Allyship that makes an impact: How to support women in IT
February 24th, 2021
2:00 – 3:00 PM
If you have ever thought, “I care about creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace, but what can I do to help?”, you’re not alone. Being a better ally for underrepresented colleagues is unfamiliar territory for many of us, but it’s an essential component of making meaningful change for women in the workplace.
In this one-hour virtual event, author and former tech executive Karen Catlin will begin by delivering a keynote drawing from her book, Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces (link opens in a new window).
Following the presentation, Ms. Catlin will be joined by Associate Professor of Teaching in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, Jennifer Wong-Ma, and Assistant Dean in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, Jason Valdry, for a fireside chat about the challenges women and other underrepresented employees face on our campus, and practical ways that every individual can take action as an ally. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Data and Information Technology, Tom Andriola, and facilitated by the founder of Women in Tech at UCI, Shohreh Bozorgmehri, this event aims to empower anyone to become a better ally to their underrepresented co-workers and peers.
Come discover how you can make a real difference for your colleagues and your workplace with the Better Allies™ approach.
Everyone, regardless of gender, is encouraged to join this webinar to learn more. Please consider inviting male and male-identifying colleagues to attend with you.
We will be giving away (4) signed copies of the book Better Allies™ to attendees who submit questions during registration for the author and have their questions selected by the facilitators.
Keynote Speaker
Karen Catlin
Leadership coach, speaker, and author of Better Allies: everyday actions to create inclusive, engaging workplaces
After spending 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Macromedia and Adobe, Karen Catlin witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears.
Today, Karen is a leadership coach and a highly acclaimed author and speaker on inclusive workplaces. She is the author of three books: “Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces,” “The Better Allies™ Approach to Hiring,” and “Present! A Techie’s Guide to Public Speaking.”
Karen holds a computer science degree from Brown University. Fun fact: She spent her early career working on educational software systems at Brown.
Facilitators
Jennifer Wong-Ma
Associate Professor of Teaching at Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences
Jennifer Wong-Ma is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Computer Science Department, a faculty advisor of the Women in Information and Computer Sciences (WICS), and co-chair of the Computer Science and Engineering Steering Committee. Currently, her teaching responsibilities are focused on sophomore and junior level systems and architecture courses, as well as the undergraduate ICS tutoring program.
Prior to joining UCI in 2018, she was a teaching faculty, an undergraduate academic advisor, and the coordinator for the joint BS/MS program in the Computer Science Department at Stony Brook University. She received the CS Departmental Award for Undergraduate Education in 2012 and for Major Contributions to Undergraduate Education in 2016. Jennifer received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from UCLA in the area of wireless and distributed embedded systems.
Jason Valdry
Assistant Dean at Claire Trevor School of the Arts
Jason Valdry joined UC Irvine in 1998 and is currently the assistant dean of the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. In his role, he oversees technology, finance, facilities, human resources, outreach, and production departments. Prior to his current role, he served as the director of technology for the school. He served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the UC Irvine Staff Assembly and as Junior and Senior Delegate for the Council of University of California Staff Assemblies. He participated in a campus budget committee and a workgroup on strategic planning, to help tackle local challenges. Valdry served on the building advisory committee for the construction of the Contemporary Arts Center, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Staff, as liaison for all academic units to the Office of Information Technology (OIT), and the search committee for Chancellor Gillman.
Valdry is a proud UC Irvine alumnus and holds both a B.S. in computer science and an M.B.A. with a focus in operations and strategy. In his spare time, he is an avid cyclist and enjoys riding to and from work.
Event Host
Shohreh Bozorgmehri
Divisional Director, Student and Academic Services
Shohreh Bozorgmehri is the divisional director of Student and Academic Services at the University of California Irvine’s Office of Information Technology (OIT). She focuses on transformative technologies that elevate students and faculty’s academic experience through strategic partnership and innovative methods. Shohreh is an advocate of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), founder of Women in Technology at UCI (WIT UCI), and is an inaugural member of the systemwide UC Women in Technology Committee. She received UCI’s 2020 Dynamic Womxn Award and an honorable mention for launching OIT’s Accelerating Innovation initiative through University of California’s 2020 Larry L. Sautter Award Program. Shohreh has delivered presentations about Inclusiveness in Tech at the University of California Technology Conference titled, “Transformation Strategies to Diversity, Retrain, and Grow Workforce by Advancing the Most Junior Talent” and “Supporting Inclusive Teams: Tools and Practices”.
Event Sponsor
Office of the Vice Chancellor of Data and Information Technology With thanks to our event sponsor, Vice Chancellor Tom Andriola