HI All,

We had a fabulous event today at West Seattle High School.

The presenters were such a passionate group of women who care deeply about connecting with the young women who came to the event today. The young women asked such thoughtful questions as well and the exchange was really special for everyone involved. It was truly the magic that we hope for in IGNITE.

Thank you to the wonderful presenters, each and every one of you who told your story and connected in your own personal way. It is so amazing to be a part of. Thank you to Allison McCauley (Technical Account Manager - Microsoft), Marta Smith (Lead Test Manager - Microsoft), Jill Keenan (Program Manager - Microsoft, Mickey Pierce (Mainframe Migration Alliance - Microsoft, Melissa Bohm (Program Manager - Microsoft, and Cindy Solvang (Human Resources - MIcrosoft).

Several of you are new to the IGNITE presentation process . . . I never would have known that. It seemed as if you all have been doing it for a long time. I want to welcome you all!!! WE are so happy to have you in IGNITE!! Welcome to Melissa, Jill, Mickey, and Cindy!! It is so great to have you with us!!! Yeah!!

I want to thank our wonderful Career Center Specialist Lisa Fabitz who works so hard for IGNITE. She makes sure the girls are signed up and we have a nice, comfortable place to meet, Thank you so much Lisa for all you do for us, you are the greatest!! Welcome back to Martha Tonkin, Web Design Teacher at West Seattle High school. Thank you for the use of your room. It is so great to have you back in IGNITE with us, we missed you.

Welcome to a new member, Adria Sneed, Student Services Specialist from the TRIO program. TRIO is a program for students who are low income and may be the first in their family to go to college. Many of our students at the presentation today are from the TRIO program. Welcome, Adria!!

Here are the comments from the girls so we can see what they thought.

• I liked hearing how some jobs worked and I liked hearing other people's experiences. It was great the way it was. I loved hearing all about the company Microsoft and what we need to do to work there.
• I learned everything I needed to hear. Everything was great to me. The most interesting thing today was to hear about what you guys do.
• The part I liked best was that all of these women come from different backgrounds so I liked hearing their struggles and how they have overcome them and be successful!
• The most interesting thing I learned today was these women were not straight A students and some didn't have a happy home but they worked hard and kept their head up.
• I liked hearing about how mostly all the women in the group didn't originally intend in having a career in High Technical fields. There's nothing I would've changed about the presentation.
• The most interesting thing I've heard today was the job descriptions.
• I liked listening to women's different stories of how they got to the places they are at.
• The benefits and opportunities of a Microsoft career seem very interesting.
• I like that the event had speakers who were all powerful influential women.
• It is interesting that some of the girls come from hard backgrounds and still come through.
• I liked the fact that the speakers were able to talk about how they came to have their careers.
• The most interesting thing was all of our guest speakers worked for Microsoft but have never met before today. It shows how big Microsoft is.
• I liked that they described what you have to do to get into high tech and that you don't have to be the best to do it, you just follow your passion.
• I heard that they were not the best high school students but still went to college and still become successful. I look forward to more IGNITE events.
• Everything was great.
• The different backgrounds of the speakers and how their destiny lead them to Microsoft.
• I liked the variety of the different women's backgrounds and interests. I like that you don't have to love computers or math to get a technical career. I want to learn more about internships. I learned that I do not have to go to an Ivy league school to get a good job at Microsoft.
• Something I liked about the event was there was a lot of different things that I can choose from, before I know this I thought it was all just computer work. The most interesting thing I learned is that I don't have to have a tech degree to work at Microsoft. There are a lot of different kinds of jobs there.
• I liked best that engineering has to do with Microsoft and that with taking art in school I could also get into Microsoft. It was interesting that a lot of the women came from an ordinary family and did just okay in school and still ended up being very successful, and it took them a long time, but they worked hard and they did it. I liked everything.

As you all can see, the young women really did absorb a lot of information. It was a great event and one that represents that IGNITE magic!! Thank you all.

Sincerely,
Cathi
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Pictures of the Event