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In Memoriam

How 4 engineers and culture champions are growing their careers at Bloomberg

BusinessCareersTechnology

Businesswoman at desk checking phone with tech graphs in background

Bloomberg Engineering’s culture champions innovation. This is made possible by the different perspectives of our 6,000+ software engineers around the globe, who come from diverse backgrounds and geographies and who possess a variety of technology specialties.

Meet four of Bloomberg’s software engineers – all of whom are active members of the Bloomberg Black in Tech Community across our New York, San Francisco and London engineering teams – and see how they’ve been empowered to impact our business globally.

Our conversations with them cover their paths to and work at Bloomberg, how they’ve grown professionally, their impact in technology, the importance of an inclusive workplace, and their efforts to attract more diversity to tech. Interviews were edited for length and clarity.

Lerena Holloway

TITLE: Software Engineer
BLOOMBERG OFFICE: New York

How did you get to Bloomberg? What do you work on now?
I lived abroad for 5 years, during which time I taught English in South Korea for 3½ years. I then served in the U.S. Navy for 4 years, after which I felt the urge to embrace my technical talents. This career change turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

While finishing my MBA, I decided to apply to the Grace Hopper Program at Fullstack Academy, one of the country’s top-ranked coding bootcamps. This decision was the beginning of my path to Bloomberg, which I was drawn to for its philanthropic programs, the eclectic and dynamic nature of the Bloomberg Terminal, and the opportunity to be immersed in a culture of strong, talented software engineers.

I’m currently in the training program for new engineers. Prior to starting my training, I had the privilege of pre-training on the Commodities team, where I worked on building a map UI in React and Node.js and integrating it with a remote procedure call framework. I really enjoyed the learning process in discovering how to merge open source technologies with proprietary technologies.

Did you have any mentors or influential managers to guide your career along the way?
One of my mentors is Erik Anderson, the software engineer who helped created MAPS<GO> and many of Bloomberg’s chart functions. Erik has helped me a great deal in building my confidence to tackle things outside my comfort zone. He really has helped me see that I was capable of more than I thought and encouraged me along the way, which really made me more driven to put in the long hours of practice and study that it takes to get to Bloomberg.

What do you love most about working in tech?
I really enjoy the way it has evolved over the years and how it continues to change so rapidly. Working in technology forces me to continue learning and embrace my status as a ‘forever’ student. The moment we get too comfortable in this industry is the moment we are in danger of falling behind. There are so many advances and new technologies that, even after just one year, the older versions are quickly out-of-date. What I love most is that it is an industry that never gets too comfortable; it is about constantly improving the product and making applications faster and more efficient. The associated mental challenges and continuous learning excite me the most!

What are some of the unique challenges that people of color face getting into tech / within the tech industry?
Entering a male-dominated industry doesn’t come without trepidation. Knowing that people come equipped with certain biases that they themselves may not even be aware of plays a role; it is just the way we have all been socially-programmed by the media, our parents, and our communities. The tech industry is challenging by itself and people of color may have to face a few additional challenges, dealing with variations of micro-inequities, and the burden of not contributing to certain stereotypes. However, what I enjoy the most are the raised awareness and open discussions seeking to address these imbalances. It really shows how we, as a human species, are evolving our consciousness around these issues.

In your opinion, why are diversity and inclusion important? How do you personally promote diversity and inclusion with your teams and/or in the community?
Diversity and inclusion are crucial to the strength of any great organization. In order for technology to serve a wider range of users, understanding their needs and wants is very important. With the advent of globalization, this type of understanding can only be reached by increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

I also enjoy sharing my experiences traveling and living abroad with my co-workers. It highlights the importance of travel as a way to break down barriers in understanding different cultures, which I believe is a pivotal step towards this objective. I am also a member of many different communities here at Bloomberg, so as not to limit the definition of myself to one particular ethnicity or background, but to expand my sense of self in order to represent the many different cultural experiences I’ve had and those I’ve adopted along the way.

Deji Akinyemi

TITLE: Senior Software Engineer
BLOOMBERG OFFICE: New York

How did you get to Bloomberg?
I was an industry hire out of a Bloomberg recruiting event in Seattle, where I met the engineers who would eventually be my managers. They were great and provided an amazing vision of the technical challenges and company culture at Bloomberg.

What do you work on now?
I am presently working on designing and building out the underlying platform that supports Bloomberg’s Asset Investment Management (AIM) compliance workflows.

Did you have any mentors to guide your career along the way?
Most definitely! I was fortunate to have an awesome mentor when I first started at Bloomberg. He was one of those engineers whose code nuances and expressiveness are like revelations. I learned a lot about my team and Bloomberg’s culture just by contributing to his code. I was also fortunate to have supportive managers who accommodated my desire to be challenged. They were able to provide interesting, tangible and business-critical projects to broaden my scope and contributions.

What do you love most about working in tech?
It has been said that engineers are the gatekeepers for civilization. Being in tech is like a calling. The work one does has a direct impact on the well-being of others. It gets more interesting when your work pushes the boundaries of what is considered possible. When this happens, there is no greater feeling than creating something new. Then you realize that, in some small way, you’ve (hopefully) helped make the world just a bit better than before.

Are there any particular technologies that interest you?
Machine learning, especially around the areas of natural language processing and understanding. The best technologies are those that feel so completely natural and intuitive that you may forget that you are interacting with a machine. Ironically, it is extremely difficult to create such a system. Applications of ML have the powerful potential to change the way we all interact with technology, if not the very nature of the machines we use.

What are some of the unique challenges that people of color face getting into tech / within the tech industry?
There are very few of us in the tech industry. This truism begs us to ask why, as demographics don’t support this reality, as 10% of all college graduates and computer science majors are people of color. It’s sometimes hard not to feel excluded when there are very few people who look like you in the places that you are or want to be. There is often a significant effort required to go from ‘person of color,’ to ‘person,’ to ‘extremely capable person’ in the minds of others that people of other backgrounds do not face.

In your opinion, why are diversity and inclusion important?
Antifragility is a term coined by bestselling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb that describes systems that thrive in the face of volatility, shock or adversity. It represents the next step beyond robustness and resilience. I believe that, by their very nature, antifragile systems are diverse. Events that could take down a monoculture are often integrated and used for the greater good by an antifragile system. Diversity and inclusion promote antifragility by fostering teams that are tolerant, supportive, engaging and dynamic.

How do you personally promote diversity and inclusion with your teams and/or in the community?
I am one of the co-founders of the Bloomberg Black In Tech (BBIT) Community, which is composed of individuals in technology roles across Bloomberg – in engineering, product management, data science, etc. BBIT’s singular goal is to make Bloomberg the best place for minorities in tech across the industry. We host regular events to foster professional and personal development and create a fun, safe space. We work very hard to engage, support and empower the community at large through mentoring, recruiting, and outreach events on college campuses and at tech conferences with significant minority representation.

Akin Mousse

TITLE: BQuant Specialist, Desktop Build Group
BLOOMBERG OFFICE: San Francisco

How did you get to Bloomberg? What do you work on now?
I spent the first five years of my career at leading French banks where, among other things, I designed and implemented technology to automate processes on trading floors. Bloomberg found me on LinkedIn and recruited me to our London office in 2013. I’ve now worked in our San Francisco office for five years.

I’m currently a BQuant Specialist in our Desktop Build Group. In this role, I educate our clients’ quantitative financial researchers, analysts, and data scientists to leverage BQuant, our interactive data analysis and quantitative research platform and new Bloomberg Query Language (BQL). To do this, I first have to understand our clients’ workflows and determine how and where our quant research solutions can help them derive value. Often, we can help clients reduce the amount of time and manual labor spent reviewing financial statements. We can incorporate probability and statistics that help clients make faster and more accurate decisions on their financial strategies. Many times, I create the specifications, design a custom application for a team of about 20-50 users, test the app, and implement it at the client site. Finally, I help train users to program in Python in order to leverage BQuant.

Did you have any mentors or influential managers to guide your career along the way?
It has been challenging finding a Black professional mentor. David Mitchell, a team leader for our market specialists, has been a huge inspiration for me. We both started our careers in finance and moved to tech, so I feel like we have much in common. I appreciate how he reaches out periodically to check in on me. I admire his leadership of Bloomberg’s Black Professional Community and am really impressed by his career trajectory and the network he has built. It’s really important to see a person of color in a senior position because it makes that rank seem attainable for the rest of us.

Sandra Lee, who works in Bloomberg’s Product Oversight Office, has also been an influential mentor since we first met in 2016. She’s been with Bloomberg for more than 20 years, and she has helped me understand Bloomberg’s culture and navigate internal networks. I often use her as a sounding board to help me articulate my vision and get a second opinion. On a personal level, she shows me the value of work-life balance.

What do you love most about working in tech?
I love being in a position where I’m learning something. Technology is perpetually evolving, and you always need to be on your toes to remain competitive. I will often think about a complex engineering challenge that I am trying to solve, and will have a candid conversation with a colleague or I will read an article, and then a solution will emerge. I then implement it and it is so satisfying when it works. I also like that tech has tangible results.

Are there any particular technologies that interest you?
I am really excited about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). I love the idea that technology can show us patterns that humans cannot otherwise see because we cannot scrape through large volumes of data as quickly. From there, we can extract specific insights that influence our decision-making.

My interest in AI and ML led me to complete a graduate-level certificate program at the University of San Francisco. While I’m not using these skills in my current role, I’m excited that Bloomberg is doing cutting-edge work in natural language processing and other areas related to ML and AI. I’ve also joined Bloomberg’s Machine Learning Guild so I can stay connected to this technology; otherwise, it is hard to stay on top of it when you don’t apply it on a daily basis.

What are some of the unique challenges that people of color face getting into tech / within the tech industry?
One word: R-E-P-R-E-S-E-N-T-A-T-I-O-N! We need to see peers and leaders who are people of color. When I don’t see people of color in leadership positions, I feel like it’s less possible to attain success. When I see Black leaders, I get a lot of motivation and affirmation that it could be me one day.

In my experience, people of color aren’t taken as seriously by their peers unless there are other people of color in leadership positions. I personally feel like I need to be better than anyone else in whatever I’m doing. I don’t want to give any opening for the quality of my work to be questioned. For that reason, I often spend extra time double-checking my work in order to make everything is perfect. No one asks me to do this, but I feel I must. This adds a dimension of extra stress because that workflow is not scalable or sustainable and can lead to burnout.

In your opinion, why are diversity and inclusion important? How do you personally promote diversity and inclusion with your teams and/or in the community?
Life is so much more fulfilling when you can interact with people from different backgrounds and ways of life. At work, a diverse team can help prevent tunnel vision when solving challenges or meeting client needs. Everyone comes with baggage and biases that sometimes makes communication uncomfortable, but this ultimately leads to rich learning experiences.

I’m always trying to recruit and advocate for more underrepresented minority candidates, because we are only likely to stay at Bloomberg if we continue seeing more diversity on our teams.

Jonathan “JC” Charlery

TITLE: Senior Software Engineer
BLOOMBERG OFFICE: London

How did you get to Bloomberg?
I was on my way to interview with a different company during the career fair at Howard University, when I ran into Kerry Joseph, an engineer who was recruiting for Bloomberg. We got to chatting about the company and he invited me to an info session later that night. What struck me was how down-to-earth and genuine he was. He wasn’t trying to sell me anything; he just talked about his own experiences at the company and how the job allowed him to grow.

In talking about his own background, we discovered we were from neighbouring islands in the Caribbean so we shared a cultural background. Having that conversation, and seeing and hearing someone like me at Bloomberg who had such a positive experience is what really sold me on the company.

What do you work on now?
I’m on the Local Development team in London, which is part of our Developer Experience (DevX) group. Our team creates and supports the tools and workflows that allow engineers to develop and test their applications locally on their laptops using whatever tools they prefer, instead of relying on a limited shared environment.

Did you have any mentors or influential managers to guide your career along the way?
Zac Rider, who leads our Real-time Distribution Platform engineering team, and Becky Plummer, a software engineering team leader in DevX (and my current manager) are two of the most influential managers I’ve had during my tenure at Bloomberg. They’ve provided me with many opportunities for growth and helped me build up my confidence in my own abilities. They were instrumental in putting my career on its current trajectory.

Femi Popoola, a technical team lead in London, has also been an amazing mentor to me. We’ve spoken about many different topics related to personal and technical growth, like knowing which opportunities are right for you and how to manage them, to understanding when you’re ready to take on a new challenge (hint: you’re never going to be “ready,” but don’t let that stop you).

What do you love most about working in tech?
I love the rate at which everything changes in the tech industry, and the ease of being able to get involved.

The tech industry evolves so quickly that you’ll miss it if you blink. In the last 20 years or so, we’ve gone from having one dedicated phone line per family and maybe having a computer for the household to us all having a computer in our pockets and everyone having a phone. All the information this puts at our fingertips has made it much easier for anyone to become involved and even to transfer into tech-related fields from any profession.

Are there any particular technologies that interest you?
Docker and container technologies are particularly interesting to me. The ability to simulate an entire environment and have repeatable declarative processes have really changed the way we think about development, testing, and stability of our systems.

What are some of the unique challenges that people of color face getting into tech / within the tech industry?
Without seeing other people who look like them or can stand as a role model for them, people of colour tend to get discouraged from entering the tech industry. It is hard to continue being self-motivated or to believe you can achieve something if all the stereotypical icons don’t represent you in any way. It’s why Kerry stood out to me so much. He was West Indian and able to succeed in the tech industry. This isn’t spoken about often, but it creates a real psychological barrier for many people. Being able to connect with someone who shares your heritage or cultural background, and being able to see yourself in that person, are some of the greatest motivating factors.

In your opinion, why are diversity and inclusion important?
Diversity and inclusion are very important as they provide different perspectives. Having someone who can see something in a different manner and who brings their own background and experiences can help elicit a new style of thinking and new direction when it is needed the most. When all options have seemingly been exhausted, something which may seem intrinsically basic to someone can actually be just what is needed to get things moving again.

How do you personally promote diversity and inclusion with your teams and/or in the community?
I’ve spoken at events aimed at promoting and highlighting diversity and inclusion, as well as been a representative, speaker and mentor at both internal and external events aimed at empowering underprivileged youth to encourage them to pursue careers in STEM and grow their networks. This includes serving as a mentor to both university students and secondary school students.

I have been an advocate for and given advice about different ways to recruit effectively at select Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) across the U.S. I’ve also attended university career fairs where I directly engage with students, serving not only as a company point of contact for them, but also sharing my experiences with them. I talk to new hires about my career progression and serve as a mentor to help them navigate the company’s culture.

Click here to read the full article on Bloomberg.

‘Quiet’ is the workplace word of 2023

Careers

Young black man using his laptop keeping a secret or asking for silence

By Madison Hoff, Business Insider

It seems fair to say that “quiet” is the workplace word for this year. “Quiet quitting,” “quiet hiring,” and “quiet firing” have all entered the work lexicon in the last several months, each marking a trend in how workers and employers are continuing to adapt to changes in how work works three years after the start of the pandemic. Experts think those “quiet” trends and more are set to continue throughout 2023 and beyond.

While not everything in today’s workplace are related to these quiet terms — there’s also rage applying, career cushioning, and chaotic working to name a few — there are a lot of quiet trends happening at work.

Quiet hiring

According to Vicki Salemi, career expert for Monster, quiet hiring involves shuffling workers into new roles within a company and “happens when people internally are being asked to move to another area internally.”

“Quiet hiring” is one of the “biggest workplace buzzwords” of 2023 per Insider’s reporting. That’s based on Gartner research, which considered it one of nine “Future of Work Trends for 2023.”

Emily Rose McRae of Gartner’s HR Practice said per reporting from GMA that quiet hiring is a workplace trend in 2023 in part because of a shortage in talent.

“We do not have enough talent for the roles that are available,” McRae said. “The jobs report that just came out said we had the lowest number of job seekers in months, so we’re not in a situation where we’re easily finding lots more talent.”

Salemi noted a few other reasons as to why quiet hiring may happen, including that it can be a strategy to get around having to lay off workers. She added that it could be the case too that “the company realizes that the employee’s talent are being underutilized.”

She pointed out that there can be pros to these internal moves like acquiring new skills, but some may find out they aren’t happy with this change. Salemi pointed out a Monster poll that half of those impacted by quiet hiring are in roles that actually don’t match their skills. This could lead to people joining the ongoing Great Resignation.

“Companies are redeploying resources and employees are — depending on their situation — it could be a move or stepping stone to a bigger opportunity or they could feel perhaps like they’re not in alignment with their goals,” Salemi said.

Quiet quitting

As Insider’s Samantha Delouya reported, “quiet quitting,” or just doing a minimum workload, was one prominent trend last year, and according to Payscale’s new 2023 Compensation Best Practices Report, it “isn’t going away.”

Today’s high inflation of over 6% may also be one reason people are not going above and beyond in their roles.

“In the midst of inflation, these employees who stayed, they’re being asked to take on more and more work for what feels like less pay if they haven’t got a raise or promotion,” Bonnie Chiurazzi, director of market insights at Glassdoor, told Insider. “So when you think of it through their eyes, it seems more of a natural response to the context that they’ve been living through.”

And layoffs, such as those at companies like Spotify and BlackRock, may not help this trend.

Amid those kinds of layoffs, “there is the likelihood that there’ll be increased responsibility for the employees that are left behind,” Ruth Thomas, pay equity strategist at Payscale, told Insider. “And that may potentially exacerbate that quiet quitting movement where employees become more frustrated at the fact that they’re having to take on more responsibility, so that’s a dynamic we see potentially happening.”

Salemi also said she thinks quiet quitting is still taking place in the labor market. Similarly, Chiurazzi thinks the “quiet quitting trend will persist until employers are ready to turn up the volume on employee feedback and really dig into these conversations.”

“I do think quiet quitting will remain prevalent until some of the underlying issues are addressed,” Chiurazzi said.

Chiurazzi pointed to Glassdoor findings that suggest some workers aren’t too happy with their employer. Chiurazzi said about a third “of employees feel a lack of transparency with their current employer,” but also about a third aren’t happy “with how their employer engages employees” and about a third are unhappy with “how their employers follow up on employee feedback.”

Other buzzwords of the year from Insider’s reporting relate to quiet quitting even if they don’t use the word quiet. That includes resenteeism, which Glamour UK’s Bianca London described as “the natural successor to ‘quiet quitting.'”

Another related buzzword of 2023 is Bare Minimum Monday — or as Insider’s Rebecca Knight and Tim Paradis wrote: “the TikTokian progeny of ‘quiet quitting.'” While this involves doing just the minimum on Mondays, it’s similar given quiet quitting includes not doing more than you are required to. However, not all buzzwords are about quiet things in the workplace. Newsweek reported that “loud layoffs” will be a trend this year, and Salemi told Insider “rage applying” is also happening usually because people want to leave “toxic workplaces.”

Quiet firing, thriving, and promotions

Quiet firing is another trend describing what has been taken place for some in the workplace. As Insider’s Britney Nguyen wrote, this quiet term means “employers treat workers badly to the point they will quit, instead of the employer just firing them.”

Continue on to Business Insider to read the complete article.

Kickstart Your Career With Public Health AmeriCorps

Careers

MENTAL HEALTH open book on table and coffee Business

As communities across the country work to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and build a healthier, more resilient future, there is an urgent need to grow our nation’s public health workforce.

Our communities also need innovative solutions to help break down barriers to good health and improve health equity. That’s why AmeriCorps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are teaming up through Public Health AmeriCorps, a new program that supports the recruitment, training and development of a new generation of diverse public health leaders.

Opportunities Are Now Available Near You

AmeriCorps is recruiting thousands of people to serve in public health roles at health departments, government agencies, community-based organizations, schools and other settings across the U.S. Adults of all ages and educational backgrounds are eligible to join Public Health AmeriCorps, which aims to recruit members who reflect the communities where they serve.

“Public Health AmeriCorps members add much needed capacity and support for local organizations and help address critical public health issues — like health equity, mental health and substance use disorders, COVID-19 recovery and more,” said Michael D. Smith, AmeriCorps CEO. “This program will not only meet urgent public health needs, but also help fill the shortages in the public health workforce with thousands of Public Health AmeriCorps alumni who represent the rich diversity of the communities they serve.”

Depending on the organization’s and community’s needs, some common roles include:

Health education and training
Community outreach and engagement
System navigation, referrals and linkage to care
Research, data collection, analysis and assessment
And more!

For example, AmeriCorps members have helped more than 2.5 million people at COVID-19 vaccination sites and conducted 1.7 million wellness checks. Members have also served as recovery coaches to help individuals overcome opioid addiction by providing substance use prevention, education, screenings and assessments.

Why Serve with Public Health AmeriCorps?

For many AmeriCorps members, serving is a way to gain valuable, first-hand experience to help further or transition their careers. Members receive on-site experience in a public health setting and have access to a comprehensive training program. Serving is also a great way to help make a difference in communities and give back. In addition, members receive benefits including:

Professional development opportunities: Gain transferable skills employers value including leadership, teamwork and problem-solving.
Living allowance: Receive a living allowance to cover basic expenses during your service term.
Money for college and trade school: Individuals who complete a term of service will receive an education award which can be used for a range of educational expenses.
Loan deferment and interest forbearance: AmeriCorps members are eligible for forbearance for most federally guaranteed student loans. In addition, interest payments that accrue during service may be eligible for repayment by AmeriCorps.
Access to the national AmeriCorps alumni network: Be part of a network of like-minded leaders who are passionate about improving communities. AmeriCorps alumni receive access to unique benefits and resources.

Learn More & Apply

Is this a good fit for you? Visit AmeriCorps.gov/PublicHealth for a complete list of opportunities to serve and guidance on how to apply. Part-time and full-time roles are available in rural and urban locations across nearly every state, D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico. You can also subscribe to AmeriCorps’ newsletter (public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USCNCS/subscriber/new) and contact publichealth@americorps.gov with any questions.

The Woman Stepping Up to Take on Climate Change

CareersDiversity in STEM

Monica Medina smiling wearing a blue suit with hair in bun

Environmental conservation is one of the biggest issues of the current times, bringing together representatives from every country to discuss what needs to be done to preserve our planet and its wildlife.

But thanks to one woman’s extraordinary expertise and her new position with the United Nations, we are improving worldwide efforts to help our planet.

Attorney and Army veteran, Monica Medina has been an advocate and a key player for sustainability and conservation efforts throughout her entire career.

She has worked as legal counsel on behalf of environmentalist organizations such as NOAA and the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, oversaw the Justice Department’s Environmental Division under President Clinton, led conservation efforts as the Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission under President Obama and has worked with various other environmentalist and ecological organizations.

Now, Medina’s expertise will be utilized in a whole new way: as the United States’ first ever Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources; a position designed to confront the environmental crises that directly affect our planet’s wildlife and water supply. In tandem with her position as the assistant secretary for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the state department, Medina’s position makes her one of the biggest power plays in environmental conservation among world leaders.

“I am really honored to have this role and this title,” she told ShareAmerica. “We’re in a world where the loss of nature is overwhelming and a real potential threat to the health of the planet and the health of people.”

In her new role, Medina will be working to support two of the most important ecological crises that effect humanity: the protection of biodiversity and increasing water security.

Decades of evidence shows that water security is essential to global efforts to increase equity and economic growth, build inclusive and resilient societies, bolster health and food security, decrease the risk of conflict or instability and tackle the climate crisis. Meanwhile, environmental stressors, like the climate crisis, nature crimes — including illegal logging, mining, land conversion — and wildlife trafficking, have deep and detrimental impacts on the biodiversity of our planet and the availability of clean and safe water for human use. The two crises are inextricably linked, and the state department and Special Envoy Medina are committed to addressing the crises holistically.

“These have deep and detrimental and lasting impacts on biodiversity, and on the availability of resources like clean and safe water,” Medina stated. “We are committed as we can be to try to address all of these crises at the same time.”

Monica Medina (L), speaks with Cho Seung-Hwan (R), South Korea's special presidential envoy for the 2030 Busan World Expo — Monica Medina (L), speaks with Cho Seung-Hwan (R), South Korea’s special presidential envoy for the 2030 Busan World Expo, during a meeting on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). (WILLIAM WEST/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

As part of Medina’s position, she has attended and will continue to attend discussions and negotiation that will foster new conservation efforts to support biodiversity and water preservation. These conferences include the 2022 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), the December meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties (COP15) and the Intergovernmental Conference. She will also be in charge of forming partnerships with other countries to find climate solutions.

“I am really honored to have this role and this title. We’re in a world where the loss of nature is overwhelming and a real potential threat to the health of the planet and the health of people.” – Monica Medina

Additionally, Medina’s position will require her to implement a first-of-its-kind initiative dedicated to advancing water security in the U.S. and abroad. The White House Water Security Action Plan and the Global Water Strategy, both of which Medina will be leading, will identify the direct links between water and U.S. national security, and harness the resources of the U.S. government — from leveraging science and technology to informing our diplomacy, defense and development efforts — to advance global water security and foreign policy goals. Securing water safety is additionally believed to prevent conflict and promote global peace and stability.

Monica Medina makes a few remarks at a special preview screening of the Netflix film, “Mission Blue,” at the National Geographic Society's Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington, D.C. — Monica Medina makes a few remarks at a special preview screening of the Netflix film, “Mission Blue,” at the National Geographic Society’s Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Netflix)

“We see water scarcity as a growing threat to peace and security in so many parts of the world, so we made it a priority,” Medina said.

Though climate change has been one of the top growing concerns for people of differing citizenships, political beliefs and cultures, Medina has faith that these new partnerships and programs will have a positive impact on the future of ecological conservation. “We are working to advance our climate ambition, to strengthen resilience to climate change and to really get as strong an outcome as possible from COP27. We as the U.S., are bringing an awful lot to the table there.”

Sources: ShareAmerica, U.S. Department of State, whitehouse.gov, Wikipedia

Top Photo: Monica Medina, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs of the United States, poses for a picture during an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the UN’s first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1) to develop a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution on November 28, 2022. (RICARDO FIGUEREDO/AFP via Getty Images)

Searching for a Remote Job? 5 Mistakes to Avoid

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womans hands on laptop keyboard wearing smartwatch tech background

By Jillian Hamilton

Remote jobs are a hot search term — even in national security. But while many say they want to work from home some or all of the time, it doesn’t mean candidates know how to find a remote job.

The candidate market may be hot, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to find the right job that fits you.

5 MISTAKES TO AVOID IN YOUR REMOTE JOB SEARCH

But if you’re in the market for a remote job and not finding one, you might be making some basic mistakes. Sometimes, you don’t have to overhaul everything — just make a few adjustments.

Focusing only on the remote-side of the search.

When it comes to jobs, it’s really about lining up the right skills to the position. It may be tempting to apply for every and any remote job, regardless of whether or not you even want to do the actual work. However, if you want to go remote in national security, your best bet will be to keep your job search open to all requirements and focus on your specific skillsets. You may find that in a candidate market, cleared employers are willing to offer some hybrid options. You can narrow your search for specific remote jobs, but it’s important to keep your skillsets the key piece of the equation. Employers are most concerned with finding cleared candidates who meet the job requirements.

Never changing your resume for the different jobs.

This isn’t a remote-only issue. It is a normal struggle for candidates, but it’s worth mentioning because it can have such a negative impact on the success of a job search. If you’re not adjusting your resume based on each job description, make that your first change you make. If you want the job, you have to connect the dots for recruiters, highlighting how your skillsets map to the job requirements. Don’t just blast your resume out to every opportunity without making adjustments.

Searching remote jobs outside your geographical location.

When it comes to cleared, remote opportunities, the odds of having to make an appearance at the office or the client site are high. Unless the contract allows for billable travel, you will need to be close enough to commute in, sometimes at least once a week. Unless you have a personal SCIF at home or the contract has zero classified information that you will have to handle, then you should expect some in-person interactions will need to happen. Try narrowing down your search to opportunities that are at least a drivable distance from your home.

Forgetting your network.

You build your network for many reasons, but one of the best times to lean on them is when you are job searching. Whether it’s to ask someone to review your resume or it’s to connect to a company that has remote openings, you have to remember to reach out. Asking for help isn’t easy for everyone, but every job search is made better when your network is involved. Don’t forget to reach out to recruiters as part of your network, as well as key associations in the industry. Those connections could be your ticket to answering emails in your comfy pants at home.

Skipping your remote skills section.

You might not think this section is important, but you’d be wrong. If you want to have a remote job, you have to highlight how you are suited to it. Not everyone thrives or has the right skills to make the remote life work for them. Team communications and collaboration skills in a remote world need to be highlighted. How are you at tracking tasks? Don’t talk about how much easier working at home makes your personal and professional life. That shouldn’t be your reasoning for an employer to offer you a remote job. If you really want to land your next remote gig, you need to highlight on your resume your remote skills, as well as share that information during the interview too.

BE FLEXIBLE WITH REMOTE DEMANDS

Sometimes in national security, the remote jobs just aren’t there. But be sure that it’s because all the contracts are actually requiring 100 percent on-site support and not because you’re making some key mistakes in your remote job search. And you may need to be flexible on the amount of cleared remote work you can get. With federal agency offices opening back up, mask guidelines being adjusted and vaccine mandates on hold, more clients will be expecting more faces on-site. Being able to support the mission with a hybrid schedule is a win for the national security workforce.

Source: ClearanceJobs

3 Ways to Maintain Balance When Your Work World Shifts

Careers

black woman professional-in suit holding jacket closed looking confident

You may have heard of “quiet quitting,” a term that is creating a lot of buzz around setting boundaries at work. The idea is that rather than leave a job, some workers are deciding to keep doing their duties but not go above and beyond, sparking debates about what’s “normal” when roles shift and more responsibilities are presumed to be assumed.

“Quiet quitting” is making its rounds on social media and web forums everywhere for good reason. Imagine that your manager wants you to take on more responsibility at work, but doesn’t give you a promotion.

(It’s not an uncommon story. After all, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), U.S. workers work an average of 1,791 hours per year versus an OECD country average of 1,716.)

You can do one of the following:

Grin and bear it.
Demand perks, a salary bump or a bonus for your work.
Desperately search for guidance because no one told you how to handle this situation.

Your answer will likely vary depending on what led to the change.

Team dynamics can shift for any number of reasons. A coworker could be taking leave or a new job, the company might be downsizing or your employer could simply decide to change your role. Whatever the catalyst, you’ll want to have a chat with your manager to define your new responsibilities, set boundaries and ensure that you’re treated fairly.

Understand the terms

Before deciding whether or not to ask for more money or a better title, find out if your new responsibilities are permanent and what prompted them.

For example, if you’re shouldering the workload of a coworker who will be out for parental leave, you might be able to negotiate an interim salary adjustment or bonus for your temporary workload adjustment. On the other hand, if your company is cutting costs after a round of layoffs, it’s probably not a good time to ask for a raise.

Read the room and think about how your needs and the company’s needs overlap and then you can make your move.

Ask for more

No matter how much you like to think of yourself as a “team player,” you don’t work for free. If your increased workload is due to temporary changes, like a colleague taking a sabbatical or medical leave, you should be paid for the additional work you’ll be doing. Be sure to ask for a specific number, whether it’s a raise or a bonus, and quantify that number with data.

If your workload is increasing because a colleague is leaving permanently, find out if the company is planning to fill the vacancy. If you’re absorbing duties for a vacant role that could be a promotion, ask for the promotion or even an “acting” title to demonstrate your skills.

In situations where a raise or a title change are out of the question, get creative. Explore perks like additional paid time off or even a one-time bonus. If the company offers educational reimbursement, you could even request more tuition or training reimbursement.

In either situation, don’t let negotiations continue indefinitely. If your manager asks for more time to figure out a plan, schedule a follow-up meeting right away.

Define expectations

Your employer shouldn’t expect you to do the jobs of two or three people in the same amount of time for the same pay. It’s neither fair nor sustainable. Setting reasonable expectations up front for your redefined role can help you avoid burnout later.

As you discuss your workload with your manager, try to create realistic estimates for how much time you’ll need to perform each task well and ask about reassigning some of your existing workload — or pieces of the new workload — to other team members. Before leaving the meeting, set a check-in date so you can reassess the situation after you’ve had time to adapt to your new role. Some of your new duties may be easier than you expected, but you may need more training or mentorship to thrive in other areas.

Put it in writing

Ideally, you’ll be completely aligned with your manager on expectations, but it’s always best to have written terms that you can reference. That doesn’t mean you have to ask your manager to draft a to-do list for you. Instead, take notes as you discuss expectations and new assignments — plus any changes to your compensation, benefits or title — and send your manager a follow-up email outlining what you discussed. If the company tries to renege later, you can point back to your email documenting the terms you agreed to.

Carpe diem

While taking on extra work is challenging, it’s also a chance to show that you’re ready for bigger roles. Setting expectations and boundaries with your manager before you jump into an expanded role can help position you for success.

Whether you use the opportunity to move up the ranks within your current company or seek another position with a new employer, shifts in your workload can sometimes be stepping stones to advance your career. Embrace the change.

Source: Glassdoor

Patagonia Founder Donates His Entire Company to Fight Climate Change

Business

Patagonia owner Yvon Chouinard sitting at desk with paperwork and books

After 50 years of ownership, Yvon Chouinard has sold his $3 billion company, Patagonia, and transferred all ownership to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective. These two organizations will take every dollar not reinvested back into the company and distribute it as dividends to fight climate change.

The Patagonia Purpose Trust now owns all the voting stock of the company (two percent of the total stock) and exists to create a more permanent legal structure to enshrine Patagonia’s purpose and values. It will help ensure that there is never deviation from the intent of the founder and to facilitate what the company continues to do best: demonstrate as a for-profit business that capitalism can work for the planet.

The Holdfast Collective owns all the nonvoting stock (98 percent of the total stock), and it will use every dollar received from Patagonia to protect nature and biodiversity, support thriving communities and fight the environmental crisis. Each year, profits that are not reinvested back into the business will be distributed by Patagonia as a dividend to the Holdfast Collective to help fight the climate crisis. The company projects that it will pay out an annual dividend of roughly $100 million, depending on the health of the business.

Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia founder, former owner and current board member said:

“It’s been a half-century since we began our experiment in responsible business. If we have any hope of a thriving planet 50 years from now, it demands all of us doing all we can with the resources we have. As the business leader I never wanted to be, I am doing my part. Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source. We’re making Earth our only shareholder. I am dead serious about saving this planet.”

Patagonia will remain a B Corp and continue to give one percent of sales each year to grassroots activists. The leadership of the company does not change. Ryan Gellert will continue to serve as CEO and the Chouinard family will continue to sit on Patagonia’s board, along with Kris Tompkins, Dan Emmett, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Charles Conn (chair of the board) and Ryan Gellert. The Chouinard family will also guide the company’s controlling shareholder, the Patagonia Purpose Trust, electing and overseeing Patagonia’s board of directors. They will also guide the philanthropic work performed by the Holdfast Collective. Acting together, Patagonia’s board and the Patagonia Purpose Trust will work for the company’s continued success over the long term while ensuring it stays true to its purpose and values.

Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia and Patagonia board member said:

“Two years ago, the Chouinard family challenged a few of us to develop a new structure with two central goals. They wanted us to both protect the purpose of the business and immediately and perpetually release more funding to fight the environmental crisis. We believe this new structure delivers on both and we hope it will inspire a new way of doing business that puts people and planet first.”

As the change in funding went live immediately, Patagonia additionally updated their tagline to accompany their new mission: “Earth is now our only shareholder.”

Sources: Patagonia Works, Good News Movement

The Dos and Don’ts of Using Social Media in Hiring

Careers

hand on smartphone looking at social media image

Does your candidate screening process include checking out applicants’ social media? It’s a practice that has become common, but it introduces important ethical and legal considerations that employers should be aware of, along with potential impact on diversity and inclusion efforts.

Conducting general employment background checks is a well-established practice; they typically cover an applicant’s work history, credit history and possibly justice system involvement. But the practice of reviewing candidates’ social media accounts on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook is much newer. Recent surveys indicate a majority of employers now use social media background checks to screen candidates, and that their findings range from alarming to impressive.

One use of social media information that seems particularly justifiable could be to eliminate candidates who demonstrate poor or even dangerous judgment and behavior in their personal life that might impact coworkers and the workplace if they were hired.

However, this — and any other — purpose for reviewing applicants’ social media raises the risk of legal liability because federal employment laws (including the Civil Rights Act and Americans with Disabilities Act) prohibit hiring based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability and more. Any of these characteristics would likely be visible on an individual’s social media, so searching candidates’ social media may increase the risk of discrimination, or appearing to discriminate, based on these qualities.

Companies may hire an independent service to conduct social media-based background checks, rather than perform them themselves. This is intended to shield the employer from seeing information about candidates’ protected status and preserve the legality of the hiring process. However, the employer is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the independent service and may also be required to disclose this practice to applicants in advance.

Some states bar employers from asking applicants for access to their social media usernames and passwords. However, employers may still conduct searches of information that is publicly available on social media. Besides legal risks, one of the primary arguments against social media background screening is implicit bias. To avoid recruiting based on stereotypes, it’s recommended that hiring processes follow the notion of “blind recruiting,” removing personal information as much as possible. Also called “anonymous
recruiting,” the concept keeps the focus on skills, work experience, education and training and other essential factors that affect how a candidate would perform on the job.

“Blind recruiting” excludes consideration of other features of job candidates that would not impact their ability to perform a job, such as appearance or political affiliation. These characteristics would also likely be apparent in social media and knowing this information about a candidate could compromise the ethics of a hiring process and impact an organization’s efforts toward expanding diversity and inclusion in hiring.

Source: CareerOneStop

4 Tips to Nail a Virtual Job Interview

Careers

woman interviewing with man on website, close up, rear view

by Ben Laker, Will Godley, Selin Kudret and Rita Trehan

If you’re job hunting right now, chances are you’re also interviewing remotely. There are some serious upsides to this. You can avoid tardiness (no traffic snarls), reference notes without being too obvious and if you’re located in a rural area, you now have access to the same opportunities as city dwellers, saving you money.

There are also downsides. Combined with technical problems — like forgetting you’re unmuted or having a cat filter stuck on your face — virtual interviews can go horribly wrong.

Through our latest research on remote hiring, we wanted to know, given these pros and cons, how can job candidates really stand out during the virtual interview process?

Here are four practices you can use to turn your next virtual interview into a job offer.

1) Set up your space.

Have a clean, uncluttered background: Our advice here is not for you to start rearranging your entire room. Just find a spot that is simple and free of distractions. You can even choose a simple virtual background instead of propping yourself in front of a messy bookshelf. Contrary to previous research, we found that unconscious biases were less likely to creep into the decision-making process when candidates had a clean backdrop. 97 percent of the recruiters we spoke to preferred virtual backgrounds of office settings over beaches, mountains or outer space.

2) Prepare for the unexpected.

Keep notes handy, but don’t refer to them too often: During job interviews, it’s standard for recruiters to ask candidates for examples of their most impactful work. Don’t let this unnerve you in the moment. Create a printout or Word document of notes with crisp bullet points highlighting a few projects you want to share. Sort your projects under two or three headers: accomplishments, research and volunteer work.

We suggest no more than one page of notes. The goal is to refer to your notes minimally.

3) Rehearse.

Use hand gestures: In our study, 89 percent of successful candidates used wide hand gestures for big and exciting points, while moving their hands closer to their heart when sharing personal reflections. Your body language can impact what you’re saying and how you come across. Our research also found that you can connect to your interviewer just by keeping an open posture and remembering not to cross your arms. Look into your webcam, not at your reflection. We recommend framing yourself in a way where you’re not too far from the camera (we suggest no more than two feet). Make sure your head and top of your shoulders dominate the screen, and as you’ve heard before, look into the camera when you speak.

4) Don’t perform a monologue; spark conversations.

Ask questions: There’s always an opportunity to ask questions about the office and the culture in an interview, but when you interview remotely, you’re going to be left with more questions than usual. Whatever you want to know, ask. Don’t worry about looking silly. The recruiter will appreciate your curiosity.

We suggest asking questions about the kind of technology you’ll have access to when working remotely, if you’d be working in a hybrid team or how success is measured at the organization. 85 percent of successful candidates asked these kinds of questions to demonstrate their values and priorities, while revealing vital bits of information about their personality. For example, you could ask, “Do you have a flexible work policy?” Then bookend your question with, “I’ve been volunteering as an English teacher for marginalized communities twice a week, and it would be great to be able to continue doing that.”

For better or worse, remote hiring is here to stay. While there are many unrivaled benefits to this, you need to do your bit to ace this relatively new process. Remember, trousers are optional, outstanding delivery is not.

Source: Harvard Business Review

Why We Need More Women in Engineering: A Conversation with SWE Emerging Leader Kia Smith

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Diversity is important in every field, but this can especially be true in STEM. Having a diverse team allows for a wider exchange of thought, ideas and ways to problem-solve inspired by a variety of different life experiences and trains of thought.

But even with the progress that has been made to include more women and people of color in STEM, they are still vastly underrepresented, especially in the engineering field. In the most recent survey done by the Society of Women Engineers, women represented only 34 percent of all STEM workers and only 14 percent of all engineering occupations.

These numbers were even lower for women of color in the field.

Getting more women — particularly diverse women — in engineering is incredibly important, but don’t just take our word for it. Diversity in STEAM Magazine sat down with the 2022 Society of Women Engineers Emerging Leader and the 2022 Black Engineer of the Year, Kia Smith, to talk about her journey in engineering and why it’s important for voices like hers to be included this field:

Diversity in STEAM Magazine (DISM): When did you know that you wanted to become an engineer and why?

Kia Smith (KS): I knew once I sat down and reviewed all the possibilities of majors that I could have for college at 15 years old. I sat down with my dad and we reviewed my top three. We ranked them on how much school I had to take versus how much money I could make. Needless to say, with my love for math and science and data from the assessment, all signs pointed to STEM!

DISM: What types of challenges have you faced as a woman of color in the engineering field?

KS: I have had managers that made each day hard, people at work that acted like supporters who really used my kindness for weakness and friends (or people that I thought were my friends) turn on me for getting a career. While all hard, I realized everything is temporary and nothing is forever so I need to make decisions for me that will lead to my happiness no matter what.

DISM: Tell us a bit more about your role at Boeing and what you enjoy most about it?

KS: I am a Regional Supplier Quality Manager in the California Region for Boeing Space, Defense and Security. I lead 15 people and close to 200 Supplier’s product verifications in the Southern California area and internationally. What I enjoy most is the training and development of team members. My team is great and I love to see them happy and growing.

DISM: What does it mean to you to be recognized by the Society of Women Engineers, BEYA and so many more?

KS: It means the world. I wish my parents were alive to see it. For years I thought my efforts were not noticed or appreciated, which I was told many times does not matter if you are getting paid. This is far from the truth. Recognition is definitely aligned with my words of affirmation love language, so you can imagine the level of gratefulness and excitement that I am on this year.

DISM: Why do you believe women are integral in engineering?

KS: Our ability to think and reactive differently has always been misunderstood but today it is celebrated more than ever. Our ability to multitask and bring a different flavor to the table makes our teams that much more amazing. I believe this makes US integral in engineering, which is a function embedded in all that we do each day — whether it is Wi-Fi from satellites that I have personally worked on, cell phones, ordering an Uber or Amazon delivery or riding on an airplane. Safety, quality and efficiency are all minimal expectations in the world we live in and it takes diversity on engineering teams for this to happen.

DISM: What advice would you give another woman of color who wants to pursue a career in engineering?

KS: Go for it and let nothing get in your way! You are worthy, you are good enough and you will make a difference in this world! Never tell yourself no… let other people say it and then go around them and make it happen!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kia Smith

Taking on Diversity in Tech with Daleele Alison

BusinessDiversity in STEMTechnology

Daleele Alison likes to help others stop wasting time doing tasks that don’t provide direct value to their clients. He is a technology professional, entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of RooksDM, a technology consulting group that helps alleviate pain points for small to midsize companies by using the right technology. Alison has worked as a consultant, business analyst and project manager for Fortune 500 companies to SMBs.

Diversity in STEAM Magazine (DISM) spoke with Alison about his company, the role diversity plays in tech and more on his participation in NMSDC’s Emerging Young Entrepreneurs cohort.

DISM: What have you seen businesses struggle with the most when it comes to their technology? How does RooksDM help them? 

Daleele Alison: From our perspective, businesses are excited about adopting new technology. However, when businesses rapidly implement new technology to fix a singular problem, this often becomes a band-aid solution and can lead to a different set of challenges. Many businesses end up with a large number of tech tools that become overwhelming to manage and lead to low user adoption. It’s important for businesses to take a step back and be strategic. At RooksDM, we ask the right questions about technology and processes and dig deep into the core pain points. Rather than simply throwing technology at a problem, we take a holistic approach. Our goal is to implement technology that works together and sets a foundation for scalable growth.

DISM: Do you feel there is diversity within the IT/tech sectors? Why or why not? 

Alison: We have seen progress in diversity within the tech industry. Organizations with targeted initiatives to increase diversity have definitely started to move the needle. It’s exciting to see a shift in the industry, however, there is still a long way to go. It continues to be a challenge for diverse vendors to break into large enterprise corporations. I’m hopeful that through tracking and monitoring vendor diversity, we will see even greater progress in supporting minorities in tech.

DISM: Why was it important for you to participate in NMSDC’s (National Minority Supplier Development Council) Emerging Young Entrepreneurs cohort? What have you learned thus far that is applicable to your own business? 

Alison: The NMSDC’s Emerging Young Entrepreneurs has been an important way for us to learn and network. Through this initiative, we have been able to connect with like-minded colleagues, which has led to advice and potential business growth. The sessions have been invaluable and have expanded my thoughts around marketing, finance and strategy. We are truly grateful to be a part of this community and are looking forward to more opportunities in the future.

DISM: How has being MBE certified through NMSDC leveraged your business’s success? 

Alison: Being MBE certified through NMSDC has given RooksDM access to a much larger community of like-minded businesses. We now have exposure to larger organizations to build our business. We have also built relationships with fellow minority-owned businesses. It has been so valuable to learn from each other and share stories and resources that support business growth. We are also proud to share our certification with current and prospective clients. This certification provides us with additional credibility that supports our conversations with potential clients.

DISM: What advice would you give another minority-owned entrepreneur or business owner just getting started?

Alison: My advice to fellow minority owners is to be intentional about how you spend your time. It’s easy to focus on initiatives that don’t matter or that won’t make an impact. It is critical to have the right people in your network to lean on so you can spend your time where it matters most. For us, spending time building relationships has been a game changer, not just in nurturing prospects but also in strengthening relationships within our industry. Leaning on others in the industry for support and expertise has not only led to referrals but been helpful to our overall growth.

Photo credit: Tori Soper Photography