Tech Talk

Part of the series “Entrepreneurial Women Rocking the World” In my work with professionals who are committed to building thriving, rewarding careers and businesses, I’m hearing more and more from women who have exciting ideas and want to launch multi-million dollar enterprises, and believe they have the know-how to do it. Rather than be beleaguered and demoralized by the news that the tech world is against women, these entrepreneurs are committed to forging ahead, and they simply won’t take “no” for an answer. I was excited to connect with an inspiring woman who has done just that. Mary Spio, author of the new book,It’s Not Rocket Science: 7 Game-Changing Traits for Uncommon Success, has launched three game-changing technologies — Boeing Digital Cinema, which changed the movie distribution industry; Gen2Media, which created the online TV platform for clients such as Coca Cola Company, Microsoft XBOX, Tribune News Company and more than 200 radio stations, and Next Galaxy Corp, a virtual reality(VR) content hub and maker of VR audio headphones.

On the Washington, D.C., campus of Howard University, Silicon Valley is an ever-growing presence. The engineering school’s new Yahoo Data Center was christened such after a donation from the Sunnyvale Internet firm. Google’s fingerprints are all over the school’s computer science curriculum, which was redesigned with help from a “Googler-in-Residence” installed on campus. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg began the college iteration of her LeanIn movement there in fall 2013, and her company held an aggressive on-campus recruitment drive last year.

“The sky is falling, the wind is calling / Stand for something, or die in the morning.” – Kendrick Lamar During the Computer Electronics Show (CES) this month, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich pledged $300 million to increase the company’s workforce diversity. In his keynote speech, Krzanich stated, “It’s not good enough to say we value diversity and then underrepresent women and minorities. Intel wants to lead by example.” Which law firms this year will also lead by example?

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., helped found the Diversifying Technology Caucus, which aims to get more women and minorities into STEM fields. Despite significant strides to improve equality in business and education, women and minorities still lag significantly behind their white male colleagues in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Lawmakers and representatives from the technology industry gathered Monday on Capitol Hill to launch a new bipartisan caucus to address those issues head-on, encouraging more women and minorities to get into STEM fields and to promote equal opportunities for them.