Code for Good West Michigan and GRWebDev Powered by LaFleur present
Lead for Good: Tech Careers Off the Beaten Path
Vervint (801 Broadway NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504)
Monday July 22nd 2024 6pm - 8pm EST
RSVP
This will be a hybrid event; join us in person or online via Microsoft Teams. RSVP on Meetup as a virtual attendee; in-person attendees must register on Eventbrite.
DESCRIPTION
If you think working in the tech industry is just writing code, designing apps, or wrangling AI prompts, you are wrong! Careers in tech can be found in unexpected places, with job responsibilities you may have never considered.
Join Code for Good and GR Web Development for our next Lead for Good panel discussion with some of West Michigan’s local tech industry (super)heroes. They’ll share their stories of where they began and how they ended up in leadership roles (by choice or luck), and how uncommon skills and experience can make a big difference.
OUR PANEL
Rachell Calhoun is committed to creating practical, user-friendly software tools and promoting inclusivity within communities. She is a co-founder of Djangonaut Space, an international peer mentorship community for open-source contributors, and a trustee for the Django Girls Foundation, a global non-profit that has introduced 24,000 women to tech. Additionally, she organizes DjangoCon US and has previously organized Django Girls and PyLadies events around Grand Rapids.
Beau Carnes is a video content manager at FreeCodeCamp, a community of people from all around the world who are learning to code together. Beau manages the FreeCodeCamp YouTube channel, which has 9.58M subscribers and 1.6K videos, making it the most subscribed software channel on YouTube. Through his work as a teacher and software developer, Beau has helped many people learn to code and start a tech career.
Angel Cruz is an entrepreneur with an unwavering vision for a better planet. A founder of the nonprofit Code on Wheels, he is dedicated to providing free coding education to people of all ages and backgrounds. He believes that coding is a vital skill that should be accessible to everyone. He is also a partner and principal consultant at Aztech, a consulting, digital transformation, and development firm that creates technologies that foster equity.
Kate Mora Woods is a dynamic group leader, communicator, and project manager, known for her attention to detail and excellent client relationship skills. Her eclectic background includes benefits management in a SaaS environment, video production, script writing, newsletters, email and SMS marketing.
OUR MODERATOR
Raul Alvarez has been playing in the communications, marketing, and PR sandbox for 25+ years, working in a wide variety of industries including financial, higher education, eye and dental care, environmental, and more. In 2012 he founded the GTSD (Getting The Stuff Done) Group, where he uses his diverse practical experience in public relations and communications to serve clients with vision casting, innovative strategic thinking, and telling their story.
SPONSORS
Lead for Good is sponsored by West Michigan Tech Talent, Start Garden, and Vervint.
GRWebDev's title sponsor is LaFleur Marketing.
SCHEDULE
6:00pm - 6:30pm … Refreshments and Networking
6:30pm … Opening Announcements + Panel Discussion
7:30pm … Q&A + Closing Announcements
8:00pm … Event Ends
