LTI celebrates Women’s History Month; encourages women professionals through its ‘Women in Tech’ program

In honor of Women’s History Month, LTI Hartford celebrates the women professionals in the IT industry through its ‘Women in Tech’ program and the all-women team that helped to establish their latest engagement center in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

LTI ‘Women in Tech’ Program

LTI is a strong supporter of ‘women in tech.’ It hopes that by hiring and supporting women within each of its departments––including, but not limited to, architecture, communications, marketing, engineering, and tech––it can become a community and a vision of a more progressive future. Paula Beaulieu and Lisa Graver are at the helm of this program to support, encourage, and mentor women in LTI.

Paula Beaulieu, Associate Vice President, and Delivery Center Head, LTI Hartford

Paula Beaulieu, Associate Vice President and Delivery Center Head of LTI Hartford, a veteran technology professional local to Connecticut, was commissioned by LTI in November of 2020 to set up LTI Hartford Center and its operations.

Beaulieu’s focus and responsibilities center on community, customer, and employee engagement planning, including diversity initiatives. When creating and running a business, Beaulieu emphasizes a need for workplace inclusivity and gender diversity.

Lisa Graver, Director, Influencer Relation

Along with Paula, Lisa Graver was responsible for growing LTI through the advisor channel in North America—is a strong advocate for female representation within LTI. She leads LTI’s gender diversity initiative (aka its ‘Women in Tech’ program).

Launched on November 11, 2021, ‘Women in Tech’ — is a holistic means to encourage gender diversity within the global workforce. The program hosts monthly round tables and coffee talks to identify and acknowledge female LTI employees’ struggles and garner solutions.

‘Women in Tech’ also has its own internal group, which provides resources and discussion for LTI women employees to use, and a ‘Wonder Woman in Tech’ recognition program that rewards strong female employees and female advocates.

Not only that, LTI Hartford Engagement Centre has been commenced and established by an all-women team led by Paula.

An all-women team established LTI Hartford Engagement Centre

Paula Beaulieu and a team of women experts in male-dominated careers drove the Hartford Center's construction and commencement. Meet the women that Paula worked with to pull this vision together.

Melissa Spiga, Head Interior Designer

Melissa Spiga, head interior designer at Simsbury's CHK Architects, was commissioned by LTI to assist with the Hartford Center’s design and construction. Maintaining a passion for her craft since she was a young girl, Spiga, who has worked at CHK for four years, has more than twenty years of design and architectural experience. Spiga began by thanking LTI Hartford—and Beaulieu (Hartford’s Program Head)/Bankim Desai (Resource Management) specifically—for the diverse, comfortable, and creative work environment.

Janese Pike, Project Construction Manager

Spiga was able to bring LTI’s vision to life with the help of Janese Pike, a project/construction manager from Execuspace in Massachusetts, along with representatives from Interscope, a women-owned business in Farmington, CT, that specializes in interior furnishings. ?Janese Pike has been with Execuspace for 11 years. Janese believes that everyone should be able to show their capabilities, without being judged based on age, race, gender, religion, etc., especially in the construction industry.”

Nancy Hagstrom, Entrepreneur and Furniture Dealer

Interscape—a local furniture dealership that works with architectural and design firms to provide furniture solutions and renderings to architects/designers—is serviced by CEO and majority manager Nancy Hagstrom. Hagstrom’s first dealership was established in Vermont in 1981; she inaugurated Interspace from the ground up in 2006. Hagstrom reports an increasing female presence, not only in the field of tech but in top-level positions and business ownership. Hagstrom accredits companies like LTI for these positive changes with strong female representation and recognition. She feels that things are improving, yet “women must still work harder to earn respect that, for a man, is much more automatic.”

About LTI Hartford

LTI’s new center, located on the third floor of the American Row’s Nassau building in Hartford, CT, is designed and executed by an all-women team, breaking barriers in professions like tech, architecture, and construction, among others. This state-of-the-art facility will engage local customers, employees, and communities in exciting new ways. It will serve as a standard for all new LTI engagement centers in the Americas.