Girls In Tech

Register now for OSCON 2011, happening July 25-29, 2011, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. For 13 years, OSCON, the O’Reilly Open Source Convention, has put open source to work building the future. OSCON’s program encompasses 20 tracks to explore all things open source. New tracks have been added to OSCON this year, including Citizen Science, Geek Lifestyle, Open Data, Programming, and Emerging Languages, while Healthcare returns for its second year.

OSCON Java and OSCON Data – two new distinct events co-located with OSCON, debuting on July 25-27. OSCON Java combines Java and open source to take on the tech world’s juiciest challenges—in cloud computing, big data, mobile, and more. OSCON Java tracks include Client, Cloud, Craftsmanship, JVM, and Trends. At OSCON Data, learn about the open source technologies for gathering, storing, and analyzing data that make it possible to use new data sources and do new things with existing data. OSCON Data tracks include Analytics and Visualization, Hadoop, NoSQL Databases, Real-Time and Streaming, Relational, and Roulette. Don’t miss all the valuable tutorials, keynotes, hundreds of sessions and events. Girls in Tech readers can use discount code os11git to save 15% on your registration.

Girls in Tech will be at OSCON 2011 as they kick off the inaugural GIT Mentorship Pilot Programs globally (everyone is welcome). Learn more about the mentorship programs(for k-12, colleges/universities, working professionals), get involved and participate,  and how you could help spread the word. If you are attending Oscon 2011, don’t forget to join us on Thursday on July 28th 1-2pm in room #D134.  http://www.oscon.com/oscon2011/public/schedule/detail/21239

For more info contact: ivo@girlsintech.net     |    Follow me @MsSonicFlare

Need a press pass to cover GIT mentorship session? contact : ivo@24notion.tv

Tags: 24notion, colleges, girls in tech, gitpdx, global mentorship, Ivo Lukas, ivolukas, k-12, Leadership, Mentorship program, O'Reilly, open source convention, oregon, OSCON, OSCON2011, Portland, STEM, universities, working professionals
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Follow me @cmparadise

In my role as a volunteer social media manager for women’s professional organizations in the Bay Area it is my job to stay on top of the news; and the news lately regarding women, executive positions and a challenging job market has become alarming.  From articles in the Wall Street Journal to U.S. News to Bloomberg there are reports that a pervasive wrong is occurring and that is the inspiration for this blog post.

From a timeline perspective this began with an article from the Wall Street Journal ‘Women Executives Twice as Likely to Leave Their Jobs as Men’ in October of 2010.  “About 7.2 percent of women executives in the survey left their jobs, compared to 3.8 percent of men. Both the voluntary rates (4.3 percent versus 2.8 percent for men) and the involuntary rates (2.9 versus 0.9 percent) were higher for women executives.”  The article states that women were more likely to be dismissed from their job and the research suggests that this is due to the lack of opportunities and professional support needed to advance successfully.

This research is supported by the recent article from Women on Business ’29 Fortune 500 companies Have No Women on Boards’ which highlights that only 2.6% of women hold board chairmanships.  That article was actually a reactionary piece written about the Bloomberg Businessweek article ‘Boys Only Boards’.  According to the author Joel Stonington “There are 29 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 that are all male in decision-making roles, with no women on the board of directors or among the top five highest-paid officers, according to Bloomberg Rankings. They range from America’s largest maker of uniforms, Cintas (CTAS), to the company that produces Animal Planet and the Oprah Winfrey Network, Discovery Communications (DISCA).  There are 47 companies, or 9.4 percent of the S&P 500, that have no women on the board of directors, according to Bloomberg Rankings.”  Yes you read that right….29 companies without women in the top five highest-paid officer roles.

If you are wondering how Bloomberg Rankings got from 47 companies to 29….if there was one (1) woman present (let me repeat…one)  in an executive position the company was removed from the rankings.  Not to dismiss the women who hold these positions but this is not even close to gender equality.  Personally, I would like to see a list of companies without 25% of their executive positions held by women. I know I would be adjusting my spending habits accordingly.

It is not only the executive ranks that are facing this challenge.  In the Wall Street Journal article ‘Tech Executives See Paths for Women, Especially Geeks’  the author states that “Women held 25% of computing-related occupations in 2009, down from 30% in 2000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The percentage of computer information systems degrees obtained annually by women has held at 18% since the 2007-08 school year, down from 28% in 2001-02.”.  And even more frightening women are not aiming for the top.  In a McKinsey & Co survey conducted in 2010 16% of women versus 26% of men are aiming for top management positions.

A Poor Way To Do Business

“It’s totally insensitive,” says Terry Savage, a financial journalist and longtime corporate board member. (She requested that Businessweek.com not cite the boards on which she sits, as she did not want to be seen as speaking for those companies.) “I find it simply astounding that a company that has at least half its ultimate users and customers as women, especially uniform making or media, I find it astounding that they don’t have a woman on the board.”  Could it be said any better?  Let’s try….

Marketing statistics about women from she-conomy.com :

• Wealthy boomer women are the marquee players in our country’s culture and commerce. They are educated, have a high income, and make 95 percent of the purchase decisions for their households. – Karen Vogel, The Women’s Congress and co-founder and president of New Generation Event Solutions
• Once the college bills are out of the way and children launch their own households, the discretionary spending power of 50-plus women soars. They spend 2.5 times what the average person spends. Women are the primary buyers for computers, cars, banking, financial services and a lot of other big-ticket categories. – Marti Barletta, Primetime Women
• High-net-worth women account for 39% of the country’s top wealth earners; 2.5 million of them have combined assets of $4.2 trillion. More than 1.3 million women professionals and executives earn in excess of $100,000 annually. 43% of Americans with more than $500,000 in assets are female – MassMutual Financial Group–2007
• The number of wealthy women investors in the U.S. is growing at a faster rate than that of men. In a two-year period, the number of wealthy women in the U.S. grew 68%, while the number of men grew only 36%. – The Spectrem Group
• Women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care:
  • 91% of New Homes
  • 66% PCs
  • 92% Vacations
  • 80% Healthcare
  • 65% New Cars
  • 89% Bank Accounts
  • 93% Food
  • 93 % OTC Pharmaceuticals
  • American women spend about $5 trillion annually…
    Over half the U.S. GDP

With statistics like the above….how can companies not seek women in droves for executive positions?

The Growing Talent Pool & What You Can Do

With all of the above it is astonishing the low number of women in executive management.  Even more so when there are numerous ‘women to watch’, ‘women to follow’, and top business women listings.  A few of my favorites:

• Advertising Age – Women to Watch
• FORTUNE – 50 Most Powerful Women in Business

And being that I am from the Bay Area:

• San Francisco Business Times – 150 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business

Clearly the talent exists and the challenge lies in perceptions as opposed to the reality of the talent pool available.

So what can we do? I believe the responsibility begins with each and every one of us.  One of the factors cited for poor ability to advance into executive management is the lack of opportunities and support systems.  Women should not rely on their companies to provide this type of support but instead look to external organizations and networks to create this.  Organizations like Girls-in-Tech, along with many more around the country are there to assist and provide these opportunities.

Steps to Take:

1. Investigate opportunities for professional growth, mentorship, and networking within your company.  If you don’t find any…consider speaking to your HR department about partnering with organizations that provide these opportunities for women.
2. Research organizations within your area that can help you and become an active member.  The least you can do is show up to events….the most you can do is volunteer.  These are all great ways to provide youself with new opportunities.
3. Invest in yourself and other women leaders.  Many companies offer yearly benefits to offset the cost of continued education…use them.  Consider mentoring other emerging women leaders within your area.
4. Seek out female talent.  With online networking platforms like LinkedIn and Viadeo this has never been more easy!

Tags: lack of women executives, lack of women on boards, Leadership, women, women executives, women in technology
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Girls In Tech, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Silicon Valley | No Comments »

The fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 22 February to 4 March 2011. Representatives from Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world will attend the session. There will be a number of activities, including interactive dialogues and panels, during the two-week session. I’m in particular excited about the track panel discussion on Wednesday 23^rd- it is one of the topic that is dearly to my heart. A group of leaders from all over the world will be in discussion over access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work. Be sure to watch the live webcast this Wednesday, 23 February 2011, 10am-1pm; Or if you are nearby pls stop by the conference room #3, North Lawn building.

This year following highlights key focus areas of CSW 2011.

• Priority Theme: Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work
• Review Theme: The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child
• Emerging Issue: Gender equality and sustainable development

Panel 1 Track- Key policy initiatives and capacity-building on gender mainstreaming: focus on science and technology

Moderator: Ms. María Luz Melon, Vice-Chair of the Commission (Argentina)

Panelist:

Ms. Sesae Mpuchane, Professor, University of Botswana, Botswana(paper)

Ms. Hagit Messer, President, Open University, Israel(paper)

Ms. Londa Schiebinger, Professor, Stanford University, USA

Mr. Bunker Roy, Founder and Director, Barefoot College, India(paper)

Ms. Anne Miroux, Director, Technology and Trade Logistics Division, UNCTA(paper)

If you are interested in watching day 1 high level round table web live cast, watch now!

Tags: 24notion, CSW, economy, education, entrepreneurship, gender equality, Gender Initiative, Girls, girls in tech, ivo, Ivo Lukas, jobs, justice, Leadership, NGO, Science, technology, training, UN, united nations, UNwomen, Women in Education
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Girls In Tech | 1 Comment »

I’ve had the chance to chat with Marten Mickos, CEO of Eucalyptus  systems about open source, cloud computing, and leadership

Eucalyptus Systems delivers private cloud software. This is infrastructure software that enables enterprises and government agencies to establish their own cloud computing environments. Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo Securities, Gartner and other prominent observers of the technology industry predict that cloud computing is the most significant IT shift of this decade.

CEO of Eucalyptus, Marten Mickos builds global disruptive businesses. As CEO of MySQL AB for seven years, Mickos grew that company from a garage start-up to the second largest open source company in the world. After the acquisition by Sun Microsystems of MySQL AB for $1bn, he served as Senior Vice President of Sun’s Database Group.

Tell us more about Eucalyptus

With Eucalyptus, customers make more efficient use of their computing capacity, thus increasing productivity and innovation, deploying new applications faster, and protecting sensitive data while making savings in capital expenditure.

Eucalyptus is an open source solution that originates from an NSF funded research project at University of California, Santa Barbara. The open source model is generally considered a superior way of creating infrastructure software. Innovation is faster, users and customers have more freedom and flexibility, lock-in is avoided, and secondary benefits accrue from the massive ecosystems that naturally evolve around the most prolific open source products.

You are one of the most accomplished individual and successful CEO; what can we learn from you?

Wait, why didn’t you like me before “I was accomplished”? No one is born to be accomplished.

People should not be afraid of being successful. It is such a great inspiration. I knew nothing about open source and decided to learn about it. There is always first for everyone. We all should define our own success; so don’t be afraid to be successful is the key.

Being an entrepreneur yourself, what can you tell those folks out there who would have the desire to start something small and to grow bigger?

I’ve learned in my life, weaknesses is also my strength. Make the best of them. As a young boy, I was a stubborn kid; my stubbornness grounded me to become one of the good positive quality for me in this day. To keep going and never give up

I am keen of this quote by Eisenhower-“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

What’s next for Eucalyptus Systems?

We are expanding. We are a team of 25 and growing tremendously. We are hiring team of engineers, business and more for an additional 20+. We are also developing a testing lab for our products. We are building stronger in offering and more in partnership; we are fine tuning our strategy.

Is this your first time being part of Oscon? If not, then how’s it different from previous years?

No. I’ve been here since 2002.  I would say it’s much bigger now. This convention is steering toward the open source fanatics.

What’s a current device that you couldn’t live without?

Digital camera.

To learn more about the product go to http://www.eucalyptus.com/ And be sure to follow @Martenmickos

Be sure to join Girls in Tech Portland Chapter at OSCON 2010 this year at Portland Oregon.

If you are interested in being a guest speaker and/or panelist for our workshops and lectures, pls feel free to drop me an email: ivo@girlsintech.net

tweet @mssonicflare @oscon @24notion @gitweet

Tags: 24notion, cloud computing, Developers, eucalyptus systems, girls in tech portland, gitpdx, ivo, Ivo Lukas, Leadership, management, marten mickos, mssonicflare, open source, oregon, Portland, tech, technology
Posted in All Chapters, Portland | 1 Comment »

Topic: Leadership challenges in the 21^st century

• The need for transformational leadership
• Global governance and business implications
• Gender differences in leadership and the unique role of women in leadership

(Note: It will be a very interactive event, so be ready to get inspired and energized)

Guest Speaker: Annette M. Nemetz, MBA, PhD (in progress)-Assistant Professor of Management, School of Business, George Fox University

WHEN: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM(event starts at 6:15pm, so don’t be late)

WHERE: Candy http://www.candyportland.com/ 904 Northwest Couch Street Portland, OR 97209

RSVP: WE ARE SOLD OUT! Space is limited to 25. If you are not GIT PDX member and  interested in attending pls drop me an email at ivo@girlsintech.net

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?invites&eid=118946584796890

Cost: Free for GIT PDX members; $10 for non-member (pay cash at the door)
Event and door prizes are sponsored by 24Notion

For more info about Girls in Tech Portland, go to http://bit.ly/bAZb4H

Biography:

Annette M. Nemetz, MBA, PhD (in progress)-Assistant Professor of Management, School of Business, George Fox University

Ms. Nemetz currently teaches undergraduate and graduate business courses in strategy, leadership, international management, operations and marketing. Her research interests are leadership, international and domestic economic development, global governance and the effectiveness of the intersection of business strategy and government policy.

Most recently, Ms. Nemetz was Executive Vice President at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, a marketing and public relations firm. Major clients included Microsoft, AMD, BMC Software, MasterCard and Amazon. Prior employment included executive roles in two startups; management roles at Sun Microsystems and Sequent Computer Systems (now IBM); and engineering roles at ABB/Combustion Engineering Inc.  Her professional career spans 20 years in the information technology industry and 7 years in the energy industry. Ms. Nemetz has lived in Oregon for 19 years. She is married and has a 15 year old daughter.

Tags: entrepreneur, girls in tech portland, ivo, Ivo Lukas, Leadership, oregon, tech, women executive, women in tech
Posted in All Chapters, Events, Portland | No Comments »

Catherine Kaputa, Brand Strategist, Speaker, and Author of The Female Brand

Catherine Kaputa, author of The Female Brand: Using the Female Mindset to Succeed in Business, has some great tips about how to maximize your strengths as a woman in business. She urges women to “stop trying to act like men in the workplace” and instead to utilize our innate strong points at every opportunity. She lists 5 business-savvy aptitudes that women tend to have in abundance.

Aptitude # 1: Social Perception.
Aptitude # 2: People Power.
Aptitude # 3: Communication Agility.
Aptitude # 4: Vibrant Visual Identity.
Aptitude # 5: Leadership that Includes and Empowers.

“Such a leadership style will result in loyal, committed, hardworking colleagues and employees and will give you a distinct advantage and reputation as a problem solver.”

Her tips especially apply to leaders of technical teams, where close collaboration, tight deadlines, and frustrating specification changes can create major interpersonal tension.

Read more details on her blog.

Tags: business skills, entrepreneurship, Leadership, women
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In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Ann Mulcahy, chair and former CEO of Xerox, encourages women to be themselves and contribute their natural strengths to roles and endeavors. She believes if you try to act like someone else it diminishes your authenticity, and that it’s more important to showcase your individual strengths than to emulate others.

I can see how it might be easy to fall into the trap of having great respect for someone and wanting to be like them.  But instead of following in their footsteps completely, it’s better to learn from them, while adding your own personal style of delivering results.   It’s important to keep things fresh, take note of changes that are ocurring in the environment around you, and be nimble and creative as you strike forth, all the while keeping in mind the lessons you’ve learned from others.

See what else Ann has to say in this WashingtonPost.com On Leadership video.

Tags: Ann Mulcahy, Authenticity, Leadership, Tina Tran, Xerox
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Tags: Engage Her, Leadership, Multicultural, tech, University of California at Berkeley, women
Posted in Events, San Francisco | No Comments »