Program Associate

When I was a little girl I told my mom that I wanted to be an architect and she said “but you are not good at math.” (Disclaimer: my mom REALLY has been my greatest supporter in life; I now know she meant to say you will need to work hard since math is challenging.) So when I thought about going to MIT to pursue genetics because Punnett squares in biology were absolutely fascinating to me, those words played around in my head and I thought maybe I wasn’t good enough. I know here is where you are expecting me say to heck with what my mom said; I did indeed go to MIT, went to work at biotechnology company and then came to the Anita Borg Institute. Actually, I went to Smith, avoided math and science classes altogether thanks to their no core requirements curriculum to pursue a double major in Art History and Government, worked in the education field eventually becoming a Director of Diversity and Admission Director and then I came to ABI.

Was I meant to become an architect or geneticist? Probably not according to anyone who has visited my home or my cube and can instantly tell that my not so secret passion is interior design. However, my former career dreams does let you know that my inner geek lives quite comfortably alongside my artsy creative girly girl purse and shoe loving nature. Robert A. Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey and C.S. Lewis were some of my favorite childhood authors. I am mad that they canceled Firefly after one season and I prefer Star Trek NG and DS9 to the original Star Trek (although I have a theory that “The Trouble with Tribbles” is where the idea for The Gremlins came from). When space travel becomes affordable for people who work the non-profit sector I will be the first one to buy a ticket.

I love that everyday I can bring my experiences running an admission office and coordinating programs to my role as Program Associate at ABI. You might meet me when you come to one of our TechLeaders workshops, Women of Vision Awards Ceremony or Grace Hopper Women in Computing Conference. I also love that at the Anita Borg Institute we work hard to create programming to support and encourage women to pursue their dreams in technology so that they can use their talents to help shape our world. I truly believe in the importance of our mission and to me that is good enough!