Professional Business Women of California Conference
I was so lucky to attend last week's Professional Business Women of California's conference in San Francisco. It was an outstanding opportunity to hear inspiring women like Madeleine Albright, Cokie Roberts, Jackie Speier and Martha Beck speak, as well as interact with professional women in other disciplines and attend excellent sessions. There were actually quite a few women from Sun in attendance, which was really cool. I did quite a long write-up on my Sun blog.
Valerie Fenwick
Posted at 03:33PM May 08, 2008 by bubbva in Of Note | Comments[0]
More Sun Women Honored in May!!
4 Sun Executives Win 2008 TWIN Award!
Congratulations!
Karen Tegan Padir- Vice President, Software Infrastructure
Cheryl Cook- Vice President of Sales for the United States
Beverly Glasser- Senior Director of I.T.
Noreen Krall- Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property CounselRead More:
http://ywca-sv.org/events/tribute_to_women.php
Posted at 09:14AM May 07, 2008 by Nicole Eisele in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Tomorrow Susan Landau honored!!
This is great news for Sun
Women - especially for one of the Sun Women from the Boston area!!
Congratulations to Susan Landau on this huge achievement with the Anita
Borg Institute. Next week,
she will be receiving the Women of Vision Award for Social Impact at
the 2008 Women of Vision
Awards Banquet in San Jose.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080428/20080428005280.html?.v=1&printer=1
| Press Release | Source: Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology |
Sun
Microsystems is a Gold Sponsor of the Anita Borg Institute's Women of
Vision Awards Banquet
Monday April 28, 9:00 am ET
“Sun believes that innovation requires agitation, that progress requires a diversity of viewpoints collaborating to create something truly different. Since 2000, we have reinforced that belief by supporting the Anita Borg Institute,” said Greg Papadopoulos, chief technology officer and executive vice president of research and development at Sun Microsystems. “In celebration of this year's Women of Vision Awards, congratulations to Susan Landau, a brilliant engineer whose passion for supporting and developing women in computer science research is surpassed only by her internationally recognized expertise on the interplay between security, cryptography, and public policy. I'm proud to have her at Sun.”
“Sun Microsystems has been a longtime supporter of the Anita Borg Institute and the Women of Vision Awards,” said Telle Whitney, CEO of ABI. “Sun has built a corporate culture focused on inclusion, and their efforts have enabled the women of Sun to have a direct and positive impact on the world.”
The Women of Vision Awards Banquet will begin at 6:00 p.m. on May 8, 2008 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California. Tables and tickets may be purchased online at http://anitaborg.org/wov. Event sponsorship opportunities are also available.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Sun Microsystems develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision — “The Network is the Computer” — Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development, and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.
About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)
In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, the Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs for to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technology innovation. ABI programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Google, IBM, Intel, Cisco, Juniper Networks, National Science Foundation, Symantec, NetApp, and Capgemini. For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.
Contact:
Anita Borg Institute
Jerri Barrett, 650-857-6095
jerrib@anitaborg.org
Source: Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology
Posted at 09:07AM May 07, 2008 by Nicole Eisele in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Support Equal Pay Day - April 22nd
Save the Date April 22: Equal Pay Day
Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity
(NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap
between men's and women's wages. The day, observed on a Tuesday in
April, symbolizes how far into the year a woman must work, on average,
to earn as much as a man earned the previous year. (Tuesday is the day
on which women's wages catch up to men's wages from the previous week.)
Because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer
for the same amount of pay. The wage gap is even greater for most women
of color. Sun is a member of the Women's Vision Foundation and the
Colorado
Women's Chamber of Commerce, two local organizations supporting this
important awareness day. For more information on how to participate in
Colorado on April 22, go to : Equal
Pay Day ,
For more information on NCPE visit http://www.pay-equity.org/day.html
Thanks for your recognition of this day and if your city is not doing a
rally wear Red on April 22nd to represent your support for this issue.
Thanks
Women@Sun
Posted at 12:59PM Apr 08, 2008 by Nicole Eisele in Of Note | Comments[0]
Women@Sun - Colorado upcoming events
“Staying Grounded in Times of Uncertainty”
Speaker: Sherry Ray, Founder of Ray Consulting Services
* Bring your power back with an inspirational break with this dynamic Career and Life Coach
* Follow your passions in order to reignite enthusiasm in your life and career
* Recognize your Top Ten Values and are you honoring those in your personal and professional life?
*
Knowledge is always Power and you must have the strength to ask the
tough questions and be willing to accept & act on the truth
* Learn to listen to and trust your gut and intuition
* Honor your authentic self and be true to that even when dealing with conflict
DATE: April 17, 2008
TIME: 12:00 - 1:30 PM
LOCATION:
Sun Broomfield Campus
Conference Center 1 – Bldg. 1
RSVP to Carol Neustadter by April 14th: carol.neustadter@sun.com or (303) 272-4979
Sherry
Ray, Owner and Founder of Ray Consulting Services, brings a wealth of
professional experience to her private and corporate clients to help
them achieve their best life both professionally and personally. After
a very successful career in Corporate America as a top global
salesperson, Sherry now helps executives, small business owners and
other professionals reach their full potential while following their
dreams!
Walk, donate, or do both!
Women@Sun-Colorado
will be sponsoring a team and raising money for the March for Babies
event (sponsored by the March of Dimes). The mission of the March of
Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects,
premature birth and infant mortality.
This 5 mile walk will be held on Saturday, April 26th at East Park at Interlocken, Interlocken Blvd. & Interlocken Parkway in Broomfield starting at 9:00 am.
To join the walk or to donate towards our goal of raising $1,000 for this cause, please visit the Women@Sun-Colorado team page: http://www.marchforbabies.org/504833.
We also need volunteers to work the donation table outside of the Broomfield cafeteria on April 23-24, 11:00am - 1:00pm.
We are also looking for volunteers to bake treats that we'll be giving
(not selling, this is not a bake sale) to those who donate. Please send
an email to Staci McKee at SWC-CommunityOutreach@sun.com to volunteer or for more information about this event.
We hope to see a strong showing of Sun women and men at this event!
»Sign Up or Donate
Posted at 01:43PM Apr 03, 2008 by Nicole Eisele in Day in the Life | Comments[1]
Women@Sun See Few Barriers - No Foolin'!
After over eight+ years of being involved with our local Women's Employee Resource Group in the Boston area, I was struck with a significant 'ah-ha' moment last week.
It happened during a panel discussion with some of our local Women executives last Tuesday afternoon.
What was surprising to me - initially - was more of what they didn't have to say!
When these women execs were asked about barriers that they feel must still be overcome to get ahead in one's career at Sun, not one of the panelists could give a specific example of barriers blocking the success of the women who work at Sun. I found this hard to believe - - - at first.
Then after more thought, it struck me! We have made some significant progress with our local (as well as global) womens' networks across the company.
I'll admit, things still aren't perfect - afterall, we'd love to see more faces of women on the exec bio page on sun.com, but upon some thoughtful reflection, I see that things have definitely changed over the past eight years.
The most significant change is that we were able have a women exec panel take place in the Boston area without arranging travel schedules. Eight years ago, when we first recognized Women's History Month, the closest women exec was in the Washington, DC area.
This year, we were able to invite women VPs who actually work at Sun in the Boston area (we actually have more women VPs now in this region, than we could fit on our panel!)
Also, eight years ago, the purpose of our local women's network focused specifically on building a network internally and externally, focusing on career development and creating opportunities for informal mentoring. We'd have over 100 Sun women flock to our gatherings to get some insight on how to address these needs.
This year, participation was lower than normal, even with a great line up of activities. When I asked people why the lower interest, many responded that they are able to address these concerns and needs directly with their managers now vs. needing a separate network.
The interest to work on building our networks, developing skills to advance in our careers and connecting with mentors is definitely still there - but the way we go about doing this at Sun is evolving.
Maybe the idea that someday we won't need special employee resource groups is actually closer than we ever realized?!
Posted at 07:46AM Apr 01, 2008 by sandyb in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Boston Area Women Celebrate w/ a Mayor and 1000+ Toiletry Items!
Sun's Boston area women wrapped up Women's History Month today in our Nashua, NH office.
We concluded a month long Toiletry Drive across our Burlington, MA and Nashua, NH locations. The collection resulted in well over 1000+ items (shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, etc, etc, etc!) for Bridges-NH, an agency that supports victims of domestic and sexual violence.
The majority of the donated items were travel sized bottles - the kind you pick up in your hotel while on vacation or business travel. Hotels and casinos from around the world were represented, indicating where our employees and our friends travel for business and pleasure (it was actually fun to sort thru this stuff and think of warm places, esp. since there's still some snow on the ground here in NH!)
It also struck me that many of our employees made the extra effort to actually check their luggage to bring back stashes of collected hotel toiletries from their trips to support this effort. (Thanks everyone! The extra effort to do that is going to make a lot of struggling women happy!)
Dawn Reams, the Executive Director of Bridges-NH came to Sun's office this morning to pick up our HUGE donation and tell our employees more about Bridges-NH.
We also had a special guest visit us! (Who also brought a bag full of toiletries to our drive!). Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, Nashua, NH's 55th Mayor who was elected this fall, visited Sun's Nashua office for a roundtable discussion with employees. Mayor Lozeau is part of Women's History, which is impressive for someone so young. :-) She is the first woman Mayor in Nashua's 155+ year history and began her political career when she was in her early 20s at the NH Statehouse.
(L-R: Dawn Reams, Bridges-NH; Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, City of Nashua; Sandy Belknap, Sun Microsystems stand in front of over 1000 boxed toiletry items destined for Bridges-NH in Sun's Nashua office.)
We had a great discussion this morning where the Mayor shared some of her experiences and observations of the differences and similarities between the public and private sector. I think that she even motivated some people to get more engaged in their local community activities and city/town government. That in itself says a lot about Mayor Lozeau's inclusive and transparent leadership style.
It was quite an inspirational way to start our day!
Posted at 10:52AM Mar 27, 2008 by sandyb in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Women's History Month Panel
Sun is being represented on a panel hosted by the Alliance for Women in Technology today.
March is Women's History Month.
But we're going to be talking about the future.
It's a multi-generational panel on how emerging tools like social networking are being used to foster collaboration and build community.
We will be sharing the experiences we've had at Sun wrt the community of Women@Sun and how we're using Facebook.
Mary
Posted at 01:36AM Mar 27, 2008 by mary in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Women's History Month Event - Colorado
Girls Inc. Girls Night Out -
Beads, Bracelets and Bonding!
Women@Sun-Colorado hosted our second annual GNO (Girls Night Out) as the Denver chapter of Girls Incorporated (www.girlsincdenver.org) on Friday, March 14th. We had 15 girls attend the event along with 2 Girls Inc. staff members. The theme of this year's Women's History Month is "Women in the Arts," so to coordinate with that theme, we made beaded bracelets with the girls while we shared a pasta dinner. We had a discussion about women in the arts (theater, music, artists, fashion, etc.). The girls told stories of who inspires them and who does not. We talked about reasons to tap into your creative side and why the arts is so important in schools and life.
Thank you to Jenn Larkin, Jamie Hughes and Staci McKee for planning and attending this event. The Girls Inc. staff has asked that we continue to keep up this tradition and asked for our involvement in their job readiness program which teaches the girls skill such as interviewing, resume writing, etc. Staci McKee will be following up on this request to coordinate some volunteers for this Girls Inc. program.
Girls Incorporated is a national, nonprofit youth organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. With roots dating to 1864, Girls Inc has provided vital educational programs to millions of American girls, particularly those in high-risk, underserved areas. Today, innovative programs help girls confront subtle societal messages about their value and potential, and prepare them to lead successful, independent, and fulfilling lives.
Posted at 08:43AM Mar 18, 2008 by Nicole Eisele in Day in the Life | Comments[1]
Bringing Awareness of International Women's Day to the U.S.
While Sun has been recognizing National Women's History Month for nearly a decade, four years ago, we also started to spread awareness of International Women's Day (IWD) during our March events.
IWD takes place on March 8 and started nearly 100 yrs ago in Europe. Employees at Sun from the Ukraine have told me that IWD is very much like Mothers Day in the US. But it recognizes all Women. Typically, women get time off from work on March 8 (which is a Saturday this year.) IWD is the
global day connecting all women around the world and inspiring
them to achieve their full potential. You can read all of the history online.
It's also a big flower day! I've been told that men are expected to give flowers to the women in their lives - not just their mothers - but to their sisters, wives, aunts, etc. In the past, we've given flowers to our local women employees in the Boston area. (We were able to do this with the help of our favorite local florist. Jody & Jill, owners of Fortin Gage, take very good care of the women from Sun who drop by their shop - that's why they get a special 'shout out' on this blog entry!)
I was surprised what a big impact that a single pink or red carnation could make. One employee told me that he emailed all of his relatives back in the Ukraine to tell them that Sun was celebrating IWD. He went on to tell me how much money he would spend on flowers for the women in his life 'back home' -- he seemed very proud of the IWD tradition in his country. (And he seemed proud to work for a company in the US that observed IWD)
So, why is it that we don't hear a lot about IWD in the US - especially as our economy becomes more global? I've been wondering about this since I first learned of this March 8 observance.
This morning, I was listening to my favorite morning show news personalities (Diane and Robin) and they mentioned IWD. I think we are going to see more awareness of this observance in the US because of their IWD story this morning that featured Diane von Furstenberg.
How are you going to observe IWD on Saturday, March 8? If you are looking for inspiration, there are activities all over the world taking place - perhaps one is near you!?!
(ps...if you are wondering about the flower picture on this entry, that's from my Garden 4 years ago - it's a gerber daisy that had a crushed blossom, and when the flower finally opened, a heart appeared - pretty cool, huh?)
Posted at 11:22AM Mar 06, 2008 by sandyb in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Women in Technology face unique hurdles
I was happy to see that Catalyst has finally posted their paper on the unique issues women in technology face in their careers. Reuters did a nice summary of the paper, bringing out a lot of the big points about lack of role models as well as feeling unempowered in the decision making process. I saw Catalyst's Heather Foust-Cummings speak on this study at last year's Grace Hopper conference and the paper itself is fascinating. It goes to show that while women have made a lot of progress in the workforce over the last 30 years, there is still more to make and we are still hitting barriers that are invisible to folks in other fields.
Valerie Fenwick
Posted at 04:18PM Mar 05, 2008 by bubbva in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Happy Women's History Month!
For the 8th consecutive year, Sun employees in the Boston area are recognizing National Women's History Month (WHM) during March. (I have to admit that I will miss Larry R's annual email to me asking when National Men's Month is celebrated!) :-)
We have a great line up of activities at Sun in the Boston area this March - including our 3rd annual toiletry drive to support some local women's shelters. (I'm at Sun HQ this week and saved all my little unused hotel shampoos, etc. to donate to this cause - but due to airline security regulations, I have to check my bag since my 'stash' won't even come close to fitting into a quart sized ziplock for my carry-on bag. Oh, the things we will do to support the causes for which we have passion!)
We're also looking forward to a panel discussion with some of Sun's women VPs and Directors as well as a roundtable discussion with Donnalee Lozeau, the first woman Mayor in Nashua, NH's 153+ yr history. (I was at our City Hall last year and walked down the hall where all the previous Mayor's pictures are hanging - It was so obvious that a woman's face was missing! It's great to see Donnalee's up there now and we're looking forward to her being at Sun at the end of March.)
We'll post updates about our activities throughout the month, so check this blog to see what's going on. And let us know via the comments option what you are doing to celebrate WHM in March!
Posted at 09:28AM Mar 05, 2008 by sandyb in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Dr Audrey Nelson speaks in Broomfield
Approximately 50 internal and external men and women turned out on a
snowy Valentines Day in Colorado to attend Dr. Audrey Nelson's seminar
"He Speaks, She Speaks, What Different Things They Say." Dr. Audrey
Nelson is a mother of two (she calls them her own gender research lab)
and holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D in Communications. She discussed topics
like the seven MOST asked questions regarding gender communication
differences, the "Split Ear Phenomena," nonverbal messages, and touched
on some communication practices to use within our virtual environment.
Her award-winning research is cited in such books as "More Power to You
and Communication Between the Sexes." You can learn more about Dr.
Audrey Nelson by visiting her website at www.audreynelson.com.
Personally, I walked away with a better understanding of how to
communicate more effectively with men and women not only in my
professional life but in my personal life as well. By understanding the
differences in communication styles and knowing that neither way of
communication is good or bad, I am able to be more patient and
understanding when miscommunication does happens.
A big thanks to our Professional Development Committee Chairs, Jamie
Hughes and Carol Neustadter, for putting this together! We hope to have
more of these great professional development events in the future, so be
on the look out for more from Women@Sun-Colorado!
Thank You, Nicole Eisele, Co-Chair of Women@Sun-Colorado
Posted at 03:31PM Feb 20, 2008 by Nicole Eisele in Of Note | Comments[0]
Women@Sun and SL
I'm on the Women@Sun leadership team.
We're working up an idea that would involve doing a private screening of a special multimedia event in Second Life for our Sun employees.
Details are still being worked out, but I'm hopeful.
If you haven't yet checked out Sun's presence in Second Life it's worth a look.
(log in; search on Sun Microsystems)
I'll keep you posted...
:-)
MaryPosted at 07:26AM Jan 15, 2008 by mary in Day in the Life | Comments[1]
Watching Women's History Unfold in NH this Week
I live in NH and am very excited about today's 1st in the Nation Presidential Primary that is taking place here today. (I've already been blogging a little on this via the Sun Communicators' Group Blog)
It's only Tuesday and it's already been an exciting week.
In Nashua,NH the first woman mayor for the city was inaugurated on Sunday morning during the 104th Inauguration of Nashua City Government - there were also some women being inaugurated for the Board of Aldermen (which was an all male board in 2007).
Ironically, as these women in city government were being sworn in to office, thousands of people were outside of the same venue, waiting in line to see one of the top Democratic candidates (a woman!) who is running for President of the United States. (The City Inauguration took place at 10 am and the Presidential Campaign Rally was at 12noon)
Don't forget that women did not have the right to even vote in the United States until the Nineteenth Amendment was passed on August 26, 1920.
It's amazing to know that there are women who are alive today - our mothers and grandmothers who at one time, were not allowed to vote - it was against the law. And today, these same women get to see a woman's name on the ballot as one of the many PEOPLE who are running for President in 2008.
No matter which candidate you may support, or vote for, we are living and participating in history.
That is something to stop and think about today.
Posted at 08:08AM Jan 08, 2008 by sandyb in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
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