Women in Tech Events Elevate, Inspire and Connect

Coordinated in partnership with Foster’s Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) and Technology Management MBA (TMMBA) programs along with the Seattle chapter of Women in Tech USA, the event brought together a diverse mix of current and prospective students, alumni, and members of the public.

“Our Women in Tech and allies events are about building a community where collaboration, support, and growth thrive together,” said Tal Lev, Assistant Dean of the UW Foster’s Specialty Master’s Programs, whose Master of Science in Information Systems program has been uplifting the industry with quarterly Women in Tech events for years.

Stay Flexible While Following Your Interests

Award-winning speaker, product and business development leader and instructor Angelina Howard kicked off the Women in Tech Dinner with a keynote address that embodied the evening’s theme to Elevate, Inspire and Connect.

“Look around,” she said to the room of mostly women with diverse cultural backgrounds and age ranges. “These are the people you want to be connected to throughout your careers.”

Despite continuously moving up the ranks in her 11 years at Amazon and Amazon Web Services (AWS), Howard admits to never having a clear career path. “It may seem like I knew what I wanted to do,” Howard said, “but as a first-generation student I was interested in many things; I changed my concentration several times because I remained curious and eager to learn different things.”

Now a Product Business Development Manager at AWS, Howard also has held roles in product management and supply chain management, and says staying flexible while following her interests has contributed to her diverse career growth.

“My industry is tech, but I’ve been in many roles,” she said. “Let me be an example that you can be successful if you remain curious, passionate and open to change.”

In the words of Helen Lan, a student in the Master of Science in Information Systems program, “Success isn’t about following a predetermined route, but about embracing your unique background and perspective,” she shared about the event on LinkedIn.

Building Connections with Career Development Workshop

Attendees of the Women in Tech Dinner — which took place at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus — also had the opportunity to share their own career journeys during a comprehensive career development workshop by Amber Kemmerling, Associate Technical Fellow with event partner Boeing.

In small group breakouts led by alumnae of the Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology Management MBA programs along with industry leaders, attendees shared their experiences with mentorship, informational interviewing and career planning.

“Honored and inspired to be surrounded by all these amazing #womenintech,” Technology Management MBA student Prix Ramos-Clemente shared on LinkedIn. “Keeping me grounded on why I am taking the UW Foster TMMBA program — building these connections and lasting relationships to help other women strive and rise up in this male-dominated field.”

With both the Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology Management MBA programs offering structured mentorship opportunities for their students, Kemmerling shared resources to help attendees make the most of their relationship as both a mentor and as a mentee.

“Working with a mentor (or even your mentee) can help you better develop your own skills, define where you want to take your education or career, and increase your satisfaction in doing those things you want to do,” she said.

On its LinkedIn page, Foster MSIS wrote: “We were inspired by Angelina Howard’s keynote on career development and navigating the tech industry and gained valuable skills from Amber Kemmerling’s interactive workshop on mentorship and mapping a 5-year plan. A special shoutout to our alumni and industry partners for leading insightful table discussions on informational interviews!”

Showcasing Eastside Location of Foster School of Business

The following week, the Women in Tech Panel: Navigating Your Career in Tech invited the community into the classroom space used by students in the UW Foster’s Technology Management MBA program.

The majority of hands shot up when Technology Management MBA Director Erin Duran (TMMBA 2010) asked the audience whether they were aware that the Foster School of Business had classroom space in Kirkland.

It was familiar ground to one of the panelists that evening, Taya Karpinska, who not only graduated from the Technology Management MBA program in 2021, but also is a 2019 alumna of the Master of Science in Information Systems program. Karpinska, who is a UX Researcher at Amazon, was joined on the panel by Nikita Gupta, co-founder and COO at Careerflow.ai, and Elizabeth Woolf, founder and consultant at Communication Code.

Panelists were guided by moderator Eileen Lambert, director of the Seattle chapter of Women in Tech Global, through explorations of their career paths that evolved into takeaways for attendees at every stage of their career.

Value Yourself and Apply for that Role!

After successful yet unfulfilling careers in engineering and analytics, Gupta took the leap into entrepreneurship and recently celebrated surpassing 1 million users on her AI-powered recruitment platform. “That is one of our proudest moments,” she said.

From her insider’s view of the hiring process, Gupta said she too often sees women not applying for more challenging jobs because they undervalue their experience and feel they’re not qualified.

“Value yourself,” she said, offering that advice based on her own experience. “Don’t feel like you can’t do that job or you’re not meant for it. At least try.”

Both Gupta and Woolf say that self-doubt is what kept them from leaving their corporate jobs to become entrepreneurs earlier in their careers.

“We’re filled with self-doubt and fear as women,” Woolf said. “I wish I knew earlier how to tame that voice, but she’s always in the backseat.” She recommends acknowledging your self-doubt by visualizing it or writing it down, then you’ll, “See that it’s not true.”

On LinkedIn, moderator Lambert summarized Woolf’s metaphor on “not letting fear drive us”:

💡 It’s YOUR responsibility as driver

✋ To keep fear firmly in its place — the backseat

🚫 Don’t allow it into the driver’s seat

❌ Don’t even let it sit in the front seat

🔑 YOU drive YOUR decisions.

👊 Fear is with you — but just along for the ride

Take a Chance on Yourself

Karpinska shared similar stories about undervaluing herself, but then finding her voice and building her career in the process. “The more chances I took,” she said, “the more I started learning about myself.”

In the 8½ years she’s been at Amazon, Karpinska has switched roles five times and says that’s one of the benefits of working at a tech company with such a vast array of career options. “It’s expected to try new things to figure out what resonates with your talents,” she said. “You can always come back to what you were doing.”

Woolf also built a career out of “gunning for promotions” at Slalom, and with that experience learned how to perfect the ask and build a new career that help startups master their pitch, presentation and negotiation skills.

“Asking is one of the most powerful things you’re going to learn in your career,” she said. “The worst case they ghost you and say no, but that means that you’ve also won because now you have the experience.”

The key to success is framing the ask to highlight how you can further their goals, Woolf said. “Frame it in their win, and I promise your wins will follow,” she said.

Among key takeaways of the event shared on LinkedIn by Weixuan Sun, a 2021 alumna of the UW Foster’s Master of Science in Information Systems program and current mentor: “Asking questions and negotiating is an art. Questions are started by motivation, then offer what you can provide, to see if your demands align with their goals.”

Build Your Community

The previous week’s theme of Elevate, Inspire and Connect also resonated with the panelists, who encouraged attendees to meet their neighbor, utilize their social media network, and to participate in networking opportunities.

“There’s so much talent in this room alone,” Karpinska said. “You never really know who’s sitting next to you unless you leverage your community.”

With nearly a half-million followers on LinkedIn, Gupta has formed a community there that she says is accessible to anyone if they just start posting their own valuable content. “Be your own community,” she said. “Without even trying, you may get a message sending jobs your way.”

Woolf reiterated the value of one-on-one relationships, recommending events and networking groups such as Women in Tech Regatta, YoungTech Seattle, GenAI Collective and B.E.L.L.E.

“I look for a community where I am respected and listened to, but not validated,” she said. “If I share an idea, I want someone to listen to me and I want someone to poke holes in it.”

For Lindi Tardif, who co-leads the Seattle branch of Women in Tech USA with Lambert and partnered on coordinating both UW Foster events, community was the driving force of the series. On LinkedIn, she wrote:

🚀 To every woman in tech: Your place in this industry is yours to claim. Find your people. Share your knowledge. Lift as you climb.