In honor of Black History Month, we are showcasing some of the recent profiles from our Black in Tech series.

The goal of our Black in Tech series is to share the inspirational stories of Black professionals in the tech industry at all levels of responsibility and across all job functions.

It is one of the ways we are trying to support a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce, as we hope these profiles will provide some guidance and advice for other Black professionals to pursue opportunities in the tech industry.

Each profile below features either a quote based on overcoming adversity or advice for Black professionals. Make sure to check them out!

Here's your look at the latest hires and promotions across the tech community at Attensi and Drift.

Did I miss your new employees? Send me an email with their name and details about their new role. I'll add them to next week's edition of Talent on the Move. 

Attensi

Eileen O'Hara

 

Project Manager at Attensi

Previously, Project Manager at Annkissam

Conor Fortin

 

Customer Success Manager at Attensi

 

Previously, Enterprise Customer Success Manager at Repsly

 

Sean Vogel

 

Customer Success Manager at Attensi

 

Previously, Product Manager at Beanstalk Digital

 

Attensi is hiring!

Drift

Matt Tippets

 

Senior Vice President at Drift

Previously, Chief Product Officer at Total Expert

Drift is hiring!

 

 

Mimecast delivers relentless protection. Each day, we take on cyber disruption for our customers around the globe, solving the number one cyberattack vector – email.

We connected with members of Mimecast's team to get an inside look at the company's day-to-day operations. 

Interested in working here? Check out all of the job openings at Mimecast!

Quick Hit Company Details

• Year Founded: 2003
• Number of employees: 2,000
• Industry: IT – Cybersecurity

Can you share the details on what Mimecast does?

Since 2003, Mimecast has stopped bad things from happening to good organizations by enabling them to Work Protected. We empower more than 40,000 customers to help mitigate risk and manage complexities across a threat landscape driven by malicious cyber attacks, human error, and technology fallibility. Our advanced solutions provide the proactive threat detection, brand protection, awareness training, and data retention capabilities that evolving workplaces need today. Mimecast solutions are designed to transform email and collaboration security into the eyes and ears of organizations worldwide. 

What’s your company’s current working environment for employees?

Mimecast has implemented a hybrid working model. 

• We leverage core working days, approximately two days per-week for in-person collaboration.
• This time is used for brainstorming, teambuilding, and larger-scale company events.
• On non-core days, Mimecasters have the option to work in-office but it is optional.
• When remote, Mimecasters work on individual tasks and have global virtual meetings.

This model is intended to balance both Mimecast business needs with individual needs and creates a progressive model in how we work and achieve our goals.

What are your company’s core values or how would you best describe the culture at Mimecast?

Company Values

• Build Our Company Together: We are one global community. We embrace one another’s perspectives and backgrounds in order to succeed as a team.​
• Invest in One Another: We take care of our fellow Mimecasters. We are honest, humble and authentic in all that we do to support our cause and our colleagues.
• Make Things Better: We seek to improve on everything we do. We learn from one another and from our mistakes and take meaningful action on those learnings to move forward as one.
• Deliver a Remarkable Experience: We take pride in our purpose. We strive to create legendary customer experiences every single day.
• Bring a Resilient Spirit: We were founded with a warrior spirit, showing grit and courage every day by staying focused in the face of adversity, adapting to change, and delivering on ambitious goals.

We’re an energetic, values led business who’s entered an exciting new chapter of growth and transformation, investing in our product, technology, and our people.

We're working tirelessly to create exciting new capabilities, providing our people with unique growth opportunities unmatched elsewhere in our industry, as we accelerate real product Innovation, market expansion with a channel first approach, and always focused on our mission that matters - stopping bad things happening to good organizations. Now is the time to join us and drive growth that’s good for our people and our business.

We'll continue to live the Mimecast way, with a culture that cares, striving to build a better business while we build a bigger business - for the benefit of our people, customers, and the wider community.

Can you share the details on any diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives?

Our strategy is informed by an approach that focuses on 4 key pillars – Career, Culture, Community and Commerce. This holistic approach will ensure that Diversity and Inclusion touches all areas of our business operations and is built into the DNA of Mimecast.

• Culture: Driving initiatives internally that enhance our culture and create a sense of belonging for all Mimecasters.​
• Career: Developing a talent attraction and retention strategy that champions the careers of diverse Mimecasters.
• Community: Fostering greater community resilience through partnerships with non-profits that engage with underrepresented communities.
• Commerce: Supporting go-tomarket and sales functions in the support of diverse communities through our product.

Specific Initiative Examples

• In fiscal years 2021 and 2022, we established defined partnerships with organizations committed to attracting and recruiting diverse talent, including WomenTech and Black Young Professionals.
• For Director-level and above roles, Mimecast launched a Future Builders Program where members of our Employee Resource Groups and Global DEI Council participate in the interview process. This program sets us up to have a diverse pool of trained Interviewers who actively facilitate discussions on our values and assess for Inclusive leadership competencies amongst candidates. 
• Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) at Mimecast are employee-led groups who come together based on a shared interest in a specific dimension of diversity. Our ERGs are open to all employees and are built on a philosophy that to build a workplace that works for everyone, everyone must build it together.

What types of activities are employees involved in?

In FY23, we celebrated the fourth successful year of our global Corporate Social Responsibility Program. Underpinned by our donor advised fund with the Boston Foundation, corporate grants have now exceeded $1.4 million dollars.

Mimecast employees are provided with five days of paid time off to promote active, recurring volunteerism. Taken together, volunteers provided more than 1,000 hours of community engagement. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we experienced a decline in volunteering opportunities and resulting hours contributed. We’re proud that, as of 2022, we have been able to hit a new peak in employee engagement with these activities.

All employees are also eligible for Mimecast’s Gift Matching Program, with more Mimecasters (200+) participating in this program in FY23. These funds are set aside to boost employee donations to organizations of personal passion.

Are there any fun facts about the company? 

We have made sure to have many windows in our offices. This is because, like plants, we believe employees will thrive with greater natural lighting! 

It's January, which is the perfect time for 2023 predictions! This week, we've covered predictions around the job market and office & remote work.

Today, talent acquisition and HR leaders share their predictions around company culture. Since the pandemic, a lot has changed as it relates to how a company maintains its culture while working remote or hybrid. However, last year, lots of companies saw a return to gatherings, conferences, and offsite meetings, which was great to see. 

So, what does 2023 have in store for the culture at companies? Check out the predictions below.

Please note, the views and predictions expressed in this blog post are representative of the individual's thoughts and opinions. They are not representative of the individual's employer.

Ilenia Herrera Lutz
Director of Talent Acquisition at Duck Creek

To build a strong culture and encourage employee engagement, organizations and their leadership should be aligned to provide employees the opportunity to use their voice, give employees meaningful projects outside of their typical day-to-day roles, recognize small contributions and enable people to work their best in a flexible environment.

Jess Hartmann
Director, Talent Acquisition at Wellframe

We strongly believe post-covid, with the great resignation and these massive layoffs, companies are going to have to re-introduce themselves in 2023. We've been very fortunate to not have been greatly affected as an organization by these large uncertainties but with our new identity under the Healthedge umbrella, it's important for us to expand on our employee branding!  We strongly believe that investing in the career growth and development of our current team, will unfold a return that will continue to enrich the culture and that's what the market needs to see.

Kristin Zwickau
VP, Talent Attraction at Veeva Systems

Post-pandemic, top talent is assessing a company on overall fit versus just "culture." Values (and living up to them) is what makes a company, not the word "culture." Candidates are getting smarter about how they evaluate companies, using their networks, researching, reading reviews and asking hard questions. They want to come to a place where they feel they can belong, be valued and contribute. 

Loralie Thostenson
SVP, Technology Talent Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance

A strong workplace culture is grounded in managers that are dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion and cultivate an environment where everyone feels like they belong and can have a long, fulfilling career.  An environment that emphasizes communication and collaboration over individual success is another key element. To sustain this type of strong culture, organizations should prioritize policies and programs that support employees’ lives and well-being both inside and outside the office.

Jaclyn Jussif
VP of People at Paperless Parts

I think it will become more important for leadership to clearly communicate how the employee adds value to the business, and how they envision the employee's role developing in the future. With so much uncertainty in the economy, staff members are going to want reassurance in how they add value to the business. This will cure jitters, but more importantly will cement engagement and support a culture of inclusion and belonging. Simply put, tell your employees you value them in times of uncertainty!


Annie Edwards
Chief People Officer at Bamboo Health

The almost daily announcement of layoffs at the world’s most successful tech companies can make these times unsettling for tech employees.  When you couple this with a lack of connection and community with a company and a hot job market, the culture of a company will matter more than ever in retaining top talent. Executive teams and management will need to be crystal clear on their vision and strategy, and as transparent as possible on the reasons underlying the decisions they are making.  Communication, communication, communication.  I also think a commitment to DE&I initiatives, especially around career opportunities and compensation, is one of the most relevant traits in building a strong culture in 2023.


Jeanne Cordisco
Chief People Officer at O'Reilly

Creating a culture of learning starts at the top, and the faster an organization moves to implement this type of culture, the faster they will see their hiring success and retention rates improve. L&D enables organizations to hedge against bleeding talent, which can be catastrophic when the talent pool is as depleted as it is today. Offering continuous learning opportunities to employees allows current employees to prepare for the next generation of technology and ultimately contribute to the success of their businesses, making it within companies’ best interests to prioritize creating a culture of learning.  

In addition, 2023 will see an increase in DE&I, with increased hiring of women, BIPOC, LGBTQ and neuro-diverse employees. This allows for a diverse workforce and ensures that they are equally involved, empowered and trusted throughout the organization with an overarching emphasis on belonging. 

Robert Zammit
Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Bullhorn

I have yet to meet a Talent Acquisition Leader who has not leveraged the 'story' of their organization's culture to influence a global recruitment strategy. We all have that 'Special Story' to tell about what makes our organizations unique, and "why everyone loves working here!" As we continue to navigate the lingering uncertainty in the economy, this part of the strategy must evolve.

Keeping our employees informed during economic uncertainty is expected, but what about potential candidates or pipelined talent within our external networks? I expect organizations (including my own) to continue their calculated efforts when adding incremental headcount. This reinvestment often takes shape in the evolution of a role, function, or department. Backed by our initial intent, it is more important than ever for Talent Acquisition Leaders to address what changes are occurring internally. Leaders should consider: (1) Will these changes impact the profile or expectations of a role? (2) Do these changes conflict with the 'stories' we've previously told to attract talent?

As TA Professionals, we understand not to take this 'lull' in recruitment as a time to 'kick up your feet.' Instead, be a strategic partner and stay close to your business leaders as they navigate these changes, and use this to begin reshaping your 'story' to inform and align your networks to these changes. 

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz.  Follow him on LinkedIn.

One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

We connected with DraftKings, a digital sports entertainment and gaming company created to fuel the competitive spirit of sports fans with products that range across daily fantasy, regulated gaming and digital media. Headquartered in Boston, and launched in 2012 by Jason Robins, Matt Kalish and Paul Liberman, DraftKings is the only U.S.-based vertically integrated sports betting operator.

 Please provide a high level statement supporting your DEI mission and objectives?

We understand that creating a workplace that fosters inclusion and welcomes diversity is an ever-evolving process. We will not be satisfied until we achieve parity across the organization in every experience, including recruiting and career progression, and have maintained a truly open and inclusive culture for everyone.

We work to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging that makes our teammates feel safe, empowered, engaged, championed, and inspired to be the very best.

What is Draftkings doing to attract a more diverse workforce?

DraftKings continues to partner with mission aligned community and industry organizations to build a strong talent network to attract more diverse candidates. Some of our key partnerships include Boston While Black, Kura Labs, Women Who Code, and Womenhack. We will continue to identify key partnerships and events for participation. 

Can you share all the different Employee Resource Groups at Draftkings?

At DraftKings, we believe in diversity and providing opportunities for everyone to explore identities, cultures, and communities through stories, discussions, traditions, and languages outside of their own.

Our Employee Resource Groups' overarching mission is to increase the visibility and representation of the diverse workforce at DraftKings and to increase cultural dexterity, awareness, and inclusion for all company-wide.

There are three Employee Resource Groups at DraftKings to support the DraftKings community. 

DK Women - We create a community for women at DraftKings to learn, share, and network surrounding the challenges unique to women in business and also aims to empower growth for all DraftKings team members.

DK Shades - To build a strong internal community for Draftkings' diverse workforce and provide opportunities for everyone to explore cultures through story, traditions, languages, and communities.

DK Pride - Our purpose is to nurture a community of knowledge, experience, and network sharing, and communication through programs and events that are inclusive and accessible to all.

What other programs do you have to support your DEI initiatives?

• Enhanced our Benefits policy to include gender affirmation benefits and family planning accommodations.
• Increased diverse representation on the DraftKings Board of Directors by 10%.
• Open discussion forums on Black Lives Matter, Voting Rights, LatinX in Media/Comics, and Anti-Asian Violence with participation from executive leadership.
• Established a partnership with Tech for Heroes to provide veterans and military spouses free, comprehensive high-tech job skills training.
• Recognized and added International Women's Day and Juneteenth to the company holiday calendar.

Where can I find more information about your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives?

You can learn more about DraftKings’ DEI initiatives on our careers site!

https://careers.draftkings.com/who-we-are/diversity-inclusion/

Hear From Our Employees

“One of the most essential parts of my job is cultivating a space where everyone feels safe, empowered, engaged, championed, and inspired to be the best they can be. We center our core work around education and awareness. That includes designing global learning and development programs for inclusive leadership, such as unconscious bias and perception. Our organization leads with empathy, cultural curiosity, and all-in ownership at every level. Our work impacts our global team members, so we take great pride and care in building resources that would include each demographic.”  - Marjorie, Program Manager of Inclusion, Equity, and Belong team

“I am excited for DK Shades to continue to expand and intentionally focus on efforts across each office. One of our goals was to provide more opportunities for teammates to take action and get involved in their communities locally. We’ve learned quite a bit, and I am excited to see where this momentum takes us.” - JJ, Co-chair of DK Shades ERG

As we turned into 2023, I was hopeful with a new sense of optimism that a lot of the downturn that was experienced in 2022 was over. It didn't take long for that optimism to flip upside down. For the tech industry, large companies like Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Salesforce, and others have announced major cuts. The same goes for lots of venture backed startups too.

I've personally seen multiple economic cycles throughout my career (Dot-Com 2001, Financial Crash 2008, Pandemic 2020) and it is true - what comes up, must come down and the correction in the tech industry was due.

However, I tend to be an optimistic person and I'm hoping that the layoffs and cuts we are seeing will flatten out after Q1. The good news is that according to Gartner, tech spending is actually increasing. I don't know if I'll be right, but sometimes when companies cut back too deep, they end up having to resume hiring and growing the team again to meet the needs of the business. Time will tell and these are just my thoughts.

As we look across the job market for 2023, I wanted to get feedback from a broader audience, so we ran a poll on LinkedIn to get a general sense of the vibe out there from the VentureFizz audience. We had over 350 people respond and the response that had the most votes was: Layoffs end but hiring is flat.

In addition to getting feedback from the VentureFizz audience, we also wanted to hear from the people who have a day-to-day pulse on the market and that's the Talent Acquisition & HR leaders in the tech industry. Below is a list of their predictions about this year.
Please note, the views and predictions expressed in this blog post are representative of the individual's thoughts and opinions. They are not representative of the individual's employer.

Jaclyn Jussif
VP of People at Paperless Parts

I foresee hiring trends flattening out and a shift to employers focusing more on retention, career pathing and learning and development initiatives. With hiring slowing, HR teams will have more time to develop the top talent they brought in over the hiring pushes in 2021 and 2022. I also think companies will need to be strategic about the size of their recruiting teams - eg don't let them all go - you’ll need them again and it takes time to train them on hiring top talent.

Kristin Zwickau
VP, Talent Attraction at Veeva Systems

With new philosophies about remote work or work anywhere comes a more diverse workforce for the future. Companies are able to tap talent pools they have not been able to in the past, and this is not just for entry-level positions, but all levels and disciplines.

Gary Cunningham
CPO at Flywire

One of the key themes that we expect to see this year is a greater focus on internal mobility. At Flywire, we’ve formalized our own internal mobility program - One Flywire - that enables our FlyMates to take on new roles and responsibilities, while still growing their careers here. Placing a priority on upskilling and reskilling can be an incredibly effective way to not only fill critical business needs, but also to empower employees to build their careers of a lifetime.

Mary Paris
Director of Talent Acquisition at PERSUIT

In 2023, we'll continue to see a somewhat tumultuous hiring market; however, many companies will continue to hire and grow their teams. We'll likely see more conservative hiring plans, with resourcing more directly tied to key priorities of the organization. I believe we'll also see candidates become more risk averse to making a move, therefore 2023 will be an important year to focus on branding efforts and strong recruitment processes to really showcase your company culture and open opportunities. A compelling employee value proposition along with a strong interview process will win the best talent during this uncertain time in the market.

Erin Murphree
Manager Talent Acquisition at NuvoAir

Over the past 3 years, everyone's world has been turned upside down and had more twists and turns than ever anticipated.  Moving forward, looking at 2023, companies are going to have a hard time retaining talent, unless they offer what people need/want.  Money is a BIG part of working but if companies do not support their employees with their career development, upskilling, flexible work life, their P.O.V., then they will leave faster than they started.  People want to be heard and supported and be comfortable and confident to be their authentic self.  Money is a very important factor but feeling valued and appreciated goes a long way.

Annie Edwards
Chief People Officer at Bamboo Health

I suspect we will see more layoffs from tech companies in the 1st and early part of the second quarter, and then a flattening.  I do not expect to see a rebound as it pertains to additional headcount, but hiring will continue to be quite active to keep up with turnover.

Hallory Haley
Director, Technology Talent Acquisition at Liberty Mutual Insurance

Every company is a technology company in 2023 and the need for technology talent will remain strong. As the year continues, the tech layoff trend will likely slow and hiring will continue to focus on high-demand roles like Software Engineers. We’ll also see organizations look for skill-based candidates with experience in areas like Data Science and Cybersecurity as well as an ability to code in multiple languages such as Java, JavaScript, and others.

Ilenia Herrera Lutz
Director of Talent Acquisition at Duck Creek

In 2022, many organizations took time to re-strategize, and since, they have focused on aligning their staff in skill areas to support their strategic growth plans. In 2023, it is important for companies and employees to stay sharp and invest in building skills in growth areas like data engineering, cloud, security, user experience/user interface (UX/UI), customer success and product. The need for roles in these areas has not slowed down and remains consistent across industries.

Jeanne Cordisco
Chief People Officer at O’Reilly

The recent rounds of traffic layoffs may lead to a long awaited “correction” in the market by smaller organizations who could not compete with the salary inflation that the Big Tech players were able to pay. The influx of 25,000+ former Big Tech employees will hopefully benefit the smaller players in the market who are very much actively hiring and searching for top-talent. Certain roles, like software developers and engineers, will always remain competitive but the expectation is that there will be a larger talent pool for companies to hire from in 2023.  

Jason Kan
COO at Virtual Internships

The most proactive startups will undergo workforce planning ASAP as a response to the economic downturn, mapping out scenarios for worst case, middle case, best case scenarios with Talent Acquisition/People Ops leading the necessary strategy & execution. 

Nicola Porter-Smith
VP of HR at JOOR

As a global company, JOOR was, like many others in the SaaS space, impacted by the unexpected macroeconomic challenges 2022 presented. We predict that news of layoffs and scaling back across the tech landscape will likely continue in Q1-Q2 of 2023. The news isn’t all bleak, however, as the nature of the current market has afforded JOOR the opportunity to be more intentional and strategic with our hiring efforts for 2023. With budgets scaled back, our focus on the Talent team is ensuring our hiring process is not only effective at bringing in the absolute best talent for the roles currently open, but effective as well at providing our candidates a positive candidate experience. We predict that folks looking to make a move in 2023 will be paying particular attention to their interviewing experience this year. Bolstering our Recruiting Operations function will also ensure we have the data on hand to validate our decision-making in the year to come. While it may not be full speed ahead for 2023, JOOR predicts that challenging times afford Talent teams the opportunity to look internally for the best means to forge ahead.

Kate Morgan
Founder & CEO at Boston Human Capital Partners

EBITDA drove 2022 Q4 and the easiest way to become more profitable is to "trim the fat" on your biggest line item on a P&L, which is human capital. Big Tech is going to continue to focus on this and will postpone innovation reducing their hiring needs. This will allow for early-stage companies to push forward. Starting in 2024, we will see a wave of acquisitions of these startups.  

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz.  Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

Episode #283 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Oisin O'Connor - Co-Founder & CEO of Recharge.

One piece of advice that many successful entrepreneurs share with other founders is to wait as long as possible before you raise outside funding. The longer you can stay as a successful bootstrapped company, the more leverage you will have when you are finally ready to raise capital and negative the company’s valuation.

For Oisin and his Co-Founder, Mike Flynn, they took a very smart approach to building their business. They built a product development agency and launched several products to solve different problems with a focus on eCommerce. From this approach, they were able to fund their business until they had the right product where they could build a massive business.

This ended up being Recharge, a subscription payments solution helping eCommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Case in point to my earlier statement, the company was self-funded for over five years before raising capital. Its latest round of funding was a $277M growth round of capital at a $2.1B valuation.  

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

• Advice on building a remote-first company and how to create a vibrant and inclusive culture.
• Oisin’s background story and why he chose the entrepreneurial path.
• All the details on their product development agency and how it funded the business.
• Finding product market fit with Recharge and how the company has scaled over the years. 
• Product Distribution Fit - what is it and why does it matter for entrepreneurs.
• And so much more.

Here's your look at the latest hires and promotions across the tech community at Vestmark, Imprivata, Nasuni, Connectbase, and CallRail.

Did I miss your new employees? Send me an email with their name and details about their new role. I'll add them to next week's edition of Talent on the Move. 

Vestmark

Max Cruz

 

Senior Software Engineer at Vestmark

Previously, Software Engineer ll at Cogo Labs

Lauren Brown

 

Innovation Data Analyst at Vestmark

 

Previously, Senior Analyst at Cogo Labs

 

Vestmark is hiring!

Imprivata

Travis Grandpre

 

Chief Marketing Officer at Imprivata

Previously, Vice President and Global Head of Marketing, CyberRes, at Micro Focus

Imprivata is hiring!

Nasuni

Pete Agresta

 

Chief Revenue Officer at Nasuni

Previously, Vice President - Americas Enterprise Sales at Pure Storage

Nasuni is hiring!

Connectbase

Jezzibell Gilmore

 

Chief Commercial Officer at Connectbase

Previously, Chief Commercial Officer at PacketFabric

CallRail

Marius Smyth

 

Chief Revenue Office at CallRail

Previously, Chief Revenue Officer at AdRoll

Masami Middleton

 

Chief Marketing Officer at CallRail

 

Previously, Principal at The Brevet Group