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Madeleine Ong is a project manager at Intel. She is the light show services lead working on the drone light show team. She plans and executes all drone light shows, including the one for the recent Winter Olympics in South Korea this past February. Drone light shows are a new form storytelling and entertainment, where drones effectively act as flying pixels in the nighttime sky. linkedin.com/in/madeleine-ong-665b5825 madeleine.ong@intel.com   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Robin Mazumder is a PhD candidate in cognitive neuroscience at University of Waterloo. He studies how urban design influences the psychology of individuals living in cities. In particular, he leverages immersive virtual reality to simulate cityscapes. Robin is also actively engaged in various urban design programs and organizations throughout the world, frequently traveling, and presenting at conferences. robinmazumder.com linkedin.com/in/robin-mazumder-07170056   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Ayantu Regassa is an Android Developer at McMaster-Carr. She studied mechanical engineering in college at MIT, but was given the opportunity to learn software development on the job and took it. She explains how being a software developer is much more than just writing code. It involves working with many different people in different roles. Ayantu was born in Ethiopia and moved to the United States at the age of 8. She talks about growing up in a strict family and how that influenced her career path. linkedin.com/in/ayanturegassa ayantu.regassa@gmail.com   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Maurice Cherry is Content Marketer at Fog Creek Software, based in New York City. Maurice is based out of Atlanta, since much of the workforce is remote. Fog Creek makes software to help the lives of software developers. Other companies spun out of Fog Creek, including Trello and Stack Overflow. Also FogBugz, now Manuscript, came out of Fog Creek. They recently released a new product called Glitch, a flexible tool to create software, even for not especially technical users. As Content Marketer, Maurice creates content about Fog Creek’s products and tells stories about the products. Maurice says that there is a discovery process when people find apps and services to use. He says that that gap is marketing. So that could be ads, creating content, creating videos, or going to the communities that can use the products. Marketing is a wayfinder, helping companies find the users for their products. Maurice’s background is in technology. He has a Master’s degree. And he’s worked at NASA, and in startups. He’s done web development and design, including founding his own design studio. He has a podcast called Revision Path. Maurice talks about the diversity and inclusion climate and initiatives in the tech industry now. twitter.com/mauricecherry mauricecherry.com   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Dr. Marie McNeely is the host of People Behind the Science Podcast, a show highlighting scientists in various fields. Dr. McNeely has a background in neuroscience and was even a faculty professor in the field for a short period, before she decided to pursue her passion in communicating science and helping organizations with their digital and content strategy. She has since founded Unfold Productions to do so. linkedin.com/in/marie-mcneely-phd-b62bbb33 twitter.com/PhDMarie People Behind the Science Podcast Unfold Productions   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Dr. Kirsten Thomas is Associate Veterinarian at Toledo Zoo and Aquarium Department of Animal Health and Nutrition. Along with her colleagues, she takes care of the animals at the zoo on a daily basis. She also does research in the animals, especially in the areas of animal conservation. She collaborates with counterparts who do research outside zoo captivity, in order to better understand animals overall. Dr. Thomas grew up liking animals, and had some experience with medicine in college. But she ended up being a high school science teacher, teaching inner city students. But she then changed careers afterward, going to vet school, working at a clinic, and eventually ending up as Associate Veterinarian at Toledo Zoo. Toledo Zoo and Aquarium thomas.kirsten@gmail.com   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Dr. Bethany Brookshire is a science education writer, writing for Science News and Science News for Students. These are publications from the nonprofit,  Society for Science and the Public. She's previously blogged for Scientific American too. Bethany talks about her science writing, and how it is used by teachers as an extra classroom resource and read by students. Bethany talks about the lack of diversity in sources when it comes to science journalism. She talks about some recent corrective efforts in this area, including Diverse Sources and 500 Women Scientists. Bethany is a host on the Science for the People podcast. She has a PhD from Wake Forest University in Pharmacology. linkedin.com/in/bethanybrookshire/ twitter.com/scicurious Society for Science and the Public Science News Science News for Students Science for the People Diverse Sources 500 Women Scientists Wake Forest University   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Dr. Christian Douglas is Senior Statistician at Duke University, where she supports researchers in the School of Nursing. She works on a variety of different healthcare and medicine projects. In particular, she helps researchers secure funding by detailing the statistics work that would need to be done, as part of grant proposals. Her background is in statistics, especially in the healthcare space. Christian says broader exposure to STEM fields to young folks will help improve diversity in these fields. Often times underrepresented folks, especially those in rural areas, aren't aware that these fields even exist. She recalls her own experience growing up in rural Alabama. In this regard, Christian has participated in NSBE in the past, and is part of panel discussions as well. Christian previously got a PhD in Biostatistics at UNC Chapel Hill. linkedin.com/in/christian-douglas-a698207/ christian.douglas@duke.edu Duke University National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) University of North Carolina Chapel Hill   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Kishau Rogers is a serial tech entrepreneur based out of Richmond, Virginia. She's started a number of companies, including Websmith Studio, a software development firm offering custom solutions for customers. She's also started Time Study, a company that creates tools to help businesses more efficiently handle time reporting. She started bigThinking, an initiative to help people thinking more broadly and generate better ideas with regard to building scalable business solution. bigThinking offers resources and training. Kishau studied computer science at Virginia Commonwealth University, when there weren't very many women or people of color. She talks about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and how she shapes those cultures in her own companies, including building diverse leadership teams from the outset. linkedin.com/in/kishau/ twitter.com/kishau Websmith Studio Time Study bigThinking Virginia Commonwealth University   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Dr. Raychelle Burks is Assistant Professor at St. Edwards University Department of Chemistry. Dr. Burks is an analytical chemist. She does research in color sensors, fluorescence sensors, chemiluminescence sensors, and in general, systems to find chemicals. This work has a wide array of applications, such as field tests in natural disaster scenarios. Dr. Burks is an active science communicator. She's the manager of the DIY Science Zone at GeekGirlCon. She writes for Chemistry World in the area of forensic science, aimed at lay people. She's on a television show called Outrageous Acts of Science on the Science Channel. Dr. Burks is the only scientist in her family. But her family are big consumers of education in general. At a young age, she was already in a book club. She spent a lot of time in the library. In her family, knowing things and having an answer is really cool. She was encouraged to work hard and make progress. Because on a school trip she got to interact with some FBI science people, she got interested in science. She did her Bachelor's at University of Iowa, her Master's at Nebraska Weslelyan University, and her PhD at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In regards to diversity and inclusion, she says that often times institutions and try to hire more diversely and ask those folks to solve the problem. She doesn't think that's the right way to address it. The responsibility should not be solely on these folks. She says that there is a lot of work to do. She says there's two problems: Retention and recruitment. She says systems of oppression have to be removed. Cannot just tinker. Also she says this is an area of scholarship in itself. She says that for diversity and inclusion in STEM, we need to listen to our colleagues in the humanities to help us, since they are doing very good work in this area to identify the problems and collect the data. linkedin.com/in/raychelle-burks-0a532b147/ twitter.com/DrRubidium stedwards.edu/directory/employees/raychelle-burks St. Edwards University Department of Chemistry DIY Science Zone at GeekGirlCon Chemistry World Outrageous Acts of Science The Science of Wonder Woman University of Northern Iowa Nebraska Wesleyan University University of Nebraska-Lincoln   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Dr. Ginger Campbell is Palliative Medicine Physician at Birmingham VA Medical Center. She previously spent over 20 years as an emergency medicine physician. She also hosts the Brain Science Podcast, which has been running for over 10 years. Palliative care is the newest speciality in medicine. Palliative comes from a Greek word which means "to shield". So the basic idea of palliative care is to protect patients and their families from suffering. It can be from pain, including psychological, and all the things that come with a life-threatening illness. People often think of palliative care as taking care of people at end of life, but actually often palliative care involves taking care of people for many years if the illness is challenging from a symptom perspective. (There is even pediatric palliative care for kids, so it doesn't have to be just for older patients.) Palliative care complements other specialities, since medicine has become very specialized, and so often remembering how the patient feels actually gets lost, while trying to cure them. Birmingham VA Hospital is the forefront of palliative care in the United States, where Dr. Campbell works at, and she takes part in training the next generation of physicians as students rotate into the hospital. In palliative care, communication is very important. This involves speaking with patients and their families, to understand their priorities, and help them make decisions regarding treatments (or not doing treatments at all). Dr. Campbell worked as an emergency medicine physician in small rural towns for over 20 years before joining palliative medicine a few years ago. She says that unfortunately due to country's medical system, in small towns, the emergency room becomes the safety net, and she cared for a lot of smaller, not necessarily "emergency" conditions throughout her time. Every day was different and she enjoyed it. Dr. Campbell moved with her family to Alabama in 1964. She started as an electrical engineering major in college at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. But in her last year, she realized she liked people more than engineering. She went on to do a masters degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and then went to medical school at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. Dr. Campbell hosts the Brain Science Podcast, which is a show that gives accurate science, but is accessible to people of all backgrounds. She says that coverage of science, and neuroscience specifically, in the media, is not very accurate. Her show is able to provide real science, and in particular, she interviews practicing scientists, and often those guests are authors too. Dr. Campbell says its okay to be not sure about you career path and know immediately what you want to do. She says people nowadays will have multiple careers. It's fine to change. linkedin.com/in/docartemis/ twitter.com/docartemis virginiacampbellmd.com/ Birmingham VA Medical Center Palliative care University of Alabama in Huntsville University of Alabama at Birmingham University of Alabama School of Medicine Brain Science Podcast   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Amanda started Happii, a startup studio that helps non-technical entrepreneurs create apps and scale them into companies, including product and technology development, marketing, and project management. Amanada acts as a co-founder of these companies as part of the arrangements. Two of these companies are Afridate and Tipoff. Afridate is a dating app that connects black singles. It allows you to search by nationality or ethnicity. Tipoff is a word guessing game customized to African-American vernacular. Amanda started her career in entertainment PR. But she wasn't fulfilled by it. Later on she started hackathons aimed at the Black community, and also started Tiphub, a tech accelerator in Africa. Amanda went to Florida State University and Georgetown University. Amanda says that as an African-American, she is a subject matter expert and her work has often veered in that direction and it is intentional. However, she says it makes good business sense overall to focus on minority markets which are underserved right now. linkedin.com/in/amandaspann/ twitter.com/amandaspann instagram.com/theamandaspann/ http://amandaspann.com/ Happii Afridate Tipoff Tiphub Florida State University Georgetown University   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Jeffrey Smith is Manager of Production Operations at Centro, a media services company that helps brands and ad agencies execute their digital advertising strategies. These companies have broad advertising campaigns, and they come to Centro to get help with the digital parts. Centro provides web-based tools with standardized workflows in an industry which has in the past been very disorganized and analog. Centro also has a demand side platform (DSP), allowing advertisers to bid on digital ads in real time auctions. Centro's main business is in placement of ads on digital properties, based on the user viewing the site. Centro is planning to ramp up in the social media advertising space too. Production Operations (ProdOps) ensures that production environments are up and running, that they are patched appropriately, that security rollouts are maintained and updated. ProdOps at Centro (and in the industry as a whole), is starting to move beyond just supporting customer-facing production, and also support internal business processes and systems, such as internal software applications, testing, demo, and training environments. The reason is that ProdOps has the domain expertise to handle these, and therefore, should. When non-tech people think of technologists, they think of just programmers. But there's many technical folks beyond programmers that support the entire technology platform of a company. Jeffrey says that running software on a programmer's laptop is very different from running it in a production system with thousands of users at the same time. There's different problem domains that programmers are not equipped to solve. This is were Production Operations come in. As manager, Jeffrey warns that a "working manager" is a myth. Management is a full time job, and you can't just do it on the side, while also doing individual contributor work. One of his jobs as a manager is to identify work that does not uniquely require his team, and to automate away or otherwise remove that work from the team, so that the team can focus on their unique contributions to the organization. Another way to remove that work is to simply pay an outside company for a common service, ultimately outsourcing it since it's not unique to the business. Growing up, Jeffrey was interested in computers and computer games. But he did poorly in school and was working in a furniture store after high school. Eventually he ended up doing an entry level data entry job. He sat right at the entrance of the IT department, and befriended the manager of IT operations there. He was fortunate enough to get noticed and given an opportunity to work on the IT team, and worked his way up the ranks at MVP Healthcare, while also going back to school. Jeffrey has a degree in Computer Information Systems at SUNY Empire State College. Jeffrey eventually worked at Grubhub, managing the SRE (System Reliability Engineering) team, before ending up at Centro. Along the way he intentionally learned management and added it to his skillset. Jeffrey says technology is a tool that serves the business. It helps him collaborate effectively with business folks in organizations. Jeffrey warns against unconscious biases. Everybody has it. It's important to recognize it and guard against it, and don't let it drive your decisions. This applies to job descriptions and interviewing. Jeffrey knows many African-Americans working in technology. But he has only interviewed only two African-Americans. He's concerned about the unconscious biases that are preventing candidates that get to him. In regards to inclusion, something as simple as dietary constraints should be considered when for example, doing a team lunch. It is part of the bigger picture of an inclusive culture. Jeffrey says there are many technical roles/fields. Not just programming. These include, network engineering, production operation support, release engineering, security (both technology and policy), and technical writing. He says that if you get into a technical field, make sure you are passionate about it, since you have to continually focus and hone your skills on it. It is a career, not just a job. linkedin.com/in/jeffery-smith-37a0162/ twitter.com/darkandnerdy allthingsdork.com/ jeff@allthingsdork.com Centro Demand side platform The Myth of the Working Manager MVP Healthcare SUNY Empire State College   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Brian Gerrard is Co-Founder at California Modular, an Oakland-based real estate development company, that addresses the rising housing costs in many US urban communities. He is also Co-Founder of Bae, a dating app for Black millennial singles. Brian is based out of Oakland. Brian says that in the Bay Area, the supply for affordable housing has stayed constant, but the demand has grown exponentially. Consequently, the cost of housing has risen by 75% in the past 5 years in Oakland. Family salaries have not risen by this rate, so there is a tremendous need to be solved. The demand is spilling over from San Francisco, where big tech companies are attracting folks moving in who are able to pay much higher rent, and thus displacing the original locals. He says that the people living in these areas are not getting access to the education in order to be able to get these jobs offered in their cities. This is the real problem that needs to be addressed. With California Modular, Brian and his co-founders saw the opportunity to cut the cost of housing in half for people in the Bay Area, by building houses at 10 times the speed and one tenth of cost of a normal unit. To do that, they've been using tiny homes, which can be built in 6 to 8 weeks, which are smart-home outfitted, and they are located in micro-villages, with many community amenities like fire pits and basketball courts. Some of the homes are even built using shipping containers. Brian says that people have been living in small homes for many decades in the past. Think the trailer park. But what's changed recently is the demographic that can be served with these homes. Nowadays millennials don't want 30 to 50 year mortgages and be tied down to a specific community. People can rent or finance these small homes. Or they can even live in an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), which is a small structure attached to part of a house property (such as in the backyard). California Modular builds the ADU and enters into a revenue share with the property owner for rental income. Brian wanted to be an entrepreneur before becoming a technologist. He got a bit dizzy with the tech narrative, and so moved into the analog world of building houses after building phone apps. He sees real estate as a great business to be in. But he does say the regulatory hurdles are difficult. If you submit an app, you just have to get past the Apple review team. But for building houses, you have to get past the mayor, the building code, the zoning and planning office, and you're waiting 6 to 8 months to be approved or rejected. Also the capital required to start this business is a lot higher. Brian started Bae, the dating app for Black millennial singles when he and his co-founders realized Tinder was not serving the Black community effectively. He said that the reason nobody built this prior is that nobody is thinking to solve problems that affect this community. Because people in these communities who are affected by these problems often don't have access to capital. Bae was very successful and was eventually acquired by if(we), which itself was acquired by The Meet Group. Brian joined The Meet Group as Director of Product Marketing. He eventually then left to start California Modular. Brian grew up in New Jersey and was encouraged by his family to take risks in life. He was the number one fencer in the state for multiple years. He learned that he could be the best and excel, helping him later in life as an entrepreneur. Brian graduated from the University of Virginia, and planned to be a lawyer, but ended up as a kindergarten teacher in Queens, New York. Later he landed a position at the NBA, helping their international efforts in building the NBA League Pass International app. He then worked at Nielsen as a consultant to help clients transition from TV to mobile. He then started Bae afterward. Brian is concerned that large tech companies, even with their current work demographic, are already performing financially well and have no real incentive to change. He is also concerned that there are more fundamental problems facing the African-American community, such as very low high school graduation rates, prison industrial complex, and high rates of single-parent households leading to lower household incomes. The lack of diversity in tech companies is ultimately not the underlying issue. Brian is featured in CA Technologies' STEM10 series highlighting future leaders in STEM fields. For career advice, Brian says don't create your own barriers. If you want to launch an app but don't have money to pay a developer, then learn how to code online for free. Or build a low cost / free website to validate your product ideas, before investing in building an app. Brian also recommends positive social peer pressure. Tell your personal network that you're working on an idea with a deadline. So you give yourself pressure to follow through. Brian also says put your money into your business. So that forces yourself to commit to it and raise the personal stakes. brian@brianjgerrard.co linkedin.com/in/brianjgerrard/ twitter.com/brianjgerrard California Modular Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Bae: Before Anyone Else if(we) The Meet Group University of Virginia NBA Nielsen Prison–industrial complex CA Technologies STEM10 Brian Gerrard   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Bernard started Analyse Asia podcast about three years ago, as a way to do long-form storytelling, in order to cover business and technology in Asia. The podcast is focused on companies who have at least received a Series B round of funding, and the movers and shakers in that world. Guests include executives of US companies based in Asia, executives of Asian companies, and industry watchers and journalists. Bernard is planning to grow the podcast into a broader media platform. Bernard is Head of Post Office Network and Digital Services at Singapore Post (at the time of recording). Singapore Post is a publicly listed company. It's the largest global logistics provider across Asia Pacific for ecommerce logistics. As part of the executive leadership team, Bernard helped bring Alibaba into investing $282 million into SingPost. Bernard is responsible for the digital strategy across the entire company (except for the ecommerce team, which is run like an independent startup). He built out the digital platform to connect customers to SingPost through web, mobile, and even physical kiosks, as part of a larger, longer migration strategy as the demographics become more digitally savvy over time. Bernard grew up in a traditional Chinese family in the 1970s in Singapore. He was interested in space at a young age, influenced by the Space Race at the time. He studied Physics and Material Science at the National University of Singapore for an undergrad degree, and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University for a PhD degree. His thesis was in cosmology, investigating big bang background radiation to study the early universe. He also worked in the Human Genome Project at the Sanger Institute. He even did research in economics. Bernard founded two startups after leaving academia. SGEntreprenuers, a media startup, and Chalkboard, a location-based advertising company. After the two companies, he decided that he needed to learn how to scale companies and how to build culture. So he entered the corporate world to learn that. Eventually, he wants to build three companies: A media company, a finance company, and a real estate company. Bernard was already mentoring students as a PhD student, continuing to do when he was working in the startups and at SingPost. Bernard's career advice that he actually uses himself is: Learn from EveryoneFollow No OneObserve the PatternsWork like Hell linkedin.com/in/bleongcw/ twitter.com/bernardleong bernardleong.com/ Analyse Asia Podcast Usborne Space Books A Brief History of Time National University of Singapore Cambridge University Sanger Institute Human Genome Project CRISPR SGEntreprenuers Chalkboard Singularity University   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Shareef Jackson is the founder of the math and physics tutoring service Math Looks Good and a co-host on the Spawn on Me podcast. He is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shareef started the Math Looks Good tutoring service while working at a corporate job. He's since left the corporate world and done this full time. He works with high school students. For some students, he has developed a custom curriculum for them. Shareef uses plain English and modern examples. He says he used a Black Panther movie trailer to illustrate the laws of motion. He helps students see that math and science are not abstract concepts, but that they are already interacting with day to day. In 2011, Shareef was doing a lot of work with NASA, and started a blog called Science Looks Good, which focuses on space exploration and diversity within science. He says we often overlook the contributions that people of color have made to science, throughout history. He says a lot of students don't seek out these majors, because they don’t see it as something for them. It starts as early as elementary school. Shareef sees himself, as an African-American man, as an example, to show to people that they are here. And that he is not an exception. There is a history. Shareef is a co-host on the Spawn On Me podcast, which celebrates the diversity in the gaming industry. It is an interview show and they discuss diversity issues. Shareef grew up lower middle class in a dangerous part of Paterson, New Jersey. He was fortunate enough to stay out of trouble and do well in school. He participated in New Jersey SEEDS, a program that prepares high-achieving low-income students academically, and sends them to private high schools. He was then finally challenged and motivated to excel academically. Shareef went to Brown University for undergrad and then Case Western, both in engineering. He eventually gave up a high-paying job as a data analyst to become an entrepreneur and started the tutoring service. Shareef says a lot of the problems that people attribute to inner cities start in young folks. These inner city schools are focused on disciplining the bad students. They are not challenging the average to great students. Some students get lost and start hanging out with the wrong crowd. This has been a problem of public schools for a long time, since they are under-resourced. Shareef says for folks entering a technical field, they should seek out help. There's many resources online nowadays to help educate yourself. For folks seeking the entrepreneurial route, don't be afraid to network and share your ideas. Put yourself out there. linkedin.com/in/shareefjackson/ twitter.com/ShareefJackson shareefjackson.com Math Looks Good Science Looks Good Gaming Looks Good Spawn on Me podcast New Jersey SEEDS Brown University Case Western Reserve University Harlem Children's Zone   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Kathy explains her role as Director of Security at the startup, GitLab. She’s responsible for securing the company, which involves setting guidelines on how to store customer data and other sensitive data within the company infrastructure. She works with other teams in the organization to ensure that the product that is rolled out is as secure as possible. Kathy says that security teams at companies often do security research while discovering vulnerabilities. Kathy advises companies who make security products. Having spent much of her career evaluating security products, she is able to advise them on what are good products, and what is good business strategy. She says many security products are already commoditized today, such as firewalls, antivirus software, and VPN software. So these wouldn’t be good businesses today, and doesn’t move the industry forward. Kathy was raised in Michigan. She studied electrical engineering in college and graduate school, and worked in hardware early in her career. She eventually moved into software, and in particular, did Unix administration work at the beginning of her software security career. At The MITRE Corporation, Kathy learned a broad background in security. MITRE was already also promoting women and diversity back then in the early 2000s. Kathy says security has lower numbers of women compared to other technical fields. She mentors women in security at the middle-level stage of their careers. kwang@gitlab.com linkedin.com/in/kathywang/ GitLab Krebs on Security Pluggable authentication module The MITRE Corporation linkedin.com/in/steve-christey-coley-66aa1826/ Common vulnerabilities and exposures linkedin.com/in/dezbeck/   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Ranjitha talks about a data-driven approach to digital design. She explains the research work her group does at the University of Illinois in the Department of Computer Science. The applications are very board, including mining user interactions in mobile apps and even the fashion vertical. Ranjitha talks about growing up in the Bay Area. Her parents encouraged her to have a broad education, influencing her to now have an interdisciplinary approach to her current work. Ranjitha previously co-founded Apropose, based off her graduate school work in Stanford, before becoming faculty at University of Illinois. ranjitha@illinois.edu linkedin.com/in/ranjitha-kumar-005a293/ twitter.com/ranjithaskumar University of Illinois Department of Computer Science Research and publications ZIPT: Zero-Integration Performance Testing of Mobile App Designs An Experimentation Engine for Data-Driven Fashion Systems Apropose   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter @STEMDiversityFM Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Mark talks about Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, a business policy think tank in the business school of UNC Chapel Hill, where he serves as Executive Director. He shares how the institute, through its portfolio of centers, partners with businesses and local governments to work on projects benefting local communities in economic need. Mark also talks about Black Communities: A Conference for Collaboration. It is an upcoming conference connecting academic researchers an black communities across North America. Mark traces his broad career path in earth sciences, research and academia, government and policy, as well as business engagement. linkedin.com/in/mark-little-a5b99a37/ twitter.com/magabritle UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise NCGrowth Black Communities: A Conference for Collaboration Geological Society of America   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter @STEMDiversityFM Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel

Angela, Partner at Version One Ventures, explains venture capital. She explains the business of unicorns and how it is a high risk high reward type of investment. Angela talks about growing up in Toronto in an immigrant family. She did biomedical engineering in undergrad, and applied those engineering skills to finance in her PhD. Angela co-founded Insight Data Science, a program that equips PhD graduates with real-world data science skills, and places them in top tech companies. linkedin.com/in/angela-tran-kingyens-38262131/ twitter.com/ATKingyens angela@versionone.vc Version One Ventures Insight Data Science   STEM Diversity Podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Google Play Music | Feed Listen on Web at stemdiversitypodcast.com Listen on Twitter @STEMDiversityFM Send feedback Music by @BrkmstrCylinder Artwork by @forgottentowel