What is your educational and professional background?
I am a proud Aggie with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University. After graduating with various co-op and internships, I started my career in management consulting with Ernst & Young, went to a smaller consulting firm, and then progressed to The Coca-Cola Company. I started out as an engineer, however made a transition to Information Technology. While in Technology I had responsibility for large global portfolios and had overarching accountability for technology solutions to enable business success. I built my career in a variety of roles including strategic planning and execution, program management and delivery, business development, customer service and retention, vendor and supplier management, employee development and engagement, organization optimization, and community outreach.
Why did you shift from delivering technology solutions to founding a talent development firm, WrightNow Solutions?
Although I enjoyed orchestrating the delivery of customer centric technology solutions I found the team development aspect more rewarding, so I shifted my attention from the technology to focus on the people that deliver the technology solutions. While I was still with The Coca-Cola Company I had the pleasure of working with a program that cultivated successful Tech Startup organizations and facilitated their connections to corporations to further enhance their innovation. This piqued my interest in entrepreneurship. I formed WrightNow Solutions and continued working with that program and ultimately established a future entrepreneurship program for youth to seed the pipeline of Tech startups. From there I brought a talented staff onboard and we continue to create workforce development programs, facilitate professional development training from entry level to executive level, and partner with organizations to enhance organizational capabilities through inventive ways of accessing, equipping and engaging talent. There is a high demand for talent and a low supply, our goal is the help close this gap.
What social issues interest you and why?
I am most interested in the compounded social issues of education and equity. The more I interacted with people that wanted technology careers, the more I saw the need to diversify traditional IT organizations. I saw firsthand the technical aptitude and motivation that exists within people that may not have a traditional 4 year degree due to various circumstances and realized that shouldn’t necessarily be a barrier to having a successful career. Some jobs may require the traditional university and job experience path but given the wide access to knowledge and technology now, it’s not always the case. WrightNow Solutions was created to bridge the gap between this untapped talent and the corporations with the belief that we could help change the perception that the perfect IT organization only consists of geniuses with multiple degrees or a degree from only the finest institutions while all of entry-level work is outsourced to other countries. I wanted my company to be brave enough to care about the local tech savvy and committed underrepresented talent and take action to change the status quo. The programs we create and manage advance equity by equipping and providing underrepresented talent with awareness and opportunity.
