By SUSAN WOLF, DIRECTOR, LLOYDIT
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a unique networking event put together by LIST.net and hosted at Marcum, LLP in Melville. The event, “Extraordinary Women in Technology,” focused on what it takes to lead an organization’s Technology team and featured a panel of distinguished business technology leaders.
These included:
· Marguerite Beirne, Director of Technology, Westchester DA’s office
· Melanie Hudson, VP of global Services at Lexmark International
· Judy Murrah, CIO of Applied DNA Sciences
· And our own Jeanine Bondi, Vice President, Sr. Managing Director, who stepped in at the eleventh hour as a replacement for Laurie Toscano, Executive Director/Global End Users from Estee Lauder who was forced to cancel.
The women panelists outlined their journeys within their respective technology careers and each offered insight as to what led to their successes. They noted the mentors who had influenced them. These technology leaders make supporting the success of those around them, especially those coming up the ranks – part of their mission. They also talked about the importance of staying current with overall trends and providing service offerings in the technology space.
Each panelist discussed their strategic career moves. Jeanine talked about Ringo, a technology VMS company, as well as LLoydIT, an industry leader in Technical Recruitment and outlined our current service model. Like many of the women, Jeanine spoke about the importance of “giving back” and encouraging women to take on leadership roles, not just in technology, but in all disciplines. She currently serves on the Board of LIST.net and is an Associate Trustee for NSLIJ Health System.
I came away feeling more empowered by the discussions and want to focus on a few of the key statistics that Jeanine shared with the audience:
· 1.4 million jobs will be in the computer science industry by year 2020.
· In the 1980’s, 63% of college graduates were studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
· In 2013, that number has dropped to 18%.
This decrease in STEM college graduates is something we should all be aware of as suppliers of talent and do our best to influence and inspire college students to pursue degrees in these areas or there will be a severe shortage of qualified technology workers within a few short years.
In addition, during the networking hour, I connected with many business leaders in the technology space.
I encourage everyone to participate in events such as these to absorb the content, build networking pipelines and to represent LLoyd.