Tag Archives: San Francisco

Re-Learning the San Francisco Mission

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I am enjoying working at Everwise in San Francisco as their new Vice President – Mentoring.  It is particularly fun to get re-acquainted with my hometown. I worked for years in our family business – in a building that does not exist any more.  It was on Steuart Street at the base of Mission, across from what is now the Rincon Center but used to be the Rincon Annex US Post Office.  I used to love looking at the WPA murals while waiting in line to refill our postal meter.

In the last two weeks, I have discovered an inexpensive place to park ($10/day instead of the $28/day I paid at first), and delightful places to eat closeby:

I have also admired the newly refurbished LeRoy King carousel and plan to ride it soon!

I am still working out how best to manage the San Jose – SF – San Jose commute.  This takes between 1 hour 30 minutes, and 2 hours each way – depending on when I start. My husband John and I have both driven and taken the train. When he works from home, I have driven alone. Caltrain is less expensive ($18/day round trip) but I need to walk a mile from the station – so I arrive later and have to leave earlier. There are very few express (“Baby Bullet”) trains.  If I ride a milk train, the trip is 50 minutes longer. Driving costs about $38/day ($.55/mile x 50 miles + $10 parking) but allows a flexible work schedule.

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Filed under Home & Family, Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews

New Job: Everwise Vice President – Mentoring

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Last week, I started as the new Vice President – Mentoring at Everwise in San Francisco. I am delighted to join a team helping progressive, successful corporations and non-profits to create world-class mentoring programs. My first big project will be with InovAtiva and entrepreneurs in Brazil!

Here is some of what drew me to Everwise:

  • Everwise connects professionals with the people and insights that can help them succeed at every stage of their career.
  • Everwise has re-engineered workplace mentoring using best practices culled from industry’s most effective mentoring programs and real-world experience guiding more than 60,000 successful mentoring partnerships over the course of 20 years.
  • The Everwise platform is built on the unified view that data, technology and workforce science can dramatically improve the way organizations develop their people.
  • Everwise has offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Minneapolis.

My new position at Everwise coordinates well with my ongoing activities. I will continue as the Chief Operating Officer for People to People (pro bono), as a volunteer for the TechWomen mentoring program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, as an accredited EfM Mentor, and as a member of the Anita Borg Institute Advisory Board.

My husband John and I will be commuting to work together from San Jose to SF, where he is the Principle Architect, Open Storage at EVault (Seagate). Since our son Paul is graduating this month from Foothill College and transferring to San Jose State University in September, he can get to class more easily on public transit.

Image Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Tolkein in Ethiopia

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I did not expect to find Tolkein in Ethiopia but he was there, in sound anyway. I grew up reading J.R.R. Tolkein classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. My brother Pete Dickinson once won a bet that he could identify any single line in any of these four books by chapter and scene. I could probably still win that bet.

In the year that I have worked with the Ethiopian diaspora group People to People, I have tried hard not to think of Tolkien’s city Gondor when I hear the of the Ethiopian city of Gondar, or of Sauron’s evil fortress Barad Dur when visiting Ethiopia’s Bahir Dar. Flying home to San Francisco yesterday, I was delighted to meet a Swedish professional who lives in Bahir Dar who confessed to having the same problem. When he said he and friends had gone to Ethiopia’s lava lake to throw in rings, I felt comforted. I was not the only one to think of Mount Doom when hearing about Erta Ale.

I will not even start on how being called “Forengi” (foreigner) by kids on the street in Ethiopia made me wonder if I had somehow developed the big ears of a Star Trek Ferengi

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Getting to Ethiopia

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I finally arrived in Ethiopia a few hours ago, after traveling from Wednesday through Friday nights. A trip planned for 24 hours took double that due to a bad connection – and included an overnight stay in Frankfurt, Germany. I haven’t seen much except airports, airplanes, clouds, and movies since I left San Francisco. I was glad that the Goethe statue still graces the Frankfurt airport, and I learned that pretzel dough makes an interesting breakfast croissant.

I am in Addis Ababa to participate in the first-ever Pan-African Medical Doctors Healthcare Conference next week.  This is my third trip to Africa since January, although my first to Ethiopia. I am working with People to People, one of the conference sponsors. One of my interesting assignments is to interview key leaders and dignitaries of the conference. I plan to visit the ancient monolithic rock-cut churches at Lalibela after the conference. Of course, I will post details here as they develop!

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Recruiting TechWomen Mentors

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Last night, many of the TechWomen 2011-2013 mentor alumnae from the Silicon Valley and San Francisco participated in an event introducing the U.S. State Department mentoring program for women in the Middle East and Africa to potential new mentors. Thanks to BrightRoll for hosting the event!

What is TechWomen?

TechWomen empowers, connects, and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from Africa and the Middle East by providing them the access and opportunity needed to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and inspire women and girls in their communities.

Through mentorship and exchange, TechWomen strengthens participants’ professional capacity, increases mutual understanding between key networks of professionals, and expands girls’ interest in STEM careers by exposing them to female role models.

1,400 women in STEM from 16 countries have already applied to be one of the 78 emerging leaders who will come to the San Francisco Bay Area in October 2014. Selections will be announced in June. Also in June, applications will open for professional mentors. Cultural mentor applications open in July. This is a life-changing and excellent program – both for mentors and mentees. I have been part of TechWomen since 2010 and I recommend it highly!

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Triple Time: CalTrain, BART, VTA to SFO

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Because I travel a great deal, in December 2013 I applied to GOES (Global Online Enrollment System) for a card that will allow me to get through US airports faster.

What is Global Entry?
Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States.

GOES is popular, so I had to wait until this week for my in-person interview at SFO (San Francisco International Airport). I decided to accompany my husband John on his morning commute to SFO for my interview. Driving from San Jose to SFO would have taken about two hours round trip and cost $22 in gas (40 miles x $0.55/mile) plus about $4 to park. By public transit, it cost $30 and took six hours round trip (not counting the time in SFO). My route was complex because there is no single public transit system and no direct route San Jose – SFO – San Jose:

  • San Jose Tamien to Millbrae by CalTrain ($8 day pass)
  • Millbrae to San Bruno by BART ($20 – minimum ticket available)
  • San Bruno to SFO by BART (same BART ticket)
  • SFO to San Bruno by BART (same BART ticket)
  • San Bruno to Millbrae by BART (same BART ticket)
  • Millbrae to San Jose Diridon by CalTrain (same CalTrain ticket)
  • San Jose Diridon to Convention Center ($2 VTA ticket)
  • Convention Center to San Jose Tamien (same VTA ticket)

I still can use the balance on my BART ticket and it does not expire – but I only ride BART about once every five years so I will have to carry it until then.

CalTrain does not seem to have a Mission statement but is developing a strategic plan this year that may include one.

Here is the BART Mission statement:

Provide safe, clean, reliable and customer-friendly regional public transit service that increases mobility and accessibility, strengthens community and economic prosperity and helps preserve the Bay Area’s environment.

Here it the VTA Mission Statement:

The mission of VTA is to provide the public with a safe and efficient countywide transportation system. The system should increase access and mobility, reduce congestion, improve the environment and support economic development, thereby enhancing quality of life.

I note that neither of these say anything about Convenience, Value, or Speedy Travel. So, my triple time traveling experience may be what they expect for their customers. I like riding trains and I enjoyed the lovely exhibit “Lace: A Sumptuous History 1600s-1900s” while at SFO so the day was not a total waste (but next time I will drive).  I hope that using GOES will save me the time I just spent…

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3/24/2014: My GOES card just arrived in the mail – impressive turnaround time!

Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Model Train Layout Tours

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Yesterday, John and I went to see some of the model train layouts in the San Francisco East Bay as part of the Bay Area Layout Design & Operations Weekend of the Pacific Coast Region-National Model Railroad Association.  As always, there were some hobbyists whose fascination is for precise modeling, others focused on prototypical operations, and a third group who are just having a good time playing with trains.  Some day, we hope that John’s N scale layout in our former garage will be developed enough to be on a operations weekend tour.

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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