Abstract:
Diversity in IT is not only good to create better teams, it is actually an economic necessity for companies. The Labor Department predicts there will be 1 million new, unfilled jobs in the tech industry by 2020.
With women and minorities making up a small percentage of the IT workforce and their numbers increasing in the general workforce, it makes sense to attract these groups to our field. But,we have not been successful in the past 40 years in creating this pipeline of candidates through traditional methods so what do we need to do differently.
Join our panelists who are part of a growing movement of non-profits working to change the discussion among women and minorities to learn more about their programs, what lessons they are learning about working with these groups, how they are helping to teach organizations to create diverse talent and potentially, how you can help solve this issue.
About Tracey:
Founding Member and Chief Marketing Officer at Chariot Solutions, where she leads marketing and sales. Tracey is a recognized advocate for girls and women in tech and is the Founder of TechGirlz, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring teenage girls to consider careers in technology. She is also a strong presence in the Philly tech community as a Founding Board Member of Philadelphia Startup Leaders.
She is co-chair of Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise and founder of the Women in Tech Summit, now in its’ fourth year. She is currently an advisor for the startups Haydle and ROAR.About Christopher:
Christopher Wink is the cofounder and editor of Technical.ly, a network of local technology news sites and events, featuring its flagship Technically Philly and sister publications in Brooklyn, Washington D.C., Baltimore and Delaware. In that capacity, he is a lead organizer of Philly Tech Week and Baltimore Innovation Week, among other events that bring smart people together. Previously, he worked for a homeless advocacy nonprofit and was a freelance reporter. He writes frequently about media and entrepreneurship on his personal blog at christopherwink.com and tweets @christopherwink. The Temple University alumnus is a bicycle commuter and resident of the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia.
About Sylvester:
Sylvester Mobley is the founder and executive director of Coded by Kids – an organization that provides free weekly web development classes to inner city children. The organization’s project based curriculum helps children as young as five years old gain real world development skills.
Sylvester has extensive tech industry experience, which includes web design and development, technical project management, IT engagement management and launching startups.
Sylvester is also a veteran of the war in Iraq, who gained his initial IT experience while serving in the United States military.
About Charles:
Charles Eaton is CEO of the Creating IT Futures Foundation, the charitable arm of CompTIA, the IT industry association. Focused on inventing better on-ramps to IT careers, the foundation’s services help populations that are under-represented in IT and individuals who are lacking in opportunity prepare for, secure and be successful in IT careers.
Mr. Eaton joined CompTIA in June 2010 and has 20 years of non-profit management experience. Prior to joining CompTIA, he was responsible for fundraising, business development and marketing for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), a growing healthcare association focused on improving healthcare quality and patient safety. Before joining APIC, Mr. Eaton was vice president of member relations for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which organizes the largest tradeshow in North America, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Mr. Eaton graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Duke University and has four kids, who have all been forced to love Duke basketball.