Event Recap: Wonder Women Tech

Setting up a booth, speaking on a panel, attending incredible talks, and chatting with a partner across the world about their autonomous buses successfully running on rideOS’s systems: these were all in a day’s work. I attended Wonder Women Tech 2019 at Long Beach, CA last week, and it was a wonderful whirlwind of activity.

Wonder Women Tech is a conference held annually at Long Beach (and at other locations too), and their mission is to “highlight, celebrate and educate women and the underrepresented in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math)”. Their conferences typically have 75% women and 45% women of color attendees, and it was great to be a part of the sea of diversity during this conference.

Wonder Women Tech: We are Change Makers.

Why did I attend this conference? The primary reason is that I attended and spoke at Women of Silicon Valley (WoSV) earlier this year, and it was glorious. I was fortunate enough to also be a speaker on a panel at Wonder Women Tech (WWT), and I was looking forward to having a similar experience to WoSV at WWT.

If you’ve been considering whether or not to attend a women’s tech conference, go for it! The sense of empowerment, solidarity, and energy is unbelievable, and being in a conference with a majority of women has a very different feel from other tech conferences. Personally, realizing that what I’ve felt and observed was a common occurrence to many other women was mind-blowing, and made me want to be more involved in empowering women. As someone at the conference said, “you wonder what a women’s tech conference is like until you’re there, and it’s like: omg you get it!”

The panel discussion that I spoke at was on “How Immersive Technology Impacts And Shapes Our Future.” Wennie Allen was our moderator, and she organized multiple sessions prior to the event for us to get to know one another better. Before the panel discussion itself, we were chatting in the speakers’ room, and the topic moved towards self-driving vehicles. I felt my passion emerge as I spoke enthusiastically about the topic, sharing what I’ve learned over the years, with interesting little anecdotes that I’ve experienced and heard.

Our panel on “How Immersive Technology Impacts And Shapes Our Future”: Megan Lubaszka, Marina Shumaieva, Wennie Allen (moderator), Allison Liemhetcharat, and Kavya Pearlman.

The panel discussion was wonderful, and each of us brought unique and different perspectives about immersive technology. Among other things, I described how simulation is used to test and improve the capabilities of self-driving vehicles. We also discussed concerns about privacy and security as immersive technology becomes more prevalent.

Diversity, inclusion, and belonging was a big topic of discussion throughout the conference, from various talks to conversations among attendees. The quote that stuck to my mind about the three terms is: diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance; and belonging is having your music being played. Many speakers commented that companies today focus on diversity, but not enough is being done on inclusion. In fact, diversity is the outcome, and not where you start. When a company is inclusive, people will thrive, feel supported, and have career progression. As a result, they will pull more people into that company. Belonging is one step further: where people feel that they matter (to the company, and to the team), and people have a place where they can be who they are, to be vulnerable and passionate, and do their best work. Conversely, studies have shown that when people don’t have belonging and feel excluded, the neurons that activate are the same as when we are in pain.

Here are some other quotes from talks about diversity, inclusion, and belonging that I felt were valuable:

• Do you feel supported? Do you get the training you need; steps to grow and learn? Are you able to get promoted?
• If company A has 10 women in leadership but none of them feel supported or trusted, while company B has 5 women in leadership that feel their voice is heard, which company is more “successful” at D&I?
• Recruiting departments work hard to increase diversity, e.g., bringing in more women and people of color, but we don’t stay long at the companies if inclusion is lacking.
• How long do we stay in a bad place because we’re worried that the next place might be worse?
• We need to make sure the most marginalized group can thrive. Only then can everyone thrive.
• Is the company investing in and developing people like me?
• Is the company creating spaces and opportunities for introverts, women, etc?

Panel on “Refusing To Be Hidden Figures: Black Innovators Who Run The World”: Arabian Prince (moderator), Shellye Archambeau, Chiedo John, Lynda Murray-Thomas, and Piper Dellums.

Another big topic of discussion was finding and using our voice. Women make up about half of all people, and about half of all the people in the USA are people of color, so collectively, we have a lot of power if we harness it. We need to step into our greatness and decide to show up for ourselves; that’s when true change happens.

Here are some quotes from various sessions on this topic:

• It’s our inherent right to get what we want; we can have it too.
• We shouldn’t wait to see the change we want. Don’t ask for permission, just do it!
• If you feel a certain way, there are definitely others who feel that way too.
• Grab your seat at the table; elbow your way in if you have to.
• When you’re in those spaces, you’ve earned the right to be in that space.
• If you can’t be a cheerleader for yourself, no one can.
• There is no limit to where we can go if we go together.
• There is a lot of power in taking away someone’s ability to say “I didn’t know”.
• Take small steps to be brave, and congratulate yourself when you do it.

While it’s important to use our voice, it’s also important to know that speaking up can come at a cost, and there can be retaliation. Some of the speakers mentioned being labeled a “toxic person” or being asked “why can’t you be positive” when they spoke up about issues. There needs to be psychological safety for people to speak up, and one possible approach is to talk to someone at the company that you feel safe to talk to.

Panel on “Social Innovation — The Next Frontier For Business Development And Success: Elijah Young (moderator), Shannel Rivera, Liem Le, and Chelsea VonChaz.

There were also a number of talks about career and personal development. One common message across speakers is to build a personal board of directors to help you grow, i.e., finding your Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, and Chief Execution Officer.

Here are some other valuable quotes on this topic:

• If you don’t have passion, it’s time for a change.
• You can’t change for anyone else. You have to be you.
• When you spend your time working along others’ perception of you, you’re not spending time working on yourself.
• Reframe failure: failure just means you’re not good at it yet. You can do better the next time.

Keynote by Angelica Ross: “Why Am I Here?”

One of the keynotes was by Angelica Ross, who has starred in shows such as Her Story, Pose, and American Horror Story. I previously wrote about Her Story, and I was really excited to hear Angelica speak. She talked about how we enjoy the beauty of a butterfly but we rarely consider the painful journey the caterpillar took to become that butterfly. She also added that if you’re blessed to know a trans person, then you get the opportunity to witness the magical transformation of that person becoming who they are meant to be. Her words touched me deeply, and here are some other pieces of advice she gave in her keynote:

• There’s a growth that happens when you let go.
• Create the cocoon you need to transform into who you are.
• Be responsible for the energy you bring into a room.
• Tell yourself: “I am the one who is equipped to respond to this.” Your voice is therefore a reason, even if they try to silence it.
• Find a way to input what you need to input.
• Sharing your truth will make someone more comfortable to share theirs.
• Work on being someone who is a safe place for anyone to disclose their truth.

Overall, I truly enjoyed the Wonder Women Tech conference, and I am grateful for rideOS for sponsoring my trip. I highly encourage everyone to attend this conference, and other similar conferences, in the future! There is a lot all of us can learn and grow.