Last week I attended a couple virtual networking events that inspired me to continue my journey into tech. On Thursday March 14th 2024 I attended an online event “Breaking into Tech: Women’s Stories of Success” hosted by Women who Code: East Bay in collaboration with the YWCA Berkeley/Oakland chapter. The event began by introducing the YW Tech Lab, a program dedicated to providing local underrepresented community members with free web programming training. The women attending the event were encouraged to join the program and begin their tech journey through the help of a supporting community such as the YWCA. The first guest speaker was Alfonsina Lizardo, a Venezualan front-end developer who shared her story with the group and the process she underwent throughout her career change journey as she moved through being a doctor to a developer. The second guest speaker of the night was Lianna Novitz, a young woman who shared her career journey with us. She initiated her career journey as a neuroscience student, who began working with monkeys as an intern and later made her way into tech through the various different roles she moved on to from marketing, data and marketing analyst and through the friendships, connections and networking she made along the way led her to land a position as a software engineer. This event was motivational as both women were very encouraging and uplifting to the women in the audience as they spoke about how possible it is to break into tech. My main takeaways were to be persistent, eager, and willing to learn. The women emphasized the importance of community and seeking help from those with experience as people in the tech field are always willing to help and have probably gone through the same challenges. As the event came to an end and post Q & A, Lianna and Alfonsina shared their Linkedin information with the attendees and some attendees shared their Linkedin information as well in which we all connected. I had a short conversation with Lianna on linkedin afterwords in which she shared some information on women led tech communities out in the LA area. I also attended some labs hosted by Snap in which the instructors were very enthusiastic and encouraging. I have been left inspired by all the events attended and look forward for what is to come within my tech journey.
