Mentors help women identify with the computing field and persue careers in technology.
Schedule
Pacific Ballroom
- 9:05 am
- Opening Keynote: Tara Brown
- 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
- Lunch and Mixer
- 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm
- Career Expo
- 3:50 pm - 4:15 pm
- Coffee Break
- 4:15 pm - 4:35 pm
- How to Balance it all and Take on the World: Katrina Jefferson
- 4:35 pm - 6:00 pm
- Mentorship Program Event
- 6:00 pm - 6:30 pm
- Closing Keynote: Sophia Viklund
Woods Cove Room
- 10:00 am -10:50 am
- Linking up and LinkingIn: Connecting and Networking to jumpstart Career
- 11:00 am - 11:50 am
- Janet Hansen: Crafting Wearable Technology
- 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm
- Changing the World Through Technology
- 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm
- Featured Speaker: Q&A with Kim Swift, co-creator of Portal
Moss Cove Room
- 10:00 am -10:50 am
- Building the "Technical Toolbelt" for your Career
- 11:00 am - 11:50 am
- Making Your Ideas a Reality: Building a Startup
- 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm
- Creative Expressions: Art and Design in Technology
Lobby
- 8:00 am
- Badge Pick-up Opens
Crescent Bay CD
- 10:00 am -10:50 am
- Being a Woman in Technology: Session 1
- 11:00 am -11:50 am
- Being a Woman in Technology: Session 2
Opening Keynote
Pacific Ballroom 9:05-9:50am
Opening Keynote to be given by Tara Brown. Tara Tiger Brown is an accomplished tech
entrepreneur, educator and opinion writer with over 15 years experience as Technical Director and Product Manager
working at UC Irvine, Born This Way Foundation, USC, Shazam, Topspin and Microsoft. Brown's latest projects
include Los Angeles Makerspace, a non-profit community space for makers and tinkerers of all ages to create and
collaborate and Represent.LA, an open-source map to put Los Angeles tech startups on the map. Tara co-founded
DIY Girls for women in Los Angeles who want to hack on software and hardware projects while maintaining a sense of
humor. She is passionate about getting more women into the technology field and supporting tech startups in Los
Angeles which she blogs about for Forbes.
Linking up and LinkingIn: Connecting and Networking to jumpstart Career
Woods Cove Room 10:00-10:50pm
Whether it's today at init(together) or throughout your college career, it's
important to learn how to develop and cultivate professional relationships. Are you shy or unsure how to
approach professionals, professors or mentors? Come to this workshop for tips and strategies to make the
connections that will boost you to that dream internship, job or entrepreneurial venture! This workshop
will help you maximize your success at the Career Expo, Mixer, and Mentorship Program at this conference!
Building the "Technical Toolbelt" for your Career
Moss Cove Room 10:00-10:50am
There are numerous skills important in the tech industry that you never learn in the classroom,
so it can be hard to know what you want to do and how to get there before you're in the field. Five female engineers
from varying backgrounds in technology will share the knowledge and skills that were important to them of the course
of their careers and where they are now. Featuring:
- Lindi Emoungu - Google Software Engineer
- Kim Moore - Google Software Engineer for Frontend/Backend
- Chandra Barnett - OKCupid Natural Language Processing
- Jan Chong - Engineering Manager for Twitter for Android
- Moderator: Rachel Blum - Google Software Engineer Frontend
Being a Woman in Technology: Session 1
Crescent Bay Room 10:00-10:50am
Three women in engineering will tackle the topic of what it's like to be a woman in the tech
industry, including their experiences, obstacles, and advice for women entering the field . This panel is much
smaller (approximately 50 seats) and much less formal, so we highly encourage more discussion and questions from
the attendees.
- Jensen Hussey - Web Developer @ OKCupid Labs
- Molly Jameson - Game Developer @ Insomnaic Games
- Lena Wolfe - Optical Engineering @ Microsoft
Making Your Ideas a Reality: Building a Startup
Moss Cove Room 11:00-11:50am
Do you dream of one day starting your own company? Are you interested in the
fast-paced tech startup culture burgeoning in LA and Silicon Valley? In this panel session, four women
from different backgrounds who have become leaders in the tech startup world share their motivations and
experiences in realizing their ideas through tech startups. They're here to answer your questions on where
to start and how to become the tech leaders of our own generation.
- Sophia Viklund- co-founder of BackCode and Pyladies
- Patricia Dao - co-founder of VoxBloc.com
- Shirley Lin - Executive Managing Director of 800 Birds
- Tara Brown - co-founder of LA Makerspace
Janet Hansen: Crafting Wearable Technology
Woods Cove Room 11:00-11:50am
Janet Hansen is the founder and Chief Fashion Engineer of Enlighted Designs, a California-based
company that has been creating custom illuminated clothing and costumes for nearly 15 years. Her clothes are worn by
rock stars, acrobats, dancers, theater performers, team mascots, and a variety of other international clients, including
Kanye West, Katy Perry, Pink, Daft Punk and numerous others. Janet's work combines her interests in art, fashion,
design, and entrepreneurship, as well as her formal training in engineering. With nearly fifteen years of experience in this highly specialized field,
Janet is well known as a pioneer and innovator, and is arguably the most prolific lighted clothing designer in the world.
She will talk about her work, including her unusual career path starting as a rocket scientist, and showcase some of her work with illuminated clothing.
Being a Woman in Technology: Session 232>
Crescent Bay Room 11:00-11:50am
(This panel is in the same format as Session 1, but will feature three different engineers.)
Three women in engineering will tackle the topic of what it's like to be a woman in the tech
industry, including their experiences, obstacles, and advice for women entering the field . This panel is much
smaller (approximately 50 seats) and much less formal, so we highly encourage more discussion and questions from
the attendees.
- Lindi Emoungu - Google Software Engineer
- Kim Moore - Google Software Engineer for Frontend/Backend
- Audrey Roy - co-author of Two Scoops of Django
- Jan Chong - Engineering Manager for Twitter for Android
Lunch and Mixer
Pacific Ballroom 12:00-2:00pm
An Italian buffet and refreshments will be served. Professionals, faculty, graduate,
undergraduate, and a handful of high school students will be present at this lunch and mixer. Take this opportunity to
network in a less structured environment, and make sure you have your business cards with you. Professionals are here just
to mentor and connect with YOU, so don't be shy. Make sure to connect with other students; they will be your colleagues
the industry just a couple years from now.
Career Expo Participants
Pacific Ballroom 12:00-3:00pm
The Career Expo features startups, a few recognizable names, some DIY crafts,
resources for women to start their own Women in Computing college groups, and resources on how to host technical
workshops for younger girls to inspire interests in girls early on.
- Kareo
- Google
- OkCupid Labs
- Microsoft
- Twitter
- Capgemini
- Scopely
- General Assembly
- Southern California Edison
- PlayWerks
- Yapay
- Broadcom
- EMC Corporation
- Chapman University
- IBM
- Rubicon Project
- DATSpace
- LA Makerspace
- Women in Technology International
- Emulex
- And more...
...with swag, mini-competitions, networking opportunities, internships, and job positions.
Changing the World Through Technology
Woods Cove Room 2:00-2:50pm
Are you pursuing a career in technology because you want to make a difference in the world?
This panel features three women who have made an impact on others through their their research in computing, through
sustainability and bringing technology to underprivileged communities, developing tools to assist individuals with disabilities,
and through understanding the role of design in technology for social change.
- Debra Richardson - Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine
- Gillian Hayes - Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine
- Lilly Irani - PhD Candidate and co-founder of Turkopticon
- Moderator: Lauren Lewis - MFA in Interactive Media and Games at USC
Q&A with Kim Swift, co-creator of Portal
Woods Cove Room 3:00-3:50pm
Kim Swift made her first splash in the game industry as co-creator and lead designer of the
wildly popular game Portal by Valve, which has won numerous awards and has been lauded by many as one of the most influential games of its time.
Since then, she's worked on both Left 4 Dead titles and made a jump to Airtight Games where she was the Creative Director
on Quantum Conundrum, and has recently been promoted to Studio Creative Director.
Kim will talk about her personal journey as a game developer, and will answer all your burning questions about
breaking into the game development industry.
Creative Expressions: Art and Design in Technology
Moss Cove Room 3:00-3:50pm
For many, the pursuit of aesthetics and computing are in direct opposition to each other. However, numerous careers
in technology increasingly utilize art and design. Our panelists are both artistically and technically inclined, and
demonstrate that not only is it possible to merge creative and artistic expression with technology, but it is often what makes their
work distinctive and innovative.
- Lena Wolfe - Optical Engineering @ Microsoft
- Audrey Roy - co-author of Two Scoops of Django
- Sonya Lee - UX Designer and founder of Mowie Media
- Moderator: Jensen Hussey - Web Developer @ OkCupid
Coffee Break
Pacific Ballroom 3:50-4:10pm
Coffee, tea, and various snacks will be served. Relax, fill up, and head to the Pacific Ballroom for the mentorship event! Make sure to sit at the table with the number assigned to you in your badge.
How to Balance it all and Take on the World: Katrina Jefferson
Pacific Ballroom 4:15-4:35pm
So we're not superhuman...well...right??? This brief talk is going to do 3 things:
1. Inspire you to go after what you REALLY want, 2. Inform you on how to balance everything you want to do,
and finally 3. Set you on an action plan to achieve major goals within one year. I've had many obstacles,
challenges, pitfalls, setbacks, successes,...and all because I never gave up. I hope after hearing me speak
you're encouraged to stop being a dream chaser and start being a dream DO-ER!
Mentorship Kickoff
Pacific Ballroom 4:35-6:00pm
Each table has 8-9 students and 1-2 mentors who will host a brief discussion and Q&A in
three 25-minute sessions where mentors rotate to a different table of students for each session.
Closing Keynote: Sophia Viklund
Pacific Ballroom 6:00-6:30pm