Good morning from Colorado Springs, a beautiful day in the rocky mountains. I wanna thank you all for joining us. Hi, Diana. You're, you're coming in from Canada. So I everyone, Olga, thank you. You can see and hear me.So we've got a lot of people from North America, Dallas, Texas. Lumby. Oh Lumby. It's a pleasure having you join us. Lumby is a expert in um working with women in Africa to create water solutions. So they're doing fantastic. So I'm just going through the chat just seeing who's all there. Good morning, Tina from Houston. Uh a great space community. As many of you know, I'm Shelley Brunswick, the Chief Operating Officer at Space Foundation and it is such a pleasure joining you today. So I did create some amazing slides for you today, but I'm not seeing how I can share them. Oh my God, Daisy is calling from India. So I think you are the furthest person. Uh We do have Alita from Arkansas. So I think uh we've, we've got North America well represented Europe. We have uh India, Mexico, Por Portugal. Fantastic. So I don't see how to share slides. There's a way to share um video recording. So since I'm not seeing how to share slides, what I'm gonna just do is walk through what my slides would have been, which is how to level up. Well, hello Claudia from Argentina. So let's talk about the global space industry and how it started.

And when we think about space, let's go back to the 19 sixties. So I know many of you are going to talk to me about Elon Musk and spacex and we can get to that in career paths. But let's go back to the 19 sixties when the workforce in the 19 sixties was primarily uh male stem professionals. You worked for a government and you were primarily a STEM professional that science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And you worked for one of two countries.

Then let's fast forward, let's fast forward to where we are today where we really have a diversity of the workforce, a diversity of regions. So where it was two countries now, more than 90 countries are operating in space. Um You have multigenerational and you have gender equality.

So yes, maybe not as much gender as quality as we'd like. And we're gonna talk about that today and ways of shattering that glass ceiling. And I'm gonna talk about that as well. And when we looked at, oh my Mumbai, thank you for joining us Savita. So when we think about diversity of careers, so we go back to the 19 sixties and we really think about those stem professionals, scientists, technology, engineering, mathematics, we were focused, the US was focused on putting a man on the moon and doing it first. Now let's fast forward to where we are in 2022 multiple countries are focused on putting the first woman and person of color on the moon and private companies are building the rockets to get us there. So very different. We're also seeing uh the government is less involved in the space industry. Yes, NASA is very important. They're signing the Artemis Accords, bringing partners into the space industry. France, thank you very much, France just signed the Artemis Accord and is partnering to return to the moon and then on to Mars. But we're seeing a lot of private companies that are now in the space industry. Many of you are familiar with launch companies, but there are many other companies, technology, algorithms, satellites, communications, agriculture, healthcare, finance.

So you're now seeing a of careers, you have astronauts to artist, program managers, to policymakers, teachers, technicians, uh I know three entrepreneurs that started their company when they were students at Qatar University and they were studying to be nutritionists and what they decided is they wanted to create a healthy snack and also help to eliminate reduce food waste.

So the snack, they design uses fruits and vegetables that would normally be thrown away. However, thanks to space technology, freeze dried technology, they're able to now create a healthy snack, help to eliminate food waste and now help to create food security. So again, nutritionists, college students.

So you have a lot of opportunities now to come into the space industry in multiple countries, regions of the world, different age groups, uh different genders, different career paths. So today we're really gonna talk less about the space industry and I'm happy to answer those questions, but I really want to talk about some life lessons and how you can look to advance your career. And although this is women tech network and we do want to help all women uh rise is open to men and women. These lessons are good for everyone. So uh just like the space industry is multigenerational, open to genders, open to regions of the world. So is this talk and I am noticing as the morning is going on, the sun is now moving away and we're not getting that halo effect. So I hope you can see me. Well, I do want to just shout out that we have a hello from Brazil, Ireland, Mumbai, Germany, Argentina. So I wanna thank women tech network because this is a totally global conference. And these skills that we're gonna talk about are good for everyone. So with that, the my journey has three chapters. I have kind of an early career, a mid career and some skills I've learned where I am now when I transitioned out of the Air Force to where I am today.

So in that first chapter of my journey, I have three main takeaways. It's about taking advantage of every opportunity. It's about trying anyways, even when the odds are against you and it's about not fearing the unknown. So that first step, take advantage of every opportunity.

You know, I joined the US Air Force right out of high school because one, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I didn't know what I would want to major in college. I didn't have the money to go to college and it was a great opportunity to see the world. I'm a very global person. I love traveling. I love seeing all of you from all over the world. Carla from Germany at one time, I was stationed in Germany. So it's a wonderful place Guttentag Gates with that. Um I joined the Air Force because we could earn money to go to college. But the Air Force also had some opportunities where you could take advantage of tuition assistance and go to school at night or on the weekends. And I took advantage of that. And because of that, I was able to complete both my bachelor's degree and my master's degree while going to school at night and serving my country during the day. So many of you may work for companies that offer tuition assistance. Please take advantage of those. And other times many times uh taking advantage of opportunities could look like more work. And sometimes it is because sometimes taking advantage of opportunities is going to school at night or on the weekends when other people are doing fun things or it's volunteering for hard projects and learning those skills. So keep that in mind.

Another great story I learned, I was the commencement speaker at a university uh last month and one of the students I spoke with, she told me how she was offered in state tuition to Colorado. She was from New Mexico. So normally if she wanted to attend a school in Colorado, she would have to pay out of state tuition. But this university offered her in-state tuition. And so she was willing to leave her family for a place. She had never been because she was offered that in-state tuition and she's amazing. She graduated this year. She has a job lined up and she is set to launch. So one example. So if you have an example of how you've taken advantage of an opportunity, put that in the chat, let's share that with everyone. The other thing is I'm gathering all these stories and adding them to future talks. So if you'd like me to talk about your story and how you took advantage of a great opportunity, you can reach out to me. I'm linked in, I'd love to hear your story. The next one is try anyways, don't be afraid of failure. So what I share with you is after completing my bachelor's degree. I was at enlisted airmen, but I wanted to apply to become an officer. However, I was told the odds for me to become an officer were 12% because I did not have a stem degree.

I have a business degree and an MB A. But at the time the air force was looking for stem professionals. So the odds were against me. I could have said, ah, I don't wanna try, what's the point? It's not gonna work. But you know what I tried anyways. And I had to try more than once before I was accepted to become not only an officer in the Air Force but a space program management officer. So what I share with you is try anyways, even when the odds are against, you don't give up. If you've got a great story about how you've tried anyways, even when the odds might have been against you, go ahead and put it in the chat. We'd love to hear your story too and give some examples of how you've gone against the odds and been successful. Now, that leads me into my third uh lesson, which is, don't fear the unknown. So when I was an enlisted airman, I was a personnel specialist, which is human relations. So I learned about promotions and training, uh relocating people and I was very comfortable with that. Everyone I knew was in personnel. So when I was given the career field as an officer of Space Program Management. I didn't wanna do it. I tried to get out of it. I was like, I wanted to be a personnel officer and I asked all my mentors and role models. Would you please help me? Would you please help me get out of being a space program manager and be a personnel officer.

And they did many of them made phone calls, um, and asked if I could get reassigned. Finally, one day I got a call from someone at the Air Force Personnel Center and they said, Sergeant Brunswick, the Air Force needs you to be a space program management officer. And with that, I said, thank you. And today I really say thank you because that career decision started my 25 year career in the space industry, something I didn't even want to do. So what I share with you is don't limit yourself when something new comes along and you may not know what it is lean into it. Try anyways don't be afraid of the unknown. There are so many new careers being developed because of technology. Careers are changing. So you might have to reskill and upskill just like I did when I became that space program manager, but it unlocked a whole new opportunity for me and I wouldn't be sitting here with you today if it hadn't been for that career decision the United States Air Force made for me.

So what I share with you is Elon Musk has an amazing quote and it says when something is important enough to do it, even if the odds are not in your favor. So remember that if you're driven to something Mumbi has put in there, she is driven to passion about clean water and sanitation in Africa and how it benefits women and girls. If you're familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals, one of them is clean water. Many times people don't think about clean water but clean water impacts women disproportionately because women in Africa may have to walk 4 to 10 miles to retrieve clean, not clean water, just water that prevents them from going to school, which impacts another sustainable development goal. Education.

It disproportionately impacts them for a sustainable development goal for gender equality and it leads them into another sustainable development goal, lifelong poverty. So that one SDG on clean water and sanitation impacts women for gender equality, poverty and education. And lumby is working on that and we are great partners and you may be wondering why is a space expert talking about clean water in Africa? Because space is concerned about space, clean water as well. If you go to the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs website, you will see where they list all 17 of the Sustainable Development goals. Number one, poverty, number two, clean water. So water is critical to many women around the world because they end up having to retrieve that water and then it prevents them. But we care about clean water and space. Every ounce of water on that International Space Station is recycled. So a gla glass of water that you drink can become a cup of coffee tomorrow. And that's what we're really doing on Planet Earth. The International Space Station highlights recyclable and how it's so critically important. But we really need to think about here on Planet Earth.

How are we reusing every drop of water? So NASA has technology and testing for contaminated water. So even if those girls are walking 4 to 10 miles, one way to retrieve water, it could still be contaminated, their families could still be drinking it and getting sick. So NASA space technology has created how you can test for contamination. You can use remote Earth observation to look for water, so you can use satellites to help look for water and be more successful drilling bore boreholes or wells. And then you can also use NASA technology to filter that water. So space is integral to looking for water on earth to recycling water to preventing contamination. And then also how we're going to do that as we live in outer space as we go on to the moon and Mars, it's all related. So I I thank you Lumby for your example about clean water and how it definitely ties into what we do here on earth as well as what we do in space. So let's talk about a few more uh journey lessons. So anybody else, please put in some lessons that you've learned in your journey and we'll talk about them and I'll share how that relates to space and I am keeping an eye on time. We have about five more minutes. So again, please put those questions in there.

We can continue this discussion on linkedin, Twitter. Happy to keep talking about it. You can join us on linkedin and Social Media, both Space Foundation or Shelley Brunswick. So some other journeys I want to talk about and these all relate to each other is building your network, volunteering for the hard projects and getting out from behind your desk. So let's talk about building your network. Many times people think I, I'm told I need to get a mentor, but I don't understand that. So if you're a mentor, um that's wonderful. But also remember, you can be mentored at any stage in your career or you can be a mentor at any stage. Women tech network has an amazing mentoring program. The United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs Women uh Space for Women has a mentoring program. Space generation Advisory Council has a, a mentoring program. Many um entrepreneurial innovative programs have mentoring programs. So think about that.

And there are three types of mentors you can look for. There are coaches, there are champions and there are mentors. So let's start with the first one. Many times you can think about, I want to really learn about being an entrepreneur and I really need to focus on my positioning statement. The why the who's my target audience? What is my product? Who is the competition and what is my way forward? Those are the five components of a positioning statement. And you need to have that buttoned out because that can build out your case for support, how you'll go in and talk to investors, how you talk with the media, you need to have a positioning statement as an entrepreneur.

You also need to have one for your life because you are the CEO of your journey. So you need a positioning statement. So you could reach out and find a coach who's very good at developing positioning statements. And I call that a, a mentor because a mentor can be someone who can go really deep and focus into one area. I quote it to a baseball team. You may have a batting coach and they help you become an excellent batter and you bat and you bet and you bat and you practice that over and over and that mentor helps you develop that skill. So you become a world class batter or a writing coach or a speaking coach, they help you develop that skill. The next one is that coach, think about a coach, like a baseball team, the coach for the team. So that's like a life coach. Many of you look for life coaches that help you position yourself. What are the skills I need? What are the things I need to do? What are the hard projects I need to take on? Should I volunteer for this? That help position me to grow in my career? And how do you develop entry level, mid career, senior career and next steps? So you, that's called really looking for that coach. And then there are champions and champions are people that can put you in the next step of your career.

So they could be two or three levels above you. They could be somewhere else in your industry. So for me, it would be the space ecosystem that help position you into that next tract. One of my champions helped position me to where I am today. I was a space program manager and I thought that's all I ever wanted to do was be a space program manager. But my champion helped position me to become a congressional liaison working on Capitol Hill. And that totally changed the course of my journey because it helped me to understand the bigger world, how to better articulate a message, how to get people to come over to your side because I was out there talking on Capitol Hill about the Air Force budget and what the Air Force needed to support their programs and help get members of Congress and the Senate to come over to the Air Force side of the budget.

Requirements and the program support they needed. I had never thought that that could be a possibility for me to be a congressional liaison. It totally changed my life and I'm so grateful to that one champion because that was also part of my journey to led me to where I am today. So I have one minute left again. I wanna thank you all for joining me today from around the world. I hope you're all doing great. I see uh Gabrie you are reaching out, would love to connect. I'm working on a project which aims to train high school students in digital skills at grassroots level in West Africa. So let me tell you right now, the Space Foundation, we do focus on those SDGS that relate to education, getting space inspired curriculum into the day to day classroom, creating career paths as well as teacher, professional development and leadership. And we look at that gender equality and we have entrepreneurial programs. So if you're interested in K through 12 curriculum, teacher, professional development or entrepreneurial um uh facilitation, reach out to me and Space Foundation because that is what we do and we do very well.

Again, I wanna thank you all for joining me. I know I'm at time. I will continue to look in the chat as people are jumping off into next sessions. I'm gonna look and see if I missed any questions. And again, you can continue to follow me on Space um on linkedin, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and you can follow Space Foundation on those applications as well. And I know one of you has reached out and said, please join tiktok Space Foundation is looking into it. We should hopefully have a Tik Tok account soon as well as I will do that too. So, thank you so much. Thank you, Daisy. You are right. Space industry is everywhere. It is a part of our everyday lives. So I'm just looking through the scroll to see if I've missed anyone. Uh Christy. Yes, you are a UX designer. Please keep in touch. She has put her linkedin in the chat and we are over by one minute. So I know many of you may have jumped off. So I do want to say thank you so much for joining me. It's been a pleasure. Thank you, Susan from San Francisco for jumping on. I know it's really early there on the uh Pacific Coast. So thank you so much and I wish you all a fantastic weekend and you know what together we can change the world. So I look forward to partnering with you and making a difference until I see you next time. I'll see you around the galaxy. Bye bye.