Systers: Your Global Community

“Until Systers came into existence, the notion of a global community of women in computer science did not exist.”

   — Anita Borg

Looking for a global community of individuals who support, encourage and challenge each other? The Anitab.org has just the group for you!

In 1987, Anita Borg, founder of the Anita Borg Institute (now known as Anitab.org) formed an online global community of women. Systers works via an online community of women to support you wherever you are in your career journey. Systers is a private email loop that reaches from the university level across to the technical side of computing.

Anita’s vision was to see women inspire each other through their professional journeys as well as career decisions.  I have been a part of the Systers community since my first Grace Hopper in 2009 and one of the most powerful aspects of this list is the personal journeys told, and the encouragement shared.

Systers has more than 7,500 worldwide members as well as several affinity groups. To check out the affinity groups or find out more about them, click here: Systers Communities - Affinity Groups

Systers also offers special interest groups, centered around specific industries, and initiatives, such as the Pass It On Awards and Systers Open Source. In addition to the special interest groups and initiatives, Systers offers CRA-W email groups. These groups center around research of women in computing. For more information on any of these groups, check them out here: Systers Initiatives

Looking for a role model, mentor or encouragement? Need advice on a specific topic? Questioning your career path or just need some advice on what you should do next? From college students to industry professionals, support is there when you need it.

To get started with exception group of women,  join Systers today: Join Systers

References:

Systers Community at Anitab.org - https://anitab.org/systers/

Why Systers  by Dr. Anita Borg - https://anitab.org/systers/why-systers/?_ga=2.229157407.284726119.1536329914-578597021.1536329914

GHC 2018 – Mentoring

GHC 2018 – Mentoring

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Time: 11:30-2; 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Location: GRB Grand Ballroom B

Findings Mentors and learning from other women at GHC

Grace Hopper Convention is one of the top places for women in stem to learn from other women who have travelled their own paths in the world of technology.  Finding the right people to learn from can be hard but luckily it can also be easy.  You can attend GHC Mentoring Circles AND Speed Mentoring.

Speed Mentoring: Start Time: 3:00 PM | End Time: 5:30 PM 

This is an informal mentoring format.  You can drop in and chat with a variety of mentors in an easy going format.  No themes, no agendas, just tips and sharing from women that have been there done that to help you navigate your career, technology, and life!

Length per mini-session: 6 minutes for 1:1 / 15 minutes in round tables of 9

Number of mentors: 146

Format style: informal

Special feature:  New set of mentors every hour!

GHC Mentor Circles    Start Time: 11:30 AM | End Time: 2:00 PM | 

This is a more formal mentoring format.  There will be tables that hold up to 10 people at them at a time.  There is a mentor (or 2) at each table who has developed a formal application related to their mentoring topic (see topics here). 

Length per mini-session: 20 minutes in round tables of 9

Number of mentors: 50+

Format style: more formal

Special feature:  pre-reviewed Mentor Topics. See: Mentoring Circle topics

How to mentor mentors on being a mentor?

by: Mary Anne Melloy, Anita|Bees Mentor Committee Member

Do you consider yourself a mentor? Interested in being a mentor? Have volunteered for the speed mentoring at GHC '18. I wanted to share some of my tips and best practices for those that want to be a mentor…. now or in the future.

Best Tips and Practices to utilize when mentoring a mentee:

• Listen. I mean really listen. Be careful of starting the answer (in your head) before the mentee has finished asking the question. This will alleviate any misunderstanding of the question asked or information given. It may also prompt more questions if it is a group mentoring session. 
• Be prepared to back up advice with a story or example. The best advice I have ever received has been through storytelling on my mentors’ part and I have had some great mentors! It’s the stories that stick with you. 
• It’s all about the networking! Recommend resources and people. It is okay to have a cheat sheet of your favorite books, URLs, quotes, etc. to utilize when speaking to a mentee. 
• Find out how to link up with the mentees to continue a conversation. This is especially important if you are mentoring during a conference and need to move on to another appointment. 
• Pass on your LinkedIn profile for future connections. You never know who you are inspiring, but guaranteed you are inspiring to someone, somewhere. My best example of this was when I decided to achieve my bachelor’s degree (Yes, I was one of those late in lifers 😊). I was able to encourage others to achieve their goals. I became part of their support network. This was a pleasant surprise since I never set out to do this. It taught me that inspiration comes from very simple acts and encouragement comes from anyone and everyone around us. 
• Think about the who, what, when, where and why people are seeking a mentoring relationship. Drawing on your experience, figure out which are the most appropriate questions to ask and see what you can offer to your mentee. Another technique that is very valuable to use (and yes, my past mentors have used it on me) is the 5-whys. The 5- whys is designed for root cause analysis, but by answering the simple “why” question(s), it helps a person focus what matters most. The 5-whys has been equated to peeling away the layers on an onion so think of this technique as…. you are helping your mentee peel away their layers until they can focus on what matters most to them. Want to know about this particular technique, check out this resource. 

So, you still want to be a mentor? My final piece of advice is to look at the mentoring relationship as “what can I give?” and not as “what will I get?”. One day, your mentee might be sending you the same advice you gave them…that is when you know the mentee has become the mentor.

Resources:  

• The 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership – John Maxwell
•  Free download
• Everyday Leadership (TEDx video) by Drew Dudley
• First Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman 
• Great Overview Video by Callibrain