ABI.Houston Presents: Navigating Through Workplace Challenges

Throughout our careers, we experience a variety of challenges, whether it’s setting goals, managing work-life balance or returning to the workforce as a new mother. The most important part is learning how to successfully maneuver these challenges. 

Join ABI.Houston along with the women of PROS for a panel discussion as we shed light on the issues and find solutions to meet the challenges of everyday work life. 

Serving as the panel moderator is Emily Zinsitz, a technical writer and content strategist at PROS, where she owns all product documentation for her company’s RevenuePRO travel products. As a tech writer, she gets paid to keep learning. Emily is also co-organizer of the Houston Write the Docs meetup, an organization that brings writers and developers together to share ideas and work together to improve the art and science of documentation. She earned a B.A. in Liberal Studies from the University of Houston, which means she spent four years trying to learn ALL THE THINGS.

Our Panel

Our panelists come from diverse backgrounds and will speak to challenges from a variety of perspectives – from the risks and opportunities inherent early in your career – to the unique challenges of new mothers returning to the workforce: 

•     Karis Ng is a senior software engineer at PROS, where she leads features development for the company’s SellingPRO solution. She also leads PROS internship program for the company’s development organization and coordinates logistics for the company’s participation in student hackathons. In her free time, Karis volunteers with nonprofits that teach game design and AP Computer Science to K-12 students. She enjoys catching Pokémons and photographing food. Prior to joining PROS, she worked at NetIQ. Karis earned a B.S. in computer science from the University of Houston.

•     Jennifer Plummer is an applications engineering lead at PROS, where she manages a development team that builds cloud-based enterprise software solutions. With more than 18 years of software engineering experience, she stresses the importance of owning your career by building relationships, not only with your manager, but also leaders in the organization who can help cultivate career opportunities. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in information systems and technology from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County

•     Sanjana Shetty is an applications engineering lead for the rental team at PROS, where she’s managed deliverables for almost five years. She also organizes PROSetta Stone, a French-language learning program for PROS employees, as well as a number of the company’s cultural events. Sanjana has a beautiful eight-month-old daughter. She’s also a part-time artist, and enjoys running, cooking and learning new languages. As a new mom, she still does everything she used to do before motherhood, but with a few adjustments. Sanjana has more than 9 years of software development experience. She earned a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Houston, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from India’s Visvesvaraya Technological University.

•     Vanitha Varadarajan is a software developer with PROS where she enhances and maintains a suite of Java applications using Spring and Hibernate. She has more than five years of industry experience across a variety of technologies. As a working mother with two children under the age of seven, Vanitha has learned the importance of time management, organization and effective networking to find the right balance between her professional life and parenthood. She holds a master’s degree in software engineering with a specialty in enterprise software applications from San Jose State University, and a bachelor’s degree in information technology from India’s Anna University.

•     Michele Myers is a senior manager at PROS where she serves two distinct roles – leading the training team that delivers training to customers, partners and employees; and managing 1PROS, the company’s corporate intranet. She has been with PROS for six years and has been in the software industry for more than 20 years. In her free time, Michele enjoys gardening and spending time outdoors. Michele earned a bachelor’s degree with a double major in information systems and statistics from Baylor University.

FAQs

I'm not a member. Can I attend? 

Yes! We hope you join our online community to stay up to date with all of our events. You can do so at local.anitaborg.org. 

Where should I park?

Park across the street in the parking garage on Elgin on the 7th floor, taking a parking receipt as you enter the parking garage. Parking is free after 7:00 PM, so you won't have to pay as you exit. Take the elevator to the 3rd floor of the parking garage and walk across the sky bridge. Continue to the elevators and take the elevators on the right (labeled the North Elevators) to the 10th floor. Keep in mind that the entrance to the sky bridge is on the 3rd floor of the parking garage but is on the 2nd floor of the HCC building.