Although we’re living in an era in which many companies advocate for diversity and inclusion, I am often still the only female director in the room in the tech industry. Even more often, I find myself to be the only first-generation immigrant who learned English as a second language.
This is interesting given almost 27% of the population in California is foreign-born immigrants and 45% of people speak a different language at home.
Was I luckier? Was I smarter? Probably not.
I have been pondering what made me different and how I leveraged my unique immigrant experience for the last 20 years in the U.S. I hope that others like me can benefit from my story.