Hi All,

We had a fabulous event today at Ingraham HS. It was such a great turn-out and what a great group of young women. The speakers were truly inspiring.

I want to thank our wonderful presenters, Allison McCauley, Global Technical Account Manager, Microsoft; Mei Lee, Solution Developer, Avanade Inc.; Joanne Patterson, Program Manager, Microsoft; and Candy Chiang, UW student studying Network Engineering, and Ingraham/IGNITE graduate. All of the speakers were just amazing, and you could hear a pin drop. The girls really enjoyed your stories and your caring. You all made this a very special event. It was very special to have Candy there today. She is a graduate of Ingraham HS and now an IGNITE volunteer. She was able to tell the students all about the Microsoft High School internship program and the Microsoft college Internship program and all of her experiences that helped her in IGNITE. That is my dream to have the young women graduate and then become role models to the girl's coming up . Thank you Candy for everything you do in IGNITE. The girls got to see Candy in the video as well.

Thank you to the wonderful Barbara Cummins, a very special teacher and mentor to the students at Ingraham HS. Barbara has been teaching 39 years and she is the very best. She works so hard to support our IGNITE vision and really was proud to see Candy up on that panel today. Candy was Barbara's student, of course. Thank you Barbara for all you do. Thank you to the wonderful Librarians who made us feel so welcome today. Edith Ruby always makes us feel welcome and sets aside the library space for our events. Thank you so much Edith and thank you to the wonderful new Librarian, Ms Fisher, who made us feel right at home!!

Here are the comments from the girls evaluation forms. They loved this event as you will see.

• I liked how every woman gave their testimonies. I thought it was really interesting to learn about the interviews.
• I loved the women's stories. I also thought it was great to hear how the women got started.
• I liked how they talked about what they did and the road it took to get there. It was very helpful.
• I learned that you can do it, don't give up. It helped me to push myself even more even if I get scared to do it.
• I didn't know that Microsoft could be that fun. I liked the idea of traveling around the world.
• I liked the fact that the guest speakers provided a lot of their experiences so that I know what to expect. I also liked that there are so many different types of jobs in high tech.
• Information was very clear, It was great.
• I heard so many different positions that might interest us.
• I am so happy to learn about IGNITE. It is inspiring.
• I think you don't need to make this event better. Cause you do these perfect.
• I like how the women talked about their experiences. I didn't know there are not a lot of women in technology.
• I liked the way the guests explained their process in getting to where they are today.
• I liked hearing what the women of technology wanted to tell us. the things they tell us really helped me decide what I want to do with my future. I learned about the MCSE.
• I learned a lot of new things. It is a perfect program. I didn't know about IGNITE at all and I like what I see and know today.
• I really liked the video. I liked learning about the guests.
• I liked being able to ask questions of people who know through experience instead of hearsay. I thought hearing about the interviews was interesting.
• I liked how each speaker was different in what they did for a living, what part of technology they were in, it encourages me.
• I enjoyed the panel. I liked that the women were promoted.
• I enjoyed listening to the presentation. They gave me a perspective on their lives, and made me realize how few women are in technology. Good coverage.
• I liked how the women stressed that it was hard, but that you can do it. They went through what it took to get them there.
• One of the careers that was talked about I am interested in pursuing.
• I liked how you guys talked about how you got into technology and lots of facts about it.
• I liked the women's different stories about how they got where they are today. The most interesting thing I heard was that they were just regular kids back in high school and didn't know what they wanted to do, but ended up with great jobs. I want to go to more events like this one where I can hear encouraging stories from other women in the field.
• What I like about today's event was the women's stories of their careers. It kind of tells me what they went through and that you can push yourself through it. The event is great the way it is.
• The most interesting thing I heard today was one of the guest was self taught herself to rebuild a computer, which I think is a complicated thing to do. It was interesting that some of them didn't even think of a technology career. I see that Microsoft really wants more women.
• The panel's introduction's were so interesting. I thought everything they talked about was extremely interesting. I learned about different types of jobs, and different companies.
• I think this program is really good for us. So we can get into technology.

It was a very successful event,

Thank you so much,
Cathi
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