Athena Alumnae Meetup: Tech Edition

Event Recap from November 12, 2020

Technology is impacting our daily lives as we stay connected to the internet and to each other. It’s hard to avoid using technology, and we know that new applications of AI, blockchain, mixed reality, and the Internet of Things are all on the horizon, if not already relating to our mobile and smart devices. As liberal arts majors, our connection to technology is holistic, as we are equipped to innovate with technology as well as thoughtfully question technology use cases. How can we understand the variety of job and career opportunities available in this industry?

On Thursday November 12, over a dozen Athena alumnae gathered virtually for a meetup to discuss building careers and professional networks in the technology industry. The event highlighted two alumnae who are advancing adoption of emerging technologies, Ellie Cornell and Xonatia Lee. Both are from the Class of 2019. Ellie is currently with the Blockchain and Financial Services team at IBM. Xonatia is currently with the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist (Mixed Reality) team at Microsoft.

A bit about Ellie and her journey to internal consulting for blockchain technology at IBM

• She majored in Political Science and is passionate about using empirical data to tell stories to make sense of misunderstood groups/settings. When she entered the tech industry, someone asked her, “Are you technical?” As a proud liberal arts major, Ellie advises anyone who gets that question- you don’t have to necessarily build the product yourself, you just have to generally understand what is going and to be able to explain it to a third party. There are people who misunderstand what you need to know to be in tech, and there are also people who want you to feel you don’t know enough to be in tech. Work at your own pace.
• Ellie did some concrete things to upskill in technical fluency, knowing that she didn’t need to be a builder per se. She took CodeAcademy courses to familiarize herself with programming and in every meeting she attended, if she came across a technical term she didn’t understand, she looked jotted down the term and looked it up later. She also advises: don’t be afraid to ask technical questions.
• In her job now, she considers it an opportunity/privilege to be in an environment where she can continuously learn. She shared one example when she had no idea how to approach a data visualization process with a team member. She acknowledged her fear and then recognized, actually opening up new data files and spending hours learning about the data visualization process wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. Ellie advises: you don’t have to be an expert, you just have to be willing to learn.
• On networking, Ellie encourages making friends with technical experts on your team- if you have a question, they will be more willing to help you if you reach out to them beforehand. Within the blockchain industry, Ellie noticed most of the people at blockchain networking events were men. She is involved with an organization called she256, that has provided a new network for her and helps underrepresented groups get their foot in the door.

A bit about Xonatia and her path to product management with mixed reality at Microsoft

• She concentrated in Political Science, along with Computer Science courses and building an iOS app for the Columbia Daily Spectator. She pursued internships at Microsoft in product management and software development, and she realized she preferred product management because she was excited about the ability to drive the development of products using customer research and data analysis, as well as, the ability to learn about what makes a successful product.
• When she became a full-time product manager, Xonatia acknowledged that working on an emerging technology like mixed reality comes with a major learning curve. She realized that there might not be extensive research of the questions she may have or the problems she is trying to solve; it was up to her to solve them. As she settled into the onboarding process, she began to lead her own meetings and ship features for the product she works on. She advises anyone feeling like there’s a learning curve to keep asking questions and even more questions. Also, consider the solutions you’re solving together with your colleagues and recognize the relationships you have with senior engineers and other technical experts. These people will help you develop your skills to become a more valuable asset to your team. Don’t be afraid to ask people to break things down for you so you can better understand them.
• On networking, Xonatia recommends getting to know the different colleagues on your team. It’s important to reach out to them, have coffee chats, and follow up on their personal interests. It is important to make strong relationships (with your colleagues or mentors) at work because you can learn so much from others.
• Xonatia also advises that if you’re in tech, you must find friends in different fields outside of tech (eg. education, law, etc.) because of the challenges with groupthink. More diverse perspectives on the work you do or the problems you’re trying to solve will only make your approaches and decisions more holistic. And it will make you think about larger themes in the industry, such as ethics and privacy.

Recommended resources

• Advancing Women in Product (professional group)
• Meetup.com (find networking groups on your technical topics of interest)
• Women in Product (WIP) Conference (Xonatia loved hearing the head of product from the New York Times speak here)
• elpha (an online network and message board for women in tech)
• The Markup has a weekly investigative newsletter about how technology is changing our society

Thank you to Linda Chen ’23, Victoria Lesourd, Ellie Cornell and Xonatia Lee for your participation and collaboration to host the meetup and to edit this post.