DEV Community: Azure Heroes

Celebrate diversity in tech - FTW Conf, March 8

Nick Trogh — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 08:27:04 +0000

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, March 8, individuals from companies and communities like Microsoft, Auth0, Copenhagen Capacity and Startup Sweden, jointly organize FTW Conf - a mini conference celebrating marginalized genders in technology.

Through several parallel tracks we’re excited to invite you to a half day of learning and connecting with industry peers. Make sure to also check the inspiring stories and get energized by hearing how others experienced their journey in IT.

What can you expect?

FTW Conf is for the womxn, the wonderful, the witty, the wondering, ... which is why we've created a diverse line-up of sessions across 5 parallel tracks, so you can mix-and-match For The Win!

In the Security track you will learn about Threat Modelling, Trust and how you can get into security yourself. And don’t worry to bring your questions as there will be ample time for Q&A with the speakers and hosts.

If you’re interested in technologies gathering personal information, accountability and trust, then you shouldn’t miss the Transparency in Tech panel discussion about how to change the way transparency is built into technology.

Feeling nervous about approaching a salary negotiation or promotion discussion with your boss? Keen to find a mentor but unsure where to begin? Wonder how you can best bounce back and build resilience in an ever-challenging world? Applying to jobs and receiving zero response? Join our Career track as we explore real experiences, practical advice, and guidance from inspiring women in the industry on these important topics. Engage with us through our open Q&A and we will help you take your career to the next level!

All work and no play makes anyone dull. During the pandemic we’ve all picked up new hobbies, adopted new habits. In the Creative track, we won’t be talking sourdough bread, but we will explore more brainy creative outlets, like LEGO, sketch noting, and... knitting.

And don’t forget to pop in and out of our Main track, where we’ll have inspiring stories, discussions about diverse topics and where we’ll tie everything together in a panel with speakers from the different tracks.

Who are the organizers?

This event is organized by a passionate group of people who strive for making the IT industry a more diverse and inclusive place. Putting in place an event like this requires many helping hands, from the behind-the-scenes production team, scheduling sessions as a track owner, to moderating or hosting sessions themselves.
We have Sherry List and Suzanne Daniels from Microsoft running the main track, Ana Cidre and Sam Bellen from Auth0 are leading the Security Track, Lisa Mallner from Copenhagen Capacity is responsible for the Transparency in Tech topic, the Career track is in the capable hands of Ellie King from DigitTech Search and Peggy Poon from Microsoft for Startups, and finally, Microsoft’s Floor Drees oversees the Creative track. Behind the scenes, Nick Trogh (Microsoft), Goran Vuksic (Stratiteq), and Rasmus Jaque (Microsoft) are part of the production team.

When is it happening?

FTW Conf is happening on March 8, 2021 and we're kicking off at 17h30 CET | 8:30am PST. Check the full conference schedule on https://ftwconf.com

What should you do next?

Make sure to register and/or save the date at https://ftwconf.com and follow #ftwconf on social media for the latest updates.

You are an Azure Hero. What's next?

Maxim Salnikov — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 16:19:43 +0000

Disclaimer: if you are not a lucky owner of an Azure Hero badge yet, please, learn more about this program and how to join.

Congratulations! You are one of the Azure Heroes. That means you have a mobile app called Enjin Wallet, created by our partners, which contains one or multiple badges. What's next? You decide! You could just secretly keep this collection for your eyes only and grow it. Or you could explore some interesting opportunities for you to contribute back to the tech community using your Azure Heroes status.

1. Share your award with the developer community

Every badge you have in your Enjin Wallet has a convenient way to publish it on social media. Just use the well-known "Share" icon on the badge details screen or use the "Share" menu item (click the three dots menu to get to it). You will get a quick post template for sharing on Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. Or you can just copy-paste the link to the badge from this template and write your own text. As a result, you will receive a nicely formatted social media post.

You are welcome to share every new badge you receive this way!

Also, on LinkedIn, there is a cool way to have the badges in your profile like this:

Just go to Edit profile -> Featured -> Add link

2. Reserve your spot on the Azure Heroes Community map

By default, your badge is completely anonymous and it's up to you to publicize it to the global developer community. And we have a solution for this!

Just go to the Azure Heroes Community website and associate your Twitter or LinkedIn profile with your badges (these is a simple and quick process for it). Once you've completed this, your name will appear on this website, linked to your country of residence.

Of course, you can remove this connection, and thus remove your profile from the Azure Community website, at any time.

3. Ask your employer if your company participates in the "Azure Heroes for Enterprise" program

For company-internal skilling and educational events related to Azure, we have a special offering called "Azure Heroes for Enterprise" with a special Azure Polymath badger. Do you want to delight your colleagues by providing them with Azure Heroes badges? Just ask the person who drives this internal motion to contact us at ahhelp@microsoft.com, and we'll come to your company's internal events to share the badges.

4. Collect more badges & badges of different types...

...and follow the updates on the Azure Heroes Twitter account or updates from your employer if your company is a part of "Azure Heroes for Enterprise". Soon we will start sharing some cool giveaways that you can get in exchange for some of your digital badges (exact rules are defined on a case-by-case basis). It's always great to have something "real" in addition to the digital badge, isn't it?

5. Received a badge as a student and your university has some courses about cloud technology?

We have a program called "Azure Heroes for University" where we distribute digital badges for the students attending these courses. Please, introduce your teacher to us by sending an email to ahhelp@microsoft.com, and we'll pick up the conversation.

Do you know more ways to benefit from Azure Heroes badges?

Please, share your ideas with us! We are eager to hear from you and reward the best suggestions :)

--
Yours, Azure Heroes team (Sherry, Maxim, Nick)

We celebrate Hacktoberfest by introducing OpenSourcer badge of Azure Heroes program

Maxim Salnikov — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 14:44:52 +0000

Today, at CONTRIBUTING.md, we announced the new addition to our #azureheroes family: The OpenSourcer badge!

👉 OpenSourcer badgers recognize those who help build a robust OSS environment, with impactful technology and a collaborative, engaged community. OpenSourcers build, maintain, and make meaningful contributions to open source projects, while inspiring others to be part of the OSS movement.

To qualify, you must:

Be a creator, maintainer or contributor to an impactful (in your own definition) open-source software project.
And react to contributors' questions and requests in Issues and Pull Requests, in a way that people with all levels of the technical experise feel welcomed in your code repository.
Optionally, introduce OSS by speaking, blogging and other public activities.

💻 Are you all about contributing to #OSS success? This is the right badge for you then! Nominate yourself or your colleague or friend!

Meet a new Green Contributor badge!

Maxim Salnikov — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 20:30:16 +0000

Today, at GreenConf 💚, we announced the new addition to our #azureheroes family: The Green Contributor 🌱

👉 Green developers contribute to the growth of the sustainable software engineering field. Recipients of this badge drive innovation by building sustainable software and help educate the community by creating content and resources related to sustainable software engineering.

To qualify, you must verify at least one of the impacts in any of the bullets below.

Creator or maintainer or core contributor to an open-source software project with a focus on sustainable software.
Created several pieces of content for blogs, webinars, podcasts, or talks related to sustainable software.
Created tutorials, how-to guides, or sample code related to the field of sustainable software engineering.

💻 Are you all about #sustainable software engineering? This is the right badge for you then! Nominate yourself or your colleague or friend!

Inspiring Stories: Benedicte Raae

Maxim Salnikov — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 13:12:54 +0000

As a society, we tend to focus on titles and roles, and we forget that behind each title there is a person who has a story to tell. And truly every person’s story is unique.
In honor of International Women's day, we interview inspiring women from the community on the story of how they got into Tech, and where they are today.

In this post, I interview Benedicte Raae, who is based in Oslo, Norway.

Meet Benedicte

I’m Benedicte of Lilly Labs. I’m a computer scientist living in Oslo, Norway and have been an independent software engineer for almost a decade. I have clients in both the private and public sector in Norway and also a few international clients.

I love to create robust, user-friendly tools using web technology. My current favorite is Gatsby, a React framework.

Right now, I’m developing a privacy-first period tracker called POW! launched March 8th. The level of detail I found in existing apps made me less inclined to use them; it felt creepy, a little invasive even. And last year, the feeling was backed up by reports that several of the most popular tracker apps were selling or sharing data they collected with third parties such as Facebook.

So I spent 2019 answering the question: “A privacy first-period tracker? Is it even possible?” It led me to learn about encryption in web applications and to share my new-found knowledge at JavaZone, Mobile Era, JSConf Budapest, and RuhrJS. 

I also realized I just had to make a pass at making one. In addition to keeping your privacy safe, I hope to also give the control back to the user. POW! leverages hashtags to let you track the things you are interested in using a language you are familiar with.

Twitter: @raae
Instagram: @raae.codes

When did you first become interested in technology and what sparked this interest?

My mother is a mechanical engineer but worked as a developer for most of her career, before transitioning to a managerial role. This gave me early access to computers. I remember us connecting to the Internet over a noisy modem, while I was still in elementary school, only to check vg.no and waiting forever for it to appear. I was not very impressed.

However, at 13, my Norwegian teacher introduced me to HTML and CSS. Also, the Internet had become a lot more fun. At 16, I was responsible for Foss revyen’s first website and needed JavaScript to create an image carousel. I have never spelled height wrong again after spending hours debugging the code.

I am more interested in what we can create with technology than the technology itself. And lately I've been even more interested in what we probably should not make, even though we could.

What education do you have?

Master of Technology, Computer Science, from NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology).

Describe your way towards your first job in tech; how did you land this job?

I was a summer intern at Iterate and after finishing that and graduating in 2009, they offered me a job. At that time, this situation was typical for most of my class.

Do you have any role models that influenced you?

My mother, and the other ladies working with her. They normalized the whole “women in tech thing” to such a degree that it took me years to realize others had questioned their right to be here much more than I've ever had.

My grandmother, co-founder of Kronborg Leverpostei and women’s rightist activist who was a force to be reckoned with until the end. Both my daughter (Lillian) and my company (Lilly Labs) are named after her.

David Heinemeier Hansson, founder of Basecamp, who has created a thriving tech business focusing on paying customers and is taking a stand against surveillance marketing.

And many, many more.

Who were/are the biggest supporters in your career?

My partner Ola and my good friend and cheerleader Marit Letnes!

I also find support in the Slow Business Community (led by Torill Bye Wilhelmsen), where the focus is on building businesses we enjoy, while running them. This as opposed to the hustle, hustle, hustle, and then flip mentality prevalent in tech.

Tell us more about your current job – e.g. what do you like most about your role?

I really enjoy and need the freedom of being an independent developer!

At the moment, I split my time between POW! and an engagement creating a web application, in React, for a Scandinavian defense force. 

I often work long term, but not full time for my clients. It’s a win-win; I keep the outside perspective that clients often need, while being a stable resource on their projects.

What does your typical day look like?

I take our daughter to kindergarten, then head to a coffee shop to work remotely or go to the city center to work at my current client’s office. I try to, and most often do, get several hours of uninterrupted time to code, giving me that sweet flow feeling.

What do you do in your free time?

Being independent, there is not as hard a line between work and free time. 

I love to code, and you can find me spending an evening at the local café coding on something fun, like POW! while enjoying a glass of wine. But you can also find me mid-week taking a break from everything just reading a book.

However, I have started horseback riding again after 20 years, and it’s a blast: “Hest er fortsatt best.” 

What advice will you give to women and girls who dream about a career in tech?

Do it, join me, you belong!  

Inspiring Stories: Stéphanie Visser

Floor Drees — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 10:58:38 +0000

As a society we tend to focus on titles and roles, and we forget that behind each title there is a person who has a story to tell. And truly every person’s story is unique.

In honor of International Women's day, we interview inspiring women from the community on the story of how they got into Tech, and where they are today.

In this post, I interview Stéphanie Visser, who is based in the Netherlands.

Meet Stéphanie

Hello!! My name is Stéphanie and I work as a Software Engineer for autonomous driving projects at Microsoft. The road that led me there is quite unusual – more about that later 😊. I am convinced that technology should be developed by people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, since the solutions we build will also be used by everyone around the world. And the world is not a homogeneous place. I’m passionate to bring this message out, so you can often find me (on- and off-stage) talking to young adults to inspire them to follow their passion, even though they do not fit into some sort of ‘stereotype’ of whatever that passion may be.

When did you first become interested in technology and what sparked this interest? 

My parents were quite computer-minded, so we always had a bunch of computers standing around in the house (at a time where ‘a computer on every desk and in every home’ wasn’t reality yet 😊). I remember the excitement of getting those computers to work LAN-party style (which could take hours) so we could all play Age of Empires together. My first contact with programming was therefore at quite a young age, when I found a book on how to program your own website in HTML, which kept me busy for months.

What education do you have?  

And that’s where stuff gets interesting! For some reason, I never linked my early excitement for technology with an actual career path. So, life happened, and I went to study Hospitality Management at Hotelschool The Hague instead. This was an wonderful experience where I learned so much about customer-centricity (something that we sometimes lack in the world of technology) – but I knew I wanted to dive deeper. So after obtaining my Bachelor's and a few years of working experience, I went on to pursue a Master’s in Business Information Management at Erasmus Rotterdam School of Management.

Describe your way towards your first job in tech; how did you land this job? 

Most of you probably recognize that uncertain feeling towards the end of your education – what am I gonna do with my life, what is the right company, where can I learn most, etc.. I knew I wanted to work either at a big tech player – or at a startup (so in retrospect, I had no clue at all 😃). A friend of mine told me about a traineeship at Microsoft, and in a hunch, I just decided to sign up. Because why not. And fast-forward a few months later, just when I was finishing up my Master’s, Microsoft offered me a traineeship! That felt unreal – me, coming from hospitality management, now working for one of the largest tech players in the world! Wohoo!

During my first 3 years at Microsoft, I worked in tech-strategic roles – and although I enjoyed those roles, I really missed coding. Microsoft recognized this and, based on my passion and motivation to learn, gave me the chance to pivot my career by offering me a job as a Software Engineer. And here I am today!

Do you have any role models that influenced you? 

To be honest, I’m inspired by anyone who does amazing things and masters their art against the expected – drag queens, professional athletes, people in tech coming from unexpected places, musicians that disrupted their industry.. Authenticity excites me, just like a willingness in people to strive forward, to innovate and to be different.

Tell us more about your current job – e.g. what do you like most about your role? 

In my current job as a Software Engineer, I code with automotive customers on autonomous driving scenarios, where I am mainly focusing on the ‘operationalization’ aspect of machine learning. Big words, but what that simply means is that I make sure that those epic ML models (that recognize where other cars are, or if a pedestrian is crossing the street) can be brought to production, in a DevOps-y way.

My role is heavily focused on ‘coding with’ customers instead of ‘coding for’ customers. That means that I am not hired by customers to build stuff for them – instead, my team truly partners up with the customer to sit together and pair program with them. This way, we can educate the customer about our technology hands-on, and show how our tech stack can help them make an impact. This knowledge-sharing component of my job is something I’m really passionate about.

But what excites me most about my job, is that I have the opportunity to contribute to such an industry-changing topic – in an industry that just needs to be transformed. I mean, if we could re-invent mobility now, would we still create environment-polluting, human-killing, personal steel boxes that you are only entitled to drive when you have money, good eyesight and fully-functioning limbs? An autonomous, electric and shared transportation system could drastically reduce environmental pollution, reduce deaths, and give more transportation options to those with special needs. And although this is such a massive, massive, global problem, I’m super grateful I can work on a tiny tiny piece of this.

What does your typical day look like? 

My team works in sprints, about 25% on-site with the customer, and the rest of the time remote. This means that if I’m not travelling to code at the customer’s office, I work from home. The day always begins with a team standup, and then – picking up user stories and code, code, code! And, of course, the occasional Teams call with a colleague when I’m stuck, because I’m always learning 😊, and it’s so much easier to solve an issue together than alone at your desk.

What do you do in your free time? 

I am huge on bouldering – you can find me 10+ hours per week hanging on a wall 😊. Next to that, I manage a theatre company in which I act and co-create plays; I regularly play Dungeons & Dragons with friends; and recently I started co-hosting De Dataloog, a podcast about data and machine learning.

What advice would you give to women and girls who dream about a career in tech?  

There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ background to work in tech! The great thing about tech is that our field is evolving so rapidly, that everyone is always learning. You are your own amazing and unique story – own it, without compromise, no matter what the expectations of others are. And if you sometimes feel a bit lost – connect to those who believe in you and who want to help you become a better version of yourself. You can do it.

Thanks so much for reading! If you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn and feel free to reach out in case you have any questions or thoughts!

Inspiring Stories: Nynne Just Christoffersen

Sherry List 🏡 🇩🇰 — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 08:22:32 +0000

As a society we tend to focus on titles and roles, we tend to forget that behind each title there is a person, a person who has a story to tell and every person’s story is unique.
In honor of International Women's day, we interview inspiring women from the community on the story of how they got into Tech, and where they are today.

In this post, I interview Nynne Just Christoffersen who is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Twitter: @nynnest
LinkedIn: Nynne Just Christoffersen

Meet Nynne

I'm a software developer at Siteimprove in Copenhagen. My first career was in art and design history and working in museums. Then, I discovered coding! I made a student group with a classmate where we taught intro to programming as well as 3d scanning and printing. This was the first time I felt like technology was something I could make my own.

Since then, I developed a passion for teaching and I have been involved with a number of non-profits that focus on celebrating diversity in tech and making the space welcoming to beginners. This year, I started teaching an MA class at the Computer Science department of the IT University of Copenhagen called Frameworks and Architectures for the Web.

Role models

I have a lot of role models. There are so many people I look up to in this industry. I think the real reason I'm a developer was that I managed to meet so many cool people along the way. Perhaps the most important person to support me early on was my brother. Growing up, the computer stood in his room and he was the techy one. When I first got interested in coding, I remember that I called him and asked if he thought it was a bad idea. Should I just drop it? He fully supported me, and that was really helpful and motivating. Several years later he was at a crossroads professionally, and then I got to be the one who advised him to be a developer!

My current job & communities

What I really like about my current job is continuously learning on the job, feeling like I contribute something valuable and working with so many people who are both incredibly good at what they do and generous with sharing those skills. I am also lucky to get to work with a lot of great people through all the community work I'm involved with next to that. I especially appreciate Hack Your Future (HYF), a non-profit coding school that aims to train refugees, asylum seekers and other disadvantaged groups to become web-developers. I have been involved as a mentor teaching classes over the last three years and sat on the board of directors. Through HYF, I keep meeting the most incredible individuals.
I'm also really excited about my involvement in an open-source project is a non-profit organisation called Rails Girls Copenhagen, where we're building a mentor-mentee app that'll help people new to programming find a mentor, which is in itself entirely build by women who are new to programming.

Nynne Just Christoffersen

@nynnest

I got an inclusive leader badge for organizing the first Copenhagen @gdcfpday event!

Thanks for this token, which is a cute Badger token as well as a digital asset on the Ethereum public blockchain ⛓️

#azureheroes

10:18 AM - 21 Feb 2020

1 24

You can do this!

My main advice to people just starting to get into tech would be to find a community of people who are likeminded, kind and supportive. This could be friends, starting to study computer science at university or trade school, or a meetup. The internet is full of resources and tutorials, but you may find that you need structure and companionship in order to keep up the stamina it takes to become proficient in a technical field. Oh and quit the negative self-talk. You can do this!

Inspiring Stories: Maria Ovchinnikova

Sherry List 🏡 🇩🇰 — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:14:26 +0000

In this post, I interview Maria Ovchinnikova who is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Meet Maria Ovchinnikova

My name is Maria Ovchinnikova and I am a geek who works as a Data Scientist. I have a very strong passion for technologies such as Machine Learning and Deep Learning, Computer Vision, NLP, and IoT. I love working with software and hardware and I find it very fulfilling seeing my work being used. I am also the Founder of WomenHackCPH and an Ambassador for Women in AI.

When did you become interested in technology and what evoked this interest?
I was kind of always shy when it came to tech, and when I was younger I really thought it was a “guy thing” to work with. Somehow through my studies and professional experiences, I started learning more about it and experimenting with software and hardware. Today I am a total tech nerd. It took some time to build confidence around the subject, but once you make the first steps it is almost impossible to stop.

What education do you have?
I am a Physicist with a Masters's degree from the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

Describe your way towards your first job in tech; how did you land this job?
I was not looking for a job but for a topic to work on my Master Thesis. I was looking for a project that was not pure research, but which would yield results applicable to real life. During a speed dating event at the university, I got in contact with my future employer. They had some interesting data sets that I would love to get my hands on. Deciding to work on my Master Thesis project with a company landed me my first full-time job.

Do you have any role models that influenced you?
It is women like actresses, journalists, scientists and average women who are active and passionate about what they do and they are trying to make the world a better place. They are my superheroes.

Who were/are the biggest supporters in your career?
My biggest supporters by far were and are my professors from the Universities I have studied at.

Tell us more about your current job – e.g. what do you like most about your role?
My role? I have a very diverse interest in different areas, but what I like about being a data scientist is that there is that time when you start working on a solution with your data and you completely zone out. Nothing can stop you and you are fully dedicated to your project. That “in the zone” moment is what I love about working as a data scientist.

What does your typical day look like?
My typical day is like just another employee's day. Once in awhile the routine will be disturbed and those are the days I live for 😊 the chaotic and unusual days.

What do you do in your free time?
Free time? What free time? Besides work, I'm busy with WomenHackCPH initiatives, attending seminars and different events, and travel. When I am finally at home I usually spend time with my zoo (cat, dog, and husband 😊).

In your opinion, do you think that it’s more challenging for women to work in tech?
It is not more challenging for women to work in tech today than it was back in the day, but it is still challenging.

What advice would you give to women and girls who dream about a career in tech but feel insecure about their competencies?
Try it! You have absolutely nothing to lose.

Inspiring Stories: Laura Nicolas

Floor Drees — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 11:52:15 +0000

As a society we tend to focus on titles and roles, and we forget that behind each title there is a person who has a story to tell. And truly every person’s story is unique.
In honor of International Women's day, we interview inspiring women from the community on the story of how they got into Tech, and where they are today.

In this post, I interview Laura Nicolas who is based in Madrid, Spain.

Meet Laura

I am a Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft helping partners across Europe design, build and deliver cloud solutions. My background is in infrastructure, moving from legacy UNIX systems to open source and to now Cloud & automation. I love new, misunderstood, and weird technologies. 

When did you first become interested in technology and what sparked this interest?
I think I always had an interest for it. As a child I always enjoyed games that involved logical problem solving and strategy, that evolved into my interests in physics and mathematics. Then as I grew older I realize how I could use solving challenging problems capabilities into programming and computing in general. Also, given the innovation that we have nowadays it becomes a never-ending story: you always face new challenges and explore new solutions to solve them, it cannot get boring when there is so much to explore!

What education do you have?
I studied Telecommunications Engineering at UCAB in Caracas, Venezuela, my hometown. After that took a Master in International Management at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. As much as I loved tech, I thought it was also important to understand businesses to get an overall view of the challenges they face and align with a business strategy.

Describe your way towards your first job in tech; how did you land this job?
My first job came right after I finished my Masters, it was a tough time due to the recession but I was given the opportunity with one of the Microsoft partners in Spain, called Indra. It's a multinational consulting company operating in a wide range of markets. I was fortunate enough to work in a team that did many different things, so I got to work with many different technologies, markets, solution areas, as well to work for different countries and cultures. I got to learn a lot in my first job, not only because there were many projects but also because I pushed myself to work on as many of them as I could.

Do you have any role models that influenced you?
I'd say my parents and grandparents, although they do not work in tech. They embody what hard work means. Hearing their stories of their struggles to make it in a foreign country, starting from scratch, helped me see what they had do to get to where they are now. They taught me how you need to work for what you want and how all that hard work pays off.

Who were/are your biggest supporters in your career?
First and foremost, my parents. They have not only given me all the tools to get to this point, but also guided me in the right way. They always encouraged me to achieve more and never settle. My husband is also in IT and we get to share that common interest. For many people it might be bringing your work home but for us it is fun, and we challenge one another to get better every day.

Tell us more about your current job – e.g. what do you like most about your role?
What I like most about my role is that I get to do what I like the most every single day: logical problem solving. I get to interact with partners every single day and see how Microsoft's Azure can help them solve those problems building new solutions. Every single day is different, you work with many different partners, different countries, backgrounds and industries so you get to see all that Microsoft has to offer and how it is being used and leveraged in many different ways. Every day I get to learn something new!

What does your typical day look like?
As I mentioned there is not a "typical day". Every day is different from the other. As Cloud Solution Architects we get to help partners in building new practices and help them translate technical requirements into a design architecture. We get to see common partner's business problems and come up with and end-to-end technology solution. Our activities vary, whether it is delivering a webinar, bootcamp or working hand-in-hand with a Microsoft partner. My day-to-day is enabling and building partner’s technical capability, lead technical activities for building solutions, and support them.

What do you do in your free time?
In my free time I like to watch TV shows and movies, especially anything that starts with "based on true events". I also like to travel to the farthest destinations with my husband; just to disconnect and get to experience new cultures.

What advice would you give to women and girls who dream about a career in tech?
If you have a passion for tech and innovation go for it, don't let anyone discourage you or tell you it is not for you! Once you are in an IT role, I'd say don't be afraid to say yes to the most challenging projects, the ones most people would not take and especially when you are young. It will be tough but you will get to learn the most. If you are afraid of something, instead of backing down, go for it (like public speaking). Keep getting out of your comfort zone. It is easy to settle, instead seek new knowledge, soft-skills and technologies, cultivate them and then show it off.

Inspiring Stories: Plamena Cherneva

Sherry List 🏡 🇩🇰 — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 08:59:02 +0000

In this post, I interview Plamena Cherneva who is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Meet Plamena Cherneva

My name is Plamena I am the founder of WonderCoders and initiator of WonderTech Summit and Nordic Women in Tech Awards.
My background is in Computer Science and I am passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation. I've been into technology for as long as I remember and my experience as a minority in the field led me to start building women in tech communities, to educate, support and inspire women in pursuing careers in the industry. I believe Technology is the future and each and every one of us should be involved in it.
With all initiatives we host with WonderCoders we want to inspire women to stop being just consumers and start being creators in tech.

Twitter: @PlamenaCherneva
LinkedIn: Plamena Cherneva

When did you first become interested in technology and what sparked this interest?
I always was fascinated by technology since I was a little kid. As a child, I was very curious, I loved Math and all the geeky stuff, so I think it all happened naturally and eventually, I ended up in the Tech world.

What education do you have?
I have Bachelor's in Information Technology, PBA in Web development and MSc in Computer Science.

Describe your way towards your first job in tech; how did you land this job?
For me, It was a long road until I land at my first job in tech. After graduation, I was full of doubts that whether I was good enough for any developer position.
I remember I used to go through all the posts carefully to make sure I have depth knowledge about every technology they mentioned there before I apply. In many cases even though I would pass the criteria I still didn't feel competent enough to apply.
Eventually, I got a position as an intern at a young web development agency, which later on opened the door to my first full-time job as a Front-end developer

Do you have any role models that influenced you?
I had an amazing teacher, the only female teacher in my Web development program. She supported me in my journey.

Who were/are the biggest supporters in your career?
Well, I have to start with myself, as crazy as it sounds. There were so many challenges along the way and people around me used to tell me that I should give up Technology and chose a different career path. I didn't give up and I am so grateful for that.
My parents didn't understand (and still don't) the career path I chose, but they were extremely supportive.
Also, I had a male mentor, who helped me during my education.

Tell us more about your current job – e.g. what do you like most about your role?
Apart from all volunteer work, I am a full time IT implementation consultant.
What I love the most about my job is not only that I get to build technology, but At this role, I have the opportunity to use my communication, leadership and entrepreneurial skills. I have the chance to communicate with clients and even teach them how to work with the systems we implement.

What does your typical day look like?
The best thing about my job is that every day is different, which makes it even more exciting.

What do you do in your free time?
With all the initiatives I am involved in, there is not much free time left.
But I love to travel and explore new places, hiking and all-time favorite - dancing.

What advice would you give to women and girls who dream about a career in tech?
Always do the opposite of what people tell you to do. The fears and doubts coming out of their mouths are theirs, not yours.
No matter what society says, you belong to the industry and deserve a spot at the table.
If you have any concerns or doubts, you are not alone, there are plenty of women in tech initiatives and awesome female role models out there to support you.

Inspiring Stories: Stacy Cashmore

Floor Drees — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 11:33:27 +0000

In this post, I interview Stacy Cashmore, who is based in the Netherlands.

Meet Stacy

I’m Stacy Cashmore, Software Architect at Omniplan.nl in the Netherlands. For the last 14 years I’ve worked in the consumer finance industry, creating websites that allow customers to organise their financial products, insurances and to close mortgages. And software that helps advisors give the best advice to their customers.

Working in these teams has allowed me to combine three things that excite me about the working in the tech world. I get to play with new technology: I continuously learn new technologies and ways of using those technologies, with the rest of my team, to create something spectacular. I also get to help the team evolve whilst we do this - carrying out different experiments to improve the ways that we work together. And, most importantly, I also get to improve the world a little whilst doing it!

Who were/are your biggest supporters in your career? 

For the last year I’ve had the honour of sharing what I’ve learnt with my team at various meetups and conferences. Thanks to encouragement from the awesome Jessica Engstrom, I wrote a story based on the mistakes we made when automating our testing and then traveled to Stockholm to deliver it to a room full of people for the first time. Scary! But also: amazing!

When did you first become interested in technology and what sparked this interest?
I’ve been interested in technology since I first saw a family friends Atari 2600 back in the early 80’s. When we got our first computer at home a couple of years later – an Atari 800XL – I spent hours writing programs that drew shapes and colours on the screen. I was hooked!

Describe your way towards your first job in tech; how did you land your current job?
After leaving school, I went to university to study information technology. Over the following 4 years I studied various aspects of tech. Not only in software development areas, but also in data communications and microprocessor architectures. And, most importantly for me, spending a year in industry where I could practice my craft and gain that crucial experience. That sandwich year was probably the most important and useful part of the course. Not only did I get to work as a software developer, but when I finished my course the company took me on full time. I was a professional developer!

Fast forward a couple of decades and at the start of February this year I started a new challenge at Omniplan as Software Architect. Here I have the challenge of helping shape the way that our teams are going to be producing software in the coming years, by sparing with the other architect in the company, and also helping the teams shape the way they produce software by helping them experiment with their ways of working.

What do you do in your free time?
When not working, or spending time on writing new stories to share, I spend my time geeking out to Doctor Who, or building modular Lego building with my family.

What advice will you give to women and girls who dream about a career in tech?
Want to get into tech? The best advice I can give would be to try lots of free tutorials to see which (technology) stack speaks to you most and then build a pet project, use your new skills to solve a problem for yourself. Something that is going to help you stay interested. Even during the periods of frustration that will happen 😊

Inspiring Stories: Chanel Lee

Sherry List 🏡 🇩🇰 — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 13:43:58 +0000

In this post, I interview one of my colleagues Chanel Lee, who works as an Azure Specialist at Microsoft, in Denmark.

Meet Chanel Lee

Coming from a traditional family, education had less priority for girls. All my childhood, I’ve been told: I'll be nothing when I grow up!
I’ve been fighting for it all my life. I’ve been struggling to make things right. I believe that's how a superhero learns to fly!
Today I am proud to be a ninja at Microsoft, believing in my super power. I'm stubborn as hell, and I keep pursuing my dreams!

When did you first become interested in technology and what sparked this interest?
When I found logic in tech.

What education do you have?
I have a Bachelor degree in computer science, and hold a diploma in science.

Describe your way towards your first job in tech; how did you land this job?
I was lucky that CS graduates were in high demand after I graduated. Life is about continuous learning, so I just picked a job where I needed to write some embedded mobile OS that I had no clue about. It was fun!

Do you have any role models that influenced you?
Society in the 20th century seems to dictate that women aren’t good at tech stuff. And I gonna prove them wrong.

Who were/are your biggest supporters in your career?
All my customers. Their satisfaction and feedback are all the motivation I need.

Tell us more about your current job – e.g. what do you like most about your role?
I work as a ninja, my mission is to explore new technology, to help my customers solve their technical issues, or to optimize their existing development processes! I love my role as I get to work with all these fun missions.

What does your typical day look like?
Learning is part of my work. I try to keep my days stress-free, and to keep learning.

What do you do in your free time?
I use physical workouts to train my mental strength. Running to train my determination, Pilates. and yoga to train my agility, and playing golf to train my temper.

What advice would you give to women and girls who dream about a career in tech?
Challenge your limit, don't limit your challenge.