Meet Technology Pros and Ask them Anything about their Careers

Building on the success of last year's Future Forward series, we are excited to invite you and your students to another amazing summer of tech career exploration!

The Future Forward series is an explorative experience for students to envision their future selves. Each Thursday, a panel of professionals will discuss different themes that give students access to new perspectives and ideas of building their own journeys to the future, in a meaningful and intentional way.

Each event is designed and hosted by student interns with the support of Mouse and the NYC's DOE's Division of Informational and Instruction Technology (DIIT).

Attendees will:

• Meet a panel of professionals with applied technology careers
• Participate in an "Ask Me Anything"-style Q&A with the experts where you can add and up-vote your favorite questions
• Get follow-up activity ideas to dig deeper into each career

Join a Future Forward Event!

To join: Open the Zoom link below at 10:30AM on Thursdays from July 14-August 11. All NYC students (and their teachers, too) are welcome to join!

Future Forward 1: The NYC Gaming Industry

• WHEN: Thursday, July 14 @ 10:30AM
• ABOUT: Meet a panel of experts in gaming, including industry professionals, college professors, teachers and students
• PANELISTS: Rudy Blanco – The Bronx Gaming Network, Diana Gross – CDW-G, Doug Konopelko – CDW-G, Matthew Lopez – City College, Ahmed Mashfiq (+ 2 students!) – NYC Educator and John Dewey HS, Stephen Reid – Microsoft, David Hedlund – St. John's University
• JOIN HERE: https://diit.nyc/summer22panels
  

Future Forward 2: Creative Technology Pathways

• WHEN: Thursday, July 21 @ 10:30AM
• ABOUT: Meet several professionals from creative technology fields to learn about how to apply your artistic interests to your future.
• PANELISTS: Andrew Efstathiou – Adobe, Kaila Squires – Adobe, Reagan Porter – IBM
  
• JOIN HERE: https://diit.nyc/summer22panels
  

Future Forward 3: Professional Skills

• WHEN: Thursday, July 28 @ 10:30AM
• ABOUT: Industry mentors answer your questions and share their experiences building professional skills like networking, communication, maintaining work-life balance, and finding your passion.
• PANELISTS: Brittany Sigler – CVS Health, Lindsay Rae Hooper – LRH Events, Stewart Katz – Verizon, Serena Robinett – Spotify, Kayko Donald
  – Spotify
• JOIN HERE: https://diit.nyc/summer22panels
  

Future Forward 4: Finding your Career Pathway

• WHEN: Thursday, August 4 @ 10:30AM
• ABOUT: Professionals describe how they navigated from high school to their career, and share advice on how to discover the right future pathway for yourself.
• PANELISTS: Christina Macchiarola – Microsoft, Evan Berg – Senior Software Engineer, Kim Francisco – Dutchie, Aayman Abdellatif – Alstom Signaling Inc., Stephen Sylvester – Discovery Education
• JOIN HERE: https://diit.nyc/summer22panels
  

Future Forward 5: Technology Leaders from the NYC DOE

• WHEN: Thursday, August 11 @ 10:30AM
• ABOUT: Meet the folks who help keep the largest school district in the country running! Tech leaders from the NYC Department of Education and the Division of Information and Instructional Technology share their career advice and answer your questions!
• PANELISTS from the NYC DOE: Anuraag Sharma (CIO), Helen Barahal (Chief of Staff), Jason Levy (Deputy CIO), Syed Azeem (Deputy CIO), Melissa Lee (ED of ITSD), Alex Horwatt (ED of Technology & Innovation), Nadia Molinari (Sr. Director of IT Contracts), David Louie (Sr. Director of Finance), Anthony Dixon (Director of Security Engineering), Anthony Nguyen (Design Manager), Eric James (UX.UI Team Lead).
• JOIN HERE: https://diit.nyc/summer22panels