On July 8th, Women Innovate Mobile will welcome the State Department’s TechGirls to New York City (at a lunch hosted by Bank of America) with the help of some trailblazing women in tech including Mary Fernandez, CEO of Mentornet; Deborah Estrin, Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Tech in New York City, Professor of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College, and co-founder of the non-profit startup, Open mHealth; Marissa Shorenstein, New York State President, AT&T; Jenn Shaw, Founder of NYTechWomen and Senior Data Analyst at comScore; and Vivian Maese, head of the Financial Technology (FinTech) practice at the international law firm, Dechert, LLP. We asked these women to tell us about their experiences in tech. This is what they had to say.
What was it like for you as a young woman getting involved in tech?
Mary Fernandez: Inspirational!! In high school, I was a good student in math and science, so when I arrived at Brown University in 1981, I decided to focus on math and engineering. Introductory computer science was an engineering elective and also one of the most popular classes. So popular in fact, that students lined up to register — on the night before registration opened. The course’s popularity was due to its infamous professor, Andy van Dam, who despite giving assignments that required students to work around-the-clock, was revered for his brilliance. I was intrigued, and even though I had never seen a computer in my life, I stayed up all night and registered for the class. In no time, CS11 was my favorite class, in part, because Andy regularly said outrageous things, like: By taking this class, you are part of an impending revolution. “A revolution in which computers are going to change our world forever. Someday, everyone will have a computer in their home! Someday, computers will be so small, we will carry them in our hands and rely on them for our every need!” At the time, computers were the size of mini-vans, so Andy’s ideas were both ludicrous and wildly exciting to me. I was completely inspired and immediately changed my major to CS.
Deborah Estrin: I was fortunate to have grown up with several very close role models – in particular my mother who did a PhD in Electrical Engineering right after WWII, and my feminist father who also had his PhD in Electrical Engineering and was an early and longtime member of the Computer Science Department at UCLA; and of course my sister Judy who did her CS degrees at UCLA and Stanford. So going into Technology didnt require imagination on my part! At the same time, I was just 17 when I entered Berkeley in EECS in 1977 as one of too few female engineering students. I did not enter college expecting to be particularly affected by it…but it was far more distracting and sometimes undermining than I anticipated. When I collaborated on the Challenges to Women in CS report at MIT a few years later as a graduate school we referred to the myriad of non-work related comments and interactions as the ‘mosquito bite effect’…that just a couple are not a big deal…but when you have many of them continuously it insinuates itself into the experience. Recent research in behavioral psychology has demonstrated the effect of the voices we internalize in response to gender or racial biases and perceptions… All that being said, it was simply an amazing time to be entering this truly best of fields. Where else do you get to be a part of changing the world, with creativity and rigor, and in just about every domain and setting you could want, from health to advertising, startup to NGO.
Marissa Shorenstein: I was personally not exposed to computer science, engineering and other tech related skills as a young woman. That’s why it is so exciting and empowering for me to be part of such an innovative company within such an innovative field. But my story is common – and it is the role of women in tech to ensure that we demonstrate to today’s young women the importance of exposing themselves to careers in tech at an early age. I’m proud to be part of a company that understands the need to inspire girls and young women in this area and has made significant financial investments to promote STEM education across the country. In terms of hiring, AT&T is regularly recognized as a top company for executive women and more than a quarter of the women employed are in STEM positions.
Jenn Shaw: Thanks to my mother who was technical, I feel very fortunate that I was never ‘getting involved’ in tech. I feel it’s been a part of me since early childhood in one form or another. Getting involved with startups was different—that of course didn’t happen until I was an adult. And my reaction was eye-opening and inspiring.
What was your first project you ever worked?
Mary Fernandez: I wrote a computer program that simulated the controller of an elevator. The simulation printed out its steps on a tele-type. The first run put the elevator on the roof of the building. It was a complete rush when the program worked for the first time! I knew I was onto something good.
Deborah Estrin: My first project was exploring how to do data communications of Cable TV facilities. This was back in 1981 at the suggestion of my eventual Thesis Advisor, Jerry Saltzer. His group was one of the pioneers in local area networks and he was interested in extending the techniques for multiaccess protocols to longer distances such as a neighborhood or city covered by a cable TV system. I did some simple analysis to explore how distance (and thus longer propagation delays) would impact adapting Ethernet like protocols to this new setting; and I also looked into the pragmatics of what it would take to get the installed cable plant upgraded to support it.
Marissa Shorenstein: I began my career in communications and politics and spent more than a dozen years working in those fields. I am lucky and grateful for the opportunity to take those skills and apply them in a new way to such a different and dynamic industry such as tech.
Vivian Maese: The first project that I every worked on was the automation of a checking account system for a large New York City bank, now it would be the Bank of New York. At that time, systems was the “think tank for the bank”.
What was your first job you landed?
Mary Fernandez: Due to family and financial crises, I took a leave of absence in my junior year of college in the hope of earning some money. To my surprise, my basic education in computer science was quite marketable! So marketable that just few days after my 20-th birthday and two years after seeing a computer for the first time, I got my first job in high tech – as a technical sales assistant helping to sell engineering workstations to aerospace companies.
Marissa Shorenstein: I began working as soon as I could – as early as high school for the Mayor of New York, then for Court TV and both Clinton presidential campaigns. I worked through college for the Gore presidential campaign and my first job post-college was as spokesperson for Carl McCall’s campaign for governor of New York.
Jenn Shaw: I come from an environment that everyone worked at an exceptionally early age. I was barely a teenager and I would have been working, at least in the summers. But my first tech-related job was teaching computer and internet literacy programs to return-to-work displaced workers and veterans. To this day it still remains the best career experience, and something I still actively pursue.
Vivian Maese: The very first job that I landed with some help from my father was as a paying and receiving teller for Chemical Bank. It was a summer job and part time during my college years. When I was looking for a job in anticipation of college graduation, I was recruited into an operations management training program for a bank that is now known as Bank of New York.
Who took the biggest chance on you, when did that happen, and how did it happen?
Mary Fernandez: Kathy Mendoza, a sales woman at Apollo Computer, who hired me as her technical sales assistant (see above). She took a big chance hiring me – I was so young and had zero experience. She told me that I got the job because I was able to explain technical material – what an operating system does and how it works – in language that was accessible but intelligent and accurate. She said this was a winning combination with customers.
Deborah Estrin: I would have to say that the biggest chance anyone took on me was my eventual-thesis advisor Jerry Saltzer. He took me in and gave me a chance at an interesting project in my first year at MIT. I had no track record, and wanted to do interdisciplinary research looking at technical and non-technical issues at the same time and how they co-mingled in the design process.<
Jenn Shaw: I think those that took the biggest chance on me would be the early members of NYTechWomen. I was building something from the ground up, but I didn’t have any experience building a community like this before that. It turns out that I did know how to build an inclusive and supportive network that truly could change lives.
Vivian Maese: Dechert and just two years ago. In the middle of the worst economy in the history of the world, and without any track record or clients, Dechert gave me a chance to build a legal practice from nothing with a focus on technology in the financial services sector. I am a start-up.
What was the best career risk you ever took?
Mary Fernandez: The biggest risk I took was actually returning to university after working for almost 3 years, because I had to support myself on my savings, which was scary. After finishing my bachelor degree, I decided to go to graduate school for my doctorate – when all my peers were joining high tech companies and making good incomes. But my foray away from education convinced me that education is the most important investment anyone can make in his or herself. The Ph.D. degree opened doors for me that I could not have imagined existed.
Deborah Estrin: The best career risk I ever took was really embracing and promoting application enmeshed work as part of the NSF research center that I built at UCLA. Many in my technical community see the work is not core CS … And perhaps it isnt…but its important and I am glad I risked coming out of that closet and embracing it.
Marissa Shorenstein: Joining the New York Jets to help them gain approval to build a stadium on the far West Side of Manhattan. It was a fun, challenging and exhilarating experience – I loved every minute of it.
Jenn Shaw: I moved to NYC on a whim from Nebraska, with no job lined up. (And for that matter, no savings or housing lined up) That was the best career risk ever. From that point forward it’s been nothing but career growth. But it was certainly risky.
Vivian Maese: Accepting the opportunity at Dechert is also the biggest career risk that I have ever taken.
Why do you think it’s important to invest in young women?
Mary Fernandez: Women hold up half the sky…actually, more than half.
Marissa Shorenstein: Women comprise 50% of the world – and the workforce. If we want a healthy economy, then it isn’t just important to invest in women – it is critical to the future success of global innovation.
Jenn Shaw: On a personal note, I have seven nieces, so I am not sure I know any other way but to invest in young women. They’ve certainly provided me great inspiration to create a better world—both for them, and for everyone like them. Even when you come from a family that believes and invests in you, I think Missy Titus’ analogy of running up the down escalator really nailed it on the head. Everyone needs a little boost from time to time.
Vivian Maese: There are so many messages that women get, subtle and not so subtle, which are absorbed as limitations by young women. We need to change their belief systems about what is possible for them and then provide role models to give them the confidence to reach for what is possible.
As more women have entered the tech industry, what changes have you noticed?
Mary Fernandez: The problem is that not enough women have entered high tech, so I would say the changes have not been as noticeable as I would have expected after almost 30 years in this business! The one major change is that young tech women today have many, many opportunities for applying their skills and expertise, in virtually every market segment. Most significantly, tech women are becoming entrepreneurs – one of MentorNet’s strategic partnerships is with a woman-founded tech start-up, which is inspiring. Women-owned tech companies have the unique opportunity to infuse their own values and culture into their businesses, providing a humane alternative to intensely competitive (and sometimes hostile) environments of most tech companies.
Marissa Shorenstein: There is a growing awareness of the need to introduce more girls and women to this field and I’ve seen many more organizations being created to help support and achieve that goal. This summer for instance, AT&T is providing internships to a group of girls from the non profit Girls Who Code, which partners with schools to teach girls these skills at a young age.
Vivian Maese: I have noticed that when I joined the workforce, there were more senior women in technology roles than there are now.
What advantages do you have as a woman in tech?
Mary Fernandez: Women, literally and figuratively, sound different from men. In a male-majority environment, a woman’s voice can change the entire dynamic of a meeting, project, and organization. I encourage young woman to use their unique voice strategically – first and foremost, listen to what is going on around you; formulate a response (strategy, critique, plan, etc.) that others may be thinking but are reluctant to express; then exhibit leadership by voicing that response in a way that encourages others to rally with you. Being, and sounding, different can sometimes feel like a burden, but can often be turned into a distinct advantage.
Marissa Shorenstein: There are still relatively few of us and so there is a lot of passion and energy among women in tech to coalesce around the singular goal of exposing as many young women to tech as possible.
If you could go back in time, what would you have told your 16 year-old-awesome, techie-self?
Mary Fernandez: Don’t be so self-critical. You are smarter than you realize. And most importantly, listen to the people who see in you what you don’t yet see in yourself.
Deborah Estrin: There are two things I would say to myself: first, don’t be in such a hurry; and second, try to tune out all those people and perceptions around you just a bit more…even if I didn’t let them affect my actions and choices…I still dissipated a lot of energy just by ‘paying attention’.
Marissa Shorenstein: I’d have told myself to learn how to code! It’s not too late – I’m still determined to learn!
Jenn Shaw: Stay focused. Success doesn’t come easy, and sacrifices will need to be made, but they are worth it.
Vivian Maese: Reach higher.
What’s your favorite mobile app and why?
Mary Fernandez: Zappos! It’s a beautifully designed app with an intuitive user interface for browsing multi-dimensional, faceted data. Plus I love being able to look at shoes – and buy them – wherever and whenever I like!<
Marissa Shorenstein: As the mother of a one year old, I’ve discovered a world of wonderful educational apps that even he can use. The one he loves right now introduces him to animal sounds.
Jenn Shaw: Wow, that seems a nearly impossible question to answer. I like almost all of them in one way or another. I don’t like how they all perform or how they all look, but the concept of ‘mobile app’ is really what I love. My life revolves around my schedule, so my most used app is certainly any of the calendar apps I downloaded, with Sunrise being the latest love. I’m also a huge fan of efficiency in logistics, so the Exit Strategy app is also a must have in my book.
Vivian Maese: iBillionnaire…I love the markets.
Best thing about being a woman in tech?
Mary Fernandez: Challenging false stereotypes. Defying and exceeding expectations.
Marissa Shorenstein: Woman or not - we’re part of an industry that is changing faster than we can upgrade an app on our iPhone and it is fun to be a part of the evolution of an industry that will soon dominate every aspect of our daily lives.
Jenn Shaw: The best part is the inspiring nature of changing technology; the ability to learn every single moment. The second best part is the challenge of taking something so concrete as code and marrying it with something so fluid as human experiences.
Vivian Maese: You stand out in a room of your peers.
About Mary Fernandez: Mary is CEO of MentorNet. Previously, she was Assistant Vice President at AT&T Labs, directing more than fifty Ph.D.-level scientists conducting research on management of massive-scale data and cloud computing. Mary supports organizations focused on advancing computing research and increasing the representation of women and under-represented minorities in STEM. She’s on the Board of Directors, Computing Research Association (cra.org) and a STEM Role Model, HISPA Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement (hispa.org). Mary received undergraduate and masters degrees in computer science from Brown University and the Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University. She and her husband have two daughters.
About Deborah Estrin: Deborah is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Tech in New York City (http://www.cornell.edu/nyc/) and a Professor of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College. She is co-founder of the non-profit startup, Open mHealth (http://openmhealth.org/). She was previously on faculty at UCLA and Founding Director of the NSF Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS). Estrin is a pioneer in networked sensing, which uses mobile and wireless systems to collect and analyze real time data about the physical world and the people who occupy it. Estrin’s current focus is on mobile health (mhealth), leveraging the programmability, proximity, and pervasiveness of mobile devices and the cloud for health management. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. She recently presented at TEDMED about small data: https://smalldata.tech.cornell.edu/narrative.php
About Marissa Shorenstein. Marissa serves as New York State President, AT&T. Prior to joining AT&T, Shorenstein served as Director of Communications for Andrew Cuomo’s successful campaign for Governor of New York in 2010 and Press Secretary and Deputy Director of Communications for the State of New York under Governor David A. Paterson. She previously worked for former Vice President Al Gore, former General Wesley Clark and former New York State Comptroller H. Carl McCall. Shorenstein also served as spokeswoman and Senior Manager for Strategic Planning and Corporate Communications for the New York Jets during their bid to build a stadium on Manhattan’s West Side. Shorenstein graduated with honors from Harvard University and earned a J.D. at Fordham Law School.
About Jenn Shaw. Jenn is Founder of NYTechWomen and Senior Data Analyst at comScore. She is equal parts social connector, digital analyst and adult-focused educator. She works to create an open environment that inspires and connects people. Her focus is on understanding current digital trends, events and most importantly the people around her. She believes that all technology is good and should be available to everyone.
About Vivian Maese. Vivian heads the Financial Technology (FinTech) practice at the international law firm, Dechert, LLP. Vivian was a systems analyst and technology project manager before she went to law school. As a young lawyer, she was one of the first to understand the importance of technology on Wall Street and led the way forward through many cycles of innovation in the financial services industry. She has had a successful career structuring and negotiating transactions and advising on matters in the headlines (and keeping other matters from becoming headlines) at such companies as Salomon Brothers, Citigroup, the New York Stock Exchange, BIDS Trading and Morgan Stanley. In 2011, she was selected to participate in the DirectWomen Board Institute which qualifies women lawyers to sit on boards of directors. Vivian considers herself an entrepreneur as she builds a very specialized, integrated technology-focused practice at Dechert in the highly regulated financial services industry sector.
This post was created by Raine Dalton, WIM’s editorial and community innovation intern. Raine is passionate about finding creative ways to empower women globally through tech. In addition to WIM, Raine has written, tweeted, and posted for the Global Banking Alliance for Women, WITNESS, and 90.7 WFUV News. You can find her work at www.rainedalton.com or get in touch with her through Twitter @rainedalton, or by emailing raine@wim.co.