Kicking Off Women’s History Month with Strava’s Roundtable ERG Leads
Women’s History Month is in full swing across the US and other countries, so we thought it would be a great time to introduce the leaders of The Roundtable @ Strava.
The Roundtable, started over 5 years ago, is one of Strava’s longest-running affinity turned Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). It brings together women, gender nonconforming, trans teammates, and allies at Strava. Our mission is to create a space for people from all historically underrepresented and excluded genders at Strava to learn from one another, share our experiences, support our pursuits, and celebrate our wins together as a group.
For Women’s History Month this year, The Roundtable is leaning into the 2023 theme of “celebrating women who tell our stories.” We are excited to host our inaugural women’s executive panel, along with various opportunities to hear the stories of our leaders and learn about other famous women throughout history.
Without further ado, let’s hear from the women leading the ERG:
Name: Paige DeRaedt
Title: Senior Analytics Manager
How long have you been at Strava? 5 years
Telling my Roundtable story: When I first joined the Roundtable planning committee, all I felt comfortable helping with was logistics, like ordering food for meetings (which is still very important). I didn’t have the confidence to contribute much to initiatives that felt like a stretch to me, like leading a group meeting or planning an event. Over the last few years of being on the committee, I’m so proud of how much I’ve grown in terms of feeling comfortable and confident with myself. I owe a lot to finding such a supportive group of coworkers and a safe space in The Roundtable to make brave leaps in trying to hone new skills like public speaking, event organizing, and so much more.
Inspiring quote: Public speaking in any form has been a long-standing fear of mine, and one that The Roundtable community has helped me take big strides in conquering. I used to feel self-conscious about my voice sounding shaky due to nerves, and remembering this quote has helped me tremendously:
Being a little nervous when you present means that you really care about what you have to say. Audience members see this as a signal that you are solicitous of their esteem — there is a graceful humility in this — and that you care enough to want to do a great job. Caring for your audience almost always has a boomerang effect. — Bruna Martinuzzi, author of Presenting with Credibility
Name: Danelle Brister
Title: Sr. Product Manager
How long have you been at Strava? 1 year
Telling My Roundtable Story: Being a bit of a math and science nerd, it has been really easy to feel like I don’t belong in tech spaces. I really noticed it for the first time when I entered Georgia Tech to get my Electrical Engineering degree, I had to be very intentional in seeking out supportive spaces. Since then, I have made it my personal mission to ensure that the tech industry is a more inclusive and equitable space for women and people of color. So I was excited to learn about The Roundtable when I joined Strava, and when there was a call for leaders, it was the perfect opportunity to live out my core values and mission.
Inspiring Quote: I recently came across an incredible piece of career advice from Toni Morrison, one of my favorite storytellers, and it really resonated with me. This truly embodies my motivation in my work with The Roundtable and opening doors as a woman in tech.
I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.’ — Toni Morrison, American novelist.
What are The Roundtable CoLeads most looking forward to in 2023?
In January, all of Strava’s ERG leads came together for a multi-day offsite to help us effectively lead and manage our respective groups. This enables us to build community and contribute to the overall sense of belonging for Strava teammates. We’re so excited to bring all of our wonderful ideas that were inspired by collaborating with our other ERG leads to life this year. Stay tuned!
Written by: Danelle Brister and Paige DeRaedt
Photos by: So Yem
