#BreakTheBias: Honest conversations with Skedulo women this International Women’s Day
Below is an article originally written by Silvia Zhang, and published on March 2, 2022. Go to Skedulo's company page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
International Women’s Day (IWD) is just around the corner and we’re very excited to be honoring and celebrating this day.
We recognize that tech has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, and see this as a chance to have honest conversations with the inspiring women who work at Skedulo and have built a successful career in tech.
This year’s IWD global theme is #BreakTheBias, and we have several internal and external initiatives to drive awareness and discussion. This is an opportune time to talk about unconscious biases and ask, “How can we break gender bias?” Here are a few ways we will do this over the coming week, as we prepare to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8.

Celebrating International Women’s Day through committing to Break the Bias
We are interviewing women from all walks of life, in countries around the world who work at Skedulo.
Our goal is to find out about their experience building a career in the tech world, their role models, challenges, inspiration, advice to other women who are entering a male-dominated industry, and what International Women’s Day means to them.
#BreakTheBias - Pamela Rausis @ Skedulo

Learn everything you can about the industry. You got to know it better than the people around you. And trust that. Trust what makes you different is good.Pamela Rausis. Global Project Enablement Manager - San Francisco
#BreakTheBias - Uyen Nguyen @ Skedulo

Be respectful, supportive, and stand up for women in your home, society, and your workplace. And be mindful about unconscious biases that you may have that limit women to live to their fullestUyen Nguyen. Technical Product Manager - Ho Chi Minh
#BreakTheBias - Laura Przybek @ Skedulo

It’s the opportunity. It’s giving them the space and giving them the time to do it. I think in the workplace, a lot of things will fall onto men and there’s a lot of room to actually consider women who are in that position as well.Laura Przybek. Director of Marketing - London
#BreakTheBias - Jeanne Mariani @ Skedulo

Bring your gifts and talents and be confident. So many times I hear women apologizing for themselves or second guessing themselves. Learn and grow all you can to better understand how to navigate that world and make an impact.Jeanne Mariani. EVP of Finance - San Francisco
#BreakTheBias - Hannah Jessop @ Skedulo

I met challenges head on, and that provided me with an incredible opportunity to make a positive impact in any situation.Hannah Jessop. Project Manager - Brisbane
Panel Discussion
On March 8, we will hold a panel event to showcase the contributions and achievements of several women at Skedulo. Discussions will also focus on this year’s theme of #BreakTheBias, so we can understand the panelist’s perspective on how bias presents itself and what can be done to remove it.
Our CEO Matt Fairhurst, who is an active supporter of empowering women to enter and succeed in tech roles, will kick off the event.
Continuing the conversation
As well as our internal #BreakTheBias commitment, we will be sharing our experiences and thoughts on social media to elevate International Women’s Day and raise awareness for this year’s theme.
It’s a day that aligns closely with Skedulo Heart and our values, and connects with other initiatives we have engaged in over the years including UNIQ You and the Deloitte & Salesforce Talent Alliance Digital Compass program.
All of us have an opportunity to help close the gender equality gap. I hope you will join me during International Women’s Day in acknowledging the achievements of women and engaging in conversations which challenge gender bias and stereotypes.
Plex’s Camelia Roman on Perfectionism and Remote Work
Camelia Roman knows that perfect is overrated—and she’s keeping that in mind as she works on several DIY home-improvement projects.
“I have big plans for microcement. We’ll see how it goes!” says Camelia, smiling.
The Android developer at global media streaming company Plex believes in the power of experimentation in more than just her home improvement projects. It’s something she’s kept front of mind throughout her career.
“Don't demand perfection from others, or yourself. That’s very common nowadays. We’ve all looked for perfection for so long. And we’ve finally learned that it’s not the way to go,” says Camelia, referencing lessons learned during the pandemic.
We sat down with the Romania-born and -based developer to hear more about what she’s learned over the years, including what advice she has for other developers building their careers remotely.
Finding Her Space
Camelia liked math in high school, and when she entered college, she set out on a dual path: psychology and computer science.
Two years in, her program required her to get some on-the-job experience, so she found a role as an Android developer. The job helped her make a decision on her future path, and while she’s still interested in psychology, she satiates that interest via books and Ted Talks.
Camelia came to her current role by way of a startup that Plex acquired in 2017.
It meant going from being a team of one to one of many, but Camelia enjoyed that. “It was a bit intimidating, because at the previous startup, I was the only Android developer, and I was working alone. Here, I have very experienced colleagues, and I was wondering if I would be able to keep up,” she says.
She did, though, and has been thriving at Plex for over five years now.
“I was happy for the change,” she says. “When I met with one of the founders and the CEO, it sounded like an awesome place. And after all these years, I still think it’s true.”
5 Tips on Thriving While Remote
Plex has a headquarters in California, but it’s always been a fully remote company. Here are the guiding principles that help Camelia find success at work, even while working with colleagues in different countries:
- Practically, always have a video backup. “Most people have had those problems: internet stops working, your dog starts barking, computer crashes, et cetera. I’ve learned the hard way to have a video prepared that I can share in case my presentation doesn’t work as I would have wanted it to,” says Camelia, sharing that she once had this problem and accidentally autoplayed a video of her cat to her entire company. “Even though everyone was very understanding, it’s still better to have a video or PowerPoint of what you want to share instead of dealing with whatever the remote demo gods will throw your way!”
- Have the right attitude. “It’s common sense, but accept that we are all humans. We make mistakes, we should own our mistakes, we should fix them and learn something from them if we can, and then move on,” she says.
- If you’re having trouble focusing, let your workflow change as needed. It’s normal for personal to-dos to creep into the workday, says Camelia. But the nice thing about working remotely is being able to control your own schedule, and it’s good to take advantage of that. She gives an example: “Maybe my mom’s coming over and I haven’t done the dishes. Instead of looking at my watch and saying, ‘Okay, in one hour, my mom will come; in 50 minutes, my mom will come,’ it’s better to just wash the dishes and be done with it.”
- Approach imposter syndrome with gratitude. “My colleagues are very experienced and very smart, and instead of being overwhelmed by that, which sometimes happens, it’s better to be grateful that you have something to learn from them, and to take advantage of that,” says Camelia.
- Ask for the help you need—and give it, too. Even now, years into her career, Camelia regularly finds herself confronted with things she doesn’t know. When that happens, she first goes online and looks for help. Her second port of call is her colleagues. “I still have a lot to learn, and that’s what makes me happy, in a way. I’m not stagnating,” she says. “And it’s good to remind ourselves that there’s always something you can learn, or something that you can teach. Teaching is very rewarding, too.”
If learning and teaching at Plex sounds appealing, check out their open roles!
Why Kalyani Pawar Chose a Career in Cybersecurity (And Wants More Women to Join Her)
If you looked at Kalyani Pawar's Netflix queue, you might think she was planning to murder someone.
"But I'm not. I'm being honest!" she tells us, laughing.
She's drawn to true crime and thriller shows not because of any personal interest in the content, explains Kalyani—she just likes the problem-solving aspect of unpacking how the crimes took place.
It's that same fascination that inspired her to pursue a career in cybersecurity. Now, as a Security Engineer at AI-enabled software company ActZero, she spends her days coming up with ways to hack into—and protect—different platforms and machines.
"Hacking is my favorite thing to do," says Kalyani. "That's what I have the most fun doing, brainstorming methods to break into the cloud and other such platforms to find ways that they can be vulnerable to emerging cyber threats"
We sat down with Kalyani to hear more about how she discovered cybersecurity, why she chose to work at ActZero, and what advice she has for other women like her who are interested in the field but are wondering whether they'll fit in.
The More Complex, The Better
As a kid, Kalyani loved math. She actually looked forward to enrolling in her first calculus class.
"There was a point where I got excited about even proving that one is less than two. It's that kind of craziness," says Kalyani.
She considered becoming a mathematics teacher, but her dad counseled her that engineering would be a safer career bet. Her aversion to physics made computer engineering the most appealing branch, so even though she didn't like building software, she decided to major in it.
Kalyani credits an undergraduate cryptography class with giving her the cybersecurity bug. She decided to pursue her master's in the U.S., moving from India to study at Johns Hopkins, after seeing a headline that cybercrime would cost the world $12 trillion in 2025.
"Everyone was choosing career paths in machine learning or data science or software, and I sat there thinking, 'Well, if you are all focused on building things, but there's no one to protect it, then you're just leaving yourself out in the open,'" says Kalyani.
During her master's, Kalyani won a scholarship to attend an RSA conference in San Francisco.
"People say the best day in their life is probably when they got married, had kids. But for me, it was going to that conference and meeting the people who made the RSA algorithm, which is responsible for protecting the internet," she says. "Honestly, I was like, 'I have pictures with y'all. I don't need anything else out of this meeting.'"
Going on the Offensive
It was at that conference that Kaylani started networking with leaders in the cybersecurity field. She met a mentor who ended up helping her get an internship at Intuit, where she worked on the offensive side of cyber for the first time.
"If you're on the offensive side, you only have to be right once, but if you're on the defensive side, you gotta be right every single time," she says. It's easy to stay motivated knowing she just has to keep trying, she adds: "I can break into the system, I just have to be persistent and consistent."
Kaylani was at another full-time job when a recruiter from ActZero reached out to her. She took the call, figuring it never hurts to know what's out there, and ended up talking to ActZero's VP of R&D—and getting inspired.
"He's extremely ambitious. And I like to look up to leaders when I'm making a career transition. I knew if that person was going to be my hiring manager, it's going to be fun working with him because he's so passionate about the project that he's working on," explains Kaylani.
She felt the same way after talking to other company leaders and hearing about the founders' backgrounds. "They know what they're doing, and they have a mission, and they're very focused on what they want to do and where they want to go," she says.
It wasn't just the mission that sold her, says Kaylani. It was also the way that ActZero treats their staff. "I've looked at bigger organizations, and some of them don't really care about their employees," she says.
In her role as a Security Engineer, Kaylani works with data scientists to research new ransomware and cyberthreats and to develop a variety of detections for the customers they're protecting.
"I'm a purple-teamer, because I build both offensive security and defensive security tools," she says. "Personally, I like red-teaming, or offensive security, more. There are so many possible permutations and combinations of techniques that hackers are using in the wild. Say I've researched about a 1000 different techniques to hack into something, but I would have fun in developing the 1001th possible technique, and with the best possible intentions!"
Creating Space for Other Women
Kaylani says her mom taught her that her happiness should be measured in impact on others, not financial gains. "She'd say that the money you make stays down on earth, and you're not going to dig it up and take it to heaven with you," she explains. "I strongly believe in the ideology of karma."
To pay forward the mentorship she's gotten from women in the male-dominated cyber space, Kalyani makes sure to mentor women and girls whenever she can. "When anybody asks me for advice on LinkedIn, I'm like, 'Sure, I can give you an hour, let's chat this weekend,'" she says. "It can be difficult to find sponsors or mentors, but they can help you and they do exist."
Kalyani is especially passionate about creating a welcoming space for other women after feeling like she didn't quite fit in on previous teams. "I was forced to discuss sports just so that I could feel included, as the only woman. It is intimidating. You can feel like you're only there because of a diversity initiative," she explains.
At ActZero, she's found that she doesn't need to fake her interests in order to fit in—she enjoys chatting with her coworkers about everything from her family to her baking hacks (an interest she actually picked up after a pie baking class offered at ActZero itself!).
And she's learned to combat her own imposter syndrome by reminding herself of all the hard work she's done to get to where she is—and being honest with others about her experiences so that they realize they're not alone.
"For instance, I get really nervous thinking about big meetings. Or I feel like I'm not that smart. It pushed me into a dire lack of confidence a while ago, when I felt like I wasn't enough. And this is after two degrees and three jobs! But I know a lot of people face it and don't talk about it," she says.
"The world is never going to be a simple place to live in," she adds, "so we've got to help each other and take it one day at a time."
Does ActZero's supportive culture appeal? Check out their open roles here
How This Analyst Learned to Serve — and Lead — at NGA
Anne Do was recently visiting her cousin in San Francisco, California, for less than 48 hours. In that time, she made two cakes and a dozen French macarons.
"I told my family, 'You won't be seeing me for a while!' and packed up what I could for their freezer," says Anne, smiling.
The web analytics team lead for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or NGA, is accustomed to accomplishing a lot in a short amount of time.
With less than two years under her belt as a full-time employee at the Agency, Anne has already taken on the role of a team lead, became the co-lead of the NGA's Asian Pacific American Council (APAC), and collaborated closely with multiple components to successfully executed a five-person live broadcast panel event for this May Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPHM).
We sat down with Anne to find out how she makes this all happen — and, importantly, how APAC has worked to support its members during a year of unprecedented racially-motivated attacks.
Driven to Serve
Anne says that public service is in her blood. As a first-generation Vietnamese-American whose father and grandfather both served in the military, Anne knew she wanted to follow in their footsteps by giving back. She earned her undergraduate degree in Information Technology (IT) – Network Administration and master's in Information Systems Technology Management, subsequently working as a systems, database and cloud engineer for various government organizations.
After working technical integration logistics management for the State Department, she was hired as a contractor at NGA while pursuing her graduate degree at GWU. After a few years in, she realized that one of her customers could modernize how they delivered map specifications to industry, military and international partners by moving from a local database to the cloud.
She wrote a proposal, including her own research and cost calculations, and it was approved. For three years, while managing her daily work responsibilities, she was also successful in learning achieving data and cloud migration accreditations. It was then that Anne realized she wanted to work as a NGA employee in a data science capacity.
"I have done the network aspect. I did the system and data engineering. I really enjoy dealing with methods of transforming data into a strategic asset, and seeing it come to fruition, so I figured, let's see what opportunity NGA has in the data field. I put my name into the hat without really thinking that I would get it," says Anne.
She did get it. And two months later, she was provided with an opportunity to serve as the web analytics lead.
Determined to Lead
When Anne started as a NGA employee, she ran into a challenging situation.
"I realized I needed to balance being organizational, tech savvy with being savvy at office dynamics", she explained. "I needed to extend myself beyond tackling specific goals and be the kind of leader, who could successful manage demanding situations."
That need for community and support drove Anne to join APAC, a Special Emphasis Program (SEP), NGA's employee resource group for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).
At her first meeting, she met the APAC's co-lead who was serving food for everyone. She was shocked—and impressed—to see such gracious leadership.
Shortly after joining the council, that co-lead position became available. Anne took charge and raised her hand to become the new co-lead.
That was in February 2020. A month later, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and anti-Asian sentiment began to rise in the US.
"I have two elderly parents who take daily walks, and I had to wonder if I needed my parents to curtail their normal routine," says Anne.
Other members of APAC shared their concerns with the council: they found themselves looking over their shoulders in their neighborhoods and grocery stores, wondering if a violent attacker was near, and they struggled to focus on work amid news coverage of increasing violence. They wondered what kind of support NGA could provide them.
Anne and her co-lead focused on a three-part response strategy: listening, providing resources, and advocating. Here's what it looked like:
- Listening: "I had to learn to ask people I work with, 'How are you today? versus How things are going? I emphasize the 'you' part because that gives them a chance to open up and discuss how they're feeling," she says. APAC started sending emails, partnering with other agencies' AAPI leads to provide a platform that served as open forums for anyone who wanted to share their thoughts, fears, or reflections.
- Providing resources: Anne and the APAC & SEP team communicated the NGA resources available to employees, including counseling, monthly meetings, speakers, reminders about mental health and sick days, and access to the AAPI network in the greater Intelligence Community, for anyone who needed help. "It was about enabling them to feel that their voices were being heard and showing there are efforts put in place to help prevent any uneasiness with what was happening outside of the workforce," she says.
- Advocating: On a personal and professional level, Anne believes in advocacy. "The more you open yourself up and have these hard conversations, the more you can educate people on the AAPI experience and move past the model minority myth..." she says.
As important as Anne knows her work with APAC to be, she acknowledges that it's not easy to heal from the threat of violence and experiences of everyday racism. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to my pre-pandemic comfort level," she says.
Finding Inspiration to Keep Going
Anne didn't meet her APAC co-lead in person until this May, well over a year after becoming an advisor to the council. They were working together virtually up until broadcasting rehearsal for the AAPHM observance event.
"It hits a little closer to home for a lot of us," she says of this year's celebrations. Anne signed up to be the logistics manager for the event, and found herself designing a speaking panel that was the agency's first all-Asian-American-descent panel. The event's keynote speaker was Huan Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American Rear Admiral of the U.S. Navy.
"We couldn't have asked for a better keynote," Anne says. "He addressed the community about the events that had happened, saying, 'It's real. What can we do to make sure that not equality but actual equity gets taken care of?' and 'It doesn't matter what your heritage is — you're American first.'"
The event was the highlight of Anne's tenure at NGA, she says, and she knows she's not the only one who felt the power of coming together as a community.
"A coworker who has been in federal service for over 30 years told me that was one of the most honest, genuine addresses that she ever had experienced in her career," says Anne.
Anne wants to pay that feeling forward, and has one last piece of advice for anyone considering stepping up and becoming a leader in their own organization: "Be more willing to take part in the change that you believe in, even if it scares the heck out of you. I definitely never expected to be where I am now, but I'm so glad that I raised my hand."
If you want to be part of the next wave of changemakers at NGA, check out their open roles.
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