Top 5 sessions I’m excited about @ Girl Geek X Elevate 2022 Conference
March 8, 2022 is International Women’s Day and it’s almost here…but so is… Girl Geek X Elevate conference and I’m really looking forward to spending the day learning from amazing women in tech. For this year’s virtual conference (and it’s totally free — register here), I picked my top 5 sessions.
The first is from Arquay Harris’ keynote titled “Decision Making at Scale.” This topic intrigues me because making decisions based on data and values aren’t always easy. Sometimes our past and present biases (yes, happens to me too) can get in the way of making effective decisions that balance the needs of all stakeholders. I’m excited to learn the techniques and tips from this talk.
The second is from Autodesk senior leaders Reeny Sondhi and Susanna Holt and their talk is “Become the Role Model You Wish You Had.” This is a fireside chat format where both leaders will share their career stories and leadership lessons that led them to their roles. I’m intrigued by the title they chose. We all look up to a role model or a mentor… but, at times, we forget that we too have the opportunity to be that role model that we all want to emulate.
The third is from Fidelity Investments’ Divya Mahajan and Maria Lucena and their tech focused talk on GraphQL, Vue.js and AppSync is titled “AWS, GraphQL with Apollo-Vuejs: Simple Technologies that Help Deliver Enterprise-Grade Applications.” (AWS AppSync is a new service that enables developers to manage and synchronize mobile app data in real time across devices and users, but still allows the data to be accessed and altered when the mobile device is in an offline state). I taught myself GraphQL over a year ago so I’m really interested in how these languages interact, solve problems and deliver value.
The fourth titled “Your Ableism is Showing: How You’re Missing the Mark by Not Including Accessible Practices” presented by CEO and Founder Erin Perkins is near and dear to my heart because it is about leading inclusively. Here’s the summary: Erin Perkins, a deaf blind woman, will share personal experiences, challenging us to think about how we can step outside of our own comfort zone, and make small, easy changes to improve accessibility across the board.
The fifth session titled “Cryptocurrency for Economic Justice” will be presented by Jen-Mei Wu who is co-founder of https://partee4justice.org/ . This session really piques my interest and I am excited to learn about the ideas that can leverage cryptocurrency to change how wealth is currently distributed.
I should also note that I am speaking with Github’s Rocio Montes and Clover.ai’s Sharon Hunt in a fireside chat titled “ It’s a hot job market. Do you stay or do you leave?” We are going to share our stories of how we follow our career dreams and share our tips for others who may be thinking of what is next for them. If you are interested in checking out featured roles, Girl Geek X Elevate sponsors (yup, Autodesk is one of the sponsors this year) listed some exciting roles: https://girlgeek.io/jobs/
If you haven’t yet registered, now is the time! It’s fully virtual and free. Once you register, you will receive a custom link to get access to the day’s content: https://girlgeek.io/conferences/elevate2022/
We hope you will join us! This event is open to everyone :)
