The Authentic Work of Building a Community with TechTown PDX!

You’re invited to join us on Monday, February 10 for our next FutureTalks event, a panel entitled “The Authentic Work of Building Community”. We’ll begin by screening “Building an Industry for Everyone”, a video produced by TechTown Portland, the coalition of local technology companies powered by Prosper Portland. “Building an Industry for Everyone” tells five stories in five minutes of ways that local technology offices are engaging with nonprofit organizations and Oregon schools to improve diversity, increase inclusion, and promote equity.

Multnomah County has over 7,000 registered nonprofits, and technology companies are known for having single-minded focus on the product and customer. Combine these two facts, and you probably end up with a gulf between them. But this month's FutureTalks is an honest and hopeful exploration of the featured nonprofit organizations, how they’ve engaged with various local industries and are connecting with tech, and a collaborative discussion about the need for building relationships with technology workers across the city.

We’ll be joined by an incredible panel of Portlanders who have worked across industries, and today are professional champions of increased diversity in a city that is hungry for it! In a discussion moderated by Morgan Armstrong, we will dig into how tech companies are taking the first steps in building lasting, authentic relationships with local nonprofits, and what you can do that will support their industry-changing work, whether you’re in your first tech role or a seasoned professional.

Doors will open at 5:30 for networking with food and drinks. The panel will begin at 6pm. We will plan to hold Q&A from 7:15-7:30pm.

About our speakers:

Moderator: Morgan Armstrong, Principal HR Business Partner, Puppet

Morgan believes everyone has a responsibility to make workplaces not suck, and after a stint in the non-profit sector jumped feet-first into HR in tech because of the unique and powerful position HR has in crafting workplace policies and programs, and the unique position tech has to influence the evolution of our "modern" workplaces as part of the greater business ecosystem. At Puppet Morgan is a Principal HR Business Partner, and works Puppets global go-to-market teams on things like workforce planning and strategic talent management. Morgan is a founding member of the TechTownPDX Steering Committee, a member of the De La Salle North Catholic High School Ambassador Board, and active in her local chapter of Moms Demand Action. In her spare time Morgan enjoys wine tasting, backyard apiary, and perfecting her cheese souffle. She can often be found "zooming" trucks around the neighborhood with her 2.5 year old son, Rufus.

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-armstrong-9192b126/
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Panelists:

• Jami Fluke, School Leader Ambassador, Construct Foundation
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jami-fluke-0b798736/

• Felicia Tripp Folsom, Director, Emerging Leaders
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicia-tripp-folsom-3aab705/

• Matthew Heady, Senior Director of Teen Services, Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metro
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mheady/