The year 2020 has been filled with so many experiences, and in the top ranking as “Most Inspirational and Life-Altering”, has to be Collision From Home. Interestingly, I have never been apart of a big event like this where everything is online, however, the entire experience was more than just a webinar. It was as if I was never just at home lounging, but I was in a large virtual room where I was able to meet and engage with persons, as well as hear stories and feel enthused to be my best self.
Out of the sessions I attended, two workshops stood out to me; “CFH partner workshop - Women in technology: Power your tomorrow – TD” and “CFH partner workshop - Creating Male Ally Summit: Building on hope and fighting through doubts - AnitaB”. These two sessions were what I needed to continue the personal journey I have been on to empower and inspire women, especially women in tech, and how it ties to the nature of who I am and how I can use that to create lasting change.
The workshop with the women from TD Bank had so many interesting points and nuggets of insight that I wrote down to use not just for my personal growth, but on my journey in helping others as well. The women spoke about how as women undergo so many challenges from unfair wages and not getting the recognition we deserve in the workplace. They mentioned how important it is to have a wide range of perspectives at all levels to contribute to innovation and adaptation in a meaningful way for women to power the world and advance in the workplace. I found it thought-provoking when they referred to the challenges that they as an organization had to tackle to adapt to the challenges COVID-19 created specifically for women. Some key points that I noted and summarized from that session were:
· Look around me and recognize how can I bring people around me forward, especially people not putting their hands up.
· Everybody can add value and create better outcomes.
· Be intentional and bold with those around me and with my career.
· We can be our biggest advocates, as well as we need to advocate and sing praises for those who are not directly in the room with us.
“The best opportunities normally come at the most inopportune time.” -Judy Dinn Chief Architect & CIO, U.S. Cards Technology, TD Banks
The second workshop that stood out was, of course, the AnitaB.org workshop with Natasha Green the Senior Local Communities Manager at AnitaB.org. This workshop was one I was particularly fascinated by as I was recently awarded a scholarship for the Grace Hopper Conference 2020 by AnitaB.org, and so I felt more engaged in this experience as a member and not just a participant. The presentation was about Natasha’s journey with “Creating the Male Ally Summit: Building on Hope, Fighting through Doubts” and how she generated the lesson-learned concept called the ‘Duplicitous Nature of Hope’. The contradictory term the ‘Duplicitous Nature of Hope’ is about the deceitful behavior of desiring greatness. She gave insight on how her journey in the idea of creating allies for women to allow us to be great in society was full of uncertainty and trials. She mentioned that on her journey in was essential for her to get affirmation and a channel that is essentially a male ally that allowed her to become successful to carry out her idea.
The thing that Natasha said that resonated with me the most is:
“But I am telling you that when you feel diminished and your hope seems to have been throttled, this is when you go into your mental bank on what you know to be true, about yourself, about your heart about the energetic pathways and flows of life and you tell yourself that it is okay.
I have fulfilled my purpose”.
Becoming a Youth Can Do I.T. Ambassador has continuously allowed me to be apart of a plethora of experiences, and I am grateful to the organization and all the sponsors for the chance I had to attend Collison From Home.