Get ready for Technovation’s World Summit this Friday! There’s still time to register if you haven’t yet, so claim your free ticket today! We’re so excited to see everyone in just a few days and wanted to share information about our speakers and events—and also introduce you to the judges who heard our amazing finalists pitch virtually a few weeks ago.
(Check out our post announcing the Regional Winners and Finalists for more information on the teams and their projects).
Schedule
Check out the brief overview below for a glimpse of what to look forward to on August 12, and keep scrolling to learn more about the speakers for each event!
8:30 AM PDT: Welcome Keynote with Astronaut Zena Cardman
We’re launching World Summit with an incredible dose of inspiration from
an amazing woman in STEM!
9:00 AM PDT: Women in Leadership Role Models Panel
A diverse group of women leaders share how they got started in their careers, and what they wish they’d known then.
9:42 AM PDT: Workshop: Crafting a Strong Elevator Pitch with Shopify
Have you ever met someone new and didn’t know how to introduce yourself? In this fun workshop with Shopify, you’ll learn how to create a personal elevator pitch (a quick summary of your background and experience that helps you show the world what makes you awesome) so you can introduce yourself to new people and business connections in a confident and compelling way.
*Be sure to bring a pen and paper or a device to participate in fun activities😁
10:20 AM PDT: Michelle Muchilwa Keynote
Technovation Alumna (and one of last year’s Regional Winners!) Michelle will kick off the celebration portion of our event with a few words.
10:30 AM PDT :Awards and Celebration Ceremony
You’ve worked hard all season…now it’s time to celebrate!
Keynote Speakers
NASA Astronaut Zena Cardman
Women role models in STEM show Technovation girls that they can achieve their biggest dreams! That’s why we’re thrilled to share that role model NASA Astronaut Zena Cardman is World Summit’s 2022 Keynote Speaker.
Zena was selected by NASA as a member of the 2017 “Turtles” Astronaut Classes. As a Marine Scientist turned NASA Astronaut, Zena emulates the curiosity and exploratory nature that defines the Technovation Girls community. Her work includes studying microbial systems in the Arctic and analyzing ecosystem changes in Antarctica—and she is now awaiting her final assignment as a fully-trained Astronaut! Zena is an incredible role model that we are honored to have as our Keynote Speaker.
Zena will be live at World Summit at 8:30 AM PDT on Friday, August 12. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Zena speak about her experience as a woman in STEM, her advice, and a chance to ask her questions.
Technovation Alumnae & Entrepreneur Michelle Muchilwa
Lake Victoria in Africa is the world’s second-largest freshwater lake by surface area, but unfortunately, everything from chemical fertilizers to plastic pollutes the lake.
Michelle Muchilwa, a teenager from Kenya passionate about protecting the environment, could not bear the potential loss of Lake Victoria. She and her brother Jeremy took action and mobilized people around East Africa to restore the lake. In 2021, Michelle continued this work when she participated in Technovation Girls and coded the app “Ziwa Safi”, which fights plastic pollution in Lake Victoria Basin. Michelle went on to be named Africa’s Regional Winner for her app.
We’re honored to have now 17-year-old Michelle as a Keynote Speaker during World Summit 2022! Her dedication to protecting her community’s environment and innovative problem-solving skills are attributes we look up to in the Technovation community. Michelle will speak on August 12 at 10:20 AM PDT.
Workshops and Panels
Women Leaders: Role Models Panel (9:00 AM PDT)
A diverse group of women leaders share how they got started in their careers, and what they wish they’d known then. Panelists will share the challenges they’ve overcome in male-dominated industries, tips for standing out in the workforce, and their best advice for the next generation of women leaders (…that’s you!)
Meet the panelists!
Moderator: Grace Attalla, Technovation Alumnae and co-founder of Joy to Job
Grace Attalla is a co-founder and leader of Joy to Job, an organization founded through Technovation that helps students explore potential careers. She is an Engineering Science student at the University of Toronto, aspiring to take a biomedical engineering major, and is grateful to be a UofT National Scholar.
Panelist: Ella Hila, Vice President of Data Science, Shopify
As VP of Data Science, Commercial and Service lines at Shopify, Ella Hilal, Ph.D., is responsible for overseeing the data operations that power the company’s marketing and international strategy. Beyond Shopify, Dr. Hilal is an adjunct assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo at the Center of Pattern analysis and Machine Intelligence. She is also the Industrial Advisor for the Statistics Society of Canada on Data Science and Analytics.
Panelist: Kay Malcom, Senior Director, Database Product Management, Oracle
Kay Malcolm is a senior director of product management at Oracle, a Fortune 100 member and the world’s largest database management company. Last year, Kay and her team defined and created Oracle LiveLabs, a hands-on workshop platform and has grown to over 3 million views. She has been featured in global magazines like Essence and has a Bachelors of Science in electrical engineering. She’s married with two boys, her hobbies are dance (she’s a certified hip-hop instructor her tiktok is getting ready to launch) and crafting.
Panelist: Krithika Saikrishnan, Lead Software Engineer, FactSet
Krithika Saikrishnan is a Lead Software Engineer at FactSet where she leads a team that’s focused on helping clients be more productive by eliminating manual, redundant tasks. Krithika has spent nearly 12 years developing financial technology, and iis involved in several Business Resource Groups at FactSet with a special interest in the Women’s Business Resource Group. As an immigrant and a woman, she has been in several situations where she’s been the only one who looked like her. Therefore increasing minority representation in tech is an area she’s passionate about. Outside of work, she loves winding down by trying out new recipes on her family including her husband and 2 rambunctious children.
Workshop: Crafting a Strong Elevator Pitch with Shopify (9:42 AM PDT)
Have you ever met someone new and didn’t know how to introduce yourself? In this fun workshop with Shopify, you’ll learn how to create a personal elevator pitch (a quick summary of your background and experience that helps you show the world what makes you awesome) so you can introduce yourself to new people and business connections in a confident and compelling way.
*Be sure to bring a pen and paper or a device to participate in fun activities 😁
Meet your workshop hosts!
Jenneviere Villegas, Senior Engagement Program Manager at Shopify
Jenneviere Villegas is a Senior Engagement Program Manager at Shopify. She loves to nurture everything she touches, whether it’s a community of customers, a fledgling product, or a new idea.
Shashini Harischandra, Facilitator, Learning Acceleration at Shopify
Shashini Harischandra is passionate about neurodiversity learning supports, and empowering and supporting teams to reach their full potential, which she does as a Facilitator for Learning Acceleration at Shopify. She’s an experienced team leader skilled in facilitation, recruitment, on-boarding, training, communication, conflict resolution, and Applied Behavior Analysis.
Judges
15 industry leaders volunteered their time to be Finalist Judges and help us complete our final round of judging this year! They joined the Finalist teams over video call, watched them pitch, asked great questions, and offered encouraging feedback. Thank you to our Finalist Judges—and all the volunteer judges who spent time reviewing submissions this year!
Beginner Division Judges
Our stellar Beginner Judges were:
- Maria Robledo, Director of Engineering, Payments at Shopify
- Fred Tan, Social Impact Manager, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Lori Castillo Martinez, Executive Vice President and Chief Equality Officer at Salesforce
- Aloka Majumdar, Head of Corporate Sustainability, India HSBC
- Sol Martinez, Global Compliance Assurance AB&C and Tax Transparency Risk Expert, HSBC
Junior Division Judges
Our incredible Junior Judges were:
- Alamelu Radhakrishnan, Chief of Staff to the CTO, Shopify
- Tony Haro, Director of Computer Vision, eBay
- Jonathan Rogers, Senior Director of Engineering, FactSet
- Milan Lazich, Director of Industry and Community Marketing, Synopsys
Senior Division Judges
Our wonderful Senior Judges were:
- Sharon Heck, Corporate Vice President Finance & Chief Tax Officer, Intel Corporation
- Dr. Carlos Urrea, Vice President Medical Affairs, Baxter Healthcare
- Sonya Park, Technovation Board Member & Western Region Head & Managing Director, Institutional Client Group at State Street Global Advisors
- Mike Essien, Research Associate, Baxter Healthcare
- Angelina Elizondo Herrera, VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, ServiceNow
Event Emcees
Technovation is proud to welcome two of our alumnae back as emcees for the celebration event! Debi and Dafne will guide us all through the final part of World Summit—the Celebration and Awards Ceremony! They’ll also share a little about how Technovation Girls affected their lives. We figured that since this year we’re celebrating the entire community, members of our community should lead us!
Debi Ahitov, Student Ambassador for Technovation Girls
Debi is an incoming Freshman at Duke University and hopes to work in biotechnology and explore pharmaceutical sciences. She is passionate about empowering girls to engage in STEM and entrepreneurship.
Dafne Sarfati, Student Ambassador for Technovation Girls
Dafne is an incoming freshman at Columbia University with an interest in engineering, entrepreneurship, social innovation, data science, and machine learning. She is passionate about empowering women in programming and STEM fields.
And there’s more!
We’re also going to hear from our partners, Board members, and Technovation’s CEO and founder, Tara Chklovski. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated by the Technovation community—get your ticket to World Summit!