Absolutely! Giving back is something that I’m very passionate about. I’ve been serving the community for over 20 years. It’s always been a big part of my life, which was in large part because of my family history of service and because of the mentor that I had in high school. After I got better at math, he shared something very profound with me one day, he said: ‘I want you to think about how you are going to use your education and knowledge to serve others.’ This really resonated and gave me a strong sense of purpose and inspiration from a young age. So when I joined Google, I knew I had found my soulmate company because Google has an incredible impact on serving the world through accessible information; it also continues to inspire me 10+ years later because I lead impactful work fueling our economy and also have the chance to give back to the community.
Google encourages us to explore projects outside of our specific function — this is the famous “20-percent time” concept of our company's innovation culture. Currently, I spend a percentage of my time as the Executive Sponsor for volunteering projects in Canada. I’m really passionate about this, and when COVID-19 started to impact the Canadian economy, a small group of Googlers started to think about who’s helping the organizations that help Canada’s most vulnerable people. The need was greater than before and with the help of 120+ Googler volunteers across our Canadian offices, we hit the ground running and created an infrastructure to support nonprofits during the pandemic through
Google for Nonprofits. Many Canadian nonprofits were unaware of free tools, resources, and free Google Ads that are available through this program, so we’ve been focused on getting them setup to tap into these benefits.
One of the things that I love about the people I work with is that Googlers are helpful, willing to give back, and always raising their hands to get involved.
What advice would you give to women pursuing a career in technology?
Stay curious and be open to what technology can bring, experiment and don’t be afraid to try new things! Technology has the potential to solve many world problems at scale and representation matters.
For me, I didn’t always know what my career would look like. I firmly believe that my mentor changed this for me and helped me understand the possibilities. I would encourage women and young girls to seek mentorship, surround yourself with people that support and inspire you.
When you speak about your work and the tech industry, you light up, you can see there’s a lot of passion, what do you love most about working in tech?
So many things! Technology is not only fun, but it can also be used to solve so many problems, it’s endless. The skills you learn in tech are transferable, no matter what you do — this is why I think exploring STEM at a young age is really valuable.
I always tell young adults, if you can’t major in computer science at least minor in it. All industries are being transformed by technology, so it’s an important set of skills to have in your tool box for the future.
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