Women in Tech 2021

Over the years, ivision’s team has grown with top-notch talent. We’ve witnessed a steady increase of women entering the IT industry, and we’ve been incredibly lucky to welcome them to our team. Their fresh perspectives and varied backgrounds have made a huge impact on ivision and the tech industry as a whole. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’d like to introduce you to some of the wonderful women who make ivision not only an amazing place to work, but a great partner.

Lauren Liberto – Product Manager

Career Overview

Even though my educational background was in economics and finance, my career journey started in the pharma industry as a sales representative. I worked in that field for seven and a half years, however I decided it didn’t line up with what I was looking for as a long-term career. Shortly after I left pharma, I moved to Atlanta and got involved with Technology Association of George (TAG) and my first venture into tech was with a VOIP company in 2014 for a short stent and then in 2016 I joined a fiber optics company for three years. I made the move to ivision in October 2019 and it has given me the opportunity to work with experts in all facets of technology.

Why did you choose a career in technology?

I always enjoyed learning about the latest advancements in all industries. The technology industry has given me an opportunity to be exposed to new technology solutions that are transforming the way that companies do business today, which is pretty amazing to see!

What advice would you give to women or girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?

If you are just starting out and you are thinking about getting into tech, then take a few classes to gain some exposure. If you don’t have a background in tech and you want to make a career jump, the industry is always changing so you will never be too far behind to catch up if you are willing to learn. Surround yourself with experts and learn from them and one day you will be the expert and be able to help others. 

Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?

It just sort of happened. It wasn’t a specific person or an event, but more of a cumulation of people I met along the way that influenced me and pushed me to want to know more. The more I was exposed to it, the more I enjoyed it.

Jessica Pervis – Senior Delivery Manager

Career Journey

My journey to find the right career is a bit winding, as most are. In college, I majored in communications with a focus in public relations and minor in business administration. While in college, I took a part-time job working for an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) company doing data entry and ended up staying with that company almost nine years.  That company was purchased and grew over time. They gave me a ton of opportunity training new employees, onboarding clients, documenting processes for a number of processes for various organizations within the company, writing customer communications and even managing the website. I worked in marketing for a couple of years and then was asked to be a project manager to help consolidate some offices and data centers. I jumped at the opportunity and that’s how I ended up in project management.

Since that job, I have worked as a project manager in a variety of companies focused on different technologies including an advertising agency focused on websites and mobile applications, a small front-end development shop building websites and applications for clients ranging from start-ups to very large IT companies and now, since 2018, ivision.

Why did you choose a career in technology?

I have always been interested in technology. My sister tells the story of the first time my father showed us the internet (which makes me feel old). I was fascinated and wanted to see more, and she said, “I just wanted to play the snake game.” I guess it was never really on my radar or list of goals to have a career in technology, but rather a natural path and something I was interested in.

What advice would you give to women or girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?

• Find mentors. Over the course of my career, I have had many, many people I would consider mentors, and they each taught me something different that helped me in my career.
• Explore your options. When I started trying to decide what to do with my life, developer or IT engineer were not even on my radar. Often, I wish that I had started out my career in a more technical role.
• Finally, work hard. No matter what field you go into, working hard and diligently will always pay off.

Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?

My dad was a HUGE influence on my career. As a child watching my father’s example, I learned a lot about work ethic, drive and doing your best, regardless of the task. I also learned about technology from him – he started his career as an application developer.

When I was trying to figure out a career in college, he kept telling me that I would be good at business and I resisted his advice for a couple of years before deciding to follow it.

As an adult, I had the opportunity to work with my dad. In addition to teaching me about business, the industry and technology, he was the mentor that taught me how to handle difficult people and situations and how to approach problems methodically.

Sarah Walker- Manager, Consulting Services

Career Journey

I have worked in IT for a little over 20 years. I started out in tech support for an application service provider and found my way to IT project management as it suited my natural interests in technology and was a personality match for project management. I have enjoyed working in a variety of environments, where I have helped organizations implement and operate PMO’s, adding in the operational governance to provide needed organization and structure (not too much as to overwhelm productivity). I have always been hands on with my approach, asking questions and wanting to understand how it all works. I love that I found ivision, and my technology and business curiosity is embraced to get involved in a variety of different areas. I have especially loved that I have been able to learn and grow in business continuity. I have been supported and enabled to engage and lead business continuity and disaster preparedness planning engagements. It has been an opportunity to see the inner workings of an organization and help them identify plans for how to best manage risk and protect the operations of their business.

Why did you choose a career in technology?

I have always loved technology and how powerful it is to change the way we live, work and really everything we do.

What advice would you give to women or girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?

Let nothing stop you. Even though it is a largely male dominated field, there are wonderful female engineers and leaders in the industry.

Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?

In 2000, I worked for a public records research company, and that was when I realized I wanted to go into technology. My boss paid my application fee to AIU to pursue a master’s in information technology. I am grateful for his support in my interest, even though it ultimately took me in a different direction. Some of the best leaders are the ones who take themselves out of the equation and help you with where you want to go.

Monneith Williams – Associate Delivery Manager

Career Journey

I started my career in my hometown of Nassau, Bahamas as a Desktop Publisher/Office Manager for a printing company, Excelsior Printing, and then moved into the offshore banking field as an administrative assistant to the mutual funds department, then Rawson Trust Company. 

My career in IT started over 20 years ago, at Rawson Trust Company, now called Oceanic Bank and Trust.  I always say my career in IT is unique to me because, I did not have any real knowledge or education on technology.  I just knew it was something that really interested me.  Coming from the Mac world and now into the PC world, I was fascinated by the technology.  Oceanic Bank was moving into its own building and outsourced their IT Services at the time.  The office was moving on the other side of the island and there was no IT staff on premise to readily provide IT Support to the employees.  Because of my interest in technology, I came up with a plan to present to the manager responsible for IT to employ an in-house IT support person and to consider me for the position.  He gave me the position, with no real education on computers and NT systems which was the technology at that time.  In my presentation I presented a plan for my education in NT and computer technology. I was promoted from Network Administrator to IT Supervisor/Manager and worked in that position until I moved to Georgia.  During my transition to Georgia, I worked as an IT consultant at Vision for Souls Church, a technician at Atlanta Public School for Randstad Staffing and worked at AT&T for a short period in their product management center.  I later moved to Citizens Trust Bank as their help desk administrator and then moved to the position of their bank product and system analyst. 

My passion for technology and helping others, along with my analytic, processing and procedures skills brought me to ivision over a year ago. I am loving this new journey.  ivision promotes you to do what you love through your strengths and team collaborations. I am afforded the opportunity to do what I love every day!

Why did you choose a career in technology?

It keeps me learning.  Technology is always evolving and there are so many facets.  It is an industry of relevance; it will never die.

What advice would you give to women and girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?

Never be afraid because they say that technology is a man’s world.  I beg to differ in this 21st Century. Technology is a shared world. If you have a thought write it down, look for mentors or internships that would provide the education and hands-on experience needed.  Be open and willing to put the time and effort into learning and growing and your hard work will not be in vain.  If you fall, get up and brush yourself off and try again. 

Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?

There are three people who influenced my career. Mr. Lindsey Cancino for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to work in technology.  Ian Hepburn from Providence Technology made it seem easy to me to work with technology.  He always pushed me and his team to be great. I can still hear him saying “there is a reason for manuals, read them.” Renee Ijeoma was the first women I worked with in technology, and she was always encouraging, patient and taught me whatever she knew about technology.  She is now the CTO at Deltec Bank & Trust and still my mentor and friend to this day.  I am so forever grateful for these individuals.

Want to learn more about an exciting career in the IT industry? Check out our careers page for current openings.