Women in Agile

NOT for women only. All are welcome!

This event is jointly sponsored by Women In Agile (https://WomenInAgile.org) and Chicago Agile Open Space.

Five Women will deliver “TED-like” talks on their journey into technology.

They are:

STEM College Student - Semira Allen, Northwestern University

Talk: "And still I rise": A journey into technology
Bio: Semira Allen is a life long lover of all things related to STEM. She's a rising senior at Northwestern University majoring in Information Systems. Her passion for software development has aided her in being awarded an internship in DevSecOps with Deloitte for the summer of 2019.

Entry Level - Melissa A Rowe, Adtalem Global Education

Talk: Agile: Love at first sight
Bio: Melissa Rowe is a business professional with over 15 years in the IT/Telecommunications field and most recently in Project Management. She has a natural enthusiastic entrepreneurial spirit with a unique ability to bring people together and get things done in a fun effective way!

Career Changer - 'Tine Zekis, Centro

Talk: How Career Changers Can Tackle Impostor Syndrome
Bio: Christine ('Tine) Zekis is an educator-turned-developer working as a Software Engineer at Centro's Chicago office. She champions Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in tech, while delivering clean, well-tested code. She aspires to mentor and sponsor other career changers, especially those who are underrepresented in the industry. In her spare time...just kidding: 'Tine has a one-year-old daughter and no spare time.

Mid-Level - Alison Dalton, West Monroe Partners

Talk: The Ascent from Individual Contributor to Manager to Leader
Bio: Alison Dalton-Lynn is a Senior Product Manager at West Monroe Partners, a technology consulting firm in Chicago, where she leads a new internal platform team. She has over 15 years experience across startups, large corporations as well as her sweet spot which is mid-size companies. While she spent some of her career with B2C digital products she learned that she preferred providing tools and solutions to enable end users with technology and insgihts and has focused her talents on SaaS and Agile methodologies. Alison has been able to create deep relationships throughout her career and has become a trusted advisor to current and former colleagues as they navigate thier own journeys.

Senior Exec - Dana Bina, iProspect US

Talk: The Road to CTO
Bio: Dana Bina is Chief Technology Officer for iProspect US. With more than 15 years of experience building digital marketing solutions for the world’s most well-known brands, Dana has a proven ability to communicate technical information to non-technical business owners, articulate business needs to development teams, lead cross-functional teams, and foster collaboration among team members. She is a mentor for women seeking leadership positions across the organization, and advocates for diversity & inclusivity across her organization.

Afterwards, we will have a moderated panel and also take questions from the audience.

Moderator - Melanie Adcock.
Melanie is President and CEO of Tech Copy Authority Corporation. She is a highly regarded woman in tech in the Chicagoland area. Founder of two tech companies involving writing and advertising, she also hosts a radio broadcast called Tech Scene Chicago where she discusses publicly available tech events. She has discussed several agile topics and events on her show and is proud to be moderating the panel for this event.

Event timeline:

5:30 - 6:00 pm Networking / Refreshments
6:00 - 6:10 pm Welcome and Opening Remarks
6:10 - 7:00 pm Presentations
7:00 - 7:45 pm Panel Discussions and Audience Questions
7:45 - 8:00 pm Post Networking

Security Requirements

Please check in with building security on ground floor.