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Previous Speakers

Presenting our awesome lineup of speakers from previous years!

2021 Opening Keynote

Kerri Miller is a Software Developer and Team Lead based in the Pacific Northwest. She has worked at enterprise companies, international ad agencies, boutique consultancies, start-ups, mentors and teaches students. She currently is a Senior Backend Engineer at Gitlab, and also works for RubyTogether on RubyGems.org.

While that is all factually true, it doesn't actually describe an actual person. Kerri has an insatiable curiosity, having worked as a lighting designer, marionette puppeteer, sous chef, and farm hand. She attended college to study performance production, was once a semi-professional poker player, has strong opinions about keycaps, knows some sweet yoyo tricks, enjoys melting hot glass with a blowtorch, and spends as much time as possible with her motorcycles.  Asked to describe herself in two words, she thought a bit and replied "lackwit gadabout".

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Kerri Miller
Starting a new Open Source Project (for your Job)

Averi is an engineer at Google focused on improving the serverless experience on Google Cloud Platform. Before Google, Averi worked as a researcher in the medical imaging field, developing image analysis software and image processing pipelines. In her spare time, she enjoys playing competitive rugby, filming with her GoPro, and hanging out in a hammock.

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Averi Kitch
Let's Git Fancy!

Sarah is an environmental sociologist turned online marketer turned software engineer living in Seattle, WA. Upon entering tech, she’s had the opportunity to take on a number of unique projects ranging from building skunkworks VR projects to helping build a communication platform for migrant workers. In her free time she likes to scale Seattle’s hills on her bike. She is currently working at ActBlue.

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Sarah Trowbridge
The Art of Asking Questions

I am part of the Latin Community, originally from Colombia, South America. Before joining Ada Developers I worked for 6 years in finance and supply chain. I have managed different teams, growing it, and contributing to each member’s improvement of their financial knowledge and career growth. I also have led recycling projects by facilitating communication and involving a large number of people. In addition, I have dedicated some of my free time teaching MS Excel to adults and Spanish for kids.

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Vera Rodriguez
Maria: Using Machine Learning to Match Missing women to unidentified victims

Mississippi is a graduate of Ada cohort c9, and now works for Blue Origin in Engineering Data Management as a software developer. As a witness to violence enacted against women and children in situations of human trafficking, she feels compelled to help balance the scales and create a safer, more equitable and more just world. This was the inspiration for creating the tool Maria, which helps match missing women to unidentified victims of violence. She hopes one day soon to expand the tool to incorporate the databases of migrants who went missing crossing the US - Mexico border, and other borders around the world.

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Mississippi Brennan
Redefining Mentorship

Marjorie Etienne is a current Adie in Cohort 14. She believes there is always something she can learn from everyone she meets, and believes in the power of transparency. Marjorie also enjoys learning languages and traveling. She hopes to become another gateway into tech for other underrepresented groups in the tech industry.

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Majorie Etienne
Becoming an Accessibility Advocate: Creating Awareness and Incorporating Inclusive Design

Born and raised in Hawaii, Kat developed a deep connection to her native Hawaiian culture and a strong interest in science, math, and technology. After working for a number of years in undergraduate research and education, Kat made the decision to switch careers from biology to software development. She is currently working as a Software Engineer at Highspot, where she indulges in her love of Frontend technologies and works hard to help foster empathy and inclusion in tech.

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Kat Perreria
Becoming an Accessibility Advocate: Creating Awareness and Incorporating Inclusive Design

Maria is a front-end engineer at Highspot with 6+ years of web development experience and 16+ years of programming experience. She believes that one of the most important qualities to be a successful engineer and a team member is empathy towards your colleagues and end-users.

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Maria Terekhina
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