Announcing Pluralsight One & welcoming former First Lady Michelle Obama
RECAP: Day 3 @ Pluralsight LIVE 2017
The final day of Pluralsight LIVE started and ended on a high note—a passionate, philanthropic one. CEO Aaron Skonnard explained how technology talent around the world is equally distributed, but opportunity is not.
“The next Sheryl Sandberg or Elon Musk — the next changemaker — is out there and could come from anywhere.”– Aaron Skonnad, Pluralsight CEO
Opening keynotes: Pluralsight One + Hadi Partovi of Code.org
Our commitment to democratize technology
To help solve for this problem and the looming global skills gap, Aaron introduced Pluralsight One. We believe technology has the power to create freedom, equality and opportunity around the globe. Pluralsight One is our commitment to drive significant, lasting social impact by equipping people and nonprofits with the technology skills they need to create the future. As part of the program, we’re joining the Pledge 1% movement. We’ll leverage 1% of our product, time, profit and equity to change the way the world learns technology.
A conversation with Hadi Partovi, founder of Code.org
This announcement was followed by an informative, powerful discussion between Aaron and Hadi Partovi, the founder of Code.org and the Hour of Code movement. Hadi spoke openly about the lack of technology education in the American education system and the lack of diversity in tech, and how he’s set out to change that.
Mainstage speakers
Managing Partner at Emerson Collective and Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called attention to the communities and geographies “locked out” of opportunity.
Heather Abbott, SVP of Corporate Solutions Technology at Nasdaq reminded us that speed is the only real sustainable advantage.
Scott Guthrie, EVP of Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise group gave us an inside look at how Microsoft embraces and contributes to the open source community.
Cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt brought a lot of laughs to the dark realities of hackers and looming security threats.
Steve Young, co-founder and Managing Director of HGGC and former NFL MVP pumped up the crowd by comparing the quick changes that happen in tech and football.
Atos CTO Eltina Ouwehand discussed how her company thwarted more than 5 billion hacking attempts during the Rio Olympics.
Jeremy Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Andela, demonstrated how Africa is uniquely positioned to revolutionize the international technology sector.
Women in tech lunch
CMO Heather Zynczak kicked off the women in tech lunch by welcoming attendees, an excited group of both women and men. She emphasized the importance of making the tech industry a diverse and accepting place and how networking events like these create opportunities.
Closing remarks: A discussion with former First Lady Michelle Obama
To end our amazing inaugural user conference, CEO Aaron Skonnard was joined on stage by former First Lady Michelle Obama—role model, champion and inspiration for women, families and young people across America and around the world. She spoke candidly about her and her family’s time in the White House, her passion for children and education and the power of bringing more diversity to leadership roles.
Pluralsight LIVE concluded with a standing ovation for Mrs. Obama, smiles all around and an inspiring sense of community and the power that we all possess to change the world through technology.
Check out recaps from Day 1 and Day 2 at Pluralsight LIVE 2017. Won’t you join us next year? Get the deets here. Zero and One are already on their way…
