Tech Unlocked

What type of computer has the potential to solve some of the world's most complex problems in seconds instead of billions of years? Quantum computers have the ability to solve some of the world's most complex problems. In this episode, I chat with Jessica Pointing who is a Ph.D. Quantum Computing Research about the fundamentals of this new and exciting technology

Jessica Pointing is a PhD student in Physics at the University of Oxford specializing in quantum computing, and previously was a PhD student in Computer Science at Stanford University as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. She completed her bachelor's degree in Physics and Computer Science at Harvard University with high honors and as a John Harvard Scholar in the top 5%, after spending her first two years of university studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She founded the Stanford Quantum Computing Association and the Harvard College Quantum Computing Association. She has been invited to give keynote and innovation talks about quantum computing at conferences around the world, including IBM Think and Oracle Code One and was the audience-voted winner for the Quantum Matters Science Communication Competition hosted by the Museum of Science. Jessica has interned as a researcher at KBR at NASA Ames Research Center, a software engineer at Google, management consultant at McKinsey and Company, an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and strategist at Morgan Stanley. Jessica was selected for the Forbes 30 under 30 list in the Science category. She was selected to be on the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Quantum Applications.

What you will learn:

•What is Quantum Computing (QC) and how it works

•Real-world problems that QC can potentially help solve

•Pros and cons of QC?

•Skills needed to thrive in this field

•The need for diversity in QC

Help us raise $2000 in scholarships for Black/African American students studying Computer Science or STEM by buying a t-shirt or donating directly here:

https://www.bonfire.com/techunlocked/

We appreciate your support!!

Follow Tech Unlocked for updates and career tips:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techunlockedpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techunlockedpod/

Connect with Jessica

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessicapointing

Website: https://jessicapointing.com/

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacjones

Questions about sponsorship? Email us [email protected]

Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and bitcoin are some of the hottest buzz words in technology right now. So why do they matter and how is changing the world we live in? What is the big deal about blockchain and bitcoin? We answer all these questions and demystify blockchain technology on today's episode with our special guest Anne T. Griffin.

Anne is a product professional that built her product management career working with organizations such as Microsoft, Comcast, Mercedes-Benz, and Priceline. Anne's technical foundation stems from her engineering degree from the University of Michigan. She is passionate about the practical human aspects of technology and building products with emerging and disruptive technologies, such as AI and blockchain, rooted in the realities of the human experience. In Summer 2020, Anne was an instructor for the AI component of Columbia University's course Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, AI, and Beyond. Columbia University, Morgan State University and the University of Montreal are a few of the universities where she has guest lectured on the subject of blockchain. She teaches courses on Business Applications of Blockchain and Improving Product with A/B Testing through O'Reilly Media. She is currently working at Priceline as a Product Manager and as the Chief Product & Curriculum Officer of Tech 2025, while advising a few emerging tech startups. Her course, Attract Your Dream Job, that helps professionals get their resume and LinkedIn job search ready and get companies coming to them can be found at pivotgrowhustle.com. Outside of her work, Anne is a voracious learner, frequent traveler, and seriously committed to her self-care and workouts.

What you will learn:

• What is Blockchain Technology and why it matters?
• The difference between Blockchain vs. Bitcoin
• The intersection of Bitcoin and #endSARS Movement
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Blockchain
• How to get started in the Blockchain field

Help us raise $2000 in scholarships for Black/African American students studying Computer Science or STEM by buying a t-shirt or donating directly here:

https://www.bonfire.com/techunlocked/

Follow Techunlocked:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techunlockedpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techunlocke...

Connect with Anne

Twitter: https://twitter.com/annetgriffin

Website: https://www.annetgriffin.com/about

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...

According to a report by Deloitte "soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030…" showcasing that the skills gap doesn't only exist within technical roles. As we continue to move into a more digital and technical advanced world, the importance of soft skills (human skills ) will only become more valuable and needed in the future of work.

In this solo episode, I share the top 5 human skills/ soft skills needed to thrive and future proof your career in the future of work based on my personal experience & research. I also share 1 practical tip you can use to develop each of these skills over time.

Follow Techunlocked:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techunlockedpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techunlocke...

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracemacjonez/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...

If you enjoyed this episode, please take some time to rate & review the podcast on Apple podcast.

For sponsorship and other questions send an email to [email protected]

What is the big deal about sponsorship? What does it mean to have a career sponsor? In today's episode, I demystify sponsorship and show you how to attract career sponsors to help accelerate your career.

What you'll learn:⁣

-The difference between mentors vs sponsors

-Why mentorship is not a one size fits all

-3 major characteristics to look for when identifying a sponsor

-6 steps to attracting a career sponsor

Follow Techunlocked:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techunlockedpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techunlocke...

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracemacjonez/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...

Resources/articles:

https://beleaderly.com/sponsor-not-a-mentor/

https://www.businessinsider.com/black-women-less-likely-to-have-sponsors-how-to-fix-2020-1

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryannreid/2019/10/07/5-types-of-sponsors-every-black-woman-needs-now/#4c55c99d3161

Have a tech career or tech concept you want us to unlock? Email us [email protected]

EP23 | Hustling Smarter, not Harder Unlocked with Justin Samuels

Justin Samuels is a technologist, and influencer of all things software engineering, and underrepresented groups in technology. Having started both Render-Atlanta to amplify the presence of developers in the south with an emphasis on culture and inclusion, as well as The In Streaming Color telethon to raise contributions for underrepresented groups during a crisis, Justin is now seen as a pillar in the local Atlanta, and overall global engineering community as a force to represent community building, and engineering excellence. He is also a full-time senior engineer at Mailchimp in Atlanta where he helps empower small businesses on their marketing platform.

Key Takeaways:⁣

-How Justin became a software engineer

-What inspired Justin to create Rebuildblackbusiness.com

-Top tech components small businesses need to adopt in order to survive and stay relevant during COVID-19

-3 tips for growing your career from a junior software engineer to a senior software engineer?

Follow Techunlocked:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techunlockedpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techunlocke...

Connect with Justin

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThugDebugger

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk01dYcLW-j3W_cND0lc0vQ/

Dev: https://dev.to/thugdebugger

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracemacjonez/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...

Have a tech career or tech concept you want us to unlock? Email us [email protected]

Kim (she/her) is the global head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Remitly, a fintech company serving over 3 million immigrants throughout the world to conveniently send money safely and securely to their families across the globe. She has been in the financial services industry for over 20 years as a banking executive within credit unions and Fortune 50 banks. The first half of Kim's career was spent building and growing new lines of business. The latter half has been dedicated to scaling the social impact of financial institutions, developing and leading corporate social responsibility and ESG strategies, including how companies build trust and rapport with customers and communities and empower and engage employees. Outside of work, Kim leads The Respect Institute as national founding board chair and is a member of the cofounding team. She has been featured on Yahoo! Finance, The Financial Times, Geekwire, Seattle Business Magazine and Silicon Valley Business Journal for her contributions to community and championing diversity in business.

Key Takeaways:⁣

-What is Fintech?

-How can FinTech be more inclusive

-Challenges the FinTech sector is currently facing

-How to be an authentic ally

-How to navigate career transitions

Follow Techunlocked:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techunlockedpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techunlocke...

Connect with Demarius

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimmilyn

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimtvu/

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracemacjonez/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...

Have a tech career or tech concept you want us to unlock? Email us [email protected]

Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Demarius (Mari) grew up in a family of church musicians. He graduated from Williams College with a degree in Psychology and worked at bank immediately after. After a short stint at the bank, he pursued a full-time music career as a recording artist, traveling between NYC and Atlanta. Through music, he's had to leverage tech platforms to distribute his music, build a following, and grow as an artist. Noticing the difficulties of creatives building a sustainable career through digital platforms, he decided to learn how to code with the mission of teaching underrepresented folks the necessary technical skills to adapt and make a sustainable living. Mari is currently working at the intersection of music and tech education as a coding instructor at the Mometum@Morehouse bootcamp, powered by OHUB (Opportunity Hub) in addition to creating and releasing music.

Key Takeaways:⁣

-What are some pros and cons of attending a tech bootcamp?

-The importance of knowing how to tell your story

-How Demarius got his job as a coding instructor

-What is missing from the education system? (social learning)

-Why is now a good time for black people and other underrepresented folks to work in the tech industry

Follow Techunlocked:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techunlockedpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techunlocke...

Connect with Demarius

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mari_world_

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mari.world/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demarius-edwards-a59b9921/

POCIT Article: https://peopleofcolorintech.com/engineers/fail-forward-how-a-starving-artist-failed-into-software-engineering/

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracemacjonez/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...

Have a tech career or tech concept you want us to unlock? Email us [email protected]

Coding Resources:

Freecodecamp.org - Great resource for starting coding.

CodeNewbie.org - a great community to tap into

The best article for laying out amazing techies of color: https://medium.com/@jennifer_opal/100-of-the-best-engineers-developers-coders-and-tech-entrepreneurs-of-colour-to-follow-on-social-be60eec328f8

It's no secret that the tech industry is not very diverse or inclusive. In recent years, we have witnessed the increased efforts from tech companies to change this narrative by hiring more underrepresented folks and attempting to retain diverse talent in tech. In today's episode, I chat with the amazing Veni Kunche who is a Software Engineer turned startup founder. She shares how she left her traditional engineering job to create DiversifyTech.co which is an online resource that connects underrepresented people in tech to jobs, scholarships, events, speaking opportunities and more.

Veni Kunche is a Software Engineer turned startup founder. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science and an M.S in Data Science.

She considers herself a jill of all trades. She has done database migrations, server admin, backend development, frontend development, and hybrid-mobile application development.

After working as a Software Engineer for over 15 years, she launched Diversify Tech in December of 2018. At Diversify Tech, she helps underrepresented people in tech by connecting them to scholarships, jobs, and speaking opportunities as well as helps companies hire them. Companies can learn about diversity, equity and inclusion as well as connect with candidates looking for jobs and Allies can advocate for underrepresented people in tech.

Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.diversifytech.co/join

Key Takeaways:⁣

-Obstacles underrepresented folks experience in Tech

-How to leverage your community to help you grow in your career

-3 mistakes companies, hiring managers, recruiters make when hiring and job posting

-3 things underrepresented people can do to stand out during the job search process.

Follow Techunlocked:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techunlockedpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techunlocke...

Connect with Veni:

Twitter:https://twitter.com/venikunche (Veni Kunche)

https://twitter.com/DiversifyTechCo (Diversify Tech)

Website: https://www.diversifytech.co/

Support Veni: https://www.patreon.com/diversifytech

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracemacjonez/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...

Have a tech career or tech concept you want us to unlock? Email us [email protected]

Did you know that data is considered the oil of the digital world?

What do we do with all this data that is being generated daily and how do we make sense of it? In today's episode, I chat with the incredible Sundas Khalid who is a Senior Analytical Lead at Google. She Demystifies the world of data science and shares how you can start a career in this booming tech career field.

Sundas Khalid is a Senior Analytical Lead at Google and previously a data scientist at Amazon. Sundas' story and work is exemplary. She has won awards for her work as a data scientist at Amazon and Google, and as a women empowerment community leader in Seattle.

She is a university of Washington valedictorian, and first-female in her family to graduate university and pursue a career. As an advocate of women's education, she serves on the board of two non-profits, Pakistani Women in Computing and North Seattle College. To further serve her mission of helping and lifting others, Sundas also provides career counseling to students and industry professionals to help them land their dream jobs.

Sundas is also a writer and public speaker. In 2019, she keynoted a fundraiser that raised over a million dollars to support education of 5,000 underprivileged kids in Pakistan rural areas. And very recently, she delivered a talk at Google that received standing ovations from over 200 Googlers.

Key Takeaways:

What is data science?

What is the difference between AI and ML?

Examples of ML/AL in our everyday lives

How does data affect the world we live in

What does it mean to "clean" data?

3 ways to get into Data Science

Connect with Sundas:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sundaskhalidd / @sundaskhalidd

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sundaskhalid / @sundaskhalid

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sundaskhalid6 / @sundaskhalid6

Website: https://sundaskhalid.com/bio

Youtube: Sundas Khalid

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

https://www.instagram.com/gracemacjonez/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...

Have a tech career or tech concept you want us to unlock? Email us [email protected]

Today, I chat with Mary Nguyen who is a Missile Defensive Engineer, Business Owner, and STEM Blogger & Advocate. She shares her STEM journey as a daughter of immigrants to becoming a first-generation college student to now begin an engineer. Mary's goal is to simply represent the modern career woman in STEM and provide valuable resources for students, careerists, and all boss babes alike.

Mary is a Mechanical Engineering graduate and current Missile Defense Engineer. Coming from an immigrant family with limited mentorship and guidance, she found a great part of her calling in advocating for women + minorities in STEM. Her mission is to continually provide tools and resources while uplifting others via her online business and platforms. Like many women in her field, she takes pride in not being your "typical engineer". Showcasing her journey also means fully embracing her femininity and being multi-faceted. By putting herself out there, she hopes to give others confidence in being vocal and showing up fully.

Key takeaways from this episode:

-The soft skills needed to be a missile defense engineer

-The most challenging and rewarding part of working in the STEM field

-Benefits of having an online personal brand -How to deal with internet trolls

-Tips for starting a STEM career in 2020

Connect with Mary :

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marynguyenc...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/marynguyenco

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/Marynguyen

Website:https://marynguyen.co/

Connect with Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceMacjones

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracemacjonez/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemacj...