The Women in Tech Show: A Technical Podcast

Flexible work environments provide an opportunity to be more inclusive to other people. Brea Starmer, Founder of Lions and Tigers, talked about building a company with a flexible work environment as a priority. We talked about how to maintain the company culture and sense of community and some of the challenges. Brea also talked about her trajectory in marketing in tech, and insights and learnings from early in her career.

Sarah Hall, Lead User Researcher at Crunchyroll, discusses the importance of user research in software development. She explores different research approaches, including quantitative and qualitative methods. Sarah also delves into enhancing product decisions based on user feedback and the role of a Lead User Researcher.

The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters on the planet. Maria Isabel Amorin, Founder and CEO of INDEQUI, explained the different types of pollution generated by these industries. We talked in detail about water pollution and about an affordable filter that she built to clean the water. Maria Isabel also explained the challenges of building a company in Guatemala and her path to raising funds. In 2019, María Isabel was recognized by the MIT Technology Review as an innovator in biotechnology.

Rebecca Parsons has been working in technology for over 30 years. Throughout her career, some of the things she’s worked on are system architectures, software design patterns, distributed systems and best practices. Having started programming at 13 years old, she has seen significant technological transformations. In this episode we talked about the evolution of technology and how that leads to changes in how we develop software. Rebecca is currently the CTO of ThoughtWorks.

Understanding how people use technology across cultures around the world gives us valuable insights. Genevieve Bell, Anthropologist and Distinguished professor at The Australian National University, talked about her work in anthropology and technology. Genevieve has been working in technology since the 1990s. We talked about her time working in silicon valley, particularly at Intel, where she was studying how different groups of people were using technology. Later on, we talked about how technology and mass surveillance are being used to fight COVID-19. Genevieve explained solutions we’re seeing in around the world and the trade-offs. In 2013 Genevieve was the recipient of the Women of Vision Abie Award for Leadership. Abie Awards are presented by AnitaB.org, a global nonprofit with a goal of reaching 50/50 gender equity in tech by  2025. Abie awards honor and celebrate women who have led technical innovations and made a notable impact on business or society through technology. This episode is part of a series of show that highlight the work of previous Abie Award Winners.

Advancements in technology have enabled us to share information much faster. We can start a blog, share information on social media, or create a podcast. Yasmin Alameddine, Founder and Host of the Witty Podcast explained why and how she started the show. We talked about the challenges and the things she learned from this. We also talked about data journalism and the intersection between technology and journalism. Yasmin studied Communication at Cornell University and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Journalism at Columbia University.

Throughout the decades we’ve seen numerous advances in artificial intelligence. In the late 1990s, Catherine Havasi invented crowdsourcing for artificial intelligence. This made it possible for a vast amount of data to be collected and used for the Open Mind Common Sense project at MIT. A project with a goal of teaching computers what we consider as common sense. Catherine Havasi is a Research Scientist that specializes in artificial intelligence. We talked about her work in this area. She also explained the intersection between research and the enterprise.

A workplace can become a safe space for employees in many different ways. One of them is by enabling conversations around mental wellness. Beth Anne Katz, Program Manager at Microsoft talked about her struggle with depression and the importance of an accepting work environment. We talked about mental wellness and things that a workplace can do to be more welcoming. Beth Anne also talked about her initiatives to raise awareness around mental health, one of them is the podcast Katzbe Fights Depression. Note: If you would like to connect with a crisis counselor in the united states, you can text HOME to 741741. Thank you.

Providing opportunities to migrants can help them integrate to society and add value. In 2017 Marcela Torres founded HolaCode, a startup with a goal to integrate migrants in Mexico by teaching them software engineering skills. With these skills, they’ll have access to more jobs and opportunities. Marcela explained the challenges that migrants face and how they tackled them. We also talked about the tech scene in Mexico and in other parts of Latin America.

Designing technology with accessibility in mind is about making sure that your product can be used by a wide range of individuals. This includes people that have disabilities such as visual, speech, motor, among others. Jhillika Kumar, creator of Mentra talked about why she and her team built a hiring platform for people with autism. Jhillika explained the challenges people with autism face when looking for a job and how technology can help solve them. We also talked about her experience building a company while studying at Georgia Tech.