GHC20 Co-Chair Spotlight: Amanda Minnich
After college, Amanda Minnich ventured to French Polynesia and Australia for seven months to work as a field biologist. Her career, albeit filled with unexpected twists and turns, highlights the many avenues women can explore when entering the tech field. Amanda has taken hold of opportunities to shape her career as a data scientist whose efforts would someday support the fight against a global pandemic.
When the 2009 recession hit, Amanda set out for a career that would provide her with job security. Her initial goal was to complete a master’s degree in computer science — she accomplished that and gained much more through the procurement of a PhD in Computer Science.
An eminent researcher, Amanda has authored and contributed to over 15 articles and led several projects. One of her proudest moments was leading the charge for an open source library for the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. This project serves as a machine learning pipeline building models to generate predictions for vaccine discoveries and is currently being used to support research on SARS-CoV-2.
With an increasing passion for the profession and growing communities of women technologists across the globe, Amanda has crafted a space for empowerment and community. She served as a #GHC19 Co-Chair for the AI track and is looking forward to a second go at #GHC20.
“Getting to serve as co-chair has been an amazing opportunity to give back and also to get to know the new community of GHC attendees, for which I am so grateful.”
When it comes to being a leader in tech, Amanda had this advice to share:
“Go for it and don’t get discouraged by what you don’t know. Anything in tech can be learned, and your attitude and passion will be what allow you to achieve your goals. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!”
This story was written by Crystal M. Cooper, Sr. GHC Program Manager at AnitaB.org. Connect with her on Linkedin.
