The 2018 RedChairPgh sitwithme event was held in Pittsburgh’s beautiful downtown August Wilson Center theater. More than 200 registered for the 4th annual celebration of women in tech. The evening began with a cocktail reception sponsored by University of Pittsburgh with lots of lively networking and the always-fun photo-booth from ELF Entertainment sponsored by PPG Industries, ServiceNow and BNYMellon.
Julia Poepping, RedChairPGH Board Chair, thanked Presenting Sponsor, UPMC, welcomed everyone and introduced lists of key actions that executives, hiring managers, supervisors and practitioners can take to ensure an inclusive and welcoming environment.
Toni Murphy, Vice President of Business Services Comcast and RedChairPgh board member introduced Ed McCallister, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, UPMC. Toni and Ed talked about the progress we’ve made and the challenges we need to continue to overcome when it comes to creating a truly diverse workplace.
Audrey Russo, President and CEO, Pittsburgh Tech Council them moderated the eveing’s Panel: “It’s Not Fake News: There IS Diverse Talent, Learn How to FIND Them”
On the panel were:
Janet Smith, Co-Founder of the Ivy Planning Group, Priscilla Beale, Innovation Officer for Bayer,
Linda Topoleski The Allegheny Conference on Community Development’s VP of Workforce Programs and Operations, and Erik Winebrenner Thermo Fisher Scientific VP and Chief Information Security Officer. Some amazing quotable tweets went out during that conversation!
The 2018 Scholarship Awardees were then recognized with a professional video sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Free onsite childcare was provided by flexable.com
Other event sponsors included Murtech Consulting, Gateway Health, Solutions4Networks
Comcast, fivestar* and RedTree Web Design provided in-kind services to help make the evening possible.
Students from University of Pittsburgh Health Information Management school and Triangle Technical were on hand to help with registration.