In partnership with Sit With Me, a national advocacy campaign launched by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), IT-oLogy hosted a panel discussion featuring women IT professionals from around the Midlands. Focused on bringing more diversity, specifically more women, into the IT industry, the leaders of the panel discussed the challenges they faced as minorities in an overwhelmingly male dominated business, and the importance of women becoming involved.
The Sit With Me campaign revolves around the small but symbolic action of sitting in a red chair and sharing perspectives on the opportunities women face in the IT field. Women only hold approximately 25% of technology and computing jobs in the U.S. though they fill more than half in other professional fields. Additionally, women make up only 11% of C-level executives at Fortune 500 technology companies. The Sit With Me campaign’s goal is to create a conversation about the value women bring to the IT field as well as to encourage young women to enter IT as a professional choice.
The panel featured talented IT women throughout the Midlands in various industries, including the moderator, Avis Yates Rivers, President & CEO Technology Concepts Group, and featured speakers Jennifer Baxley, founder and owner of Severien, Martha Bode, IT Director at SCANA, Tanya Butts, Head of Business Management & Governance at TD Bank, Beth Dinndorf, President of Columbia College, Renee Evans, Senior Project Manager at Innovation Group, Tiera Michelle Garman, Columbia College student and Air Force Veteran, Eileen Potter, Marketing Leader at Accenture, Amy Scully, Program Manager at Midlands Technical College, Karen Stritzinger, graduate student at Clemson University, Karen Tebrich, Consulting Services Manager at FINEOS, Joyce Vonada, Chief Information Officer at EDENS, and Carol Wallace, IT Manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina.
Thank you to Sit With Me and the panelists for making the event possible!