a call for action: Education, Entrepreneurialism, Social Inclusion, Science & Research. The aim is to educate, equip and empower women and girls with the necessary skills and confidence to succeed in STEM careers. She is also the Founder and CEO of the award-winning agency Social Brain® and the Co-Founder of HER Digital Academy.
Today we talk about Ayumi's early years in business and how she eventually transitioned from a career in marketing to finding her purpose with a career in technology. Ayumi was fully immersed in technology - learning to code, build websites, and create apps. During this time, Ayumi learned about the ever-widening gap between women and men within the tech industry. To help close this gap, Ayumi founded Social Brain, WOMEN IN TECH, and HER Digital Academy with the focus of empowering and lifting women up.
Learn more about Ayumi and WOMEN IN TECH here: https://women-in-tech.org/
Thank you for listening; we hope Ayumi's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career.

Creating Proactive Solutions for Tomorrow’s Problems

This week's guest is Rhonda Cook, a Senior Director of Customer Success at Microsoft. Rhonda manages the adoption, consumption, and digital transformation for all United States Federal Agencies, Military Services, and Intelligence Organizations. Her focus is to ensure all aspects of these organizations have their needs met when it comes to their usage of all Microsoft 365 offerings. Additionally, she has continued to help these organizations maintain a modern-day infrastructure in today's digital world.
Rhonda's started her career by teaching mathematics and knew that she was excited about continued learning. She continued to train and learn about new technologies, which eventually led her to join an IT training organization. At this new organization, Rhonda homed in on how to find solutions for IT problems that arise. Her knowledge and newfound skill set for finding modern-day solutions allowed her to join Microsoft, where she continued to grow and flourish within the organization.
Thank you for listening; we hope Rhonda's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career.

Nurturing and Developing Your Skills to Allow Your Career to Flourish

This week's guest is Jane Pitt, a Business Program Manager at Microsoft. Jane is a Technical Architect with +20 years of experience in infrastructure engineering and architectural design and a Storyteller with a passion for illuminating opportunities to grow and succeed personally and in business.
Today we talk about Jane's career journey and how she got into tech. Her story is very similar to most women who join the industry, as it was not her first career choice. Jane did have a lot of experience with computers and software growing up, but she followed her passion for literature and chose a career in creative writing. However, as she followed this passion, she continually found herself working with tech and this eventually grew into a full-fledged dive into the tech industry.
Thank you for listening; we hope Jane's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.

How-to Unlock Opportunities and Build Confidence in Yourself

This week's guest is Dr. Nicole Tschierske - a scientist and positive psychology coach. Nicole is passionate about helping overlooked women in STEM become influential to confidently unlock new opportunities for themselves. Nicole lives in Hamburg, Germany, is a food chemist by training and holds a Ph.D. in chemistry next to certifications in coaching, positive psychology, change management, and advanced problem-solving. As a scientist and positive psychology coach, Nicole helps her clients strategically turn their career frustrations into a renewed love for their work.
Today we talk about Nicole's career journey and how she ended up in the STEM field. We also talk about Nicole's involvement in coaching and mentoring women in STEM. We also talk about how we can garner more engagement from women in STEM and grow their presence further.
Thank you for listening; we hope Nicole's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.

Developing Your Skills to Stand Out from the Field

This week's guest is Evelyn Sheahan, Director of Business Programs for Azure Cloud and AI at Microsoft. She has a background in technology, business management, and marketing. Evelyn has a wide range of corporate and field experience and has worked in sales-enablement programs developed to drive multi-million-dollar sales with increased efficiencies.
Today we talk about Evelyn's beginnings and how it eventually grew into a role at Microsoft. We also talk about the challenge’s women face within tech and how important it is to develop your skills to stand out. We also talk about how important it is to find a mentor who can guide you in the right direction.
Thank you for listening; we hope Evelyn's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career.

How-to Create Opportunity for Women in the Tech Industry

This week's guest is Sharan Hildebrand, Vice-President of Strategic Alliances for the North American division of Hitachi Solutions. Sharan has more than 15 years of client development and consulting experience in the IT industry. She is passionate about partnering with customers and other corporate organizations to leverage technology that helps people reach their top-line goals and address their most significant business problems. She works with field sellers and partners to design, market, and close projects that will provide deep value and guarantee high levels of client satisfaction.
Today we talk about Sharan's early leap into the tech industry that started back in college, where her passion for technology grew. This passion and love for tech eventually led her to a career in the industry. We also talk about Sharan's involvement with several organizations that work toward growing women's presence in the tech industry.
Thank you for listening; we hope Sharan's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.