Month: February 2023

When Kavya Krishna was growing up, few women in her rural Indian community had financial autonomy. They lacked access to the kinds of information and opportunity that could support independence. Kavya overcame those challenges to pursue a career in technology. Now as a successful coder and data engineer, she’s using her knowledge to teach digital skills to other girls from underserved and at-risk communities around the world. Kavya is the latest feature in the Logitech MX #WomenWhoMaster series. She talks about how technology can create financial freedom for women, what inspires her to give back, and the hopes she has for the future of girls in tech.

When did you become interested in STEM?

I grew up in Rajasthan in a rural town in northwestern India. My town is conservative and there are not that many opportunities, especially for women. But my parents always prioritized education. In high school, I took a computer class and I was very good at it. We didn’t learn to code but instead learned the theories of computer science. I enjoyed learning about coding logic, but it took me a long time to understand the purpose of coding. It wasn’t until I got to college that I understood the possibilities and potential.

“Coding is everywhere and for everything. It is multidimensional. Whether you’re in marketing or finance or another field, you can be a coder.”

Q: What opportunities did you think a STEM career could provide?

For most of my life, I was focused on the idea that women need to be financially independent. Where I grew up, women weren’t given their due respect because they weren’t financially independent. I knew it wasn’t because they lacked potential. They were dependent because they didn’t have access to information or opportunities.

“I saw technology as my ticket to becoming financially independent, making my own decisions, and taking control of my life.”

The same goes for starting in a tech field. No matter what kind of coding you do, you will be helping marketing, finance, or a process in another division.

Q: After college, you worked at SiriusXM as a data engineer. What types of projects did you work on?

I had an internship at SiriusXM that turned into a full-time job. I accepted the offer because I would get the opportunity to work with amazing people in an amazing industry and also move to New York full-time. I was on the data architecture and business intelligence team. We did a lot of workflows and ETL (extraction transfer load) work. I answered a lot of tickets and data requests and did a lot of modeling. At that time I mostly worked in the coding languages R, Java, and SQL (structured query language).

Q: What is the Society of Women Coders?

SOWCoders is a nonprofit organization that trains young girls in digital literacy and coding from developing countries and underserved communities. We have already trained over 4,000 girls in 57 countries, launched our own ed-tech platform and delivered multiple successful corporate and employee engagement programs in different markets in North America, LATAM, Africa and Asia. We have partnered with prestigious organizations like Malala Fund, American Embassy, Govt. of Belize, Liberty Latin America, Liberty Foundation Puerto Rico, Google, Deloitte, Wework, WITNY, and MOGUL. to deliver our training. We are currently working on accelerating our impact to 100K students by 2025!

Q: What makes the Society of Women Coders different from other coding programs?

Our solution is unique because our training lasts over 5 months with LIVE instruction and localized curriculums streamlined for adolescent girls. We hire local support as well as provide mandatory mentorship sessions to make sure of a conducive learning environment. We train our own teachers and offer informal leadership training to alumni to run the modules in their communities. We are unlocking a world of unlimited possibilities for these girls. They are inspired to take on STEAM careers and are confident to use a computer: we want to equip them with relevant skills so they feel confident and comfortable to tap into the global economy straight from their home.

Q: How did the Society of Women Coders start?

When I was at SiriusXM, I met Fara, who was from Haiti. She and I were the only two women on our team at the time. We started doing “women in tech” lunches to meet other women in the company. What started as lunches, slowly became passionate discussions about our journeys to corporate America and the revolting lack of support for girls back home to strive for financial independence. Our mutual anger and the desire to bring change led to the birth of SOWCoders. SOWCoders became an expression of what we wish we had growing up in Port-au-Prince and Bharatpur. We wanted to give back. The only thing We knew was how to code.

Seeing the success of organizations like Girls Who Code, which were doing so much in North America, inspired us to start something similar with a special focus on underserved and at-risk communities in emerging economies. So Fara and I created a curriculum and started traveling. I used all my vacation days and my savings to travel to these countries and conduct coding camps.

“At the time, we called ourselves the Sisterhood of the Traveling Coders, but it wasn’t an organization. We were just a group of women techies who wanted to give back.”

Then suddenly, we got this opportunity to work with the government of Belize. They wanted us to host a camp for about 200 girls in Belize City and Belmopan. After that, we did the same thing in Haiti, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Zambia and a few other countries.

Q: When you were starting out, was there a mentor in your life or career who supported you?

My college Dean Laura Haas has always been very supportive of the work that we were doing. Sruta Vootukuru, who’s on my board, has been an exceptional mentor to me too.

One of the most important pieces of advice my mentors have taught me is that a nonprofit is also a business. People care that you have a good heart, but you need to have a solid foundation and solid goals. Understanding that I have to run the Society of Women Coders as a business is something that took me some time to learn.

Q: What kind of impact do you hope the Society of Women Coders will have on girls in technology?

We have been around for almost five years now. Our alumni group is growing. We provide opportunities and host monthly events for them. The alumni events are online so girls from different parts of the world can come together. They have fun and form friendships. It’s a sisterhood of girls who 10 years from now will be scientists, top engineers, and heads of corporations. My hope is that they will come together and say, “This is something that got us here, and now it’s time for us to give back and create a legacy.”

Connect with Kavya on LinkedIn or get involved with the Society of Women Coders.

Women Who Master puts a spotlight on women who have made outstanding contributions to STEM fields. The goal of the series is to celebrate those contributions, inspire future leaders, and help close the gender gap in technology.

Photo credit: Kavya Krishna

IBM is proud to be recognized by the Anthem Awards for its IBM Security Preparedness Grant and the effort to help prepare schools for the threat of cyberattacks.

IBM has awarded 6 grants to U.S. K-12 public school districts in the Untied States. A four-part pilot project is also underway with grant recipients in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ireland, and United Arab Emirates.

The grants sponsor IBM Service Corps teams to help districts proactively prepare for and respond to cyber threats with incident response plans, ransomware playbooks, updating technology, cybersecurity training for school communities, and more.

In addition to six school districts in the U.S., 2022 grant recipients include schools in Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.

City of Dublin Educational Training Board in IrelandMohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in United Arab EmiratesCupertino Union School District in Sunnyvale, CARossville Cons. School District in Rossville, INEast China School District in East China, MINewburgh Enlarged City School District in Newburgh, NYGoffstown School District in Goffstown, NHPrince William Country Public Schools in Manassas, VA

Learn more here

Every February 20th, the United Nations invites us to commemorate the World Day of Social Justice to focus on the plight of social injustice throughout the world and to press for improvements and solutions. As Cisco’s new Chief Social Impact Officer, I’m honored to say that I work for a company that aligns with that intention every day. Social Justice is integral to Cisco’s purpose: to Power an Inclusive Future for All.

As we commemorate the day, it’s a good opportunity to pause and reflect on our Social Justice journey two and a half years into the five-year commitment we made in 2020.

In 2020, the outcry over the tragic murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others created a growing awareness of systemic racial injustice, oppression, and inequality. This was an inflection point for many companies and a well-intentioned bias towards quick action ruled the day. It was extremely encouraging to see an unprecedented level of corporate commitment to diversity, equity, and justice initiatives, but action without a cohesive business strategy becomes reaction — and that will never be enough to drive lasting change.

Cisco took a different approach, working across our company to develop a core set of beliefs to guide us and an initial strategy for bolder action and greater impact. We transformed a longstanding advocacy for social justice into a five-year commitment, backed by US$300 million, the full accountability of our Executive Leadership Team, and the support of our Board of Directors.

Over the past 90 days, I’ve immersed myself in understanding every aspect of our social justice journey. Here are my key takeaways — and some initial thoughts on where we can go from here.

Good for the world — good for our business

Social Justice is woven into the fabric of many aspects of our business. Our strategies are built on our core belief that our social justice actions will drive business value — and that’s what makes them so powerful. Many companies have ESG goals, but few push to imbed those goals within the business. Cisco has an Action Office (AO) equal in size to many of our key business functions to lead the strategy and execution of our Social Justice Actions. Our AO brings together people and expertise across every function and region to drive consistent execution, rigor, and accountability.

Our approach operationalizes our purpose — and it’s becoming a key differentiator for our business. A talent magnet. And a reason to stay and grow with Cisco. Analysts are clamoring to learn more — and they’re factoring it into their predictions of future value.

Moving forward, I’m working with my team — and with leaders across the business — to identify opportunities to communicate powerfully about the impact our work is having on building an inclusive future. Within the next weeks, I’ll start meeting with industry analysts and other external thought leaders to ensure we are maintaining an innovative and forward-looking point of view.

Change systems — change the world

Cisco’s 12 Actions for Social Justice were always designed as a cohesive, interconnected strategy to drive impact within our enterprise — across our ecosystem of customers, partners, and suppliers — throughout our communities, and around the world.

This is the kind of approach that Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, articulates in the bold vision for philanthropy in the twenty-first century he calls “From Generosity to Justice”. This groundbreaking philosophy truly resonates with me as it challenges us to consider philanthropy as a tool for achieving economic, social, and political justice. When I came to Cisco, I saw this bold vision was evident in our Social Justice strategies. In essence, Darren Walker’s philosophy is that generosity will always be needed — and we will always be investing — but it’s an intermediary goal and insufficient in driving long term outcomes. The shift to justice is in eliminating the conditions within a system that only address the symptoms — not the cause — and perpetuate the need for continuous generosity.

In other words: To change the world — we must change systems.

Consider this in relation to our Action to Commit $150 million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Changing systems means we look at the impact we want to create — and the inclusive future we want to power — from a systems perspective. Then, we break down barriers and create opportunities to drive the outcome: Thriving HBCUs leveraging best-in-class technology and modernized infrastructure to provide quality STEM education. Communities bridging the digital divide and creating environments where students and their families are connected and empowered. Students rising to their full power and potential to graduate as the next generation of tech talent. Finding an abundance of highly paid opportunities within the digital economy. Companies rising to their full power and potential through an influx of talent.

In the past year, we’ve completed 40 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) assessments and 16 technology installations at HBCUs and have continued to train students interested in cybersecurity and networking careers at these universities with concrete upskilling programming.

That’s operationalizing on purpose. That’s justice. That’s impact — now and for generations to come. The donation was just the beginning.

Each of our 12 Actions for Social Justice has this potential. As I move forward in setting my strategic priorities, I’m looking across our Actions to make sure that we’re well aligned operationally and continuing to focus on measurable impact and outcomes.

From my perspective, we now have some unique opportunities to leverage what we’ve learned at this point in our journey to expand and improve. To build on a bold and solid foundation — and continue to fuel Cisco’s purpose to Power an Inclusive Future for All.

Want to learn more?

Tune in to Cisco’s #TechBeat Podcast where I share insights for equality across the tech industry and cultivating a diverse workforce.

Read From Generosity to Justice: A New Gospel of Wealth by Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation.

View original content here

Originally published by Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

Van Pham’s company, Emmay, pioneers researching mushroom protein and creating innovative products from it. She used our award winning HerVenture app to strengthen her business planning skills and scale her company.

I’m Van Pham, the founder and CEO of Emmay, a pioneering startup in Vietnam specializing in research on the field of plant protein from edible and medicinal mushrooms. We have product lines such as floss, spring rolls, snacks, spices, sauces, confectionary and drinks made from mushrooms.

When I applied the knowledge from the HerVenture app, I recruited staff and set up a new digital marketing and sales department. It brought new vitality as well as revenue and the brand of the company has spread more and more.

Continue reading

Cummins

A Cummins Inc.-led project to develop battery charging and hydrogen (H2) fueling stations along the Interstate 80 Midwest Corridor will accelerate with the Biden Administration’s announcement last week of standards and funding for the National Network of Electric Vehicle Chargers.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in 2021, invests $7.5 billion in electric vehicle (EV) charging, $10 billion in other forms of clean transportation and over $7 billion in EV battery components, critical minerals and materials. One of the projects on the select list is Cummins’ Medium-Duty, Heavy-Duty Zero Emissions Vehicle (MD-HD ZEV) Infrastructure Planning initiative focusing on the I-80 Midwest Corridor.

In less than two years, the project will develop an extensive, two-phase medium and heavy-duty ZEV charging and H2 fueling plan for a corridor serving Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. The plan would support 30% of the MD-HD fleet expected to be using ZEV technologies by 2035, potentially benefitting millions of drivers across 23 states. 

“With Destination Zero, our strategy to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, we are investing in a broad portfolio of power solutions, leveraging our deep understanding of our customers as we work to decarbonize our industry in a way that is best for all stakeholders,” said Jennifer Rumsey, President and CEO of Cummins, a global power technology leader.

“We can’t do it alone; it will take all of us – policy makers and peer companies – working together to address a challenge of this magnitude as decarbonization of our economy is critical to our way of life and a sustainable future,” Rumsey added, describing the White House announcement as a “promising step forward in advancing our shared goals of getting to net-zero.”

Cummins has pledged to play a leadership role in addressing the world’s climate challenges. The creation of zero-emission vehicle corridors is expected to significantly increase the use of zero-emission vehicles. The absence of infrastructure to service EV vehicles is currently a major obstacle to widespread adoption, especially along America’s extensive interstate systems.

Selected projects also support the Department of Energy’s Justice40 priorities by demonstrating the impacts and benefits of freight corridors plans on underserved communities. 

Originally published on 3M News Center

If you’re one of the 230 million subscribers on Netflix, then you may have noticed 3M’s presence in the streaming series “Full Swing.”

The show follows a group of diverse professional golfers – on and off the course – as they compete each week on the PGA TOUR.

In Episode 6, the series highlights the feel-good story of pro golfer Tony Finau. The show gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at Tony’s family-centric life on the tour and reflects on deeply emotional experiences from his past.

The feel-good moment for Tony kicks in at the 2022 3M Open in Minnesota. With “3M” dotting the course, the show documents Tony’s remarkable come-from-behind victory in the final round and viewers watch the tearful celebration with his family.

The win is extra sweet as Tony has faced constant criticism for not having more tournament wins. He then goes on to claim victory the following week to finally silence his nay-sayers.

When Tony sinks his final putt on the 18th green, famed sportscaster Jim Nantz exclaims, “Tony Finau! The champion at the 3M!”

3M has served as the title sponsor for the tournament since 2019 and has raised more than $6 million for local charities during that span. The 2023 event will take place on July 27-30.

Content warning: this story discusses child loss

Ron Garber’s daughter Yaya was born with an ultra-rare neurological disease called 4H Leukodystrophy that ultimately took her life at just 13 months old.

He remembers the confusion, isolation, and fear that followed Yaya’s diagnosis from a condition with only 300 to 600 known cases.

“After she died, my wife and I decided we wanted to do something so parents don’t have to figure it out on their own,” Garber said. “I decided working in the life sciences like at Medtronic would help me do that.”

He came to Medtronic shortly after Yaya’s death. Now a senior legal director, Garber founded the Yaya Foundation with his wife – and, just as he hoped, Medtronic played a role.

That’s because he’s surrounded by expertise, he said, citing a random conversation at a team dinner that led to a milestone in his foundation’s research.

“There are just thought partners everywhere you look who have amazing knowledge and are willing to help,” he said. “I’ve learned so much about healthcare and therapy discovery from my colleagues at Medtronic, and I’ve been able to put those learnings to work for the 4H Leukodystrophy Community.”

He shared his story recently on the company’s internal network, hoping to spark other employees to think about why they even work at Medtronic.

“It’s important for us to remember the Mission,” he said. “It’s easy to lose our sense of purpose when we stop talking about patients.”

Growing impact

The Yaya Foundation provides education and emotional support for families by creating videos with care guidelines, translating journal articles into layperson speak and other languages, and hosting bi-monthly support calls.

But it’s also on a mission to accelerate therapeutic discovery for 4H Leukodystrophy.

The Yaya Foundation was recognized as a best-in-class rare disease patient org as a recipient of a prestigious Rare As One grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Through that funding, the organization executed a collaborative research model that brings together the best and brightest researchers in the field.

In just three short years, it has launched a data collection program in collaboration with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, hosted several family and scientific meetings, and has played a role in several important research breakthroughs, including the creation of a complex disease model that will facilitate advanced research in gene therapy.

Matched Giving brings dream to life

It’s not just the mindshare at Medtronic that helps fuel Garber: The Medtronic Foundation’s employee Matched Giving program was crucial to getting the Yaya Foundation off the ground.

“We could have been just a mom and a dad saying, ‘hey we want to make the world better,’ but the match made us a mom and a dad with funding,” Garber said. “We had enough seed funding to get the attention of our stakeholders.”

 Since then, many employees chose to donate to the Yaya Foundation, and the Medtronic Foundation matched every donation. With the support of Medtronic colleagues and supporters across the globe, the Yaya Foundation has raised over a million and a half dollars to provide support for families and accelerate discovery of 4HL Leukodystrophy therapies.

“It feels good to bring hope to families like ours,” he said. “In short, we’re trying to change the world for people like Yaya.”

The work is meaningful to Garber in more ways than one.

“Grief creates a lot of energy,” he said. “Caring for Yaya took good energy from us and there was no channel for me when she died. This work allows me to feel like I’m still Yaya’s dad, and she’s still a part of my life.”

Learn more about the Yaya Foundation.