 Live from Houston, Texas. It's theCUBE, covering Grace Hopper's celebration of women in computing. Welcome back to theCUBE's coverage of the Grace Hopper Conference here in Houston, Texas. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight. We're joined today by Ashley Connard. She is a student board member at the Anita Borg Institute, and also a PhD student at Brown University in Computational Biology. Also her sister, Chelsea Connard, who is a junior at DePaul University, majoring in computer science and economics. Welcome both of you. It's a sister act today. Yes, thank you. I understand that you're actually your whole family is here at Grace Hopper. All our siblings, yes. We have a sister between us and a brother. So it started with you, Ashley. You are now a student board member, but your first Grace Hopper, you came as a freshman at DePaul. In 2010, yes, when it was much smaller, and I was open to the world of, that is, computer science for women. And kind of Grace Hopper itself opened its arms to me, showing me that I was gonna do biochemistry, and that's kind of the only realm that I knew. But I did know that I wanted to look at problems, technical problems in biology, and there's no other way to do that, but through computer science. And so how can it be accessible? How could I have come into a field where no one that I knew he was even doing computer science, and it was this male dominated field surrounded by the questions of video games. Grace Hopper showed me that there are people that want, they have us in mind. And I wanted to share this with my siblings and say, guys, you need to experience this. And I went back to my school and did a few workshops for scholarship writing, resume building, robotics interests, and what HCI is, you teach people all of these things because the resources are all here. And so giving, kind of paying it forward is what I was doing. And of course, being around my siblings, now they're doing the same. So you are, and now, so that was a long time ago, and now you are a board member. So what are some of the initiatives that you're working as a board member in terms of outreach and paying it forward, as you say? Yes, so one of the very big things that we're trying to do, which I'll talk about too, because I'm a student, we're really working with academics to share with the students that are coming here, specifically the millennials, which I'll talk about in a second. But we wanna explain that although we have amazing companies, and amazing work that you can do in a company or in a governmental institution, there's also the side of academia in advancing your degree past undergraduate. And there are many great schools that are here wanting to support and interact with, engage with us. There are a lot of panels about cultivating women academics and making sure that that is a career path that's known. So I'm working on academic side. We're also trying to figure out how can Anita Borg, how can the Anita Borg Institute and Grace Hopper really focus on millennials, reach out to millennials? What is that avenue that we need to embark upon? So we have a millennial right here sitting in our midst. You're one, of course, too, but you're the target market now. So do you feel that you are being reached out to? And what is your experience at the conference? This is your third one, Chelsea. Well, I think the biggest secret to bringing women to computer science is having that discussion around it and sharing that information. And from a personal perspective, it was my sister who reached out to me. And I've heard it echoed throughout women the past three days is that it just takes one voice, just one woman to really show the power of computer science. And then also to say, I believe in you. Oh, absolutely. And to really think of that possibility. For myself, I'd started an undergraduate really thinking economics, business, that was my place. And computer science didn't quite make sense, but until Ashley showed me computer science, I took the risk. And there are companies here that are fusing economics and computer science in ways that I could have never imagined. And I guess the biggest secret to millennials is just talking to them and just really inspiring them to know that there's so many possibilities. Well, and you are part of this trend of multidisciplinary majors with not just CS, but computer science and economics, computer science and biology, computer science and policy. What is driving this trend in the sense of doing computer science along with another discipline? I think, I mean, to preface, we actually went, but I go to a liberal arts school. So it's almost part of my fabric is to try and blend subjects together. But I think computer science is, I mean, it's pervasive in our world today. And it has so much power that it can be fused with other subjects and it can make a genuine difference. And we can look at problems technically and we can morph statistics and big data. And there's just so much power behind computer science that I firmly believed that it can really be blended with all types of topics to make differences. Let's talk about mentorship. This is, research shows that this is such an important component for women in technology to have someone hire up the career chain, saying, I believe in you, helping you along the way, helping you make decisions when you come to crossroads in your professional career. Do you have a mentor and what has that mentor given to you? Well, I'm getting chills because my mentor's right next to me. I mean, Ashley's- This is a beautiful story. I love this. But she's the reason I believe what I believe today and I have, and I'm flashing back in my life to seeing Ashley's eyes shining through me and just really feeling her heart and mind. And I think mentorship is crucial to really allowing someone to just believe in themselves to make that next step. And I had a funny story that I hope to share. Oh, Ashley's crying, I'm going to cry too. I had a funny story I hope to share because it makes such a big difference really and I don't think people really see the power and mentorship at times. But here at Grace Hopper, it's on my way to see my mentor, Ashley. And on the way, I bumped into someone for a split second and I knew her, so I stopped her and it hit me that we'd met this past summer at Harvard Business School for a program for women in computing and she was at Grace Hopper. And I had mentioned it to her and really encouraged her to come and she came. So I guess- So you were mentoring that woman who was your age? But yeah. But the point is that person took my advice and I think half the battle of mentorship is just having that mentee just take the risk too because my words don't mean much until she really believes in them too. So you are lucky in that your mentor is your older sister. What about people who don't have an older sister or who just aren't as fortunate as you? How do you recommend that they go out and find a mentor? I mean, do you identify it and make it part of your strategy or is it a more organic process? What are your thoughts? Ashley, weigh in here too. So I'd love to speak to a few things. Last night, actually there was a kind of a mentorship event for the GHC scholars. There's scholarships that you can apply for to come to Grace Hopper as a student and I recommend for all students to be able to do this every year. They're due in May, I think. How many do they have? Oh, it depends. They have a few thousand every year and they all come from these different companies. There's a certain amount of money and it's another way of saying these companies are investing in you just to be able to come find a job. Just if you were sponsored by Accenture, you don't have to talk to, that's not saying, oh, you owe us anything. That is the cool part. They are saying you are worth it for other companies as well and this is for you. We want to get you circulating in the job market. And that in a way is a way of telling us that students' mentorship is coming from Grace Hopper and you can go and kind of talk to a bunch of companies and schools. But I think the biggest thing for women, it can be kind of fluid but it can also be kind of set up. So I was saying that there was a Grace Hopper scholars event last night and they had these tables set up where mentors were at every table and people, all these students would go around to the table and give their 30 second kind of their elevator pitch, you know, what they want to do. And that's a really powerful thing to have as you start looking for mentors to say, I'm interested in computer science and I don't really know what I want to do but this is where I come from. This is what I've been interested in and this is what I want to learn about. And if you can say that, people will already say, oh well, I fit that bill, I don't fit that but I know someone that does and they can help you navigate. So hone a 30 second pitch that talks about who you are, where you come from and where you want to go. Exactly. Okay. And you don't have to have it set in stone. That's the beauty of it. As millennials, young people, you can have a person that's your age that is in your same area and you can just say, gosh, I'm having trouble with this and this and you'll feel comfort in that or you can go for someone older who's been there and you can at least be there to listen to you because if you don't have anyone to talk to, it's very hard to keep inside. You really need to be able to express yourself. And for me, I have a few people that are older than me and I go to a few different people for different topics, more personal, more school focused. And my supervisor at Brown University is a mentor for me, I got to see him last night just to talk to him about research questions. The whole thing that he's taught me is to not be afraid to just ask because if you have a question, you're already at no. So the best thing, the worst thing that could happen is you're right back where you started. It's either, and if you get a yes, then you're just a little bit higher up to obtaining your goal. So opening yourself up to ask women and men and talk about what you want to do or you think you want to do. Those are the three parts that I think will be, will give you a successful mentorship experience. But that's not easy for everyone to do, to be willing to put yourself out there. And that's where I want to come back to you, Chelsea. You were talking about Susan Cain, who is the New York Times bestselling author of the book, Quiet. Her book is all about introverts and their effect on the workplace and how they are almost a secret weapon of managers because they bring different styles to their work. You are an introvert. So talk a little bit about what you learn from Susan Cain and how it is changing the way you approach your career. Absolutely. Well, I have the blessing of hearing Susan Cain here, so I want to thank her again for coming and speaking to us at Grace Hopper. But I think what was great about Susan Cain's book for me is that my best friend's mom suggested I read it and it really spoke to me because she was the one who recommended it. And reading it and inspired me that mentorship doesn't always come in the form of conversations between, you know, physical conversations between two people. I can come in a book. I can come in you watching someone and seeing how she behaves and trying to emulate that in yourself. And I think Susan Cain spoke to that power of introverts and how they're reflective and they're taking more information in. And I'd never thought of mentorship coming in a book before. And of course, her words spoke a lot to my experiences and it really empowered me to understand that it's okay to be reflective and to take time before you really reach out and make that first step. But she of course was encouraging women to still step out of your comfort zones when it's appropriate and can bring out the best version of yourself. Her book offers strategies for introverts in terms of thinking about ways to get up your gumption to speak out and offer your opinion. Back to the conference. As we said, your whole family is here. Not your parents who are back home. But what are your impressions of this year's conference? Both of you are veterans now. How is this conference different? How is this conference better, bigger than ever before? Start with you, Chelsea. For myself, this is my third year. So my first year at Grace Opera, I came as a freshman. So I mean, my eyes were as wide as they could be and I was taking in so much information and I'd only taken one CS class. So I was connecting so many dots the first year and now being here as a third year and seeing women who I've brought to this conference and my brother included, we were able to encourage him to join us as well. It's just incredible to see the inspiration that has come out of the three years and the speakers who have spoken at Grace Opera these past three years. I mean, I've written down their pieces of advice and I keep them with me every day. Cheryl Sandberg spoke to us last year and she said that she's been able to grow by writing three things that she's think before at the end of every day and I've done that every day since I'd heard her speak at Grace Opera. And does it make you, I've read that too. Does it, the gratitude journal, this idea of pausing to give thanks and does it, it works? Absolutely. Okay, this is- And I mean, she spoke to us this time last year and it's changed my life every day since. How about you, Ashley? So I guess I'd like to speak about the work that I've done to prepare for Grace Opera and then how I'm seeing it come to fruition. Because you are one of the organizers of this conference thinking about how to make it work. There are many people that are involved in this. I mean, every single person who's from setting the chairs up to set up the tables where people will eat, people backstage to you guys, to us, we are all beautifully part of this vision that is one vision. You know, advancing women in technology and incorporating more women into this vision. But also, we have our own goals, we have our own stories and you guys are able to capture that. And it's empowering to be able to hear and listen to all the stories that you guys are able to capture. And they grow as Grace Opera grows. One of the great things of this year's Grace Opera is to see how people have learned to navigate if they're veterans and also have brought new people to the conference. And it's kind of like a family is growing. And I worked a lot with academia this year. So we put together like an academic initiative set of YouTube videos. And so I worked on a video that told newcomers like this is how you should prepare. Bring your resumes and bring two nice outfits, three good ones, write down the people's names that you're talking to. If just a few tips like strong handshake, if you're nervous, maybe try this. And being able to see that students are receptive and wanting to learn through all of the technological advancements, we're able to key in on those key factors that help everyone connect and stay connected. Facebook groups, Google groups. If you're an undergrad, there's a Google group for you. If you're a master's student, there's a Google group for you. And I actually talked to Chelsea about this and now that they're set up, I was like, whoa. Great, great way of incorporating questions and for millennials and then being able to integrate everyone into the conversation. So this idea of integration is also something that I've seen work well here at Grace Hopper more than before. I'm excited to see it growing. These are great strategies, great advice, great tips. You've been wonderful guests. I thank you so much. Ashley Connard and Chelsea Connard, thank you. And thank you for joining us. We will be back with theCUBE's coverage of the Grace Hopper Conference here in Houston, Texas right after the break.