How CONTEXT Influences Thinking and Action

About Linda Alepin

Linda Alepin, Retired Executive Professor at Santa Clara University and Silicon Valley Executive at various technology firmsLinda Alepin’s vision is a world alive with possibility and peace. She believes that person has the capability to be a leader in the family, the community, and the world.  

Linda led a highly successful career in the high tech industry. After initial training with IBM, she joined Amdahl, a major competitor for IBM’s mainframe business. She spent 18 years there capping her accomplishments by leading the team that effected a $2 billion turnaround. She was elected to be an officer of this F200 company.

After seven years leading smaller startups, Linda joined Santa Clara University (SCU) as an Executive Professor. She specialized in developing and teaching leadership and entrepreneurship. She is a sought after speaker on a broad range of subjects.

In 2004, as a way of fulfilling her vision of women as great leaders all over the world, she founded the Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN).   She acted as the Executive Director for eight years as the organization grew its network of graduates and its reputation for the quality of its programs and the outstanding results of its graduates. She has been chair of the organization and is now Chair Emeritus. Linda was recognized for her work to forward women in leadership positions by the American Association of University Women with their Eleanor Roosevelt Foundation award in 2013.   

Linda is a graduate of Stanford University in Economics. She is the mother of four adult children and four grandchildren, including twin boys who are age 18 months.

Speak Up or Shut Up: The Importance of Creating an Inclusive Culture

About Claire Bennett

Claire Bennett is currently Vice President, Human Resources, Roche Molecular Solutions, and Roche Tissue Diagnostics, based in Tucson. Prior to this role, Claire was the Global Human Resources Business Partner for Global Product Strategy, Pharma, in Basel.

Claire’s role is to ensure that HR and People strategies for Molecular Solutions are based and defined by business challenges and drivers. Supported by local HR business partners, Claire identifies and rolls out appropriate HR solutions in key HR practice areas. Claire and her team are also accountable for consistent implementation of corporate and divisional HR programs and solutions at all Molecular Solutions sites.

Claire joined Roche in 2000 as a local HR Business Partner for Pharma Development in Welwyn, UK. In 2006 moved to Basel, Switzerland, and held a number of HR Business Partner roles to support Global Product Strategy, Development and Business Development. Claire was the Global HR Business Partner for Pharma Partnering along with a local Basel role as HR Team Leader for Pharma Development, Partnering and Global Product Strategy.

Claire holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies/English Literature from the University of Leeds and a post-graduate degree in Human Resource Management from Manchester Metropolitan University.

Feeling Confident? How Perceptions of Competence Influence Negotiation, Promotions

About Michelle C. Bligh

Michelle C. Bligh is an associate professor in the Division of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences (DBOS) and the Drucker–Ito School of Management at Claremont Graduate University (CA). She has also served as the associate dean of DBOS. Her research interests include charismatic leadership, interpersonal trust, gender issues in leadership, and political and executive leadership. Her work has been published in Journal of Applied Psychology, Leadership, Employee Relations, The Leadership Quarterly, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Group and Organization Management, Journal of Managerial Psychology, and The Journal of Business Ethics, and she serves on the editorial review boards of The Leadership Quarterly and Leadership. She was awarded the 2007 Sage Best Paper Award in Group and Organization Management and the 2003 Sage Outstanding Paper Award for Research Methods. Her scholarly work was recognized by The Leadership Quarterly as one of the top 50 most cited authors of the decade, 2000–10.

Dr. Bligh has served as a visiting professor for the Singapore Institute of Management's Executive MBA program for the last ten years. She has also helped a variety of public and private sector organizations assess and improve their effectiveness in the areas of leadership development, organizational culture, and change management in a variety of industries, including local and state law enforcement, consulting, finance, non-profits, healthcare, and real estate.

It's All About You: Becoming an Ally in Work and in Life

About Michelle Carter

Michelle Carter is an associate professor in the Carson College of Business Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship Department at Washington State University and an affiliate associate professor in the Information School at the University of Washington. She has taught MIS courses at undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels, with a particular focus on data modeling, database design, and data management. Michelle’s research focuses on information technologies’ involvement in identity and social change, factors that shape IT usage behaviors, and information systems management. Her work has appeared in MIS Quarterly, the European Journal of Information Systems, the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, the Journal of Information Technology, as well as other journals, books, and conference proceedings. Michelle is an associate editor for the Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) and a senior editor of the upcoming JAIS special issue on technology and social inclusion. She is a past president of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Special Interest Group on Social Inclusion and previously chaired the AIS committee on diversity and inclusion. Michelle is a Distinguished Member – Cum Laude of the AIS and was recognized for her research and service contributions to the IS field as a 2016 recipient of the AIS Early Career Award. In 2021, Michelle was elected to serve on the AIS Council as Vice President for Special Interest Groups and Colleges.

Leveraging LinkedIn and Meetups for Your Next Career

About Carlos A. Coronado

Carlos Coronado is an Account Manager at TEKsystems and an Alum from the University of Arizona. TEKsystems is the leading IT services company in the nation. I graduated from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences with a double major in Criminal Justice and Public Management and Policy. I was the first in my family to graduate from a University, which was a huge accomplishment for me personally! How did I get to TEKsystems? Networking and building a brand of who I wanted to be in the future!

Changing the Face of High Tech

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About Henry Corral

Henry Corral, Global Diversity Manager at Intel Corporation has been at Intel for over 28 years and has played major roles in helping build Intel’s diversity presence. 

Leveraging Inclusion to Create High-performing Teams

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About Bev Crair

Bev Crair is vice president in the Data Center Group and general manager of the Storage Group at Intel Corporation. She leads the team responsible for delivering business strategies and products that address the existing and emerging storage needs of Intel customers across a breadth of environments, including the cloud, the enterprise, high-performance computing and communications. She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics from the University of California, Santa Cruz; and an MBA degree from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. She is a standing member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the UC Santa Cruz Baskin School of Engineering, represents Intel in the Workforce Alliance with the National Center for Women and Information Technology, and is a member of the board of directors for Girls in Tech, Inc.

Negotiations

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About Barry Goldman

Barry Goldman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Management and Organizations, University of Arizona 

Professor Goldman is an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. He has also been a Visiting Associate Professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, Spain. He holds a terminal degree in law and a Ph.D. in business management (University of Maryland) and studied on a fellowship at Oxford University. He practiced as a lawyer in a major law firm in Washington, DC for 10 years prior to getting his Ph.D.

His primary area of research involves conflict and dispute resolution at work and negotiations. He is senior editor of the recently released book titled Negotiations in the 21st Century (2012,Routledge Press). He also does research in the area of mediation of work-related disputes. He has published in The Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, and International Journal of Conflict Management., among other outlets. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, and Negotiations and Conflict Management Research.

His research has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Inc Magazine, and numerous newspapers. Moreover, it is also discussed at some length in the Dalai Lama’s book, The Art of Happiness at Work. He is past Chair of the Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management, the largest organization in the world for management scholars. Recently, he has been invited to give an online talk for TED-Ed.

He primarily teaches MBA courses in Negotiations, Conflict Management and Business Law. He has been honored to receive eight teaching awards from his students. He has also taught executive education for a number of organizations, including Wuhan University in China, Intel Corp. (Santa Clara, CA.), Ventana Medical Systems, DP World (Dubai), Pima County Attorneys Office, City of Tucson, and others.

Finally, he believes that the best teaching should be both fun and exciting. A good class is one in which there is much learning and much enthusiasm.

The Journey Through Workplace Inequality

About Daisy Jenkins

Daisy M. Jenkins, Esq., is the President of Daisy Jenkins & Associates, LLC, specializing in Human Resources consulting, executive and developmental coaching.  She is a Leadership Advisor in the THEO Executive Group, headquartered in Irving, TX. Jenkins previously served as executive vice president and Chief Administrative Officer for Carondelet Health Network and a number of Human Resources executive positions with Raytheon Company.

Jenkins published articles locally and nationally as a Public Voices Fellow through the OpEd Program and The University of Arizona, and has authored two novels: “Within The Walls, A Journey Through Sexism and Racism in Corporate America (The film “Title VII” is based on the novel) and “The Green Machine.”   She has received numerous awards: “The 2015 Sí Se Puéde Legacy Award” from the Arizona César Chavez Holiday Coalition, “Women Who Lead” from the University of Arizona (UA) Gender & Women’s Studies, the “Phenomenal Woman of the Year” from the UA Black Alumni Association; “2007 Tucson Woman of the Year,” “Distinguished Alumnus” from the UA James E. Rogers College of Law, and recognized in Ebony Magazine as one of the “African American Women at the Top in Corporate America.”

Community affiliations includes The University of Arizona (UA) National Leadership Council,  Banner Health Southern Arizona Advisory Council, Women United, Tucson Airport Authority, UA James E. Rogers College of Law Board of Visitors, UA President’s African American Community Council and Tucson Unified School District African American Advisory Council. Jenkins is a dedicated education advocate for African American student achievement.  Jenkins is also proud member of the Las Donás of Tucson.

Jenkins holds bachelor’s and masters’ degrees in Communication from the University of Hawaii and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of Arizona.

Building Your Online Brand

About Rane Johnson-Stempson

Rane Johnson-Stempson is a Principal Research Director at Microsoft Research Outreach, where she engages with academics worldwide and identifies high-impact areas for research investigations. She is currently working on projects that use technology to transform how we learn about history, teach middle school girls programming and how we eradicate human trafficking. Rane is also the lead for growing, attracting and retaining women in research, science and engineering. She is actively working with NCWIT, Anita Borg, AAUW, CRA-W, IEEE-WIE, ACM-W and researchers on how to grow the pipeline of women in research, science and engineering. She has been selected to sit on Whitehouse committees to focus on how technology can stop the commercial sex trafficking of minors and technology inclusion for under-represented minorities in STEM.  Previously, as the WW Director of Education Strategy she was responsible for multi-stakeholder partnerships, Cisco-Intel-Microsoft Alliance, World Economic Forum- Global Education Initiative, Fast Track Initiative-Private Constituency and helping our local teams around the world use the power of technology as an accelerator to transform education to meet local government priorities to drive economic and workforce development in the 21^st century.

Shifting Context: Leadership Springs from Within

About Barbara Key and Kathryn Johnson

Barbara Key’s commitment is to a world in which each individual experiences freedom. She is a coach, leadership consultant, and co-author of Shifting Context. Coaching programs that she designed and led have laid the foundation for the success of hundreds of social change projects. The stories of several of the leaders she coached are in the book.

Kathryn Johnson, hospital & health care consultant, is featured in the chapter about Vision and Commitment. She will speak about how this key leadership principle led to the success of Health Forum.

Building Effective Global Relationships from Your Spare Room

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About JoAnn McCay

 JoAnn McCay is a project engineer with 25 years of experience in military and commercial aerospace development and certification, as well as semiconductor fab facility startups in the US and Saudi Arabia. Currently working from home as an outsource Systems Engineer on a major commercial aircraft program, JoAnn motivates a cross-functional engineering team spread across three continents, connecting internal and external stakeholders at a major supplier and the aircraft manufacturer. She holds a B.S. in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Virginia Tech and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona. She is a life member of the Society of Women Engineers, and has served as the Outreach Chair and President of the Phoenix Section Society of Women Engineers, on the Arizona Council of Engineering and Scientific Associations, and as President of the Cross Cultural Exchange Association in Nagoya, Japan.

The Power in Diversity of Thought to Meet Technical Challenges

About Laura J. McGill

Laura J. McGill is a principal engineering fellow at Raytheon Missiles and a former deputy director for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and Special Programs. McGill is an adjunct lecturer for Raytheon’s onsite Master of Science in Systems Engineering program with Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. She also serves as an instructor for the company’s Systems Engineering Technical Development Program.

She is a lifetime fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a member of its board of directors. She is AIAA’s current vice president–Standards and former vice president—Technical Activities.

Diversity in the Board Room

About Linda R. Medler

Brigadier General, USAF (Retired)  
Chief Information Security Officer/Director IT Security  
Raytheon Missile Systems

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2014 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity markets throughout the world. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass.

In her current role, Medler is responsible for synchronizing cyber initiatives and capability development across the RMS product family. She leads and creates the cyber vision and strategy to develop nonkinetic capabilities for customers, and ensures cyber resiliency and defensive measures are incorporated into all variants of RMS weapon systems. Medler is building the methodology to address the Department of Defense (DoD) guidance on electronic warfare and cyber convergence and is incorporating cyber resiliency testing during all phases of weapon systems testing and certification in accordance with Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) guidance and directives.

Before joining Raytheon, Medler was president and CEO of LA Medler and Associates, LLC, providing cyber strategy consulting services to commercial clients and numerous DoD customers and academic institutions. In 2014, she concluded 30 years of combined military service as a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force as director of Capability and Resource Integration (J8) for United States Cyber Command. In this capacity, she was responsible for mapping cyber requirements to capabilities, identifying and resourcing emerging cyberspace capabilities, developing the cyber component of the future year’s defense plan and overseeing the command’s budget. To meet the growing demand for offensive and defensive cyberspace operations, Medler orchestrated the development of the current DoD Cyber Mission Force strategy and resourcing plan.

Her previous assignments included director of Communications and Networks for the Joint Sta , Joint Chiefs of Sta Deputy CIO, chief of staff for Air Force Materiel Command, Secretary of Defense corporate fellow; and presidential communications officer at the White House Communications Agency. Medler commanded at the squadron, group and wing level, and deployed to Afghanistan to lead more than 100 coalition personnel responsible for elding the Afghan National Army. In 2005, she commanded the 97th Air Expeditionary Group to provide humanitarian relief operations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Medler is on the board of directors for both Operation Homefront and the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, and has served as a member of the Arizona Governor’s Cybersecurity Roundtable. A special adviser to the Arizona Cyber reat Response Alliance, she is also on the National Board of Advisers for the Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, and a member of the Board of the Arizona State University Research Enterprise.

Medler holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and management information systems from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has a master’s degree in business administration, management information systems from the University of Arizona, and a master’s in national strategic studies from the Naval War College.

Unconscious Bias in the CS/IS Workforce: What You Can Do to Foster Inclusive Workplace Cultures

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About Heather Metcalf

Heather Metcalf is a Proposal and Award Coordinator with the University of Arizona’s College of Engineering and is a grant writer for the Aurora Foundation of Southern Arizona, a disability social justice and advocacy non-profit. 

She recently completed a postdoctoral research associate position with the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Grant at the UA where her responsibilities focused on examining issues of faculty equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. She earned her doctorate from the Center for the Study of Higher Education at UA in May 2011. She also holds master’s degrees in Gender and Women’s Studies and Computer Science. Her research areas are science and technology policy studies, gender studies, and human-computer interaction. She has research, policy and programmatic expertise in faculty and student development, recruitment and retention initiatives, STEM cultures, unconscious bias, STEM workforce issues, and diversity and equity issues. 

Diversity and Inclusion are Everyone's Full Time Roles

About Mike Miles

General Manager & Executive Sponsor of Diversity and Inclusion, Microsoft Cloud and Infrastructure Operations

Mike is a partner-level Technology Leader with 20+ years of software industry experience, with 15 years of experience building and leading teams in US and abroad.  Mike is currently a General Engineering Manager at Microsoft, responsible for planning, developing and building out cloud infrastructure and related automated systems in support of Microsoft’s cloud-based products (Exchange, O365, Bing, etc).

Mike is the executive sponsor for diversity and inclusion in Microsoft’s Cloud and Infrastructure Operations team, responsible for developing and leading best practices in diversity recruiting, retention and employee development.

Mike recently took on an additional role for Microsoft, leading an initiative leveraging Microsoft’s global datacenter fleet to make a positive impact in 30 local communities around the world.

Mike is passionate about empowering university students to pursue social change and is active in lecturing on Corporate Social Responsibility, guest speaking on philanthropy and connecting students to Microsoft resources to enable social impact.

Outside of his professional role at Microsoft, Mike, his wife Christine and oldest son Jake are passionate about extending the reach of global health care to underserved communities in South America through Timmy Global Health.

Visit Mike on LinkedIn

Microsoft's Focus on Diversity and Inclusion

About Mike Miles

Mike Miles is a General Manager at Microsoft Corporation based in Redmond Washington, currently leading a global team focused on Community and Workforce development efforts in Microsoft’s 50+ Global Datacenter Communities. Mike is a partner-level Technology Leader with 20+ years of software industry experience, including 15 years of management, 7 years international and 3 years of startup experience, spending much of his careerbuilding and leading software engineering teams in Microsoft’s online product division in eleven locations around the world, including in Europe, South America and Asia.

Mike is a guest lecturer on Corporate Social Responsibility at both University of Arizona and University of Washington, is a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, is a board member for Timmy Global Health – a global health NGO based in Indianapolis and is a committed sponsor of Sophia Way – women’s homeless shelter in Seattle as well as the Executive Sponsor for Diversity and Inclusion in Microsoft’s Datacenter Organization.

Diversity and the Competitive Advantage

About Vicki Panhuise

Vicki Panhuise is a recognized strategic business leader with 35 years of experience in aerospace manufacturing and engineering roles for commercial and defense markets. She has a proven track record for delivering results for complex programs requiring significant business transformation thought processes. Prior to joining NorthFind Partners, Vicki managed her own consulting business, VePoint Consulting Group, LLC. She also was President of Airborne Systems Group, a division of HDT Global, and successfully led the sale of this business for the private equity owner. Previously, Vicki held key business leadership roles at Honeywell Aerospace including Vice President, US Defense

Customers, as well as many other significant roles during her 31-year career.

Vicki holds several degrees including a B.A. in Mathematics from Wells College, M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from University of Missouri-Columbia, and a MBA from the University of Arizona. She has served as the Chairman of the Arizona Aerospace and Defense Commission and on the Arizona Commerce Authority Board appointed by the Governor.

Building and Leveraging Diverse Networks

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About November Papaleo

November hails from San Diego by way of the Pacific Northwest. She earned her Ph.D. in Gender and Women's Studies from the University of Arizona with a minor in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English, and a certificate in mastery for College Teaching. Her recent work examines how educators recognize their relationships with technology both online and offline and how that relationship affects perceptions of bullying, disciplinary policy development, and empathy markers. Her work with digital literacy is ever present in workshops with schools in TUSD and in presentations for non-profits across the state. As the Director of Women in Science and Engineering, November has worked within Arizona to bring STEM learning to K-12 students, impoverished communities, and underrepresented students across the state. Utilizing a combination of educational leadership and pedagogical strategies, internal and external collaboration, and a hearty internship program, November and her team have increased participation in the program from 500 people annually in 2009 to over 5000 in the last academic year. Contact November at npapaleo@email.arizona.edu.  

Implicit Bias in the Academy: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions

NOTE: Jeff's presentation is NOT AVAILABLE online and not in the D2L system

About Jeffrey Stone

Dr. Jeff Stone is Professor of Psychology in the School of Mind, Brain and Behavior, appointed faculty in the Marketing Department of the Eller College of Management, and a research associate in the Arizona Cancer Center, all at the University of Arizona. He directs two labs in the Psychology department. His Self and Attitudes lab develops new influence strategies that are used to promote health behavior and the reduction of prejudice. His Social Psychology of Sport Lab investigates the causes and consequences of racial and gender stereotypes for the behavior of athletes both on and off the field. 

Sponsorships and Mentorships—How to Navigate the First Years of Your Career

About Katee Van Horn

Katee Van Horn is the VP of Global Engagement & Inclusion for GoDaddy, driving the business imperative that more diverse teams build better products. She has the innate ability to quickly assess the organization, leadership, and individual development needs and create appropriate and operative solutions.

She is a reputable leader known for building and sustaining trusting, collaborative relationships and alliances to achieve business goals. Her focus is on outreach to diverse and underrepresented communities and building an inclusive culture for GoDaddy. 

She writes about being a better human resources practitioner and is working on her first book. You can follow her blog and see upcoming speaking engagements at www.kateevanhorn.com.

What is the Business Case for Diversity?

About Liz Armbruester

Avalara executive Liz Armbruester brings 20+ years of demonstrated success and operational experience to the global tax compliance company headquartered in Seattle, WA. She is an engaged, trusted and high-performing leader who focuses on automation, scale and efficiency. She leads the global returns and reporting functions for Avalara and has been with the company since 2013. She is known for her strong track record of innovative problem solving, process optimization, passion and high integrity leadership style. She is a transformational leader, helping to guide Avalara through extensive periods of high growth and from being a privately held to publicly traded company. Liz has worked in a variety of technology sectors including software, media and services.  Acknowledged for her track record of success, operational excellence, ability to partner to create scalable platforms with a high degree of data accuracy and exceptional client-service, Liz consistently delivers best-in-class results for every customer and partner she serves. She has an aptitude for partnering cross-functionally to drive value across teams with a net positive impact to company financials.  Additionally, Liz is the executive sponsor for Avalara’s Women of Avalara (WoA) employee resource group (ERG).  Founded in 2018, Liz has played a foundational role in building the first ever ERG at Avalara and has helped to create an opportunity for others to establish additional resource groups focused on the LGBTQ+, veterans, and African American communities.  Avalara’s ERGs focus on 4 core areas; community, commerce, career and culture and during WoA’s inaugural year, the team was able to create a mentorship program for its members with over 50% participation and an 90% satisfaction rating.  In her role with WoA and as a female executive in technology, Liz has expanded her focus on diversity and inclusion both internally at Avalara and externally over the last several years. Liz is passionate about mentoring, educating and developing the next generation of leaders and has spent a significant amount of time outside the office coaching youth sports. She is a former athlete and continues to enjoy a variety of sports, particularly baseball and softball.

Diversity, Inclusion and Equity: how Microaggressions, Unconscious Bias and Fragility will cost you in business

About Kate Goldman

Kate is Director of People Services for the Center for Biological Diversity headquartered here in Tucson, AZ  and serves as their Chair person for their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. She holds a Bachelor’s in Environmental Economics and MBA in International Business and carries over 10 years of D&I training, employee relations and HR experience. She also is the immediate Past-President of SHRM of Greater Tucson, as well as the Advocacy Director on the Board of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Kate is dedicated to her calling to improve the quality of life and opportunities for all people, leading her to developing and delivering trainings on Microagressions in the Workplace, D&I and Leadership seminars. Her passion and work in D&I, both in the community as well as in organizations she’s been a part of, have defined her leadership style as inclusive and empowering. Kate is dedicated to cultivating trailblazers who protect the under-represented and improve rights for all.

Women in the Workforce: Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude 

About Sheila Sornsin

Sheila Sornsin, owner of The Grateful Goddess, is dedicated to empowering women to live their ultimate, authentic purpose in life with ease and expansive joy. Sheila is a life and business coach who uses the Universal Laws to guide you in creating the life you love. Conducting workshops at Canyon Ranch Resort & Spa or by appointment, Sheila helps uncover and connect with your true desires, then works one on one to put those practices in action to realize your full potential. The Grateful Goddess mission is to raise the consciousness of joyful living through optimal health, prosperity, peace of mind, meaningful relationships, all while living out your passion and purpose.

How to build the next generation of STEM professionals

About Louvere Walker-Hannon

Louvere Walker-Hannon is a MathWorks Senior Application Engineer, who provides direction and recommendations on technical workflows for various applications. Specifically, she assists with the following topics image processing, computer vision, machine learning, deep learning, geospatial analysis, and data analytics when discussing technical workflows.  She has a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and a master’s degree in Geographic Information Technology with a specialization in Remote Sensing.  Louvere has worked in three different engineering roles throughout her 20 year career while at MathWorks. She was also a Program Presenter, in this role she was the lead educator of STEM topics for Cahners ComputerPlace within the Boston Museum of Science. A prominent theme in her career is communication of technical concepts to various audiences and being involved with STEM education.

Louvere is a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and other organizations. She has a long history of serving as a STEM mentor. Louvere volunteers with Black Girls Code and the Society of Women Engineers. She is a Curriculum Lead for the Boston Chapter of Black Girls CODE, a Co-Lead of the SWE Latinos Affinity Group, and a Society Engagement Lead for the SWE African American Affinity Group. Louvere has presented and continues to present at several STEM related conferences on various topics. She recently presented her work on a Natural Language Processing application at the 100th American Meteorological Society in January 2020 and at the American Association of Geographers (AAG) virtual conference in April 2020. She will present information on Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality at the upcoming Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in October 2020. She also assists with organizing conferences in addition to presenting at them. In July 2020, she served as one the Virtual Chairs of the 37th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) and is one of the MeetUp Chairs for the upcoming 34th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) scheduled for December 2020.