No, I Won’t Be On Your Diversity / Inclusion Panel but I Can Talk About Tech
I was talking to my neighbor, a successful female tech executive, about her upcoming speaking engagement at a conference. She is speaking on diversity in tech and her experience as a Latina. I asked her how often she was asked to speak on her actual work in the tech space and she responded that only once or twice had she been asked in her entire career. And then it hit me that I have been in the same position.
Why is it that we women are asked to speak on diversity or inclusion but not on the topics where we are the subject matter experts (SME’s)?
This is so limiting for us women and people of color in that we are not seen as technical experts; we are seen as tokens representing inclusion where inclusion doesn’t exist.
After I got my MBA, I decided I was no longer making coffee or bringing coffee to anyone. And, like that decision, I’ve decided that I will no longer be on panels talking about inclusion and diversity unless I am speaking on topics where I am an SME. I’ve even updated my website Speaker page on my website to reflect this change and list the technical areas that I can speak on.
We need to make sure that we are seen as experts and that we are seen speaking on the topics as experts.
At the end of November I am going to Slush in Helsinki and will be moderating a panel on how investors need to recognize the shift in demographics and market demands and begin to invest in startups creating products and services for women and people of color. This is not a diversity panel; this is an investing panel intended to enlighten the VCs/angel investors who are not women or of color and are not seeing the shift. There is gap here and investors who don’t see it are going to be missing out financially, big time. Monique Woodard of 500 Startups will be on the panel along with Albert Wenger of Union Square Ventures. Albert is a token white male and I love that he appreciates this.
The consulting work that I do is very niche and the folks who tend to speak at industry events are the same at every event. Talk about echo chamber. They are generally from the East Coast and represent a large company point of view. There are so many more smaller biotech, medical device and diagnostic companies that while the speakers have good information, they tend to forget that their IT or Quality departments are larger than some of these smaller companies. It’s all about right-sizing the approach and with FDA related activities, taking a risk based approach. I live and breathe this stuff so why am I not on the stage providing alternative and creative approaches to this work?
I think it comes down to the fact that the folks organizing the conferences and events have limited bandwidth to look outside their circles to identify alternatives to the standards. And they have no incentive to do so, nor are they penalized if they don’t diversify.
I received an email from a colleague yesterday regarding a conference organizer who is looking for more women for the stage for their 2018 events. I appreciate the effort and shared with my network via LinkedIn. I know that some of my colleagues have already contacted him. We’ll see how that actually plays out and if they are only on stage as ‘Women in X’ versus being on a panel or having a keynote on the topic. We women and POC cannot be seen as separate if we are going to be seen as equal. We need to be part of the mainstream communications and platforms.
I will continue to speak on empowerment as I don’t see this as a diversity or inclusion issue but one of personal growth and development. This includes talking about being a commercially rated helicopter pilot, being the primary breadwinner in our family, maintaining a sense of self through life’s transitions, the importance of connecting (not just networking), and thinking bigger and taking risks.
I will continue to speak to women on investing to encourage more women to allocate part of their investment portfolio to the higher risk asset class of investing in start ups. This isn’t a diversity or inclusion issue, this is investing and financial education.
I would like to start speaking on 21 CFR Part 11 and Data Integrity, Computer Validation, IT Project Management in Life Sciences, IT System Selection in Life Sciences, Aligning IT Strategy with Corporate in Life Sciences, Aligning and Operationaliizing Compliance Requirements in IT. I’ve spent the last 18 years refining my methodologies around these areas, working with over 25 biotech, medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies and know that a cookie cutter approach cannot be applied in any of the above. (Note: don’t worry if none of the topics I can speak on make sense; the work I do is specialized although with Apple and Google involved in digital health, it will need to become more mainstream)
Calls to action:
— If you are a conference or event organizer, look outside your circle and find women and people of color to participate on panels and speak at your events
— If you are a conference or event organizer, stop having diversity and inclusion panels as token opportunities for women and people of color and make greater efforts to have diversity within the technical / primary topic panels. This will speak volumes about your respect for diversity and inclusion.
— If you are are woman or a person of color experienced in something, ask to speak or be on a panel at an event of interest. Begin to build the relationships now so that you are on the short list. Make it easier for them. Make introductions to others to be on their short lists as well. Our circles are diverse; make our circles their circles.
— If you are a woman or a person of color and see a panel that is not diverse, gracefully call out the fact and offer to be on the panel to demonstrate more diversity. We need to ask…it’s worked for me in the past. And, in fact, the second time I was on a particular panel, there were more women than men and the women were amazing! (Thank you, Swissnex and yes, I know that two of the scheduled men backed out at the last minute and the women stepped up and made the panel a success!)
Finally, this is not a charitable act. Women represent over 50% of the population and the demographics are shifting and by not having more diverse panels and speakers, you are showing that you are behind the times. Don’t get left behind.
@PilotingLife podcast http://bit.ly/PilotingYourLife-PLY001
