Ep 2: Monica Wheat: From Helping Tech Tweens to Encouraging Angel Investors

Monica Wheat was once a 12-year girl in Detroit who was outstanding in math and science. She attended the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) at the University of Michigan for a chance for her to explore how these strengths could bridge into an engineering career. She found herself ignited from this opportunity and was able to participate in many similar youth engineering programs throughout the United States and abroad.

For more information on DAPCEP visit: www.dapcep.org

She took this encouragement and looked at various Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields as a college major. She ended up at the University of Michigan in the Industrial and Operations Engineering program while she also worked full time in the automotive industry. Her combination of soft skills and engineering strengths led her quickly to management opportunities in corporate America. After some travel and changes in the automotive industry, Monica was presented with an opportunity to work in a more digital, innovative atmosphere.

Since this role change to digital marketing, she has found her passion. She loved hearing about new companies that had incredible value to traditional marketing models. It got her thinking about what she herself could create. In 2006, Monica started working with her sister, Adrian, on the Digerati Girls technology program.

She wanted the chance to do something new everyday. The sisters behind Digerati Girls started in their “secret lab of two” with inspiration from her young niece. They started small at the public library with a grassroot efforts to teach classes on computers and coding geared towards girls. They started officially in 2011 and now they have moved on to partner with school districts and larger corporate programs as they continue to grow. By working directly with the schools, they are able to reach more children with programs for boys and girls, but she really enjoys the confidence these programs give young women.

For More information on the Digerati Girls Program for young girls please visit: www.DigeratiGirls.com

One key function of the Digerati Girls program is to foster careers in digital and digital entrepreneurship. That is why Monica is excited to be the Detroit lead for a new program around investors and entrepreneurs called the Pipeline Fellowship program.

Pipeline Fellowship is a new program for Detroit founded by another female, Natalia Oberti Noguera, in New York. She understood that in the technology venture capitalist space, there were few women and minorities. This can make it hard for women to obtain the start up money they need based on a concept of pattern matching. This idea in the angel investing world means that investors commonly fund people  similar to themselves.  In a world where the National Council for Women in Technology (NCWIT) believes only 15% of women are female in technology careers, this can be a challenge for women entrepreneurs. According to Pipeline Fellows only 19% of US angel investors are women and only 4% are minorities.

The program can help women understand how they can be angel investors and all about the process from start to finish. There are three main criteria to be an accredited investor in this program. First of all, you must have at least 200,000 in income for the last two years or one million in net worth. Then, they want people who are interested in a group model of learning. Lastly, they want people who are looking to invest in a social, collaborative model. As a group, they look for projects with the most social benefits to financially support.

After the program, women are more likely to fund more projects and improve the numbers for women entrepreneurs over time. Some mentioned angel investor programs include Belle Capital Michigan and the Michigan Great Lake Angels. The program is unique because they actually work as a group to invest during the program in addition to the training. The Pipeline Detroit Program kicks off this March with a pitch contest mid-way.

More information on the Pipeline Fellowship Program: http://www.pipelinefellowship.com/ Link to Belle Michigan: http://michbelles.com/

To follow Monica Wheat: @digerati14

Lessons Learned:

• It is never too early to start encouraging young women in STEM fields. Monica and her niece both started at young ages.

• There are programs like Digerati Girls, DAPCEP, and many more that can help supplement traditional school curriculum with technology-oriented learning programs

• You can shift from automotive to consumer tech here in Detroit

• Don’t be afraid to share your idea and get started on a business while working full time.

• Women entrepreneurs are suffering from “pattern matching,” a lack of access to funding

• The Pipeline Fellows training program for women helps you make your first real investment with support and training

• There are other resources for women interested in technology investing, too

• There is a need to change the mindset of investing in technology

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Ep 1: Carrie Borchers: from Professional Scouter to Sales Director

In this first episode, we profiled Technology Diva Carrie Borchers on her career journey in sales and technology. Carrie began by telling us how she first entered the world of technology. She graduated with a liberal arts degree, an undergraduate degree in Psychology and minor in Spanish and Dance. Her first job out of college was at the Boy Scouts of America as a Business Development Manager.

Through this career, she gained experience in both sales and marketing. She left the nonprofit world and worked at various marketing agencies. As technology evolved in the marketing space, she learned to adapt to stay ahead of the game. She became the second woman and first saleswoman at IT Resource Inc., a professional services firm, which is now celebrating 100% growth in 7 years. They have, on average, 50% women working for them.

She threw herself into technology sales, quickly learning the industry and all the main players with her work at a Michigan based technology reseller. Learning quickly helped her stay up to date in a fast-moving industry. She follows Wired, CRN, and other industry blogs to continue to be on top of the latest trends. She also follows Cisco, Microsoft, and other companies in both traditional and social media to help navigate the landscape. Carrie also reads content her buyers are reading to gain perspective.

Carrie shared with us some of her insight into the trends she thinks are changing the industry around Internet of Things (IoT). She is fascinated with the trend of health sensors like the Aria Scale and her Fitbit. She believes that IoT can help make business more efficient as it breaks out of the consumer market.

For other women looking to enter the technology field, Carrie suggests reaching out to trade groups like the Michigan Women’s Foundation who host Camp Moxie, reaching out to other professionals on LinkedIn, and networking through the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT).  She suggests women be open to approach others proactively and not be afraid to take risks. She concludes with an analogy that men often "leap before they look", while women tend to be more cautious in their career moves. She encourages women to try to push themselves to "leap and look" at the same time. She believe the risk is worth it.

Carrie now serves as the Regional Sales Director for Blue Medora (https://bluemedora.com). 

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Diva Tech Talk - Women in Tech Podcast Launch

Take a listen to the launch of the Diva Tech Talk Podcast Series as this episode was recorded live from Demo Camp hosted by the Michigan Technology Network (MITN) held at the Michigan Historic Museum on December 18, 2014. At this event, Nicole Johnson Scheffler was able to announce this new adventure live on stage. She explains the concept of the Diva Tech Talk podcast that launched officially in 2015 and invited all the women at the event on stage to share a picture and make the first official tweet! 

The Diva Tech Talk group was co-founded by Nicole Johnson Scheffler (@tech_nicole), Amanda Lewan (@Amanda_Jenn), and Kathleen Norton-Schock (@katensch). They produce podcasts featuring stories of women making it happen in the technology field across all disciplines. The Divas publish podcasts where they speak with high profile women in technology to share their career journey, current roles, and advice to women in the field. As a National podcast, they also compile episodes from various technology events and conferences.

The Divas publish the podcast episodes with a complete blog write up on this website. We would also love for you to engage on social media with us as we focus on quality content around women in technology. 
Twitter: @divatechtalks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk

This episode begins with an interview with Alex Dethloff, the Michigan Technology Network (MITN) President. The Lansing MITN Chapter provides a Technology Community, Networking Events, and Educational opportunities. 
More information on MITN is available here: http://www.mitn.org/

During the event, there was a live demo for the attendees of Oculus Rift that is a game coming out of the Michigan State University (MSU) Games for Entertainment and Learning. Oculus Rift is a virtual reality head-mounted display that promises to transform gaming as we know it by putting the users "into" the experience. 

Brian Winn was interviewed and is a MSU Professor who lead this effort and you can check out their college programs here online at http://mi.msu.edu/

Additional information on the MSU Gaming Program Information can be found here: http://www.gel.msu.edu/

MSU also has a great summer camp for young women interested in Technology/Media: http://cas.msu.edu/miss-media-michigan/

Nicole also spoke time with Jeff Pompliano, MITN Vice President and Project Manager at Gravity Works, as he talks about his perspective of women in tech. 
Gravity Works: http://www.gravityworksdesign.com/

One of the crowd favorites of the night was poochie bowl. This dog bowl is designed for dogs with big ears, but has other innovations that has been incorporated into the design. They also shared their brick and mortar store that goes beyond products and into hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) learning for kids.
The poochie bowl is available here: http://www.poochiebowl.com/
Here is the link to the Physical Store in Lansing, MI: http://www.welovekidsndogs.com/

Many other applications and technologies were showcased on the main stage. Another popular app that was shared helped connect LGBT people within the community.
The People like Me (LGBT) App is available here: https://peoplelikemeapp.com

Thanks for all the great community support and that of our friends and family as we go on this journey for the good of women in technology everywhere!

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