Women@SunShared Perspective (a group blog) |
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Wednesday May 07, 2008
More Sun Women Honored in May!!
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!!
Sun
Microsystems is a Gold Sponsor of the Anita Borg Institute's Women of
Vision Awards Banquet PALO ALTO,
Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:JAVA
- News)
announced today
that it is a Gold Sponsor of the 2008 Women of Vision Awards Banquet,
which will be held on May 8, 2008 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose,
California. The annual Women of Vision Awards, sponsored by the Anita
Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI), honor women who are
making significant contributions to technology in three categories:
Innovation, Leadership, and Social Impact. This year Sun Labs
Distinguished Engineer Susan Landau will be receiving the Women of
Vision Award for Social Impact.
“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 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]
Thursday Apr 03, 2008
Women@Sun - Colorado upcoming events
“Staying Grounded in Times of Uncertainty” Walk, donate, or do both! Posted at 01:43PM Apr 03, 2008 by Nicole Eisele in Day in the Life | Comments[1]
Tuesday Apr 01, 2008
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]
Thursday Mar 27, 2008
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. 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]
Tuesday Mar 18, 2008
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. 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]
Thursday Mar 06, 2008
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]
Wednesday Mar 05, 2008
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]
Tuesday Jan 15, 2008
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]
Tuesday Jan 08, 2008
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. Posted at 08:08AM Jan 08, 2008 by sandyb in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Friday Dec 21, 2007
The Spirit of Giving is All Around Us!
I love to hear how people come together to give back to their communities. One of the reasons that I enjoy working at Sun is that I have the opportunity to work with people from across the company to lead and participate in programs that allow Sun employees to make an impact locally. That's important to me because I live in NH not in CA where Sun is headquartered. Over the past few weeks, I've seen a lot of media coverage of companies doing unique things in the spirit of the Holiday Season. One of those stories covered by the media is in my own backyard -- a company called eCopy added a question to their employee survey this past fall re: options for their employee holiday party. The company's employees overwhelmingly opted to put the money for their party (which in the past included fancy foods and beverages, as well as prizes like iPod and airline tix) into an effort to benefit the local community. As a result, eCopy made a $25k donation to the local newspaper's Santa Fund program. Another backyard story that you won't read about in the paper, but can learn about from Sun's employees across the Boston area is about our recent Gift Drives for two local organizations: The Lowell Wish Project in MA and the Nashua Children's Home in NH. Our local Women's Network in the Boston area planned and managed both drives. We all know that Sun has some of the smartest people in the industry.....but we also have some of the most generous people too! Between both drives, we provided the two local organizations with approximately $10K in clothing and gifts this year. Even with the odds not in our favor to deliver on time due to major snowstorms in the NE last week, employees came from out of the woodwork to get to Burlington and Nashua to drop off their presents, sort, pack and then deliver to the agencies that we had committed to supporting. It was really amazing to see people go out of their way to help so that all deliveries could arrive on time! As we were wrapping up the project in Nashua this past Monday, we had a last minute need for an electronics item for one of the last gifts to be delivered.....this was realized as a car load of gifts was on its way out the door for delivery. Luckily, just outside of our local office in NH is a Sears Home Essentials store. I ran in with the gift tag just before noon and went straight to the electronics dept to find this last minute gift. The item that was on sale was no longer in stock. So I asked to talk to a manager. I explained what our local employees had been doing for our big Holiday drive(s). He immediately offered a comparable item at a very generous discount to help us out. (no hemming and hawing or having to go get endless approvals, etc) I was really surprised, but also pleased with his gesture - so much so that I called Sears customer service this week to thank them and this employee for their help to ensure a happy ending for all of our gift recipients! It does 'take a village' - even if it's for just one simple gift item. So look around and keep your eyes open and I'm sure you'll see generosity all around you during the holiday season (If you don't necessarily see it - you can definitely feel it!) Many thanks from one Sun employee to all of my fellow Sun employees in the Boston area, as well as those around the world, for making such a notable impact in our communities - not just at the holiday season, but throughout the year! Posted at 09:25AM Dec 21, 2007 by sandyb in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Wednesday Dec 12, 2007
Sun Women in Boston Dine with Jack and Suzy Welch
OK....we really didn't 'dine' with Jack and Suzy, but we were all together during the keynote luncheon program where the Welches co-presented during an interview session. They were both on the stage, which was an interesting approach at a women's conference.
Karen Tegan Padir (One on Boston's Women to Watch and an exec at Sun) sponsored two tables for over 20 Sun Women in the Boston area to attend this event. Here's a picture of most of us (who by the way represent just about every business group across Sun):
Last year there were about a dozen of us who attended - I hope that someday we have a presence there like Raytheon had yesterday - they sent all 500 of their Massachusetts based women or State Street, one of the sponsors, that had 700 women attend! With so much info to share, it's going to take more than one blog entry to share what I learned yesterday.....so let me start with our lunch with Jack and Suzy -- here are the things, that aren't the standard things you hear at conferences like this, that I jotted down as far as business advice: Jack said, "Networking is nice....but it's all about over-delivering." He went on to explain that to get ahead you need to learn the 'game.' And that is all about "making your boss look smart." (I don't think my boss reads this blog, so I'm not worried about him catching on to this advice I picked up and already am putting into action!) When asked about work/life balance, he said that he doesn't "believe in work life balance." You could have heard a pin drop! He continued to explain, that "it's all about work/life CHOICES." He added, "You don't get to be chairman of GE by being dad of the year." This was interesting to me - here he was talking about this at a WOMEN'S CONFERENCE. He did quip that even when he was "21 that [he] didn't have this many women listening to [him]." Interestingly, I wondered to myself how the audience would respond to his insights -- and guess what? Many of the people I talked to found his comments to be insightful and accurate. What do you think? Posted at 05:08PM Dec 12, 2007 by sandyb in Day in the Life | Comments[0]
Monday Dec 10, 2007
12/3 Winter Open House - Colorado
2007 WINTER TOWN HALL & OPEN HOUSE
Holiday Giving Activities & Events We are still collecting canned goods for the Community Food Share through December 7, 2007. Please donate canned goods by filling the bins in your building lobby. Alternatively, you can donate directly to the Community Food Share by clicking on this link: https://secure.communityfoodshare.org/giving_form.cfm Posted at 10:09AM Dec 10, 2007 by aili in Day in the Life | Comments[0] |
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