Atlanta Tech Leaders

Special Edition: Preparing Women for the STEM Workforce

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Two years ago, for the first time in history, women surpassed men in obtaining bachelor’s and advanced degrees. While this is an important step in the professional development of women in the workforce, the gender gap in the STEM workforce has grown, and women hold less than one quarter of all STEM jobs today.

Join us to learn how women in today’s STEM industries–women like you–can help close the gap and make a lasting impact on our industry and the business world in general.

Carmen Hodnett Risk Manager | Burnette Insurance

Carmen has been associated with Burnette Insurance for over 14 years. Previous to joining Burnette, she worked in various management positions in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.

In 1985, she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Georgia State University followed by her Master’s in Management (with a concentration in Organizational Behavior) in 1991.

In 2013, she became qualified as a CRA, a Certified Risk Manager. As a CRA, she serves as an outsourced risk manager for middle market, growth-oriented businesses, using diagnostic and consultative risk management. She has assisted numerous employers in the Atlanta area with their compliance efforts and helped them develop proactive risk management policies and procedures.

Carmen teaches workshops certified by HRCI for PHR and SPHR CE (continuing education) credits and has made numerous presentations at Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) meetings. She has served in various chair positions for SHRM in both the Atlanta and Gainesville areas. She currently serves as the 2014 Women in Technology Forums and Socials Program Chair.

Her interests and hobbies include running and weight training, along with various family activities.

Natoshia Anderson Director of STEM Initiatives | Georgia Piedmont Technical College

Dr. Natoshia Anderson currently serves as the Director of STEM Initiatives at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. A Georgia native, she was educated in DeKalb County and graduated with honors from Lithonia High School. She attended Southern Polytechnic State University (now Kennesaw State University) and obtained her Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology.

She began a career as a Mechanical Design Engineer. She was worked from a manufacturing company and several Architectural Design Engineering firms including Stevens, Wilkinson, Stang, and Newdow, one of the oldest AEC firms in the state and Heery International, one of the best-known firms in the state. Her work includes designs for piping, plumbing, HVAC, and fire protection. She has designed for almost every type of building including drug stores, high-rise buildings, residential dwellings, stadiums, high schools, clean rooms, manufacturing plants, hotels, and military installations. She has over 8 years of designing experience in the industry. In 2003, she obtained an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

In 2004, she decided to leave the engineering profession to teach. She entered into the TAPP (Teacher Alternative Preparation Program), obtained her teaching certificate and began to teach Mathematics in high schools. She also began teaching engineering graphics technology and engineering classes part time at Georgia Piedmont Technical College during the summer.

The summer job became full time in the fall of 2006. While taking over the Engineering Graphics program, she increased the program’s enrollment by 40%, increased the retention and graduation rates by 30 and 20% respectively. She revamped and redesigned the curriculum to make sure that the students were learning skills that the industry would currently need and updated equipment and software. She also brought new members to the advisory committee. In 2010, she received her Doctorate in Education, from the University of Phoenix, with a focus on Educational Leadership. Her dissertation entitled “An Analysis of African American Gifted Girls Achievement in Mathematics and Science Classes”, examined the factors that could lead girls to underachievement in math and science and ultimately would lead girls away from STEM careers. In 2013, she was asked to become a part of the College’s new administration as the Director of STEM Initiatives. In this capacity, she is responsible for recruiting and retaining students in the College’s 27 STEM programs.

She is passionate about STEM, in particular, recruiting and retaining more women into STEM and STEM-related careers.

Valarie W. Mackey IT Performance Leader | The Coca-Cola Company

Valarie W. Mackey is an Information Technology Global Leader at The Coca-Cola Company having overarching accountability for IT solutions within the Human Resources, Legal, Public Affairs and Communications, Workplace Services, and Sustainability business functions. She is also responsible for the strategy to optimize IT employees performance through Training, Development, Critical Experiences, Communication, and Engagement. Valarie joined The Coca-Cola Company in 2005 as a Program Manager and has continued to be active in initiatives outside of her day to day role such as leading STEM programs and events for Coca-Cola’s IT Organization. She has a passion for leading global team members and associates, providing career guidance, promoting cross team collaboration and embracing diversity.

Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Valarie was a consultant for Ernst & Young (later Cap Gemini Ernst & Young) where she focused on strategic planning and execution, project management and business development. It is very important to Valarie to be involved in the community. She actively participates in activities with Non-Profit Organizations. She is also PTA Vice President of Communications for her children’s elementary school.

Valarie holds an Industrial Engineering Degree from North Carolina A&T State University. She resides in a suburb outside of Atlanta, GA with her wonderful husband, Malcolm and active twins Jordan and Jorah.

Denise Reese Director, Business Development; WIT Foundation President | Endava US LLC

Denise Reese is Director, Business Development with Endava US LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endava UK Limited, a leading IT Services and Consulting firm with operations in London, Germany The US and Central Eastern Europe. In her role, Denise leads all Business Development activities for Endava in the Atlanta market.

Denise has spent more than a decade in Sales and Strategic Alliances for several major IT Services and Software organizations and has held positions both in The United States and Europe. Her experience spans multiple disciplines including Identity and Access Management, IT Security and Regulatory Compliance Management.

Denise has built a brand rooted in developing trusted advisor relationships with her clients. This, coupled with a keen ability to build repeatable and sustainable revenue generating opportunities, has afforded Denise with the opportunity to achieve significant milestones for the firms she’s worked with. During her tenure with Wipro Technologies, a leading IT Services, Consulting and Business Process Outsourcing Organization headquartered in Bangalore, India, she secured Wipro’s 1st and largest Hospitality Client in the US and was a multi -million dollar contributor to the RCTG (Retail, CPG, Transportation and Government) Business Unit.

Denise holds an MBA in Strategic Management from The Henley Business School in The United Kingdom. Her dissertation research focused on the importance of businesses adapting a sound IT Security and Risk policy. During her MBA Program, she completed her International Business Experience in Hong Kong. This allowed her the opportunity to analyze and provide strategic direction to Asia-Pacific companies in multiple industries including Manufacturing, Retail, and Public Sector.

Tracy Zucco Director of Human Resources | Brambles Group

Tracy Zucco serves as Director, Human Resources, IT for the Brambles Group, supporting the Information Technology strategy by developing, leading and enabling the IT people and change agenda. Her responsibilities include advising on and supporting all aspects of HR to ensure IT people, processes and systems are working effectively.

Prior to joining Brambles, Tracy has led a distinguished career spanning more than 20 years with increasing responsibility as an HR professional, including organisational design and transformation, talent acquisition and retention, employee development, performance management and employee and labour relations. Most recently, she served as Director, Human Resource Business Partner, Global Information Technology for the Coca-Cola Company, supporting an IT organization of 2,000 employees in more than 15 countries.

In her role with Brambles, Tracy serves as a consultant and advisor to the Chief Information Officer and the IT leadership team in implementing employee strategies. In addition, she works closely with all levels of IT management by focusing on performance and talent management, employee engagement and the planning of Brambles Employee Survey follow-up actions. She also ensures alignment to HR employee relations practices.

In addition to several HR certifications, Tracy holds a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology degree from the University of South Florida, and she is a 2014 candidate for the Master of Science, Human Resources Development degree at Villanova University, USA.