School of Information Studies Professor Martha Garcia-Murillo will moderate a “Women in Tech” panel discussion organized by the Syracuse University Women’s Empowerment Project.

The event will discuss the importance of gender and racial diversity in the technology industries. Panelists will give an overview of their career path and talk about what led them to their current leadership positions. Ambassadors from Amazon Prime will be sponsoring food, beverages and giveaways.

Panel participants are Maira Benjamin, Director of Engineering at Pandora; Kate Brodock, Chief Executive Officer of Women 2.0; and Lynn Root, Site Reliability Engineer at Spotify.

Benjamin has over 30 years of experience in the realm of software development. She’s worked in different industries, including digital imaging, databases, insurance, finance, travel, and music. In her current position as Director of Engineering at Pandora, she is in charge of the playlist algorithm, music tools, and retention teams at Pandora. She also is the co-founder of the Tech Intersections Conference which is the first conference with a focus on women in color in technology.

Brodock is CEO of Women 2.0, a global brand for women in tech and startups and general diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. Under Brodock’s leadership, Women 2.0 has engaged with companies, such as Medium, Adobe, and Airbnb, to educate internal teams about diversity and inclusion. She is a regular speaker, appearing on stages at SXSW, Collision Conference, Fast Company’s Innovation Uncensored, and TechStars. She has been featured in the Washington Post, TechCrunch, Al Jazeera, and MSNBC, and is a contributor to Forbes.

Root is Spotify’s Site Reliability Engineer and the resident FOSS evangelist. She is also a global leader of PyLadies and former Vice Chair of the Python Software Foundation Board of Directors. She has spoken at several technology conferences in the Python community and Glamour Magazine featured Lynn as “35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry.”

The panel is planned for Monday, April 9th at 5:00 PM in Newhouse 3, room 141. A short reception with a chance to mingle and network with speakers will follow the discussion.

Attendees are asked to RSVP online. Questions can be directed to Clelia Ryan at clryan@syr.edu.