October 1, 2018 // By Jessica Ballantine
Over 20,000 people gathered at the Grace Hopper Celebration last week for three days of learning and inspiration from an incredible lineup of women that are changing the future of tech and impacting the lives of other women in STEM. A vital objective of the GHC event is to remind women in tech they are not alone; and encouraged everyone in the community to share their own #WeAreHere statements.
To honor our commitment to increase awareness and further develop our talented female employees, Magenic’s Women in Technology group launched a speaker series on September 25th. Our presentation series is targeted on providing training to women on how to produce powerful communications - a crucial skill to assertively motivate, inspire, and influence others to move to action, collaboration, and change. Dynamic and persuasive communication is an essential leadership quality.
Our first guest speaker, Emily Porter, founded the Porter Authority with the goal of helping companies build authentic relationships, brands, and experiences, particularly during difficult times. Emily shared, “There’s lots of advice that has been given to women in business over the years. I would like to no longer have to give advice that’s women-specific. I would like organizations, men, women, everyone to consider communication from everyone they are receiving it from, in the same way.” She previously held the role of VP of Marketing, Communications, and Community Relations for a company ranked in the top 50 Fortune 500 list.
In the heavily male-dominated field of IT, leader stereotypes can undermine women’s performance in leadership-related tasks. “A lot of times women don’t have female mentorship available to them; it’s a male dominated industry in a lot of cases,” acknowledged Kelly Hein, Consulting Manager, Magenic. One way to counteract negative stereotypes is through mentorship and education from a female role model. Disproving the stereotype instills confidence and dispels doubts. “Do what you like to do and don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t do this because you’re a woman. Believe in yourself and chase your dream,” said Mita Shah, Consulting Manager, Magenic.
Over 100 employees joined the live stream of this presentation from each of our 7 offices across the United States. As women in tech, we gathered as colleagues to learn together, alongside our male advocates. “I’ve tried to figure out what I, as a man, can do. In some sense only so much, because I don’t live that experience. The best I can strive for is to be an ally and an advocate,” commented Rocky Lhotka, CTO, Magenic.
We may not have been present at the world’s largest gathering of women technologists at the Grace Hopper Celebration in Texas last week, but we definitely joined them in spirit. Watch the video below to see hear from Emily and others from our event.