The Connecticut Technology Council’s Women of Innovation Program> is in its 13th year as a formalized initiative. This was commemorated at the annual awards dinner at the Aqua Turf Club on March 29th. The goal of the event was to recognize women in Connecticut who are working to benefit their community through science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
I was fortunate to be among the representatives from Datto at the event amongst a room full of intelligent and passionate nominees ranging from high school students to CEOs who are working to change right here in Connecticut. I’m proud that Datto understands the significance of encouraging and supporting women in the technology field as this is evident through our sponsorship of the event.
I started working at Datto two and a half years ago, and in my short tenure, I have seen an increase in the female population of co-workers. One of the hosts of the WOI event, Elizabeth Alquist, spoke that night and said, “Anyone can be the next woman on this stage.” This made me think of the Cloud Support technician that rose up within their team to be the only technician to get promoted to Level 2 and eventually to Cloud Ops in the EMEA because of their knowledge and dedication to our partners. I pictured the Software Engineer who spends free time and breaks at the office shadowing and talking with support technicians and refactoring code based on the suggestions to make support jobs easier and make our company more efficient. I imagined the Computer Hardware Engineer designing and customizing Datto’s hardware devices who single-handedly built our company’s hardware department. All strong and innovative individuals who may become the upcoming technology leaders; all employees who work at Datto; all women who could be the next ones recognized on that stage.
The keynote speaker was Adda Birnir, Founder and CEO of Skillcrush, the country’s largest online education company focused on training women in technical topics. She talked about career paths in the STEM world, and how most people view an engineer’s path as completing a Software Engineering degree in college and going to work at Apple or Google. However, what struck me was what she said next. “This is a great path in the technology field, but it is far from the only path.”
Datto is a technology company by definition; it’s everything we are and everything we do. But there are so many opportunities for women at Datto and in the tech field. This was evident in hearing the different award winners speak of their careers and roles and that there are so many ways for women in tech to change the world. I praise the CTC for investing the time and effort into recognizing those women and opportunities. I’m proud to say that I am part of the growing number of women in technology, ready to change the world.