5 Takeaways from the Women Tech Leaders Summit

Women make up just 26% of the tech workforce and 50% of women leave their tech jobs by the time they’re 35. At the same time, women bring critical skillsets to tech and are uniquely positioned to address the cyber threats of tomorrow. Women tech leaders in government and industry discussed new ways to market the government mission, mentor young women in tech, and inspire more women to pursue government tech careers at GovCIO Media & Research’s annual Women Tech Leaders Summit.

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A national cyber workforce strategy is coming.

The White House’s cybersecurity workforce strategy will focus on educating all Americans on cybersecurity (starting with K-12 schools) and enabling Americans of all backgrounds and skillsets — especially women — to pursue cyber careers.

“We can't have a cyber workforce if we aren't addressing cyber all the way,” Assistant National Cyber Director for Planning and Operations Caitlin Clarke said during the closing fireside chat. “That is going to take a whole of nation approach to bring cyber education.”

Mentors and sponsors play a key role in diversity.

Mentors and sponsors play a key role in diversity.

“Mentors are people who have already achieved something, a position or a place in the organization that you aspire to and can talk about their experiences. Sponsors are people who are advocating for you and looking for places for you to get that opportunity,” CISA Chief People Officer Elizabeth Kolmstetter said.

"If you have a great idea, find someone to help you champion it and find a way to make it work,” said Department of Veterans Affairs Office of IT Chief Strategy Officer Nicole Gilbride. “Sometimes it’s those little ideas that you might have or someone on your staff might have. Give them a little leash to run and see what they come back with.”

Federal technology needs women.

Clarke and FBI Cyber Deputy Assistant Director Cynthia Kaiser believe women have unique skills needed in cybersecurity. Kaiser encouraged women to apply for cyber jobs — “Apply, apply, apply,” she said. “Countering cyber threats is the national security issue of our lifetime.”

Because women often take on so many different roles in and outside the home, they are often perfect candidates for the world of cyber, which requires savvy risk management skills.

“In addition to my job, I have three children under the age of 10 and two dogs and a husband — [as women] we have full time jobs that we do during the day and then we go home and we have another full time job, right? We have the ability to prioritize, triage and attack problems in a way that I think makes us unique and we bring our whole selves to our jobs,” Clarke said. “Those skills are necessary. The ability to say okay, yes, the world is on fire, but let's take this one step at a time, we are going to address what needs to be done first and we will continue from there.”

Federal programs are eyeing underserved populations.

FDA aims to launch a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Action Plan, which FDA’s digital transformation lead Jessica Berrellez said is critical for building a robust workforce and leadership development pipeline. To ensure inclusivity for the VA's LGBTQ plus community, Gilbride launched the Personal Pronoun Project, which allowed VA employees to add their preferred pronouns to their email signatures.

At the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Digital Service Director Andrea Fletcher is prioritizing digital equity to ensure websites and technology are accessible to all, especially women and people of color, who are historically underserved when seeking health services. The CMS Digital Service is currently in the data collection stage to understand where health outcomes need improvement.

Government has a marketing problem.

A lot of innovative work happens across the government, but messaging around impact, job security, and benefits doesn't always leave the Washington echo chamber.

"Sometimes I think we limit our outside communication to the extent of having it be a detriment to being able to tell the federal story because there's so much good going on in these agencies," Margie Graves, a senior fellow with the IBM Center for The Business of Government, said during a panel.

The mission of public service is attractive to many, but the pay disparity between public and private sectors discourages younger generations from joining government. The Office of Personnel Management’s Special Salary Rate, once implemented, is supposed to address the pay gap and attract more IT talent to the government.

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5 Takeaways from the Women Tech Leaders Summit