On Friday, I had the humbling experience of contributing to a panel on becoming a champion of diversity at the Coalition for Queens' inaugural (and immaculately-run) HackFemme conference for women in software engineering. The consensus among the panelists (Sarah Manning, Etsy; Patricia Goodwin-Peters, Kate Spade) during the articulately-moderated hour (thanks to Valerie Biberaj) was that much can be accomplished by focusing on the present moment and, for example, speaking up for the softer-voiced contributors to a business discussion.
