In Living Color: Black Voices at New Relic

In a time where elevating Black voices is more important than ever, join us for our next FutureTalks event, a panel entitled, "In Living Color: Black Voices at New Relic." The panelists will share insight into their career journeys, dealing with imposter syndrome, feeling "othered," and finding their defining moments. This panel will be moderated by Jemiah Sius & Spence Taylor, from New Relic's product organization and will highlight various Relics in leadership, sales, and marketing.

Panelists:

Spence Taylor is a Software Engineer on New Relic’s Logs team. He is a US Navy veteran, and before becoming a software engineer worked as a chef in fine dining. Spence is on the executive board for Relics of Color, New Relic’s employee resource group for BIPOC employees, and is passionate about breaking the stigma of mental health in the black community.

Jemiah Sius is a Senior Product Manager on New Relic's open-source and developer advocacy team. He’s worked in engineering and marketing for the last ten years and has led New Relic's developer relation efforts over the last year and a half as a Developer Advocate.
His experience involves developing React applications, addressing customer/client pain points, implementing developer relations campaigns, and developing data-driven marketing strategies.
Outside of work, he is an active father, big nerd about all things tech, and assists in managing The Smile Trust, a nonprofit organization that has fed over 200,000 homeless people in the last four years. He enjoys cooking and playing basketball with his 14-year-old daughter, writing hip-hop songs in JavaScript and PHP on his Instagram account @jay.all.dayyy.

Vivian Okere is a Nigerian-American living in Atlanta, Georgia. She works in the Commercial org as an Account Executive, and likes to describe herself as a trusted-advisor/partner for both clients and prospective clients. She is typically seen snacking on the hour, every hour, indulging in snacks at any given point. Apart from stuffing her face, she loves to travel every month both locally and internationally, network, watch movies, read self-help books, and relax with family/friends. One goal to accomplish this year would be to create a sound brand at New Relic and personally that focuses on my strengths, which are relationship-building and continuously being inquisitive.

Wayne Purboo is New Relic’s SVP of strategy, leading strategy for the company’s product and customer efforts. Prior to New Relic, Purboo was SVP of product for AT&T Entertainment Group, responsible for video product strategy, roadmap and performance for DIRECTV, U-verse, OTT products, as well as the integration of the Quickplay platform. Purboo founded Quickplay Media in 2003 and led the company as CEO until its acquisition by AT&T in 2016. A 25-year technology veteran, Purboo has held a number of leadership roles with technology startups and industry leaders, including Amdocs, Solect (purchased by Amdocs), and Network Computing Devices (NCD). Purboo has been recognized by Canada's Top 40 under 40, Deloitte Fast 50, Canada's Spotlight Awards, and most recently by the University of the West Indies with the Vice Chancellor's Award.

Abdul Ibrahim is a Regional Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa managing New Relic Relics most strategic customers on the continent of Africa. He has worked in various roles within the region in the past 2.5yrs growing New Relics footprint in the region working alongside some of our strategic local partners to drive that growth. His experience in sales spans from working in IBM and Vodafone Global Enterprise over the past 10yrs working in various growth roles in North America and Northern Europe. Outside work, Abdul is a die hard Arsenal fan, aspiring life & business coach and a global citizen who loves to travel to cities across the world to experience culture and food. He is of Nigerian descent, grew up in Dublin, Ireland and passionate about fashion and Family.