News Articles – Page 2 – Women Tech Council

Women’s Tech Council Honors Leaders for Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges

You can tell a lot about a place by what kind of conversations are taking place there, observed Julie Hanna, keynote speaker at the Women’s Tech Awards Thursday.

“[In Utah], I feel like I’m in the future,” Hanna said. “You have a mindset I think is an example for the rest of the world and the country.”

That mindset and the women promoting it were recognized at the ninth annual Women’s Tech Council awards. Hanna, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor who has founded or headed companies like WebMD and who currently serves as executive chair of the board at Kiva, drew on her experience as a refugee and immigrant to illustrate the power of dreams and […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-06T00:28:57-07:00

Women Tech Council honors Utah women in technology

SALT LAKE CITY— On Thursday at the Grand America hotel, Dr. Shalini Kesar related her story while she was in Salt Lake City for the Women Tech Council Awards.

She grew up in India, but came to Cedar City from London nine years ago.

“In my college, there were only four girls out of 60 studying technology,” she said.

Despite the lack of women in her class, Kesar said it was natural for her to go into science.

“I had a strong family support and good teachers that made me realize what I could do,” she said.

Kesar received an “Educational Excellence” award for her work as an Associate Professor at Southern Utah University to get […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-14T03:10:25-07:00

3 Utah business leaders share the secrets to their success

Becoming a successful leader in business requires strength of mind, an indomitable spirit and the ability to guide others to high achievement.

Here are the stories of three women who took different career paths to business success, marshaling their talents, education and work ethic into business success. Their message? Following your dreams requires preparation.

Sara Jones

For Sara Jones, 42, her path to career success began with her birth in Korea and adoption by a Utah family at age 2, raised by two parents with two sisters.

As a child growing up, she became known as an academic overachiever, graduating from Jordan High in 1992, receiving her undergraduate degree […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-06T00:41:06-07:00

Utah Women in Tech: Let’s Start With the Problem

This is the first in a series of articles Beehive Startups will be publishing on what it’s like to be a woman working in Utah’s technology sector.

In 2014, Forbes ranked Utah the best state for business, citing Utah’s roots in the tech industry. Meanwhile, a Wallstreet 24/7 study ranked Utah as the worst place for women. The study states, “less than 31% of management positions were held by women in Utah.”

While it’s true that there are certain nuances to the Utah workforce that the study may have overlooked — like the […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-12T06:15:28-07:00

Utah Women in Tech: What’s Already Happening

So there’s a problem. Not enough women in the tech industry, and definitely not enough women in tech in Utah. And we know things need to change. We need to acknowledge that we have a problem. We need to let women know that they are needed and necessary in the industry. We need to recognize and overcome the stereotypes women face when entering the tech industry. And we need to stop making women feel like being a mother and a valuable part of the tech industry are mutually exclusive.

The good news is, there are already groups and individuals in Utah working to implement these changes, get more […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-06T00:53:05-07:00

It’s Time to Change One of Utah’s Tech Traditions

It’s no secret that the tech and startup scene here in Utah, and throughout the country, is predominantly controlled by males. While there are many organizations — such as Lean In, which was founded by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg — that have committed to assist women by offering support and inspiration to help them achieve their goals, as a society, and more specifically, as a tech community, there’s still a lot more work to be done.

So, what’s the plan? How can we solve this problem of inequality and gender bias within the tech community here in Utah?

Kristin Wright2017-04-06T00:57:33-07:00

Tech Leaders Discuss Ecommerce Market, Future

In the constantly shifting landscape of ecommerce, it can be tough to keep up.

During a discussion sponsored by the Women Tech Council’s three leaders in the industry talked about the ways they try to stay ahead of the curve—and compete with other tech giants, like Amazon.

Stormy Simon, president of Overstock.com, said the industry has advanced to the point of allowing unprecedented opportunities for drawing customers. That advantage is half of a double-edged sword, with the other half being the increasingly specific demands of shoppers, she said, particularly those who are younger.

“It used to be someone would look for ‘red couch.’ But Millenials, these dang kids, they look for ‘red couch, three cushions, buttons on the back,’” […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-12T04:23:42-07:00

1.2K high school girls participate in STEM event

OREM — More than 1,000 high school girls filled up the Utah Valley University UCCU center Friday.

They were there for SheTech Explorer, a STEM event put on by the Women Tech Council and Utah Valley University. It was sponsored by Ancestry.com and the Utah STEM Action Center.

To kick off the conference, STEM-advocate Thelina Smith and Angela Trego addressed the girls. Trego told them, “it’s about you discovering things you like and don’t like.”

The girls could discover their interests through an interactive TechZone exhibit and an assortment of female-led panels and workshops. Ninth-grader Sidnee Meyers said she liked the TechZone the most because “you get […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-14T03:11:17-07:00

Girl power: SheTech links growing number of high school girls to STEM

When Angela Trego read a feedback survey where a girl admitted she didn’t know she could do things in science, technology, engineering and math until she attended SheTech Explorer Day, she knew the event was doing what it was meant to.

“We want girls to come and do this and create a wow factor,” said Trego, assistant professor of technology management at Utah Valley University and part of the leadership for the Women Tech Council. “They come and do this and say, this is fun and I can do it.”

Around 1,200 high school girls from 121 schools across the state, including as far away as Monument Valley, registered for SheTech Explorer Day, held […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-14T03:11:38-07:00

Recap: Talent Innovation Summit.

We’ve all heard about the serious dearth of women in tech roles. At Google, for example, women make up 30% of the company’s workforce, but hold 17 percent of the company’s tech jobs. At Facebook, women fill 15 percent of tech roles. At Twitter, it’s just 10 percent.

Worse yet, women stand to gain one new STEM job for every 20 that are lost in other disrupted industries.

But how do we close the tech industry gender gap? Last week’s inaugural Talent Innovation Summit, sponsored by the Women Tech Council and held at Adobe’s Utah office, aimed to get the conversation started. Senior executives, HR personnel, business leaders, and a standing-room-only crowd gathered to discuss […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-12T05:20:09-07:00

Women’s Tech Council Discusses Wage Gap, Workplace Diversity

Lehi—It’s no secret that Utah, despite the overall health of the state’s economy, still has a long way to go in recruiting, retaining, promoting and fairly compensating women in many of its industries. Recent figures by Voice for Utah Children show that Utah only pays women 70 cents on the dollar (as opposed to the national average of 79.2 cents), which leaves $1.6 billion in personal income that would be added to Utah’s economy each year if Utah’s wage gap were no larger than the nation’s. The technology industry, despite—or perhaps, because of—its recent boom in the state, is hungrier than ever to attract female talent.

Now, initiatives like the ElevateHER challenge and groups like the […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-12T05:28:52-07:00

MX Attends Women Tech Council Talent Innovation Summit

Hiring and diversity was the focus of the Women in Technology Council’s first Talent Innovation Summit. We had the opportunity to be in attendance with so many successful women in tech and it was truly an impactful morning. The last panel of the event featured four women from top companies in the area. Jill Layfield, former CEO of Backcountry, led the panel with Dianne Rivera (Goldman Sachs), Denise Leleux (eBay), and Alison Lutjemeier (Adobe). The panel shared great ideas for innovative recruiting and maintaining diversity. Some of their tips include:

1. Have women on your recruiting board.
2. Remove all unconscious bias by educating your employees
3. Set up a diverse slate of candidates, […]

Kristin Wright2017-04-12T05:31:59-07:00