Women in Tech 2024: Inclusion Advances Innovation
ivision is proud to have so many accomplished, driven women helping lead our team. We interviewed a handful of them to share their experiences in the tech industry, as well as some words of wisdom for any women or girls looking to pursue a career in tech.
Astonya Ambrose – Quality Control Specialist – Service Delivery, Managed Services
Astonya’s Career Journey
I went to college with the intention of being a computer science major and instead double majored in Sociology and Educational studies. After I graduated, I knew I still wanted to be in Tech, so I signed up for a technical training program and I’ve been in ITSM ever since.
Why did you choose a career in technology?
I was in a summer program in high school where computer science was one of our courses. One year we built and programmed a robot to go through a maze and I thought that was really cool. Plus, I wanted to be able to do all the cool stuff I saw on TV.
What advice would you give women or girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?
I would say to at least try it. “Sometimes just being yourself is the radical act. When you occupy space in systems that weren’t built for you, your authenticity is your activism” – Elaine Welteroth (More Than Enough)
Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?
The NYC Google office.
Lauren Noeltner – DevOps Engineer
Lauren’s Career Journey
After graduating from high school, I attended UGA for three years before deciding to leave due to feeling somewhat limited in the scope of my learning and being unsure what kind of career would suit me best. For several years after I left UGA, I worked in various customer service jobs, ranging from salesfloor jobs to working as a team lead at an art-house movie theater in Atlanta. When COVID started and the theater closed, I found myself with an excess of free time and a desire to come out the other side of the lockdown with a skillset that would allow me to accomplish bigger and better things. A few months into lockdown, I signed up for Georgia Tech’s Full Stack Web Development bootcamp for an intensive 10-week course where I started improving my knowledge of technology, coding, and building full-featured web apps. Upon completing the bootcamp, I continued to improve my skills with regular practice while searching for an opportunity to use and sharpen these skills at work. After six months, I got an opportunity to interview with ivision, and the rest is history!
Why did you choose a career in technology?
I’ve always been interested in technology and good at working with it, but my range of interests is wide, and I bounced between different career ideas many times before landing on technology. Between high school and now, I have studied or otherwise attempted to make a career of Fine Arts, Languages, Psychology, Veterinary Medicine, and Technology. I highly enjoy incorporating different ideas and topics into my work, so over time, I became more and more interested in making a career of technology because it allows for that variety. In development, no project is the same and every project touches on different topics, which allows me to use my technical skills in concert with my varied interests and incorporate them as needed. It feels like every project is a new opportunity to learn more about both technology and any topic tangentially related to it, and I really love that freedom to be creative and learn while making something useful. There’s never a dull day!
What advice would you give women or girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?
If it interests you, go for it! It’s a great career! Taking the first step to get into technology is the hardest. Signing up for the bootcamp I attended was a huge decision for me, but once I started, determination to succeed became the most important factor.
It can be daunting entering an industry that is currently male dominated but knowing that more women are entering the industry every day is something important to remember. Don’t let that get you down, because the shift is happening, and it won’t always be that way.
Being a part of a group of women in the industry who are supportive and encouraging of one another is a wonderful plus. Having a network like this is great for general support and for helping women entering the industry to feel less alone, more connected, and empowered to succeed.
Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?
My main influence on me to join a career in technology is my friend who started working in tech after she graduated from college. She is extremely smart and was always encouraging me to try different things, one of which was learning to develop applications. Talking with her about her experiences in the industry and her encouraging my idea to attend the bootcamp was absolutely critical in getting me to sign up. Her words of advice and her tempering of my doubts about working in a male-dominated field empowered me to believe in myself and to push forward no matter what.
Another thing that influenced me was my varied background and my love of making things (from art to apps). I have always enjoyed any opportunity to be creative, and technology is a perfect place for that. For example, one day I can be working on a weather application, during which I passively learn a lot about weather and the technology that is used to gather the data I need for the application. The next day, I could be working on a completely different application with a new topic and a ton of new related information to learn. Combining the old and new information and using it to creatively solve a problem or create something new is extremely fun to me and feels like the same process I learned when studying painting in school. At the end of the day, whether it’s art or technology, it’s all creative problem solving.
Lyndsey Creamer, Sr. Strategic Partner Manager | Microsoft Group
Lyndsey’s Career Journey
I was raised with early IT influences, as my dad was the VP of Sales and Marketing at Honeywell, which later became Bull Information Systems. Growing up in the 90s offered many technological advances, like the boom of the world wide web and new personal computers and programs. Despite being a Telecommunications and Communication & Culture major, my first role in tech was as a Project Manager at the School of Informatics on campus managing a group of interns working on a major university-wide website re-design. After graduation, I decided to forego marketing job offers to pursue my master’s degree in strategic public relations. I spent my early months in Fargo with my fiancé (now husband) working on my degree and working for a marketing agency before deciding to push my way into Microsoft.
My first role within Microsoft was for the Microsoft support team, taking support cases and routing them to the proper resources. My second role internally was inside sales, and then I was recruited to the Microsoft Academic Alliance team. I LOVED my job and spent six years working within that space before leaving for a role in Alliance Management with a top Microsoft partner. I spent another 6 years with that partner leading our North American field marketing and alliance teams, living all over the country, growing through various positions before heading out to work for two other Microsoft partners in the Director of Marketing role, and one other partner in Project Management and Program Management within the government and commercial spaces. This winding road has brought me to ivision, where I have now been for about a year.
Why did you choose a career in technology?
I don’t know that I really “chose” a career in technology per say. I had a foundation in tech from the time period I was raised in, but at the end of the day, I was in love and moved to where the second largest Microsoft campus happened to be, fell in love with the people and the role, and never left the ecosystem. I enjoy that technology is never boring and always growing… always something to learn.
What advice would you give women or girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?
I think women or girls should go into whatever career makes them happy. Technology is part of every industry, so even if someone says, “I don’t want to work in tech,” there aren’t many roles that don’t need you to have at least a basic working knowledge of some IT. Find what interests you and follow your passion. You would be amazed about what you don’t know, and it is okay to fail or change your mind to learn what you don’t want to do.
Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?
My dad, Jack, was and is a huge influence on why I went into tech because he was in the field and was very successful. He gave me the confidence to try and fail, and he exposed me to his business and colleagues early on, even allowing me to listen to some of his phone calls on his car phone or in his office where I was able to hear jargon and early tech discussions with customers … it always amazed me.
My husband, Scott, was and is an influence on why I went into tech because he is also in the field and is incredibly driven and interested in emerging technology, so for better or worse, we are always testing something new. He opened my eyes to the field and all the cool subsets of tech.
Monneith Williams – Team Lead, Quality Control Management
Monneith’s 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 produced 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. Over the years, to gain the knowledge required, I attended numerous Microsoft trainings. 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 4 years ago. ivision believes in promoting within and through my 4-year journey I was promoted from Associate Delivery Manager to Quality Control Specialist to my most recent promotion: Team Lead, Quality Control Management.
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 woman 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 Sterling Global Limited and still my mentor and friend to this day. I am so forever grateful for these individuals.
Olivia Davis – Associate HR Business Partner
Olivia’s Career Journey
There are many phases of one’s career journey, and while I’m in the beginning phase of my career, my various experiences have helped me hone in choosing HR and operations in the technology space.
While in college, I played D1 fastpitch softball and managed being a full-time student. This experience has over prepared me for an everchanging fast-paced working environment and continues to contribute to my work every day. I also gained experience by participating in three different internship programs in various industries including healthcare, state, and federal programs, and in the sports industry. Out of college, I landed in a startup company in the sports industry that was rapidly growing and very fast paced. With my degree, my career goals have always been to be in people operations. I have now been with ivision coming up on two years and am very thankful for the referral program and connection here. I am working in a team and for a company that supports my career goals, and my dreams became reality.
Why did you choose a career in technology?
The more I have learned about technology and worked to support our engineers and teams, the more I realized how vast this industry is. I find it extremely relevant to people’s everyday lives. Technology is every changing and can make our lives easier if we would like. I think working in technology also allows me to continuously learn and improve my skills.
What advice would you give women or girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?
I would say to always be ambitious and work hard every day to achieve your goals. Stay positive and always seek to learn. It is important to also be confident. Wake up every day and know that you are capable, worthy, and powerful!
Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?
Though I am not in the day-to-day trenches of technology, I enjoy being in operations and supporting our technology gurus. I love the fast-paced, ever-changing environment that technology fosters – it keeps me on my toes.
Sarah Walker – Practice Director, Security Assessment
Sarah’s Career Journey
For a little more than 20 years, my career has been Technology Program/Project Management, and I have held roles in PMO leadership at a variety of companies. About two years ago, I decided to take a chance and move out what was comfortable and try something new. I have always been curious about and interested in cybersecurity, and when ivision acquired Carve Systems in 2021, I wanted to see if a move was possible. It has been a fantastic experience to move into this vertical and work with some super smart and interesting people. I am learning something new every day and feeling especially energized and honored to be part of this team.
Why did you choose a career in technology?
I have always loved technology. I went to school for and graduated with a degree in Journalism, but then went back to school for IT. Technology enhances our lives in amazing ways and I can’t imagine working in any other field.
What advice would you give women or girls wanting to pursue a career in tech?
Go for it! While it is still a male dominated field, there are more and more women in tech, and I have found it to be a well-supported community. There are a lot of professional organizations that provide resources and support, and most tech companies are often looking for more women to help diversify the industry.
Who/what influenced your decision to explore a technology career?
I was working in a non-technical industry and found myself gravitating toward supporting the office on technical items. I just naturally moved towards technology as it fed my curiosity. I have always favored curiosity over certainty.
