Diverse Tech Leaders

Leona Thomas is a diverse tech leader who’s leveraged her technical foundations to expand into business transformation and strategy over the 15 years I’ve known her. Leona has a rich history of serving as a COO, a CTO and CIO, a Board member for various organizations as well as President & Founder of an investment advisory firm. She was doing innovation and transformation on a global scale before it was trendy. Leona is also a mentor, a philanthropist, a former rugby player, a fantastic dancer. I can honestly say, she’s one of the few people I’d wake up for at 5am to go do yoga and dancing at sunrise in downtown Philly.

In this episode, Leona highlights how she diversifies a room by walking into it. She shares how being half black and half white as well as a lesbian that has been out for decades makes her not just “feel” other, but truly “be” other from whatever group she’s meeting. The beautiful aspect of thinking through how to leverage her “other” to enlighten others to ways they can be more inclusive and the importance of acceptance.

Her parents’ marriage was before the Loving Decision and therefore illegal in 17 states (but not the states they lived in). Her birth certificate had read “White” and was crossed out with “Negro” handwritten in when a nurse saw who her father was. Leona talks about how that dictated where she went to school back in the days of “bussing” students based on race. She talks about how others learning she’s half black sometimes changes their behaviors and their relationships despite that she’s still the same professional, fundraiser, philanthropist, or friend.

Leona also stresses the importance of diversity on teams and how different approaches of technologists and business strategists make for the best teams. We discussed labels and how not to blanket categorize people. “Labels are for boxes” is a t-shirt Leona has!

At Diverse Tech Leaders we discuss how to help organizations be better and build more inclusive workplaces, and Leona shared with our listeners some of the highs and lows of her employers. The examples she shared included mentoring, advocacy, masking, and the tension between divisional actions and large corporate policies, systemic challenges, and the bottom-line money companies lost by not being inclusive. We discuss how remote work can be leveraged to augment your diversity by bringing roles to the talent instead of demanding talent work “in your office.”

Leona also dedicated years toward non-profit board service with the William Way LGBTQ Community Center of Philadelphia. She also shared how Diverse Force was a fantastic board training program that she pursued despite having been a board member for over 7 years. Give the episode a listen!

To learn more:

Favorite Song: Leona doesn’t have a favorite song, but she gave a great reason why!

Leona Thomas via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonathomas/

The Loving Decision: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia

William Way LGBTQ Community Center of Philadelphia: www.waygay.org

Diverse Force: www.DiverseForceonBoards.com

Reminder Days: https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/reminder-days/

Diverse Tech Leaders Podcast:

Podcast “Show Notes” at: www.DiverseTechLeaders.com

Twitter: @DiverseTechLdrs

Connect with Kristen Lamoreaux:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenlamoreaux/

Lamoreaux Search: www.LamoreauxSearch.com

Twitter: @LamoreauxSearch

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lamoreauxsearch

In this short welcome episode, Kristen highlights her background in diversity recruiting within the tech space and shares what pisses her off when it comes to building diverse slates. She shares the weekly schedule of shows and their three categories: For You. For Your Team. For Your Organization & Community.

With each episode, Kristen will provide links and content to 'The Crew' via www.diversetechleaders.com.

If you'd like to follow Diverse Tech Leaders, find us on twitter @DiverseTechLdrs

Follow Kristen on twitter @LamoreauxSearch

Misti Burmeister is an executive coach and author of four books including “Provoking Greatness” which was a Washington Post best seller. Her TED Talk “The Purpose of Pain – Using Rage to Heal” is powerful and demands tissues be on hand. Misti is a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and helps business leaders engage their teams to greatness. Misti openly discusses her trauma and challenges thereby creating safety for others and building foundations for trust.

Misti and I unintentionally jumped into the deep end in the first show moments when discussing Pride Month and her thoughts on feeling “different” as a lesbian/lesbian business owner. We joke about how its her straight friends that send their “Happy Pride” wishes first each June! We explored mental health and how organizations need to have their employees’ mental health front and center and we explored a Catalyst white paper on “Emotional Tax” which is linked below.

We delved into how organizations have an opportunity to engage their team members in figuring out the “how to return to work” situation we’re all facing. There’s no one way to do things and those leaders who can be vulnerable and share their uncertainty can build trust. People engage in things they help to create, so engage your teams in crafting solutions that will work for your organization.

Misti and discussed how allyship doesn’t negate the need to hold employees accountable for their performance. We talked about intentions and the art of the question. Similarly, we discussed how nurturing leaders versus task masters are in greater demand today as we move beyond the pandemic. Our hopes that the “human first” mentality remains with us for years to come.

At the end we discussed Misti’s fifth book that she is editing at this point and the story she shares behind its name is priceless!

To Learn More

Misti’s Favorite song: “Alive” by Sia - https://bit.ly/MistisFaveSong

Misti via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mistiburmeister/

Misti’s TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Zv_6XLfeM

Michael Bungay Stanier’s TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_bungay_stanier_how_to_tame_your_advice_monster/transcript?language=en

Catalyst Whitepaper: https://www.catalyst.org/research-series/emotional-tax/

Diverse Tech Leaders Podcast

Podcast “Show Notes” at: www.DiverseTechLeaders.com

Twitter: @DiverseTechLdrs

Connect with Kristen Lamoreaux

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenlamoreaux/

Lamoreaux Search: www.LamoreauxSearch.com

Twitter: @LamoreauxSearch

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lamoreauxsearch

You know when you meet someone and you're immediately impressed with them? That was the case when I first met Myra Herring, and it has held true every day since. Myra is the Director of Events and Programming for ITSMF - Information Technology Senior Management Forum - which is a national leadership association for Black technology leaders. She is also the founder of Capri Brand - a personal branding and coaching practice for women, as well as the co-founder of the “Inspire Her” annual women's leadership conference. At her core, Myra puts all her efforts toward helping people grow and she shared some great insights to share with us.

Myra shared the highlight film of her career and how both her coaching practice, Capri Brand, and her annual women’s leadership conference “Inspire Her” are focused on helping people see themselves more clearly. Myra has always derived joy from helping people. She highlighted how personal branding impacts our confidence whether we’re interviewing or simply networking. Myra also gave three tips – both provocative and practical - for our listeners that are appropriate for every level of leadership.

Myra highlighted ITSMF – Information Technology Senior Management Forum – and what a fantastic network it is for individuals and organizations looking to augment their diversity ranks. ITSMF (aka It’s My Family) is an association for Black technology professionals and leaders that is focused on increasing representation of Black/African American people at leadership levels through cultivating their mind, body, and spirit. They build community and leaders. They offer three academies that develop mid-career through to senior executive level leaders. They have national events and virtual events that serve to foster community as well as networking opportunities. They also have a job board where corporations can post their opportunities.

Myra and I discussed how companies can choose key roles to remain remote and what an opportunity that is to augment their diversity by bringing roles to the talent instead of demanding talent work in your office. ITSMF also partners with corporations on specific initiatives and surveys to explore key areas. Myra mentioned that corporations may want to host or sponsor an ITSMF event as a means of gaining visibility inside the organization. There are lots of options on the table!

We talked about the importance of community and how each of us have a personal accountability when it comes to building diverse teams – it’s not just the company’s responsibility – it’s each hiring manager’s responsibility. If we each do one small thing, we will all rise, and our organizations will be far more effective and resilient!

To Learn More

Myra’s Favorite song: “Sweetest Thing” by Lauryn Hill - https://bit.ly/MyrasFaveSong

Myra via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myra-herring-mba/

ITSMF – IT Senior Management Forum: https://itsmfonline.org/

NSBE – National Society of Black Engineers: https://www.nsbe.org/

Per Scholas – tuition-free IT training: https://perscholas.org/

Diverse Tech Leaders Podcast

Podcast “Show Notes” at: www.DiverseTechLeaders.com

Twitter: @DiverseTechLdrs

Connect with Kristen Lamoreaux

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenlamoreaux/

Lamoreaux Search: www.LamoreauxSearch.com

Twitter: @LamoreauxSearch

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lamoreauxsearch

Cindy Finkelman is a diverse tech leader who is happiest when she's orchestrating business transformation enterprise wide. Cindy has served as a CIO, a CTO, led corporate platforms and functions at multiple Fortune 100/Fortune 25 companies. She serves on non-profit boards and engages with her community. She is a brilliant strategist, a mentor, a straight shooter, a champion of women, and a leader I've called friend for over a decade and a half.

Cindy shares the highlight film of her career and how she’s successfully navigated multiple industries. She talks about the importance of having a network and how that impacts your internal advancement and your exposure to external career opportunities.

Even though there is greater focus on diversity these days, you can't wait around for someone to "find" you. A good friend of mine said that you only notice the taxi cabs that have their light on because it means something to YOU personally. We chatted about what accountability do diverse tech leaders have for being visible whether it's in their industry or even inside their company and how they should garner that visibility.

We discussed how Cindy has always been really good about exposing diverse team members to leadership events and bringing people along to key meetings. When you look around the table, it should be diverse. Cindy and I have long bemoaned the shortage of women in leadership roles or speaking at conferences. We get into your responsibility to develop yourself and be deliberate in what you’re doing to develop others.

Cindy highlights what can we do as individuals to affect change in diversity within our workplaces. Because we can't all go work "somewhere else!" She gives practical advice and questions to ask during interviews to explore the importance of diversity inside an organization. Cindy she understands how powerful and meaningful a strong BRG can be, but in interview you want to keep is simple. She also stresses that the accountability for a diverse slate is on each of us.

Cindy serves on the SIM New York Board and as a SIM Women Champion. She shared about her non-profit board work as well with helping women and children elevate from the shelter system and the importance of purpose.

To Learn More

Cindy’s Favorite song: “It’s my life” by Bon Jovi - http://bit.ly/CindysFaveSong

Cindy via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindyfinkelman/

SIM New York: https://chapter.simnet.org/newyorkmetro/home

SIM Women: https://simwomen.simnet.org/home

Catalyst Whitepapers: https://www.catalyst.org/research-series/engaging-men-in-gender-initiatives/

Diverse Tech Leaders Podcast

Podcast “Show Notes” at: www.DiverseTechLeaders.com

Twitter: @DiverseTechLdrs

Connect with Kristen Lamoreaux

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenlamoreaux/

Lamoreaux Search: www.LamoreauxSearch.com

Twitter: @LamoreauxSearch

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lamoreauxsearch