In this episode, we meet RJ Ray, a member of Microsoft’s Indigenous team. The Indigenous team seeks to honour, share and celebrate Indigenous cultures within Microsoft and across Mother Earth while shaping inclusive technology to empower future generations. 

RJ was born on Whidbey Island, Washington. From an early age, RJ was interested in electronics, from home and car stereos to video game consoles. RJ attended Portland State University and received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering & B.S. in Physics.

RJ interned at Hewlett-Packard’s Imaging and Printing Division in Vancouver, WA. This internship led to a 10-year job designing hardware and traveling the world supporting the transitions of designs from prototype to production manufacturing. 

RJ left HP to join Microsoft where he worked on the original Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X and the yet to be released Xbox Series X|S 

Today’s episode was made possible by a partnership with the Mt. Adams High School STEM/CTE program and and the Microsoft TEALS program. The TEALS program is designed to help high schools build and grow sustainable computer science (CS) programs. They pair volunteer CS professionals across the US with classroom teachers looking to make a lasting impact in their students’ lives. TEALS volunteers help shape students’ futures and career opportunities by providing them with computational knowledge and skills they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.