MEET OUR WITTY WOMEN: RACHEL

This past academic year, we worked with a cohort of 7 female-identifying students to develop a technical solution for the non-profit organization YearUp! We are so proud of our first cohort and all the work they accomplished, and for the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring these amazing students here on our blog.

This week we are featuring 19-year-old Rachel Tieu. Rachel is a rising junior at CUNY Hunter College in the Daedalus Honors Scholar/ Computer Science program. She’s our second witty woman to be featured, and we are so excited for you to learn a little bit about her through this post.

Why did you join the <wit> project? 

I joined the <wit> project because of my combined passions for technology and non-profit work. I believe that technology can transform the way we engage in our local communities, and it can offer unique and innovative solutions to problems people may face. I wanted to join the <wit> project to combine my two passions to use my technical skills to offer a solution that can actually be used by a non-profit organization. I also wanted to join the WiT Project in order to join a supportive network of women who are empowered to create an impact through technology.

What has been your favorite part about the volunteer experience? What have you learned from the <wit> project? 

My favorite part of the volunteer-ship experience has been the opportunity to learn new technical skills that are not taught in the classroom setting such as the Django framework, Data Science, and Machine Learning Algorithms. I also loved bonding with my team and sharing our experiences as women in tech throughout the volunteer-ship. From the <wit> project, I learned a lot about using the agile method, and how that ties into communicating effectively with my team. I also learned a lot about different tech stacks that I have not used before such as Postgres and Django. We also had workshops that showed me how vast the tech industry is, and what different pathways I could take to pursue a career in technology.

Why is it important to have more women working in tech? 

I am passionate about increasing representation and diversity in the tech industry. It is important to have more women working in tech because we can offer unique perspectives and innovative solutions through technology. By making the tech industry more inclusive and representative of people of diverse backgrounds, we can amplify the voices of underrepresented groups and effectively build technology that is accessible to everyone regardless of their gender identity, or their ethnicity.

What are your goals for the next year? Where do you want to be in 5 years? 

My goal for the next year is to become more immersed in the tech industry by expanding my skill set and overcoming imposter syndrome. I want to be able to feel confident in my technical skills and inspire students to pursue a career in the tech industry in my role as a teaching assistant at my college, and also in the high school classroom. In 5 years, I hope to have a full-time job in the tech industry, doing something that I am passionate about. I also hope to continue volunteering in high school classrooms to teach computer science because I am passionate about increasing diversity in the tech industry. I also hope to be able to work at a company that allows me to grow professionally, and personally.

Who’s a #badass technologist you look up to?

One #badass technologist that I look up to is Joy Buolamwini. I have been interested in her work since my freshman year of college when I did a research paper about the biases that exist in the facial recognition system that is used by law enforcement. Joy is a computer scientist and an activist on this topic. She is vocal about how she and other people of color are vulnerable to being misidentified by these facial recognition systems. These biased systems criminalize people of color and discriminate against them. I look up to her because she is actively fighting for justice for people of color in the field of technology, and she aims to eliminate these injustices that exist in these systems. She actively strives to create change and amplifies the voices of underrepresented groups, and creates a voice for those who are unheard.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself! 

One fun fact about me is that I love going to concerts! Everyone on the team can attest to this because of the amount of concert tickets in my background on our virtual calls!