The Value of Mentoring Women and Minorities in Tech | Elaine Montilla | TEDxChelseaPark
in today's world being part of one minority group it's pretty challenging and comes with many disadvantages now imagine being a female latina lesbian and working in the tech industry a lot of my friends like to call me a professional unicorn but I prefer to just go by Elaine you could just call me lady I work in the tech industry for more than 20 years now more recently in academia as an AVP and chief information officer in both the data and my personal experience confirmed that this industry which is mostly dominated by men does not welcome women or minority groups this is a particular subject that is close to my heart you see I have two amazing nephews that I love as if they were my own today I want to meet something that I don't share our loud often I'm really worried about their future their last name and the color of their skin will tell every potential employer that they belong to a minority group in so knowing how much they love technology I started to ask myself well what opportunities are they going to miss if things continue the way they are today STEM fields are significantly on the recruiting minority groups and it all starts at home did you know that low-income students often go up to homes where there is just one computer shared by everyone in a lot of these students go to homes where there is no computer at all and it may be difficult for some of us to relate to this because nowadays we carried two or three devices with us but this is the everyday reality for a lot of our students out there for a very long time now that companies have been recruiting students from places like Stan for an MIT so I can tell you that public schools and community colleges are not a priority for them and even if they did happen to go to one of these low income schools students who are not white or Asian may not even be in networks to hear about these events we must do better than this especially now that the demand for stem workers is increasing tremendously and while 40,000 students are graduating each year with a computer science degree it is estimated that by the year 2020 which is right around the corner there will be 1.4 million job openings I'm not a mind reader but I know some of you are thinking damn I should have major in computer science listen it's never too late I always say that this saddest part about this statistics is that it is also predicted that just 3% of these jobs will be filled by women and what's even worse blacks and Latinos each comprise just about 5% of those who make it into management positions I'm extremely lucky that I love what I do and I stayed in the game for this long because 40% of women who enter the tech field end up leaving just after 10 years because of the lack of support as a woman and as a minority today I'm here to tell you we desperately need more mentors the fact that I had mentors during my college years who encouraged and supported me I'm sure that I stayed on a path to a stem career it was almost 20 years ago but I found myself in my first computer networking class I was so excited I was learning how to remotely configure a Cisco router and I know it sounds like a long time ago but we did have Cisco routers already I promised my professor at that time professor Largo came up to me one night after class and said Elaine I see a lot of potential in you you should take the New York civil service exam mind you I had no idea what she was talking about but what I knew is that I looked up to her I saw her as a role model professor Largo was the first female latina that to my eyes was already doing what I wanted to do she was awakening technology and so no questions asked the same week I went ahead and I took the exam and I can tell you that her guidance that night completely changed my career trajectory in the same goal for the workplace there is a ton of research out there that shows that women and underrepresented minorities who have an effective mentor at work are more likely to stay in a STEM related career and if you own a company right now you probably listening to me insane yeah that all sounds good but what I want to know is what's in it for me and that's an excellent question because I'm also here to tell you that according to research companies with a diverse and inclusive culture see more innovation achieve better business outcomes and not only me but they exceed their financial targets I moved to the u.s. at the age of 16 right after finishing high school in the Dominican Republic and I can barely speak any English my first week in college no joke I was marked absent from every class you want to know why every professor was calling me Elaine and my entire life up to that point I was called Elena in Spanish so I didn't know who they were calling but I knew it wasn't me and that's another reason why today I truly enjoy mentoring young immigrants who may feel shy because they have a beautiful accent like me or maybe afraid to speak up mentoring Millennials gives me the ability to shape the leaders of tomorrow and help a younger generation in need and not only that let's be honest Millennials are the ones helping me stay up today with all this new technology that I honestly don't have any time to keep up with it's a lot I just I can't in the end they have made me a better leader and so I see it as a win-win for everyone I know we can do better but I also know that we need to rely on each other to ensure people at the highest levels are accountable and that includes homes it includes schools and it includes companies awareness is just not enough and I'm honestly sick and tired of being the only woman in the room companies need to be accountable for the Bell sponsoring and mentoring women and underrepresented minorities because without any kind of accountability all this talk about diversity and inclusion is nothing but lip service important numbers aside for a minute technology's a power advancement technology is about innovation we need new voices at the table if we want continued innovation in the ability to reach out to larger markets before I leave today I want to give you some homework I know you thought it will be easy what is not but don't worry even though I'm in academia I won't be grading you today well here's what I want you to do when you return to work I want you to look around and find someone who looks nothing like you in start sharing some of your personal and professional wisdom listen to their stories and offer support and guidance in whichever way is available to you imagine the world my nephews and all the minorities would find if each one of us started to do this today I'm extremely proud to represent several minority groups in my final message to all women and minorities out there who want to go into tech just like I did is to be brave be bold educate yourself and bring fear with you everywhere you go because fear is right here with me and he has never stopped me gracias [Applause]