Who We Are: BJ Wishinsky

Communities Program Manager

Picture of BJ

My role and my passion are to help technical women and their advocates connect with each other and find resources, support, and opportunities. I am responsible for Systers and our growing online communities on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter; and for the ABI Ambassador Program.

I bring to ABI more than 20 years of industry experience in graphics and multimedia software development, technical training, and education services management. My first Grace Hopper Celebration of Women and Computing (GHC) was in 1997, and I drew strength and inspiration from the women there. My experiences at GHC and my work on the steering committees of women’s groups at Silicon Graphics (SGI) and Cadence Design Systems made me a champion of the Anita Borg Institute and its programs, and in 2006 I joined the new ABI Ambassador Program.

As a software engineer, I had always been the first or — if I was lucky — the second female engineer on my team. Today I still meet too many technical women in the same situation. So when I decided to follow my heart and change my career direction, ABI was the first place I called. In October 2007 I began a service year working in the ABI office as a volunteer Program Consultant. In March 2008 it was my great pleasure to join the ABI staff as Communities Program Manager.

I continue to be inspired by the women I meet through ABI events, our Ambassador Program, our online community, and the volunteers who contribute so much to the Grace Hopper Celebration. Connect with me on LinkedIn or Facebook, catch my anitaborg_org or GHC Twitter updates, or introduce yourself on the LGBT or systers email lists. You’ll find more ways to connect with the ABI community at http://anitaborg.org/community/connect.

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