Our community is made up of a diverse, international community who want to become more proficient in their technology roles, and are seeking ways to expand their career options. These folks are the heart and soul of our work and the inspiration for our innovation, so in 2023 we’re kicking off a new blog series featuring some of the individuals from our fascinating community of learners.
This month we’re introducing our readers to Sade Hillard, a ServiceNow Software Developer whose goal is to claim a spot in management. Hillard is a recipient of one of the quarterly scholarships the Linux Foundation donates to Women Who Code, a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower diverse women to excel in technology careers.
“I became interested in technology after taking a high school course in electrical and electronic engineering,” Hillard said in an interview. “After high school I became an electrical engineer major in college. Then I decided I wanted to become an apprentice for NPower Tech Fundamental Program to learn and earn a certification. Later, I attended Year Up to learn about cyber security, which led me to change my major to cyber security. These opportunities expanded my interest in technology.”
Having heard about the Women Who Code scholarships from her mentor Hillard immediately recognized the potential benefits of committing to continuing education, and was inspired to apply. “I figured that if I went for the opportunity, I could share my experience with other women,” Hillard told us. She plans to take the Fundamentals of Open Source IT and Cloud Computing (LFS200) course with the ultimate goal of earning her Linux Foundation Certified IT Associate (LFCA).
When asked about her choice of certification Hillard responded,”I’ve worked with cloud computing before in Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Linux for running commands in the command line interface (CLI) to either develop or to integrate data into other applications. That led to my interest in expanding my knowledge even more and earning a Linux Foundation Certified IT Associate (LFCA).”
Certainly gaining more knowledge can be good for anyone’s career, but Hillard isn’t just interested in self-improvement. Her desire for excellence in her field is matched by her desire to help other women and girls find their way to the career of their dreams, too.
“Community plays an important role for women working in technology by providing a safe and comfortable place for women to receive help, share their problems, and get support from others,” she said. “I want to encourage young women to be open, and recognize that it’s okay to not have all the answers or understand the technology before jumping in. Don’t be afraid to speak up when you have questions or ideas.”
