8 Inspiring Moments from Grace Hopper Celebration 2018
Throughout my career in tech, I’ve dreamed of attending the Grace Hopper Celebration. It’s the nation’s largest gathering for women in computing, in which over 20,000 technical women descend on a chosen city for talks, workshops, recruiting fairs, networking, and more. This year, a sponsored ticket from Women of Uber made it possible for me to attend.
True to its reputation, Grace Hopper was wildly inspiring. I returned invigorated, hungry to do work that matters. I know I’ll want to remember the energy of GHC when I feel exhausted, doubtful, or stressed in the future, so this post captures some of the conference’s most transcendent moments. Here‘s what had me wide-eyed.
1) “Just because it’s not your plan doesn’t mean it’s not your destiny.” — Jessica O. Matthews
I sometimes wonder if I’ve strayed from my destiny by making atypical turns in my career. Matthews opened her keynote with the admission that the trajectory of her career is something she still finds confounding.
But Matthews emphasized that destiny is unshakeable, regardless of what your plans are, or how they change overtime. We were all meant to be doing the work we’re doing, and taking twists and detours along the way. Our willingness to follow our intuition shapes us, singularly and awesomely, into the people we are meant to become.
2) “The feeling of being an outsider will enable you to have a profound impact.” — Anita Hill
Most women in tech have felt like outsiders before. Hill believes this feeling will compel us to impact our teams, companies, industry, and the world at large in new and unprecedented ways.
Hill spoke about PwC CEO Tim Ryan, known for leading critical conversations about race both within and outside his company. Ryan was the first in his family to attend college, and he couldn’t afford appropriate professional clothing for his job at PwC (his co-worker had to take him out to buy a button down during lunch). Ryan’s outsider perspective as a working class professional compelled him to take open conversation and active listening seriously when he rose to leadership. Had Ryan not been an outsider himself, he likely would not have emphasized such dialog, which now drives PwC’s business, both internally and with clients.
Jessica O. Matthews also echoed this idea, asserting that “being a fresh face allows you to be groundbreaking.” She explained that visiting family in Nigeria helped her see a problem that the West wasn’t talking about: lack of access to clean and reliable electric power. Her company Unchartered Power is developing kinetic energy power solutions that will address our global energy needs.
3) “Science teaches us to look narrowly. Curiosity asks us to be open.” — Rebecca Parsons
As an engineer, I can’t help but feel that everything is shiny and everything is incredibly complicated. With so many technologies out there, how do I know what to chase?
Rebecca Parsons described how alternating expansive curiosity and narrow focus has helped her realize her impact as a technologist. Curiosity allows her to find the problems and technologies that are important. Scientific inquiry prompts her to dive deep and develop significant technologies shaping the world.
4) “Amplify the actions that align with your aspirations.” — Jo Miller
Numerous GHC veterans told me to keep an eye out for Jo Miller, and I now know why. Her workshop Become A Person of Influence focused on how to become someone whose positive impact spills beyond her own labor.
Miller believes our day-to-day behavior teaches people how to treat us, and ultimately determines the extent to which we’re able to influence others. With daily behavior as the foundation of our influence, we need to regularly bring attention to the particular actions we want to be known for. This can be as subtle as shaping internal communications to magnify certain points, or as public as giving talks or writing blog posts about the spaces we want to play in. Amplifying actions is as important as the actions themselves when it comes to influencing teams and organizations.
5) “Convert your strengths into measurable business impact.” — Ritika Kapadia
While I’m good at writing code, I’ve never seen it as the foremost skill that makes me valuable. My true superpowers are my ability to connect with people across different industries and backgrounds, my clear and energetic communication, and my grace in facilitating important conversations. Sometimes I fall into the trap of believing my personal strengths are separate from my daily work as a software engineer.
Kapadia’s talk Nail Your Promotion challenged me to think otherwise. She encouraged drawing a direct link between one’s strengths and corresponding business metrics. How do you see your strengths reflected in company metrics, and how do you tell that story to your boss? This is the key to advocating for advancement.
6) “Look for your next opportunity when you’re doing really well in your career.” — Padmasree Warrior
Being good at your job is an amazing, coveted place to be. But Warrior warned that the feeling of being good at your job is actually an indication that you should be looking for the next big thing. Doing well is a sign of comfort; you could be pushing yourself more. And doing well means you’ll have the ammunition to put a great foot forward as you stretch into your next opportunity. If growth and comfort cannot coexist, best to get uncomfortable again — quickly.
7) “All engineers looking to change the world should be asking about the organization’s data security standard.” — Michele Guel
Data security is a huge problem, one that I’m passionate about, and one that I’ve never asked about at work since it seems so huge, so far beyond my scope. But Guel advises that no matter where you are in an organization, it’s critical to ask questions about what’s important to you. Our curiosities and passions push our organizations to transform.
As a prospective employee, an entry-level contributor, or a member of a large company, it’s easy to feel too small to be an effective internal advocate. But every time we ask a question, we advocate for our values. Over time, we’ll imbue our teams and workplaces with what matters to us.
8) “22,000 of us. This is the truth of women in technology.” — Brenda Darden Wilkerson
The stats are abysmal, the news even moreso. But the truth is that thousands of brilliant women are doing the cutting edge work that keeps tech moving.
At Grace Hopper I learned about quantum qubitz, RTK hyperlocation, lite apps, edge computing, and more, all from women on the front lines. I got to see the truth of women in technology, and it looks different than the media’s portrayal of change-makers in our field. Women in tech are here, and we’re building the future.
