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Yesterday I taught at the well-received Mentor-Mentee Workshop, generously hosted by Symantec. Mark Bregman (EVP and CTO for Symantec) welcomed us. Today is the first day of work for the 37 TechWomen Mentees in the Silicon Valley. Our three Mentees at Huawei are settled into their office – we are still getting everything sorted out but they seem happy and pleased with their first day.
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Today, Denise and I are finishing up my presentation materials for Monday’s TechWomen Mentor-Mentee Workshop. I will be training 37 women from 6 Middle Eastern and North African countries and territories and their Technical Mentors from dozens of Silicon Valley companies the day before they start work.
Many of the Mentors were able to join yesterday’s opening event in San Francisco but for some, Monday will be the first time they meet. The workshop will offer a welcome, introductory activity (“icebreaker”), plus an hour of structured discussion so that the Mentors and Mentees can plan their work. Most of them have been in email discussions since we announced the matches several weeks ago; tomorrow we get down to cases. The afternoon will feature talks about social networking and mentoring. It will be a fun and interesting day.
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Today is the opening day of the first TechWomen mentoring program. I am in San Francisco listening to a panel from the three organizations which put together the program. TechWomen is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE), and implemented in partnership with the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI). I have been working on TechWomen with ABI during the last year.
We were welcomed by Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock on behalf of TechWomen’s sponsor, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. We also enjoyed an inspirational talk by Google Engineering Vice President Jen Fitzpatrick.
The best part has been finally meeting the 37 technical women Mentees from 6 Middle Eastern and North African countries and territories in person, after so much planning and hard work. I know how to say their names now (sortof, anyway). I was happy to hear that some Mentees have just as much trouble saying our names.
Linda Schneider (Huawei Distinguished Engineer), Athellina Athsani (Huawei Senior Manager), and I just met the three TechWomen Mentees who will be hosted by Huawei this month. So exciting!
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
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My friend Laura ordered free tickets to tonight’s Roger W. Heyns Lecture in Religion and Community, featuring Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, at Stanford. Even a dedicated Cal alumna such as myself has to admit that Stanford has a pretty campus.
The auditorium was almost full for tonight’s event. Someone remarked that we almost had a quorum for a convention in the audience – it did seem full of familiar faces from the Diocese of El Camino Real. Bishop Katharine’s talk was very interesting, full of big concepts and small interesting detours and quotes. She held an extended discussion with the audience at the end. I am looking forward to reading her books. Since Bishop Katharine had spoken about interfaith projects, I told her about the TechWomen program I have been working on while she signed books.
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Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher
Filed under Church, Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews
The TechWomen program staff have been working for about nine months to get ready for 38 Mentees from 6 countries and territories who will be arriving soon from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to work in the Silicon Valley in June 2011. We have already held the Mentor Training and are getting ready for Mentee orientation. After that, I will be one of the teachers for the Mentor-Mentee Workshop, to be held the day before the Mentees start work.
I have been answering questions for weeks from Mentors and other company representatives about Export status, non-disclosure agreements, Human Resources policies, laptop usage and security, project plans, plus all of the other details we need to sort through so that the companies will be ready to host their Mentees.
I am eager to meet the Mentees that Huawei will host. We have an office for them. I have seen their pictures. I know their backgrounds but I still have no idea if I am pronouncing their names correctly…
Filed under Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews
About two years ago, I took a liking to a large old brass pot in a local shop here in Willow Glen (San Jose, California). 2′ tall, with three feet ending in big claws, and two faces with rings in their mouths for handles, it had charm. I started negotiating. Having successfully purchased items in the souq in my travels in the Middle East, I enjoyed the slow negotiation here at home.
The store owner said that the pot was a genuine antique, valued at $5,000 but it had been in the store for a long time, so she was willing to part with it for $2,000. I was not interested and left that day. A few months later, I was back in the store admiring the pot again. The owner said she might come down a bit from her original price: was I interested in paying $1,500? Nope – I left that day too. The next year I went back and asked if the pot (which was not by the front display case any more) had sold? No – it was now in the basement, marked down to $1,000. Still I was not interested.
Then, a few months ago, I saw that the store was moving. I went in to ask about the pot. The owner’s brother was in charge. He said the price was now $500 because they needed to clear out the store quickly. I was interested but not willing to pay that much. I offered $200. We settled on $250. I am now the owner of an old brass pot, provenance unknown, value unknown, original purpose unknown, but an enjoyable new feature of my living room nonetheless.
Please leave a comment if you think know anything about my old brass pot: Where did it come from? What was its intended purpose? Who made it? The stamped mark on the bottom (pictured below) has 3 intertwined initials with an ampersand: SW&S or S&WS or S&SW or W&SS ? (hard to read).
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Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
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