In July, Women 4 Technology once again hosted an outstanding Meaningful Networking event. During the event, women and men from various industries and technology fields gathered to connect and network. We even had a guest appearance from Treg Gilstorf, our Vice Chair. A big thank you to Brooksource for powering the event and leading one of our table discussions. 

Why Women 4 Technology?

As Kathy Vogler discussed in her guest blog Disparity in the Numbers last month, women make up only 22.3% of the technology workforce. Our W4T Peer Resource Group aims to help improve those numbers by developing leadership through networking, professional development, and mentoring opportunities. 

At the center of W4T's Meaningful Networking events are table discussions led by industry mentors. These discussions leave participants with tips, strategies, and connections to help solve business challenges, dissect industry trends, and achieve career goals. 

July's discussions delivered on these objectives, inspiring several ah-ha moments that left participants with actionable steps and reading recommendations that can be implemented to positively impact our days, careers, and teams:

• Penny McVay with Great American Insurance Group spotlighted Positive thinking and learning: If you think you can’t, you can’t… but if you think you can, you can! Penny shared the story of an NBA basketball coach and his approach to recognize and celebrate his team to success. She referenced two books Freedom Flight - The Origins of Mental Power and The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, and one mentee connected these ideas to the book The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary. 

• Raquelle DeSimone and Julia Holocher of event-sponsor Brooksource led an exercise to help participants Own Your Day: Formula for Owning Your Profession based on the book of the same name: Own the Day, Own Your Life. The three-step exercise focused on defining a mission you believe in, describing how you work effectively, and owning your space. 

• Andrea Dale of To the Point Coaching and a W4T veteran, encouraged the mentees at her table to Strengthen their Influential Leadership Muscles by sharing her insights working with IT leaders. 

• Ashima Sharma with CareSource is a continued W4T supporter. In her discussion, Ashima encouraged mentees to Define Success for Yourself Before Setting Goals through what she has defined as the four p's - people, profit, purpose, and planet.

• And, Claire Rohan, TEKsystems Global Services, discussed Driving Business Value and Keeping the Customer at the Center of Everything You Enable, sharing several key takeaways including the move from solution-obsessed to outcome-obsessed; meeting people where they're at; and understanding that value is always determined by the customer. These lessons came from the book Pursuing Enterprise Outcomes: Maximizing Business Value and Improving Strategy for Organizations and Teams.

We think Lisa Austin of Great American Insurance Group summed up the event best when she said, "I wasn't sure I would be able to make it tonight; but I am so glad I could! This was a great reminder of how we as IT professionals contribute to our businesses, their vision and mission. The event and conversations were a great motivation to me with thought-provoking topics." 

If you haven't attended one of these events in the past, you're missing out! We look forward to you joining us at our next W4T event: 

Creating an Effective Business Case
September 16, 2022
8:30 - 10 a.m.