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Susanne Tedrick is a woman of many skills with a long list of accomplishments. She currently works for Microsoft, specifically as a specialist for Azure, their cloud computing platform. She also volunteers for several organizations devoted to encouraging minorities to pursue careers in the world of technology. These include Advancing Tech Talent, CompTIA, and Npower\\u2019s Command Shift initiative.\\xa0

She doesn\\u2019t always spend her time behind a desk though. Susanne also has a couple of marathons under her belt, though she says those days are behind her now.\\xa0

In case you weren\\u2019t impressed enough, she also has a book to her name, published in 2020 by John Wiley & Sons. Through her book, Women of Color in Tech, Susanne wants to let women know about the vast array of available careers in tech and how to get into those jobs.

With that array of accomplishments, one might say that Susanne didn\\u2019t even need to write the book. Her own life is an example of what you can accomplish when you have a clear vision and the passion to bring that vision into the real world. Of course, even with her many speaking engagements (quickly looking through her schedule at www.susannetedrick.com shows a very packed schedule), even this human dynamo can\\u2019t be everywhere at once. The book allows her to get her message out and positively impact as many people as possible.\\xa0

Now, some might be tempted to look at her work and dismiss it as more diverse buzzwords. Susanne understands well that diversity is about a lot more than race and gender. Those are encouraged of course, but largely because people have a tendency to feel signaled out and alienated in a situation where no one looks like them. And of course, there are a few who are happy to make them feel that way. Susanne just helps give women of color like herself the extra encouragement they need to step into what understandably seems like an intimidating field. It\\u2019s an uphill battle, a marathon if you will, thanks to all the cultural biases that affect the decision to even enter on a STEM path. Everything from people assuming that women can\\u2019t handle the logical world of coding to those in an urban environment thinking education is a sign of weakness and the only path to success is through sports. Fortunately, those battles are being won and more minorities are looking into the tech field.

Beyond mere race and gender though are far more important aspects of diversity, thought, and experience. A person\\u2019s background and basic beliefs about the world can provide unique ways of thinking that will look at problems from different angles and so present different solutions. If everyone has exactly the same mindset, problems can become much more difficult to overcome or even identify. When a company has a diversity of thought and experience (which does have some overlap with race and gender) amongst its employees that company actually does better financially.\\xa0

So, what is it that drives Susanne to do all of this? Given the amount of volunteer work she does, it clearly isn\\u2019t about the money. She says it is simply watching the next generation develop. There is a great deal of satisfaction in working with a young novice and watching her learn and grow. With a good mentor like Susanne, someone fresh out of school can go from having a lack of confidence to being ready to be a leader for the next generation of young professionals.\\xa0

Susanne Tedrick is the perfect example of a woman who talks the talk and walks the walk. A lifetime steeped in the world of technology has not made her lose sight not just of the data that helps are do her job but of the human beings behind the data.

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