UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) welcomed students, alumni and a former NFL player to its annual Be You in Tech Summit to celebrate diversity in the technology industry. The event, supported by a grant from the RSM US Foundation, was held on Jan. 21 at The Graduate by Hilton State College.
Be You in Tech is a series of events and programs designed to help students interested in technology careers understand the role of diversity and inclusion in their personal and professional lives through knowledge-sharing and community-building. The annual summit welcomes speakers, IST alumni and others to reflect on the power of authenticity and diversity in tech.
“The summit’s meaningful growth over the past five years speaks to how deeply students value a space that celebrates their authentic selves and empowers them to be exactly who they are,” said Madhavi Kari, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging specialist, student success, in the College of IST. “IST meant something to the alumni who’ve come back to share their experiences with our students. Together, we have truly created something special.”
Jocelyn Bennett Garraway, IST's associate dean for student success, gave the opening remarks. She introduced keynote speaker Deon Butler, former NFL wide receiver and Penn State football standout, who presented “Built Different: Engineering Authenticity — A Guide for Future Tech Leaders.”
A cybersecurity expert, Butler has harnessed the competitive skills he honed as an athlete to transition into corporate America. As manager of network sustaining security engineering at Cox Communications, he leverages teamwork and pressure-tested skills to strengthen corporate security, streamline processes and educate clients. Butler earned a bachelor’s degree in criminalistics and criminal science/forensics from Penn State in 2009 and a master of homeland security, computer and information systems security/information assurance through Penn State World Campus in 2015.
Following the keynote address, Erica Fleming, IST’s faculty lead for teaching and learning, led a self-reflection activity. It was the best part of the day for Brea Austin, a first-year student pursuing a doctoral degree in informatics in the College of IST.
“I appreciated how the reflection time addressed ways to challenge imposter syndrome,” she said. “I felt solace seeing how people of all ages expressed feeling imposter syndrome, and I felt supported as I learned their various ways to challenge it.”
The topic was also meaningful to Laiya Mathew, a fourth-year student majoring in cybersecurity analytics and operations.
“Hearing others talk about how they also experience imposter syndrome — and giving us tips on how to relieve ourselves of this feeling — was really refreshing,” she said. “As students in the tech field, we come from all different backgrounds, so hearing how to use our strength of being our true selves to tackle imposter syndrome was very impactful.”
Tyler Estright, student success supervisor in the College of IST, moderated a panel of alumni who are now working in the tech industries:
- Noel Claudio, class of 2014, manager, Global Product Partnerships
- Sabrina DelViscio, class of 2018, senior manager, Workplace Solutions Consulting Group, Vanguard
- Stephen Obeng-Agyapong, class of 2013, senior security engineer, Delta Air Lines
“The summit definitely gave me guidance and clarity with what I want to do in my career and how to empower myself within the workspace,” said Matt Cleary, a third-year student majoring in cybersecurity analytics and operations. “The panelists’ responses to audience questions were inspirational and educational.”
The event wrapped up with closing remarks by Kari and a networking session.