By Wade Tyler Millward
This article centers on Indigenous tech leaders and what impact their backgrounds have had on their careers and efforts to support more Native Americans and underrepresented people entering into technology.
Native American tech leaders from Google Cloud, Clutch Solutions and Second Derivative talk about inspiration from their roots and efforts to bring more indigenous people into the field.
For Renita DiStefano, CEO of services provider Second Derivative and a member of the Seneca Nation, growing up with women as the center of the community has served as an inspiration throughout her career in technology.
Garrette Backie, founder and CEO of services provider Clutch Solutions and a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, said he employs his tribe‘s philosophy of making decisions to benefit descendents to come into how he runs his business and helps customers.
And Jason Hinds, a Cherokee and leader for Google Cloud’s customer engineering organization for North America, keeps a chalk drawing of his grandfather’s grandfather in his office to celebrate his background.
These three leaders in technology are just a sample of Native Americans who hold influential roles in IT and the channel. In honor of Native American Heritage Month, DiStegano, Backie and Hinds spoke with CRN about the influence their backgrounds have had on their careers and the efforts they support to introduce more Native Americans and underrepresented people to the field of IT and the channel.
The post Native American Heritage Month: Indigenous Tech Leaders Strive To Uplift Tribes appeared first on CRN.
