This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #EachforEqual. To us, this means we’re all responsible for contributing to enabling an equal world.
At Losant, we’re celebrating by showcasing several of our team members' voices. We’re committed to celebrating diversity in our organization for more than just one day. It is a deliberate aspect of our culture.
Here is Software Engineer, Cassandra O’Connell’s thoughts on inclusivity in her career path.
“Computers are amazing. What’s even more amazing, however, is that they even exist at all. These enormously complex and powerful machines have come from so many years of so many people stacking their ideas on top of one another to make innovation after innovation. Think about it—we humans have collectively managed to put lightning inside of a rock and make it do math for us. That’s insane!
However, not everyone has had an equal opportunity to contribute. I went to an all-girls’ high school, and STEM careers weren’t presented to me or my classmates as viable options for our futures. I spent most of my time there focusing on literature and fine arts and went on to get a degree in graphic design. I didn’t find writing code until I was in my early twenties, which left me almost a decade behind in learning and discovery (and ultimately, my career).
And this is just my experience, which has admittedly been one of a lot of privilege. There are plenty of women (and people of all sorts of other races and genders and sexualities and religions) who have missed out on a lifetime of opportunity because they didn’t fit into a certain mold.
My point is this: all of our collective knowledge depends on the context surrounding it—but so far, we’ve surrounded it with a very limited context. By excluding certain demographics of people in the teams we create, we leave out important perspectives. We are actively handicapping innovation by putting a ceiling on the amount of knowledge we’re able to accumulate. To reach our full potential as innovators, we have to make sure everyone is included—from the start.”
To experience more of our team's stories, check out our #IWD2020 video.