Nicole Bryan

[00:00:02] I'm Nicole Bryan. I'm here to talk about a topic that's very near and dear to my heart: diversity in technology, in particular, getting more women in technology.

[00:00:09] I'm going to talk to you about role model ladders: concrete steps to do that.

[00:00:12] If you see the ladder on the left, what do you think? Yeah, left. You can climb up it. If you see the ladder in the middle, did I get it wrong? You can't climb up it. You can't get very high at all.

[00:00:21] But what about the one on the right, the one that has the missing rungs? That's the most important one. Why? Because you look at that and you think to yourself, "Surely there's a way for me to get up to that top rung," but it's not obvious how, because there are no steps. And that's why you need role model ladders.

[00:00:35] Role model ladders have to be attainable. You have to be able to look one rung up and see something that you can concretely achieve, something that is tangible and concrete that you can achieve.

[00:00:45] Every woman needs to see the next level, because heroes are great. Michelle Obama's great. But you know what? You'll have a far greater and more direct impact if you look up one level and see something that you can concretely and realistically attain yourself.

[00:00:59] I'm going to tell a story about my daughter. She had to write an essay about her role model. Her biggest role model was Mara. Why Mara? Mara was an intern at Tasktop Technologies when she was still in college. Mara absolutely is Bailey's favorite. Why? Because Bailey can see herself in her. She can see herself in her, and Mara then can look up and see me and see that it's attainable to keep going. And in fact, I can look up to Gail, our former chief science officer, who will appear momentarily, hopefully, and see that there is a full ladder going all the way up.

[00:01:35] So hopefully, this gives you a sense of why role model ladders are important. But how do you get there? Well, just one step at a time. No pun intended.

[00:01:45] The most important thing, categorically the most important thing, is to talk about the elephant in the room. Don't ignore it. It's like talking about sex with your kids. Do you want to do that? No. Should you? Yes. Talk about the fact that there aren't women at every level in your organization. Call it out: conscious focus.

[00:02:04] I once called our senior director of engineering and said, "Hey, have you noticed there aren't enough women managers? When we start hiring, please focus on getting women at every rung in that organization."

[00:02:14] Another thing to do, I think, is to get local. This is actually extremely important. We all live in cities where you have big fancy universities, but don't underestimate the value of the smaller universities. In fact, I knew a female professor at a smaller university nearby, and guess what I did? I called her. I said, "I don't have enough women applying for this job." Guess who applied for the job? Mara, the woman that is now my daughter's role model.

[00:02:39] Getting local is extremely important, and the other thing that's equally important is that we aren't able to change things in broad strokes. I'm not changing the world. None of us in this room are changing the world. But if each one of us goes back to our organization and tries to fill more of those rungs in that ladder, we will in fact make a broad stroke difference. I guarantee it.

[00:03:03] Another thing: dig deeper in the pile. It's not illegal. It's not affirmative action. Dig deeper in that pile to get a diverse workforce. I was at a dinner party once where I was with a guy who had a startup, and he said, "You know what? I sent out for a job. I got 10 resumes. They were all men, but they were qualified, so I took them." I looked at him, I said, "That's not good enough." Founders of small companies have to take the time and the energy to hire a diverse workforce, and leaders like yourselves need to go back to your organization and ask about it and dig deeper in that pile.

[00:03:34] Motherhood. The middle rungs are often the hardest part. Why? Because motherhood happens to many of us, and it complicates things dramatically.

[00:03:41] I'll never forget being on the London Tube here a few years ago with one of my colleagues who was not yet a mother, and my son called me, and he was in tears on the phone. I'm on a business trip in Europe. I looked at my colleague, I said, "I'm sorry. I have to console my son right now. It's more important to me to do that. Yes, I'm on a business trip, but it's more important to have a balance with your family life."

[00:04:02] And women in the middle rungs, don't do what the VP of engineering did to me when I was on a lower rung. She looked at me square in the eye and said, "You know what? You just got to suck it up and deal with it. I had my laptop with me while I gave birth." And she was proud of that.

[00:04:19] Don't do that. Instead, women in the higher rungs need to open themselves up. Let it be personal. Show the fact that it is, in fact, a crazy juggling act. Be open to sharing the tears and the difficult parts. That's what counts. That's what makes people care. Let it be personal.

[00:04:45] So we can only change the world with small but intentional steps. I guarantee you that if your daughter comes home talking about someone in your role model ladder, you will feel hopeful and exhilarated about the future.

[00:04:57] Thank you.