Wanted: Women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math

Join us at our next Career Conversations session. We'll discuss topics such as: what made them decide on IT or Cyber Security, what were some of their work/life challenges, and what skills and education do they see as essential to success?

Guest: Kristin Judge, Author at LinkedIn Learning

Kristin was elected to serve as a Washtenaw County Commissioner in 2008 and supported the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in growing cybersecurity outreach to state and local government officials. After elected office, she worked at the Center for Internet Security, focusing on connecting state and local governments to federal services and technology needed to improve cyber security.

As Director of Government Affairs at the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), Kristin worked with Google, FTC, FBI, SBA, DHS, NIST, congressional leaders and other key stakeholders across the country to educate consumers and businesses how to protect sensitive data.

As a thought leader, Kristin has been seen on the C-SPAN Network, local news outlets and called on by technology publications like SC Magazine and Government Technology to share best practices for online safety; being named an SC Media “Women in IT Security Influencer” in 2017.

In 2017, Kristin was chosen for the 3rd cohort in the Presidential Leadership Scholars program which is a partnership between the presidential centers of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson to bring together a select group of leaders who share a desire to create positive change across our Nation.

To address the needs of cybercrime victims, Kristin recently founded the nonprofit Cybercrime Support Network to connect victims with federal, state and local resources in a coordinated manner.

Have you ever watched a speaker captivate an audience merely by what they say or the way they walk into a room?

There is just something about their energy that fills the room and draws you in.They are confident, charismatic, engaging, warm, funny and powerful. This essence is called Executive Presence (EP) and you can have it too! If you want to be considered leadership material or are just ready to up-your EP game, this session is for you.

During this session, we’ll explore strategies to help you command an audience of one or thousands. We’ll walk through ways to help you be more "powerful" in the way you present yourself, and show you how small changes could have a big impact on your EP. This session designed for men and women who want to be more commanding, influential and confident in any situation.

We will focus on:
•The ways your voice and body language can impact your message…and your brand image
•Identifying powerful words and tonality; and which phrases to avoid
•Minimizing the gaps between how others see you and how you want to be seen
•Learn useful tips to help you prepare and practice for your next meeting or presentation

Even though VC investment into UK FinTech has grown exponentially in recent years, reaching $1.8 billion in 2017, women still only raise a minute percentage of this. A recent study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Mass Challenger, a network of startup accelerators, found that when women applied for investment, they received less funding compared to the average male founder, but made double the revenue.

Our panel of CEOs in leading FinTech firms and investors will look at how women in FinTech are raising funding. Who are the funders? What are they looking for and what needs to change? Do women need to rely less on traditional modes of finance or are more dynamic options available?

Moderator:
Julia Streets, Streets Consulting

Panelists
Clare Flynn Levy, Founder and CEO, Essentia Analytics
Felicia Meyerowitz Singh, Co-founder and CEO, Akoni
Francesca Tondi, Board Member, Investor, Unicredit Group, Angel Academe, FinTech Circle
Georgia Stevenson, Associate, Northzone
Laura Hutton, CPO and Co-Founder, Quantexa

This webinar will focus on understanding your own value and how you can use that to become an influential person in your industry.

Listed as one of the UK's Top Most Influential Women in Tech & an international multi-award winner for her services to Diversity & Inclusion in the Tech industry, Sheree (@nirushika) is a Consultant, Deloitte; Founder, I Am Lanka; Board-Appointed Global Ambassador, Women Who Code; Forbes, Contributor.

Sheree is a global tech outreach leader and the aim of her career is ensuring people are aware of the fantastic opportunities the tech industry has to offer & make certain that people (regardless of gender, race, social stature) are able to benefit from these & reach their full career potential.

Join us at our next Career Conversations session. We'll discuss topics such as: what made them decide on IT or Cyber Security, what were some of their work/life challenges, and what skills and education do they see as essential to success?

Whether you are an experienced professional or just contemplating a future in Cyber Security, WSC's Career Conversations allows you to have a conversation with women making a difference. Join us and share in Career Conversations with successful women in cyber security!

Guest: Sandra Larson, M.S. Applied Intelligence

Hosted by Jessica Gulick, MBA | PMP | CISSP

About the Speaker:

Sandra Larson is a Senior Director of Intelligence for LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, a cybersecurity company specializing in physical, cyber, and brand risks for small business, global enterprises and government agencies. Sandra has been with LookingGlass for almost ten years, and manages the client relationships for LookingGlass’ clientele in the food and agribusiness, pharmaceutical, retail, and technology industries. Previously, Sandra received her Master of Science in Applied Intelligence from Mercyhurst University.

In this talk, Full-Stack and Google Developer Expert Amanda Cavallaro shares how technology has impacted and affected her life and career. From her empathy and experiences growing up in Brazil, to taking the leap to move to the UK and become a software developer and an advocate for the information technology community, Amanda discusses the challenges and lessons, and how the developer community helps people achieve their potential.

This webinar is part of BrightTALK's Masterclass Series.

Ever wanted to know the best way to learn to help you maximise your own potential? This webinar will delve into the neuroscience of learning, looking at what happens when your reptilian brain takes over and hijacks the system, and ways in which you can boost different neurochemicals, which will help you learn in more effective ways. This will result in positive changes and helping you feel happier too.

Join us at our next Career Conversations session. We'll discuss topics such as: what made them decide on IT or Cyber Security, what were some of their work/life challenges, and what skills and education do they see as essential to success?

Whether you are an experienced professional or just contemplating a future in Cyber Security, WSC's Career Conversations allows you to have a conversation with women making a difference. Join us and share in Career Conversations with successful women in cyber security!

Guest:
Katie Nickels - MITRE
Kandis Weiler - MBA Candidate, Marymount University

As a woman entrepreneur, you know firsthand how challenging it can be to get venture funding. Finding the right investors and other sources of capital to get your idea off the ground can be difficult. There are ways to get the funding you need to get your business moving! Please join Jessica Gulick, Owner of Katzcy Consulting, and Gail Ball, Managing Partner of Chestnut Street Ventures, as they share how to navigate the funding challenge and match investors to the needs of your growing technology firm. This 30-minute webinar gives you keen insight and tactics to gain capital, increase funding success and launch your business.

Content is now the way that businesses should be selling their products and services. Creating a consistent content strategy will set you up for success. Content can consist of various types of media, such as video, audio and written blogs or articles. Using technology to create, distribute and schedule your content will keep your business top of mind for your ideal target market. Join this live webinar with Jean Ginzburg to learn more about how to develop a content strategy for your business.

About the speaker:
Jean Ginzburg is a #1 best-selling author, serial entrepreneur, digital marketing expert with more than 10 years of industry expertise helping companies scale revenue, optimize sales and marketing processes and improve productivity. Jean is the CEO and Founder of JeanGinzburg.com, a digital marketing education company and Ginball Digital Marketing, a digital marketing agency. Jean's clients range from brand name Fortune 500 companies to innovative start-ups. Additionally, Jean is a contributing writer for AMEX Open Forum, Influencive and Authority Magazine. In July 2018, Jean was named a "Women to Watch" by Colorado Biz Magazine.

80% of developers don’t feel it’s their responsibility if unethical products go live. Are they right? This episode of WIT: Women in Touch features a conversation among women in tech who believe this majority is not right. As a follow up to July's Coed: Ethics conference, a London tech ethics conference, we're grabbing a cuppa with women who are actively working on the ethics surrounding data science, decision making, scaling, coding, the psychology and motivation behind it all.

Who should join? While our guests are awesome women in tech, the cases of Facebook, Uber and Volkswagen are not just isolated incidents and everyone at any level at any company faces ethical decisions every day. We think everyone can benefit from joining this discussion live or listening to the recording after! Applying a framework or an action plan to consider the ethical implications of your work is a business best practice.

How can we move from writing oaths and manifestos to best practices?

This week's guests:
Yanqing Cheng - high-scale networking systems engineer with MetaSwitch Networks - a job mixing forward-looking ideas with decades-old protocols, which provides constant insights into the balancing act between innovation and stability. She is fascinated by machine learning and future tech, and its impact on ethical decision making.

Anne Currie - part of the tech industry for nearly 25 years working on giant C servers and distributed systems in the 90s, eCommerce services in the noughts and DevOps and infrastructure in this decade. She is interested in the evolution of the tech industry, and of the devs who work in it. Founder of the Coed Ethics tech ethics conference.

Emma Prest - sits on the Editorial Advisory Committee of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and on the board of Sum of Us. She was previously a program coordinator at Tactical Tech, providing hands-on help for activists using data in campaigning. She's now the executive director at DataKind UK.

Cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing technology market areas. Women-owned technology companies are right in the midst of cybersecurity innovation by delivering products and solutions that protect consumers and businesses from ever-changing threats. Are you looking to help one of these companies grow by investing in their solutions? Perhaps you want to get in early and be a part of their mission to protect and prevent? If you answered yes, please join Jessica Gulick, Owner of Katzcy Consulting, and Gail Ball, Managing Partner of Chestnut Street Ventures, in a 30-minute webinar as they share their insights on identifying and investing in these exciting and fast-growing women-owned firms.

The way in which we work is changing. Technology, social norms and economic influences are impacting the working world every day.

Did you know the right to work is a human right? It allows men and women of all ages and backgrounds to become self-reliant in dignity and free from discrimination. At a time when technology is taking over the workplace and a younger demographic is entering most workforces, it's more imperative than ever to understand the future of work and how multi-generational teams can make a meaningful impact on your business.

Tune in with Monique Morrow, Dedicated Futurist, Technologist and Advisor, as she discusses these ever-important topics, opportunities and calls to action.

What are you doing to make sure your office is diverse and welcoming? Diversity in the work environment is proven to promote acceptance, respect, and teamwork, embracing differences in race, age, gender, native language, political beliefs, religion, sexual orientation, and communication styles among employees. Movements like #metoo has us talking about this more in certain industries and at a systemic level, but what can we do as individuals in the workplace? Grab your drink and sit down to join us for what's sure to be an engaging episode of WIT: Women in Touch, when women trying to make a change are going to share their advice for how you can too, whether you are in a position to attract and hire talent or you are struggling to overcome these barriers. And, once diversity is increased at your office or university, what can you do to make it work?

Why should you join? Let's start with some facts because the status quo is unacceptable:
April 10 marks Equal Pay Day for women in the US (the infamous 78 cents on the dollar), but we are choosing to hold our discussion on diversity and pay gaps on August 8, following Equal Pay Day for black women in the US.
Women in tech make on average $40,000 less a year than their male counterparts. Women of color in tech in particular often lack the support channels and feel ostracized in their roles.

This discussion is in part a follow-up to our first episode which focused on the Working Mom. Mothers end up earning about 40% less than what their childless female counterparts earn over a lifetime. The pay gap between white women and black women is the fastest growing income inequality there is, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute. This gap has grown from 6% in 1979 to 19% today, and it's growing directly alongside greater inequality.

The main reason to join is this isn't just an esoteric conversation, but a practical one that gives everyone practical ways to make a change, no matter what her or his role is.

This webinar is part of BrightTALK's Masterclass Series.

Raising Investment for your early stage business is a big decision. Whilst the process itself is gruelling, managing investors once they are on board has its own set of challenges.

Although investment can feel like “free money”, it is in fact the most expensive cash you’ll ever raise, as the returns investors expect, along with the rights and privileges you must be prepared to grant them, can be very onerous to a startup.

Indeed investors can make or break a business, and having a brilliant, supportive investor who shares your vision is gold dust and can propel you to the next level.

Join our webinar with Jessica Dick, co-founder of Five Years Time, a company focused on supporting founders to get investment ready and navigate the minefield of the fundraising process.

The webinar will present the different types of funding that are available to early stage businesses, and will focus on the key characteristics of angel investors and Venture Capital.

The webinar will then explore the concept of "Smart Money" and will give you some examples of what to expect once the investment has come in. Finally we will give you tips around what to look for in an investor, what questions to ask and how to set up the relationship from the start to ensure smooth sailing.

Cultural shifts and changing expectations, not just the advancement of technology, are transforming customer experience.

Join this live webinar with Nikki Barua, CEO of BeyondCurious, to:

- Recognize why looking outside your industry is no longer a creative exercise, but a business imperative in the age of Amazon.
- Learn valuable lessons from other industries to ignite change within your own.
- Unlock value by transforming your organization into a truly digital business.
- Generate momentum with a culture of innovation – one that is constantly adapting to a disruptive environment that doesn’t stand still.
- Understand the capabilities, mindset and skillsets needed to adopt this approach, and how you can be the change agent that helps your organization successfully navigate through risk and uncertainty.

Join this all-star panel led by Anna Bennett, a leading female figure in the FinTech world and Women in Tech advocate, hosting a session on exploring how we can encourage more Women into Tech careers.

We’ll look at challenges that we face and how different women have overcome them, hearing about the problems and the solutions from a man’s perspective and a discussion on how we can all work together to achieve a much more diverse workforce. With some examples of doing it right and practical takeaways that you can put into practice to ensure that the future of tech is diverse.

To get your brand message across to your audiences, it’s key to know where they are hanging out. With users now spending an average of 20 minutes per day on social media, most of the audiences audiences of hi-tech companies are hanging out on either Facebook, Instagram, LInkedIn, Youtube or another social media platform. Before we can get onto social media, it’s pertinent to craft a message about our brand and about our products or services.

Join this live webinar with Jean Ginzburg, Digital Marketing Expert and #1 Best-Selling Author, as she covers how best to extract the message from your own business and how best to create it for your target audience.

Once we have crafted our message, we will cover on how best to create content, what types of content works best now and the components of a well-crafted content piece. And now we are ready to distribute our messaging and content across social media. We will also cover specific examples of branding, messaging, content and social media from the hi-tech and SaaS industries.