Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) February 21, 2018
ChickTech, a national 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to retaining women in the technology workforce and increasing the number of women and girls pursuing technology-based careers, will be hosting its first annual ACT-W National conference from April 11–13 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The three-day conference will empower and support women to help accelerate their careers by connecting conference attendees with organizations and other leaders within the technology community, while featuring speaking sessions addressing the challenges that still exist for women in the workplace and how to overcome them.
Women are still woefully unsupported and underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. In fact, the ISACA’s Women in Technology Survey found that women face many professional obstacles, such as shortages in female role models and gender-based pay. Nearly 90 percent of survey participants stated they had experienced a lack of mentors or female leaders in their field. “Our goal in hosting this conference at the national level is to help women acquire the skills they need to invest in their professional development,” said Janice Levenhagen-Seeley, founder and CEO at ChickTech. “We’re aiming to create a sense of community, and an environment where women can gather, share experiences, and find a mentor or mentee.”
Thanks to the generous support of sponsors such as Google, cPanel, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Allstate, and Northeastern University, ChickTech is aiming to change these statistics by presenting a conference that focuses on providing women with actionable education in career development, leadership, technology, and diversity. The agenda features a speaker line-up showcasing a diverse group of women, including:
- Nikita Mitchell: Nikita is the creator of Above the Bottom Line, a newsletter dedicated to keeping readers informed of how the world’s most influential companies are taking a stance on social, political, and environmental issues. She is currently a senior manager at Cisco, where she is responsible for strategy and planning initiatives for the company’s $20 million Americas sales organization. Her session, Discovering Your Truth: How to Connect the Dots in Your Life, will cover how she’s connecting the dots in her own ambitious pursuit of success and how attendees can too.
- Lilian Chen: Lilian is an interaction designer on the YouTube Live team. When she’s not designing, she goes by “Milktea,” which is a former competitive Super Smash Brother Melee player who aims to promote empathy in competitive gaming spaces. In her session, Your Office is Just Another Community, she will discuss how she accidentally took a leadership role in her gaming community and how she applied what she learned towards her professional career.
To learn more and register for ACT-W National, please visit: http://www.act-w.org.
About ChickTech
ChickTech is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to retaining women in the technology workforce and increasing the number of women and girls pursuing technology-based careers. With 25 active chapters in the U.S. and Canada, ChickTech offers educational workshops, mentoring, and internship opportunities for high school girls who aspire to technology careers. Additionally, ChickTech provides career events for women in technology fields to create a supportive community of professionals to network, grow their skills, and discover employers looking for exceptional talent. For more information, visit http://www.chicktech.org.
Media contact
Justin Ordman
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry for ChickTech
chicktech(at)rlyl(dot)com
1 (857) 217-2886
# # #