ChiWitCon : Reconnect
Showing Up and Leading in the Hybrid World
September 8, 2022 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
The hectic two years of a global pandemic have altered our work and home lives in no small measure. As we return to working together, navigating a mix of in-person and virtual spaces, each of us carries with us to work the impact of the time we spent apart. As we recalibrate our routines and adjust to yet another phase full of unknowns, how can we show up for each other (and ourselves) in the hybrid world? Join the powerful community of Chicago’s women technologists for this year’s CHIWITCON: Reconnect, a half-day of inspiring conversations and workshops designed to expand your network, broaden your community, and help you craft your narrative in this new chapter.
CHIWITCON™ is an inspiring gathering of technologists from Chicago and beyond. Open to all genders across all platforms and technologies, the CHIWITCON™ brings the achievements, aspirations, and career interests of inspiring individuals in technology to the forefront. Listen to exciting speakers with plenty of discussion time and enjoy a fireside chat. Stay for the fun, relaxing networking opportunity following the conference.
Interested in a CHIWITCON™ coffee mug? How about a t-shirt? Represent CHIWITCON™ anywhere you go with our swag, available here.
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Presented by
Nishu Thurkal
CEO
Pangea
Nishu is an innovator and leader in the payments industry with over 20 years of experience as an operator, investor, advisor, and entrepreneur. He currently leads Pangea Money Transfer, a subsidiary of Enova disrupting the international mobile money remittance industry. Nishu specializes in creating disruptive payment technology strategies, building world-class teams and developing scalable operations. Prior to starting Pangea, Nishu served in various operating and investing roles at Redbox and Susquehanna Growth Equity.
Deepika Duggirala
Senior Vice President, Global Technology Platforms
TransUnion
Deepika Duggirala is Senior Vice President of Global Technology Platforms at TransUnion, where she leads technology strategy and execution of cloud-based platform transformation. With over two decades of leadership experience, Deepika brings a unique perspective that combines an enterprise mindset with agile, innovative thinking, to drive the development of competitive products that scale.
She has led teams that build high-performing software across a variety of
companies, ranging from start-ups to large global enterprises. Prior to
joining TransUnion, Deepika led product development as the CTO and VP of Engineering at Yello, an end-to-end talent acquisition platform for Fortune500 companies, served as SVP of Engineering at SPINS and held various technology leadership roles at SAP, Nielsen and Motorola – where she began her career as a software engineer.
Deepika holds an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rutgers University and a Bachelor’s in Electronic Engineering from Nagpur University in India.
She serves on the Regional Advisory Board of Comp-U-Dopt, an organization that designs programs to eliminate limited computer access, increase technical literacy, and support the future of youth in communities across Chicago and Northern Illinois. She is a passionate advocate for women in technology and the importance of balance in our work and personal lives.
Kendra Cato
Director of Enterprise Strategy
Bullhorn
An energetic and analytical services professional with nearly 20 years of sales, marketing, research, and executive-level client management experience, Kendra has held strategic leadership roles in industries spanning from investment banking and corporate law to procurement and talent management software. Since joining Bullhorn in 2018, she can usually be found learning from the leaders of the largest and most innovative staffing and recruiting firms across the globe, implementing new initiatives to scale the enterprise business, or discovering how the latest trends may impact the future of work. In 2022, Kendra co-authored Together We Rise, a collection of stories from 15 incredible women who came together during the pandemic, exemplifying the power of Women Supporting Women.
Her passion is people, and she is grateful each day for the opportunity to help put the world to work. She is active in the American Staffing Association (ASA) and Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) as a member and speaker, and is a proud council member of the ASA Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Advocacy (IDEA) Group. Kendra is especially passionate about lifting up women and young Black professionals in the industry and beyond.
Kat Knight
Talent Development Specialist II
Enova
Kat Knight (she/her) is a Talent Development Specialist II on the Enova People Team. Kat has worked in the Learning and Development and Career Coaching space for the last 7+ years including experience facilitating career workshops for MBA students and creating professional development opportunities for people managers. Kat is most energized helping folks be the best versions of themselves!
Joe DeCosmo
Chief Analytics and Technology Officer
Enova International
Joe joined Enova as Chief Analytics Officer in 2014. As CAO, Joe leads a multi-disciplinary analytics team that provides end-to-end data and analytic services including data warehousing, business intelligence, business analytics, fraud, credit risk and marketing. His team supports the global online financial services offered by Enova International and delivers on-demand decision-making technology and real-time predictive analytics services to clients through the Enova Decisions® brand. Prior to working at Enova, he served as Director and Practice Leader of Advanced Analytics for Chicago-based West Monroe Partners. He has also held a number of executive positions at HAVI Global Solutions and the Allant Group. Joe received a B.A. in economics from Lewis University and an M.A. in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is Immediate Past-President of the Chicago Chapter of the American Statistical Association and is on the Advisory Board of the UIC College of Business Administration. Joe lives in the Chicago area with his wife and daughters.
Sandee Kastrul
President and Co-Founder
i.c.stars
Sandee is the proud president and chief hope officer of i.c.stars, a workforce development organization and a social enterprise. i.c.stars exists to develop change-driven individuals to excel in technology careers and effect change as community leaders. Sandee is also an Advisory Board Member of Chicago Innovation Awards, The Axelson Center and RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity. Sandee enjoys working with i.c.stars alums in their entrepreneurial endeavors both for profit and non-profit and is currently working on expanding the i.c.stars model into new cities. Sandee is close to finishing her book, Change and Equity.
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Women @ Enova is an Affinity Group launched to empower, attract, and support the development of Women at Enova. The group will help connect, develop and advance female talent by providing networking, professional development, and community engagement opportunities to all Enova employees, regardless of gender identity.
Enova is a leading FinTech company headquartered in downtown Chicago. Our mission is helping hardworking people get access to trustworthy credit. Powered by our advanced analytics and innovative technology, we’ve issued more than $20 billion in credit to over 5 million non-prime consumers and small businesses around the globe. In 2016 we launched Enova Decisions™ to offer on-demand digital decision-making technology and real-time predictive analytics services to clients across industries.
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