“With just 25% of roles in the tech industry being filled by women, there is huge opportunity to make a positive impact. But we’ll only do that with strong allyship support. As a woman CEO in cloud, I can tell you allyship is everything.
SEATTLE (PRWEB) October 12, 2021
Leading Allies Of..., a movement that focuses on advancing diversity and inclusion, will hold its first annual Leading Allies Of… Data Centers & The Cloud on November 10th, 2021. Themed “De-Mystifying DE&I: Diversity In Our Digital Infrastructure,” the half-day event will feature engaging discussions from global leaders of Fortune 500 companies, suppliers and startups that will help both individuals and companies step up their diversity efforts, primarily led through allyship.
The summit follows events hosted by Leading Ladies Of…, an organization that hosts diversity summits and has built successful communities in aerospace and defense. The founder, Fiona McKay and Shannon Hulbert, CEO of Opus Interactive, partnered to create a similar community within data centers, cloud, and edge. “This is exciting to be a part of,” says Hulbert. “With just 25% of roles in the tech industry being filled by women, there is huge opportunity to make a positive impact. But we’ll only do that with strong allyship support. As a woman CEO in cloud, I can tell you allyship is everything. Opus Interactive is the organization we are today because of allyship from partners, our team, and customers.”
The event seeks to provide clarity around implementing DE&I strategies, providing attendees with a diversity and allyship toolkit, and highlighting proactive efforts of organizations and leaders that serve as allies for women and underrepresented groups. The Summit panels include insights from C-Level women and men sharing different diversity approaches, discussions on how diversity will drive innovation in the industry, and examples of allyship that is already making a difference.
The event has been made possible by industry leaders joining forces for change. The steering committee for the inaugural Summit includes some of the industry’s most DE&I conscious leaders:
- Bill Kleyman, EVP of Digital Solutions, Switch
- Shalini Sharma, SVP & General Counsel, Vantage Data Centers
- Matt Vanderzanden, Chief Strategy Officer, STACK Infrastructure
- Michael McClary, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft
- Leena Patel, Chief Innovation Officer, Sandbox2Boardroom
- Hazim Macky, Vice President of Engineering, Coinme
- Angela Capon, Senior Director, Global Marketing, EdgeConnex
- Erik Carlsen, Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Anuvu
“This is an exciting forum that will enable participants to gain valuable insight into foundational and actionable DE&I resources and collectively make an immediate and positive impact to our modern-day workforce,” says Matt VanderZanden, STACK Infrastructure’s Chief Strategy Officer.
The Summit will also feature the very first Trailblazer Awards Ceremony, recognizing those who are making a positive impact for global diversity, equity and inclusion, and sustainable IT. The awards categories are Connectivity Trailblazer, Data Center Trailblazer, Cloud Trailblazer, Edge Trailblazer, Industry Ally Trailblazer, and Sustainable IT Trailblazer. Judges will assess candidates on innovation, impact and potential impact to the industry, as well as demonstrations of being a positive role model, attracting (and retaining) a more diverse workforce, and generally making the industry a more inclusive environment. Nominations can be made at http://www.LeadingAlliesOf.com.
The event will also be a fundraising effort for Girls Who Code, a nonprofit organization which aims to support and increase the number of women in computer science by equipping young women with the necessary computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. Companies can support by sending their teams, purchasing ‘enterprise tables of 8,’ and sponsoring the event.
For more information about Leading Allies Of… Data Centers & The Cloud Virtual Summit, please visit http://www.LeadingAlliesOf.com.
About Fiona McKay & Leading Ladies Of…
Fiona McKay is a recognized expert in courageous leadership. A highly sought-after executive coach, trainer and keynote speaker, McKay inspires and guides leaders to embrace bravery, boldness, and big change to create the workplaces and businesses they want, while making a difference for others.
McKay is also the founder of the Leading Ladies Of… and Leading Allies Of… movement, which focuses on breaking the glass ceilings that still exist for women and under-represented groups through connection, collaboration, and career-catalyzing skills. The movement is aimed at connecting people who want to challenge the status quo, advocate for all workplace diversity and be a role model for others.
For more information on Fiona McKay, visit http://www.MckayUnlimited.com
About Opus Interactive
Founded in 1996, Opus Interactive has earned a reputation for delivering tailored hybrid and multi-cloud solutions for organizations with high-performance and high-compliance workload requirements. Understanding that every organization is different, each solution is architected to the unique security, performance, cost, and interoperability needs of every customer.
Opus’ team builds right-sized Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Solutions, IaaS & OpusCloud, Enterprise Colocation, Backup and Disaster Recovery, Object Storage, VDI, and Monitoring and Management Services — compliant with PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP Moderate Ready, and SSAE 18 SOC 2 — backed by SLAs. Tailored solutions are delivered from Tier III+ data centers located in high connectivity markets (Hillsboro, Portland, Dallas, and Northern Virginia). Each facility partner is carefully selected for security, geographic redundancy, and efficiency to ensure end-to-end reliability and performance.
Opus Interactive is a woman and minority-owned enterprise with a commitment to accelerating the adoption of sustainable IT. With past performance that includes more than 25 years of proven results, our end goal is optimized solutions that enable our customers to do great work. Technology, meet Humanity.
For more information on Opus Interactive, visit http://www.opusinteractive.com
