I've been a software engineer for 10 years

You would recognize my work if you have done online learning

I advocate for women in tech and believe that TOGETHER WE RISE

So I read my post from last year and thought to myself, "yeah, I still feel exactly like that". I'll give you the gist of it:

• It's a mission - pay it forward
• Be Assertive Not Aggressive
• Help Other Women
• Advice (to everyone) Mentor, provide resources and communicate

It's a mission - pay it forward

Womanup and give your time to other women. We know us best. Reach out to the new girls and give up your secrets. If someone had done that for me 10 years ago it would have saved me a lot of time and frustration. And who knows, maybe you'll make a friend along the way.

Be Assertive Not Aggressive

You will get taken advantage of by way of things you don't know. Learn to ask questions. Don't be intimidated if you have to say, "I don't know." You don't know - until you know. And remember, YOU ARE NOT AN IMPOSTER! The Lord got you to this place and she doesn't make mistakes.

Help Other Women

My philosophy is to focus on creating an environment of sisterhood that uplifts other women coders. I don't focus on the issues of how to change the patriarchal attitude that exists in some tech environments but how to change what I do to help other women succeed. You will never be part of "the brotherhood" so jump on in and join "the systerhood".

Mentor, provide resources and communicate

If you've read everything above, I don't have to explain this. It is so important I had to say one more time just in a different way.

There is so much more I could tell you: how I'm the senior member of an otherwise all male team; how I've been fired more than a handful of times for fighting back for myself and other women in tech; how I chose UI/UX development because the web should be for everyone - young, old, those with challenges, people with more, people with less.

I will leave you with what I often tell my children:

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
that is from the desiderata by Max Ehrmann