ARA Chicago

The pace of digital and the race to innovate has left many organizations lacking an enterprise-wide digital strategy and desperately seeking to acquire the right skills. In addition, this year’s survey uncovered that, while the lack of women in IT has received significant media and political attention for several years, the proportion of women in IT leadership roles remains stagnant year after year. Event Details

Sponsored by Comcast Business, Harvey Nash and kCura, the night—which will kick off with opening remarks by Karen Nowicki and Joe Pantuso, Directors of Engineering for kCura—will feature a panel discussion with prominent executives in the Chicago market, including Sally Anderson, Head of People Development, Americas Large Customer Sales and Global Clients & Agency Solutions at Google,

ARA, the Chicago Innovation Awards, the Women’s Business Development Center and Blue Sky Innovation on Thursday, May 7th to celebrate women who are paving new paths across industries. We are also pleased to announce that Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle will be kicking off our event as a special guest speaker.

ARA Chicago’s first event for 2015 is a Mentoring Forum that will bring together women in tech from different stages of their career who are experiencing similar challenges or are pursuing like goals.

Technology is not the only industry facing a gender gap. As the breakdown of men to women in the labor force balances out at 50/50, women across diverse industries have broken down barriers, overcome obstacles, and risen to the top of their fields.

In honor of ARA co-founder Megan McCann’s niece Sadie who passed away a year ago today from complications associated with Aicardi Syndrome, we officially name November 19th Sadie’s Random Acts of Kindness Day and will celebrate it every year in her honor.

ARA Chicago’s next event will be a Mentorship Forum presented in partnership with Ms.Tech, one of ARA’s affinity partners. This event will bring together women in tech from different stages of their career for networking and discussion on common questions from the ARA and Ms.Tech communities.

There is still a long way to go, but there is much to celebrate for women in the business and tech community. Join ARA Chicago for a night of celebration as we honor the breakthroughs and successes made on this front by women in the Chicago area. 

ARA Chicago’s next event will be a Career and Mentorship Forum —a speed mentoring event— on Wednesday, April 9, 2014 from 5:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. A special thank you to Greenberg Traurig for donating their space for the event!