Note: This is an in-person event at Tualatin Country Club.

Member rate: $30 (please sign in to get this rate!) Non-member rate: $60

For WiCys members, contact sachab@iqwired.net for discounted event ticket.

About the Event Topic

“Gender diverse companies are 15% more likely to deliver higher financial returns” (McKinsey).

“Diverse leadership and management have been shown to improve company revenue by 19%” (InStride). 

“Fortune 500 companies with at least three women in leading positions saw a 66% increase in ROI” (Women Who Tech).

The data shows that diversity in our workplace is good for business and profitable, yet we are still struggling in technology to attract and develop the talent.  Only 25% of the jobs in large technology companies are held by women.  Please join us for a conversation with three women who are making a difference in our community and moving their organizations from conversation and intent to execution and impact.  The topics for our evening are:

• Our current state of DEI initiatives and the results.
• Key elements to building diverse teams, small or at scale. 
• Programs and initiatives that deliver results.
• Lessons learned from making a strategic shift.
• Allies, their critical roles, and expectations for real change.

Bring your questions for some expert insight from our panel!

About the Panel

Reet Kaur is a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)at the largest higher-ed institute in Portland, Oregon, where she leads a team responsible for all aspects of college`s Information Security Program to enable the business in providing education to more than 85,000 students at several locations in the Portland Metro Area. Reet is a highly enthusiastic Cybersecurity leader who has supported organizations in the strategic planning and development of security programs to meet requirements for establishing, implementing, monitoring, and maintaining a security posture.

Reet has 20+ years of experience working as a leader in IT and information Security in Fortune 100 and 500 companies like Nike Inc., AECOM, Fidelity and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). She holds CISSP, CRISC, CISM, PMP certifications and is passionate about mentoring and coaching to help uplift others in their careers. Diversity & inclusion are highly important to her, and she serves on various diversity and leadership boards.

Andrea S. Ballinger is an executive IT leader and strategist who directs high-caliber teams, crafts high-level guiding visions and aligns technology investments with business goals. Andrea has been in higher education for more than 20 years, serving in many senior capacities that include CTO, CIO, COO and, briefly, CEO. During her tenure in higher ed, Andrea has been a key driver for IT operations, transformations and strategies, building high-performing teams and bringing complex projects to fruition. In her current role as Vice Provost and CIO with Oregon State University, Ms. Ballinger is responsible for providing senior strategic vision and leadership for the overall IT environment in support of OSU’s mission. 

She leads the OSU IT community across the university, providing the crucial information technologies and services that directly enable teaching, learning, research, engagement and administrative activities. Before Oregon State University, Andrea served as Louisiana State University’s Associate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, providing leadership, vision and direction to the university’s investment, deployment and strategic use of information technology resources across its several campuses. Prior to that role, she served as Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer for the University of Illinois Alumni Association, with a brief role as CEO during a leadership transition, where she gained a great deal of advancement skills.

Andrea also held several senior-level titles for both Illinois State University (CTO, AVP for Administrative Technologies) and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (AVP for Decision Support and other Decision Support titles), where she led the initiative to modernize their IT ecosystems, including implementing ERPs, CRMs and business intelligence environments. Prior to joining higher education, Andrea spent 10 years in the banking and finance industry, where she was last a Vice President of Operations at a large Midwest Bank working in several mergers and acquisitions. Andrea has a passion for reimagining the student experience, building strong, diverse and inclusive IT teams, using analytics as a decision-making beacon and achieving operational excellence. Andrea has an undergraduate degree and an MBA, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dawn Mendenhall is an experienced senior leader and DCIO of Corporate Services at Portland General

Electric. Her strengths are in modernizing with technology, infrastructure and business processes while engaging in collaborative leadership. With a focus on employee development, she consistently maintains one of the highest employee engagement scores of leaders across the company. In her more-than-three decades of electric utility experience, Dawn has sought out hands-on leadership roles in Nuclear Power Generation, Information Technology and Human Resources.

At Portland General, she is best known, trusted and respected for her expertise in managing business partner relationships and often steps into partnering on high-risk enterprise-wide projects to ensure their success. A strong advocate of DEI, Dawn has co-facilitated an annual program at Portland General for developing both women and BIPOC leaders. Dawn also is an advocate of paying it forward with leadership roles in mentoring programs, including the Portland General Leadership Effectiveness Acceleration Program (LEAP). Dawn’s board experience includes the Columbia County United Way, where she served for six years, three of which were as board president.

A native of Michigan, Dawn completed her undergraduate degree at Central Michigan University, followed by her MBA at Marylhurst University and the Energy Executive Course at University of Idaho. When she is not developing leaders or collaborating with business partners, she can be found traveling with friends and family through the Southwest, the Midwest, and internationally.

Sacha Basho  Click here to learn more about -> Sacha Basho | LinkedIn