Tech Forward

Hello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I'm speaking with Mahi Inampudi, Vice President of Product and Technology at Envoy. Envoy creates and manages technology that aims to make the immigration process seamless and efficient for both immigrants and their employers. Having experienced the immigration process firsthand as an employee, employer, and a family member, Mahi's decision to join Envoy was a very personal once. On today's episode he'll be sharing his story, as well as discussing some of the ways Envoy helps companies support international talent.

With 18 years of experience in building software, Mahi's career has spanned a period of rapid acceleration in the development of technology. In his role with IBM, he focused on building social collaboration software for large enterprise companies and later led the web, data, analytics and DevOps teams at Apartments.com. Mahi finds himself inspired by the swift evolution of technology over the last two decades, and that inspiration plays a significant role in his work with Envoy Global.

At a time when demand for software engineers is outpacing supply, Envoy strives to simplify corporate immigration both for employees and employers. Immigration processes and workflows are incredibly complex, and — unlike many other aspects of our personal and professional lives — have not changed very much over the last 15 years. Human resources professionals at large companies have to strike a balance between the best possible experience for employees on a sponsored work visa, and the legal costs of the immigration process. Envoy brings critical elements of the consumer experience people expect in 2018 into immigration technology. Their work is informed by an annual immigration trend survey of 400-500 companies, which provides valuable insights into supply and demand, as well as employee concerns and desires.

While Mahi cites several challenges immigrants face when relocating — such as cultural differences and the possibility of a language barrier — he stresses, above all, the importance of familiarity with immigration law in order to maintain compliance. Something as simple as a change of job description, working remotely for a period of time, or even a raise can affect compliance. Mahi advises that any company employing foreign nationals leverage technology to assist in complying with immigration laws and changing policies. To that end, Envoy recently built and launched software that allows HR teams to constantly audit for compliance within their companies. The importance of this work cannot be overstated: "Simplifying things lets the employees focus on their primary job, instead of spending time worrying about navigating the process of immigration."

Mahi, thank you so much for coming onto the show and giving our listeners a glimpse into the work you're doing with Envoy Global. Thank you as well to everyone out there listening, reviewing, and sharing the show. See you next week!

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Hello, listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. On this week's episode, I'm speaking with Wes Kao, a marketing strategy and product launch expert who works as a consultant and advisor to multiple consumer brands and tech startups. She serves as a mentor to entrepreneurs through her roles with WeWork Labs and Backstage Capital. Previously, Wes was the founding Executive Director of Seth Godin's altMBA. Today on the show, we'll be talking about the leadership lessons she's learned during her career, and her advice to other managers on how to adequately encourage and support women in the workplace.

After years of working in the corporate retail space, Wes found herself drawn to the rigorous thinking and problem solving aspect of the tech sector. She worked with Seth Godin to launch altMBA, an online leadership and management workshop which under her leadership grew from zero to 550 cities in 45 countries over a three year period of high-growth. She brings her wealth of experience to the table when mentoring entrepreneurs through Backstage Capital and WeWork Labs, advising founders and CEOs on effective leadership and avoiding the pitfalls of bias.

One key piece of advice Wes has for other managers is to conduct regular self-checks for bias. "The minute we think we're above bias, or prejudice, or discrimination, that's when we get into a dangerous spot." Often, workplace culture permits pushback from white male employees — but punishes women or people of color for the same resistance, marking them as selfish or uncooperative. Though managerial roles often require split-second calculations in order to optimize the workday, Wes encourages managers to ask this question: "Would I react the same way to a white/male employee in this situation?" She also encourages similar self-checks when it comes to using language that reflects equitable treatment of employees. "Our automatic reaction might be to criticize, but those criticisms add up to a place where employees might not feel safe to lead, to challenge authority, and to ask questions."

Wes also emphasizes that it's not solely the responsibility of leadership to effect change: "We can always positively influence the lives of our coworkers." She cites moments from her own career journey when her allies have taken seemingly small, but powerful actions to support her. When clients assumed her male colleagues were in charge, those men redirected the conversation both verbally and physically — asserting that Wes was at the helm, and turning to face her. In situations where you suspect bias or discrimination, Wes advises, "Go to your allies in the company first. They probably notice it too. When you do talk to the person, bring it up in a respectful way. Above all, don't suffer in silence! If you don't feel comfortable and confident to do your best work, nobody is winning."

Wes, I've really enjoyed hearing your insights and your stories, and I know that our listeners will too. Thank you again for coming onto the show this week. Thank you also to all of you out there listening, subscribing, and sharing the show. See you next week!

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Welcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! Today, for the final episode of our job seekers series, I spoke with Shondra McCray. A web developer and user experience strategist, Shondra recently moved from Texas to the San Francisco Bay Area to explore opportunities in tech. During our conversation, Shondra shares her journey navigating the job search process in Silicon Valley, as well as her advice for others looking to get their foot in the door in tech.

After her UX role at Parker University and other jobs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, relocating to the Bay Area in June of this year was a massive shift for Shondra in more ways than one. In addition to the much higher housing costs, Silicon Valley's professional culture was a stark departure from Texas. Some companies used language in their job descriptions that signaled their desire to hire a man for the role. Others made it clear that they would only consider candidates with an Ivy League education. For anyone looking to enter the tech sector, Shondra stresses the importance of job seekers being honest about their skills — and how those skills might translate differently from one region to another. "I realized when I moved that I could call myself a rockstar developer back in Texas — but not out here. But I'm open to working on skills that will add value to a company."

Shondra also advises job seekers to thoroughly research prospective employers. "Especially with startups here in Silicon Valley, I look at whether they started with a seed round or not, and what round they're in currently." When it comes to the interview, Shondra encourages interviewees to make the process a dialogue where both employer and potential employee take turns asking and answering questions. "I like to write down deliverables and things I can contribute, as well as things that I'd want from the company, such as time off and health insurance. I need to know how these companies invest in their employees."

For companies looking to attract talent such as herself, Shondra again stresses the importance of a respectful and engaged dialogue. "Treat your candidates as if their time is priceless, because it is. Show the people you interview that you care about their growth, not just their contributions." Since moving to the Bay Area, her own interview experiences have been both positive and negative. The best experiences weren't necessarily ones that ended in a job offer, but those where she was made to feel like a member of the team.

Shondra, thank you so much for coming on the show and giving our listeners this glimpse into the current interview and hiring process. I wish you the best of luck as you continue your career journey. Thank you also to all of you out there listening, subscribing, and sharing the show. See you next week!

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Hello, listeners, and happy Thanksgiving to those of you in America! Welcome back to Tech Forward. This week, I'm rebroadcasting an early episode for newer listeners. Earlier this year, I spoke with Allie Burns, Managing Director at Village Capital. This global venture capital firm wants to build bridges for entrepreneurs looking to create an inclusive and sustainable world. Having worked with Revolution, the Case Foundation, AOL, Atlas Venture and more, Allie honed over the years a passion for working with young and emerging technologies. We discussed Village Capital's unique model and goal to broaden access to capital worldwide, and to close the wealth gap for founders from underrepresented backgrounds.

Village Capital is on a mission to reinvent the venture capital system in such a way as to truly back the entrepreneurs of the future. "The work we do is united by the principle of getting more capital to more people in more places, to solve the significant challenges in environmental stability and economic inequality." Seeing as how 75% of venture capital goes to only 3 US states, and most of that to white men, there's room for significant improvement. Village Capital deliberately sources and recruits entrepreneurs outside of the dominant geographies, both within the US and worldwide at their offices in Mexico City, Nairobi, and India.

Village Capital operates with a community based support model, where cohorts of 10-12 entrepreneurs share information and constructive criticism with each other. The peer evaluation method is an attempt to flip the current power dynamic: at the end of the 3 month program, the cohort selects which among them will receive investment from Village Capital's own fund. The model also connects these entrepreneurs with mentors in order to build a common language on both sides of the table. "If entrepreneurs can think like investors and speak to them in a way they're more receptive to, we'll have better matchmaking between investors and entrepreneurs." In fact, many entrepreneurs return to the program as mentors down the line! In this way, the community built within these cohorts at Village Capital is meant to last well beyond the duration of the program.

In their work internationally, they've found that only 10% of investment goes to emerging markets, and of that small percentage, the distribution echoes a lot of what we see in the US. "In 2015-2016, 72% of all startup investment in East Africa went to only 3 companies, and 90% went to companies founded by non-local founders." Companies in emerging markets also have unique problems, such as gaps in the value chain, that make these businesses more challenging to finance. "Traditional venture capital doesn't know what to do with these types of businesses."

In order to measure near term success, Village Capital has partnered with Emory University to compare companies who participated in the program against a control group of companies who didn't. "We want to know, are the companies we've supported able to access capital and grow their businesses in a more accelerated way?" The answer, so far, is positive: companies who went through the program are raising more than 2.5 times the capital, creating 70% more jobs, and generating 25% more revenue.

Big thanks to Allie for joining me on the show this week, and to all of you out there listening. See you next week with a brand new episode!

Hello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! For the second episode of our November job seeker series, I spoke with Michele Heyward, founder of PositiveHire. PositiveHire is a tech company engineered to bridge the gap between employers and women of color STEM professionals. Michele's vision is to not only help experienced women of color find inclusive workplaces, but to help enterprises recruit them. PositiveHire does this via matching experienced women of color STEM professionals to relevant management positions within organizations. In this episode, we discussed Michele's plans and aspirations for her business, as well as her advice for women and companies on how to begin to narrow the gender pay gap.

PositiveHire grew, in part, from Michele's previous experience in career coaching. Having heard similar stories of career struggles from many female engineers, she wanted to help as many women in STEM as possible — and as quickly as possible. "What I want PositiveHire to do is enable women from different races to understand what a company's culture provides each one of them. Each race can and will be discriminated against differently. So, what is it about the company culture that may benefit one woman of color, but not another? The ability to determine fit based on cultural background, gender, and race would help so many women."

When it comes to externally determining a company or organization's culture, Michele has a few tips for job seekers. First and foremost, look at upper management: less diversity at that level may indicate a cultural issue. For instance, it's not uncommon for the responsibility of leadership to rest of the shoulders of Black women, but not the title. Connecting with former employees of the company on services such as LinkedIn can also be helpful, as they are often willing to be candid about their experiences within the company.

Michele also has words of wisdom to share as far as closing the wage gap. For women, especially women of color, she emphasizes the importance of knowing when to say no, and keeping concrete, quantitative documentation of how you've helped your company, team, or group. At the employer level, she notes, "You have the information you need to go through and equalize pay in your organization. How long are you willing to gamble that your employees won't find out they've been underpaid?" Course correcting isn't just about avoiding short-term negative consequences, however. There are plenty of long term benefits to making this effort, including positive press, and improving the bottom line.

Michele, thank you so much for coming onto the show and discussing the important work you're doing with PositiveHire. Thank you also to all of you out there listening, subscribing, and sharing the show. See you next week!

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Hello listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. Throughout the month of November, we'll be releasing 3 episodes as a part of our "job seekers" series, which covers tips, tactics, and resources for underrepresented talent to identify opportunities in tech. Today's guest is Andrea Guendelman, founder and CEO of BeVisible. BeVisible is a social media career network that connects Latinos and Latinas across the country with companies searching for new talent. For recruiters, BeVisible makes it easy to access a talented pool of individuals whom they already know self-identify as Latinx — something no other platform can do. Together we discussed Andrea's journey as a tech startup founder, and some of the many initiatives she's led throughout her career to expand access to opportunities for the Latinx community in technology.

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Andrea worked at a Washington, D.C. based non-profit that helped underrepresented talent connect to leadership positions. Upon moving to New Mexico, she realized the extent of the gap between the huge pool of talent and employers looking to fill jobs. Though she spent several years afterwards working as a corporate lawyer, Andrea longed to do something creative. Drawing upon her previous roles making connections between employers and potential employees in underrepresented groups, Andrea founded BeVisible in 2015.

On the BeVisible platform, users connect with each other and with employers, tag and search for people by city and industry, and post jobs and upcoming events. What sets BeVisible apart from major career platforms like LinkedIn, as well as other diversity recruitment platforms, is the sense of community. Since first-generation college graduates often lack a background in soft skills such as networking and self-promotion, LinkedIn can be intimidating. BeVisible, on the other hand, is a welcoming community where the focus is on establishing relationships rather than purely pitching to a company. With over 15 thousand registered users gained primarily by word of mouth, it's clear that people definitely wanted a place like BeVisible.

Reflecting on the last few years of creating and launching this platform, Andrea says, "My original plan was to do something creative just for a year, but one thing just led to another. It hasn't been easy! But I don't regret it." Her focus now is on developing version 2 of BeVisible, and refining the business model in order to begin VC fundraising. She's also currently launching an initiative to source, train and connect the nation's most talented software engineers to the most progressive companies in the innovation economy.

Andrea, thank you so much for coming onto the show today! I can't wait to see where you take BeVisible in the coming years. Thank you also to all of you out there tuning in, subscribing, reviewing, and sharing the show with your friends. We'll see you next week for another episode in our job seekers series!

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Welcome back to Tech Forward, listeners, and happy Halloween! This week, I'm reissuing a classic episode: my interview with Tina Lee, Founder and CEO of MotherCoders. Based in San Francisco, MotherCoders is a non-profit that's expanding the tech talent pool by helping women with kids gain the skills, knowledge, and connections they need to thrive in today's digital economy. Tina's career journey has taken her from management consulting and recruiting roles in the private sector, to philanthropy and nonprofit roles in the public sector. She's passionate and prolific about the digital economy, especially the changing needs of women and families in a digital, globalized world. We discussed how MotherCoders came to be, and how Tina is helping moms of all types launch their tech careers.

Currently, 86% of women will become moms, and with millennials becoming parents, there are more moms than ever with college degrees. As a person with caregiving responsibilities of her own, however, Tina discovered first hand that the free or low-cost and easily accessible options like meetups and workshops were not easy for her to attend. Recognizing a huge opportunity to provide moms with both caregivers and a space to learn, she launched the MotherCoders pilot in 2014. Since then, they have trained over 150 women, both through standalone events as well as a part-time 9 week program.

MotherCoders — which serves working moms seeking career advancement, reentering the workforce, and starting down the path of entrepreneurship — isn't a boot camp or job training program. Instead, it's a space where moms can integrate their past experiences, skills, and resources with technical skills and contextual knowledge to get them into a role where they will have wage security and advancement opportunities. Providing this support for mothers now also supports their children down the line. Not only do children of working mothers go on to earn more as adults, but studies show children's academic trajectory compares to that of their mothers. "It's a great way to inspire the next generation! Why would you not do this for mothers?"

The structure of MotherCoders addresses the top 3 barriers for mothers: time, money, and caregiving responsibilities. Along with competitive pricing, they offer a mother-friendly schedule and on-site childcare. With this approach, they provide a welcoming environment for people who have been systematically shut out. MotherCoders is open to all women: "If you're a woman, and you're the primary caregiver for a child under 17, you are welcome here."

Moving forwards, Tina's ultimate goal is to expand MotherCoders to new locations. She wants to design a flexible program with core components that people can adjust according to the unique needs of their local ecosystem. If you're interested in helping make this licensing model a reality and having MotherCoders come to your city someday, you can donate today. Tina, as a mom myself, I love the work you're doing. Thank you so much for coming on the show, and thank you to all of you out there listening. I'll see you next week with a brand new episode!

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Welcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! My guest today is Alli Young, Founder and CEO of The Forem. The Forem is a professional training organization that develops the next generation of leaders while promoting gender equity. Through her work with The Forem, Alli focuses on helping women advance their careers and building healthy organizations as a key lever in driving innovation and revenue. Today, we'll be talking about how she came to found the Forem, and the critical skills she believes all professionals — but especially women — need to successfully progress in their careers.

Though she enjoyed her role as a Google leader, Alli found that it was difficult to pursue her passion for building and trying new things within such a large organization. She wanted to align her professional life with what she truly cared about: working with other women to develop and progress their careers. "Women have been failed by corporate America. How can I get more women into leadership roles where they have the power to affect change?" She took the leap and founded The Forem, which works at the individual as well as the organizational level to foster working environments where everybody can thrive and grow and fulfill their potential.

At the individual level, The Forem offers one-on-one coaching for emerging leaders, with a strong focus on 5 critical skills. Those skills include negotiating, building a personal brand, growing a robust and responsive network, financial fluency, and leadership skills — many of which can be a struggle for women. For women early in their careers, Alli stresses the importance of first focusing on negotiating and networking. "The first step is being able to self-advocate. A lot of women do not negotiate, and when we do we ask for less. [...] As for networking, 85% of our opportunities come from our network. Investing in people is always worth your while."

Even within companies whose CEOs and board members recognize the value of diversity, making the change at the organizational level can be difficult. "What do you do if 80% of your existing team is male? Even with good intentions, these roles won't open up tomorrow." That's why the team at The Forem work with CEOs on strategy and succession planning, preparing qualified women to step into a leadership role as soon as it's available. They also work directly with leadership teams to identify, address, and solve for areas of unconscious bias. Working collaboratively and forming partnerships transforms how people in leadership roles interpret and identify bias. Alli also emphasizes the value of frequent, consistent top-down messaging about diversity and equality, highlighting both current statistics and future goals.

Alli, thank you so much for coming onto the show and sharing your work through The Forem. I look forward to the upcoming book about the 5 critical skills, and seeing that message continue to spread. Thank you also to all my listeners tuning in, reviewing, and sharing the show. See you next week!

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Hello, listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. On this week's episode, I spoke with Betty Ng, tech entrepreneur, author, and founder and CEO of Inspiring Diversity, LLC ("iD"). In order to build more inclusive and collaborative communities, iD works with organizations to drive profitability and sustainability through increased employee inclusion, engagement, and performance. Betty has co-authored "PO-LING POWER™: Propelling Yourself and Others to Success" with her mother (Po-Ling Ng) and regularly speaks on PO-LING POWER™ and other empowering topics. Today, we'll be talking about the inspiration behind iD, and how this framework helps companies break down barriers to diversity and inclusion.

Though Betty was honored as a corporate trailblazer in 2015, she knew she was not pursuing her own vision for her authentic self. "I had a vision to be a successful social entrepreneur, not working in mergers and acquisitions." Betty's strength of vision came from her mother, a widowed immigrant woman with 4 young children who obtained 2 master's degrees and devoted her life to helping her community. She instilled in Betty the belief that anything is possible, regardless of your background, as long as we help one another succeed. This belief was the bedrock for the PO-LING POWER framework and Inspiring Diversity.

In developing this framework, Betty says, "All roads led back to my mom." Each aspect of the PO-LING framework — Priorities, Others, Lead, Inspire, Network, Grow — was a quality that her mother exemplified. Combined with POWER — Priorities, Obligations, Worthwhile activities, Energy, Resources — these acronyms form an evaluation, decision, and measurement matrix to propel individuals and groups to success while managing what matters.

This focus on collaboration and working towards mutual success makes the framework a natural fit for any company looking to build a more inclusive culture. The framework provides practical solutions for these organizations through a book, an app, videos of previous success stories, and supporting services such as coaching and workshops. Since changing existing organizational culture can be difficult, the framework is a practical, cost-effective, scalable, and mobile way to measure and track results. Despite the clear business case for increasing diversity and inclusion, many organizations do not see these efforts as imperative to their business. "Diversity events, training, and employee resource groups aren't enough. Organizations need to put real actions, plans, resources, and opportunities behind their diversity and inclusion efforts. Inspiring Diversity is focused on helping organizations overcome these barriers."

thank you so much for coming onto the show today and sharing your inspiring story. Thank you also to all my listeners tuning in, reviewing, and sharing the show. See you next week!

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Welcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, for the first time, I'm interviewing two guests: Gerri Kahnweiler and Cayla Weisberg, co-founders of Chicago-based InvestHER Ventures. InvestHER is an early stage investment firm that partners with and invests in female entrepreneurs. As a strong leader in philanthropy and civic engagement, Geri has a track record for empowering women and girls to reach their full potential. Her mission is to create funding opportunities for women who are focused on technology-enabled business services and data driven solutions for large markets. With her background in sales and a focus on people over products, Cayla offers hands-on thought leadership on startup scaling, pivoting, and operation excellence for InvestHER's portfolio companies. We'll be digging into the catalyst behind launching InvestHER, and how they're working to level the playing field for female entrepreneurs across the country.

Cayla and Gerri joined forces to launch InvestHER Ventures in 2016, a year when female founders received only 2.19% of venture funding. Considering one third of Chicago's entrepreneurs are women, those numbers clearly aren't the result of a pipeline problem. Recognizing this massive opportunity, Gerri and Cayla decided to focus on supporting female founders in the post-product, pre-revenue phase. They also assist these companies with customer acquisition, building a scalable sales funnel, and account management. "We have the easy job, really. The entrepreneurs have the hard job, and we're there to support them. We admire each and every woman we connect with and evaluate."

When it comes to working closely with a co-founder, Cayla and Gerri stress the importance of communication, clear division of duties, and presenting a united front. With their very different backgrounds — Gerri in philanthropy, and Cayla in sales and entrepreneurship — they make an effective and efficient team. "All our decisions are made together. I would not make an investment in a company unless Cayla was on board." They strongly encourage other female founders to "find the yin to your yang," a partner whose strengths and opportunities complement their own.

Both Gerri and Cayla have advice to share for women looking to get into investment. For anyone who already has funds to invest, Gerri recommends finding a local angel group, and working to understand the entire process from pitch to investment. Having witnessed this process play out many times, Cayla wants would-be female investors to know "there is no traditional path to investing anymore. A lot of funds are looking to hire people who have taken non-traditional capital risks in one way or another. Just because you didn't go to business school doesn't mean you can't get into investing."

Cayla and Gerri, thank you so much for joining me on the show today to share the exciting work you're doing with InvestHER Ventures. Thank you also to all of you out there listening, sharing the show, and reviewing. See you next week!

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