What’s it like to quit your job and join the founding team of a successful new business?
“That was a really fun and crazy two years,” Shana Glenzer said of the company SocialRadar that she joined on the ground floor with Michael Chasen. “We were well-funded off the bat and focused in on location tech. Bringing a new product to market had its challenges, but was also really exciting.”
Shana began her career in the education tech space and went on to work for Blackboard, one of the largest tech companies in D.C. proper. She spent most of early career in sales and marketing roles.
She then spent her time doing influencer and social marketing SocialRadar, and got to know other people in the D.C. tech space through social meetups.
Shana is now the Chief Marketing Officer at MakeOffices, a business that offers flexible workspaces and virtual offices in several locations across the country. She’s also the co-organizer of DC Tech Meetup and DCFemTech.
Shana will be hosting the first Justwomen event in D.C., a quarterly business networking event including a fireside chat with successful women entrepreneurs. Shana will host the discussion on ethics in business and social responsibility with co-founder of Phone2Action Ximena Hartsock and founder of GoodWorld Dale Nirvani Pfeifer.
Beyond the importance of corporate ethics, the Justwomen event will also act as a hub for women in business to do professional networking — one of Shana’s interests and specialties. We asked her how she’s become an influencer in women’s networking events and how she approaches hiring for diversity.
The theme for this Justwomen is about corporate ethics and social responsibility. What responsibility, if any, do you think businesses have to the communities around them?
The idea of social responsibility is two-fold. One is that any person should be thinking about how they can give back to their community, but there’s also a business component that it’s good for the business to give.
You’re involved in a lot of D.C.-based networking events for successful women entrepreneurs like DCFemTech. What motivates you to be a part of these organizations?
There are so many amazing organizations in D.C. that help women in tech and design, but many of the women that were running those organizations weren’t familiar with others. Also, other than just a meetup page to finding someone, there wasn’t a really good way to for those organizations to be found and to be known.
So we created DCFemTech so that we could shine a light on the ways that women can either enter a new career in tech or grow in their tech career through our organization. It was a way for women in the city looking for resources to find them, and women running similar organizations to get support from each other, broaden the scope of their work, and have a platform to be known.
The idea of social responsibility is two-fold. One is that any person should be thinking about how they can give back to their community, but there’s also a business component that it’s good for the business to give.
It sounds like you’re great at bringing people together. How did you get into that?
When I started going to these meetups, I realized that there were these amazing people that were interested in being involved, or companies that were in need of people for help in other areas. So I started connecting them.
At the core, I really just enjoy getting people to know one another. I take a lot of coffees, a lot of meetings, and a lot of time into getting to know people, and the passions that connect them to each other.
What type of responsibility do you feel companies have to boosting women, minorities, and other less-represented groups within the business community?
Because so often in tech, companies are run by men and white men. Oftentimes you end up doing business or hiring people that are like you; there is a tendency towards white men having the most access to resources and capital.
I think that it is good for business and good for our economy to have a diverse workforce. Diversity also has the power to create the next great tech product or service.
What do you believe is the best way to accomplish hiring a diverse pool of people?
You have to be incredibly intentional about it. Bonnie Bogle, CEO of Mapbox, has a whole philosophy about intentional hiring. You have to look outside of your first and second LinkedIn contacts, you have to put your company or yourself in front of women and minorities and just a vast array of people.
It’s a matter of being present and keeping an eye to look outside of your immediate circles.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I am excited about what Justwomen is doing. I love the topic we’re focusing on and having [everyone] in town. I’m honored look forward to time before the event to network as well.
Shana will be hosting the first Justwomen event in D.C., where she’ll discuss corporate ethics and social responsibility with Ximena Hartsock and Dale Nirvani Pfeifer. You can learn more and sign up to attend here.
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