Quincy was at a crossroads. She had just achieved tenure, the golden crown of the ivory tower. Was she going to walk away from the halls of academia to forge a new path in the government and non-profit sectors? It would require a significant amount of self-reflection, self-awareness, self-care, and guidance from the sisterhood. Fortunately, these assets have been plentiful in Quincy’s sphere. Quincy had always set a high bar for herself. She just hadn’t been aware of it until she graduated from high school and realized that not everyone
“Big data” is the biggest buzzword on Wall Street. Watches, phones, and even refrigerators are capturing data about the world around them, and businesses everywhere are learning how to process and make sense of this massive amount of information. People don’t naturally develop insights from spreadsheets and data tables, so Chantilly Jaggernauth is using the newest visualization tools to allow even users with the most basic computer skills to understand data. Chantilly’s STEM journey started when she attended a health science and engineering high school. As a naturally gifted artist,
As a naturally curious and confident person, Linda Kamau is no stranger to trailblazing. There were four paths in her all-girls school, and computer science was usually the path least chosen. But for Linda, computers were a passion, and she happily chose computer science to the surprise of her peers. She also had a natural interest in making things better, a talent encouraged by her older brother with whom she would spend time around the house repairing everything from radios to the roof. At many African universities, it is extremely
Michelle has had an unconventional yet beautiful journey to UX-UI design. She started drawing at a young age and always enjoyed creating things. Although she was raised in a low-income Houston neighborhood where many failed to finish high school, Michelle was an exception. After graduating, she would eventually leave that neighborhood altogether to pursue a degree in toy design from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York. While at FIT, Michelle learned about the principles of user experience and user journeys. She parlayed this knowledge into her first
When Justina Sanchez first began working at TÜV SÜD 15 years ago, her role had absolutely nothing to do with engineering. She began her career as an entry-level administrative assistant, with no exposure to what an engineering path would look like. During her few years at TÜV SÜD, however, Justina found herself surrounded by engineers constantly testing and certifying products before they shipped to ensure consumer safety. Intrigued by the constant experimentation process going on around her, she felt drawn to learn more. “[The engineering team] would get to do
This article was originally posted here by Wogrammer. Iyore: In Nigeria’s Edo language, it means “I have survived a long and difficult journey.” For Iyore Olaye, this is certainly an apt moniker. The 25-year-old has leaned into the meaning of her name by embracing each challenge life has thrown at her. The result has been a long, difficult, and rewarding journey from an underfunded school district in New Jersey to the startup world of Silicon Valley, where Iyore has earned recognition as one of the most exciting young innovators in
Originally posted here via Wogrammer. Jette Hernandez is one of the toughest coders you’ve ever met. As a former collegiate athlete, yoga instructor, and personal trainer, Jette is well-versed in the strength and tenacity required to reach one’s peak potential. This competitive spirit proved useful for Jette when she steered her career in an unlikely and unexpected direction. While working at the registration table of a tech event to earn extra money, Jette was intrigued by the job descriptions she saw on the attendee name badges (mostly belonging to men).
This story was originally published on Wogrammer here. Four years ago, Ana decided to leave her role as a business development consultant and become a software engineer. She caught wind of Women in Technology Peru, an organization that teaches women how to code. Although Ana was always interested in math and science, she grew up in an area of Peru that didn’t provide many opportunities to build upon those foundational STEM skills. However, once she immersed herself in an inspiring local community of female coders, it sparked her decision to attend
Originally posted here via Wogrammer As a child in Nigeria, Olamide Opadokun noticed a constant issue in her community: the sporadic availability of electricity. With not enough energy being produced for each town, families and businesses were often forced to use backup generators that made loud, disruptive noises and contributed to air pollution. Having read about renewable energy advances happening abroad, Olamide wondered why Nigeria didn’t have a better solution. “It was sunny every day in Nigeria — why weren’t we using more solar energy? As the rest of the
Originally published by Wogrammer here. Ananya Cleetus has a day named after her in the city of Pittsburgh. She is the creator of an app called Anemone, a TEDx speaker, and a computer science student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She exudes a unique type of confidence while speaking intelligently and thoughtfully about the journey that led her here today. While Ananya has accomplished so much early in her career, her success hasn’t come without its share of personal adversity. Earlier in her collegiate career, while studying Computer Science
