Women of Color in Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators

I’m Susanne Tedrick, the author of Women of Color of Tech for John Wiley & Sons. During the day, I work as an Infrastructure Specialist for Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, where help clients understand their business and technical needs around cloud adoption and cloud migration. I currently serve as a member of CompTIA’s Advancing Tech Talent and Diversity Executive Council, and I’m the producer and host for Wiley’s upcoming Diversity in Tech webinar series.

Prior to working in the tech industry, I worked in a variety of administrative and operations roles in the financial services industry. My career was a “good” one in terms of pay and benefits but lacked advancement opportunities and did not completely fulfil me.

I had always had an interest in technology but had no idea of what an ideal career fit for me would be. In 2015, I had decided to take a leap of faith and enrolled back in school a Northwestern University to study both information technology and communications, while working a full-time job. To augment what I was learning in the classroom, I pursued every professional development I could, including volunteer work, hackathons, bootcamps and internships. It was through this perseverance that I was able to secure a technical sales internship (and then a full-time offer) at IBM.

I wrote this book because first, as I was building relationships and gaining professional experiences, I noticed that was a dearth of women who looked like me, had experiences like me, but yet, was creating products/services for me. Second, I wanted women of color to know that a career in tech was indeed possible, and one that caters to their interests, despite the lack of immediate role models and mentors that they have. And lastly, I wanted to provide candid guidance on the challenges they are likely to face. The challenges I bought up in the book were based on the ones cited by many women of color for reasons for leaving the industry.

As I am relatively in the infancy of my tech career, it was an incredible experience to learn from other women of color on their amazing work, their struggles and successes. It fueled my passion for tech even further. On a personal level, although we did not have a chance to meet in person, I’ve had the sincere honor and privilege to meet, even mentor, some of my readers. Hearing their stories and guiding them so that they avoid my mistakes and are more successful is the best gift I can ever receive. Knowing them and learning from my readers has made me a better technologist, leader and human being.

Women of Color in Tech (Published by Wiley) is available to buy on Amazon. 

Connect with Susanne: LinkedIn – Twitter

Winners of The Business Book Awards 2021 will be revealed online on Tuesday 25th May 2021.