Women in Tech Day: Putting a New Meaning to the Word “Sponsor”

The current landscape of women working in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields is trending in a concerning direction. According to a 2019 report jointly published by Accenture and Girls Who Code, the number of women working in Tech is shrinking with women making up 35% of the Tech workforce in 1984 and just 32% in 2019. This same report also found another alarming trend, “50% of women in tech roles leave them by the age of 35.” Women IN Tech Week’s advocates cite these troubling metrics as a sign that something needs to be done.

As best explained by the holiday’s website, “We have the unique and awesome opportunity to empower girls pursuing STEM education to achieve academic success in a culture of excitement, inclusion, and community collaboration. College-aged women, female career-pivoters, and underrepresented women need to look up and see leaders who look like them and have mentors to inspire their tech aspirations.” In many ways, that is what this piece is all about – not only providing mentors but also the impact of having one.

A Living Success Story: Brekiesha Weszely

In 2017, Brekiesha Weszely entered the tech industry as a technical recruiter for Brooksource, focused on pairing IT and Engineering professionals with Fortune 500 organizations and the private sector. From the beginning, Brekiesha fell in love with her role and the organization. Both gave her the chance to transform the lives of candidates she assisted in addition to establishing new talent pipelines of underrepresented communities and expanding access to the field. Thanks to her strong work ethic and passion for helping others, Brekiesha was quickly promoted to an Elevate Program Coordinator for Brooksource. Elevate is Brooksource’s workforce transformation program designed to upskill talent and build sustainable workforces of the future.

As a Program Coordinator, Brekiesha started growing her network of local universities, tech boot camps, and other community groups to establish diverse and Veteran-focused talent pipelines for her clients. Around this same time, Linda Calvin was working as the IT Sector Vice President – School of IT for Ivy Tech Community College at its Indianapolis campus, focused on partnering with employers to identify opportunities to recruit talent from the school of IT and build talent solutions to meet the demands of IT throughout the state. From their first meeting, the two instantly grew a strong bond. Not only was their collaboration mutually beneficial in growing local tech talent but Linda also served as a role model for Brekiesha both professionally and personally. “I was genuinely inspired by the impact she made on Ivy Tech Community College and the entire city, but also the interpersonal connection that she made with everyone (she met)” explained Brekiesha, “she kind of organically became a mentor of mine as I grew into my career, and she did the same.”

United in Growing Tech Talent Across Indiana

Throughout their 7-year-long relationship, Brekiesha and Linda have collaborated to grow the local IT community, help emerging professionals land promising careers, and reshape efforts to expand access to the industry. Although they both have progressed in their careers, with Brekiesha now serving as the Market Director for Brooksource Indianapolis and Linda serving as the Chief Impact Officer for Reboot Representation, they still stay in touch and frequently assist each other with their shared goal. In the summer of 2024, Linda came to Brekiesha with an exciting new proposition. Linda had just successfully established September 15 – 22, 2024 as Women IN Tech Week for the state of Indiana and needed the support of fellow tech community leaders to help put together programming for the week. Given their shared history and Brekiesha’s deep understanding of how impactful the week could be, she was eager to help in any way she could.

We previously mentioned that “50% of females leave the Tech industry by the age of 35” according to a jointly published 2019 report by Accenture and Girls Who Code, but further investigation into that statistic reveals that “non-inclusive cultures, a lack of women in IT leadership, and a lack of female IT mentors” are all equally listed as reasons why women are leaving the industry. Knowledge of this report, and her own experience of having strong female mentors to help guide her career, spurred Brekiesha to offer up Eight Eleven Group’s (Brooksource’s Parent Company) Headquarters to host the “CTRL+ALT+EMPOWER: A Women in Tech Mentorship Event” to kick off the week. The part networking - part mentorship advocacy event hoped to help address those factors by pairing Indianapolis tech professionals with mentors who truly represent their unique backgrounds.

A Good Deed Always Inspires Another

As an IT and Engineering consulting and professional service provider with a presence in over 32 markets across the nation, Brooksource and the Eight Eleven Family of Companies, sit in a unique position to strategically target the industry’s challenges. Brekiesha knew there was more the organization could do and more importantly, she knew that Brooksource could expand its efforts across its markets. “Through Elevate and our own internal professional development programs, we have already developed a strong mentorship program that many women including myself have been able to benefit from” highlighted Brekiesha, “we are fortunate to have leaders like Trisha Blake and Carrie Kuppart (Brooksource Vice Presidents) and I want that for others.”

After reflecting upon the female mentors who had inspired and empowered her throughout her career growth, Brekiesha got the idea of establishing September 18th as Women in Tech Day – Brooksource’s holiday designed to highlight women in Tech and equip them with the necessary mentorship, support, and professional development to continue advancing their careers. Across the nation, Brooksource’s markets hosted events to celebrate the day from webinars to panel discussions, and of course several networking events. In addition to these events, Brooksource also counted down to the day by highlighting the inspiring stories of female consultants on its social media channels.

Here in Indianapolis, Brekiesha and Brooksource are continuing their strategy of spotlighting role models for Women in Tech with their event "Uncorking the Mystery of Sponsoring Black Women in Tech: How to Tap into A Talented Diverse Pipeline” which took place on Wednesday, September 18th. The free-to-the-public event paired informative presentations from community advocates Linda Calvin, Chief Impact Officer of Reboot Representation (Transcendent Talks), Angel Henry, Founder and President of AngelsSpeaking, and Tonya T. Wallace, Principal Executive Life and Career Coach for AngelsSpeaking, with wines for an unforgettable occasion. Additional presenting partners of the event include the Eight Eleven Foundation, TechPoint, Blacks in Tech (BIT) Indianapolis, JD Sports, and Government Women in Tech (GWIT). “I want to create a space where a recent grad or career changer can come in and meet some Allstars who look just like them and are willing to help that professional grow in her career path and stay in it,” said Brekiesha. Although 2024 will mark the first year for Women IN Tech Week and Brooksource’s Women in Tech Day, both already show just how impactful they can be!