#FocusOnSolutions Solo Talks

The Power of Response-Ability

True success stems from taking responsibility for everything around you. If it’s in your space, you’re responsible for it. Responsibility at this level can be a challenging concept to accept, but from it grows a phenomenal power to choose. We’ll discuss how taking responsibility impacts your ability to respond.

What Happens When Jane Bond, Mx. Claus, and a Merperson Walk into a Conference

Emojis are language, culture reinforces language, language reflects culture. Over the past decade emoji have evolved from the encoding of notions like “bird” and “grinning” to becoming stand-ins for one’s own identity. A look at our approach designing these abstract concepts and how culture drives what is “default” and visa versa.

Democratizing Access to Tech.. via Social Media

Back in 2014, Joshua was hired on to Google’s tech HR team via Twitter. Since then, he has earned a number of tech roles (@ Earnest, Outco, Uber, and Simply Business) through social media. A huge promoter of using social platforms for recruiting, he has stepped on the other side of the interview process to empower job seekers with insights on how they can take advantage of social media to connect directly with recruiters, and how those of us already part of the tech industry, can pull the rest of us in by being active on those platforms. He’ll be sharing his insights with us with this 10-minute talk.

Workers in tech companies have been using their collective voice for pursuing positive social impact in the tech sector. From the Google walkout and shareholders-workers proposals, to Amazon workers’ proposed plan for combating climate change, today more than ever, workers in tech have an opportunity to leverage their voices toward ethical workplaces and solutions for sustainability. Learn about how these workplace activists have been organizing with their coworkers to succeed in their initiatives, and get inspired about opportunities for you to get involved!

The Last ‘ism: Age

Diversity and Inclusion initiatives have made some progress with Gender, POC, LGBTQ but age remains an elusive and rarely discussed topic of discrimination. Next For Me founder Jeff Tidwell reports on their research “Understanding the 50+ Worker” and how organizations can begin to confront the silent bias of age.