Challenging gender parity in tech; the “why” behind my AWS re:Invent
This is the third in our AWS re:Invent series, written by Slalom Denver consultant Kendyll Gooding.
In 2018 I was ecstatic to attend my first re:Invent, a reward for passing my Solutions Architect Associate exam in 2017. I was excited to learn about new AWS offerings, geek out with fellow cloud enthusiasts about cool new disruptors and industry shaping possibilities, and see Slalom branded across the football-field-length screens during the Brad Jackson/Andy Jassy keynote fireside chat. Check, check, and check, it was awesome!
Aside from the technology glitz and glam, late night cocktail business deals, and swag hoarders, I noticed a common and interesting theme among the 60k attendees…a significant lack of gender parity and diversity. This was blatantly apparent during any educational session, Amazon-sponsored activity, and especially so at the conference’s final party, re:Play, when any given men’s bathroom line wrapped around a casino-sized lot! Whereas my longest wait time was…well, there was no wait, how rare is that!? I was immediately curious about two things: 1) why were the scales so heavily imbalanced at this event? And 2) how could I contribute to changing that reality?
As part of my 2019 Slalom goals, specifically regarding re:Invent, I wanted to attend the conference again to:
- Gain awareness on how to build leaner architectures supporting internet of things (IoT) and machine learning solutions.
- Improve how Slalom Denver helps our attendees better prepare for, collaborate during, and communicate post conference.
- Find a way to start breaking down the gender parity and diversity barriers by showcasing our I&D (inclusion and diversity) awesomeness: a thriving and supportive culture based on people, their capabilities, and their incredible accomplishments via connections.
Throughout the year, technologist Adam Jacaruso and I partnered to create a re:Invent management team, publish a How to Do re:Invent deck, and founded a collaboration site on Microsoft Teams. These were the cornerstones in our market to obtaining a budget aligned to business objectives, identifying who from our team should attend and why, and preparing our attending team for success at re:Invent — whatever that meant for each of them. I’ve even personally benefited from this planning, as I had a better perspective on process and timeline, and was able to sign up for educational courses supporting my own personal learning objectives.
I also had an opportunity to pitch to the global Slalom AWS alliance and I&D senior executive team, to lead an initiative focused on and highlighting the people element at this technology event. I wanted to create an event to help other companies recognize the importance of working towards and creating a culture where ALL their employees feel empowered and supported to be themselves, their merit and perceived potential is based on their capabilities, and everyone can have a successful and equivalent career path to executive leadership. In the course of planning, we learned that Comcast had a similar initiative in the works. Ultimately, Slalom was proud to partner with Comcast to host the Zoom In: Women in Technology event held Tuesday night (December 3rd) at the LINQ Promenade High Roller. The event focused on building the future and giving women a platform to be seen and heard for their experiences through storytelling.
As this year’s re:Invent has come to a close, I’m reflecting most on three key experiences that shaped my week in Vegas and underline my appreciation for being part of the Slalom team.
- The educational sessions helped me to better understand how our clients can leverage lean architect and enterprise data best practices to potentially enhance a product’s experience, lower operational costs, and/or improve a solution’s performance.
- The Zoom In event showcased and taught me the importance of how to build a holistic and supportive culture (including recruiting, collaborations and communications, and alumni relations) focused on being a better career advancement advocate and sponsor.
“When you take a step up, put a hand down.”
~ Amy Loftus, Slalom Philadelphia GM
- Being interviewed by the AWS re:Invent team for taking 2nd place in the women’s 4k race helped me to find a confident and natural ‘voice’ when speaking to my passion about diversity efforts. I was able to share my vision and mission for enabling Slalom to be the reference to which all organizations look for guidance on creating gender parity and diversity in the workplace.
It was one for the record books, that’s for sure. And after winning my 2020 conference pass in the 4k race, I’m even more energized to put so many new ideas into action to continue driving change at re:Invent and beyond. It’s all part of my personal mission to make Slalom, and my community, an even better place to be.
