Date: February 27, 2015
Event Summary
Hi All,
We had a fabulous event on Friday with 90 girls from 5 Seattle High Schools, including Franklin, Chief Sealth International High School, South Lake, Ingraham and Hale High School.
The feedback from the girls was outstanding, and will be added to this report, so everyone can see the girls comments about the day.
There are so many people to thank. It takes a lot of hands to pull off a wonderful day like this one.
The girls were greeted as they got off the bus with balloons, bottles of drinks and snack bars. They also got their packets, loaded with information, pens and paper.
The girls then followed their color balloon and volunteer to the workshops at the first part of the day. There were three groups and they rotated around the classrooms, so all girls attended all of the workshop offerings. After the 3 workshops the girls then walked to the next half of the day, lunch and Starbucks lunchtime panel.
There were prizes and some cool Starbucks swag too! It was indeed a wonderful day!
First, I want to thank Lisa Sandoval, Director of Information Technology Programs at Seattle College. ( Yes they changed the name from Seattle Central Community College!) Lisa works so very hard to make this day come together. We have been doing this conference for 9 years and each year she finds ways to make it better and better. Lisa inspires so many to want to help! Thank you Lisa for all you do for Seattle Girls! We are so fortunate to have you there to inspire, motivate and lead girls into technology careers.
A big thank you to our workshop l
eaders for Glitter. Yoli Chisholm, Director- Paid Media, Microsoft. Gina Nakamura, Outreach Coordinator, Seattle College, Andrew Baldridge, Outreach Coodinator, Seattle College, and Ed Messerly, Instructor, Cyber Security and Hardware, Seattle College.
All of your workshops were so exciting, inspiring and valuable. The girls were thrilled at the offerings and got so much out of all of the information you all provided. We were so fortunate to have you do your workshops at Glitter this year!
A big thank you to the women from Starbucks, who were the lunchtime keynote speakers and also sponsored much of the event. You did such a great job in connecting with the girls. It was obvious how much you cared about inspiring them and motivating them to learn more about technology careers. You are all amazing women.
Thank you to Shami Okajor, Recruiter for Technology Starbucks, Annette McKee, Director Retail Tech, Starbucks, Donna Lontz, Manage
r, Business Development, Starbucks, Michelle McCracken, Manager, Digital Experience Analysis, Starbucks, Keri Kusznir, Manager, Web Development, Starbucks, Diane Terry, Director, R&D Equipment, Starbucks, Ellen Kinney, Director Global Loyalty, Starbucks.
I cannot say enough great things about the lunchtime panel and question and answer session. It was really special and it personifies what IGNITE is about and what is the best about what we do. Thank you all.
A big thank you to the IGNITE teachers at Seattle Public Schools who make sure the girls have access to events like this. All of your hard work is so appreciated.
IGNITE could not continue without the kind of dedication and commitment each one of you offer to girls throughout the school year. Thank you to Julie O’Brien, Franklin HS, John Wright, Chief Sealth HS, Michelle Green, South Lake HS, Stephen Codling, Ingraham HS and Deborah Gallaher, Hale HS.
Thank you for being such amazing IGNITE teachers at your schools.
A bi
g thank you to our photographer, Shiloh Bradley, Photographer, Seattle Central. We appreciate that you took the time to take pictures of this event for us. Pictures say 1000 words as they say, and so having pictures, makes this day a permanent part of our IGNITE-Glitter History! Thank you Shiloh, for making that happen for us.
Thank you to the wonderful Seattle College volunteers. Each one of you gave of your time and energy and without you this day would not have been possible.
Thank you to April Johnson, Instructor, Seattle College, Aeone Singson, Student, Seattle College, Semhar Tekeste, IT Staff, Seattle College, J. Benjamin Leeds, Student CS club, Seattle College, Muletu Kalil, Student, Seattle College, Mirabella Escobar, Youth Case Manager, El Centro de la Raza, Cara Stanfield, Student, Seattle College.
Thank you all for your time, caring and dedication to this day!
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Here are the comments from the girls survey forms
They always say it best—
My favorite thing today was everything because I learned so much from the different perspectives of the women grade 11
Great speakers/ Engaged well and good pacing
All in all the speakers were passionate and knowledgable
Well informed and inspiring—suspect this is a teacher 🙂
Everyone was very inspiring and there words were very helpful. Thank you so much ladies. It was very great and nicely done. Grade 11
My favorite part of this conference is when they talked about their experiences and they shared their thoughts. I thought each workshop was great, each one provided me information and a really good inspiration. Everyone was so interesting and nice.
I loved hearing the different jobs in technology. I really enjoyed watching the future technology video’s with the college professor and hearing about how people can break into our wifi and control our phones.
Everyone really inspired me to go into tech. Everything was great . grade 11
I learned so much from everything, the workshops and panel at lunch. It was really good because they said a lot of things that related to us. Everyone was really great. I thought this event was amazing. I would not change a thing. Grade 10
Highlights for me were meeting new people, getting to know about careers at Starbucks, and I really learned that there are a lot of opportunities in the tech field. Grade 11
I thought the workshop about cyber security was extremely interesting. Also it’s very common to switch your major in college. I was very happy and thankful that they spent their time talking about what they do and their college experiences.
I am amazed at the power and strength these ladies have, they are amazing. (She drew a heart.) The information they shared is definitely memorable grade 12
I really learned a lot in the cyber security class and did not realize how dangerous Facebook can be.
I thought the speakers gave us really good advice on how to proceed about our careers. They also explained what to do in our lives. Grade 11
I loved the workshop with Ed, because he was so interesting and kept us involved. I did like all of the workshops. They made it very appealing to us. I liked how they had positive thoughts, and taught us new things. Maybe some hands on workshops too.
Grade 12
Mr. Ed Messerly had a very interesting class. I thought all of the workshops were cool, and were all-interesting. Grade 12
I loved getting to know different people’s stories about how they got into the industry. I really liked the workshop about artificial intelligence with Ed. The video he showed was very interesting. I thought the lunch panel was very enlightening.
And I thought their stories and information was very interesting and helpful.
Grade 9
My highlights were the women’s stories and learning about artificial intelligence.
I really liked all three workshops. The lunchtime panel was very interesting. It was empowering to hear their stories. They were excellent. I really liked the story from Yoli the woman from Microsoft. Grade 9
I really liked the panel 
and Q&A session very much. It was entertaining and enlightening. The internet security workshop was very cool. It did freak me out a little and I feel like I need to delete a lot of stuff. I loved the woman who moved from Zimbabwe,, she was so funny and interesting to listen to. Ed was quite entertaining, he spoke so loudly and made the whole presentation lively. Grade 12
I thought it was a great conference and would like to come back next year. I really enjoyed the talks and learning things from the speakers.
Highlights were the Starbucks Panel and I thought they were amazing. Really amazing, grade 11
It was nice to hear people’s stories. It was very inspiring to hear them. Grade 11
I loved the speaker from Microsoft, Yoli! I also loved the Starbucks panel at lunch. I really liked that we got to ask questions. That was really cool. I thought all of the speakers were reall
y friendly, and gave great advice. I found the variety in careers super interesting. Grade 10
I really enjoyed all of the women that talked about their high school life and how to get into technology. It was really inspiring and nice to hear from real women and they were easy to relate to. I thought the three workshops were great and not only where they interesting, they were also full of energy!
The keynote speakers were really relatable and I really enjoyed it. I liked all of the presenters. They seemed really passionate about inspiring us. Grade 10
I loved all of the speakers. I felt they were very inspiring and helped me know what steps to take. I think everything was nice. Grade 12
I enjoyed hearing about the Starbucks panel talk about their lives and what jobs they had had i
n the tech industry. I liked the workshop with Yoli Chisholm and the opportunities she talked about. I thought everyone was inspiring. Grade 9
I really liked everyone. The college workshop was great and it made everything seem less intimidating. Everyone was very relaxed and gave an organized presentation. I think it went really well the way it was. Grade 9
Everyone was great. Everyone inspired me to do something in life. I loved their stories. Grade 11
Yoli was so inspiring to me. She talked a
bout how she started from a little bit and now is this highly paid woman. The Starbucks wom
en were excellent. It felt very natural and not forced or rehearsed. Grade 9
I liked the diverse backgrounds of all of the women. They all had different options.
It was nice to hear about such different kinds of jobs and backgrounds. They had good insight on their stuff. It was perfect. Grade 11
I liked hearing from the panel. All of the different jobs you can 
get within technology is really interesting. Hearing about how technology works with every company makes me want to do it even more. I loved Yoli’s story and because she talked what its like to work in tech. She talked about all of the different kinds of jobs you can get. I really liked the keynotes at lunch. I really liked these women. It is nice to know about all of the different jobs you can get and that even if you don’t know what you want to do right now, you can still be successful! I really liked all of the speakers and they had really interesting stories. Grade 9
I loved that they answered our questions and cared so much. In my opinion everything was perfect. Grade 11
Hearing all of the stories and different ways they got here. I liked how open women were about their stories. Maybe make it a little easier to hear. I wished we had more time! I did not want it to end, thank you. Grade 10
I liked how they explained the opportunities that we can have.
I thought the keynote speakers were AMAZING. They gave great tips and wonderful advice to help and inspire us students. I thought the conference was great! Grade 10
I loved the workshops and Ed! I think hearing women talk about their personal lives really helped me a lot. Great 12
The panel of women was my favorite part, because I was able to gain knowledge in a personal way. I thought all of the workshops and speakers were helpful. Grade 9
I enjoyed the workshop led by Yoli Chisholm because she came at the topic with a really genuine and interesting way. I really liked the workshops, because they were informative without being heavy in advertising. I thought all of the speakers spoke well and with a passion. Grade 9
I loved the women from Starbucks. They were talking about their personal experiences and encouraged us to believe in ourselves. I thought the speakers spoke clearly and were kind and nice. It was very good.
I highlight of the conference was being able to hear so many different peoples stories and learn about the different opportunities that are available to me.
I thought all of the speakers were awesome! I was so inspired and moved by the speakers and I hope they can speak to me even more high school girls and inspire them too. I thought this was an awesome event and all of the speakers were passionate about empowering women and hearing our stories. Grade 11
I loved the panel of Starbucks women. I learned so much of how they got to their position and what they currently do. I liked the computer class with Ed. I got a lot of great advice and how to get where I want to go. I wish the conference was longer and wanted to talk to the women more. Thank you,
Grade 12
I learned how college is an important way of getting what you want out of life and the things that you might be passionate about. Hearing from everyone really touched me and probably changed my perspective in life. This conference was an excellent one and I would not change a thing. Grade 10
It taught me so well, I learned what I would like to be able to be and I would not in a million years know this, if not for IGNITE. It is because of IGNITE, It made me know what I want to be in life. I learn so much in IGNITE and at this conference. Grade 10
I really appreciated hearing from these women, because they were very clear and really helped me understand what we need to do to be successful. Grade 11
I really liked the college preparation workshop where they made a college student talk and we gave her answers so we would know what it would feel like.
It was such a great conference and I just wished it was longer, so we could talk m ore. Grade 10
I loved the workshop with the woman from Microsoft. It opened my eyes to see that technology pays well. Everyone inspired me to see that even if they had challenges they still made it. Super cool event. Grade 10
I learned many things from the conference. The la dies did much work on their careers and their dreams. I learned that you need to learn m an y many things so you can achieve your goal.
My highlights of the conference are that I learned that there are ma ny careers I can choose from to go into technology. I loved the three workshops and found they were incredi bly interesting. I see how women figured out what they wanted to do. I loved how you made this conference for us. Grade 10
I found all of the speakers to be active and energetic. This conference was perfect. It made me happy. Grade 11
The highlight for me was seeing you empowering girls to get into technology careers. Everyone was very inspiring. It was perfect. Grade 11
The highlights for me were the guest speakers. Sharing their own experiences and so much variety in backg rounds and careers! Everyone was so inspiring because they talked about their struggles and how they overcame them. The speakers had a lot of energy. Grade10
So many great things about the conference, the women’s stories, the workshops, and all of the inspiration I got about going into technology careers. Grade 12
The highlights for me were being educated about the different types of careers in IT. I’ve never heard of most of them. I also like the focus on women in STEM jobs. I also felt better after hearing that I can switch jobs if I don’t like one. I love IGNITE, and loved Starbucks women. I thought all of the speakers were very funny and informal and so easy to relate to. I did love Ed.! Grade 12
The highlight for me was Yoli’s talk. She was very passionate and relatable. I also enjoyed how the workshops were interactive and you could ask questions.
The smaller workshops were nice so it was easier to talk. I liked that everyone was very passionate. Their passion kept me engaged and interested in the presentation. Grade 10
I really liked the workshops and thought they were very interesting. Yoli Chrisholm was really empowering and motivating to me. I really liked everyone.
I only wished it was easier to hear in the lunch time panel. Grade 10
Very inspiring, different experiences were inspiring. Hearing personal experiences. Grade 11
Hearing all of the women’s stories was very enlightening and humanizing. This was a very fun and informational event. I felt less scared about these career choices. Grade 12
It really made me think of what I want to accomplish in life. I thought the event was perfect and it really helped me a lot . grade 11
The highlight of this conference is hearing stories from the different women and the struggle th
ey went through. It helped me understand more how women choose careers. The workshop with Yoli was amazing. She taught me to take every opportunity we have. I thought it was very interesting and inspiring. I liked hearing the women’s challenges. It inspired me a lot. Grade 9
I love hearing everyone’s personal experiences. It’s very encouraging to know that I can! Hearing all of the women’s personal experiences really made me feel like I can do anything! I just liked their enthusiasm and the differences they all had. More time! Grade 11
I loved all of the speakers. I liked listening to their stories, experiences and advice. Such as find a career you can feel passionate about. The conference was fun! I 
would not change anything about it! Grade 9
It really helped me hear that these women had challenges like mine and were successful. It was so nice to hear some real life stories. It was really fun. Grade 9
I loved how real everyone was towards us. I felt so much better about not being sure about what I want to do. Everyone was so interesting and open. Grade 11
Everything was amazing and I am so thankful. Grade 12
What I learned from this conference was to never give up on yourself no matter what. I changed my mind about what I want to do. Grade 11
I learned to be yourself and be confident in who you are. I also learned to plan the next step. Girls are needed in technology. Start on the small thing and you will grow little by little. Everything was great, thank you,
Grade 12
I loved getting to hear everyone’s paths to their careers. I liked how honest and open everyone was about their lives. It really helped me understand how women plan their careers and overcome challenges. Grade 9
The highlights of the conference was that learning a woman much have confidence in herself to go into a field that is male dominated. All of the speakers were so nice and kind. The keynote speakers were great and so nice and kind. Grade 10
I thought each and every speaker was unique and had really good stories.
I can see myself doing what these women are doing now. They were all great. I wish I had more time to talk to them. Grade 11
I really admire these women, going through their struggles and end up successful.
I could relate to each and everyone of them. I really enjoyed it. Grade 9
As you can see, the amazing effort and work everyone put in makes such a difference in girl’s lives.
Thank you everyone for making this day possible.
Cathi
