The 2021 vNCWIT Pioneer in Tech Award Celebration honors Dr. Glayds West, a pioneer in GPS technology. Be a part of a candid conversation on inspiring the next generation of technologists, hosted by NCWIT CEO and Co-founder Lucy Sanders alongside NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Community Engagement Manager Terina-Jasmine Alladin.
TRANSCRIPT
BRITTNEY: So, now I would like to welcome Dr. Lucy, oh, not Dr., she seems like a doctor, she’s so smart. Now I would like to welcome Lucy Sanders who is Co-founder and CEO of NCWIT to introduce the 2021 NCWIT Pioneer in Tech Award. Hi Lucy. We’re excited to have you on today.
LUCY: Well, hi, um, I hope you can see me and hear me.
BRITTNEY: Yes, we can.
LUCY: Oh, perfect. Well welcome everybody to one of my favorite events of the year, honoring the Pioneer in Tech. I don’t think I could do a better intro than what Dr. Lisa Cook just did, in terms of why it’s so important that we recognize the women who have come before us in terms of their technological innovations and contributions and why well because we can recognize them, they certainly deserve it. We can also learn from them, they can serve to inspire us and future generations and so at NCWIT we really believe in this fully and every year we look for an honoree and you know sometimes people go well we didn’t know who that was. And it’s so important that we get the message out that we have so many great innovators that need to be recognized in this way.
So today we’re honoring Dr. Gladys West, with the 2021 Pioneer in Tech award from NCWIT. Dr. West, I have to say, is so amazing. She earned her PhD at the age of 70, years old, and she got a master’s in mathematics from Virginia State College which is now Virginia State University.
She was hired by the Navy at the Dahlgren Virginia location in 1956 and she worked there for 42 years at the time of our hiring she was only the second Black woman who had ever been hired, and one of only four Black employees.
She is perhaps most well known for her mathematical modeling for the development of satellite, and I had to look up how to say this y’all, geodyssey models that were eventually incorporated into the global position or GPS systems that we use so much today. So she is, I’m a technological innovator and we’re so excited to honor her with this award. I do know though that you know, we’re here, that, you know, she’s the brains behind a lot of the mathematical computation in GPS today, but she also likes maps, and loves to trust our own brain and reading maps and it made me kind of want to go pull out a map or my atlas and go look to see if I could still read that.
So, we are tremendously excited. This is absolutely one of my favorite things that we do at NCWIT. So before we hear from Dr. West I think we’d like to play a video, um, which has sort of a short short recap of her life and career.
[VIDEO]
When I grew up as a little girl I was in a country area, a rural area, and we made our living by having a farm. I told myself that I did not like being out in the sun, working from sunrise to sunset and all that. So I made good grades in all my subjects. So it’s time to go to college, and they said well since you’re doing well in all subjects, you can major in math, and you’ll be successful. So when I went to college, I majored in math. I graduated after four years, and I applied for jobs in the government. I got hired at Dalgren in 1956. I came by myself, my husband wasn’t with me or anything. I was by myself. Or at least put it this way, I didn’t know him at that time. At the same time that we were coming to work here, they were also bringing in a large computer, and they hired these mathematicians, to learn to work this computer, we hadn’t had any computer, teaching or knowledge, so we had to master this job that they wanted us to do, so we had to learn how to program and code for this big computer. My part in the global positioning system would be working more with the orbit over the water. A lot goes into the scientific computation to generate an orbit, which is a database used in GPS. So the different people who did civilian applications, learned to use the database that we generated, and that was the foundation that GPS was built on.
When you grew up as a Black girl at school separated from the white school. And we had separate buses. And many times we would get the old hand me down things from the white school, books that weren’t new like their books were. But all of that help to make us, I think, work harder because you know you were behind the eight ball to start with, you know you said you had to work harder. But I always was motivated by doing something new and completing something, having a go. Usually I had a mind of my own, I tend to think for myself and I had to learn to be patient with others who don’t think the way I do.
[END VIDEO]
LUCY: Well thank you very much. That’s a great video and I’d like to now ask Dr. West to join us on camera and make a few remarks and after which we will have an interview. A short Q and A session. Dr. West.
GLADYS: Good afternoon. Thank you for those kind words that were just given. I’m extremely honored to receive the Pioneer in Tech Award. I am very thankful to NCWIT for the recognition. Many years ago, I committed myself to be the best that I could be through my successes and challenges, I stayed focused and persevered, never losing sight of my goals. Being recognized at this point in my life brings some closure to a long and committed journey.
I have recently published my memoirs, entitled, “It began with a dream.” I had many thoughts and dreams that dominated my thinking through our developmental years. I encourage each of you to always move confidently toward your dreams, yourselves.
I would like to say thank you to all who have helped me along the way. I thank God, for all that he has done, and for continuing to oversee my life. Thank you again to NCWIT for giving me this great honor. I will always cherish it. Thank you.
LUCY: It’s wonderful and we’re so happy to see the award is there. So, that’s awesome. We are excited to have you here today to do some short q and a but, and we’re not the only ones honoring you Dr. West, I have a letter here from Eddie Bernice Johnson, who is the US Congress Chairwoman of the Science Committee. And I’d like to just read it here and I believe we sent it to your daughter so she has a copy too, in case you haven’t seen it, but it’s really wonderful to be honored, Chairwoman Johnson sponsored the Hidden Figures Gold Medal Act, that cleared Congress I think about a year ago. And so I’ll just read it if I may: “Modern day America was built upon the contributions of talented engineers and mathematicians, such as yourself, your service to this country is a living testimony to the trailblazing abilities and women with their eyes set on the future.” We set up just so excited. So great. “From your foundational modeling work on the original global positioning system to your work on the SEASAT remote sensing technology, your brilliance, hard work and dedication, have yielded lasting benefits to society. As chairwoman of the Committee on science space and technology and throughout my 28 years in Congress, I have worked to ensure a continuing federal commitment to empowering our nation’s scientists, so that they can do what they do best, and I thank you for your pioneering efforts as the second African American woman ever to be hired at the then Naval Proving Ground, you exemplify persistence, humility and excellence that serves as a model to students, particularly women and students of color. I have no doubt that careers like yours will inspire the next generation of diverse women engineers, mathematicians, programmers, and inventors. I was thrilled to lead the effort to enact legislation to honor the Hidden Figures like you. You are one more example, whose contributions to society have been overlooked. It is a privilege to share sisterhood with you in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority; I cannot think of a more deserving awardee. I offer my congratulations on your recognition as an NCWIT Pioneer in Tech. Congratulations.”
GLADYS: Thank you very much.
LUCY: And now I’d like to introduce TJ Aladdin from the NCWIT staff who manages our community of students. Dr. West, we have, we have thousands of students across the United States who will be inspired by you, and she’s got some questions to ask you.
TJ: Thank you so much Lucy, and thank you, even more Dr. West. I am TJ Aladdin, as Lucy said, and I have the honor of interviewing you today. Here at my job, I get to manage 20,000 women in tech nationwide between high school and their first two years in the workforce. And in honor of you, I did the math, by hand. And I have worked at NCWIT for 1,822 days. I promise you I did not Google that. Thank you so much for being here and thank you for all that you have contributed to the world. So my first question for you is, how would you describe yourself to someone who has never met you before? There’s been so many articles written about you by other people and Forbes and the Guardian, so on so forth. But I would really love to know what would you say to someone who has never heard of you before.
GLADYS: Yeah, I think, I think that I see myself a little bit different from others many times. Because I feel so humble. And, and, and dedicated and concerned about whatever I’m involved in, I just feel like it’s a privilege for me to be smart enough to understand what the big fuss is all about what we’re doing. And I believe that I have a plan, working on the plan. Setting goals and working those goals, and keep doing that and making sure that I’m meeting them. And then, reaching, what I want to do at stages and just continue to do that. Not, not so much having a whole lot of fun, but always being busy all the time, dedicated to what I’m involved in. And so sometimes I get discouraged about myself and thinking,. Well you should be having more fun and doing other things, but I have no desire and this service. Stay there working in trying to resolve what it is that I’m involved in. So, I am just so happy that other people are recognizing this and you’ve been wonderful.
TJ: Wonderful. Thank you. Well, at least I hope that we can have a little bit of fun today; I will try and squeeze in some fun. We’ll try and squeeze in some fun. My next question is based on what you just said about how you continue to work towards different projects and like initiatives. How do you find the motivation to keep going, especially as you know women in mathematics. The numbers are still quite low. How do you find the strength to continue to do the work that you do?
GLADYS: Yeah, I don’t know I think maybe setting, setting the goals. And so your timeline is just that goal at the time, and you start to reach that goal so that’s an incentive. That was my assignment point is to reach a goal that you’ve been working on. And seeing that you can do it, and then trying something else. So you started incite yourself. you know, to keep going. And so, I really have no problem with, you know, not continuing, but I do have a problem with not being busy all the time, I want, I want to be doing something. So that’s me.
TJ: That’s awesome. Um, I feel the same. I like to stay super busy all the time. So we both have to work on trying to squeeze in some, some fun.
So as I mentioned before I get to manage a very large community of people. And I have a question in honor of the 10th and 12th graders at the Cristo Rey High School in Brooklyn, and their teacher Mr. Bernard. They are curious to know what advice for them you have at this stage to keep pushing forward because math is hard. So what advice do you have for them.
GLADYS: Well we’re finding out now, in today’s society that more information about STEM is being provided. They’re more activities, more events, more people getting involved. And so that is always a source, where they can join some of the groups in their community and take advantage of that. And even in schools. Also, some of the teachers are beginning to be very conscious of STEM. And I always feel like you find yourself a person who’s interested in it. And, and then talk to them, have them help you, have tthem direct you to where you would like to go You may not know exactly what your final point is and what you find an interest in. But ask some guidance. And you got to work, and you got to spend some time digging yourself. You shouldn’t sit and wait for somebody else to come show you a way and push you along, you know, you gotta you gotta be curious. And you got to just talk to other people and move along, you can almost tell all the kids who want to really excel real fast because they’re so curious about life in general and testing and trying things.
TJ: Thank you so much for that response and I think that that was excellent advice for those students. I think they’re going to cherish it forever and ever. I know I will, I want to just cue the audience. Now, you can start to submit any questions that you have, into the Q and A, I’m going to continue to ask Dr. West some more questions, but in a moment we will get to your questions. So my next question for you, Dr. West, is about you getting your PhD. Okay, what. So, you accomplish all of these amazing things, you retired. And then you went back and got a PhD. And you were still the only Black woman in your course. Was that surprising to you?
GLADYS: Yeah, I guess it was surprising that I was the only Black woman; I would have thought there would be some others. But I didn’t, I didn’t really ever quit school. I, when I retired. I had all my course work done and I had done all the basic work done for the PhD, so it looks like I started back, but I didn’t start back. And I had had all my experience of working with the men who were in the program along with me, and learning a lot about how they were in and resolving issues like who’s smarter than who and all that kind of thing. I’d had all those experiences and. And now I just left then at the end to say, I got settled and I’m free. I can do it. And so I just attacked it and got the dissertation. And, and graduated.
TJ: That is amazing and so inspiring. I have a master’s degree, I’m pursuing another master’s degree. And now that I know I have another 40 or 50 years if I want to get my PhD because you have charted that path for me now so I can see something different, so thank you for that. So, I want to ask about something you mentioned before, which is about staying humble, so I don’t know but if somebody wrote about me in Forbes, I don’t know if I could stay too humble. So you were being talked about worldwide now, you’re being recognized for work that you’ve done. Has that changed you at all?
GLADYS: What changed me in the sense that in my heart, I feel what a lot of people are expressing, I feel that. But outwardly. I still feel like I need to step softly and and look and make sure where I’m going. Because I don’t feel like I did. You know I feel like I had some blessings. I am doing this, somebody else was steering the ship. And I was just on the ship. And now I get so many people who helped me that I never thought that they were helping me and made it possible in my head, and they took care of the house, when I was keeping my head down in the books and stuff, you know, but that was very important because they gave me comfort and security that things were all right at home. So, I’m thankful. I’m as excited as those people are talking outwardly, but inwardly, I’m still humble about what I have done. I’m just feeling blessed.
TJ: Yes. Yeah, we are. I am feeling blessed to have this opportunity to chat with you. Um, I really love that you mentioned all of the people around you that helped to support you on your journey, um, who would you say was the most impactful person for you as you are pursuing your goals?
GLADYS: I always say that, probably. My mother was the most impactful thing. But then as I look back along the way there were others also. Because I didn’t have a lot of money so I had to get a job so I worked, and the home of a Math. Professor, and a physics professor. And so even though that they didn’t always just labor and talk to me exactly what I would do it on, but but they were really role models and I was eyeing them what they were doing. And I was sort of following their guide is the way I should be going. I should. How should I carry myself, What should I do, how hard should I work. You know, and I was getting all of this, so they had a big impact on me also. And I thought the pick friends also that were a positive influence also. So, so I guess I’ve been surrounded by some wonderful people that I didn’t know. I thought I was doing everything, but I was just sort of copying a lot of who was around me.
TJ: That’s really great to hear that you had so many different people supporting you along your journey, including men, I think that’s excellent. We don’t hear enough I think about the people that get it right and that this is a problem that all genders need to come together and solve so thank you for sharing that. I have a question for you from the audience. Which is, you have set and met countless goals in your life. What do you feel most proud of, looking back now?
GLADYS: Well, I have to say we’re most proud of it just reaching the top. I just accomplished everything that I had planned to do, and got to the end. And I feel like, oh no way I still feel like I want to be working. So then I started with something else. And so even though I worked hard in, and I did a lot of things. I still feel like as long as I had energy and can work that I should be helping the world, my, my goal is getting bigger and bigger I guess I should help the world in general to arise and be counted also. So, I started getting interested in the young people and tell them my story and, and just having fun, at my age and my energy.
TJ: I was actually going to ask about how you get at, what do you eat in the morning, that you can accomplish all of these things?
GLADYS: Well, not that I eat anything so particular, is, is that we eat, I think; we have always ate a healthy breakfast, lunch as well because it was on the farm where I got started. So we were eating their well balanced meals, three times a day. And that helps. But I think, I think it’s more the inner workings of you, how dedicated, how serious you are how, how you feel about the world and and your role in in understanding what’s happening in the world and how much we need each other, you know, to get further along into make the world a better place to live in. You know, and so if you really see how big that problem is you gladly want to do your part, let me do my part, and hold up this end, and I do feel like I need to work for myself, be independent, stand up and be counted. And I do that all the time.
TJ: Oh, it’s amazing. Thank you so much. I have another question from the audience and it’s a bit of a long question so bear with me. The Atlantic recently published an article that referenced the idea that women should follow the norms of male dominated industries in order to be successful. So essentially women should do what the men do in certain careers in order to achieve success. What advice can you offer to Black and brown women in these kinds of white male dominated spaces, who are trying to be successful without necessarily conforming to that particular culture?
GLADYS: Yeah that that’s a tough one. I don’t agree with a whole lot of it. But, but we do know that we were all different. We all are individuals, separate, with our own minds and somebody on our level, don’t guide us and carry us where we need to go. We’re independent and and work upon our own thinking, doing. So I think anybody can do any work who are interested, and really want to put the time and effort. And we get it right and share. And, and connect with others, and let them know what you do and how you are doing it and and be be a role model for people who don’t believe in women; you know, women don’t have to stand back and cry. You know some are really born with a lot of strength and courage and they have fighting from the beginning. And we all different, very different. And I just did not not completely clear, understand they’re thinking. But anyway, I think we can, we can do it.
TJ: I agree with you 100 percent, and it’s really great to hear that you don’t agree with that line of thinking that women should change themselves. I think that alone will be very encouraging to the women listening to you right now. I have another question which is about the support that you can get from groups. So as I mentioned before, I have the privilege of managing a group of 20,000 women in tech. And I know that you are a member of the AKA sorority. I know it’s a bit different. But I’m just curious to know what it was like for you to be a member of of that group, what supports did you get, and do you recommend that in order to get support from peers that women find, you know, find a group of people.
GLADYS: Well, I don’t know that it is absolutely necessary, but during the time that I was connected with AKA or or. It was, we just didn’t have a whole lot of shoulders to stand on. And no and this this lady who was here, math professor. And a friend. They would always be talking about the big meetings they had to go to and what they had to do and who they saw there and who was there; anyway but in my head and I was getting pictures of these educated women, and we didn’t have that many women to, like, look at and stand up and be role models, you know. So, hearing them talk about this group of women. And then when the lady recommended that I joined AKA at the time and I did many years ago, when I went to my first big conference, I saw all of these Black women, and just just 10,000 maybe Black women. And that, that was really impressive to me, and, and, because we hadn’t seen it. And, and they were everything that I had imagined in my mind that a professional Black woman would look like and act like. And so for me it was a role model, it will help me because I tried to emulate. You know someone that I was seeing. And so this other AKA always was start a business like you know work on did it right. No, no, playing around. So I think to get it, get that same kind of modeling from for myself. And so, I don’t think you have to be in a group that big but I do think you have to have something that’s complimentary to your way of thinking.
TJ: Thank you so much. That’s excellent, excellent advice. And yes, the 20,000 women in our group are going to take that on for sure. I have a few more questions for you and then I have some special folks that I want you to meet. So I have a little surprise coming later but I want to know specifically because you’re from a rural area. And as you mentioned, the farm was the thing, it was a place to be. But you did not want to be there, even nowadays we find that a lot of the focus on recruiting young folks in STEM happens in the big cities and on the coasts. So I’m wondering if you have any advice for folks who are looking for more talent, how can we reach more students in rural areas.
GLADYS: Yeah, I think it’s easier in here I guess what we were doing, would be sending out on the job is sending out recruiters from the job. Looking for the kind of people that we needed, and also for the kind of people that you could work with and that you know, it’s more than just, just the technical. And, and, again, we have to attend some of the sessions where people are having activities that talk about their schools and what they’re doing, what kind of work they do. He has to sort of tap in a little bit to the university also. And, something to be aware of are the things that you are looking for in a person on the job and that is sometimes it’s not easy to see that far. Before the job to after the job, but you can tell the people who want to be a value, want to add to what you have listened to and you have to have people who can tap into that inner part, also in addition to the technical points that you want to get covered.
TJ: I think that’s just so amazing to hear from you because we often focus only on the technical skills, can they code, can they do math and I think that you’re right that we sometimes miss out on the other skills that actually going to help that person to do the, you know, do the job, you know persevere, so thank you for that.
Okay, one more question and then some special guests will be here. I want to know from you what changes have you seen in the past decade or so that are inspiring to you.
GLADYS: Well, there’s been a lot a lot of changes, I guess, and they made pretty fast. It’s hard to keep up with with them. I guess, at a very early time when I was younger, I didn’t even know anything about STEM. So now we have more STEM activities that are popping up. And from what I’m hearing is they’re being really advantageous for a lot of the young people and to the girls, and how they are stepping up and taking part in what’s available for them. And a lot of the youth are getting involved in things in their schools. And also, and we have a museum close by, and this is a museum where there are people who have children in high school, you know, who are interested in these kind of activities to put their children in, so they join the museum and they come to a lot of these activities and projects and robot training and all kinds of things. And then there are just more people trying to get their people into this. To learn more about STEM, and I think that is working. So we are inspiring them.
TJ: I am living proof that, that is working. Growing up, I wanted to be a dancer. I still want to be a dancer. I decided to pursue a career in science, and that is largely due to women like you and the work that you still continue to do so. Thank you again so much. And now I want to invite Claudia and Crystal to come on camera. Claudia and Crystal are two of our change leader scholars. These are women in college who are pursuing technology, and who wanted to come and tell you a bit about themselves and to congratulate you, so Claudia. Please join us. Thank you.
CLAUDIA: Thank you. Thank you. Hi everyone. Hi Dr. West I’m absolutely honored to be here and to be congratulating you for this award. My name is Claudia Hernandez and I am majoring in computer science and plan to pursue special interest in artificial intelligence, machine learning, astronomy and business. And I want to say hearing about your story is absolutely astonishing. You’ve been a huge inspiration to me and to my efforts, the, the emphasis that you put on educating girls in STEM has been a real inspiration to my efforts and trying to not only make an impactful contribution to stem itself, but also to open the door to bring other women into STEM. So as a female majoring the computer science. I think that it’s incredibly important to share stories like yours. I started a community coding club and a national resource website to help educate women, and to bring them into the field and inspire them, and sharing stories with change makers like you has been incredibly, incredibly impactful into their interest and their belief that they can in fact pursue and succeed in STEM. I mean being a groundbreaking programmer and mathematician whose models and algorithms are crucial to advancing both our understanding of the world and creating GPS systems that billions use every day, all in the face of adversity, your excellence motivates me to pursue my technological aspirations fearlessly and work harder to make a difference. And I’m sure millions of other girls consider the same.
GLADYS: Thank you so much. Oh, that’s fantastic, then that that is a winner
CLAUDIA: It’s definitely an honor to meet you and I just wanted to say that I thank you for your loveless determination, your love of learning your incredible journey, and ultimately your revolutionary innovations and how you’ve helped pave the way for women in STEM, especially women of color to thrive in the field. You’re an inspiration to me and women everywhere, and I’m honored to offer you this award that is long overdue. You’re truly a pioneer for women in tech and I’d like to congratulate and thank you.
GLADYS: Thank you. Thank you so much, this is wonderful.
TJ: And now, Crystal will share some words as well.
CRYSTAL: Thank you so much for this opportunity today. Congratulations on the Pioneer in Tech award from NCWIT. Dr. Gladys West, your own work has impacted so much of our technology today. And it’s a guiding light on what it means to do the work ethically and on persisting regardless of being the first. So today, the percentage of Black mathematicians and computer scientists is still exceedingly low, and students from traditionally underrepresented groups who wish to excel in these fields, often find themselves isolated and wondering if there’s a place for them in this field, and role models like yourself, are critical in making sure that talented students from traditionally underrepresented groups, know that they can succeed.
My own grad school journey started because a NASA mathematician who works in satellite remote sensing using GPS for climate science encouraged me to attend grad school, and my research focuses on applied cryptography, fairness and machine learning, because I believe that regardless of which neighborhood, you grew up in. You have a right to protect your data, and that data should be used fairly and ethically your story of resilience, hard work and excellence, has the most recent me throughout my own studies, in reimagining the ways that we could chart our own paths, leave our own legacy and in remembering that there is a place for us. I’m personally inspired by the fact that you still use paper maps over GPS and trust your intellect, because it shows a continued empathy towards accessibility and in understanding socio technical and inclusive ways of thinking about technology and how the systems we make can impact the world. We a change leaders are all inspired by your Purpose Driven Life.
GLADYS: Thank you so much. I am just beyond words. I just wish you luck in everything you’re doing both of you; that’s wonderful. Makes me feel really honored that someone is making decisions because of me!
TJ: You guys I have one more for you, this zoom space is about to get a lot more impressive and a lot smarter because Dr. Cook is about to join us again. Please, come on camera Dr. Cook.
LISA: Thank you so much and Dr. West, I want to congratulate you. I want to just tell you what an inspiration you are and I’ve been stalking you for about 20 years. I just want to let you know. And I’ll tell you why. My aunt was the chair of the math department at Virginia State for about 20 years. She just passed away two years ago, and your paths are so incredibly similar. Well she grew up in Winston Salem North Carolina, I grew up in Milledgeville Georgia. Our sensibilities were those country sensibilities that you’re talking about, where the, the values of the farm, the hard work of the farm, were brought to us, and at the same time, the values related to STEM, all my mom’s family is is steeped in STEM, so everybody’s a mathematician and engineer, so it never occurred to me. It never occurred to me that this was a skill that women were not supposed to have.
GLADYS: Yeah.
LISA: It was amazing and when you talk about it, you talk about it just like she did. “I got the best grades, so they told me to go do math.” That’s exactly what happened. You know when she was teaching there, she just ran across so many people that she inspired in the way that you inspire people and you know you, I’m sure, inspired many more people; your technology has been deployed, and in so many different ways. And I’ll tell you what, before I knew that you were such a pioneer in GPS technology, I used to ask my students. When I am teaching them economics and the economics of innovation, what innovations have been life changing, that you depend on the most, and they all say, and this is ok so I started teaching systematically in 2005, GPS is at the top of that list, the top of that list. Now you know I primarily teach men, right. So this is a good thing, this is a public service. They can get where they’re supposed to go. And they’re not circling the block, they’re not circling the earth. Thank you so much.
GLADYS: Thank you so much. Thank you so much for those kind compliments. Thank you so much.
TJ: And thank you once more Dr. West, thank you as well to Claudia and Crystal for being here to also let you know how valued you are in the lives of women and all people today. I told you before that I did the math by hand, and I worked at NCWIT for 1,822 days, and this is by far the best day of them all. I get the chance to honor you for all your contributions and all the things that you’re going to continue to contribute. For many, many more years to come. Once again, congratulations and thank you so much, Dr. West.
GLADYS: Thank you so much for giving me this great honor, you know, I’m sure I’ll begin to feel more and more honored to know that people are making changes to their life because of me. Thank you so much.
TJ: Thank you. And now I’m going to invite Lucy Sanders, our CEO and founder back on camera.
LUCY: Well, thank you. Now I think you know why this is our most favorite part of the NCWIT Summit, by far, you know, congratulations. I’m so wrapped up in your story and everything and the students and what they’re talking about and heartfelt congratulations, because we know, we know you’re not done yet. So make sure you stay in touch and let us know what you’re up to. And we are just so thrilled to honor you with this award. I just don’t want this to end, this whole conversation. It was so rich and so authentic. And I just want to encourage people who are listening. This is a great recording to share out and to inspire others and to tell your story Dr. West to the thousands of people we interact with every year so do not doubt for a moment that you will not continue will continue to inspire people, right. Thank you. It’s awesome. So thank you so much I wanted to continue doing smart. Yeah, don’t worry it’s coming. For sure, and thanks for joining us.
I just have a few last minute housekeeping things to do before we close this out. And so I’m going to ask Brittney to share her screen quickly, and we’ll, We’ll take care of business here. I’m just another shout out to all of our sponsors who have made this summit possible so thank you for your ongoing support. Let’s keep going for me. Next please.
We have a new website; as if having the summit in one week wasn’t enough we also cut over a new and see what website, go check it out at ncwit.org, and you’ll see all kinds of new features better navigation better graphics etc so do make sure you go check that out and a hearty congratulations to all of our tech team and operations team and communications team that made this new website possible.
Go to the next one. Please wait. We also have a new partnership report so we’re not going to spend a lot of time here at the end of the summit going through and seeing what announcements and current going on, but if you access this URL you’ll be able to read all about it in our annual report from 2020.
So next, please.
We also wanted to tell you about our magazine, and you’ll get it in the swag box which I will advertise one last time as the summit, but I have it right here as part of my sweat, you know my show off things so I’m pleased to check it out, and we’ll have a new one coming out in June. So look forward to the next version of our magazine as well. This is a way for us to continue to put great resources, opinion pieces etc. out to the NCWIT community and beyond. So that’s the new magazine re:think.
And then please don’t forget your swag box, you’ll get a copy of the print copy of the rethink magazine in this white box, and as Brittany mentioned earlier some goodies, and also some different sort of flash cards playing cards etc on critical listening, So make sure you order your swag box as well. And I think with that, we don’t have any more. So thank you for joining our summit this week, we have recordings online.