Championing Ambition: Women In Cloud Launches 2023 Cloud Scholarship Drive

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As of 2020, only 14.2 percent of people in the cloud computing industry were women – a number that is not improving. We believe that economic growth should be inclusive, reaching every person, organization, community, and country. And it all starts with increasing access to digital skills.

Women in Cloud recognized the importance of cloud certification in building an inclusive workforce and had the reach, approach, partnerships, and engine to make a meaningful impact. We embarked on a journey to test three hypotheses:

  1. What does it take for women to be job-ready in cloud technologies?
  2. What partnerships do we need to deliver micro-credentials and hands-on learning experiences?
  3. What wrap-around services do women need to succeed, including partnerships with Coursera, universities, and tech companies?

Through our experimentation, we learned that it takes $6,000 to $10,000 to provide the necessary services for women/anyone to be job-ready. However, this approach was expensive and not easily scalable. Determined to find a solution, we reverse-engineered a pathway to access $100K Cloud Tech Jobs.

A Breakthrough: Cloud Certification for $250

Collaborating with the Microsoft and Women in Cloud’s Board of Advisors, we identified what it takes to achieve cloud tech certification and devised a plan to make it possible.

After distributing 3,000 scholarships in just 15 months across 65 countries, we are thrilled to announce a breakthrough – women and allies can now become technically certified on Microsoft Cloud products for just $250.

Launching #WICxCloudScholarship Fund

Led by our esteemed Board of Advisors, the Women In Cloud Scholarship Fund is a collective effort driven by our vibrant community. Our mission is clear: to establish and sustain a fund that will empower women by awarding 1,000 life-changing cloud and AI scholarships. Over the next 24 to 48 months, we aim to raise $250,000 to pave the way for women to excel in the cloud industry, fostering diversity and innovation along the way.

We believe that giving is a calling, and giving smart is a choice. But that’s not all. We made it affordable, tax-deductible, and sustainable. This will allow every individual to contribute to the Cloud and AI Workforce Development and make Tech Industry Inclusive.

This holiday season we are launching an innovative campaign “Hope Rises With Every Donation”

In the boundless digital universe, the cloud is a cornerstone of our technological future. However, not everyone has the opportunity to harness its power. This community-driven campaign aims to empower women by providing cloud certification scholarships.  Our mission is to raise funds to create 1,000 Cloud Certification Scholarships.

We believe Hope Rises with Every Donation.

Be a part of this transformative giving campaign and help us make a difference! Your contribution can be the turning point in someone’s life. For more information, visit : https://www.gofundme.com/f/wicxcloudscholarshipfund

No Donation Is Too Small

That’s why we offer a variety of tax-smart giving options for your 2023 donations to maximize their effect:

Save on taxes and make an impact: Make a $250+ gift and receive a charitable deductions and sponsor a woman to become cloud certified. Plus get invited to become a mentor/advisor.

We invite you to champion a woman’s ambition and pave the way for her to achieve cloud certification. Together, we can create a more inclusive and diverse future in the tech industry.

Donate and Make an Impact Today

Together, let’s champion her ambition and make the tech industry more inclusive and diverse. Join the #WICxCloudScholarship Fund today!

Connect with Chaitra if you want to join the fundraising team.

Your support matters. Let’s create an Inclusive Future. Champion Her Ambition with Cloud Scholarships and Your Mentorships.

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Announcing #WICxAnnualSummit2023: Igniting Collective Responsibility & ESG Leadership

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What do you get when you take over 100 women and allies from around the world, put them in a room for three weeks, and ask them to change the world?

You get Women in Cloud (WIC), hosting their fifth annual Women in Cloud Summit beginning January 26, 2023. 

The three-week hybrid experience will combine unique virtual programming with in-person events and exclusive opportunities that promise to be memorable, empowering and inspiring. The 2023 Annual Summit ignites the power of “Collective Responsibility” through purpose, innovation and excellence to accelerate ESG leadership and solutions to drive responsible businesses.

The summit will explore the increasing pace of Cloud & AI technology, create a global hub for sustainable tech solutions, accelerate ESG + T innovations and provide the platform to transform our collective community into resilient leaders and responsible global enterprises. 

 Across the hybrid programming, attendees will hear from inspirational speakers, connect and communicate with industry leaders and experts, and network with each other, both virtually and in-person.

The summit also offers a unique opportunity to participate in a virtual World Record attempt, as WIC community is ready to set the record for most vision boards uploaded in 24-hours. 

Since its inception, Women in Cloud’s Annual Summit has become one of the world’s most influential community events for women in technology, led by top industry women leaders, CEOs, Executives and allies focused on global, sustainable impact.

Attended by an international audience from more than 25 countries, the Annual Summit is driving the economic access narrative on a global scale. 

To learn more or get your tickets to Women in Cloud’s Annual Summit visit: https://womenincloud.com/wicxannualsummit-2023/

So don’t miss out on this opportunity—register today!

 

Impact of 2022 Annual Summit: 

The Women in Cloud Summit 2021 will build on the success of last year’s event. Themed Collective Influence, the 2022 Summit brought together 1000+ participants and speakers from 28 countries, including the UN of cloud brands, entrepreneurs, technologists, policy makers and global leaders. The event programming was specifically designed to drive curated and organic connections for driving economic development to create $1 billion in economic access for women tech entrepreneurs. 

 

What Our Community Is Saying:

  • “It has been awesome. I’m so impressed with the lineup! I’ve written down quite a few gems
  • to meme-ify to keep me inspired!” – Sarah C.
  • “Thank you WIC! For me there is a bit of silver lining for having the Summit online. It would have been hard for me to participate in person. I am grateful for every minute spent with you amazing ladies” – Zana P.
  • “So refreshing to discuss these topics with other women technologists!!!” – Bailey M.
  • “So moving and vulnerable! Thank you so much for showing us it’s all possible.” – Maria
  • “Amazing panel!! Love how it felt actionable!” – Nicole C.
  • “Marketplace strategy, invest in customer demand, build and expand .. Whoa! I am learning big time! Thanks to the whole team!” – Carolina
  • “Thank you WIC for all the support so far!” – Bhavya A.
  • “Thank you panelists! Lots of helpful takeaways to digest. Thank you Patti for the brilliant visual to support and inspire!” – Sara B. 
  • “Great insights and inspiration today from the founders. #CollectiveInfluence in action!” – Gena G.

 

To learn more or get your tickets to Women in Cloud’s Annual Summit visit: https://womenincloud.com/wicxannualsummit-2023/

So don’t miss out on this opportunity—read the press release to get involved.

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2022 CEO Outlook by KPMG & ESGT Opportunities

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We got chance to read the research KPMG 2022 CEO Outlook, which asked more than 1,300 CEOs at the world’s largest businesses about their strategies and outlook, reveals that 58 percent of leaders expect a recession to be mild and short. Fourteen percent of senior executives identify a recession among the most pressing concerns today — up slightly from early 2022 (9 percent), while pandemic fatigue tops the list (15 percent).

This is a fantastic news!!

Global CEOs see a ‘mild and short’ recession, yet optimistic about global economy over 3-year horizon

Few Insights

  • Hiring freezes and headcount reductions under heavy consideration for CEOs
  • Uncertainty fueling long-term digital transformation : While current uncertainty is driving CEOs to continue to prioritize digital transformation, 40 percent of businesses have paused their digital transformation strategies and another 37 percent plan to take such steps in the next 6 months.
  • Evolving focus toward reputational and technological risks : Emerging and disruptive technology has landed as the top risk to business growth over the next 3 years. In addition, CEOs have identified several other areas as top risks to growth: reputation, regulatory and operational issues, and climate change.
  • Cyber security no longer corporations’ biggest threat, with more companies prepared for attacks. Cyber security has dropped from the top 5 risks to growth over the past year, with only 6 percent of CEOs naming it as their top risk (17 percent in February 2022).
  • Stakeholder pressure increasing accountability in ESG : More than one-third (38 percent) of CEOs say their organizations struggle to articulate a compelling ESG story. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (72 percent) also believe that stakeholder scrutiny of ESG issues — gender equality, climate impacts etc. — will continue to accelerate.
  • Economic pressure slowing ESG ambitions : Global CEOs recognize the importance of ESG initiatives to their businesses, especially when it comes to improving financial performance and driving growth. In fact, 69 percent of senior executives noted greater demand from stakeholders for increased reporting and transparency on ESG — 58 percent in 2021.

Download the report

If you are looking for answers I would like to invite you to join us on October 13th for our #WICxUNGA 2022 Signature Summit event presented by KPMG!

The 2nd annual #WICxUNGA 2022 Summit is bringing together business, tech and community leaders for enriching and inspiring discussions about the future of ESG+T and UN 2030 Goals.

The agenda includes keynotes, in-depth fireside chats, interactive panels plus power talks with some of the top names in tech and leading experts including Kim Folsom – CEO & Founder of Founders First Capital Partners, Erika Murdock Balbuena – Head of ESG at Robinhood, Colleen O’Brien – CMO at Armoire, Andrea Perkins – Vice President at Insight Enterprise, Tegan Keele – IMPACT Climate Data & Technology Leader at KPMG, Gena Goh – Channel Inclusion & Impact Senior Strategy Lead at Microsoft and many more.

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What can you expect at #WICxUNGA virtual event?

  • Keynote on ESG plus T Mega Trends
  • CLevel ESG Fireside Chat: Exploring Your Career: An Executive’s Journey Leading ESG Narratives
  • CXO Panel: ESG plus T: Tech as ESG Issue, Risk and Value Influencer
  • Power Talk: Differentiate and Grow your Business Microsoft #BuildFor2030 Hackathon 2022
  • Own Your Narrative Bootcamp: ESG=T Focused Personal Brand Building
  • ESG+T Advisory Roundtable Discussions

 Signup: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wicxunga-building-a-sustainable-tech-industry-tickets-403527289987

KPMG and Meylah has total of 30 virtual scholarship tickets and available at no cost with the code “WICxESG”.  Please feel free to share this special invite and promo code with your colleagues, or community network.

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5 Reasons Why Every CEO Needs to Know Corporate ESG 

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ESG – Three simple letters that will continue to have a tremendous impact on the way we do business today. 

Understanding our environmental footprint, advances in social infrastructure and progress in governance and policy-making are the critical backbone for the way we tackle some of the world’s great challenges.  This is the new gold standard for global business.  Whether you are the CEO or executive for a Fortune 100 company, large enterprise or even a small to mid-sized business, ESG is changing the landscape for all of us to build a more inclusive, sustainable and ethical economy that benefits everyone, including generations to come.

5 Reasons Why Every CEO Needs to Know Corporate ESG 

According to Dell, Deloitte, Microsoft and other industry thought leaders, here are the top reasons why every CEO and future leader need to know ESG:

  1. Builds trust and stakeholder value – A company people can build and stand for trust and believe in is a company clients, customers and stakeholders will support. ESG practices and operating models empower businesses to develop strong partnerships across their communities and value chain, and help ensure all stakeholders are considered as a key part of any solution. Harvard Business Review reported that workers at companies where trust is high report 106% greater energy in the office, 74% lower stress levels, 76% greater engagement, and 50% more productivity than their peers at low-trust businesses.
  2. Manages effective compliance, policy and regulatory practices – All businesses are affected by some or other forms of regulations depending upon the markets they operate. The business with strong ESG measures, especially on Governance, invite less scrutiny from the regulators and have greater operational freedom. They also face less pressure from climate change from activists, employee unions etc. The consumers also prefer such brands too. For example, Starbucks introduced “Starbucks China Parent Care Program” in 2017 which provided health coverage to over 10,000 parents of Starbucks’ employees in China. It was seen as a strategic move as Starbucks planned to expand in China amid the growing trade dispute between USA & China.
  3. Reduces cost, mitigates risk and increases productivity – Companies which choose to use more sustainable methods of production and manufacturing tend to be more efficient and reduce their costs. One such example is Nestlé, which announced that it will invest up to USD 2.1 billion by 2025 to shift from virgin plastic packaging to food-grade recycled plastics and the development of other sustainable packaging solutions. This will not only help it cut its carbon footprint but also save it from non-compliance costs among different geographies where it operates and have stricter laws related to the use of plastic packaging.
  4. Attracts and retains top talent – With 50% of the world’s population under 25 and the pandemic changing the face of the marketplace in all industries, attracting the right talent has become a job unto itself. However, ESG is creating new opportunities to transform that process. Strong companies with good ESG scores attract better talent and have longer retention. Having a clear sustainability, social and diverse mission and vision generates an internal sense of pride among employees. The younger generation prefers to work for companies with stronger commitments towards society. As per a study by Cone Communications on Millennial Employee Engagement in 2016, 64% of Millennials consider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work.  And this is just the beginning.  CEOs must think about succession planning and how to accommodate the dynamically changing workforce mindset.
  5. Creates meaningful global impact through innovation – In a post-pandemic world, innovation that creates impact has become a cornerstone for successful brands to thrive.  The great news? The opportunities for ESG are endless. Prior to COVID, only one third of companies reported that social impact was a core pillar of their business.  Now, that number has shifted greatly as more and more leaders see the value in ESG impact-related initiatives that are adding to global recovery. In essence, companies that are adopting ESG operating models can improve people’s lives through healthcare, education, sustainability and digital inclusion, among a host of other topics, enabling companies to double-down on core values and act boldly to create real change for the success of their business and society.

In response to the growing awareness of ESG, Women in Cloud (WIC), a community-led economic development organization, launched their WICxLEAD program, designed to empower corporate women and entrepreneurs to ignite economic access. 

Over a six-week, 25 purpose-driven women scholars will learn how to be among the first to lead and influence digital transformation projects through cloud and AI technology, teaching them how to grow their executive presence, personal brand identity, public speaking impact, global access creation and community development strategies giving them a powerful platform to accelerate as industry ESG influencers and purpose-driven leaders.

The uniquely created accelerator program will help corporate women find and define their leadership purpose and create impactful ESG strategies, operating models and reporting mechanisms that support women tech entrepreneurs in the supplier ecosystem. Scholars will also gain access to a global network while learning from industry experts to accelerate their influence and market impact.

This leadership program is open to women-led companies and corporations looking to develop their women leaders. Applications are open until Jul15, 30, 2022. To learn more about the WICxLEAD program and secure your spot visit: https://womenincloud.com/wicxlead/.

NASDAQ said it very well in a recent article. Environmental, social and governance issues should be a top concern of corporate management and boards. There was a time when a public stance on ESG issues was a public relations tactic. However, in today’s rapidly changing business climate, attention to ESG issues is becoming critical to long-term competitive success. Welcome to the next generation of global business standards. 

This is the power of how three simple letters are architecting the future of economic success for top brands who want to create the greatest impact possible.

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#WICxFortune100 Lunch and Learn with Microsoft : Recap

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On May 6, the Women in Cloud community joined together as we hosted a premier #WICxFortune100 Lunch and Learn with Microsoft. This series is a networking experience designed to open the doors for leading fortune companies and brands to connect with technology business builders. This intimate learning series offers a space to learn about how to do business with Microsoft, understand their company culture, and get access to decision makers & procurement officers. 

Fortune L&L Session Microsoft

To begin the event, Chaitra Vedullapalli, Co-Founder and President of Women in Cloud (WIC) set the stage delving into the impact of the partnership between Microsoft and WIC, focusing on important topics such as:

  • Driving an Inclusive Digital Economy by accelerating representation of 50% of population (women) that were left out in the $7 Trillion cloud opportunity
  • Cloud Skilling – Providing 1,500 cloud scholarship and First Cloud Center of Excellence
  • Inspire fortune brands and other companies to partner strategically to accelerate Corporate ESG efforts
  • Digital Co-Selling with Microsoft & access to Community PDM
  • Cloud Marketplace – Diversity Lens on The Marketplace
  • Voices for Innovation – Policy Advocacy

Watch Empowering Women in Tech keynote with Charlotte Yarkoni here:

Following Chaitra Vedullapalli’s Opening Remarks, an inspirational Keynote: Empowering Women in Tech was led by Charlotte Yarkoni, President, Commerce + Ecosystems at Microsoft.She shared the impactful statistics that less than 2% of software startups in the USA feature a woman founder, and the Covid-19 pandemic will increase the time it will take to close the digital gender gap by 36 years. As a strong advocate for girls, young women, and women to be in STEM, Charlotte explained how diverse companies generate more innovation and better financial results than non/less diverse organizations.

The attendee chat feed was filling fast as the community quickly resonated with Charlotte. 

These alarming statistics call for change, showing how important workplaces and allies are to creating economic access and opportunities for all. Charlotte showed us how Microsoft values creating a healthy ecosystem for employees, partners, and customers to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft is committed to creating a culture where diverse perspectives are invited, where inclusive behavior and authenticity are the norm, and everyone is empowered to bring their true self to work. Microsoft has implemented multiple programs to create access for women, such as a program supporting women founders in their end-to-end start-up journey, and a mentoring program to pair women employees at Microsoft with women founders. Through collective action, we can foster women’s talent in tech, which is a critical component to growing women’s presence in technology.

Watch the Inclusive Economic Opportunity Panel here:

Next, we excitedly introduced the Inclusive Economic Opportunity Panel: Talent, Business Development, and Supplier Diversity with moderator Diego Rejtman – GM, Developer Relations at Microsoft, Mazhar Mohammed – CVP, Partner & Seller Experience at Microsoft, Jaci Santos Shibao – Tech and Sales Strategy, GPS Sr Director; WAM ERG Co-Chair at Microsoft, and Shara Holliday – Sr Director, Procurement at Microsoft. 

 

The attendees were heavily engaged in the conversation via the chat, making this panel highly interactive for the audience. The panelists provided numerous words of wisdom to the audience regarding the Microsoft workforce, partnerships, customers, and resources for entrepreneurs to be positioned for supplier diversity opportunities —  giving the attendees a realistic look at how Microsoft values and celebrates a diverse ecosystem. 

A unique component of the #WICxFortune100 Lunch and Learn Series is the Cloud Solution Showcase, where we feature two entrepreneurs and their solutions for the marketplace. This month, Lucy Flores – Elyon International, and Natasha Tetruyeva – eKidz.eu were brought to the stage to bring awareness and education to their companies. 

Watch Elyon International Inc here: 

 

Watch eKidz.eu here: 

Closing out the session, but definitely a community favorite, was the Roundtable Advisor Experience where leaders in Microsoft met face to face (virtually) with attendees and discussed important topics: Leadership & careers, Changemaking for inclusive growth, Women thriving at work, Skilling opportunities, Supplier diversity, Marketplace engagement, and Hiring & culture.

Featuring Microsoft Roundtable Advisors: 

  • Diego Rejtman – GM, Developer Relations
  • Gena Goh – Channel Inclusion and Impact Strategy Lead, Global Partner Solutions
  • Jaci Santos Shibao – Tech and Sales Strategy, Sr Director, Global Partner Solutions; Women at Microsoft ERG Co-Chair, Microsoft
  • Debbie Uttecht – Partner Marketing Lead, Worldwide Learning
  • Joel Gillespie – Program Manager, Supplier Diversity
  • Madiha Khan – Engagement Lead, Commercial Marketplace Services
  • Michelle Shafer – Sr Talent Acquisition Manager, Talent Acquisition 

Watch the Introduction to the Roundtables and the event Closing Remarks to catch a glimpse of this experience.

As the highest registered and attended #WICxFortune100 Lunch and Learn in the series, this event impacted greatly the Women in Cloud community. With outstanding engagement on social media (Tracie Cobian) and in the event chat (Stacy Tatem), WIC encouraged this behavior with gift cards giveaways. 

Useful Resources: 

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