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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
I was one of the teachers for the first TechWomen Mentor Workshop today. HP Labs in Palo Alto generously hosted the event. We were joined by most of the 38 Technical Mentors and more than a dozen Cultural Mentors from over 40 Silicon Valley companies. These impressive professional women will coach the 38 Mentees from 6 countries and territories who will be arriving in June from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It was a day full of good questions, excitement, and anticipation.
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 the Mentoring Process Architect for TechWomen since September 2010, working with ABI. It is a joy to see the program finally starting!
Among many topics, we discussed schedules and expectations, technical and business competencies, vocabulary, learning goals, mentoring and community resources. The TechWomen program team put together a Mentor Guide which included many of these materials. Additional community resources which came out in discussion:
Some elements of the TechWomen program were inspired by the SEED mentoring program I created and managed for Sun Microsystems for 10 years. Details on SEED are available in the free Sun Labs Technical Report “Sun Mentoring: 1996-2009” (published in 2009).
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Images Copyright 2011 Katy Dickinson
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I just got home from the inspiring Women of Vision awards event by the Anita Borg Institute. Huawei was a Gold Sponsor of this WOV and I have worked for months to arrange for 30 Huawei guests to attend from all over the world. Our Senior Vice President John Roese spoke during the opening reception. I should not be staying up to blog about this because I am teaching the first TechWomen Mentor Workshop starting early tomorrow morning but WOV is so exciting, I need to share it.
Today’s award winners were
Each winner was impressive in her own way. Each has overcome much to make an admirable change in the technical world. Wow. Going to an ABI event is always worthwhile, if for no other reason than to talk with the remarkable technical contributors in the audience. The Women of Vision event is particularly excellent because of the powerful story of each award winner. I am glad my husband John Plocher could attend the event this year. He has heard me talk about WOV for years.
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Images Copyright 2011 Katy Dickinson
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