Tag Archives: teaching

August 7, 2012 · 10:23 pm

TechWomen Mentor Training

TechWomen mentor training was today, hosted by Walmart in San Bruno, California. About TechWomen:

Harnessing the power of business, technology and innovation, TechWomen brings emerging women leaders in technology sectors from the Middle East and North Africa together with their American counterparts for a professional mentorship and exchange program at leading companies in the United States.

Pairing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power diplomacy” with “21^st Century Statecraft,” TechWomen works to empower women and girls through technology. It connects and supports the next generation of women in technology sectors by providing them the access and opportunity needed to pursue careers in technology.

TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). … partnering with the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) to implement this initiative.

This is the second year for TechWomen, with Silicon Valley companies hosting women from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, and Yemen. I was the Process Architect for TechWomen from 2010-2011. Today, I gave a short talk on the Best and Worst Practices in Mentoring. I am proud to be a Professional Mentor myself this year. Each mentee has both a Professional and a Cultural mentor assigned to her. Huawei hosted three mentees last year in Santa Clara (two from Lebanon and one from Egypt) and will host three more this year (one each from Egypt, Lebanon, and Morocco). We are very much looking forward to meeting them in September!

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Filed under Hopper - Anita Borg Institute, Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews

Tagged as Egypt, Geeks, Huawei, Middle East, teaching, technical women, TechWomen

August 6, 2012 · 9:42 pm

Technology and Cactus Management

A few years ago, when he was Sun Microsystems’ Chief Engineer, Mike Splain gave a talk about his job. (We at Sun often heard from our remarkable technical leaders – see one talk I caught on tape: Ivan Sutherland Speaking On Leadership.) On this occasion, I remember Mike asking us to imagine that he had a spray bottle in each hand: one contained fertilizer, and the other weed killer. His job as Chief Engineer was to know which bottle to use and how much to spray. That is, to know which technical projects to encourage and which to kill.

I was thinking of Mike and his job yesterday when my husband John and I took apart a huge prickly pear cactus (Opuntia). Long ago, there was a prickly pear farm in our area of Willow Glen (San Jose, California). There are still many of these massive spiny plants along the bank of the Guadalupe River where we live. Three had grown up next to John’s workshop and model train room. In fact, they grew so large and heavy that they damaged the roof and threatened anyone walking on that side of the building. John wanted them dead. He generously consented to allow me to save the parts furthest from the walkway.

My cactus management tools are three:

A long serrated bread knife
Barbecue tongs
A bow saw (for big branches)

Add to these good gloves and a big bucket and you too can deconstruct a cactus twice as big and older than you are.

Like a technical project, prickly pears have some tender shoots which can either be left or easily cut off with a bread knife (depending on what direction they are headed). There are also huge fibrous trunks, more than a hand-width wide – like projects that have been growing and gathering resources for years that need a sharp-toothed bow saw to cut them out. The tongs are to keep the cactus manager from being skewered too often by her work.

Taking one section at a time, John and I removed all of the cactus parts headed toward the house. What remains can grow for a few years before needing further attention. Several hundred pounds of prunings went down the bank where they will in time root and build up my cactus fence.

Nancy Reagan’s Apple

In a meeting at work today, I admired a lovely dark red glass apple on my co-worker’s desk. When I asked if she was a teacher, she told me that the apple was given to her Great Aunt Magdelaine Pezone by First Lady Nancy Reagan. Her Aunt had worked for Elizabeth Arden in her salon on Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills, California. Nancy Reagan gave her the apple as a thank you gift. It is signed and dated 1981 and from the bottom you can see that the glow of the deep red skin is set off by an opaque white glass core.

Kristen Pezone is a lawyer and she uses the apple, and her other glass paperweights, to hold documents flat when she is studying them. For the same purpose, I use interesting stones gathered during my world-wide travels. It is pleasant to have a few familiar and lovely things to help at the office.

Eleanor Dickinson – Certificates and Honors

This week my mother, Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson, turned 81. Happy Birthday Baba! We are in the midst of clearing out her San Francisco house for sale. Eleanor has been an artist all of her life. Below are photos of some of her honors and tributes and certificates we found in the house. I expect more will turn up as we sort stuff…

Children of the Confederacy, Eleanor Vaughan Creekmore, membership certificate in the Auxilliary of the Daughters of the Confederacy, upon the record of Great Grandfather Emmanuel Bolli, 1945

Poster with drawings by Eleanor and a poem (“Thoughts to a Concerto of Telemann”) by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 1963. Inscribed: “For Eleanor + thank you Lawrence Ferlinghetti”

National Cathedral School, 1978 Alumnae Citation, Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson “In recognition of your innovative artistic gifts and our sensitive interpretation of American culture, and with pride in your continuing achievements”

Art Commission of the City and County of San Francisco Award of Merit to Women’s Caucus for Art for Distinguished Work in Art and Civic Projects, 33rd Annual Art Festival, 1979

Portrait of Eleanor, paint on wood with burned-in frame by Howard Finster, Inscribed: “Eleanor Dickinson, The Lord Careth For You, Wood Stain Art Beyond This World, By Howard Finster Man of Visions, 1981, 2000 And_ 203 Paintings”

California College of Arts and Crafts / Master of Fine Arts in Film/Video, 1982

San Francisco Art Institute Distinguished Alumni Award “In recognition of outstanding contribution consistent with the goals and purposes of the Art Institute, and with the development of the fine arts”, 1984

National League of American Pen Women, Inc. Award to Professor Eleanor Dickinson The Distinguished Service Citation for Art and Social Activist, 1989

Women’s Caucus for Art President’s Award “In Recognition of Your Contribution to the Women’s Movement and the Arts” 1995

California College of Arts and Crafts Confers Upon Eleanor Dickinson the Status of Professor Emerita Drawing “In Recognition of Your Outstanding Contribution to the College” 2001

Women’s Caucus for Art – Honor Award for Lifetime Achievement In the Visual Arts, “We honor you, Eleanor Dickinson, as a visual and intermedia artist, professor, activist, curator, and author. Your career has articulated a line of love that has encompassed the American people. You drew our silent suffering when our ideology of freedom failed and pumped a subdued light into our night of pigmentation, cancer or AIDS. You helped us see our lovers. You made us love our gospel with a syncopated urgency that moved in and out of a contour breath. You gave fire to a vision of each for the other and the American experiment”, rounded glass frame, 2003

Collage and Poem by Claudia Chapline to celebrate Eleanor’s 80th Birthday, 2011

Images by Katy Dickinson 2012 Copyright

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Tagged as Eleanor, San Francisco, teaching

October 23, 2011 · 2:05 pm

TechWomen in Morocco – Day 7 – Last Day, in Casablanca

Friday was the last day for the TechWomen delegation in Morocco. We spent most of the time speaking and learning at a technical women’s conference at the Technopark in Casablanca. We were welcomed by the US Consul General, Mr. Brian Shukan. I ran a panel on “Venture Design: Documenting the Start-up Company” with Mimi Hills (of Research in Motion) and Jody Mahoney (of the Anita Borg Institute). Here is a link to the presentation slides. Also, I was on the Imposter Syndrome panel run by Jody.

After the conference, we went shopping (again!) in the souq and then to a dinner and henna party at the restaurant of the Association Solidarité Féminine.

Images Copyright 2011 Katy Dickinson
#WIT11

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Tagged as Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, teaching, technical women, TechWomen

October 21, 2011 · 5:14 am

TechWomen in Morocco – Day 6 in Rabat

The TechWomen delegation in Morocco has had an excellent experience, both teaching and learning this week. We spent time with a wide variety of women’s organizations – some technical and others focused on social improvement. The delegation visited Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat and other cities – all different and fascinating. Spending the week with twenty talented and remarkably intelligent technical women has been a lasting inspiration. Our time on the bus chatting about family, religion, Engineering, and business has been as valuable as all of the formal events.

I was proud that my company, Huawei, was able to host the delegation for dinner last night at the Royal Nautique Club Bourgreg in Sale, across the river from Rabat. Huawei has 350 staff here in Morocco and several of the women technical staff joined us for dinner. Today the delegation is at a conference in Casablanca.

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Tagged as Huawei, Mentoring, Middle East, teaching, technical women, TechWomen

October 19, 2011 · 5:37 pm

TechWomen in Morocco – Day 5

The TechWomen delegation in Morocco had a full and interesting day today in Casablanca and Mohammedia. Our day started early, so we got to watch produce being sold in the neighborhoods from tiltcarts. It is surprising to see sheep, cows, horses, and donkeys grazing and wandering around on city streets. We had one herd of sheep cross the freeway in front of our bus – with the shepherd throwing smalls stones at the last sheep while he caught the one which was refusing to cross.

We visited the Association MOUASSAT (Nonprofit of Equality) which supports poor widows and their children. It seems that the high number of traffic fatalities leads Morocco to have many widows. We then met the leadership and faculty of the Universite Mohammedia Hassan II and we gave presentations on technical workflow management, and using and contributing to Open Source. After lunch with the faculty, we visited and traded presentations at the Galilee-Vivaldi girls College and Lycee. I just got back to the hotel from a lavish and delightful family dinner at the home of one of the TechWomen mentees. An amazing and inspiring day.

Tomorrow, the TechWomen are being hosted for dinner by Huawei in Rabat after a day of meetings and presentations.