ABI-P1 ghc prog v12.indd - Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in ...

WelCome from The 2012 Gener al Co-Chairs
l i n D a a P s l e Y a n D l a U r a D i l l o n
Linda Apsley
Linda Apsley is the Principal Group
Program Manager responsible for
Service Excellence for Microsoft
Xbox Live. Linda is known as a
transformational
leader who
creates effective
strategy, and
designs new
architectures,
engineering
methods, and policies. She
successfully leads delivery of
complex software engineering
projects. She is known for her skill
in designing and delivering the first
enterprise customer roll-outs of
new software. Linda has released
more than ten software products
including Systems Management
Server, Windows 2000, Windows
Server 2003, Exchange Server
2003, Windows XP, the Office
365 Service, and the Xbox Live
Services. She is passionate
about women reaching their full
potential as leaders and is an
active leader in technical women’s
communities and a frequent
speaker at Women’s Leadership
Conferences.
Laura Dillon
Laura Dillon is a professor and
past chair of Computer Science at
Michigan State
University (MSU).
Before joining
MSU, she was
on the faculty
of Computer
Science at the
University of California, Santa
Barbara. Her research centers
on formal methods in software
engineering, emphasizing specification
and analysis of concurrent
software systems. An ACM
Distinguished Scientist, Laura
has served on numerous editorial
boards, program committees,
funding panels, and professional
advisory committees. She has
enjoyed mentoring students and
new faculty in CRAW workshops
and ACM SIGSOFT mentoring
events. She is VP of ACM SIGSOFT
and finance chair of the 2013
MICWIC. She was awarded the
2012 MSU College of Engineering
Withrow Exceptional Service
Award.
2
Welcome to the 2012 Grace Hopper Celebration of Computing!
“Are we there yet?” Well, if “there” is “at the 2012 Grace Hopper Celebration in
Baltimore,” then, yes, we are finally there!
But we designed this year’s conference theme to provoke thought. Where is
“there”? Should we ever expect to actually reach “there”? What major milestones should we
continue to strive to reach?
Look around you as you ponder these questions. The Grace Hopper Conference is at a
convention center for a second year due to increasing attendance year over year. More technical
women come to inspire each other, share technical knowledge and make friends.
So do we have enough technical women? Not yet. But we have a great springboard from which
to formulate and launch ideas that use our technology skills to positively impact communities
large and small—including our community of women.
Community impact starts with an idea that spawns programs that enrich people’s lives. Are we
having the community impact we would like? In the workplace, each year more companies and
schools join in creating supportive women’s technical communities, which are having impact.
Many of you are using technology to empower others. Although there is always more to do, we
see progress on this front in all facets of the computing industry from academia through small to
large companies.
How about workplace cultures? Women are actively conversing about how to integrate work
and family. Many choose careers that give them sufficient flexibility to have rich family lives.
Others choose to focus on their careers. The tragedy is that they have to choose. A great topic
of conversation for this week is how we can influence technology leaders to push for more
family-friendly work environments. The Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Award is an
important step in this direction.
Judging by your submission responses, we succeeded in our intention of raising awareness
about where we are in many facets of work and community life. As a result, this year’s program
is very exciting and offers much for new and returning attendees. We refer you to the excellent
letter from our Program Co-Chairs for highlights of the program.
At the 2011 Grace Hopper Celebration, Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson challenged us to live on the
world stage. Thanks to the Anita Borg Institute’s leadership, the Grace Hopper Celebrations
continue growing to meet this challenge. The third offering of the Grace Hopper Celebration
India, to be held in Bangalore, India in 2012, is expected to bring together 1,000 technical women
and men on the other side of the world, while we expect approximately 3600 from over 35
countries to turn out for the 2012 Grace Hopper Celebration in Baltimore. If history repeats itself,
these meetings will result in a plethora of collaborative proposals, networking, mentoring, and
increased visibility for the contributions of women in computing.
Finally, we would like to give a big “Thank you!” to the leadership and staff members of the
Anita Borg Institute, our Program Co-Chairs, and our generous sponsors. The visionary women
and men leading this effort continue to have an increasing impact improving the lives of technical
women. They are also great to work with! If you see one of them during the event, please stop
and say both hello and thank you.
Enjoy the conference!
LINDA APSLEY AND LAURA DILLON
General Co-Chairs, 2012 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology | Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing