I love the ACE Program, I love that it recognises people who share knowledge and I love the opportunities that it gives me.
I do believe the number of Women in IT is low (most sources state it between 13 - 18 %) and we need to increase that, which is why I love the Community Service this year, working with Children and STEM and the children who attended where evenly split between girls and boys.
We have had conversations in the ACE program about our representation, there are 123 ACE Directors today (including Stanley), but only 10 are female. I don't want women to be included to make up the numbers but do agree we should be seeking women who deserve recognition and encourage them to step up for the program.
The ACE Directors who happen to be female are:
Sheeri Cabral MySQL
Lonneke Dikmans FMW
Heli Helskyaho Database
Mia Urman FMW
You will notice that the list above is only 9. The 10th was announced at Kscope:
Sarah Zumbrum Business Intelligence / EPM
I was so pleased for Sarah, I have always been a fan, and championed her last year for the ODTUG Board elections. Earlier this year Sarah asked if I would champion her for ACE Director and I was really happy to. I really believed in what she did. At the time several people had approached me and it is easy to say yes when someone deserves it but less so when you are not sure, so I wrote a blog that included my thoughts on this, and Sarah has since told me she thought my final comment about Oracle not agreeing with my assessment was directed at her. It wasn't and I have to admit I did know she had been successful, but OTN asked me to stay quiet and even help them delay their response to her so they could give her the news at Kscope.
Congratulations Sarah, well deserved and and I think this picture shows it really was a surprise.
One of Sarah's first jobs was to assist in the WIT Lunch on the Wednesday, and I was honoured to be part of this event. In the planning it had been agreed to try something different and have tables discussing different topics, smaller more intimate discussions and less of a presentation. At UKOUG we are looking to do something similar this year, but over breakfast.
The main theme of everyone's thoughts was encouragement.
Encouragement from an early age, before girls have even heard of IT, at school through STEM, in the community through organisations like Girl Scouts. Encouragement through college and through recruitment, and throughout their whole career.
One of Sarah's first jobs was to assist in the WIT Lunch on the Wednesday, and I was honoured to be part of this event. In the planning it had been agreed to try something different and have tables discussing different topics, smaller more intimate discussions and less of a presentation. At UKOUG we are looking to do something similar this year, but over breakfast.
The main theme of everyone's thoughts was encouragement.
Encouragement from an early age, before girls have even heard of IT, at school through STEM, in the community through organisations like Girl Scouts. Encouragement through college and through recruitment, and throughout their whole career.
Thank you KSCOPE for a fresh look at WIT and some great conversations, now we need to continue that encouragement through networking.
And talking of ODTUG and WIT, check out this great article on Kathleen, founder of YCC, the team behind ODTUG.
Back to main 2015 Kscope page
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