Special Event: Women in San Diego Tech Startups Part Trois (Panel)

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/4/a/7/6/event_142399062.jpegSince everyone loved our first two so much, we're going for Part Trois!

What's it like to work for a Tech Startup?

What's it like to be a Woman working for a Tech Startup or Tech Company in San Diego?

We are honored to have some of the coolest Geek Girls in San Diego to answer these questions and more for you!

We will update our panel as soon as possible to let you know who will be there!

If you are a founder, programmer, engineer or work for a tech company, why not contact us to be on this - and future - panels?

THE PANEL: Experience, Diversity, In the Now and the Future

"The Future"

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/b/e/2/event_194603522.jpegMeera Ramakrishnan

A software and business developer with diverse experiences and a keen interest in mobile technologies and business strategies. Creative and a focused problem solver eager to learn and adapt to new situations and provide exceptional results. Currently an undergraduate Computer Science student at UC San Diego balancing coursework while trying on different hats as a geek, entrepreneur, and business analyst within UCSD Women in Computing, National Geographic, Qualcomm, HackerRank, and this June, Goldman Sachs.

"Diversity"

Gloria Kimbwala

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/3/0/4/a/event_202272362.jpegGloria Kimbwala is currently working as a Director of Information Technology at an early-stage startupcalled Arynga in San Diego. She will be starting her Master’s in Software Engineering in the fall. As a female software developer in a male-dominated industry she gladly mentors others along their way. Gloria aspires to learn and create more opportunities for a startup culture in San Diego. She would also like to create more opportunities for minority tech events in San Diego! Gloria has experience working with Windows Server 2012 and programming in JAVA, C++, VB.Net, JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

"Experience"

Barbara Bry

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/d/8/6/event_194603942.jpeg Barbara Bry is the chief operating officer for Blackbird Ventures that invests in and incubates early stage technology companies. In addition, she and her husband Neil Senturia teach entrepreneurship at UC San Diego and write a weekly column on entrepreneurship for U-T San Diego.

In the for-profit area, she was on the founding team of Provide Commerce-Proflowers.com and Atcom/Info, a software company that pioneered high-speed Internet access in hotel rooms.

In the non-profit area, she is the founder of San Diego Athena, the leading organization for women in the San Diego technology and life sciences community, she was the first editor of the non-profit investigative news site Voice of San Diego, and she was the first associate director of CONNECT which has received international recognition for its role in nurturing early stage tech and life sciences companies. She is also the founder of Run Women Run, a non-partisan political action committee that identifies, inspires, mentors, trains and supports pro-choice women in San Diego for both elected and appointed offices.

She has received numerous honors including the KPBS-Local Heroes Award, the CONNECT Lifetime Contribution Award/Technology, the Athena President’s Award, recognition as a “Woman Who Means Business” by the San Diego Business Journal the Sara Moser Award from Planned Parenthood in recognition of her advocacy efforts for women, and she has been inducted into the San Diego Women’s Hall of Fame.

Barbara has a Bachelor’s degree in sociology and a Master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania, and she earned a Masters’ in business administration degree from Harvard Business School. She and her husband Neil have four children between the ages of 27 and 31.

The "Now"
Renee Zau

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/9/a/d/a/event_196599642.jpeg Renee Zau is Co-founder and CEO of DonationMatch, an online marketplace helping nonprofits and companies connect easily to easily get donated goods in front of customers at charitable fundraising events. Their mission is to make these "events with benefits®" better for everyone involved. Renee is also the Board Chair for the Parent Connection, a nonprofit sponsored by Scripps Health. She is a huge fan of creating value and efficiency with win-win solutions.

Eileen Zimmerman

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/9/8/b/e/event_204219102.jpegEileen Zimmerman is Chief Marketing Officer at Dealstruck, a crowdfunding lending platform that connects growing, revenue-generating small and medium sized businesses with accredited investors that want to earn attractive returns. Eileen has fifteen years of experience in market strategy, product management, and business development for companies like The Active Network, Nuance, and Yahoo!. She has led multiple product teams from concept through launch, and has successfully negotiated initial key strategic partnerships worth upwards of $1M for several startups. Prior to joining Dealstruck Eileen was Co-Founder and CEO at Delightem, the "Yelp of Gift Giving", and had a successful marketing consulting practice in Silicon Valley where she helped early stage startups secure their first customers.