NextGen Program
Sponsored by the Women in Technology Foundation 501(c)(3)
This micro-conference on Monday, June 4th, is designed to encourage young women and girls to consider careers in Science and Technology. Leading women in Technology will teach, mentor, and share with students through speaking engagements, mentoring panels, workshops and roundtable discussions highlighting how these women of note chose their path while reinforcing the importance of demonstrated leadership. The day will feature an opportunity to have lunch with distinguished members of the WITI Board of Advisors and Directors as well as WITI Hall of Fame Honorees.
Sponsored by:
NextGen Event Schedule
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8:30am 9:00am - 9:45am 9:45am - 10:00am 10:00am - 10:45am 10:45am - 11:00am 11:00am - 11:45am 11:45am - 12:00pm 12:00pm - 1:15pm 1:15pm - 1:30pm 1:30pm - 2:00pm 2:00pm |
Registration Opens Keynote (Importance of females in STEM) Walk to Breakout Sessions Breakout Sessions Walk to Second Breakout Session Breakout Session Walk to Lunch Attend Keynote Lunch w/ Angela Benton and Meet Women of the WITI Hall of Fame Break NextGen Wrap Up with Final Presentation Conclusion and Thank You |
NextGen Speaker Bios
Bonnie Wolfe
Co-Founder, 2 Billion MonkeysBonnie has been a consultant to a wide variety of technology companies representing customer experience and operations integration. Her practice has aided start-ups with M&A, Sell side liquidity prep, and Interactive Marketing (SEO, SEM, affiliate marketing, cause marketing and complex website development).
An accomplished technology program developer, workshop leader, and guest speaker, Bonnie has helped clients such as The J. Paul Getty Trust's LA Culture Net program, National Endowment for the Arts Open Studio program, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC), and the Outdoor Retailer's Association. She delivered programs that translate technical information into business language that provides their constituencies with immediate positive results.
Projects have ranged from the small specialty website hosting company (HitDirector.com) that choose Bonnie for the development of their customer education documentation, that reduced customer service queries by 90%, to being an integral part of the M&A team that led the $150M acquisition of iPlace for Homestore, Inc. in 2001, Bonnie has been a consistent value creator.
She is currently a co-founder of the hottest new stealth startup in Venice, California - 2 Billion Monkeys. Follow her on twitter: @BonnieAWolfe
Emily Ubik
Engineering Student, Boston UniversityEmily Ubik attends Boston University, where she just finished her freshman year. Emily is pursuing majors in Engineering and Archaeology. While at BU she has worked in the Biomedical Engineering Brain and Vision Research Laboratory and on the Fairbanks House Archaeological Project.
Prior to her freshman year, she interned at the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) gaining experience in establishing relationships and survey research.
Her interest in engineering was born while in high school at University Liggett School where she was a founding member of their FIRST Robotics high school team. She took a leadership role in Fundraising and assisted on the Build Team.
Emily resides in Michigan and enjoys sailing, cooking and reading good books! In addition, she has a patent pending using LED and Wireless technology to solve a practical problem.
Rakel Solvadottir
Founder and CEO, SkemaRakel is the Founder and CEO of Skema, an award-winning computer education program for children, based in Iceland. She has developed teaching methods and curriculum that enable children as young as 6 years old to learn the basics of computer programming through computer game creation. Rakel believes that teaching methods can be adapted to enable both children with and without learning disabilities to effectively learn computer skills. Additionally, Rakel is spearheading an ongoing study to analyze the impact of computer programming on cognitive development and well-being of 9 - 10 year old children.
Prior to Skema, Rakel worked as a senior programmer for the Icelandic Social Insurance Administration, as a software developer for Mentis where she oversaw all database development. She also served as the team leader at Teris, for second level support in software development. While working at Teris she studied psychology that encouraged her to combine technology and psychology to build up education in line with technological advancements.
Rakel is an active member of Iceland's startup scene and sits on the board of The Federation of Icelandic Startup Companies. She was recently a featured speaker at TEDx Reykjavik.
Sue Robins
Owner, Ascend Training SolutionsSue Robins is an experienced teacher, trainer, facilitator, and invited speaker for workshops, classes and plenary sessions. Sue has a 25 year career in both the public and private sectors with a record of success in sales, sales management, marketing, software development, teaching and leadership; primarily in the areas of life and physical sciences. Sue has a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Maryland and M.S. in Education from Mt. St. Mary's College.
Sue is currently owner and principal trainer of Ascend Training Solutions, a company dedicated to assisting businesses with developing their human capital. This is accomplished through customized employee development programs as well as candidate personality profiles and benchmarking. Sue is a Board Member and Education Committee Chair for the Culver City Chamber of Commerce. Additionally,
Sue serves on the board of EmpowHer Institute, an organization dedicated to using education and business ownership as empowerment tools for girls.
Helping people achieve their greatest potential has proved Sue's most gratifying professional responsibility. As President of Ascend Training Solutions, Sue Robins makes this her mission.
Betty LaMarr
Chairwoman 2012 WITI NextGen Summit, Executive Coach, Nadisa AssociatesBetty LaMarr, international speaker and author is President of Nadisa Associates an executive coaching and consulting business. Betty's many years in business are distinguished by significant accomplishments in a wide range of senior positions. She has served as the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for a South African telecommunications company, Executive Vice President of an Orange County IT Consulting firm, Global Alliance Executive for a Boston-based technology integration firm and Director of Business Development for a worldwide diversity consulting firm.
Betty specializes in supporting women to achieve success by valuing their talents and abilities while focusing on strengths instead of fears. She can help you understand the politics so you can influence the decisions in your favor. She will show you how to separate emotions from the facts and get the best from your work relationships.
Brigette Jackson
VP GM Michigan/Indiana, T-MobileAs Vice President and General Manager for the Michigan and Indiana Region within the Central Area, Brigette Jackson leads all sales channels, including Business-to-Business, Retail, and Retail Partner Sales, in the Region.
Brigette, who is based in Detroit, is the Region's top executive responsible for customer growth and retention, driving top and bottom-line sales, EBITDA, and closely managing bottom-line profitability. In her VP GM role, she has full P&L accountability for Michigan and Indiana, while also focusing on talent development and sales training.
Before joining T-Mobile, Brigette was a Regional Manager covering nine states for a subsidiary of Limited Brands, Express, where she was responsible for managing all budgets and increasing net profits. Previously, at Pier 1 Imports, Brigette was the Divisional Director of Sales covering Maryland before covering Texas/Louisiana. While at Claire's, in several different roles, Brigette led Retail Division and Outlet Store teams in seven states across the country - from California to Texas to North Carolina and several in-between. She was also instrumental during the transition periods post-three separate acquisitions.
During each of these acquisitions as new companies became subsidiaries of Claire's, Brigette led the company's new hire process for multi-unit stores, training and new program implementation. Prior to Claire's, Brigette held leadership roles at The Children's Place.
Brigette graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Michigan State University. She enjoys spending time with her husband, their two teenage boys and their dog Nikey. In her spare time, she enjoys painting, traveling, chaperoning her son's high school marching band activities, and volunteering in the community. She has been involved in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fight for the Cure, Habitat for Humanity and Feeding the Hungry organizations.
Maureen McQuestion
Director, IRT Customer Service Center, California State University, SacramentoMaureen McQuestion is the Director, IRT Customer Service Center at California State University, Sacramento. Maureen built an IT Service Center grounded in the ITIL framework. California State University, Sacramento is a vibrant metropolitan university that is among the largest campuses in the California State University system. CSUS enrolls a multicultural student body of 28,000. Her prior position was Chief Information Officer, California State University, Channel Islands from 2005-2008. She has also worked at Cleveland State University from 00-05 , Boston College and the University of Washington in Seattle. Maureen is a Ph.D. candidate in Public Administration at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. Her research interests include public sector technologies, ethics, and education policy. She received a Master's degree in Urban Studies at Cleveland State University and Bachelor's degree in Social Science from California State University, Sacramento.
