[CONTEST CLOSED] Women's Equality Day

[AmyReyes]

UPDATE: This contest has now ended. Congratulations to our three randomly selected winners: @ChristenT, @PMK, and @ggarolla! 🎉  

This month, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day on August 26th. The day commemorates the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920, granting women the right to vote. It marks a pivotal moment in history that was about recognizing women as equal members of society capable of contributing to all aspects of life, including the workplace. We wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on and recognize the strides we’ve made, as well as celebrate the achievements of some of the outstanding women in tech we know!

Despite significant progress, we still have work to do when it comes to the representation of women in technology. Women make up nearly 63% of the workforce, yet only one in four IT workers is a woman and even fewer hold senior positions. On average, women in tech earn 20% less than their male counterparts, and they hold only 5% of leadership positions. These numbers highlight the importance of continuing efforts to support and encourage women in tech. 

In honor of Women’s Equality Day, we want to shine a spotlight on the incredible women in tech within our Meraki Community. We invite you to nominate a woman you believe should be featured and celebrated. Whether she’s a trailblazing sysadmin, a groundbreaking developer, or an inspiring IT leader, we want to her about her contributions.

How to enter

Comment on this post before 11am EST on Friday, August 9th with the name of the woman you're nominating, and tell us why you believe she should be celebrated. Make sure to tag her if she’s a member of the community, so she knows she's being recognized! We'll be featuring the nominated women on our social media channels throughout the week of Women's Equality Day.

How to win

Once submissions close at 10:59am EST on August 9th, we will select three entries at random to win a Cisco Meraki Pin Set for both you AND the woman you’re nominating. Good luck!

Join us in celebrating Women's Equality Day by recognizing the incredible women in tech within our community. Let's highlight their achievements, share their stories, and continue to work towards a more inclusive and equitable industry for all.

Happy Women's Equality Day from the Meraki Community!

The Fine Print

• Limit one entry per community member
• Submission period: Monday, August 5th, 2024 at 11am EST through Friday, August 9th, 2024 at 10:59am EST
• Complete rules and eligibility can be found here.

[ChristenT]

I am nominating Courtney Breaux.  Courtney is one of my NOC engineers who started out as a tech after she graduated college. She has proven to be a huge asset to our customers, our team, and our company time and time again. She puts 110% into everything she does. She will not back down from a challenge and will work tirelessly until she reaches a resolution. She is living proof that women can not only do this job, but do it well. She is a leader among her peers and her team. She is the only female on her team and is the go to from other team members when there is an issue that cannot be resolved. She has also won awards including our Top Tech award  given to the team member who has the highest customer satisfaction rating. She has only been in this industry for 4 years and has proven her worth time and time again. She has a bright future ahead and we are so honored to have her on our team!!

[grayori]

Nominating @teresia.Wainaina

Very hardworking lady with passion to serve people; As a presales she helps in Cisco BOMs that align with customer requirements and best practices 

[Lalit8855]

I am nominating Aruna.  ARUNA is one of my NOC Tech engineer's who started out as a L1 engineer after she graduated college. She puts 110% into everything she does. She will never back down from a challenge and will work tirelessly until she reaches a resolution and very hard-working. She is living proof that women can not only do this job, but do it well.and always proof women do everything as man can do..so never judge based on gender.every job can do by women similar as respect his work.

[IronBones]

I would love to see my Tier III Tech Kenia Flores (kflores at clearlinktech.com) recognized for her achievements in tech. she is hard working. Never meets an issue she isn't willing to wrestle to the ground and has tenacity a Pitbull would find impressive. She has a grasp of systems that seems innate and can puzzle out most issues. 

[MITEC]

I am excited to nominate myself for this recognition @SilviaTejadilla. In my company, I proudly serve as the only woman leading a telecommunications area. My passion for technology drives me to stay at the forefront of innovation; recently, we successfully implemented a MERAKI network. I thrive on the challenge of continuously testing and integrating new technologies. Being the sole person with access to this community, I bring a unique perspective and dedication to our technological advancements

@MITEC 

[Inderdeep]

I am nominating Amandeep Kaur, She is working as L2/L3 engineer and handles all network stuff from design to implementation which includes Firewalls, SDWAN and Cloud setup.  She has a bright future ahead 

[PMK]

Bonjour à tout le monde...

Moi je choisis la Nigériane Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala qui a été nommée directrice générale de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), devenant ainsi la première femme de même que la première personne africaine à occuper ce poste prestigieux. C’est une économiste, spécialiste du financement mondial et professionnelle du développement international.

Bien cordialement.

[shwetaP]

I'm excited to nominate ana_nennig ! She is an outstanding Marketing Manager whose expertise and dedication have significantly advanced our technical marketing initiatives, particularly in the realms of API and ecosystem-related projects. She adeptly handles all aspects of technical marketing, orchestrating events, and crafting go-to-market strategies that drive product growth and market penetration.

Her commitment to fostering the developer community is unparalleled. Ana ensures that developers are continuously engaged and well-informed with the latest news, updates, and resources. 

In addition to her marketing acumen, @ana_nennig  is a courageous leader and a beacon of thought leadership within the team. Her guidance, support, and inspiration, helps the team to achieve their full potential. 

Under her leadership, our products have experienced remarkable growth, and her contributions have had a lasting impact on the company's success. I have no doubt that Ana embodies the qualities of an outstanding leader in tech.

[Oren]

This is a beautiful initiative! But we have to nominate just one woman?? That's going to be challenging...
We have made significant progress since the '20s, or the '90s, or the 2000s.. and yet there's still much more work do to. I am fortunate to work with amazing women in many different roles, whether it's product management, engineering, technical marketing, support, and more.

I would like to nominate @shwetaP, our incredible TME on the Meraki API team. Shweta’s contributions to our team and the broader tech community, through DevNet have been nothing short of outstanding. 
Shweta is exceptional at problem-solving and customer engagement. Her calm and confident approach makes most people feel they're in good hands, and I am fortunate to be able to call her a friend.

[ggarolla]

Good day to everyone!

I am nominating my colleague Tanya Velichkova, who works as a Full Stack Developer. She moved from Bulgaria to Switzerland to study at the University and she is now an important member of our IT Core Business Solutions team. Her beautiful attitude, her positivity, and her professionality bring so much energy to the office.

It is a pleasure to work with her, as she has kind words for everyone.

[AmyReyes]

UPDATE: This contest has now ended. Congratulations to our three randomly selected winners: @ChristenT, @PMK, and @ggarolla! 🎉  

[CloudStrife]

Congratulations to  @ChristenT, @PMK, and @ggarolla‼️ 🥳🎈🥂🍾🎉🎊

[Inderdeep]

Congrats @ChristenT, @PMK, and @ggarolla! 

[BlakeRichardson]

Well done everyone! Some awesome nominations. 

[Brash]

I didn't want to post this during the event as it would seem self serving but it's worth calling out the fantastic work the Meraki community managers and employees do here, many of whom are women and deserve recognition.

@AmyReyes, @CarolineS, @NayomiK and Meredith (while she was here) come to mind but I'm sure there's other

On top of the general gender inequality and pay gap in the workplace, managing work/career goals and starting a family are all incredible feats in their own right.

Thanks for doing what you do.