My interest for engineering began in my early teens, with the catalyst being an old audio mixing board. At the time, I had a vague understanding of what a mixer could do but had no instructions to set it up and operate it. I was determined to figure out how to make use of it. Through trial and error, I ultimately got it working and connected to several components, including a microphone. Tinkering with that equipment and cabling to figure out what did and didn’t work ignited my interest in engineering and audio visual technology. Through different career opportunities, I also developed a passion for process optimization and working with people, which ultimately led me to operations management where I continue to focus on increasing operational efficiency while also improving the client experience.
I am the global head of Client Event Services, which is part of Enterprise Technology Operations within Core Engineering at Goldman Sachs. The team provides logical configuration of end user technology services and applications for the firm globally. Access to systems, applications and services are managed by my team. Recently, my team has focused on supporting COVID-19 business continuity planning (BCP) provisioning, where we have configured thousands of remote working tools and resources for our people. The team also assisted new joiners with first-time remote login support, which includes the onboarding of about 2,800 summer interns.
I am the head of the firm’s Salt Lake City Women in Engineering Network chapter. The network is made up of engineers in the SLC office who focus their efforts on planning and participating in events and initiatives that focus on career development, networking, mentoring, recruiting and retention, training, and community engagement. The SLC Women in Engineering Network also provides community engagement opportunities for our engineers to be role models and give back to our local community. For example, some of our network members have supported a Girls Who Code Club at a local middle school. The network also works with organizations such as Women Tech Council, She-Tech, Girl Scouts of Utah, Utah STEM Action Center, Girls Who Code, and various local schools.
I recently won the Women Tech Council Diversity Leadership award for my efforts in developing and heading our local Women in Engineering network, which has consistently grown each year. Winning this award is a reflection on the amount of support and focus provided to women engineers and the Women in Engineering Network at Goldman Sachs.
Having been with the firm for 20 years, I have had the privilege of mentoring and watching many employees develop into strong leaders and technical contributors. Seeing them realize their potential and how they influence others is very inspiring. So, my advice to engineers starting their careers, remember that change is constant. Never stop learning.