As founder of Egressive, over 14 years I hired and mentored more than 20 people in both technical and non-technical roles.
Following Egressive's acquisition my role at Catalyst IT has involved helping to hire and foster a cohesive Christchurch team of junior and senior software developers, system administrators, and other technical and non-technical people. I have also worked to reinforce the connections between our Christchurch team and communities of practise across Catalyst's offices throughout NZ, as well as AU and the UK.
I have spoken on several occasions to classes high school students at Hagley Community College and the IT Hothouse at the Unlimited School in Christchurch. In 2014, I worked closely with two IT students at the Christchurch Polytechnic as the industry mentor for their final collaborative project.
I am also part of the ICT-Connect programme, run by the Institute of IT Professionals, in which I go to secondary schools to speak to students to provide some insight into my experiences in the IT industry, uncovering the things that excite me about this field, and make me feel great about what I do.
From 2015-2019, I ran a CodeClub at my local primary school in collaboration with a teacher, Nick Jorgensen. We received more requests (40+) to take part than there are spaces (15) available - there is clearly a substantial latent demand for learning to program among 9-11 year olds. If anyone in Christchurch with IT chops wants to help us expand the programme, please let me know! In 2019, the school decided they have enough experience with the CodeClub materials to run it themselves, and make it available to more students! Great result.