Koffee ChitChat
Koffee ChitChat
Crafting Success in STEM A Tale of Mentorship, Diversity, and Inclusion
Today's conversation navigates the challenging waters of diversity in STEM, a place where I've personally felt the currents of being a mixed-race individual. I delve into the value of mentorship, the art of advocating for oneself, and the importance of honing skills like active listening and collaboration. Reflecting on my own tough stint in manufacturing, I unravel the learning curve and how it paved the way to tech triumphs. The chapter on STEM highlights how embracing diversity strengthens our industry and what it takes to prosper amid the challenges.
Wrapping up, we turn our focus to igniting a passion for tech in the younger generation, especially young women and children of color. Education isn't just about STEM; it's about nurturing well-rounded skills, including the often-overlooked art of writing. I give you a backstage pass to our company's efforts in cultivating an inclusive culture, from high school programs to professional development for college students. We close on the powerful note that your unique voice isn't just welcome—it's a superpower, echoing the inspirational words of leaders like Erin Teague. Join us as we celebrate individuality and the collective strength it brings to the tech table.
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Hey y'all. Hey, it's Sugar Apollo with another exciting or electrifying episode of Coffee Chit Chat. We have another boss lady in the building this morning, but you know how we do it we're going to shout out the Coffee of the Week, and this week is a Cameramacchiana. Make sure you go out and grab one. And we are chatting with Maria Henderson. Maria is the North Government Space Sector Classified Solutions Director who oversees all classified information technology and cybersecurity program. She supports activities within the sector. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Management Information System from Norfolk State University and earned her Master's Degree in Business Administration with a focus in Project Management from Renau University. Welcome to Coffee Chit Chat, and do you have a favorite coffee?
Speaker 2:Be honest, I started drinking coffee probably when I got in IT almost when I got deep in IT about 15 years ago, and at first I was doing 7-Eleven coffee and then I had an affinity for Dunkin' Donuts coffee. So I tend to stick with a Dunkin' Donuts coffee.
Speaker 1:Okay, it's not bad either. I'm a Starbucks girl, but I like Dunkin' as well.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Okay, and I probably started drinking coffee about the same amount of years, like 15 years ago. I didn't drink it, you know, like some people started in college or whatever. I never drank it. I was an adult before I actually was like okay, let me try out a little bit of this stuff.
Speaker 2:I never had affinity for it, and then I just picked it up and it stuck.
Speaker 1:It's like, okay, I'm hooked.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So sometimes you know, when you're out and about you're like oh, I really need some coffee.
Speaker 1:Oh, I hear you. I hear you. So, guys, you know we've been talking to female leaders and entrepreneurs this entire month. We have another leader and she's actually in the technology field and you have a very important position. I was reading over your bio and your background. You're dealing with classified information. Can you tell us if technology was always like your first choice as a career?
Speaker 2:It wasn't actually, you know how you grow up in school. I actually wanted to be a history teacher in middle school, right, okay. And then life happens, you move on. And then I wanted to be in healthcare because at one point my dad was a physical therapy assistant. So I was like, you know, I want to be in healthcare. And then life moving on again, right, and then you see different things, and I was always tech savvy and so I said, well, let me see what's going on in the tech world. And then I found my niche between business and tech. So that's really my niche. I'm not your truest technical person we're engineers and such but I can swim both lanes, so I understand them both.
Speaker 1:And that's awesome because I know that in that field it's not a lot of women.
Speaker 2:It's nice, it's me and saturated right it is. That's what I thought, that's what I thought, so that is awesome.
Speaker 1:It's all dominated. That's what I thought, and so you've been doing it, for is it 25?
Speaker 2:years now, or, oh gosh, it's probably over 20 now. So when I got dibs and dabs in healthcare, so as I elevated up in my healthcare career and shifted over to doing data analytics in healthcare, that was my entryway into IT. And so when I was a military mom so working mom going to school so when I decided to get my bachelor's degree in IT, that's when I was doing the shifting and that's when I started to really see what was out there, and my mind has always been about projects. You want to plan a trip? I got you. It just meshes right and you see it. And in my household I was always the one buying the gadgets. We're going to have the latest, greatest gadget there is. I'm the gadget queen.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's awesome. That sounds like my daughter. She loves all the gadgets and we always think that whenever anything breaks, that come with me. She knows she knows right. That's how it was in my house, right, okay, okay, so what is a common myth about your field? What would you say a myth would be about your field?
Speaker 2:I would say a common myth is that Men are the only ones that can do it right. Right, you know, sometimes in a male dominated environment, you will see people who've been in this environment for 50 plus years and, yes, they have great experience and great knowledge. But there may be a young woman who comes along who has these great ideas and, next thing you know, she's invented the latest, greatest patent that you didn't even realize you needed.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, you know, that's what I was figuring is that everybody thinks when they think technology IT that's male dominated is all about the men. Because you know a lot of jobs, I know that when I was still active military, all the tech people would always be males. Yeah, and so I was like very impressed when I was like, okay, she is a director for classified documents in technology information. That is so awesome. So the classified information I know that's pretty tough because whenever it's classified you can't share it with anybody, right?
Speaker 2:Right, which is really tough, right, you know. So people ask what I do, and so I do have to give generics, right, I can't talk about the programs in which my company work on, but I can tell you that, me being at Northrop Grumman Corporation, we are an engineering and technology company, right, and so you can't even realize that because they know us as a space, aerospace and defense company. Not the history and the lineage of engineering products, right? So most probably the most famous thing people know is is James Webb Telescope that was developed by my company. So my teams have the fortunate aspect of securing the classified components of those types of programs, making sure that IT infrastructure is in place and that the PCs are running, the networks are running, phones, all of that for those types of programs that have those specialized compartments that we can't share with the broader world and that's what I thought Okay, awesome.
Speaker 1:So you said you've been doing this for about 20 years, so with your time with your present company, what would you think was your most favorite position that you've held with them?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so I've been with Northrop 12 years now and say that my favorite role is not even my job per se, and it's what I do every day. I am a D&I executive across the company. So I talked to young career personnel all over the country. Right, I speak to interns and what we call our professional development employees, even our young career employees who may have transitioned from another company. I get such joy talking to the young generation, but also the young women, because young women can feel as though they don't have a voice in this type of environment.
Speaker 2:And you set a spark in young women to open their eyes to the possibilities. You may come in the door in one position, but you may leave or stay, having held multiple positions over many years. Such as myself, I have been blessed in a company that values rotation throughout the company, values growth, diversity of thought, so I'm able to share that with tons of people every day. You know I was telling you I was prepping for, but I'm going to the Bay of Conference the Black and Black Award Conference next week and be doing the same thing talking to college students about the value and the benefits of this great company I work for. I just love it.
Speaker 1:So that's all of that is under STEM as well, and I know there's a big push for more women, and then women of color like us, to join STEM. So is that what you're going to be doing at the convention, or you talk to each other, okay?
Speaker 2:So my swim lane is in STEM. So the science, technology, engineering and math right. Most people just think technology or engineering. Sometimes you don't even realize we have, even with math degrees, chemical degrees, all various biotechnology degrees. It runs the gamut because our company is so vast and wide in the technologies in which we touch right, and so when I have the pleasure being of mixed race, I sit on the African-American task group with the company. I also sit on the Hispanic task group with the company, so I get to co-mingle both environments and people be surprised Oftentimes.
Speaker 2:As women we've got the same challenges. As women, we don't speak up, we don't sit at the table because historically, as a woman, especially a woman of color, we're kind of taught to just stay in the background, don't voice your opinion or your concerns. So, being in STEM, I challenge those conversations right. I challenge young people, especially young women. Be passionate about something you see, something that interests you. If you really love math, it will take you far. There are some great scientists, mathematicians and engineers that are of color, that are women, that have contributed significantly to this country and to the many products you see every day.
Speaker 1:That is great. That is so awesome. Nick, are you bilingual? Do you speak Spanish as well?
Speaker 2:No, I'm Spanish, you say no.
Speaker 1:OK, OK.
Speaker 2:That's a family joke. I actually was in my home country, puerto Rico, last week before I went on vacation and everyone comes up and they're like oh, you look like you're from here. Well, my family is, but me and my mama speak no Spanish. It's a running joke. Oh, my goodness, can you?
Speaker 1:understand it A little R.
Speaker 2:A little, and that's surprising, right? And so, depending upon where we are with the conversation, is you pick up on little things? And I personally? I have two left feet and I have an area of my brain who just will not change Spanish. I've had several Spanish classes, it just does not.
Speaker 1:It just does. Yeah, that's interesting. I was a French person and just was very good while I was in college, but then after you lose it all like OK. I can remember some things, but not a whole lot, Right right, it's the little words.
Speaker 2:It's the little words right that you get in conversation and you're like OK, I know what that means.
Speaker 1:Especially when I go back to home to Louisiana because they speak Creole but it's sort of like a I won't say broken French, because they do not like that, it's Creole. I said OK, I got you. So we talked about what you like in your favorite part. Is there a least favorite job at the time of Hill?
Speaker 2:Well, over my career, I've had a few Okay, I've had a few, but one thing I can say is those ones that I did not like taught me my greatest lessons in my career.
Speaker 2:So, even with my current company, I was thrust into a manufacturing environment that I knew nothing about and, in my opinion, it was one of the worst jobs I had. I didn't know about manufacturing, information systems and how a factory runs and everything that goes in it and in manufacturing, also very heavily male dominated. So I was thrust into a position in which I had to deliver a strategy for a new platform to be delivered for a particular business unit and, as you can imagine the pushback you get in a male dominated environment, I think they can do it better. It's really challenging, and so I would say that challenge from them pushed me to learn more, to excel and to take the skills I didn't know and apply them in a way that I could talk the talk and walk the walk and still get things delivered as they needed to be. So, although challenging, I would say that it gave me so much foundation for the career I'm in now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it helped you kind of overcome those obstacles when some of the males may come and say, well, we're going to do this, and you say, wait a minute, this is my opinion, I'm going to do it. X, y, so I get it. I get it because manufacturing I can imagine, especially when you don't have a background Right.
Speaker 1:And for them to just say hey think of swim, correct, correct, I've been there. So, in your opinion, what is the most important personality trait or strength? Someone would need to work in your industry and be successful in the job.
Speaker 2:I would say one thing that all of us struggle with is our ability to listen Right, and it's a long way if we're able to hear both sides of a conversation and really grasp what each side is saying. One of the things that I personally bring to the table is my collaboration expertise. Right, I may not know what an engineer is saying, but I can hear the problem and give a solution or a path to a solution based upon what I've heard. So, being able to hear, interpret and ask questions when you are unsure. Oftentimes we'll sit there and we won't raise our hand and say I don't understand that. There's nothing wrong with raising your hand. So being comfortable raising your hand and asking someone to can you really explain what you just said? Oftentimes people will Right, They'll explain it to you, They'll help you understand, and then something will click in. You'll be like okay, I got it.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, oh yeah, it's because you've taken the time to hear it too. Right. So listening is a very, very important skill. And also bringing your diverse thoughts to the table. Right, because we all come from different backgrounds, different experiences, and sometimes those experiences provide us a little insight into something that someone else may not understand, from the simplest thing of employees' well-being Right.
Speaker 2:So if we have staff that are dealing with home trials and tribulations and we're noticing a pattern at work that is impactful, it's not necessarily meaning that they're bad at the job. They may have external influences that are impacting them at this point in their life and so, being able to pull them to the side, listen and also offer them solutions or alternatives to help them get through that trying time, it comes back right, because when that person is their 100% self again, you'll see they're flourish and they'll even come back to you and say, hey, thank you for taking the time to listen to me. You didn't belong to the law. So listening in different areas within your career goes a long way. Remembering to as you become a leader, especially as you pass people in the hall, it's not just about saying good morning. Sometimes this is a little things. Hey, how did the soccer game go this weekend?
Speaker 2:That's a conversation right, Because now the employee knows that you heard what they said they had going on this weekend.
Speaker 1:I like it. So that was. Listening skills are very important. Remember when we were younger and the teacher would say you have two years, that means you're supposed to talk less and listen more, and so that's great. Listening and communicating how great skills. Do y'all hear that? Listeners, awesome, awesome. So I think you touched on it a little bit. But if we were not in the technology field, what would you like to try?
Speaker 2:I tease everyone that I really should be Dr Henderson. From a psychology perspective, I probably would have been a clinical psychologist. That's my other gift, for gab right Is to really understand and interpret what's going on in life and give some perspective.
Speaker 1:OK, what you said, a gift from gab, yeah.
Speaker 2:Like come sit at my table, let's have a on my couch, let's have a conversation.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it, but we really thank you for sharing your journey with us. And one last question, and I think we touched on it briefly Do you encourage women to join the technology field?
Speaker 2:Almost definitely. Almost definitely, and not just women, young children of color period, right? You know, one of the blessings of working in the environment that I have, even though it's highly classified, when you are on the other side and you see what's being manufactured, even as an adult, as a 40, when I was in my 40s, walking through a factory, I was amazed. Amazed at the technology, amazed at the products that were being manufactured, because what that spawned were what kind of jobs are those? What are the most people? Right, and so having the children understand that there's more than what they see on the TV, you know, there's more than the video game, but actually that video game can be done in a production way as well, because you could be the software developer in those fantastic games that you play today. Right, and that takes us encouraging more education in math, in science, and us getting out of the safety of the classes that we push our children into. Right, it's OK to do extra work, it's OK to excel in math, in science or even in English. Right, because even in technology, we have to have writers, grit writers, we have to have full-time writers that have to be good at what they do. So excelling in those areas opens up so many doors that oftentimes we don't see because they're behind the door.
Speaker 2:Okay, exposed, you see it. So our company offers Family Day. I love it. Love when the family's coming, because you see the kids and their eyes are just wide open. It's glowing. Yeah, you see so many things and my particular company is one that has a lineage that ties back to Lockheed Martin, so you're talking about generational families, especially here in the Maryland area. These aunties, uncles, dads, they work for the company for decades, wow, wow.
Speaker 1:And you guys do, because I know when I was a military we had a lot of North Brooklyn Look at me, can't speak. We have a lot of contractors, yeah, and they were from you guys company as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so we have sites across the country, so we always hire and please check us out, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm going to call the military with the Clareys.
Speaker 2:Come on Okay.
Speaker 1:They always hire, and so North of Ruman, uh, fellow military.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:And what about interns, as far as like college?
Speaker 2:College interns really heavy. One of the things that I loved about our love about our company is that we try to we actually start in high school. We have what's called a hip program, where high school students, especially at our sites that are co-located in a metropolitan area like Baltimore, for example we are able to connect with underprivileged high school students, bring them in and encourage them to take STEM classes and then we track them as they go through college. Most of them return as interns through their course of their college years and as they get into their senior year, we call them graduating students as professional development. Most of them return and get in our professional development program, which is a three year rotation program, which offers them an opportunity to try three different jobs wherever they are able to find those jobs around the country before settling on the one job. You know, most of us we go to college and we jump right into a job.
Speaker 1:We don't get that experience.
Speaker 2:We're like oh God, I hate this job, now I'm looking for another, now I'm looking for another Right. The professional development program offers these college graduates the opportunity to really experience things right, To test it out for a year and decide I really love what I'm doing, or no I don't, I want to try something else, and I think that's the value we bring to the table for college, for high school college and graduating college.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, so your company is socially responsible.
Speaker 2:Very socially responsible, very well embedded in the community. That is one of our pillars. Our values is we are part of the communities in which we operate in and serve. We give back to the community. We feed the hungry, we participate in habitat for humanity. We do the laying of the reef ceremonies every year.
Speaker 2:So multiple activities you can see around the country that our particular company participates in. We also have 11 employee resource groups. Those employee resource groups help employees within the company to find like employees, whether that's African Americans, hispanic, lbgtq. I think I got the right answer. Our veteran community, our disabled community. There is a group for everyone to feel welcome, but we aren't separate groups. So that may be a misconception sometimes in the business world that you have these employee resource groups that you go off and you're just off by yourself In Norway. We all have to participate together. We all collaborate on many activities together. So I may speak more at an African American task group function, or Hispanic we call that Adelante activity. So oftentimes when we do like the Bay of Conference next week, I was telling you about a little bit of it from everywhere At all facts with the company there.
Speaker 1:I love it. That is just great. So I hope you listeners are paying attention. I'm gonna tell Maria to tell us how you guys can follow her.
Speaker 2:I am on LinkedIn. Yeah, you can follow me on LinkedIn. I am. I think I'm C Maria Henderson or either Maria Henderson on LinkedIn, and I would gladly accept your request on LinkedIn. I may look and see if you are a true person now, because you know Auto bots.
Speaker 1:Big profiles are real. Oh, that's right, cause you ain't checking out it. She knows how to catch them.
Speaker 2:They are real and we get targeted, you know, just like everybody else. But yeah, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. Send me a message. I do respond where I can. Sometimes you'll see our overly posts, especially going into next week. We'll probably be posting stuff all of next week to encourage the young college graduates and future interns to come talk to us.
Speaker 1:That is so awesome, so awesome. Thank you again, and we're gonna leave you guys with a quote of the week. It says recognize and embrace your uniqueness. Being a black woman, being a woman in general only team of all men means that you are going to have a unique voice. It is important to embrace that and that is by Erin Teague. Till then next week for another exciting episode of Coffee Chit Chat.
