About Randi Levin
I went from from studying to be a professional French horn player to leading the team at NASA - landing the ROVER on Mars during the pandemic, on a nebulizer with Covid, my team newly working remotely, and the world watching the event.
Two months later, we landed a helicopter on Mars.
It has been quite the ride in the tech industry the last 3 decades.
It started at 18, as my music professor asked, “how long do you plan to live with your parents?” insinuating my chances of landing an orchestra seat were slim - no matter how dedicated I was.
I called my mom.
She heard computers were the next big thing… why not try computer science?
3 years later, I graduated full of piss & vinegar ready to leave my mark on a new industry. No one knew what do with someone with my degree.
My inability to see obstacles had me ring the only interviewer I had for 8 weeks straight.
He caved, created a role for me, and harnessed my tenacity.
At 21, I became project manager and got a taste of being a woman in tech when an employee in the project, 30 years my senior, refused to be managed by me.
I was not going to let the project suffer because I didn’t look like his previous PM’s.
I took him for a human-to-human chat and heard out why he refused to work under me - by the end, he reluctantly got on board.
Each position thereafter, gained me more management experience as I climbed the corporate ladder - becoming a VP at 30 and CIO at 45.
The journey to the top was rewarding, yet the view from the top looking back wasn’t pretty.
I was mostly an outsider and an anomaly - partly because of the times, partly because the industry didn’t evolve as women joined the workforce.
The same problems still exist resulting in 50% of women in tech leaving the industry by 35 years of age:
- Outdated HR Systems not accounting for family responsibility, maintaining a 17% pay gap, and perpetuating biased hiring
- Lack of Support reconcilable by management training on gender, generation, and expertise differences, but, without them, leads to promotion bias
- Lack of Mentorship to help women accelerate - it takes men 17.5 years and women 26 years to get to an executive position
Research shows women in tech companies increases growth, innovation, and inclusion.
It’s time to stop the brain drain!
I’m The Women in Tech Advocate - evolving the tech industry to support women so the industry can achieve its mandates for growth, innovation, and inclusion.
Ready to be part of the solution, let’s set up a call