Keynote Presentation from 2016- Empowerment

1. The Power in the
Simple Act of Doing
Kellyn Pot'Vin-Gorman
Technical Intelligence Manager, Delphix

2. My Life Now

3. Growing Up
Let’s talk about cold
winters…. 

4. Keeping up with the Boys
Oldest of three girls.
First girl of my generation.
 So much cooler being a boy.
 Sit STILL???

5. What Little girls are made of…
Blessed with variety.
The smart one, the pretty one and
the rebel.
Society shows girls early on the
value of beauty….
And of acceptable behavior.
Growing up made a decision.

6. Expectations
Me- Journalist
Mother- Presidential Aspirations?
Sister- Administrative Assistant??
Presidential Considerations….

7. Goethe
“Anything you can do, or dream you can, begin it, for initiative
has power, magic and genius in it.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

8. On My Own
 Moved to Colorado
 Made Friends
 Work and School
 Something wasn’t right…

9. Derailed
 Five Strokes
 Rare Auto-immune condition
 50% left side visual field
 9 years of previous memories
 Physical and Speech Therapy
 Relearn young adult skills

10. Early Frustrations
 Relearning
To drive
To balance a checkbook
Perform basic work tasks
 Could no longer perform previous career's duties
 Single Mother to child

11. Words of support
“Anything you can do, or dream you can, begin it, for initiative
has power, magic and genius in it.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

12. Small Becomes Something Bigger
 Small accomplishments become bigger impressions.
 Not afraid to fail, as failed at so many things during my recovery.
 Aware that frustration is my worst enemy.
 Setting an example and not worrying about what others were doing.

13. Sayings to Live by-
“Fall down seven times, rise up eight…”
~Jewish Proverb

14. Small Goals Becomes
Accomplishments
Selling Shoes Selling Computers Desktop Support
Oracle Recommends I
Should Certify as a
DBA
Becomes a
DBA
Becomes Lead DBA

15. Jr. DBA Challenges
• First DBA position, was hired as a Jr. DBA with another Jr. DBA.
• I didn’t have degree in CS or specialized in databases.
• I had a newborn, three children, married.
• She was single, had the CS degree, specializing in databases.
• She left the industry after just 9 months.
• I understood her decision….

16. I remained, but Felt “Directed”
 Complaint to manager about being viewed as an end user, a
project manager or other non-technical person in meetings.
 Less opportunity to work on technical challenges- always left
to administration tasks.
 Started asking questions- How are we impacted by first
impressions, especially as women?
By name?
By physical presentation?

17. What is a Guy Geek These Days?

18. What’s Pictured for a Girl in
Technology?

19. I am a canvas, I paint my own
future
 First Impressions were sidelining me from being
viewed as technical.
 Even after proving myself, my strong
management skills were deterring me from
technical challenges.
 I didn’t want management, I wanted tech!
 Testing the “Goth” theory….

20. Positive Mentors
Mentors are everywhere, but not a lot
of women in IT…

21. Departure
 Started out as team of five women DBAs.
 15 Years as a DBA
 52 male DBAs
 13 female DBAs
 Informal research via social media, (no I wasn’t stalking everyone… )
 One male DBA has retired.
 One female DBA has retired.
 Eight of the women I’ve worked with have left the industry. None of the men
have.

22. Where Did They Go?
 Only one retired, many upon research went soft-tech, (recruiter, project
manager, management)
 When asked why they left-
Not enough support through mentoring and peers.
Less opportunity for women in upper management.
Catch -22 of going into management and loss of technical challenges that first
interested them. Over-scrutinized when they did go management.
More family/life balance in other industries.

23. 800lb Gorilla in the Room,
Research Shows…
Of the 41% of women that left IT after
receiving an engineering or CS degree,
those polled said they left because?
No peers
Lack of mentors
Less opportunities for advancement
Biggest challenge- Often told not to
talk about the issues.

24. The Next Growth Surge
Begins to
Present & Write
Articles
Conference DirectorBegins to Blog
Co-Authors First
Book
Begins to Mentor/WIT
Achieves ACEAchieves ACE
Director
Inducted to Oak Table
Goth Begins
Joins Oracle as CMTS
Starts STEM EducationBegins at Delphix

25. Why I Chose to Mentor
 Sister talk with middle sister, Dec. 2012
 Had observed how much I and our youngest sister had accomplished, she
wants to do more.
 Has plan, including dates for the next year.

26. #1 Regret
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to
myself, not the life others expected of me.
http://earthweareone.com/nurse-reveals-the-top-5-regrets-people-make-on-their-deathbed/

27. Create Something Good From
this…
 Created first WIT session for RMOUG after her diagnosis.
 Started offering mentoring to women that were not asking, nothing
too formal, but it provided much value to those women who said yes.
 Created sponsorships for those I mentored- understood the power
of sponsoring others.
 Through programs like Devoxx4Kids, Oracle Education Foundation,
Raspberry Pi Maker Faires, spread STEM Education initiatives.

28. I am my Father’s Daughter,
(According to Mom..)
 Learned to not listen to those that offered no options, only criticism.
 Surrounded myself with positive people, negative added stress and
was stressful to health.
 The more I did, the more I became.
 The more I accomplished, the more opportunities opened up for me.

29. I Am My Father’s Daughter
 Learned to not listen to those that offered no options, only criticism.
 Surrounded myself with positive people, negative added stress and was
stressful to health.
 The more I did, the more I became.
 The more I accomplished, the more opportunities opened up for me.
 Silenced those around me that attempted to hold me back.

30. “Find your passion, find your path, then set it on fire.
Make it burn so bright that people don’t just come to
see the flames, but they’ll want to walk in your
footsteps before they cool…”

31. Be the Change you want to see in
the world

32. Statistics show….
 39% of women in IT in late 1980’s.
 21% of women in IT as of 2013.
 41% of women departing IT who
have an engineer or CS degree.
 41 states have no technical class
requirements for graduation.

33. Even in the Oracle Community
 Noted about 30% women in IT in Denver.
 Only 7% were attending RMOUG’s conference.
 Started WIT sessions and women responded in feedback that it
was the first time they had attended, they felt welcome.
 Oracle ACE Program, 600 awarded, only around 35 women,
(6%).
 Oak Table Network, 65 members, 6 women, (10%).

34. By Doing…
 47 WIT Panels
 36 Articles in Technical Publications, including Oracle Scene and Oracle
Magazine.
 Education of local government about the importance of tech programs in
schools.
 New Women’s Empowerment Program
Includes Elementary, Middle, High School and University Initiatives for
educating girls on opportunities in technical careers.
Retain those in the industry and mentoring programs for women already in
tech.
 One Oracle Education Foundation Dtech Curriculum and 5 Maker Faires.

35. What Has Come out of this?
 RMOUG WIT has increased attendance from 7% to over 22% by 2016..
 Have mentored over 48 women to assist in achieving their goals.
 Sharing of opportunities and peer support has generated new mentors.
 34 WIT programs through out Colorado, US and Europe.
 Start of WIT Fund to educate in schools- not just high school and college, but
elementary, (start passion for STEM) and middle school, (which keeps passion
going and not lost by high school.)
 Colorado Technology Association WIT Award 2014
 Building a STEM program for middle schools to teach Python.

36. What We All can do…
 Blogging shares your knowledge and will gain respect among technical peers that may
have been lost in person due to unconscious bias or stereotypes.
 Presenting and publishing removes many "glass ceilings" by placing you above the
ceiling, allows others to view you in a new light.
 Social Media offers a voice to women in tech- what’s important to them and support for
others in the industry.
 Recognized by PEERS and can become a mentor, (even if informal).
 Perception is important. Having more of something that isn’t as common changes the
culture and MAKES it common place.
 Don’t be afraid to stay high-tech! Many companies have technical career paths as well
as management ones!

37. Goethe
“Anything you can do, or dream you can, begin it, for initiative
has power, magic and genius in it.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

38. Have a Challenge? Want to Connect?
Oracle Confidential 38

39. Thank you and Always Inspire!