I had the opportunity to attend the SHARE conference in Phoenix the week of March 11. I have attended multiple SHARE conferences in the past, but I found this one particularly energizing.
First a little history….
If you are not familiar with the SHARE organization, it began in 1955 as an enterprise IT user group. Today it remains an independent volunteer-run organization that provides its members with education and networking opportunities, boasting participation from over 1,000 companies. Their bi-annual conferences draw 800+ attendees and offer education tracks in operating systems (z/OS, z/VM and Linux), database, storage, security, networks, applications development, systems management, and middleware.
In 2019 SHARE introduced a new track “Women in IT”. This track featured various opportunities for women in IT to network, participate in panel discussions, conduct education sessions and encourage each other to excel in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.
I was particularly excited to attend a session titled “Women in IT: Shattering the Glass Ceiling” presented by two young professional IBM software engineers, Luisa Martinez and Megan Hampton. They shared their experiences about becoming a female engineer as well as what motivates them and some tips for other women, particularly those just getting started in the careers, on how to push themselves out of their comfort zone. They guided a very interactive and lively conversation with almost all participants sharing their thoughts and experiences. It was very inspiring to see these young, confident professionals “fire up the crowd” and I left feeling more empowered than ever.
I’m also proud of my company and our efforts to address the current and future reality of cybersecurity staffing. The Women in Cybersecurity (WICys) community is just one great program I think we can all get behind.
Although I am well down my own career path, I’m excited to see what lies ahead for Women in IT and the strong ladies who are leading the way. Hats off to SHARE for recognizing women in this industry in a year which the media has dubbed “The Year of the Woman”.