Tag Archives: Geeks

October 12, 2012 · 8:01 am

TechWomen’s last day in Washington DC

The TechWomen enjoyed their last day in Washington DC and are now slowly making their way home to either the Silicon Valley area (mentors), or to Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Yemen in the MENA region (mentees). I miss them already!

Wednesday was full of TechWomen-normal activities: networking, exchanging ideas and experiences, and taking pictures. It is usual for me to be given three to six cameras and smart phones and asked to photograph a posed group of lovely intelligent women. The group I am photographing may start small but if the setting is good, it often doubles and triples as other TechWomen join in. Taking TechWomen group pictures is an enjoyable if frenetic experience. My daughter Jessica lives in Washington DC and was invited to two of the TechWomen dinners – which made picture taking even more enjoyable.

We met in the morning in the Loy Henderson conference room at the US State Department for a political discussion, then had a magnificent lunch in the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room. The TechWomen were welcomed and honored by Ann Stock, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, and Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. We regretfully did not get to meet the program sponsor, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Ann Stock was patient and a very good sport – she stayed after the lunch to take dozens of pictures with the TechWomen. I love the diplomatic rooms at the US State Department, with cases full of china and silver (some by Paul Revere), and walls covered with portraits of American historical greats. The copy of the Declaration of Independence is my particular favorite.

After lunch, we returned to the Henderson room for Sheila Casey (Deputy Director, Office of Citizen Exchanges at U.S. Department of State) and Heather Ramsey (Director at Institute of International Education) to give the mentees their participation certificates (signed by Secretary Clinton). Our going away party was around the very windy roof pool of the Donovan House hotel (the party eventually moved downstairs since we were all freezing!).

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Tagged as Algeria, Egypt, Geeks, Jessica, Jordan, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, Palestine, technical women, TechWomen

October 11, 2012 · 6:01 am

What TechWomen Should Read

Yesterday morning, the TechWomen mentors and mentees returned to the Henderson Room of the US State Department in Washington DC for a discussion of American politics and the Presidential election. The Mentees from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Yemen have been hearing election discussions since their Silicon Valley arrival in early September – this was to put that experience in context and to allow them to ask questions.

The presenters were Linda Moore Forbes (a Democrat working at Harvard’s Institute of Politics) and Ellen Yount (a Republican working for Management Systems International). Much of their presentation was about the current campaign but there were also fascinating side comments about politics in general and particularly on how women participate in politics. One of their themes was that extreme views of “women’s issues” (and social discussions) are the often focus of a campaign but elected officials actually govern based on the economy. “Women’s issues” during a campaign often include:

birth control, contraception, in-vitro fertilization
abortion (voluntary, as well as in cases of incest and rape or when the mother’s health is in danger)
equal pay for equal work

My question to these remarkably experienced and politically-wise women was: what do they read to keep current, and what do they recommend that the TechWomen Mentees read when they return to their homes in the MENA region (in addition to Al Jazeera and BBC News)? Here are the US news sources that Ellen Yount recommended:

“The Cable” blog by Josh Rogan
The New York Times
Politico
The Washington Post
Twitter feeds from: Associated Press, Reuters, International Herald Tribune

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October 6, 2012 · 10:53 am

Last Day of Hopper Conference 2012

After some very promising networking and fascinating presentations, the TechWomen mentors and mentees enjoyed dinner together and then walked to the final party of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing – held at the Maryland Science Center on the harbor in Baltimore MD.

I particularly enjoyed yesterday’s talk by Jane Margolis about changes in the technical world in the ten years since her publication with Allan Fisher of the groundbreaking book Unlocking the Clubhouse. There has been both growth and retreat for the community of technical women during that time. Some of the advances are in:

Visible Leadership: Exemplified by Maria Klawe becoming President of Harvey Mudd College, Shirley Tilghman becoming President of Princeton, Ginni Rometty becoming Chairman and CEO of IBM, and Meg Whitman becoming President and CEO of HP. (See the Famous Women in Computer Science list for more…)
Growing Role Models: Exemplified by the Spelbots, the African-American Women’s Robotics Team of Spelman College.
Successful Education and Networking: Exemplified by the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing growing from a few hundred attendees in 1994 to 3,600 participants this year – and GHC being sold out in advance for the third year running. 2012 is also the 25th anniversary of Systers – the world’s largest email community of technical women in computing. Another notable success is the National Center for Women & Information Technology organization and NCWIT’s Aspirations in Computing award program for technical girls.

As always, I was very pleased to be able to participate in GHC with my smart and geeky daughter Jessica!

Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson
#GHC12

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October 4, 2012 · 9:13 pm

Successful Panel at Grace Hopper Celebration

Our Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing panel called “Technical Women in the Arab Region: Challenges vs. Aspirations” was well attended and successful. The audience wanted to ask questions and talk far beyond the limits of the time available. My daughter Jessica took pictures for us.

It took months of preparation to make this happen – not only the preparation of the conference submission but applying for and getting four travel scholarships and visas for travel from the Middle East and North Africa. Many of the 2012 TechWomen mentors and mentees attended to see the only presentation from the first TechWomen class. I think they loved it. Everyone wanted to be in the picture at the end.

10/22/2012: Read Larissa’s Review of this panel.

Images Copyright 2012 by Jessica Dickinson Goodman and Katy Dickinson
#GHC12

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October 3, 2012 · 6:53 pm

TechWomen 2011 and 2012 Meet

After travel adventures on their way here from California, the forty-one 2012 TechWomen emerging leaders arrived at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference in Baltimore and met three representatives of the 2011 TechWomen for the first time. We mentors and the Anita Borg Institute staff waited, talking with friends, checking out the poster session, and guarding the 2012 mentees’ box dinners. My daughter Jessica arrived from Washington DC and presented her poster (“Using the Technology to Lower the Cost of Being a Woman”). A fun evening and a good start to a great conference!

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October 3, 2012 · 3:03 pm

Technical Women in the Arab Region: Challenges vs. Aspirations

I am at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Baltimore, Maryland. GHC12 is sold out for the third year running, with 3,600 amazing technical women (and a few men) participating from all over the world. I attended the Anita Borg Institute Advisory Board meeting this morning (presenting an update on the work of the Famous Women in Computer Science team). Tonight, I get to see my daughter Jessica Dickinson Goodman present her poster called “Using the Technology to Lower the Cost of Being a Woman”.

Tomorrow, I am moderating a panel called “Technical Women in the Arab Region: Challenges vs. Aspirations” featuring four TechWomen mentees from the original class in 2011: Hania Gati (Algeria), Maysoun Ibrahim (Palestine), Reham Nasser (Egypt), and Sukaina Al Nasrawi (Lebanon). Ours was the only 2011 TechWomen presentation accepted for GHC12 – we are very proud to represent our sisters! Maysoun, Reham, and Sukaina are already here (Hania arrives tonight). We met this afternoon to discuss how we would manage tomorrow’s panel. The 2012 TechWomen will arrive from California in time to attend tonight’s poster session. I am very much looking forward to introducing my 2012 mentee to my friends from the 2011 TechWomen program and to my daughter.

#GHC12

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Tagged as Algeria, Egypt, Geeks, Jessica, Lebanon, Mentoring, Middle East, Palestine, technical women, TechWomen

September 30, 2012 · 8:16 am

TechWomen Farewell Party at Mozilla

Yesterday was the TechWomen farewell party hosted by Mozilla in San Francisco. Next week, we travel to the Grace Hopper Celebration and then the US State Department in Washington DC. We admired the stunning view of the Bay Bridge from the top of the Hills Brothers Coffee building, just a few blocks from where my father’s business was for many years. I grew up smelling the coffee roasting but had never been in this building before.

Before dinner, the mentors were each given a certificate of thanks signed by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. We talked and danced and had a wonderful evening enjoying each other’s company. I even dressed up in a kaftan with matching veil.