Accelerating the Movement of Diversity and Inclusion in One Datacenter at time
Chelsea Pierre
CEO & FounderMeet Chels Pierre: Bridging the Gap in Tech
Hello everyone. My name is Chels Pierre, and I am the CEO of a company named Blurs Leader Technology, which I started three years ago. Before that, I served in the esteemed Air Force working as a system admin. Separating from the force led me to working on government contracts and within private sector firms, where I played the integral role of a network admin before transitioning into the significant realm of cybersecurity.
An Insight into Tech Workspaces
In my journey, I've had the privilege of experiencing diverse work environments. Some where I could see an equitable representation of men and women and others where minorities, especially women, were scarcely present. I'm no stranger to being the first woman, the first minority, or even the only woman and minority in the room.
The Unveiling Reality of Women In Tech
This year, I conducted a study for Auburn University's Research Podium, focusing on African American women's representation in the tech industry. The findings were unfortunate yet eye-opening: only 26.7% of the tech workforce were women and only 1% were women of color.
- Why are these percentages so low?
- How can we overcome such disparities?
These are questions that need addressing, and I often speak on these topics at conferences and through my social media platforms.
An Encouragement to All Women in Tech
Despite the ongoing challenges like isolation, imposter syndrome, and micro-aggression, my message to everyone facing these hurdles is this: not all experiences are negative. I have had the chance to join great teams, meet phenomenal individuals, and work under extraordinary management. So, to those experiencing issues in their path to advancement in IT, I have some tips.
How to Advance in the Ever-Changing Tech Industry
Whether it's a cliche or a slogan, the fact of the matter is that tech is ever-evolving. Adversaries are always finding new ways to infiltrate networks, and you must advance your technology skills in response. As a rule of thumb, try learning a new skill every six months. Stay updated with the latest developments such as ransomware attacks or whatever tech disruption is making headlines.
Understanding the current cyber threats faced by cities and companies and their struggle to overcome these attacks not only helps you grow technically, it also equips you to better handle similar situations.
Persist, learn, evolve - your IT career awaits you.
Video Transcription
One. My name is Chels Pierre. I'm the CEO of Blurs leader. Technology started a company three years ago. Uh Before that, I was prior Air Force where I was working as a system admin after separating, I worked on government contracts.I did work for a couple of companies in the private sector, both areas. I was a network admin soon trans transitioned into cybersecurity. No, we're gonna get a little bit into that a little bit later. But with both working in both areas, I had the privilege of seeing how to work in an inclusive environment or it department where there was equal manning of males and females. But I also experience working in areas or it departments that had uh limited uh minorities, limited women.
I actually was hired uh had opportunity to be hired as the first woman, the first, the first woman, the first minority, the only woman and the only minority a few times. And so I could speak from both areas. So with that being said, this year, I performed a study for Auburn University's research podium that discusses the statistics of African American women in the technology industry. Of course, those studies shows that women account for 20 26.7 of the tech workforce with women of color.
Unfortunately, that makes up 1%. However, there are attributes that goes into the reason of those low percentages. And you can reach me on my social media platforms, my website blurs and technology or also follow me as I speak at other conferences to discuss the reasons for the low percentages and the solutions to hire more uh exclusively, right? But however, I want to use this time to speak to the women that could possibly be dealing with the isolation, the imposter syndrome microaggression, other hurdles that you can be facing while working as a woman in the it field. So I want to start off by saying that I had great opportunities working in great departments. I've met some excellent people. I worked alongside some excellent men underneath excellent management. So not all experiences are bad experiences. However, I have seen the other side.
So for those women who are experiencing certain hurdles as they are trying to advance in their it careers, there are some things that I want to let you know and some pointers, I want to tell you. First thing is it is always changing. I know you hear it all the time. It's uh it's now it's becoming a slogan. Now it's becoming a cliche. It is al always changing, but it is not only is it is always changing. Uh There are new attacks that's happening as well, that's constantly happening. New attacks, new adversaries, new ways to get into your network, new ways of um uh uh new ways of just new attacks that is occurring, right? And so with that happening, you always want to advance your technology skills, right? You always want to learn at least a new skill every six months. Like even right now, currently, Dallas is facing a ransom attack and so doing research on what is happening currently, what tax is ha happening and doing a deep to how it's occurring, what these cities are facing, what these companies are facing, how they are struggling to overcome these attacks.
It will help you understand, uh it will help you grow tech technically, right? So you can be able to speak upon that and if you are working in those cities or if you are depending on what position that you have or the positions that you are having uh
