SnackWalls

Happy Wednesday everyone, enjoy this mid week edition of SnackWalls!

As someone who has been working in the technology industry for the last eight years, Christine agrees that it's difficult to find diversity in most tech companies. As challenging as it may be, she believes that this issue can be overcome. Christine has observed that ability for people to learn and be tenacious when preparing for a new career. When it comes to hiring people, it’s more important to look for capability and aptitude than for a degree. She agrees that the apprenticeship model works in so many roles there is no reason it wouldn't work in tech. Similarly, in sales it's called “ear hustling” when a trainee sits next to a seasoned person to listen and watch. Many tools and resources can be picked up just by watching a master work. In regards to retaining diverse staff, it is important to understand what people are looking to learn, how they are motivated, and where they want to go. Organizations should set up a mentorship and/or sponsorship program to help amplify and push forward employees.

Christine Rogers is a seasoned sales and marketing leader with over 15 years of recruiting, hiring, training, and managing high-performing sales teams. Her extensive background is complemented by individual experience owning a small business, giving a unique perspective to managing and growing organizations of any size. She is the Founder and COO of Aspireship, a career development and hiring platform for the SaaS industry.

• Christine Rogers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinerogers2
• Aspireship: https://aspireship.com 
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

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Finding your groove on Monday can be difficult. Fortunately we have a multi-talented and very interesting guest on today’s episode to get your mind flowing. 

When Anthony hears tech leaders say there is not enough diverse talent in the market, his mind begins to scope this as a supply chain problem. If there is truly a shortage of diverse talent, then companies should be willing to pay higher salaries to attract the limited supply. Another  possible solution is that the talent exists, but the implemented recruiting strategies are not making an effort to attract and find a diverse pool of candidates. He loves the idea of dropping the CS degree requirement for tech roles. If a position requires CS fundamentals, then it's fine to keep this requirement, however its time that companies reevaluate the role of traditional education compared to what skills they are looking for in a candidate. Anthony believes that the apprenticeship model provides the right methodology to reduce inequality among the population if applied correctly. In order to retain diverse talent, he thinks that companies need to establish a bi-directional culture where the culture should act on the people as much as the people act on the culture. Being professional at work shouldn't mean that employees need to change who they are to be accepted. 

Anthony White is a writer, a business and operations strategist with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and an artist. Utilizing his operations experience within investment banking and technology industries along with his aptitudes as a writer, artist, and community organizer, he creates inclusive corporate cultures, provides solutions to manifold managerial challenges and brings bold visions into reality. 

• Anthony White: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-white-34694312
• The Black Sublime: https://www.theblacksublime.com
• Medium Account: https://medium.com/@anthony.d.white1
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

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TGIF, lets wrap up this week with another great episode! 

Katie believes that diversity in a workplace is usually the product of where a company actively recruits. Tech companies rely heavily on referrals for new hires. Since most human beings tend to surround themselves with people that look like them, this method will not be effective at establishing a diverse workforce. One way to open up the field to people of different backgrounds would be to remove the CS degree requirements for engineering roles. Companies need to recruit creative talent that is willing to think outside of the box, and this person may not necessarily come from a standard degree path. In Katie’s view, the apprenticeship pattern would definitely work in the tech space because the way people learn the most about a job is on the job. People also learn a great deal by failure, and as an apprentice they will experience real world situations, make mistakes but also have a mentor for guidance and growth. In regards to retaining diverse employees, Katie’s experience has found whether or not people stay at a company is usually a really big product of the company culture and the day-to-day interactions. If someone doesn’t feel included in their organization, they will eventually leave. 

Katie McLaughlin is the Founder, Chief Strategist & Transformation Artist at McLaughlin Method LLC. She specializes in helping tech, startups, founders, and executives to build an inclusive workplace and engage their employees. She believes that businesses with healthier workplaces can be more productive and achieve the results they set out to in the first place: transform the world of their customers. 

• Katie McLaughlin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mclaughlinkatie
• McLaughlin Method: https://mclaughlinmethod.com
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

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Happy hump day! This show is soooo good, it's sure to hold you off till the next episode on Friday. Enjoy!

Kim believes that the tech world as a whole needs to reflect on issues with diversity in the workplace. The industry needs to identify common recruiting practices that contribute to the problem. If they own the problem, then they can begin to address solutions. There likely won't be a quick and easy fix, but as a group an innovative solution can be found. In regards to dropping the CS degree requirement for tech roles, Kim says that companies should evaluate whether this is a barrier or bridge to the organization. If it is a barrier, how do you get rid of it and build a bridge that helps you find the talented people you seek. She thinks the apprenticeship model can help the tech industry find diverse talent, but it will only work if they provide access to people from backgrounds who may not otherwise have an opportunity to work in this space. You need people of privilege to use their privilege in order to move people forward. If you are looking for a way to retain diverse talent Kim says you have to make sure that people feel psychologically safe to be their full selves within your organization. Employees want to be seen as a human person and want their skills utilized in an equitable way across the board.

Kim Crowder is the founder and CEO of Kim Crowder Consulting. She helps organizations embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism into their workplace DNA. She has been named by Forbes as an anti-racist educator your company needs now. Kim’s been featured on Hubspot's The Growth Show, been featured in The New York Times and has worked with leaders from Fortune 100 companies. She is a powerhouse keynote speaker and a vivacious vocalist.

• Kim Crowder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimcrowder
• Kim Crowder Consulting: https://www.kimcrowderconsulting.com
• Kim’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkimcrowder
• Kim’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamkimcrowder
• Leapfrog by Nathalie Molina Niño: http://leapfroghacks.com
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

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We took a couple of days off last week, but have no fear because we're back with another great episode!

Stephanie believes that during this COVID season, it is easy for us to get stuck in our own circles. When you only communicate or network with people in your circle you wont be exposing yourself to new experiences or different perspectives. Similarly, companies that have trouble recruiting diverse talent need to connect with different people and groups outside of their typical network. Stephanie is in favor of dropping the CS degree requirement for tech roles because companies should hire people based on their experience and skills, not necessarily a degree. She always tells people that her degree is her paper degree and her real degree was building her business. She believes that the apprenticeship model would work in tech because it builds experience by working and learning directly from experts in real world situations. Stephanie recognizes that attracting talent is only part of the battle, retaining employees is equally important. She has found that people are happier and stay at workplaces where they feel like they belong and are part of a community. At the end of the day talent is more than just talent, they're people.

While attending Ryerson University back in 2014, Steph founded Origins Magazine, a platform that shared the raw realities of entrepreneurial journeys. In 2016, Steph joined Chatter Research as their Marketing Lead, directly assisting with landing major client accounts such as Fanatics Clothing, Purdy’s Chocolatiers, Modell’s Sporting Goods and more. In 2018, Steph saw the need for audio-first content and fell in love with podcasting as a way for brands to conveniently build strong relationships with their customer base. At that time, she pivoted Origins Magazine to Origins Media Haus, a boutique podcast and video agency focused on helping brands create engaging audio experiences and took the leap into full time entrepreneurship as CEO. After Origins Media Haus was acquired by Quill in 2020, Steph has continued on their team as Head of Production. Success to Steph is continuously finding the edge between growth and ease. 

• Stephanie Andrews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanielynandrews
• Quill Inc.: http://www.quillit.io
• Stephanie’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsstephanielyn
• Stephanie’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/itsstephanielyn
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

SnackWalls is powered by San Diego Code School: https://sdcs.io

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Woah...the big 6-0! As always we have another great show lined up for you all. Enjoy!

Manuel agrees that finding diverse talent in tech is a challenge, but it is one that companies must take full front and approach using different strategies. He agrees that dropping a CS degree requirement for software roles makes a lot of sense. At the end of the day companies need engineers that can get the job done. How or where they learned the skills necessary to do the job should not be that important. Manuel also believes that the apprenticeship pattern could work in the tech space as a way to break barriers into the industry. To retain diverse staff, he thinks that the workplace should foster a sense of community. Make a clear statement that the executive/leadership team supports and is involved in programs that promote inclusion. Then encourage grassroots teams or ERGs that are created organically to further build employee relationships.

Manuel Martinez-Herrera is the General Counsel at BetterCloud, a B2B SAS company that specializes in SAS Ops. He has experience working in the legal departments of both tech and non-tech companies. Manuel is passionate about being involved in workplace diversity programs. He is leading a diversity council at BetterCloud and was involved with diversity initiatives at his previous employer, Namely. 

• Manuel Martinez-Herrera: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuel-martinez-herrera-71a2a763
• BetterCloud: https://www.bettercloud.com
• Altitude Conference: https://altitude.bettercloud.com
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

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Overwhelmed by election day anxiety? Put your phone down, turn off the TV, and listen to this brand new episode of SnackWalls.

Jonaed highlights if employers want to find diverse talent, they need to seek candidates in different ways. Currently, many employers look for talent through referrals. However most young diverse talent do not have an established network to connect with companies. Additionally, companies will often vet out candidates based on degree requirements instead of focusing on someone's skill set. Jonaed is not against degrees, but he does oppose having setting requirements that prevent good, skilled people from getting into jobs. He believes that companies should invest in developing talent using the apprenticeship or a mentoring program. Most large organizations invest heavily in developing their talent and the pay off is visible in the long term (ex. Google). Now, to retain diverse talent Jonaed advises companies to have a diverse and welcoming culture. People crave community, and if your employees don't feel like they belong in the team, they will find another company.

Jonaed Iqbal is the founder and CEO of NoDegree.com and the host of the NoDegree podcast. They aspire to reduce the growing economic disparity between non-college grads and college grads by providing career resources to people without degrees. The NoDegree podcast is used to interview successful people without college degrees to figure what made them successful. Jonaed is also an Assistant Wrestling Coach at Thomas A. Edison High School and formerly served as the President of the Columbia University Toastmasters.

• Jonaed Iqbal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonaed
• NoDegree.com: https://www.nodegree.com
• No Degree Podcast: https://nodegree.fm
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

SnackWalls is powered by San Diego Code School: https://sdcs.io

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Did you finish a whole bag of halloween candy this weekend? Well then you've come to the right place, cause today’s episode is sugar free and I promise it won't make you crash! Enjoy

Olin has found that finding top talent is tough and finding diverse top talent is more challenging. From his perspective the best performing teams have intrinsic and extrinsic diversity. Olin agrees that the CS degree requirement for software jobs should be removed. At LeadCrunch there is no CS degree requirement and the hiring process is geared towards a candidate’s performance more than their resume. Candidates applying for software roles are given an initial code test and the company will strip names from resumes to remove any bias towards a name in the hiring process. Studies show that about 70% of job performance are things that are not on the resume like cognitive behavioral traits, grit, determination and the ability to work within a team. These are far more important and cannot be picked up off of a resume. While Olin believes that apprenticeships have a place in the tech world, they are not a solution in and of themselves to finding top talent. This model works when applied with lots of guard rails, but does not replace the initial groundwork an apprentice would need to establish before the program to be successful. To retain your top performing and diverse staff, Olin recommends you make the workplace a place that can be the most valuable stepping stone in an employee’s career.

Olin Hyde is a venture-backed serial entrepreneur passionate about growing companies, building teams, and solving hard problems. He is the founder and CEO of LeadCrunch, a global AI B2B marketing company. Their AI makes sense of the complex, incomplete, and often inaccurate data about millions of companies to enable unprecedented capabilities to target and engage the ideal audiences for B2B marketers. Olin has been nominated and won various awards for his work including the Nvidia & GigOM Global A.I. Challenge.

• Olin Hyde: www.linkedin.com/in/olinhyde
• LeadCrunch: https://leadcrunch.com
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

SnackWalls is powered by San Diego Code School: https://sdcs.io

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Today we sit down Gary Ware, a corporate facilitator and keynote speaker who uses the power of play to transform lives! He has been recommended by previous guests and for good reason, so sit down, listen up, and enjoy.

Gary acknowledges that finding diverse talent requires extra effort. Companies that struggle to find diverse candidates need to peel back the layers on their recruitment efforts to find the problem. Are they looking for talent in schools that promote diversity? Perhaps your company needs to support efforts in the local community to help young people of color get exposure to the tech industry. Gary supports the push to remove CS degree requirements from software engineering roles because many of the necessary skills for the trade can be self taught or learned through mentorship. An apprenticeship is a great way to identify people who have the hunger and drive to learn. This model works because it teaches the apprentice the technical skills needed to get the job done and it also allows them to learn the grit and adaptive skills that cannot be taught in a classroom. In regards to retaining talent, Gary recommends that a company set metrics on their culture by referencing Primed To Perform a book by Lindsay McGregor and Neel Doshi. Additionally, he believes that the workplace should be one where employees feel like they want to be at work, their needs are heard, and their leadership cares about them.

Gary Ware, the Founder of Breakthrough Play is a sought-after Corporate Facilitator and Keynote Speaker with nearly a decade of experience as performer in improv theatre. He assists teams with unlocking creativity, confidence, and sparks collaboration with experiential methods proven to drive peak performance. Gary became obsessed on learning how to use play as a transformational tool and as a result, happily transitioned from marketing to pursue facilitation full time.

• Gary Ware: www.linkedin.com/in/garyware
• Break Through Play: www.breakthroughplay.com
• Twitter Account: www.twitter.com/garyware
• Instagram Account: www.instagram.com/garyware
• Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/breakthroughplay
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

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Get ready to sit down with Vinita Ananth, a successful Group PM Manager within the Azure group at Microsoft. She talks about her experience transitioning into the tech space and shares some of the initiatives taking place at Microsoft to recruit and retain diverse talent.

Vinita recognizes the pool of strong diverse candidates is smaller than traditional pools, however, the talent does exist if you seek it out. She points out how Microsoft has started making job descriptions more inclusive by removing genderized language and promoting job postings at forums or events that attract diverse talent. Vinita is supportive of the push to remove CS degree requirements from software roles since industry needs are different than what is taught at universities. She earned her degree in Electrical Engineering but was able to learn programming concepts using her technical background and problem-solving skills. She volunteers to teach in a young entrepreneurial program and is amazed at how quickly high school students pick up new concepts. Similarly, she believes apprenticeship programs would be successful in the tech sector, especially when working with people that are already grounded in science and technology. In regards to retaining diverse talent, Vinita would advise companies to make the workplace more inclusive and build a sense of belonging for diverse talent. She highlights how Microsoft has adapted during the pandemic to help their employees. Additionally, Vinita encourages anyone who is supportive of a diverse workplace to become a visible advocate for DnI.

Vinita Ananth is an entrepreneur, and an accomplished leader in a spectrum of areas from global technology, technology-enabled business services, enterprise cloud, social media to analytics - with 20+ years of rich worldwide experience of living / working across the US, EMEA, and APAC. She is currently the leader of SAP, High-Performance Computing(HPC), Legacy(Mainframe, AiX, Legacy), and Azure VMware Solution(AVS) Customer Engineering at Microsoft Azure. Vinita holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from India, and an MBA in Marketing & Finance from Santa Clara University, California. In her personal time, she loves hiking, playing tennis; outside of work, the focus is her family. 

• Vinita Ananth: www.linkedin.com/in/vinitaananth
• Microsoft Azure: www.azure.microsoft.com
• More episodes of the SnackWalls Podcast: http://podcast.snackwalls.com

SnackWalls is powered by San Diego Code School: https://sdcs.io

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