Women in Tech Regatta 2021 Virtual - Seattle/USA: Full Schedule

Connect socially: Follow #SEAWIT21 to hear stories from sessions and to connect with other attendees. We’ll be covering all things conversational on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram so please join us! Check our FAQ page for more info.

10:00am PDT

Relationships Are The True Currency: Now More Than Ever — Supported by Facebook

Expanding your network and deepening relationships is no easy feat in today’s socially-distanced world. Whether you love meeting new people or you just plain don’t feel comfortable networking, creating and deepening connections during COVID-19 can feel nearly impossible.

Despite these challenges, the need for human connection—and the value of that connection—might be even more important now than ever before. During this session, learn how to turn disconnected interactions into connected opportunities by nurturing new relationships and depending those ones that already exist.

Moderators

Mary Blalock

Career Coach, Mary Blalock Career Coaching

Mary Blalock is a Career Coach with a background in recruiting and over 15 years of experience helping people find jobs at companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Nike, adidas, and many more. As a public speaker and coach, Mary helps women and non-binary folks advance in their careers through... Read More →

Speakers

Dan Maycock

Principal, Engineering & Analysis, Loftus Labs

Dan Maycock has worked in data analytics and IT leadership for the past 15+ years, working in a variety of roles as both a technology leader for Boeing and Amazon, along with being an analytics consultant and senior manager for Slalom & Capgemini. In addition to that, Dan has helped... Read More →

Tameka McNair

Senior HR Viva Strategy Program Manager, Microsoft

Tameka McNair is a Senior HR Viva Strategy Program Manager at Microsoft focusing on the new Hybrid-work Employee Experience tool, Viva. Her unique style, personality and commitment to walking in her authentic’ truth has played a huge part in navigating her life and career. She is... Read More →

Maria Zhang

VP of Engineering, Instagram

Maria is VP of Engineering at Instagram. Prior, she was at LinkedIn as VP over Talent Solutions (LTS) and Careers, which helps recruiters connect with quality talent and connects job-seekers with opportunity. Prior to LinkedIn, Maria served as CTO at Tinder, where she built a world-class... Read More →

Sponsors

Facebook

At Facebook, we are constantly iterating, solving problems and working together to connect people all over the world. That’s why it’s important that our workforce reflects the diversity of the people we serve. Hiring people with different backgrounds and points of view helps us... Read More →

Monday April 19, 2021 10:00am - 11:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 1 — Adapt & Thrive, Recording Available

12:00pm PDT

Owning Your Past & Future Story with OwnTrail — Supported by Parametric

When was the last time you really looked at how far you've come - the obstacles you've overcome, the twists and turns that you navigated, and the milestones that really made you who you are today? And when did you last articulate your goals, sharing your aspirations with yourself and the world? These acts of authentic reflection and intention can be hugely powerful as you navigate your journey in a way that is true to yourself, and as you foster meaningful connections with other women.

Join Rebekah Bastian, CEO & co-founder of OwnTrail and author of Blaze Your Own Trail, to reflect on and own the story of where you've been and where you're going. In this workshop, Rebekah will share her own non-linear path as an entrepreneur, writer, artist, tech executive, mentor, wife, mother and aerial acrobat. And she will guide you through a cycle of reflection, imagination, aspiration and action as you share your trail on owntrail.com.

Speakers

Rebekah Bastian

CEO & Co-founder, OwnTrail

Rebekah Bastian is an entrepreneur, writer, artist, tech executive, mentor, wife, mother and aerial acrobat. She is the CEO & Co-founder of OwnTrail and was previously vice president of product and vice president of community and culture at Zillow. Rebekah is the author of Blaze Your... Read More →

Sponsors

Parametric

Invest in your career with ParametricOur unique approach to investment science has driven our success, and it takes dynamic, strategy-minded individuals like you to keep the needle moving forward. Parametric offers competitive salaries, generous benefits, and ample opportunities for... Read More →

Monday April 19, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 1 — Adapt & Thrive, Recording Available

7:00pm PDT

MotherSHIP kick off event - WALKING REGATTA — Supported by WAVE

Join our kick off MotherSHIP event -WALKING REGATTA. Set your intentions and connect with like minded attendees. We'll show you why we believe that "relationships are true currency" and how to manifest your dream of walking out of this year's conference with your new best friend or new boss!

Shhhhh… Hear that? It's the sound of your own thoughts processing, a noise we usually drown out with Zoom calls, kid whines, phone notifications, and the occasional '90s playlist dance party. In this Walking Regatta, we're giving you permission to quiet the noise and wander along with your thoughts… yes, even the scary ones. Think about this: What’s your intention for the next two weeks? What are you hoping to get out of this year’s WIT Regatta, whether it’s your first or your fourth? Put away your phone, lace up your tennies, grab your journal and head outside (or loop around your home, backyard, deck or treadmill) for 25 minutes of silent, meditative, uninterrupted contemplation. Write down what comes to mind, and you’ll have the opportunity to share with a small group back on a call after the walk. We think you’ll find inspiration in others’ bravery and truth--as much as your own.

Seattle-area participants may even have the opportunity to participate in a (socially distanced, appropriately masked) walk together— one of the only opportunities for in-person connections during WIT Regatta 2021!

Monday April 19, 2021 7:00pm - 8:15pm PDT
Walking Outside + VIRTUAL

Connection Engineer Events, Recording Available

6:30am PDT

Ompractice Slow Flow with Eric Brown

A moderate Kripalu based vinyasa class that includes: breath & centering, spine & joint warmups, asana sequences, meditation and a deep relaxation at the end of class. The practice will focus on strengthening the body through longer holds, a more integrated and physical flow between postures, and a deeper dive into self-awareness.
Class Level: Strong beginner to intermediate
Ease/Intensity: Moderate – you’ll get a great workout, (and still have energy after class)

About Your Teacher: Eric Brown began practicing yoga and meditation in 1983 in search of self-healing. He’s studied many styles of yoga including Ashtanga, Kripalu, Pranakriya, Kundalini, Yin and Power/Vinyasa Flow while living in Los Angeles. His classes are an eclectic blend of those experiences. Eric is an E-RYT 500/YACEP and holds multiple yoga teaching certifications with over 1500 hrs of training.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.

"Register for your class for free with the promo code WITREGATTA at checkout. In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with the same code."

https://www.ompractice.com/class/kripalu-moderate-slow-flow-yoga-60-min-with-eric-brown-tues-930am-et-630am-pt/

Speakers

Eric Brown

Teacher, Ompractice

Eric Brown began practicing yoga and meditation in 1983 in search of self-healing. He studied many styles of yoga while living in Los Angeles and his classes are an eclectic blend of those experiences. Eric’s classes can be challenging, but students are led in a mindful asana practice... Read More →

Tuesday April 20, 2021 6:30am - 7:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

8:00am PDT

Is It Just Me? Gaslighting, Trust, & Self-Awareness at Work — Supported by Highspot

Your direct manager just blindsided you with feedback. You’re in shock asking yourself, “Where the [explicative] did that come from?” Then you might question it (“Is it true?”) or deny it (“That’s some bullsh*t”). But how do you know? Do you have a blindspot? Was the feedback actually fair? Was the delivery terrible but the message accurate? Or, did your boss have a bad day and took it out on you? During this session we’ll discuss ways you can take proactive steps to build self-awareness, trust in yourself, and the courage to reach out for help when necessary.

Moderators

Laura Sukorokoff

Founder, Take Charge Learning

Laura Sukorokoff has always had a passion for the employee experience. She has built a career in learning and organizational development and seeks to make work a great place to be. Laura is a highly regarded speaker and a subject matter expert in the area of engagement and retention... Read More →

Speakers

Veronica Chambers

Editor, Narrative Projects, New York Times

Veronica Chambers is editor of Narrative Projects at the New York Times. She’s also a prolific author whose work spans genres. She’s co-written four New York Times best-selling memoirs and is the author of her own critically acclaimed memoir, Mama’s Girl. She’s the author... Read More →

Tatsiana Palchanka

Manager, Quality Assurance, Highspot

Tatsiana Palchanka leads the rapidly growing Quality Assurance team at Highspot, focusing on providing the best customer experience across the Highspot platform. With over 10 years of experience of working with Enterprise and B2B Software, Tatsiana excels at creating quality strategies... Read More →

Shivani Patil

Managing Director, Head of Platform Solution Management, Parametric

Shivani Patil, Managing Director, heads the Platform Solution Management team at Parametric Portfolio Associates. Platform Solution Management is responsible for defining and enabling cross-platform business solutions that meet the needs and deliver value to clients, both internal... Read More →

Sponsors

Highspot

Highspot is the sales enablement platform that reps love. We empower companies to elevate customer conversations that drive strategic growth

Tuesday April 20, 2021 8:00am - 9:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 1 — Adapt & Thrive, Recording Available

10:00am PDT

Walk it Out With a Leader

Today’s port is all about adapting and thriving, so this session will start with an industry leader, Julie Liveris sharing her perspective and experience, which you'll listen to as you walk. (No cheating, even if it’s raining!)

Please join us for this dynamic session where Julie will talk about her personal and professional journey and the many life/career pivots that landed her at Amazon (AWS). Julie’s story is characterized by major shifts of industry and role, and a profound need to pivot in order to adapt and thrive. Starting out with a fortune 50 company, she was the sole female manager in a sea of 100+ men 20 years her senior. She founded and ran one of only two female-owned and operated companies in the Outdoor Industry, and now describes herself as ‘a middle-aged woman in tech’. She’s always been in the minority working hard to be flexible, adaptive, and lean into transferable skills. Let’s talk! Perhaps you can learn from her learnings and mistakes.

You'll then break out into a one-on-one conversation with another participant, giving you the opportunity to network while you walk-and-talk. Ultimately, we want you exploring your neighborhood, your city, your culture, your mindset, your likes and dislikes. Clear that fog and let the sun shine in!

Speakers

Julie Liveris

Enterprise Account Manager, Amazon

Julie’s career spans multiple industries (healthcare, retail, wholesale manufacturing, technology) where she has held roles with as much variety (sales rep to CEO). A biology major in college, she went from ‘cell’ to ‘sell’ beginning her corporate career with a fortune 50... Read More →

Jodi Womack

Speaker, writer, hula hooper, Womack Company

I’m bringing self care insights to corporate and military audiences. Sharing the love with folks in highly stressful environments. Love to get out to hike, write and hula hoop. Just moved to Alabama and getting used to being called “ma’am.”

Tuesday April 20, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
Walking Outside

Walki-Talki, Recording Available

11:00am PDT

Combatting Imposter Syndrome — Supported by Northeastern University

Does this sound familiar? “You don’t know enough.” “It is only a matter of time until they find you out.” “You don’t know what you’re doing.” “You’ll never be as good as her/him/them.” “It was pure luck!” “You don’t deserve this.”

This ugly voice is the saboteur inside your head. The one that fuels our Imposter Syndrome. The sad truth is that nearly EVERYONE has this voice in their heads. The even sadder truth is that we still believe it is only us. Don’t believe the hype! After this session, you will be able to better identify what is really imposter syndrome and learn ways to build your confidence, validate your efforts, and finally believe in yourself.

Moderators

Gina Fresquez

Founder / Speaker / Author / Coach, Gina Fresquez International / Lodima Leadership Collective

Hi, I'm Gina, best selling author, keynote speaker, and success and leadership coach with a commitment to support women in male-dominated industries (STEM) and female founders to get out of their own way by overcoming self-doubt and gain more confidence to succeed in all areas of... Read More →

Speakers

Salee Savitz

QA Analyst, Highspot

Salee is the newest member of the Quality Assurance team at Highspot. In her role she performed pre- and post-release testing of Highspot’s web and mobile device applications. She earned her position in this dynamic role through non-traditional means of an employment training program... Read More →

Angel Pang

Senior Software Engineer Manager, Parametric

I am a Senior Software Engineer Manager at Parametric leading a development team focusing on providing Microsoft Azure Cloud based tools and solutions through our Digital Platform. I have worked in IT industry for almost 30 years and still learning. What kept me in the industry... Read More →

Caitlin Kidder

Network Operations, Northeastern University

Caitlin Kidder oversees operations and strategic planning for Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University across its six campuses, and is a passionate advocate for expanding access to technology careers. She is also a doctoral student researching sense of belonging... Read More →

Chelsea Alexander-Taylor

Senior Product Manager I, Redfin

Customer-obsessed and performance-driven product manager, with a proven track record of leading others to build winning products that combat the world's toughest problems. Dedicated to fostering equitable and inclusive environments where under-represented groups are empowered to be... Read More →

Sponsors

Northeastern University—Seattle

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a top-tier, nonprofit research university, grounded in experiential learning. We integrate academic coursework with professional work, research, service, and global learning opportunities in 128 countries.Northeastern University—Seattle is dedicated to delivering an education that’s industry-responsive, employer-aligned, and student-centered. Our mast... Read More →

Tuesday April 20, 2021 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 1 — Adapt & Thrive, Recording Available

1:00pm PDT

Demasking the big lie that BUSY is Beautiful: A Mindfulness Approach to To-Do Lists, Personal Boundaries, and Asking For Help — Supported by ServiceNow

An upside of 2020 was the demasking of the big lie: BUSY is Beautiful. Many discovered there is true power in slowing down and reflecting on what is important. Being BUSY is no longer a badge of honor. The race down to burnout has lost its luster. But how do we maintain and deepen this new found wisdom? During this session we’ll connect with business leaders and hear how they intentionally begin and end their days, how they clearly communicate personal boundaries, and the joy they feel when they ask for help.

Moderators

Janice Lichtenwaldt

Executive Coach, Virago Coaching

Certified as a Professional Co-Active Coach®, Janice partners with individuals and organizations to focus on emotional intelligence, deepened self-awareness, collaborative leadership, and building authentic confidence.Prior to launching her coaching practice, Janice enjoyed a 25-year... Read More →

Speakers

Calicia Johnson

Senior Technical Program Manager @Xbox, Microsoft

Calicia Johnson is a Senior Technical Program Manager at Xbox with Microsoft Corporation, where she works with cross functional teams to take gaming to the cloud and develop new technologies and features for gamers. After spending 10 years in the oil and gas industry as an engineer... Read More →

Danna Ryan

Director, Systems Engineering, ServiceNow

Danna started her career in IT as a helpdesk technician and never looked back. She has held leadership positions in small and large companies, both private and public but always in the Seattle area, which she calls home. She holds the position of Director of Systems Engineering... Read More →

Brittney Rodriguez

Administrative Director, #LatinaGeeks

Brittney Rodriguez is a Business Operations Manager for an IT Consulting firm and the Administrative Director with #LatinaGeeks. She holds an Accounting degree from the University of Texas, and has seven years of industry experience in Aerospace and in Tech as a Financial Analyst... Read More →

Sponsors

ServiceNow

ServiceNow delivers digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity. This is the future of work. Experience the power of the Now Platform.

Tuesday April 20, 2021 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 1 — Adapt & Thrive, Recording Available

4:00pm PDT

Back from the Void: Generating Resilience in the COVID Era — Supported by Facebook

People around the world are still adjusting to the new realities of life in the COVID era. How are you dealing with it? Are you able to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and return to your calmer self? Or do you find yourself folding faster than a camping chair?

To thrive in this unsettling time, we must grow our internal resilience—even when the stakes are high and emotions are running strong. Join us for some honest talk about navigating the lows while learning to build up your own sustaining resilience.

Moderators

Irina Somin

Director, Technical Program Management on Central Integrity TPM Team, Facebook Inc

Speakers

Katrina Lopez

Manager, Avanade

Assess. Adjust. Achieve.Katrina believes that the bricks life throws at us are building blocks for our character.As a working mom of two toddlers, one with special needs, the pandemic has presented unique challenges beyond what she imagined for her career and family. She struggled... Read More →

Genesis Bonds

Software Engineer, Facebook

Hailing from Queens, New York, Genesis Bonds is a lover of all things food, tech, and Black culture. She is a Duke graduate and current Software Engineer at Facebook.⁣ As an engineer on one of the company’s newest Integrity teams, she works on products that help protect the Facebook... Read More →

Ashley Pallarito

Senior Manager, Accelerator, WGU Labs

- She/Her/Hers- Bachelor of Social Work (BSW)- Master of Business Administration (MBA)- Passionate about the intersection of social impact, business, and technology

Sponsors

Facebook

Tuesday April 20, 2021 4:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 1 — Adapt & Thrive, Recording Available

6:00pm PDT

Covid-19 Fallout: Women Doing Even More With Less — Supported by Nordstrom

11.5 million women across all sectors have lost jobs due to Covid-19. While the technology sector has weathered the storm better than most, salaries have stalled and jobs, especially consulting roles, have disappeared. Additionally, the tech sector offered the option to work remotely. A great solution for some. However, for many women this ‘benefit’ also came with a new, full-time role: teacher. This new role added to all the other household duties that statistically fall to women. As the impacts of Covid continue to be felt, we will discuss strategies for breaking these patterns and finding solutions to support ourselves, our children, and our families.

Moderators

Nadine Khoury

Senior Program Manager, Amazon

Senior Program Manager, Amazon. Nadine (she,her) is a tech leader, new mom, and DEI enthusiast. Originally from the Middle East, Nadine spent 10 years in Canada and earned her BSc and MBA degrees before moving to Seattle. Throughout her career, she has worked in multiple industries... Read More →

Speakers

Theresita Richard

Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, Capital One

Theresita Richard leads Capital One’s Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) strategy, and servesas the DIB lead to the Capital One Racial Equity (CORE) Initiative, which advances racial equity,justice and inclusion for Black and Latinx associates and communities.Theresita brings... Read More →

Shina Pellegrini

Sr. Director of Engineering, Nordstrom Inc

Senior Director of Engineer, NordstromShina Pellegrini (she/her) Engineering Leader, a mom and weight lifting enthusiast. Shina is passionate about Platform standards, operational efficiencies and processes, and leading high performant teams. Throughout her 12+ years of experience... Read More →

Meagan Colbenson

Vice President of Technology, Nordstrom

Meagan is a tech leader, data enthusiast and mom of a son and two daughters in Naperville, Illinois. She has had a circuitous journey to her current role, but along her path she has strived to stay grounded in the mission of creating simple solutions that provide business value while... Read More →

Sponsors

Nordstrom

An incredible eye for what's next in fashion. A passionate drive to exceed expectations. For more than 100 years, we've worked to deliver the best possible shopping experience, helping our customers express their style—not just buy fashion.Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion retailer... Read More →

Tuesday April 20, 2021 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 1 — Adapt & Thrive, Recording Available

8:00am PDT

Diversity by Design: Raising Up The Voices of Women of Color — Supported by Nordstrom

This panel is dedicated to women of color in our tech community. Diversity initiatives vary from company to company and can take on many shapes depending on a company's size or age. Some women exist as the sole representation at their company and others can connect with large ERGs and networks. Hear these women's stories, their hopes for the future, and their ideas of how diversity programs and leadership could truly make a difference in our organizations no matter the size.

Moderators

Deborah Campbell

Principal and Lead Strategist, Deborah Campbell and Associates LLC

You can talk with me about Organizational Cultural Competency, DEI and Business Bottom Lines, pivoting and leveraging three different careers before making the move to self employment, and life lessons learned over four decades in the workplace. Nothing has changed, but then everything... Read More →

Speakers

Miya McClain

Director of Product Management, Cisco

Miya leads the Webe.com Product Management team for Webex . She started her career as a Software Development Engineer in Test, eventually switching to Product Management. Over the last 13 years Miya has led both engineering and PM teams across Microsoft, Nordstrom and now Cisco. Prior... Read More →

Talisa Jackson

Learning & Engagement Program Manager, Center for Inclusive Computing

Talisa Jackson is the Learning & Engagement Program Manager at the Center for Inclusive Computing at Northeastern University. Dedicated to transforming the national landscape of women in tech at the undergraduate level, Talisa’s work focuses on knowledge management, research, and... Read More →

Lauren Daniels

Senior Technical Program Manager, Nordstrom

Lauren Daniels (she/her) is a software engineer turned technical program manager at Nordstrom. Following a non-traditional path into technology, she firmly believes in bringing all of your experiences and identities with you. Before joining Nordstrom, Lauren discovered her love for... Read More →

Sponsors

Nordstrom

Wednesday April 21, 2021 8:00am - 9:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 2 — Inclusive Culture, Recording Available

10:00am PDT

Job Expo | Up Close and Personal with Highspot

Join Highspot’s Head of Global Recruiting, Jenna Kass, for an insightful panel exploring how our employees balance their professional career and personal life during the pandemic. Members of our team will share their experiences working remotely, managing teams, completing critical deliverables and even changing jobs, while focusing on mental health and well-being. You will hear their challenges and successes and have an opportunity to interact with the team. The conversation will provide a behind-the-scenes look at Highspots' culture, how our Guiding Principles have helped people navigate this unique time, and steps for how you can balance your own life.

For current job openings: https://www.highspot.com/careers/
you can also send your resume in here: https://www.dropbox.com/request/RAv7y50qn1tBMJNAomyc

Moderators

Jenna Kass

Sr. Director, Global Recruiting, Highspot

Jenna recently joined Highspot as the Global Recruiting leader. She leads a team of Recruiting professionals in Seattle and is building out the team in the UK to support the company's global expansion. Jenna's background is in Technical Recruiting and she most recently led Technical... Read More →

Speakers

Genevieve Sarmiento

Manager, Software Engineering, Highspot

Genevieve is currently a Software Engineering Manager at Highspot where she leads the Engineering Accelerate program that supports early-career engineers in their journey to being next-level developers. She has a decade of experience in software and has worked at both startups and... Read More →

Meena Bhatia

Director, Software Engineering, Highspot

Meena Bhatia leads the Content & Guidance Engineering team at Highspot, focusing on architecting and developing the core product, driving innovation and building high-performing teams. She is a pragmatic tech enthusiast, skilled in software development and engineering. Prior to joining... Read More →

Katie Michie

Services Executive, Highspot

Katie is currently a Services Executive at Highspot, making this the third unicorn-status startup she's worked for. Across 8 years in the tech industry, she's been a product manager, software trainer, and client relationship manager. Before all that, she got her degree in wildlife... Read More →

Jacqueline Duong

Product Manager, Highspot

Jackie Duong is a product manager at Highspot. Jackie started her career as a PM at Microsoft where she improved and delivered new work management products on the Microsoft Project & Planner team. Outside of work, you’ll find Jackie exploring the outdoors hiking and rock climbing... Read More →

Sponsors

Highspot

Highspot is the sales enablement platform that reps love. We empower companies to elevate customer conversations that drive strategic growth

Wednesday April 21, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

11:00am PDT

Enough About Diversity! We Need Inclusion, Equity, & Real Change — Supported by Nordstrom

The books have been read. The trainings have been attended. The boxes have been checked. So, what’s changed? Well, a lot actually, but not nearly enough. During this session our panel will discuss what is required for the Technology Industry to manifest the spirit of DEI, not just the words and how each of us can play a role in bringing to life real change where it matters.

Moderators

Tricia Cleppe

Account Director, davies + dixon

Speakers

Tanya Salcido

Sr. Manager, Digital Marketing, ISTE / EdSurge

Tanya leads digital strategy for ISTE and EdSurge, organizations focused on edtech resources for K-12 and higher ed educators. As someone who identifies as Mexican-American, and is a women in a technical role, Tanya has a particular passion for elevating the voices of groups who have been underserved. Through her work at ISTE... Read More →

Jason Thompson

Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, WGU

Jason Thompson is a thought leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, having spent the past twenty-five years building DE&I programs in sports, health care, technology, and education. Jason is currently the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) at Western Governors... Read More →

Nikki Le

Head of Machine Learning and Responsible Engineering Education | Head of Education Evaluation, Assessment, and Research, Google

Nikki Le leads the Machine Learning and Responsible Engineering Education and the Education Evaluation, Assessment, and Research groups at Google, designing cutting-edge technical education and professional development programs in emerging technologies like machine learning, artificial... Read More →

Cara Hairston

Workday System Analyst 2, Nordstrom

Cara Hairston (she/her) and I’m a System Analyst supporting the Workday application. I identify as mixed black and white, am soon to be married to my Mexican-American partner and am a proud mom of our feisty three old daughter, Lily. I studied sociology and psychology at Gonzaga... Read More →

Sponsors

Nordstrom

Wednesday April 21, 2021 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 2 — Inclusive Culture, Recording Available

1:00pm PDT

True & Courageous Allyship: Be a Better Ally, All the Time, Every Day — Supported by Highspot

What does it mean to be an ally in 2021? After the dumpster fire that was 2020, this question is even more important to understand. It is imperative to leverage our positions for the sake of our underrepresented colleagues, employees, customers, and more. During this session our panel will discuss what courageous leadership looks like in practice, ways to deepen your allyship through standing WITH , and how to stand firm in making your allyship visible.

Moderators

Padmaja Vrudhula

VP Industry Vertical Workload Solutions, Snowflake

Ms. Vrudhula leads an innovation team at Snowflake focused on developing solutions for customers which accelerate the adoption of new product capabilities related to data applications, data science, data collaboration, and data modernization. Prior to Snowflake, Padmaja spent nearly... Read More →

Speakers

Brett Greene

CEO, New Tech Northwest

Award winning innovation ecosystem builder with ADHD, a Masters degree in counseling psychology, and over 15 years of coaching hundreds of tech entrepreneurs and leaders. Brett has coached multiple companies through acquisitions, worked with multi-platinum bands, is a Forbes Top 35 Social Media Power Influencer, spoke at the White House, and will forever be the last pick on sports teams for very good reasons... Read More →

Michael Running Wolf

Software Development Engineer

Michael Running Wolf (Northern Cheyenne) has a Master’s of Science in Computer Science and is a software development engineer working on AI data pipelines. In his spare time Michael pursues indigenous language and culture reclamation using immersive technologies (AR/VR/XR), artificial... Read More →

Abhijit Kini

Head of Customer Support, Highspot

Abhijit leads the Customer Support team at Highspot, focusing on exceptional customer service, scaling the team globally, developing rockstar teammates, and driving insights back into Product. Abhijit brings deep customer passion, built on his experience from different customer touch-points... Read More →

Wednesday April 21, 2021 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 2 — Inclusive Culture, Recording Available

3:00pm PDT

Job Expo | Building Communities at Facebook

Diversity and inclusion fuel Facebook's mission of giving people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Join recruiting teams from different organizations at Facebook for a conversation about the work we do that impacts billions of people every day. They'll also share insights on how we stay connected while remote.

During this discussion, you'll have an opportunity to connect with the teams and ask your most burning questions.

WE ARE HIRING, If you are interested in being contacted by a recruiter please upload your resume to http://bit.ly/FBatWITJobs!

Moderators

Yolanda Arrey

SWE Recruiting Lead, Remote Recruiting, Facebook

A dynamic human resource professional with extensive business acumen and 8 years of progressive experience building mutually beneficial business partnerships, leading highly effective teams and delivering highly innovative strategies to promote accountability and awareness around... Read More →

Speakers

Olivia Luong

Leadership Recruiter, Facebook

Software Engineering Leadership Recruiter

Bill Haughney

University Recruiter on Early Talent Recruiting, Facebook

Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Join Facebook and our growingfamily of apps/services (e.g. Instagram, Oculus, WhatsApp). We're moving fast, making an impact, and justgetting started. Learn more at www.facebook.com/careers

Nina Magen

Technical Leadership Recruiter, Facebook

Experienced Technical Recruiter with a demonstrated history of working in the Tech industry. Skilled in finding purple squirrels and tactically hunting unicorns along with anything involving the almighty cloud. Coding Academy completion in Python, AWS, and all things open source! Connecting... Read More →

Wednesday April 21, 2021 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

4:30pm PDT

The Sails Are Set – Where to Next? An Interactive Workshop to Create Your Personal Vision — Supported by ServiceNow

As a Leader, a well-articulated Vision is vital to all that we do. And having that Vision come from you and your team is critical to create a sense of belonging and alignment. Join Siraj Sirajuddin and Susan Gibson in this 90 min. workshop where we’ll explore past influences and clean our slate of all that baggage that’s been sabotaging us, so that we can get to the good stuff! Articulating our personal visions and creating an action plan to put that vision into motion.

Speakers

Susan Gibson

Co-Founder & CEO, Temenos+Agility

With over forty years’ experience in the tech industry – from developer to project manager and pioneering Agile Transformation coach to Temenos Facilitator, Susan consistently seeks ways to bring authenticity and compassion to software and product delivery. Following the Agile... Read More →

Siraj Sirajuddin

Temenos+Agility

Siraj Sirajuddin has 30+ years of experience with people, start-ups, communities and large institutions that are always changing.He evangelizes a human centered approach called Temenos (including Influence Maps, Supplication, The Interview, Clean Slate, True Personal Vision and Compelling... Read More →

Sponsors

ServiceNow

ServiceNow delivers digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity. This is the future of work. Experience the power of the Now Platform.

Wednesday April 21, 2021 4:30pm - 6:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 4 — Leadership, Recording Available

6:30pm PDT

Walk it Out With a Leader | Interviewing as Your Authentic Self: How to Keep Your Core Values at the Forefront of Your Job Search— Supported by Snap Inc.

More than a year into pandemic life, and we're definitely feeling that trauma-induced brain fog. But what if the key to unlocking your creativity and clearing your head was as easy as lacing up your tennies and heading outside? Studies show that walking makes you twice as creative as sitting behind a desk—there are real benefits to your brain (not to mention your body) while your feet are moving.

Today’s port is all about inclusive culture, so this session will start with our industry leader Tammarrian Rogers sharing their perspective and experience, which you'll listen to as you walk. (No cheating, even if it’s raining!)

Join Tammarrian Rogers as she shares her story of how she was able to land a job at Snap Inc. while still holding true to her values and presenting her authentic self. Learn how maintaining your own core values can help you succeed in your job search and beyond! Tammarrian will also discuss how her path has led her to her new role as an Inclusion Engineering Director.

You'll then break out into a one-on-one conversation with another participant, giving you the opportunity to network while you walk-and-talk. Ultimately, we want you exploring your neighborhood, your city, your culture, your mindset, your likes and dislikes. Clear that fog and let the sun shine in!

Speakers

Chanise Simms-Robinson

Diversity Equity & Inclusion Program Manager II, Snap Inc

Chanise Simms-Robinson earned her Bachelors in Social Welfare from the University of Washington and her Masters of Social Work with a concentration in Business from USC. Immediately after graduation, Chanise begin working in the veteran recruiting space as an Employer Relations... Read More →

Tammarrian Rogers

Engineering Director, Inclusion, Snap Inc.

Tammarrian Rogers (she/her/hers) brings nearly 30 years of engineering leadership experience at Microsoft, Apple, and General Motors. She is currently Engineering Director, Inclusion at Snap, Inc. located in Santa Monica, CA. Tammarrian is one of few in the technology sector leading... Read More →

Wednesday April 21, 2021 6:30pm - 7:30pm PDT
Walking Outside

Walki-Talki, Recording Available

8:00pm PDT

Ompractice Decompress and Rest with Ashley

Wind down from your day with a fluid flow, paced to first build heat in the body, then calm the breath and mind with grounded poses to promote mindful rest.
Class Level: all levels
Ease/Intensity: Gentle – slow sustained movements on mat
Props: Have a bolster folded blanket or pillow handy, two blocks and a strap are welcome too, but are not required for this class.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.

"Register for your class for free with the promo code WITREGATTA at checkout. In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with the same code."

https://www.ompractice.com/class/decompress-rest-50-min-with-ashley-corbin-teich-wed-11pm-et-8pm-pt/

Speakers

Ashley Corbin-Teich

Teacher, Ompractice

Ashley Corbin-Teich has been practicing yoga since she was a teenager and has been teaching since 2007. She completed her 200-hour training at Kripalu with Priti Robyn Ross and Randal Williams, her 85-hour prenatal training at Sacred Shape with Summer Quashie and James Bae, and her... Read More →

Wednesday April 21, 2021 8:00pm - 9:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

7:00am PDT

Ompractice Breathwork with Eric Brown

Pranayama is the yogic science of breathing. In yoga, breathing is considered the link between mind, body and spirt. This energizing and calming practice includes simple, mindful movements and different breathing techniques to help improve lung capacity, settle and clear the mind, gently energize the body, and balance the brain and nervous system.
Class Level: All levels
Ease/Intensity: Simple, mindful movements (mostly seated)
Props: a meditation cushion or pillow is recommended but not required, a chair may also be used
About Your Teacher: Eric Brown began practicing yoga and meditation in 1983 in search of self-healing. He’s studied many styles of yoga including Ashtanga, Kripalu, Pranakriya, Kundalini, Yin and Power/Vinyasa Flow while living in Los Angeles. His classes are an eclectic blend of those experiences. Eric is an E-RYT 500/YACEP and holds multiple yoga teaching certifications with over 1500 hrs of training.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.

"Register for your class for free with the promo code WITREGATTA at checkout. In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with the same code."

https://www.ompractice.com/class/breathwork-with-eric-brown-30-min-thurs-10am-et-7am-pt/

Speakers

Eric Brown

Teacher, Ompractice

Thursday April 22, 2021 7:00am - 7:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

8:00am PDT

The Role of Diversity in Building Inclusive Healthcare Technology and Clinical Trials — Supported by Bristol Myers Squibb

Diverse clinical trial datasets representative of our communities have the power to shape future scientific discoveries and drive innovative new therapeutic approaches for patients with serious disease. Yet, Black, Latinx and people of color make up only a small fraction of clinical trial participants in the U.S. today. How can data and technology intersect with clinical research and patient engagement to improve clinical trial diversity? From applying data to scientific discovery in an equitable way to building inclusive healthcare technology and extending the reach of clinical trials into underserved communities, explore this topic from the perspective of those working in biopharma, data and technology, clinical research and patient advocacy.

Moderators

Heidi Zhang

VP, Cell Therapy Product & Analytical Development, Bristol Myers Squibb

Speakers

Samar Noor

Head of Statistical Programming, Bristol Myers Squibb

With a passion for people, innovation and simplicity, Samar T. Noor brings over 18 years of experience in leadership, vision and technical knowledge. She currently holds and has held multiple roles in technical leadership, most recently heading Statistical Programming and Technologies... Read More →

Megan-Claire Chase

Marketing Specialist | Blogger | Advocate, GRYT Health

Megan-Claire Chase, also known as Warrior Megsie, is a 5-year breast cancer survivor in Atlanta, GA. She is a sought-after influencer, speaker, and blogger in the Young Adult Cancer community both nationally and internationally. Her blog, Life on the Cancer Train, is about her life... Read More →

Nina Kjellson

General Partner & Healthcare Investor, Canaan Partners

Nina Kjellson has been a General Partner at Canaan since 2015 and invests in biopharma and digital health start-ups that serve high unmet needs. She has 20 years of experience funding, growing and transacting early-stage companies. Current Canaan investments include Intrepida, Pact... Read More →

Michele Andrasik

Director, Social & Behavioral Sciences and Community Engagement, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center/HIV Vaccine Trials Network

Michele Andrasik is a clinical health psychologist. She is the Director of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Community Engagement for the Fred Hutchinson-based HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), Senior Staff Scientist in the Fred Hutchinson... Read More →

Thursday April 22, 2021 8:00am - 9:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 3 — Biotech & Healthcare, Recording Available

10:00am PDT

Job Expo | Our Patients are Waiting. All We're Waiting For is You - Supported by Bristol Myers Squibb

At Bristol Myers Squibb, we are inspired by a single vision – transforming patients’ lives through science. In oncology, hematology, immunology and cardiovascular disease – and one of the most diverse and promising pipelines in the industry – each of our passionate colleagues contribute to innovations that drive meaningful change. We bring a human touch to every treatment we pioneer. Join us and make a difference.

Around the world, we are passionate about making an impact on the lives of patients with serious diseases. Empowered to apply our individual talents and diverse perspectives in an inclusive culture, our shared values of passion, innovation, urgency, accountability, inclusion and integrity bring out the highest potential of each of our colleagues.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives.

Please join representatives from our Cell Therapy, Research and Development, Engineering, and Human Resources teams to learn more about working for Bristol Myers Squibb, their individual perspectives and experiences, along with plenty of opportunity to share your questions.

For all job openings: https://careers.bms.com/

Moderators

Tylin Van Ausdal

Human Resources Director, BMS

Tylin is an HR director with Bristol Myers Squibb and has a passion for connecting with people and using curiosity to solve problems. She has a future-focused mindset and is determined to help her business partners succeed.

Speakers

Marisa Randall

Director of Talent Acquisition for Global Research & Early Development, Bristol Myers Squibb

Marisa is the Director of Talent Acquisition for Global Research & Early Development at BMS. Prior to BMS, Marisa held Talent Acquisition roles at Jounce Therapeutics (Immuno-Oncology clinical stage biotech), Bioverativ (hemophilia spin-off of Biogen, acquired by Sanofi), and Biogen... Read More →

Allison Bianchi

Executive Director and head of the Emerging Platform Process Development and Technologies group in the Cell Therapy division, Bristol Myers Squibb

Allison is an Executive Director and head of the Emerging Platform Process Development and Technologies group in the Cell Therapy division at BMS. Prior to BMS, Allison led teams in process development and analytical development at Celgene, Juno Therapeutics, and Amgen doing primarily... Read More →

Claire State

Cell Therapy Rotational Program Associate, Bristol Myers Squibb

Claire graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2020 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. Upon graduation, she started working at BMS in the Cell Therapy Rotational Program (CTRP). While in the CTRP, Claire has worked in groups spanning manufacturing and development with the goal... Read More →

Thursday April 22, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

11:00am PDT

Women on Corporate Boards…and Why it Matters. — Supported by Women In Bio and Bristol Myers Squibb

As it sits currently, only 22% of the seats at life science/biotech boardroom tables are occupied by women, why is that? Diverse teams have been studied, and clear evidence proves, that the more diverse a team the better the outcomes. This panel will discuss the “Why” more women should have a seat, and the “Why Not” attitude, women need, to seek board roles. How women and men can make a change to the landscape of board service.

Moderators

Lisa Iadicicco

Executive Director, Women In Bio

Lisa is the Executive Director for the national non-profit, Women In Bio (WIB), engaging, educating, and empowering all women in the life sciences, from the classroom to the boardroom. She manages the efforts of her staff and over 400 volunteer leaders across North America... Read More →

Speakers

Karen Akinsanya

Chief Biomedical Scientist, Schrödinger

A strategic leader, drug discovery and development professional with >20 years of hands-on experience in translational science including target selection, validation, early clinical development and business development at Merck & Co. and Ferring Pharmaceuticals.Currently partnering... Read More →

Philina Lee

Senior Vice President, Head of Portfolio Strategy, Blueprint Medicines

Board Member, Fusion Pharmaceuticals2020 Boardroom Ready Alumnae

Nona Footz

Client Partner, Coulter Partners

Nona has been a steady supporter of our Boardroom Ready program for a number of years and offers valuable insight on what Boards are looking for in candidates

Thursday April 22, 2021 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 3 — Biotech & Healthcare, Recording Available

12:00pm PDT

Job Expo | Up Close & Personal with Schrödinger

Schrödinger brings together experts from Tech, Pharma, and Materials Development to achieve its mission to improve human health and quality of life. Join us for a panel discussion about the unique career opportunities available at our company! We’re also harnessing this platform for our internal drug discovery and materials development programs.

Learn more here.

Job openings: https://www.schrodinger.com/careers

Moderators

Lauren Jennings

Strategic Growth Associate, Schrödinger

Lauren Jennings is a Strategic Growth Associate who joined Schrödinger in February of 2020. In her current role, she ensures that the candidate experience in the virtual world is an exceptional one. LJ comes from a background in TV & Film Production as a writer, director and pro... Read More →

Caitlin Morris

Strategic Growth Senior Associate, Schrödinger

Caitlin Morris is a Strategic Growth Principal Associate originally hailing from St. Petersburg, Florida. She joined the recruitment team at Schrödinger's headquarters in New York City in 2015 and currently continues her work with them from Los Angeles. In addition to seeking and... Read More →

Speakers

Nastassia Carmona

Systems Administrator, Schrödinger

Nastassia Carmona has 12 years experience in the IT industry that spans different roles and environments in the techspace from working as a subcontractor for the Dept of Education to DevOps and Systems Administration in startups and midsize companies. Currently she’s working at... Read More →

Ploy Nitipiyaroj

Data Scientist I, Schrödinger

Ploy Nitipiyaroj currently works as a Data Scientist I for the Data Team at Schrödinger. Alongside data curation and analysis, Schrödinger's Data team is constantly developing new tools to streamline our interaction with large quantities of scientific data. This allows the team... Read More →

Lenna Peterson

Senior Developer I, Schrödinger

Lenna Peterson is a Python GUI developer at Schrödinger. She joined the company in 2017 after a BA in Biology from Mount Holyoke College and a PhD in Computational Structural Biology from Purdue University. She started programming in high school, became a contributor to the Biopython... Read More →

Bernandie Jean

Senior Scientist, Schrödinger

Bernandie Jean is a Senior Scientist at Schrödinger, helping to develop software on the Prime team. She joined the company in 2020. She received her Ph.D. in Computational Biochemistry from Duquesne University. Afterward, she was a Postdoctoral fellow at Stony Brook University, where... Read More →

Sponsors

Schrödinger

Our physics-based computational platform leverages a deep understanding of physics, chemistry, and predictive modeling to accelerate innovation.Our platform enables our collaborators to discover high-quality, novel molecules more rapidly, at lower cost, and we believe with a higher... Read More →

Thursday April 22, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

1:00pm PDT

How Human Centered Design Addresses Equity, Access, Data, Cost & Transparency — Supported by Cambia Health Solutions

In the wake of COVID, there is an opportunity to address health care inefficiencies brought to light during this crisis, particularly those facing women. Learn more about how health care entities can innovate and work better together, bringing new technology and thinking to address issues like health equity and costs.

Moderators

Kilaa Slaughter-Scott

Project Manager - Business Strategy & Emerging Products, Cambia Health Solutions

Speakers

Nancy Douyon

Global Design Ethicist & Product Philosopher

Nancy Douyon is a trailblazer in human experience design with over 15 years of industry experience building scalable user research platforms and revitalizing user interfaces at leading companies such as Uber, Google, IBM, Cisco, and Intel. Throughout her career, Nancy has gained a... Read More →

Cale Thompson

Director Human Centered Design, Journi

Cale partners with Journi’s leadership team to build product/service strategies that drive organizational alignment around the delivery of lasting, differentiated value. After more than a decade consulting for Fortune 500 companies and startups he led Customer Experience Innovation... Read More →

Alison Greco

Senior Director of HealthSparq One Product, User Experience Design and Research, HealthSparq

Alison began her career at Aon Hewitt in the health care industry, transitioned into software user research at Microsoft, and after completing her doctorate in clinical psychology, is now bringing the two worlds together at HealthSparq. She uses customers’ voices to influence strategy... Read More →

Meghann Dryer

Head of Design, Evidation

Meg has spent her entire career using Human-Centered Design to create products, experiences and companies that improve consumer's lives. She's worked in many different industries - everything from retail to healthcare at the likes of IDEO, Nike, and Cambia. She's currently Head of... Read More →

Thursday April 22, 2021 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 3 — Biotech & Healthcare, Recording Available

3:00pm PDT

Job Expo | Up Close & Personal with Parametric

We think it beats off-the-shelf every time. If you feel the same way, we’d love to talk with you. We’re leaders in custom investment solutions, engineering unique portfolios that respond to what matters to our clients, whether that’s tax, responsible investing, or tailored market exposures. Join our team as we build a scalable cloud-based platform to stay ahead of rapid growth in our business. And discover how you can customize your career at Parametric. Learn more.

Job openings at the company:
Senior Software Engineer - Cloud Native Services (Seattle or New York, NY location)
Principal Software Engineer - Digital Platform (Seattle or New York, NY)
QA Engineer ( Seattle)
More openings can be found at:
https://eatonvance.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Parametric/1/refreshFacet/318c8bb6f553100021d223d9780d30be

Moderators

Toni Baffo

Senior Talent Acquisition Partner, Parametric

Toni is a Senior Talent Acquisition Partner at Parametric focusing primarily on senior level and technology recruiting.

Speakers

Mary Panza

Director - Development Services, Parametric Portfolio Associates

Mary has filled a variety of roles in software development teams during her career. She enjoys finding ways to bring efficiency and visibility to just about any process, using Agile methods even before she knew what Agile was. She currently works for a Seattle area financial services... Read More →

Nicole Sonett

Lead BI Analyst, Parametric

Nicole is the Business Intelligence Analyst for Parametric, building a culture of embedded experts throughout the company. She supports executives with analytics, leads a center of excellence, and provides one-on-one training. Prior to Parametric, Nicole worked at the Metropolitan... Read More →

Stephanie Nicolai

Managing Director: Process, Resilience, and Execution, Parametric

Positive leader able to define and communicate clear and comprehensive strategic vision, work to translate that vision into systems objectives, and then drive these solutions to production. Results oriented executive with a demonstrated track record of seamlessly driving issues and... Read More →

Basak Bakirci

Senior Business System Analyst, Parametric

Thursday April 22, 2021 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT

Job Expo, Recording Available

4:00pm PDT

Data Sharing is the Key to Health Care Transformation - Supported by Cambia Health Solutions

Interoperability isn’t just a buzz word in health care; it’s changing the way people experience the health care system. Learn more about bipartisan and nationwide efforts underway from public to private entities addressing data sharing in health care.

Moderators

Dr. Marion Couch

Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Cambia Health Solutions

Speakers

Jocelyn Keegan

Payer Practice Lead, Point-of-Care Partners

Jocelyn is a pragmatic leader who understands how to create, support and develop teams that build software products and solutions. Her ability to shape up a challenge, identify how to get tactical and where to take a breath to align to longer term strategy makes her a valuable team... Read More →

Latoya Thomas

Director of Policy and Government Affairs, Doctor On Demand

Latoya Thomas is the Director of Policy and Government Affairs for Doctor On Demand and has a deep expertise in shaping statutory and regulatory policies nationwide that facilitate better delivery of care, cost reduction, internet connectivity and transparency between consumers, providers... Read More →

Anna Taylor, MS

Director of Operations, MultiCare Connected Care

Anna Taylor is the Director of Operations for MultiCare Connected Care and leads the operational team in the day-to-day functions of the MCC governance committee structure and stewards the business side of the value-based technology platforms and their interoperability functions... Read More →

Thursday April 22, 2021 4:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 3 — Biotech & Healthcare, Recording Available

6:00pm PDT

From Genomics to Proteomics: The Big Data Challenge - Supported by Women In Bio

Advances in the tech and informatics that are used to generate and process large biological data sets (omics data) are creating a significant shift in the biomedical sciences. Genomics and Proteomics, along with the rise of bioinformatics, are increasingly becoming tools biologists use to better understand the biological systems, and work to develop successful precision medicine.

Moderators

Magda Barbu, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator, Amazon.com, Inc.

Before joining Amazon.com, Inc., Dr Barbu served as the Vice President of Research at Armata Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of targeted therapeutics for the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections. Dr. Barbu combined her... Read More →

Speakers

Goldie Lui

Lead Scientist, SEngine Precision Medicine

Goldie Lui has 10 years of experience in the fields of precision medicine and oncology drug development, bridging research to and from the clinic to provide better therapies for patients. She is currently a Lead Scientist at SEngine Precision Medicine, a precision oncology company... Read More →

Franziska Seeger

Sr. Scientist, Novo Nordisk

Dr. Franziska Seeger is a protein biophysicist who is passionate about applying data science to pressing problems in biomedicine. During her PhD, Franziska elucidated the activation mechanism of an important drug target for cardiovascular diseases. Her fascination for proteins and... Read More →

Mi-Youn Brusniak

Director, Optides and Bioinformatics, Fred Hutch

Mi-Youn Brusniak received Ph.D. as a computational chemist from the college of pharmacy at the University of Texas Austin.She is currently working as a bioinformatics and data scientist at FHCRC as a bioinformatics director for Optides Protein Science project in clinical division.She... Read More →

Sponsors

Women in Bio

Women In Bio was established in 2002 to help women entrepreneurs and executives in the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia area build successful bioscience-related businesses.The founders of WIB: Cynthia W. Hu, Robbie Melton, Anne Mathias, and Elizabeth Grey wanted to provide a forum for women to come together to celebrate and support each other's success, and in so doing created a dynamic and invaluable forum for the local community. The mission of WIB expanded several years later, with a vision to grow it to an organization w... Read More →

Thursday April 22, 2021 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 3 — Biotech & Healthcare, Recording Available

7:15pm PDT

Walk it Out With a Leader

Join Sam Tackeff as she looks west, and leads her walk from Boston – with a conversation around building for ACCESS in healthcare and beyond. If we are looking to build population health solutions, how do we make sure that everyone is at the table? How do we design our systems more collaboratively and inclusively?

You'll hear about some of the work she's been leading at Ompractice through partnerships with the Department of Veterans Affairs, payors, providers, and tackling new solutions for continuing care retirement communities. Her focus is designing health solutions for cross-sectional audiences. How do we best serve a whole community? Patients, employees, and staff, and the neighborhood at large.

More than a year into pandemic life, and we're definitely feeling that trauma-induced brain fog. But what if the key to unlocking your creativity and clearing your head was as easy as lacing up your tennies and heading outside? Studies show that walking makes you twice as creative as sitting behind a desk—there are real benefits to your brain (not to mention your body) while your feet are moving.

Today’s port is all about Biotech and Healthcare, so this session will start with Sam Tackeff sharing their perspective and experience, which you'll listen to as you walk. (No cheating, even if it’s raining!) You'll then break out into a one-on-one conversation with another participant, giving you the opportunity to network while you walk-and-talk. Ultimately, we want you exploring your neighborhood, your city, your culture, your mindset, your likes and dislikes. Clear that fog and let the sun shine in!

Speakers

Molly Angel

The approach I take is rooted in the local culture and customs of the company.I am a change management expert with extensive experience in operations and change management specializing in implementation of healthcare, technology and for other complex environments.Working in many corporate... Read More →

Sam Tackeff

Co-Founder, Ompractice

Sam Tackeff is the Co-Founder of Ompractice, the leading two-way video yoga and wellness platform for large organizations, and teams. Ompractice has been building virtual yoga and wellness at scale since 2018, and partners with companies like AARP, Harvard Pilgrim, and the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Their north star is serving people who the wellness industry has historica... Read More →

Thursday April 22, 2021 7:15pm - 8:15pm PDT

Walki-Talki, Recording Available

4:00pm PDT

Ompractice Peaceful Flow Deep Stretch with Reggie Hubbard

Reggie’s class combines breath work, deep stretch and relaxation, grounding and humor to share the full benefits of yoga – physically, emotionally and spiritually. Students feel more calm and balanced at a resting state and are better able to receive life’s challenges and blessings with equanimity and grace.
Class Level: All levels
Ease/Intensity: Gentle – slow sustained movements on mat
Props: Blocks, straps, and blankets are always welcome

About Your Teacher: Reggie is an RYT- 500 certified instructor who began his yoga journey in the midst of a toxic work environment, finding peace of mind and equanimity through disciplined practice. His life is a testament to the power of the practice to strengthen inner peace and mental flexibility in addition to the physical benefits of asana. Reggie teaches a variety of flows, mostly hatha-style, that combine deep breath, postural alignment and fluid motion – all that is required is a willingness to try something new and not take yourself so seriously.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.

"Register for your class for free with the promo code WITREGATTA at checkout. In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with the same code."

https://www.ompractice.com/class/peaceful-flow-deep-stretch-deep-relaxation-with-reggie-hubbard-60-min-fri-7pm-et-4pm-pt/

Speakers

Reggie Hubbard

Teacher, Ompractice

Reggie's yoga and meditation journey was born of curiosity and compassionate invitation by dear friends; forged in adversity due to a toxic, psychologically abusive employment situation; and has become a lesson in surrender to the miracles that exist in commitment to personal peace... Read More →

Friday April 23, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

5:00pm PDT

Ompractice Decompress and Rest with Jess Haynes

Wind down from your day with a fluid flow, paced to first build heat in the body, then calm the breath and mind with grounded poses to promote mindful rest.
Class Level: all levels
Ease/Intensity: Gentle – slow sustained movements on mat

About Your Teacher: Jessica took her first yoga class near her college town in Michigan and fell in love with yoga. Through her journey she found that yoga always helped to center her and she fully supports allowing yoga to be fun and rewarding. Jessica enjoys teaching Gentle Yoga, Wellness, Fitness and Relaxation Themed Classes to people of all ages and body types. Based in Oahu, Hawaii, she loves to share the aloha spirit and the unifying gifts of yoga.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.

"Register for your class for free with the promo code WITREGATTA at checkout. In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with the same code."

https://www.ompractice.com/class/decompress-rest-50-min-with-jessica-sat-8pm-et/

Speakers

Jess Haynes

Teacher, Ompractice

One of Jessica's first yoga classes was near her college town in Michigan, where she found her breath and fell in love with yoga. She later became a full time teacher and academic coach focused on benchmarks, adventure and travel. Through her journey she found that yoga always helped... Read More →

Saturday April 24, 2021 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

9:00am PDT

Ompractice Vinyasa with Chanel Sledge

"Register for your class for free with the promo code WITREGATTA at checkout. In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with the same code."
https://www.ompractice.com/class/vinyasa-with-chanel-60-min-mon-12pm-et-9am-pt/

Flow through a creative sequence of poses focusing on linking conscious breath to fluid movement to awaken your strength, energy, and flexibility. Leave feeling grounded and invigorated!

Class Level: All levels
Ease/Intensity: Moderate – you’ll get a great workout, and still have energy after class

About Your Teacher: Chanel is a RYT-200 certified instructor who started her yoga journey when she injured her knee and her physical therapist suggested yoga as a form of healing. At first she thought yoga was going to just “stretching” but quickly learned about it brought far more benefits both emotionally and physically. Chanel teaches a vinyasa (flow) style class that encourages her students to try new things in a non-judgemental environment.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.

Speakers

Chanel Sledge

Teacher, Ompractice

I was not always a lover of yoga. It all came about through a knee injury after years of running track and gymnastics. I was diagnosed with chondromalacia patella and was told that I would never be able to run again. It was my physical therapist’s suggestion that I try yoga while... Read More →

Monday April 26, 2021 9:00am - 10:00am PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

12:00pm PDT

Beta Launch of WiT Regatta's NEW community — a modern walking club

Join our founder Melody Biringer and learn about our brand NEW community club. This will be a zoom information call (not a walk).

Are you loving the WiT Regatta and want more? We have designed a way to continue the conversations, deepen our relationships with each other and meet new friends throughout the year.

There's a Latin phrase—solvitur ambulando—which means “it is solved by walking.” Virginia Woolf walked through her writer’s block. Beethoven took walking breaks to spur creativity. Some of the world’s most successful executives take important meetings on foot. New moms everywhere know how connected you can feel to the world just by taking a stroll around the block (with or without a stroller).

We know what you’re thinking: “I don’t speak Latin, my creative place is the coffee shop on the corner, and all my meetings are conducted over screens these days. Also, the outside world is overrated.” But what if we told you something as simple as walking could be… transformative?

Enter Loop a modern walking club, a new community of literal movers and shakers with the desire to expand and diversify their network, who “meet” over steps in the street instead of over drinks at the bar (though we haven’t totally given up on happy hour). Whether you’re a marathoner or haven’t managed to find time to exercise in years, Loop is a safe virtual space to boost your energy, generate new ideas, and discover fresh perspectives by simply moving your body. It’s also an opportunity to get looped in on how other leaders—advocates, influencers, and anyone dissatisfied with the status quo—are dealing with some of the same struggles and successes in their professional and personal lives. It’s an opportunity to celebrate vulnerability and strength. Because Loop is a community of discerning, experienced problem-solvers, we don’t need intimidating celebrity speakers—just everyday people sharing ideas in an intimate, audio-only (video-optional) environment.

The goal is simple: To move your body to fuel your mind, connect more fully with yourself—and others—by connecting with the world outside. Studies show you’re twice as creative while out walking as you are slumped behind your desk. And you need those big ideas to make the most of your big life. Maybe some days you’ll lace up those sneakers to strategize your next career move. Maybe you’ll meet your new BFF chatting about a shared love of Thai food. Or maybe you simply want to stroll and listen in on gardening advice. It doesn’t matter why you show up, only that you do. Loop is about building community, and building you up from wherever you’re starting.

Speakers

Melody Biringer

Founder, Women in Tech Regatta

Melody Biringer is a self-proclaimed “connection engineer,” a serial entrepreneur who has built a career around building communities for women to thrive. She is the founder of the acclaimed Crave Company, where she's spent more than 20 years encouraging women to have fun while... Read More →

Monday April 26, 2021 12:00pm - 12:45pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Walki-Talki

6:00am PDT

Ompractice Power Yoga with Lisa Rischitelli

"Register for your class for free with the promo code WITREGATTA at checkout. In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with the same code."
https://www.ompractice.com/class/power-yoga-50-min-tues-9am-et/

In this Vinyasa-based class, connect breath to movement while building strength and stability in static poses and playing with challenging pose variations. Expect to sweat, breath, and push your limits.

Class Level: Multi-level – some yoga experience recommended
Ease/Intensity: Vigorous – prepare to breathe hard, have your heart rate up, and get sweaty

About Your Teacher: Lisa is a seasoned yogi completing her 200-hour certification with YogaWorks in New York in 2010 and finished her 300-hour certification with Grace Morales in North Carolina in 2014. She is currently registered with Yoga Alliance as an E-RYT 500 and YACEP and has logged more than 2,000 teaching hours. Additionally, Lisa co-leads Hot Asana Yoga University 200- and 300-hour trainings with Virginia Gallagher in both domestic and international locations and currently serves as Teaching Director at Hot Asana Yoga Studio & Boutique, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.

Speakers

Lisa Rischitelli

Teacher, Ompractice

Lisa Rischitelli strives to ignite power and energy, inspire tranquility through breath and intention, and challenge students to find their intelligent edge, with classes that emphasize inclusive alignment, playfulness, and compassion.Lisa completed her 200-hour certification with... Read More →

Tuesday April 27, 2021 6:00am - 7:00am PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

8:00am PDT

Deep Dive on Empathy: How (and Why) to Bring More Compassion to Your Work — Supported by Facebook

Discover why empathy is the key to unlocking greater awareness and fulfillment for your biggest dreams for yourself, your communities, and the world.
In this session, creative facilitators Jyoti Patel & Emily Griffin from The Empathy Tour shine the spotlight on empathy, heart and compassion in business, and how you can cultivate it in your career and workplace.

You’ll hear stories from featured business leaders on the panel, and get energized with a guided exploration of how to answer the call for bold leadership, play with the power of creative action, and envision the potential of evolutionary business.

Moderators

Emily Griffin

Experience Designer & Facilitator, Emily Griffin & Co

Emily Griffin is a digital media pioneer with 20+ years of expertise leading global teams in entertainment and technology. She creates vibrant experiences that enliven people and help businesses flourish.Her love of innovation was established as a radio/club DJ, fostering community... Read More →

Jyoti Patel

Principal and Owner, Spille LLC

Jyoti Jani Patel, is Principal and Owner of Spille LLC. She strengthens leaders and teams through teaching empathy, playfulness, & systems thinking.Via her agency, Spille, she designs and delivers experiences that address the systemic barriers to progress she experienced during her... Read More →

Speakers

Maria Ross

Speaker, Author, Strategist, Empathy Advocate, Red Slice LLC

Maria Ross is a speaker, facilitator, author, and empathy advocate who believes cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive. She’s spent decades helping forward-thinking leaders and teams connect and engage through empathy to accelerate growth and impact. Maria... Read More →

Corey Edwards

Regional Director, Northwest, Western Governors University

Corey Edwards is a visionary leader in higher education and entrepreneur. Named the Northwest Regional Director for Western Governors University in June 2020, Edwards helps guide the strategic direction of the nonprofit, online university and further raise its profile among prospective... Read More →

Fiona Fung

Engineering Director, Oculus, Facebook

Fiona is an Engineering Director supporting the XROS engineering team at Facebook, building the OS and Platform for FB’s AR and VR devices. She was previously at Facebook Seattle where her passion was connecting people through buying and selling on Marketplace. Prior to Facebook... Read More →

Tuesday April 27, 2021 8:00am - 9:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 4 — Leadership, Recording Available

10:00am PDT

Job Expo | Up Close & Personal with Nordstrom-Technology

Learn what it is like to work in Technology at Nordstrom as well as have a chance to hear about open opportunities from our recruiters.

Moderators

Christian Richardson

Senior Program Manager, Marketplace Inclusion, Nordstrom

Christian is a Senior Program Manager on Nordstrom’s Diversity Inclusion and Belonging team, where she looks after the Marketplace Pillar. She aligns with various business partners to improve Nordstrom's diverse footprint in the marketplace — including supply chain diversity... Read More →

Speakers

Nicole Otten

Technical Recruiter - Data and Analytical Services, Nordstrom

Nicole Otten is a Technical Recruiter supporting the Nordstrom Analytical Platform space, hiring engineers, program managers, and technology leaders. Nicole has been a recruiter for over 6 years hiring talent across a wide range of companies from start-ups to tech giants. As a new... Read More →

Fenia Issakhani

Talent Acquisition, Nordstrom

Fenia has been with Nordstrom for about 20+ years now, where she has held multiple roles from supporting the front end and back end of the business. She has spent the last nine years in Human Resources. Most currently in Talent Acquisition supporting Early In Career with the focus... Read More →

Adebimpe “Bimpe” Onafuwa

Director of Engineering, Nordstrom

Bimpe is currently a Director of Engineering at Nordstrom. She is responsible for the technology stack and teams that power Nordstrom's Loyalty, Gift Card, and Marketing programs.Before her role at Nordstrom, Bimpe worked at Microsoft as a Principal Program Manager. Her technology... Read More →

Joyce Chen

Sr. Director of Engineering, Nordstrom

Joyce has worked in the software industry for more than 25 years and has extensive experience building software and leading teams through change. She joined Nordstrom in 2018, spearheading its digital transformation and shifting its engineering culture. Prior to Nordstrom, Joyce... Read More →

Tuesday April 27, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

11:00am PDT

The Rise of Women in Thought Leadership — Supported by Facebook

Thought leaders are the opinion leaders and the go-to people in their field of expertise. They’re trusted sources who move and inspire people with innovative ideas, turn those ideas into reality, and show others how to replicate their successes. Who are the women leaders hugely inspiring the whole world today—and how are they doing it? Join this thoughtful discussion around how we can support women thought leaders while creating space for many more to rise.

Moderators

Kimberley Thompson

Global Diversity and Inclusion Leader

Inclusion thought leader, diversity, inclusion and equity strategist, culture changer, influencer, internal and relationship architect with over 15 + years related experience in diversity and inclusion design, management and community engagement.Currently practicing D&I in the healthcare... Read More →

Speakers

Martie K. Burris

Director of Product Management, Salesforce

Martie Burris is a creative who enjoys building products that improve people’s lives. She specializes in 0 to 100 projects, organizing chaos and empowering product teams. Currently, she's a founding product manager on Work.com, Salesforce's suite of products to tackle Covid-19... Read More →

Kim Vu

Director I Global Head Diversity, Equity + Inclusion, Remitly

Kim (she/her) is the global head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Remitly, a fintech company serving over 4 million immigrants throughout the world to conveniently send money safely and securely to their families across global borders.She has been a banking executive in the financial... Read More →

Pearl Del Rosario

VP, Business Integration, Facebook

Pearl Del Rosario is the VP of Business Integration for F2 (Facebook Financial), where she is responsible for strategic alignment and operational efficiency across payments, Novi, and cross-functional partners. She has been at Facebook for more than six years and previously led... Read More →

Tuesday April 27, 2021 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 4 — Leadership, Recording Available

1:00pm PDT

Energizing Your Crew - Using the Power of Improv to Develop Thriving Leaders and Teams — Supported by Northeastern University

1 year into living with a pandemic, working remotely and watching the line between work and home fade into the horizon, many of us are feeling stranded on the high seas with no land in sight. How can you continue to lead yourself, engage your crew, keep productivity and morale up and spark adaptability, fun and innovation in the process?

Improv combines fun and function to help leaders and teams adapt and thrive in the face of challenge and uncertainty. During this 90 minute experiential session, we’ll show you how to integrate some basic improv tools into your leadership toolkit to help boost morale and confidence, deepen connections, promote spontaneity and fun, and foster a culture of possibility, flexibility, inclusion and innovation. We’ll combine hands on exercises with short debriefs and coaching on how to apply improv in your leadership development and team building. No improv experience required. Come prepared to play.

Speakers

Julie Cotton

Founder, Next Level Improv, LLC

Julie Cotton is the Founder of Next Level Improv where she uses Multidisciplinary Integration of modalities like mindfulness and Improv to empower individuals and companies to create their highest and best reality! An Arizona native, Julie has been an actor/improviser for 35+ years... Read More →

elan Bailey

Managing Director, UpLevel People Partners

elan Bailey, MA (she/her) (small e is intentional) is a transformational leadership coach and organization development consultant. She is the founder of the UpLevel Leadership Academy and the highly regarded UpLevel My Career self-leadership and career development program. In addition... Read More →

Sponsors

Northeastern University—Seattle

Tuesday April 27, 2021 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 4 — Leadership, Recording Available

2:00pm PDT

Job Expo | Up Close and Personal with Valorem Reply

Valorem Reply is a technology and business innovation firm made up of talented and intelligent people from around the world who love to solve problems. We work with bleeding-edge technology, well-known clients and a diverse workforce to push the boundaries of technology and innovation and drive real-world impact for our customers and communities.
We strive to create an inclusive, modern environment for employees to pursue their passions and find the intersection between work and play, growth and innovation, and technology and business strategy.
We’re Experts, We’re Passionate, We’re Bold and Together, We Make Great Things Happen.

Job Openings: https://valoremreply.com/careers/

Moderators

Andre Player

Vice President, Strategic Alliances, Valorem Reply

Speakers

Erin Woodward

Data Champion – Analytics Architect, Valorem Reply

Erin has over 20 years of experience working with data across a variety of industries, including security, marketing, entertainment and life insurance, almost exclusively in the Microsoft stack. Her skills include everything designing and building ELT processes to data visualization... Read More →

Merritt Munoz

Sr UX Designer, Valorem Reply

Merritt has over 14 years of design experience and has spent the last seven years with Valorem Reply. Merritt began her career with Valorem as a Solutions Analyst and has been part of our UI/UX Team since 2016 as a UX Designer. With Merritt’s unique background focused on design... Read More →

Tuesday April 27, 2021 2:00pm - 3:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

3:00pm PDT

Job Expo | Up Close & Personal with GoDaddy

Hi, We’re GoDaddy – Come join us and hear more about some of the Women here at GoDaddy and how they got here. We’re a growing company and are looking for Trailblazers like yourselves to join us and help empower everyday entrepreneurs not only here in the US but the world!

GoDaddy is empowering everyday entrepreneurs around the world by providing all of the help and tools to succeed online. GoDaddy is the place people come to name their idea, build a professional website, attract customers, sell their products and services, and manage their work. Our mission is to give our customers the tools, insights and the people to transform their ideas and personal initiative into success. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

Job openings: TBA

Speakers

Roseanne La Force

Recruiter, GoDaddy

Joe Lawrence

Diversity Recruiting Manager, GoDaddy

Shannon Bennett

Dir - Customer Marketing, GoDaddy

Katie van Zyl

Sr. Dir – Product Management, GoDaddy

Rachel Makool

Dir – Marketing, GoDaddy

Nirmala Tatikonda

Sr. Mgr – Software Development, GoDaddy

Sonali Agrawal

Eng – Software Development, GoDaddy

I am a software engineer, and my passion for networking made me carve out a niche for myself as network software engineer working on data center deployment and maintenance. I am now trying to take up my management skills to test by trying product management as a discipline.

Laura Messerschmitt

VP – Marketing, GoDaddy

Sponsors

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is the world’s largest services platform for entrepreneurs around the globe. We’re on a mission to empower our worldwide community of 20+ million customers — and entrepreneurs everywhere — by giving them all the help and tools they need to grow online.

Tuesday April 27, 2021 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

3:00pm PDT

Walk it Out With a Leader — Supported by ServiceNow

What does leadership mean to you ? Is it a title, is it a path or it is what you might do right now ? Join Jacqueline Touma and John Villasenor from ServiceNow for a conversation on the what the many faces, obstacles and success of Women’s Leadership in tech. During this session, we will discuss leadership opportunities, motivations, career journeys and missed opportunities. Hope and intentions aren’t a plan – but are inspirations to fuel it.

Would it surprise you to know, while we have made progress on the attention to Women in Leadership in tech – the impact is still yet to be truly seen. In terms of opportunities for Women in Top Leadership titled roles it hasn’t really changed over the past 5 years. A recent report from IBM Institute for Business Value discusses leadership ranks across 10 industries and 9 Geographic regions – saying that what they found should set off alarm bells. How do you lead with a title, without a title and drive influence to impact.

Why do you want to be a leader or pursue a leadership path ? What is motivating and driving you ? Who is on your team – your sponsors, your champions and how are you doing the same for others ? Trust, communication, collaboration, mentorship and allyship all play a crucial part.

Today’s session will start with Jacquie and John co sharing perspective and experience, which you'll listen to as you walk. You'll then break out into a one-on-one conversation with another participant, giving you the opportunity to network while you walk-and-talk. Ultimately, we want you exploring your neighborhood, your city, or even your own backyard or balcony. Clear your mind and let’s get real on leadership.

Speakers

Jacqueline Touma

Strategic Technology Alliance Marketing Director, c/o ServiceNow

My heart is marketing, my head is technology and my passion is innovation. I have worked with and in organizations from Fortune 50 to Fortune 500, including a who's who of the tech world and industry titans to start-ups and individual entrepreneurs. My expertise runs deep in strategy... Read More →

John Villasenor

Sr Manager, Solution Consulting, ServiceNow

John Villasenor is a proven leader with a combined 30 years of experience in Operations, Professional Services, and Technical Pre-sales. A standards-based servant leader driven to develop teams to their greatest potential who’s primary purpose is to be successful in everything they... Read More →

Sponsors

ServiceNow

ServiceNow delivers digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity. This is the future of work. Experience the power of the Now Platform.

Tuesday April 27, 2021 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
Walking Outside

Walki-Talki, Recording Available

4:00pm PDT

Navigating the (Virtual) Room Where It Happens — Supported by Highspot

Like in Hamilton the musical, you want to be in the room where it happens! Are you tired of hearing how the pandemic has changed things? Yeah, us too but it doesn’t mean it isn’t real. The methods of influencing are necessarily changing. No longer can you simply walk down the hall and bump into colleagues or happen to run into your SVP while grabbing a bagel in the breakroom. The art of influencing must change. Strategic and intentional actions will be necessary to ensure your continued career growth. So how do you do that? Join this panel discussion to find out.

Moderators

Laura Sukorokoff

Founder, Take Charge Learning

Speakers

Devon Bennetts

Director, Engineering Operations, Highspot

Devon Bennetts leads the Engineering Operations team at Highspot, focusing on project execution, onboarding, knowledge sharing, and process optimization for Highspot’s rapidly growing Engineering, Product Management, and Design teams. Devon started her career as a Mechanical Engineer... Read More →

Chuks Onwuneme

Cofounder & CTO, Optimize Health

Arathi Ramani

Director, Engineering, Smartsheet

I have worked in software for over 17 years. I started my career at Microsoft where I worked on a number of things - rich text layout, UI platforms for the desktop, web and mobile, applications, and then services, before I made the move to working on modern SaaS platforms with a focus... Read More →

Tuesday April 27, 2021 4:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 4 — Leadership, Recording Available

6:00pm PDT

Courageous Leaders Needed: Standing Up For Yourself, Your Team, Your Company, and Your Community — Supported by Nordstrom

When you picture the worst leaders you know, what do they have in common? They likely lacked courage. Courage to be kind, courage to be transparent, courage to admit when they were wrong, courage to say no when necessary.
In a post 2020 Pandemic world, more than ever we need leaders who are unafraid to challenge the status quo, who are willing to put the mental and emotional health of their employees before profits. Courageous leaders are not immune to fear- they feel the fear and do it anyway.

How do you become such a leader? Join Jyoti Jani Patel and our panel to hear candid stories of courage, play with experiential breakout activities and learn ways you can cultivate more courage in your life and work.

Moderators

Jyoti Patel

Principal and Owner, Spille LLC

Speakers

Gayathri Venkat

Engineering Manager, Highspot

Gayathri Venkat is an Engineering manager at Highspot where her team is responsible for building Highspot's Engagement Intelligence platform. Prior to Highspot, she has worked with both enterprise and startups, gaining experience working in large and small teams. She started as a... Read More →

Jackie Hu

Senior Manager, Product Management, Nordstrom

Jackie Hu is a Senior Manager of Product Management at Nordstrom, where she leads a team working to make Nordstromrack.com the best off-price fashion destination online. Before joining Nordstrom in 2018, Jackie worked on loyalty and financing products at Wayfair, as well as in various... Read More →

Dwalu Khasu

Head of Engineering, Airbnb

Building high performance teams. Combining software and systems engineering to build and run large-scale, massively distributed, fault-tolerant systems. Exploring new processes and communication to resolve impedance mismatch between engineering and business.

Tuesday April 27, 2021 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 4 — Leadership, Recording Available

8:00am PDT

Skill | Remote Work: Making It Work For You And Your Team — Supported by Highspot

At the start of 2020 most leaders in large organizations would have said fully remote work would be disastrous. And here we are in 2021 surviving and thriving...even if we are in our leggings on the coach. AND...we still need to connect, collaborate, and share our experiences. Leaders need to adapt to leading in this virtual environment. In this session we’ll hear from several leaders who have put their own spin on leading remote teams. You will leave the session with practical tips you can implement immediately.

Moderators

Kelsey Dixon

Co-Founder + President, davies + dixon

As co-founder and president of davies + dixon, Kelsey leads the operational side of the business while working directly with clients to build marketing strategies and implementation systems. She sits on the board for the Association for Women in Events and has been named 2019 MeetingsNet... Read More →

Speakers

Andre Player

Vice President, Strategic Alliances, Valorem Reply

Linda Nguyen

Manager, Services Operations, Highspot

Linda Nguyen leads the Services Operations team at Highspot, focusing on onboarding, knowledge sharing, and process improvement for Highspot’s rapidly growing customer-facing Services team. Linda started her career working at buuteeq a Seattle-based startup specializing in providing... Read More →

Marcaé Bryant-Omosor

CyberBytzs LeadExecs CEO, MMCFA, Woodlawn Theatre & Black Cybersecurity Association Board of Directors, USAA

Mrs. Marcaé Bryant-Omosor is a Software Engineer, Speaker, Cybersecurity Ambassador, Board of Director, and CEO/Founder of CyberBytzs LeadExecs nonprofit which focuses on advancing underrepresented leaders to the boardroom and beyond thus closing cybersecurity talent equity gaps... Read More →

Sponsors

Highspot

Highspot is the sales enablement platform that reps love. We empower companies to elevate customer conversations that drive strategic growth

Wednesday April 28, 2021 8:00am - 9:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 5 — Career Acumen, Recording Available

10:00am PDT

Job Expo | Belonging at Airbnb

Create a world where anyone can belong anywhere
It’s an audacious, incredibly rewarding mission that our increasingly diverse team is dedicated to achieving.
Airbnb is built around the idea that everyone should be able to take the perfect trip, including where they stay, what they do, and who they meet. To that end, we empower millions of people around the world to use their spaces, passions, and talents to become entrepreneurs.
Exciting challenges lie ahead—new regions, technologies, and businesses. Guided by our four core values, we’ll meet these challenges creatively and with the support of our global community. Join us!

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Current job openings at AirBnB

You can also send your resume to here: https://www.dropbox.com/request/1uOqmrUTI0yb3Ga8EKma

Moderators

Desmond Meray (he/him)

Sr. Technical Recruiter, Airbnb

An observer of people, an interpreter of needs, and a framer of opportunities. Connecting people is my job and something that I enjoy. I made the transition from educator to recruiter almost 10 years ago. Since then, I've worked at both large and medium sized tech companies supporting... Read More →

Megan Rucker

Technical Recruiter, Airbnb

Speakers

Jen Dolson

Senior Engineering Manager, Airbnb

At Airbnb, Jen supports the Marketplace Dynamics team; the team impacts the success of guests, hosts and Airbnb’s business through host tools, cancellation policies, data products, and fees and monetization strategy. Prior to Airbnb, she was at Facebook, working on mobile computer... Read More →

Karen Kim

Engineering Manager, Trust & Safety, Airbnb

Karen Kim is an Engineering Manager on Trust at Airbnb, where she leads teams across Trust Platform and Data Engineering. She is responsible for providing online and offline infrastructure to enable detection and mitigation of fraud and safety incidents at scale. In addition, she... Read More →

Rachel Zhao

Head of Engineering, Search Product, Airbnb

Jenny Chen

Host Tools Platform Engineering, Airbnb

Amelia Good

Engineering Manager, Airbnb

Brindha Ramakrishnan (she/her)

Senior Engineering Manager, Trust & Safety, Airbnb, Inc.

Brindha leads Safety Engineering at Airbnb, Inc. and is responsible for building products that keep guests, hosts and the community safe from personal and property harms. She has been working in the tech industry for more than 20 years and has extensive experience building software... Read More →

Wednesday April 28, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

11:00am PDT

What Would Chad Do?™ Negotiate, Navigate & Neutralize Situations — Supported by ServiceNow

Our collective female experience, backed by research, shows women and men behave differently in the workplace, at women’s expense. Studies show women tend to follow the rules more closely than men, do not push for salary increases at the same rate as men, and underestimate the value of networking to get ahead. During this session learn from experienced leaders on how to negotiate, navigate and neutralize these situations. Let’s take a page out of our male colleagues’ playbook and ask ourselves “#whatwouldchaddo?”

Moderators

Sharolyn Wynter

Founder and CEO, Xpat, Inc.

Sharolyn Wynter is the founder and CEO of Xpat, Inc. and creator of The Xpat App. The Xpat App is the first and only app that caters to the unique needs and interests of the global Black expat community. Her platform focuses on enhancing the Black experience abroad through knowledge... Read More →

Speakers

Nick Peddy

Managing Director, Engineering, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Nick Peddy is a technology leader, software engineer, international speaker and advocate. He has had the opportunity to impact and shape teams at large companies like Amazon, PayPal, and Capital One. He's also worn many hats at small companies and built furiously in the surreal odyssey... Read More →

Catherine Gill

Managing Director, Center for Inclusive Computing, Northeastern University - Seattle

Catherine is managing director for Northeastern’s Center for Inclusive Computing, where she oversees strategic partnerships and business development. The Center’s mission is to substantially increase the representation of women undergraduates majoring in computing nationally... Read More →

Ying Zhao

Sr. Director, Supply Chain Mgmt, Servicenow, Inc

Ying is 18+ years of professional in supply chain management with an accounting background.Ying currently is Sr. Director for Cloud Supply Chain Operation at ServiceNow. She has been with the company for 9 years and grew the function from cloud hardware procurement to manage its cloud... Read More →

Wednesday April 28, 2021 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 5 — Career Acumen, Recording Available

1:00pm PDT

Navigating Big Tech - Recruiting/Resilience/Reskilling in the Era of COVID — Supported by Facebook

Before COVID forced us to rethink where we work, some knowledge jobs already had a remote component to them. But in today’s era of remote work, most people who have the ability to work remotely are doing so. Companies are dealing with distributed workforces—and the challenges that come with those shifts—on a larger scale than ever before.

How are recruiters, hiring managers, and employees navigating this change? How have day-to-day jobs and productivity levels changed? When we can go back to the office, will we? And should we? Learn more about this impact on the way work while hearing more about the skills and techniques to succeed in this new environment.

Moderators

Padmaja Vrudhula

VP Industry Vertical Workload Solutions, Snowflake

Speakers

Shawanda Walker

Sourcing Lead, Business Recruiting, Facebook

Bill Kirst

Senior Principal & Digital Change Lead, West Monroe

Dele Downs Kooley

Senior Human Resources Program Manager, D&I Global Talent Acquisitions Excellence, Microsoft

Hi, my name is Dele Downs Kooley. Sounds like Deli and is short for Ayodele which means “joy comes to the home”. I am a mom to five amazing humans and bonus mom of two. They range in ages from 29 to 13 years and collectively make me a better person. I have two dogs Winston... Read More →

Wednesday April 28, 2021 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 5 — Career Acumen, Recording Available

1:30pm PDT

Walk it Out With a Leader | Simply Imagine

More than a year into pandemic life, and we're definitely feeling that trauma-induced brain fog. But what if the key to unlocking your creativity and clearing your head was as easy as lacing up your tennies and heading outside? Studies show that walking makes you twice as creative as sitting behind a desk—there are real benefits to your brain (not to mention your body) while your feet are moving.

Today’s port is all about career acumen, so this session will start with an industry leader,Bhavana Bartholf sharing their perspective and experience, which you'll listen to as you walk. (No cheating, even if it’s raining!)
Please join us for this dynamic session where Microsoft USA Chief Transformation Officer Bhavana Bartholf will talk about her personal and professional journey. She’ll cover everything from empowering lessons she learned from her grandfather while growing up as a girl in India – where gender specific roles and expectations typically prevailed. “My grandfather taught me to Simply Imagine what is possible by simply challenging the status quo,” Bhavana says. She also will share in detail what she has learned during the 20 years (and 11 roles) she has served in as a leader at Microsoft. Topics she will explore are her thoughts on why we don’t see more women today in leadership, yet “women deal with change better than everyone else”. Bhavana believes now more than ever, this is our time to be bold and step up, and is here to encourage all of us to Simply Imagine what you would do if you thought you could?

You'll then break out into a one-on-one conversation with another participant, giving you the opportunity to network while you walk-and-talk. Ultimately, we want you exploring your neighborhood, your city, your culture, your mindset, your likes and dislikes. Clear that fog and let the sun shine in!

Moderators

Catharine Gately

C-level Communications Strategist & Executive Personal Brands, Simplicity Consulting

I work with C-level tech executives and global luminaries to discover, strategize, create, and deliver their most powerful narratives to drive business results and inspire audiences to action. I believe Narrative is a strategy, Storytelling is a skill, and everyone is a storyteller... Read More →

Speakers

Bhavana Bartholf

Global Head of Strategy for Digital and Sales Enablement, Microsoft

Bhavana Bartholf is the Global Head of Strategy for Digital and Sales Enablement, Microsoft, where she serves as a leader driving consistency in operations on the Microsoft Solutions team, an organization dedicated to partnering with customers as they transform into successful digital... Read More →

Wednesday April 28, 2021 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
Walking Outside

Walki-Talki, Recording Available

3:00pm PDT

Job Expo | How Software Can Enable Greater Accessibility and Equity - Supported by ServiceNow

Learn how existing and emerging technologies can be used with purpose and design to increase equity in the workplace and make high wage careers accessible to people from all walks of life. The rise of artificial intelligence, machine learning, remote collaboration tools, robotic process automation and others can be used with diversity and inclusion in mind to make the world of work a better place for all.
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ServiceNow is making the world of work, work better for people. Our cloud‑based platform and solutions deliver digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity for employees and the enterprise.
We’re growing fast, innovating faster, and making an impact on our customers’ and employees’ lives in significant and important ways. With over ~6,900 customers, we serve approximately 80% of the Fortune 500, and we’re on the 2020 list of FORTUNE World’s Most Admired Companies.® Help us build on our incredible momentum, our diverse, engaged workforce, and our purpose to make the world of work, work better.

Interested in innovation and inclusion? You belong here.

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Job openings:

Speakers

Sri Vattikuti

Senior Manager, Software Quality Engineering, ServiceNow Inc

Manisha Arora

Director, Innovation Office, ServiceNow

Amelia Kwan

Services Account Executive, Customer Outcomes, ServiceNow

Customer obsessed and excel in helping companies solve business challenges through the implementation of emerging technologies. The successes are due to an incredible circle of personal and professional mentors, strong work ethic, team focus, and tirelessly positive attitude to consistently... Read More →

Ritika Goyal

Engineering Manager, ServiceNow

Griselle Paz

Senior Manager, Diversity & Inclusion Recruiting Programs, ServiceNow

Griselle has 20 years’ experience leading HR, recruiting and diversity hiring initiatives at ServiceNow, Deloitte, Bristol Myers Squibb and Cisco to name a few. She has extensive experience and expertise in Diversity recruiting and has built and managed strategies in collaboration... Read More →

Shirl DeOliviera

Senior Recruiter, Servicenow

Bharat Ranjan

Sr Dir, Data Center and Network Engineering, ServiceNow

A seasoned professional with significant global experience in building and managing networking and infrastructure organizations. Deep knowledge and extensive experience with designing, delivering and operating networks to support major enterprise cloud services such as ServiceNow... Read More →

LayTing Tardif

Sales Business Analyst, ServiceNow

LayTing is a determined, driven leader in the technology industry, with experience over the past 15+ years in business analytics and program management. The base of her acknowledged success to date with companies like ServiceNow and EMC, has been great aptitude in managing systems... Read More →

Wednesday April 28, 2021 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

4:00pm PDT

Raising Up The Voices of our AAPI Tech Community — Supported by Nordstrom

With the recent uprising of attacks on the AAPI community - Let’s come together in unity and community and discuss.
This panel is dedicated to the AAPI tech community and allies. Let’s share about how you are doing, what kind of support do you need, who are you talking to at work, what do you need from your org.
Hear stories about hope for the future and ideas of how diversity programs and leadership could truly make a difference in our organizations no matter the size.

Moderators

Katie Mooney

Vice President, Diversity Best Practices

Katie is an accomplished diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leader and thought partner with expertise in driving strategy and growth of diversity and inclusion change management, planning and programs. Katie is highly regarded for her ability to establish trust and personally connect... Read More →

Speakers

Steven Matly

CEO – Founder, SM Diversity

Overcoming adversity is nothing new to Steven Matly.A high school dropout turned entrepreneur, he has twice created six figure revenue generating companies and recently seven figures with less than $5,000 startup capital. Raised by a single mother in the South Seattle housing projects... Read More →

Cynthia Tee

Senior Vice President of Engineering, Smartsheet

Cynthia supports the teams that build Smartsheet’s customer experiences. Prior to that she was VP of Technology at Nordstrom supporting commerce services. She has over 25 years of experience building software as well as leading teams in consumer applications, operating system services... Read More →

JoAnne Kennedy

Vice President, Nordstrom

JoAnne Kennedy is vice president of technology at Nordstrom. In this strategic and operational role for the fashion retailer, JoAnne and her team support technology platforms for credit, human resources, finance and deliver key capabilities across the company through Tech Partner... Read More →

Padmaja Vrudhula

VP Industry Vertical Workload Solutions, Snowflake

Wednesday April 28, 2021 4:00pm - 5:15pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 5 — Career Acumen

6:00pm PDT

Skill | Personal Brand: Defining Identity In A Fluid World - Supported by WGU

Who are you? What do you stand for? What makes you unique? How has your identity changed over the past year? What if you’re not the same person a year from now? During this session we talk about how to sketch out a personal brand you can be proud of and then how to activate your brand to the world.

Moderators

Mary Blalock

Career Coach, Mary Blalock Career Coaching

Speakers

Heather Appell

Senior Development Manager for Expert Programs, ServiceNow

Heather’s career in Learning & Development spans 20 years in industries including technology, banking, accounting, and aerospace. She has lead teams at companies such as Nordstrom, Key Bank, Moss Adams, Boeing, and ServiceNow.Little known fact: Her very first corporate training... Read More →

Lori Goodwine

Principal | Lead Consultant, LGPR Consulting

Lori is an accomplished PR, Brand Strategy, and Communications Strategist with more than 25 years of experience helping solve business challenges by implementing insightful strategies and powerful storytelling, communicating brand platforms, and building communication campaigns.With... Read More →

Edwin Vega

Lead Trainer, Edge Foundation

Edwin Vega, is a Certified Executive & Leadership Development Coach and Facilitator who specializes in working with corporate leaders to maximize their presence and impact, through 1-on-1 and team coaching, along with creating and leading experiential workshops and retreats. Unleashing... Read More →

Wednesday April 28, 2021 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 5 — Career Acumen, Recording Available

8:00pm PDT

Ompractice Decompress and Rest with Ashley

Wind down from your day with a fluid flow, paced to first build heat in the body, then calm the breath and mind with grounded poses to promote mindful rest.
Class Level: all levels
Ease/Intensity: Gentle – slow sustained movements on mat
Props: Have a bolster folded blanket or pillow handy, two blocks and a strap are welcome too, but are not required for this class.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.
In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with a promo code WITREGATTA to register for classes at checkout."
https://www.ompractice.com/class/decompress-rest-50-min-with-ashley-corbin-teich-wed-11pm-et-8pm-pt/

Speakers

Ashley Corbin-Teich

Teacher, Ompractice

Wednesday April 28, 2021 8:00pm - 9:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

7:00am PDT

Ompractice Breathwork with Eric Brown

Pranayama is the yogic science of breathing. In yoga, breathing is considered the link between mind, body and spirt. This energizing and calming practice includes simple, mindful movements and different breathing techniques to help improve lung capacity, settle and clear the mind, gently energize the body, and balance the brain and nervous system.
Class Level: All levels
Ease/Intensity: Simple, mindful movements (mostly seated)
Props: a meditation cushion or pillow is recommended but not required, a chair may also be used
About Your Teacher: Eric Brown began practicing yoga and meditation in 1983 in search of self-healing. He’s studied many styles of yoga including Ashtanga, Kripalu, Pranakriya, Kundalini, Yin and Power/Vinyasa Flow while living in Los Angeles. His classes are an eclectic blend of those experiences. Eric is an E-RYT 500/YACEP and holds multiple yoga teaching certifications with over 1500 hrs of training.

"Ompractice offers live online yoga, meditation, and wellness classes via two way video. Move your body to INTEGRATE everything that you are learning during the conference! Join up with fellow participants wherever you are before sessions, or at the end of your night.

"Register for your class for free with the promo code WITREGATTA at checkout. In addition to the scheduled classes, WIT Regatta members can have access to the full schedule at Ompractice.com/schedule for two weeks with the same code."
https://www.ompractice.com/class/breathwork-with-eric-brown-30-min-thurs-10am-et-7am-pt/

Speakers

Eric Brown

Teacher, Ompractice

Thursday April 29, 2021 7:00am - 7:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Mind & Body

8:00am PDT

Debiasing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning - Supported by Northeastern University

Artificial intelligence is often billed as the answer to debiasing decision making. Human biases are deeply anchored, most often unnoticed, and reflected in the behaviour that generates data. AI can amplify these biases and patterns, and in some cases even expand the problems in new ways. At best, AI might be able to introduce some degree of objectivity; but to do so, the people writing the code must be aware of and wrestle with biases. This panel discusses strategies and methodologies for navigating these challenges.

Moderators

Padmaja Vrudhula

VP Industry Vertical Workload Solutions, Snowflake

Speakers

Craig Martell

Adjunct Professor, Northeastern University

I teach Machine Learning in the Northeastern University Align program. The Master of Science in Computer Science Align program is for students with diverse academic and professional backgrounds seeking to begin a career in computer science.

Beth Porter

CEO, Riff Analytics

Principal Investigator Beth Porter is the CEO of Riff Analytics. Formerly, Beth was the VP of technical platform at Pearson Education and VP of product engineering at edX. Beth has led research and development of products that seek to transform online teaching and learning, including... Read More →

Enrique Corro

Data Scientist - Office of the CTO, VMware

Enrique Corro has a master’s degree in data science from the University of Illinois. He currently works as a staff engineer at VMware’s Office of the CTO, focused on machine learning adoption and the definition of ethical principles for AI and ML. Previously he worked as Sr. Product... Read More →

Sponsors

Northeastern University—Seattle

Thursday April 29, 2021 8:00am - 9:30am PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 6 — Tech Mavens, Recording Available

10:00am PDT

Creating New Pathways to Careers In Data Science (Scholarship Opportunity) — Supported by Northeastern University

Despite the demand for data science professionals, opportunities to break into this growing field are not widely available to those without the right mix of relevant technical skills, academic credentials, and experience.

Join this session to explore some of the emerging pathways into the field of data science, including Northeastern’s new Align Master’s in Data Science- designed to bring more diversity of thought into the emerging discipline. Northeastern will also be unveiling details about a new scholarship program to attract women and historically underrepresented groups into the field in collaboration with community partners like Women in Tech Regatta.
_______________________________________________

More about this program:

Northeastern University's Khoury College of Computer Sciences is proud to announce the launch of our Align Master's in Data Science program. Modeled after our successful Align Master’s of Computer Science program, and targeted at people without a technical background, we will be offering the Align Data Science program in Fall 2021 at Northeastern - Silicon Valley, and we are enrolling now! Classes start in September.

We are excited to offer a limited number of qualified WIT Regatta participants a dedicated scholarship for admission in Fall 2021. Two semesters of bridge classes prepare students for graduate level courses in data science, while our cohort model allows you to study alongside a group of peers with diverse perspectives. With a strong education in data science, you can find more than a lucrative job-you can put the power of data to work in fields that matter to you.

Northeastern University is pleased to offer WIT Regatta participants a scholarship equivalent to half the cost of tuition for the entirety of the program. There are a limited number of scholarships available and they are first come first served for qualified applicants. To learn more contact Samol Ork, Director of Community Relations and Recruitment at s.ork@northeastern.edu or book a virtual appointment directly to learn more.
Campus location:
San Jose Campus

Application Deadline:
August 15, 2021
Application
Curriculum

Speakers

Hillary Mickell

San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Regional Dean and CEO, Northeastern University

Hillary Mickell is the regional dean and CEO of Northeastern University in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. She is an accomplished business leader, tech entrepreneur, angel investor, and board member with a background in strategic partnerships, brand development and digital marketing... Read More →

Prasad Saripalli, Ph. D.

VP ML & AI and Distinguished Engineer, MINDBODY, Inc.

Prasad Saripalli serves as the Vice President of ML & AI and Distinguished Engineer at MindBody Inc - a portfolio company of Vista which manages the world's fourth-largest enterprise software company after Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. Earlier, he served as VP Data Science at Edifecs... Read More →

Jodi Tims, PhD.

Executive Director of Khoury College in the Global Network, Northeastern University

Jodi Tims is the Executive Director of Khoury College in the Global Network and Professor of the Practice at Northeastern’s San Francisco/Silicon Valley campuses. She currently serves as Chair of the Association of Computing Machinery’s Committee on Women in Computing. She... Read More →

Kate Schultz

Data Scientist and Align Masters in Computer Science Alum, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Kate Schultz (she/her) is a data scientist on the Modeling & Simulation Team in the Computational Biology Group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She conducts research and develops software to advance computational capabilities in areas including in silico drug discovery... Read More →

Sponsors

Northeastern University—Seattle

Thursday April 29, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 6 — Tech Mavens, Recording Available

11:00am PDT

Remote But Connected Empowering A Distributed Workforce — Lightning Round with Airbnb and Facebook

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world were sheltering in place and counting on the internet to connect more than ever.

Engineering teams from all companies dealt with capacity levels and challenges no one has ever experienced before, and perhaps in the history of the internet. As the world adjusted to this “new normal,” teams at Facebook and Airbnb worked tirelessly to keep the work moving forward and people connected.

We look forward to sharing with you how some of these women led teams brought solutions to the market in record time and with great impact during a time when we all needed it the most.

Featuring the Portal and Marketplace Teams from Facebook and the Community Support and Homes Platform Teams from Airbnb.

Moderators

Liangxiao Zhu

Engineering Director, Facebook Financial

Liangxiao is an Engineering Director for Facebook Financial. She is leading the effort on building a unified Payments Platform across app families to enable all payments use cases, as well as building a Facebook Pay product to empower everyone around the world to participate in the... Read More →

Speakers

Meng Yu

Manager, Engineering, Airbnb

Engineering leader with 7 years of experience managing high performing teams and 16 years of software development experience in leading technology companies. Active mentor and speaker on leadership and software engineering.

Pei-Fen Tu

Senior Software Engineer, Airbnb

Pei-fen is a senior software engineer on the Community Support Product team. She joined the Airbnb Seattle office and CSP team in 2017. She worked to grow the team and ship products to better assist the Airbnb community, with a focus on making the products smarter and more automated... Read More →

Molly Bucklin

Software Engineer, Facebook

Molly graduated cum laude from the University of Washington with a Computer Science degree in 2019. In her two years at Facebook, she has worked across buyer and seller products on Marketplace. She is passionate about Marketplace because it improves the lives of its users by allowing... Read More →

Heidi Young

Director, FRL Assistant, Facebook

Heidi Young is Director, FRL Assistant at Facebook. She joined Facebook in 2017 as part of the Ozlo acquisition where she was the VP of Engineering and a founding member of the Seattle Ozlo office. Prior to joining Ozlo, Heidi spent nearly eight years at Microsoft where she managed... Read More →

Papitha Nagarajan

Engineering Manager, System Software, FRL, Facebook

Passionate Advocate of Diversity & Inclusion at workplace! Impact, Empathy & Ethics driven leader with over 17 years of experience shipping multiple software solutions & embedded / consumer electronics devices at Facebook, Amazon, HP & Symantec. Hip pocket skills include ability to... Read More →

Megan Drasnin

Software Engineer, Facebook

Megan is a software engineer passionate about building products that make a difference. During her nearly 6 years at Facebook, she has developed internal tooling, content enforcement software, and most recently products for Facebook Marketplace. She is also a native Seattleite and... Read More →

Thursday April 29, 2021 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 6 — Tech Mavens, Recording Available

1:00pm PDT

Tech Belongs to Everybody: Tech Careers for Non-Engineers — Supported by Highspot

Does “I work in tech” oftentimes feel synonymous with “I’m a software engineer?” Are you tech-savvy but don’t want to code all day? Or, do you want to code all day but don’t have a computer science degree? We’ll hear from a cross-section of professionals who have turned their passions for learning and problem-solving into the tech career of their dreams.

Moderators

Kate Wilson [she/her]

Director, Solution Architects, Highspot

Kate leads the Solution Architect team at Highspot, focusing on scaling product innovation and institutional knowledge across the Services team to deliver a world-class customer experience at every turn. Through hypergrowth she has worked to create the processes, programs, and relationships... Read More →

Speakers

Jessica Teurn

Computer Science Graduate Student, Northeastern University

As a young, detailed-oriented, professional with over seven years of work experience including marketing, reception, concierge services, technical support, and database management; I decided to make a career change. I am currently a Graduate Student at Northeastern University in their... Read More →

Lisa Tran

Chief Product Officer, Prophia

Jonathan Torrez

Software Development Engineer II, Amazon

Alexandra Davetas

Senior Sales Engineer, Highspot, Inc

Alexandra Davetas is a Senior Sales Engineer at Highspot, lending 7 years of technical sales expertise to Highspot’s new business sales teams. She has experience with early-stage startups and pre-IPO companies undergoing exponential growth and has contributed to two Seattle Unicorns... Read More →

Thursday April 29, 2021 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 6 — Tech Mavens, Recording Available

3:00pm PDT

Job Expo | Don’t Settle for the Seat, Create Your Own Table - Meet Tech Leaders at Snap Inc.

At Snap, our mission is to contribute to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together. We help fulfill our mission by being a force for good through our products, our work to strengthen our communities, our efforts to make a positive impact on the planet, and our inclusive workplace. But these efforts are only a start. In our view, one of the most effective ways to achieve transformational change is to build more equitable systems, and better equip people within those systems to identify and root out inequity.

One of Snap's goals is to double the number of women in tech at Snap by 2023. Come hear from three tech leaders at Snap on how they've shattered glass ceilings throughout their career, why they continue to stay and make an impact at Snap, and how they've paved the way for others.

Interested in learning more about Career Opportunities at Snap? Visit our Recruiting Hub

Current Job Openings:
Software Engineer, iOS
Software Engineer, Android

Speakers

Divya Dwarakanath

Security Engineering Manager, Snap Inc.

Divya leads the Application Security team at Snap, focusing on developing frameworks and tools to prevent vulnerabilities, assessing the security of products and educating developers. Prior to Snap, Divya has worked as a security consultant and software engineer.

Chanise Simms-Robinson

Diversity Equity & Inclusion Program Manager II, Snap Inc

Dayna Cano

Manager, Talent Acquisition & Programs, Snap Inc.

ENFJ. Youngest of 3. Mom of 2. 17 years of public school. Prefer dogs > cats. Outdoors > indoors. Love surrounding myself with curious & fun people. Lucky to have worked & interacted with fascinating people changing the world for the better. Hopeful that I can continue to learn from... Read More →

Guneet Kaur

Brand Strategy Specialist, Snap Inc.

💪🏽 Just trying to educate myself, be challenged, and build a strong network of professionals that want to help each other. 💡I am a professional program coordinator who strategically manages over 35 events annually targeting communities that are traditionally underrepresented... Read More →

Helene Causse

Director, Software Engineering, Snap Inc.

Sonali Son

Engineering Data Science Manager, Snap Inc.

As a data science leader, my passion is to deliver value & impact to both people and product through data, analytics, models, and algorithms. Today I primarily do this by building and scaling data science at Snap by aligning specialized skills with business strategy, leading teams... Read More →

Thursday April 29, 2021 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Job Expo, Recording Available

4:00pm PDT

Amplifying Human Creativity: AI & The Humans Who Make It Happen — Supported by Nordstrom

Talk of AI and its impact on nearly every industry permeates every corner of our world these days, but AI still needs humans to build and grow its capabilities. Join this session to hear from folks working in the AI field. The discussion will range from what skills are key to working in this space to the demystification of AI roles. The panel will also talk to the importance of diversity in the workplace for building better AI.

Moderators

Rossella Blatt

Sr. Director of Data Science and Analytics, Nordstrom

Sr. Director of Data Science and Analytics at Nordstrom - Digital and Styling, Rossella Blatt is a passionate and visionary thought leader in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Throughout her 15+ years of experience in the field of Data Science, she had the privilege to work in... Read More →

Speakers

Rakesh Sharma

VP - Data & Strategy, Safrapay

Rakesh is the VP of Data and Strategy at Safrapay where he leads data engineering, analytics, AI/ML initiatives, and business strategy. Prior to Safrapay, he executed complex, large-scale digital transformation programs to achieve organizational goals while building high-performance... Read More →

Musa Katuli

Sr. Director Data Science & Analytics, Nordstrom

Multifaceted Analytics executive with over 17 years of experience in team management, advanced analytics, research, visualization and presentation. Adept at Growth Hacking customer acquisition initiatives for both online and offline media; for early stage as well as mature Fortune... Read More →

Zheyu Yang

Senior Director, Data Science and Engineering, Expedia Group

Zoe is a Senior Director of Data Science and Engineering at Expedia Group. She is a data scientist by training and has led cross functional organization delivering data science and machine learning capabilities in various industries. She champions AI power, analytical rigor, customer-back... Read More →

Sponsors

Nordstrom

Thursday April 29, 2021 4:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 6 — Tech Mavens, Recording Available

7:15pm PDT

Walk it Out With a Leader - Thinking about a pivot? Trying to find your place in tech?

Thinking about a pivot? Trying to find your place in tech? Not sure how to find your voice or speak your truth when the team doesn't look like you? Join Sheila Oh and Kelsey Kaul for a conversation about Sheila's unconventional journey into tech and later into academia. During this session, Sheila will tell her story overcoming the challenge of changing careers, combatting imposter syndrome, and learning to find her voice. Sheila will share practical tips that helped her succeed in her career in teaching, despite being an introvert.

More than a year into pandemic life, and we're definitely feeling that trauma-induced brain fog. But what if the key to unlocking your creativity and clearing your head was as easy as lacing up your tennies and heading outside? Studies show that walking makes you twice as creative as sitting behind a desk—there are real benefits to your brain (not to mention your body) while your feet are moving.
Today’s port is all about tech mavens, so this session will start with Sheila Oh sharing perspective and experience, which you'll listen to as you walk. (No cheating, even if it’s raining!) You'll then break out into a one-on-one conversation with another participant, giving you the opportunity to network while you walk-and-talk. Ultimately, we want you exploring your neighborhood, your city, your culture, your mindset, your likes and dislikes. Clear that fog and let the sun shine in!

Speakers

Sheila Oh

Associate Teaching Professor and Director, Computer Science Fundamentals Certificate Program, Seattle University

Sheila is a faculty member of Seattle University's Computer Science department and directs the career change certificate program in computer science fundamentals at Seattle University, a part-time program that prepares students with no prior computer science background to enter the masters program in computer science. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the Women in Technology (ACM-W) club at Seattle... Read More →

Kelsey Kaul (she/her)

Assistant Director, West Coast, Northeastern University

Kelsey holds a Master of Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University. She is currently pursuing Doctorate in Organizational Leadership, studying women and minorities in STEM through Northeastern University. Her research specifically explores how... Read More →

Thursday April 29, 2021 7:15pm - 8:15pm PDT
Walking Outside

Walki-Talki, Recording Available

10:00am PDT

Beta Launch of WiT Regatta's NEW community — a modern walking club

Speakers

Melody Biringer

Founder, Women in Tech Regatta

Friday April 30, 2021 10:00am - 10:45am PDT
VIRTUAL

Walki-Talki

11:30am PDT

AROUND THE WORLD CO-STORM! (Virtually) a think tank designed to be your personal board of directors for life and work — Supported by Airbnb

WHAT IS A CO-STORM?The CO-STORM™ is a think tank designed to be your personal board of directors for life and work.

The success of the CO-STORM relies in part on YOU. Please fill out this form to let us know more about you and your attendance.

The concept behind the CO-STORM is about how much we’re able to see for each other that we don’t see for ourselves.

Fresh eyes see our blind spots and filters. They also mirror back to us what’s really going on. There’s a creative back and forth energy in getting outside your own head. A CO-STORMER’S insight can clarify what steps to take next, highlight your strengths, and make you pay attention to what should happen naturally.

WHAT THE SESSION LOOKS LIKE:
We start the session with an introduction to CO-STORMING, instructions, and an overview of our time together. Then we pair you off in groups of three or four. Your group will go off for a 90 minute CO-STORM session. During this session, each participant will have time for an introduction and a chance to discuss their most pressing pain point, project or idea. Your CO-STORM partners will brainstorm with you on solutions. At the end, we will gather together and recap.

WHAT ARE THE RESULTS?
Bring your challenges, ideas, prototypes…or just an empty notebook and get ready to take the next step.

You will get new perspectives and confidence to move forward with your project, which might mean ditching plans and going in a totally different direction. No matter the outcome, I guarantee you will already be taking steps in the right direction.

I truly believe we’ve got great energy going in our community you’re not going to find anywhere else…hitch a ride on that energy! - Melody Biringer

WHAT’S YOUR STORY?

Want to change careers but don’t know where to start?
What’s keeping you up at night?
I have been helping others all my life, it’s time for me now, what should i do?
How can I be more creative at work, when I’m not the one calling the shots?
How can I refine and tell my story?
Fleshing out a side hustle/passion project.
How are you unique – what sets you apart?
Have you hit a serious plateau?

Moderators

Melody Biringer

Founder, Women in Tech Regatta

Speakers

Wren Dougherty

Senior Staff Engineer, Airbnb

Wren is an engineer who uses her background in hardware, software, and mathematics to design and produce systems that smear the line between the physical and digital world. She started her career designing an array of sensors ranging from chemical to optical at both early stage... Read More →

Evelyn Shen

Senior Staff Software Engineer, Airbnb

Evelyn Shen is a Senior Staff Engineer at Airbnb Pro Host team. She is currently the tech lead of an initiative to redesign the architecture of Airbnb’s Pricing and Availability system. Evelyn has been with Airbnb for 6 years. She was tech lead of the HotelTonight integration, initial... Read More →

Simon Hachey

Staff Software Engineer, Airbnb

June Woo Suk

Manager, Engineering, Airbnb

I'm June, engineering manager at Airbnb. I have been with Airbnb for 3.5 years. Prior to Airbnb, I worked at a start-up and got a computer science degree from UC Berkeley.

Kamini Dandapani

Director, Engineering, Airbnb

Kamini is a Director of Engineering at Airbnb. Her team is responsible for developing tools and infrastructure to enable continuous development and deployment. Prior to Airbnb, Kamini spent 6 years at LinkedIn where she was leading the infrastructure and productivity engineering team... Read More →

Joy Zhang

Director, Engineering & Data Science, Airbnb

Cassie Cao

Manager, Data Science, Airbnb

Over the past 5.5 years at Airbnb, Cassie helped launch new business categories such as Airbnb for work and the Luxury segment. Currently, she is leading a Data Science team to build customer feedback loop for Airbnb to keep improving products and policies.

Chihwei Yeh

Manager, Engineering, Airbnb

Yuan Tian

Senior Manager, Engineering, Airbnb

Fred Wenzel

Head of Engineering, Community Support Ambassador Products, Airbnb

Experienced engineering leader with extensive track record building professional web applications to solve business problems reaching thousands to many millions of users per day. As a manager, building high-performing cross-functional teams that empower employees as autonomous professionals... Read More →

Sponsors

Airbnb

Create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.It’s an audacious, incredibly rewarding mission that our increasingly diverse team is dedicated to achieving.Airbnb is built around the idea that everyone should be able to take the perfect trip, including where they stay, what they... Read More →

Friday April 30, 2021 11:30am - 2:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Port 1 — Adapt & Thrive, Recording Available

3:00pm PDT

Closing Party

After an energy-filled week of connections, storytelling, mentorship and idea-sharing, it's time to take it all in and chillax! This is not the end, but rather the beginning of the next chapter for you as we hope you have gained more connections, mentors and friendships.

Friday April 30, 2021 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
VIRTUAL

Connection Engineer Events, Recording Available

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