Elizabeth de Moll

As an engineering manager, Elizabeth de Moll builds teams and drives the execution of feature delivery. Though she began her career as a lawyer, please don’t hold that against her. She is passionate about engineering leadership, supporting women in tech, and coaching engineers.

Manager, Engineering

March of 2023 rolled around much like any other March at an enterprise tech company. Purple heart emojis popped up across Slack messages, and the usual statements were made about the importance of Women’s History Month. Vice President of Engineering Monica Bajaj wanted this year’s Women’s History Month to be different. She wanted the folks engaged in our Women in Engineering group and the larger Women at Okta community to [take action and make history ours](https://auth0.com/blog/women-s-history-month-women-in-engineering/). Inspired by Monica’s call to action, I’m sharing my own experience as a woman in tech, hoping the story will resonate with others and inspire even one other person.

My story of being a woman in tech begins with the story of another woman - my mother. My mother graduated from law school in the 1970s. She became a lawyer at a time when less than 12% of all lawyers in the United States were women, at a time when my grandfather warned her not to learn how to type for fear she would be relegated to a secretarial role, and at a time when women were expected to wear skirts and heels to work each day. My mother hustled and overcame the odds to eventually become a Vice President at Citibank in the 1980s, a roundabout way of saying my mother was –and still is – a badass.

Fast forward to 2015, and I graduated from law school. That’s right! I once dabbled with the dark side and practiced law. Jokes aside, though it wasn’t the right field for me, I have nothing but admiration for the many wonderful lawyers I know, including the incredible corporate legal team who needed to proofread this blog for publication! I graduated at a time when just under 40% of lawyers in the United States were women, which is a huge leap from 40+ years prior when my mother graduated. My mother was thrilled, and I remember us both feeling so proud of the progress and representation of women in the legal field. The world was changing! Opportunities were increasingly available to women! Surely, this progressive and inclusive mindset must be expanding across every field - right?

I quickly learned this wasn't the case when I switched fields from law to software engineering. Only around 20% of software engineers in the United States are women. Out of a cohort of forty students, I was one of eight women in my coding boot camp. Only three of us are still software engineers today. A recent study showed that [50% of women leave their careers in tech by the age of thirty-five](https://www.fastcompany.com/90975256/women-hold-just-27-of-tech-jobs-here-are-5-research-backed-potential-solutions). This rate is 45% higher than the rate at which men leave their careers in tech. Many assume this career cliff has to do with women reprioritizing and focusing on their families, but often, the reason many women abandon their careers in tech at this staggering rate is because of how hard it is to be the “only.”

From the day I stepped into coding boot camp to today as an experienced engineering manager at a well-known and progressive corporation, I’ve experienced being the “only” in a meeting, on a team, and even in an entire department more times than I can count. Being the “only” can be isolating, but over time, I've learned many lessons and implemented the following strategies to help alleviate loneliness, build connections, and foster community.

## Connect with Your Peers

While being the “only” or even being one of a few can be challenging, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone, and the best way to do this is to connect with your peers. At Okta, we are fortunate to have the largest, most incredible, and most talented pool of women engineers I’ve encountered in my career, which provides an amazing network to tap into right at work. Being part of our Women in Engineering group means you can hang out at WinE Time on Fridays, listen to cool technical talks or reach out to your fellow women engineers with one-on-one coffee chats. By joining WOkta (Women of Okta), you get the same fellowship and the chance to engage beyond the engineering bubble. Outside of Okta, there are local women's engineering groups or women in tech groups in many locations for you to connect with in person. Personally, I’m a big fan of [Women Who Code](https://www.womenwhocode.com/). From panels on The Danger of Burn Out to Advocating for Yourself, I’ve always felt seen and incredibly uplifted after attending Women Who Code events. However you choose to connect, finding a group that speaks to you is important. 

## Make Peace with Imposter Syndrome

I’m going to say the thing no one struggling with imposter syndrome wants to hear: imposter syndrome never goes away. There will always be a little voice questioning if you’re qualified enough or flat-out trying to convince yourself that you’re not. The most important thing you can do is make peace with that voice. First, recognize that imposter syndrome tends to rear its ugly head most when you’re doing something new and scary. If you’re feeling its effect, you’re probably pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, becoming even more awesome than you already are. Use it as a sign that you are heading down the right path. Second, practice telling that voice to “Shut up.” It doesn’t know you or the amazing things you’re capable of. You’re a woman in tech! Just by doing what you do daily, you defy the odds. That voice will get quieter with practice. Third, it’s not enough to neutralize that negative voice; you must practice the positive. You have to do whatever you need to get into a headspace where you believe you can do all the things. For me, this usually involves a ten-minute dance party in my office to psych myself up. (Thankfully, I work from home.) For you, it may be the same (we should have a dance party sometime), or it may be reviewing all the accomplishments you kept track of in your brag sheet. For others, it may be picturing where they see themselves in five years and feeling excited that this next opportunity will help them get there. Whatever action gets you telling yourself, “I can do this!” is the one you should incorporate into your routine.

## Find a Sponsor

As women, we get a lot of advice about having mentors and the importance of mentorship in our careers, but we don’t often hear about the importance of having a sponsor. Mentorship is important, and I encourage everyone to develop a mentorship. What does developing a great mentorship look like? It can be as simple as setting up recurring one-on-one meetings, having “coffee chats,” getting their feedback on your pull requests, or getting vulnerable and asking for advice. Let me share the worst-kept secret: people love being asked for their advice, so don’t feel awkward about being the first to reach out. Also, great mentor relationships can last a lifetime, and you’re not limited to just one. Having multiple mentors with expertise in different areas can help round out your personal and career growth.

So, where do sponsors fit in? Studies show that mentorship can look quite different for men and women. Women often get advice on how they should change, while men tend to get concrete steps they should take to advance their careers. A sponsor uses their power and influence to advocate for you. Everyone reading this, women and men, should find a sponsor (or multiple sponsors). You need someone who will say your name in the rooms you aren’t in yet –someone who knows your value and will help open doors for you. Don’t think that your work alone will do the talking for you or that having a sponsor means you somehow achieved less on your own. Think of it as the professional “alley-oop” we all need to get ahead. No one has to go it alone.

## Find Your Person

Yes, joining peer groups is wonderful, and ideally, we’d all tell our imposter syndrome to take a hike, but for days where those tactics aren’t enough, find your person. What do I mean by your person? Find that other woman in tech who doubles as your personal hype-woman, who will help build you up when self-doubt creeps in, and who will give you that ultimate confidence boost you need to succeed — the one who will proofread your Slack messages and will sit through practice rounds of your big presentation. Don’t ever feel like you need to be strong alone. 

## Pay it Forward

I was fortunate enough to be inspired by another woman in tech to become a software engineer. She guided me and, most importantly, helped me build the confidence to embark on a journey that would change the entire trajectory of my career. When I doubted myself and my abilities, she gave me the encouragement I needed to keep going. I owe her so much that I will never be able to pay back. What I can do is pay it forward. You don’t need to change the landscape of women in tech overnight. Just try your best to make the experience better in any way you can for someone else: share your experiences, become a mentor, set up that coffee chat, and elevate each other’s voices. In short, take action! This support is the secret sauce. This fellowship is how we get more women to join tech and stay for the long haul.

When my mother and I celebrated the higher number of women practicing law, that number didn’t improve by happenstance. It got better because of trailblazing women like my mother, women who didn’t let the odds intimidate them and who showed up ready to do the work every day while supporting those around them. We can do the same thing within tech. Together, we, the amazing women here at Okta and our incredible allies, can have the same impact and improve the representation and experiences of women in tech. There’s no better time to start than today.

We’ve built an amazing community here at Okta; we’d love for you to join us! Check out the [Careers Page](https://www.okta.com/company/careers/) to learn more about our current opportunities.

An Open Letter to Women in Tech

monica-bajaj

Monica Bajaj is the Vice President of Engineering at Okta, where she leads the Developer Experience portfolio for Customer Identity Cloud ( CIAM) Product unit. She is responsible for the development and innovation efforts for building a frictionless developer experience for our developers, customers, and partners.  Before joining Okta she held senior engineering leadership positions at Workday, Network Appliance, and UKG. Outside work, she loves spending time with boy scouts, hiking, painting, and supporting the cause of mentorship and uplifting women and young girls.

VP of Engineering, Customer Identity Cloud, Okta

Monica Bajaj

Elevating, overcoming adversity, connecting, and inspiring other women through a month-long series of events

![A show of solidarity amongst Women in Engineering during Okta Vice President Engineering - Developer Experience Monica Bajaj’s[ #Iamremarkable](https://iamremarkable.withgoogle.com/) session at the Auth0 product unit offsite in Cancun, Mexico during Women’s History Month 2023.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/2AbKDnju5aOGvc2JF5QR7b/369b8c78c418fdacf53811968b7ca344/Women_in_Engineering_01.jpg)

During Women's History Month at Okta, we focused on action over reflection. We wanted to commemorate the trailblazers who came before us, encourage those leading today, and make plans that will inspire and improve the lives of women in the future. We planned a month-long series of events with a different theme each week to bring all of us together on this journey. Our themes were _Elevate, Adversity, Connect, and Inspire._

* **Week 1: Elevate:** We focused on bringing visibility to the contributions we all make each day. We encouraged everyone to make a specific commitment to elevating themselves or other women, whether it was volunteering to mentor in RISE (Okta’s internal mentorship program), requesting a stretch assignment, speaking up, or bringing their own chair to the table. (For more on what I mean by “elevate,” please check out [this](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/magical-monica-bajaj) LinkedIn post.)
* **Week 2: Adversity:** We created a safe space for candid conversation and questions about the adversity our women leaders have faced in the past and the challenges we all face today via a panel discussion. We talked about specific ways to address and overcome these challenges while providing inspiration and encouragement to one another to change those things we see as wrong today.
* **Week 3: Connect:** This year, we had the perfect opportunity to meet face-to-face for our first-ever in-person WinE (Women in Engineering) meeting. In addition to celebrating Women's History Month, we also had our first team-wide offsite since 2019. Over 400 Oktanauts attended, and it was a fantastic opportunity to build stronger relationships with colleagues while enjoying the beautiful beaches and soaking up the sun. Our theme was “ASSEMBLE”, which played an important role in fortifying our community, building deeper connections, and making our community of women stronger and more resilient than ever. During this week, I got to do an [IAmRemarkable](https://iamremarkable.withgoogle.com/) session with Women in Engineering focused on Women Empowerment and focus on our[ Word of Intent ](http://myintent.org/)
* **Inspire week:** Special guest speaker, [Jhillika Kumar](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhillika/) founder and CEO of [Mentra](https://www.mentra.com/) and TEDx speaker for diversity and neuro-inclusion, joined us. Born from neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals looking to understand each other, Mentra uses AI to help recruiters bridge recruitment gaps. Jhillika shared her experiences and helped us reflect on how we can live our dreams, embrace the unknown, and shake things up.

![Jhillika Kumar](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/6DgXY8QNyuwK5YcYMMAMPq/8ff2d33817e5a69702812eb348a1964b/Women_in_Engineering_02.jpg)

Reflecting back on March, my favorite part was getting to meet everyone in person at the offsite, thus creating a sense of community and fostering a shared mission. I had an opportunity to lead the [IAmRemarkable](https://iamremarkable.withgoogle.com/) session in person, where we focused on self-promotion, empowerment, and inclusion. The stories were powerful, some touched my heart, and I was able to meet so many remarkable people. We also came together to carve the [word of intention](http://myintent.org/), where we were able to reflect on our purpose and make it actionable. 

March was the kind of month that makes you pinch yourself to check if it was real. Together we got to energize & motivate, educate and align, and, most importantly, recognize and celebrate! And, of course, these connections and foundations are just a part of how we continue to build our incredible WinE community. I’m so excited for what's to come for the Customer Identity Cloud and feel proud that I get to work with so many amazing people every day who are true builders, collaborators, owners, and learners.

Curious about joining Okta or, in particular, Okta’s Customer Identity Cloud? [Please reach out](https://www.okta.com/company/careers/).


Taking Action During Women’s History Month: Elevating Women in Engineering

jenny-obrien

I'm a former business journalist who's fascinated by the intersection of tech and business strategy — in particular how the right solution can transform an idea into reality. I specialize in ROI, data privacy, and identity.

Business Content Manager

Jenny O'Brien

Actionable Advice from Women Who Code InfoSec Panel + Auth0 QAs on How Women Can Transfer Skills to Help Close that Gap



By 2021, there will be [3.5 million open cybersecurity jobs globally](https://cybersecurityventures.com/jobs/), reports Cybersecurity Ventures. [Worldwide](https://cybersecurityventures.com/women-in-cybersecurity/), women hold 20% of the filled positions.

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Actionable advice on how women can transfer skills to fill the project 3.5M gap in cybersecurity talent. @womenwhocode"/>

[Women Who Code](https://www.womenwhocode.com/), a nonprofit dedicated to supporting women’s career growth in the tech industry, sponsored a panel of seasoned InfoSec professionals from [Nike](https://www.nike.com/us/en_us/?ref=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F), [Intel](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/homepage.html), [Google](https://www.google.com/about/), and [Auth0](https://auth0.com/) at their [Portland chapter](https://www.womenwhocode.com/portland). The panel shared how they got into cybersecurity, what they’re looking for when they hire talent, and how interested applicants can easily transfer their skills to lucrative cybersecurity roles ([full video](https://youtu.be/lAraWX64ZJw)).

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Discover what it’s like to be a woman in InfoSec at @google, @intel, @nike, and @auth0. —and find out how to make the most of your opportunities. @womenwhocode  (https://youtu.be/lAraWX64ZJw) "/>

Auth0 Former CISO/VP Operations **Joan Pepin** suggested we reach out to two other women on our cybersecurity team to talk about how they ended up in InfoSec, what it’s like to work at Auth0, and advice for women looking to break into the field.

## Annybell Villarroel, Security Operations Manager 

![Annybell Villarroel, Security Operations Manager](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/PMOss4ZNEJdF9Rum21Quy/66839db9c86453c90d646c6b6612b9af/annybell-villarroel)

Anny started working with Auth0 as a contractor back in 2015. She joined the company as a technical support engineer in 2016 and has since transferred her skills to infosec by becoming our security operations manager.

### What made you make the switch to security?

While working on a ticket, I realized something that could potentially be used in a phishing campaign. I did a quick experiment with a small sample group to gather feedback, and we noticed that our training could be improved in different ways. After hearing about the project, Jon Gelsey, our CEO at the time,  suggested to Joan (Auth0’s Former CISO) that I work in security. I got offered my current role. 

### Tell us about your current role

Besides managing projects for our Security Team, I’m preparing our Security Awareness training as well as our quarterly phishing campaigns. I recently took training at the Black Hat Conference to learn best practices and how to raise our general security awareness through [social engineering attacks](https://auth0.com/blog/achieving-security-awareness-through-social-engineering-attacks/).

### How have your skills transferred?

As a support engineer, I learned a lot about the product itself, knowing the historical context and how it works has been useful for a few projects in the security team and my experience talking with customers has helped me with the training. I believe that asking “why” and trying to find the root cause of the problem can be useful in any project.

### What’s been the biggest challenge so far?

It’s been pretty smooth and I feel very supported in this role and the team is super-great. If I don’t know something everyone is willing to help. 

### There are a ton of jobs for women in InfoSec. Why work for Auth0? 

The job was offered to me and in general, the opportunity was given. I really like the culture here and have an emotional connection to the company. I’ve seen it grow. Auth0 is a security-first company and I find it rewarding to do work that fits with our mission statement of making the internet more secure.

### What advice would you have for women breaking into InfoSec?

Don't be afraid to ask security engineers for help. Be willing to make experiments, and take online courses on your own to learn. Practice with Capture The Flag challenges with a mentor that can guide you, and if you like to understand people or are a people person, learn about Social Engineering. **We’re hiring**.

## Eva Sarafianou, Application Security Engineer

![Eva Sarafianou, Application Security Engineer](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/1WB3sUlt6NSIx4GFKnqb9T/6d148e76110d0246bd276b8943a15f27/eva-sarafianou)

Intrigued by cryptography’s underlying maths, research, and study while working on her masters at the University of Athens led Eva to a career in InfoSec, which she describes as “a whole new world.” Eva joined Auth0 in Aug. of 2018.

### Tell me about your current role

I work as an application security engineer. In the Product Security team we work closely with the developers, try to find vulnerabilities in our codebase and give guidelines for mitigation. We’re working on security automation, building tools that will help the engineering team write secure code by default and we're also responsible for the vulnerability disclosure program

### How have your skills transferred? 

A few months prior to obtaining my master's degree, an internship for security consultancy gave me the opportunity to start applying security in industry instead of academia, specifically web security and mobile — how many things you can control as a user even if you shouldn’t. And how, if you really dig into it you’ll usually find something interesting, even if a code does seem very secure. It may not be something huge, but security is an ongoing effort. It never ends. Even with something small, some very sophisticated attacks are possible.

### What’s been the biggest challenge so far?

Being a woman in InfoSec. During my internship, we were visiting customers for assessments and because I was young and the only woman in the office, the customers asked my manager whether or not I knew things. I had to put in extra effort to make sure the customers believed that I knew what I was doing and could explain things. It got better over time, but male interns who came to the office after me didn’t receive questions like these.

### Anything seem surprisingly easy?

I think the problem most engineers have is that they love working on their computer and digging into code. If they have to explain this to a non-technical person, they find it a bit difficult. It’s easy for me to take an issue step-by-step and make sure that somebody without the technical background understands.

### There are a ton of jobs for women in InfoSec. Why work for Auth0?

I knew Auth0 four years before I joined and really liked the product and the culture. Remote working is the most productive thing.

### What advice would you have for women breaking into InfoSec?

First of all and maybe take a direction in college and university that has to do with a computer. Be confident. I think that in InfoSec — not in Auth0 — there are many people who believe they are experts and will ask you “why” in a not very friendly way always. Always ask what you don’t know.
I’m usually the only woman on my teams — even at Auth0, in our small team, I am the only woman. Feel confident and don’t feel at all weird that you’re always a minority.
If we want more women in tech, as companies and we can do participate in organizations like WWC, but this needs to be spread to the world — it’s how parents raise their daughters. My parents were the same with me as they were with my brother — no change. I was never the little girl that had to be protected and I think that helped.

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Find out what’s like to be a woman in InfoSec (https://youtu.be/lAraWX64ZJw)  — and learn how to get the most out of lucrative cybersecurity job opportunities. @womenwhocode"/>


3.5M Open Cybersecurity Jobs Worldwide by 2021

kapehe-jorgenson

Kapehe is an R&D Content Engineer for Auth0 with a passion for learning and teaching. With her primary focus on ReactJS and JavaScript, she is impressed with what code can create for the web. Technology and web development are constantly evolving and naturally bring that need for continual learning. She enjoys writing tutorials, hosting local meetups, and learning with others to expand coding knowledge.

R&D Content Engineer

Kapehe Jorgenson

Auth0's Kapehe Jorgenson, Dasha Nikitina, and Dorrin Poorkay lead an Algorithm session at WWC - CONNECT 2019.



Women Who Code - CONNECT 2019 was held on April 13, 2019 at the [Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/) headquarters in San Francisco, California. This event was sponsored by some of the largest names in tech: [Auth0](https://auth0.com/), [PayPal](https://www.paypal.com/us/home), [Atlassian](https://www.atlassian.com/), [Cisco Umbrella](https://umbrella.cisco.com/), and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/), just to name a few.

![Welcome Talk at Women Who Code - CONNECT 2019](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/gv8GVhSlZnHFZDCncbMNl/a947e750accaaad10a2a7a17224da124/intro-talk)

When a whiteboarding session opened up and the offer was extended to UI Engineer [Dasha Nikitina](https://www.linkedin.com/in/darianikitina/), Platform Engineer [Dorrin Poorkay](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorrin-poorkay-94552b82/), and myself, R&D Content Engineer [Kapehe Jorgenson](https://auth0.com/blog/authors/kapehe-jorgenson/), to fill in and lead it, we jumped on the opportunity. The whiteboarding session was on Algorithms and Interviews, officially named "Algorithms (Why Do We Care)". We were confident that we could collaborate and deliver a session worth coming to with our unique interview experiences.

## Remotely Connected

Being a remote-friendly company, this was going to be the first time that Dasha, Dorrin, and I were going to be in the same room at the same time. We are always connected virtually and Auth0 keeps the close culture alive, yet this was new. I had recently interviewed Dorrin and learned all about [her empowering journey](https://auth0.com/blog/meet-the-experts-dorrin-poorkay/) as an engineer on the Auth0 team.

Dasha has also been working very closely with my team and with her UI engineering skills has revamped the entire [Auth0 blog](https://auth0.com/blog/). She succeeded in delivering a beautiful product that I know will be beneficial to our users.

When we finally met each other face-to-face, it was as if we didn't work remotely, but saw each other everyday in the office.

## Alaina Percival, Women Who Code CEO

Celebrating women in tech, CEO of Women Who Code (WWC) [Alaina Percival](https://twitter.com/alaina), offered stats, advice, and encouragement throughout the day to the hundreds of women who attended. Alaina announced that the official count of WWC had reached 180,000 members worldwide.

<AmpContent>
  <include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Announcement today that @WomenWhoCode have 180,000 members worldwide 🙌💪👩🏽‍💻👩🏻‍💼🙋🏿‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️ #WWCode &mdash; Women Who Code BFS (@WWCodeBelfast)"/>

</AmpContent>

<NonAmpContent>

  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Announcement today that <a href="https://twitter.com/WomenWhoCode?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WomenWhoCode</a> have 180,000 members worldwide 🙌💪👩🏽‍💻👩🏻‍💼🙋🏿‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWCode?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWCode</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CONNECT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CONNECT</a> <a href="https://t.co/e75EV19nR1">pic.twitter.com/e75EV19nR1</a></p>&mdash; Women Who Code BFS (@WWCodeBelfast) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWCodeBelfast/status/1117101032973033472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
  <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
  
  <include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Alaina Percival, CEO of Women Who Code, announced that the official count of WWC had reached 180,000 members worldwide."/>

</NonAmpContent>

## Tara Hernandez, Google Engineering Manager

Keynote speaker [Tara Hernandez](https://twitter.com/tequilarista), Engineering Manager for the Google Cloud Platform, gave her talk, titled "Forget Faking It, We're Making It" on the main center stage. Tara talked about her journey on where she is now and how we need to bring more "woman-ness" into the tech industry. Her path showed that with hard work, we don't need to act like men, but celebrate our own uniqueness.

<AmpContent>
  <include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="“We're not faking it, we’re making it!“ - Engineer Manager, Tara Hernandez at #WWCode #CONNECT. @tequilarista &mdash; Women Who Code (@WomenWhoCode)"/>

</AmpContent>

<NonAmpContent>

  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“We&#39;re not faking it, we’re making it!&quot; -  <a href="https://twitter.com/Google?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Google</a> Engineer Manager, Tara Hernandez at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWCode?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWCode</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CONNECT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CONNECT</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/tequilarista?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tequilarista</a> <a href="https://t.co/PGQs4fjMcy">pic.twitter.com/PGQs4fjMcy</a></p>&mdash; Women Who Code (@WomenWhoCode) <a href="https://twitter.com/WomenWhoCode/status/1117109707481722880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
  <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

</NonAmpContent>

## Auth0's WWC Conference Booth

Auth0's booth, hosted by our very own [Kim Ripperger](https://twitter.com/kimmyripp) and [Trevor Salter](https://twitter.com/TCSalter), received a lot of traffic and dozens of interested individuals in possibly joining Auth0. If you were to head over to our blog post [How We Hire Engineers](https://auth0.com/blog/how-we-hire-engineers/), you could learn about our hiring process. With multiple engineering positions open, our presence at WWC was extremely valuable with the amount of interest we received.

![Auth0 Booth at Women Who Code CONNECT 2019](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/4AK8s2zqwJmBhKkv0mH7IN/f4d20c350cdadd82e4453be5b3996b36/auth0-booth)

## Algorithms (Why Do We Care) - Kapehe, Dasha, Dorrin

At 2:45 pm, we were scheduled to lead the algorithms session. We arrived at our room around 2:10 and within a couple of minutes we had people showing up. The room filled up fast &mdash; every seat was taken and the standing room was going quick. Dasha, Dorrin, and I ended up in the corner of the room leading our session to a packed room.

![Dasha, Kapehe, Dorrin leading the Algorithms session](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/6PsCvMogxBMBsXF9M88S6n/7b9613c4074de29c684b98ded073fe39/algorithms-interview)

The session started off with a discussion on algorithms and the benefit of understanding them when going into any technical interview. The question was asked, "What is an algorithm?" and very quickly an attendee responded with "a set of steps or guidelines on how to complete a job or task." 

Dasha gave the group a visual of [visualgo.net](https://visualgo.net/en) and how a handful of algorithms work. Our group was excited for the resource because it showed a very clear visual of how the sorting was being done in different sorting methods.

We finished off the session with Dasha, Dorrin, and myself sharing our various interview experiences and how whiteboarding, understanding algorithms, and good communication has helped us.

![Algorithm session attendees](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/5iOKK70eZ5qu7pMysSlyNP/b2cf70a7cb2381bbbbfb58c85cfe6cdc/session-attendees)

## Auth0 Women Who Code

Auth0 takes pride in its diversity. Sending four of its women to WWC - Connect 2019 was a great way to represent the company and the value it sees in the women engineers.

![Auth0's Kim Ripperger, Dorrin Poorkay, Kapehe Jorgenson, Dasha Nikitina](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/je4Y38eSqOk0tA2k9Rnod/f8c443ccb22e72bdf00c370fdd83f7cd/auth0-women) 

We are growing rapidly and I feel honored to work for such an inclusive company. Being remotely-friendly, Auth0 is able to give engineering opportunities to women across the globe.

Visit our [career page](https://auth0.com/careers) to learn more about our great engineering opportunities!

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Being remotely-friendly, Auth0 is able to give engineering opportunities to women across the globe."/>

## Take-Away

This was my first time attending Women Who Code - CONNECT and it was fantastic seeing such a powerful organization standing behind 180,000 women in tech. With multiple scholarships being awarded, WWC is empowering women to go for those engineering roles. 

Did you attend WWC - Connect 2019 or were you impacted by a strong woman in tech? Share your experience with us in the discussion section below. We would love to continue to empower you!

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Women Who Code - CONNECT 2019

Auth0 CISO Joan Pepin to speak Women Who Code Portland’s Networking Night + leadership advice video.



Want to know what it takes to be a successful woman in infosec?

Join us at [Women Who Code Portland’s Networking Night](https://www.meetup.com/Women-Who-Code-Portland/events/253324140/) on Thursday, Aug. 16 from 5 - 8:30 p.m. to hear what this group of notable women have to say about how they got into InfoSec, what their roles are like, and advice for someone breaking into the field. (Special thanks to sponsor [Mozilla](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/).) The panel will include:

- **Joan Pepin** , Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and VP Operations, Auth0
- **LJ Johnson** , Sr. Director, Information Security, Nike
- **Miki Demeter** , Security Researcher, Intel
- **Moderator:** Ann Wallace, Technical Cloud Consultant, Google

Recently, Joan expanded her Auth0 CISO role, adding VP of Operations to her title. As a preview, we asked her to offer some leadership advice for people stretching into new roles:

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<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Stretching into a new role? Here’s some advice from @CloudCISO_Joan — and an opp to hear her in person in Portland this week! #WWCode"/>



Auth0 CISO Joan Pepin to Speak at WWC Portland Networking Night

joan-pepin

As CSO, Joan is responsible for the holistic security and compliance of Auth0's platform, products, and corporate environment. She brings 20 years of experience to the role, with a career that has spanned a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, defense, ISPs, and MSSPs. <br /><br />Previously, Joan served as Business Information Security Officer (BISO) at Nike, Inc, CISO, and VP of Security at Sumo Logic, and held different positions at Guardent/Verisign/Secureworks organization. Joan holds a patent for developing the methodology to assess whether a communication contains an attack. <br /><br />She is also is a well-recognized thought leader and has spoken at major events, such as RSA, WhiteHat Security Summit, and Forrester Security Summit, and is frequently called upon for her expertise and commentary in Cloud Security and Compliance in large-scale and DevOps/CI environments.

Chief Security Officer (CSO)

Joan Pepin

Leadership is a skill that can be learned. My talk, given at Women Who Code Connect 2018, gives tips on growing your knowledge.

"women"