From Makeovers to Mainframe Meetups: Laticia Carrow’s Unconventional Pathway to Tech

Everyone has a story to tell. It’s what connects us as humans. We crave stories, emotional connections, and memories. We often forget what people say, especially when it’s not brought to life by a good story. It’s said that we love stories so much that we spend the entire night telling ourselves stories while we sleep.

I set out to write a tech4good blog focused on the people side of sustainability to support IBM Z Day's Sustainability Track . It was meant to be a Q&A piece between an IBM Z Champion and a thought leader in the sustainability space. After hearing Laticia’s origin story, it was clear. This is her stage, and our job is to help elevate her voice. That said, there are some highlights from IBM Z Day and you should definitely check out Laticia's session (see below) and the Sustainability track (also, link below).

I recently met Laticia Carrow through mutual online connections and have been incredibly moved by her journey into tech and her tenacity. Before I tell Laticia’s story and get y’all as emotionally connected as me, let’s have a refresher on why diversity and inclusion in tech matter to everyday people like me, you, our neighbors, and everyone else. ?

Why Diversity & Inclusion Matter

Without representation, it’s hard and maybe impossible to envision, build, launch, and market tech solutions that have product-market fit. The tech solution you spent so much time building may not fix the problem. Perhaps its attributes don’t meet the needs of the target market. Without a deep understanding of the audience, the solution, or the marketing to support it may fail to capture the attention of those you are trying to reach. They may not even want your product or won’t spend money to use it. What a waste, right?

If we lack lived experience or don’t have intimate knowledge of our target market, it’s incredibly challenging or not viable to understand their wants, needs, aspirations, pain points, goals, and objectives. While the innovators, creators, makers, and doers of the world can ask those impacted by the problem we are trying to solve, those with lived experience will help us decrease unconscious bias provide more intimate and tangible insight, and the product is more viable.

The Statistics Demonstrate the Problem in Tech

With 28% of the tech workforce comprising women and 8% from the black community, greater diversity and inclusion are required for true representation to occur.? IT workers predominately include white men. Of women in technology, they are also mostly white.

Not only is diversity a challenge, but a significant gap also exists when matching workforce skills and open roles. There are 40M open engineering jobs in 2023, which is projected to double by 2030. What about the digital skills gap? Currently, 70% of the world lacks digital skills and remains ill-equipped to support existing workforce demands. By 2030, 87% of jobs will require digital skills, demonstrating the massive reskilling and upskilling required to be meaningfully employed. How can the tech industry improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging while also filling the skills gap?

Jessica von Farkas stated shared some incredibly interesting insights at an IBM Z Day session on sustainability , where she noted there being a point of no return and that time is coming fast. This is a specific concern within the black community and goes far beyond tech, and relates more to systemic inequalities. Jessica is an executive from the BMW Foundation who has brought together leaders focused on bringing radical change and business value. Have a listen. It’s free, virtual, and the replays are available now. Here’s the link again. Check out the 80 sessions while you're there.

Nontraditional Pathways into Tech

Pathways to tech don’t need to be the same for everyone. While becoming a software engineer with an advanced degree is often favorable for some, it’s not always feasible or viable for others. We all have our journey. Some enter tech in nontraditional or unconventional means.

Not everyone needs a computer science, data science, or other formal degree from a big-name university. Not anymore! With significant gaps in diversity, skills, and political decisions around immigration and visas for tech workers, fellowships and apprenticeships have become more common. Some have degrees, others do not, but the one thing they all have in common is a desire to join a growing field with meaningful salaries and opportunities to advance. Having a technical degree from a formal institution is no longer required for many of the most prestigious employers across the globe.

As tech leaders explore how to better align workforce skills to jobs, one promising solution includes targeting those who might normally self-select out of tech. Enablement is the key, and that includes activities such as offering upskilling opportunities from informal education centers or online, connecting people to workforce development leaders and programs in local communities, activating job placement opportunities, and showcasing how college degrees are not always required to land a high-paying job in tech.

From Makeovers to Mainframe Meetups

Laticia Carrow is a truly inspiring tech leader who started her journey in a nontraditional field before the world of databases, mainframes, and dev ops entered her world. Laticia went from makeovers to mainframe meetups. She’s an inspiring black woman from Texas who had a lively career as a cosmetologist and trainer to other stylists until the salon she supported shut its doors. She was at a crossroads of building her clientele and continuing in the same field or pivoting her career to something new. Laticia is a changemaker who has always been ready to try new things or jump into a new side hustle. At that time, and despite her eagerness to experiment, she hadn't found her calling YET.

Through a workforce development program within the State of Texas, she was offered reskilling courses via a local informal education institute. In addition to her coursework and studies, she spent countless hours reading, researching, and practicing on her own. When she got stuck, she looked for role models and practitioners from afar via social media. She received mentorship and virtual guidance from industry experts – a group of individuals she found, curated, and created on her own.

She is now thriving in her tech career, being showcased by large tech companies like IBM, speaking at industry events like IBM Z Day with 25,000+ people, mentoring newcomers, landing the coveted IBM Champion title, being featured in an IBM campaign - Today's Architects - as a role model in tech, and exploring where she wants her tech career to go next. She continues to explore, but now, she knows she’s onto something big. Laticia’s dream is to inspire and enable the underserved and underrepresented to go beyond “the no” they hear from others or “the no” they tell themselves. She wants to enable those around her who think tech isn’t for them to not be afraid to try. She wants people to recognize that it’s ok to be different. Laticia sees tech as a means of driving change and reducing the many inequities prevalent in society. While tech alone cannot fix everything in the world, Laticia hopes others get equally fired up about the potential tech skills have to offer. If Laticia can now go from salon to software, what’s stopping you?

Nontraditional Pathways Go-To Guide

I suspect you might need some advice on where to find resources, role models, mentors, advice, and programs often offered for free. While this is not an exhaustive list, check out the options below that are rightsized for newcomers exploring pathways to tech from non-tech backgrounds. Note: a college degree is not required.

1.?????? Join local meetups and career discussions from AnitaB.org . There are free packages, as well as those for students at $50 and premium membership for $100.

2.?????? While you are checking out AnitaB.org membership opportunities, have a look through their events , especially the flagship Grace Hopper Celebration . It is one of the most sought-after events for women in tech.

3.?????? Girls in Tech is another great place to explore, read, listen, join, or participate. Membership is free and they share a constant flow of events – both virtual and in-person.

4.?????? IBM Z has an incredibly interesting apprenticeship program called Franklin Apprenticeships – the division I worked in during my four years at IBM.

5.?????? Check out the Intuit Career Pathways Program to learn how they offer training and fellowships for women starting from scratch. They are partnering with the AnitaB.org Apprenticeship Pathway Program.

6.?????? Year Up is another amazing program for new entrants into tech, and the training program is tuition-free with pathways to getting your foot in the door with employers.

7.?????? NPower is another great place to look to build tech skills and snap right into roles in many of the most sought-after companies.

8.?????? RoadtoHire focuses on enabling youth via access to technical skills with a lens on students from low-income backgrounds, those who are motivated, and students of color with pathways to meaningful employment in tech.

9.?????? A few other examples include Microsoft Leap , Google Build Your Future , Amazon Technical Apprenticeships , SalesForce Apprenticeships , AT&T Edge Internship Program , CompTIA Apprenticeships for Tech , IBM Apprenticeship Program , and more. The internet is your friend!

10.?? Read this article from Indeed for advice on finding the right apprenticeship program to kickstart your career. ????

Follow Laticia’s IBM Z journey and connect with her on LinkedIn here . I hope Laticia inspires you as much as she inspires me. What will you change today?

Dr. Melissa Sassi

Venture Partner, Machinelab Ventures

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