Utah Valley women recognized for tech leadership
Women Tech Awards winners pose for a picture Oct. 24, 2018. From left, Vance Checketts of Dsco, Legacy Award winner; Lindsey Zuloaga of HireVue, Technology Innovator winner; Jacqueline White of SaltStack, Trailblazer winner; Jerika Ostler of Brigham Young University, Student Pathways winner; Jennifer Smith of Zions Bancorporation, Technology Leadership winner; Nayana Penmetsa of Qualtrics, Emerging Tech Leader award; Leslie Falk of Health Catalyst, Growth Leadership award; Laura deShazo of Murray High School, Education Innovator award; and Nancy Ham of WebPT, Executive Excellence winner.
Women Tech Awards stand ready Oct. 24, 2018.
Cydni Tetro, left, and Sara Jones, right — co-founders of Women Tech Council — and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox issue a challenge to tech leaders to introduce more women in professional networks, during the Women Tech Awards, Oct. 24, 2018.
Women are making their mark in the local tech scene, and a few were recently recognized as top talent.
The Women Tech Council honored 20 businesswomen and three students at its recent Women Tech Awards for their work in technology innovation, leadership, education, business growth and breaking down barriers for others to follow.
“By highlighting and promoting top talent in technology, these awards amplify the impact of women across the technology industry and accelerate the growth of the entire sector,” said Cydni Tetro, president and co-founder of WTC, in a press release about the event. “This platform also brings together the technology community to build dialogue and spur meaningful action towards creating solutions to increase the number of women in tech.”
Increasing the number of women in tech is also important to award winner Jacqueline White, senior vice president of global sales and business development at SaltStack. White earned the WTC Trailblazer award at the ceremony.
“Receiving that award was really satisfying to me because being in sales within tech — that is a very male-dominated subset within a very male-dominated industry. I really was a trailblazer, and was very honored with that award,” White said in a phone interview. “I started in 1990, and I was told over and over, ‘They won’t hire you as a woman. You’ll just get married and have kids.'”
White did get married and did have children — five of whom joined her at the Women Tech Awards and applauded her win.
“Women are so riddled with self-doubt, and we’re told if we work, our family will suffer. So it was satisfying to see my kids sitting there at the table, all well-adjusted, and proud of their mom,” White said.
Because of her decades of experience in the tech industry, White profoundly believes in WTC’s mission to elevate women in the state. She also was excited about the challenge issued at the awards event. WTC leadership rolled out the 3x3x30 Challenge, which is to introduce three women to three male influencers within the next 30 days.
“You can’t underestimate the value of your professional networks. We have to do this very thing — to get women plugged in and to get them a part of the network,” White said, explaining that much of her career progress can be attributed to networking.
Award winner Jerika Ostler is a senior information systems major at Brigham Young University. She is on the cusp of stepping into her tech career, but she already knows the value of networking and mentoring. She earned the WTC Student Pathways award for her work in the field. Almost since the beginning of her college trek, she has mentored others. She mentors younger college students through BYU’s Women in Business club, and through her program at the university.
“It’s fun to see them get the concept and say, ‘Yeah, I can actually do this.’ A big thing is to have confidence you can learn it. There are times when everyone else knows more than you do, but you can still learn it and you can still do it. And you offer a different viewpoint,” Ostler said of females in the tech industry.
She also wants others to know the tech field is flexible, and can work with a woman’s changing life experiences. She’s expecting her first child soon, and isn’t going into a bigger corporate job after graduation. But she is excited to do freelance work and help small businesses through her unique and much-needed skills.
“There’s tons of opportunity if you have those skills,” she said in a phone interview.
White agrees.
“There are so many opportunities for women in STEM fields, and women are getting into those fields in record numbers. That’s really exciting,” White said.
Since the launch of the Women Tech Awards 11 years ago, the Women Tech Council has recognized more than 200 women leaders and almost 30 college students for their work in the tech fields.