>> The Cube presents Dell Technologies World brought to you by Dell. (crowd murmuring) >> Welcome back to Las Vegas. It's The Cube live at Dell Technologies World 2022. This is day two of our coverage Lisa Martin, with Dave Vellante. We've had a lot of great conversations all day today half a day yesterday. We've got another great conversation coming up about ESG environmental, social and governance. Please welcome JJ Davis, the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Dell Technologies. Welcome to the program. >> Hi, thanks for having me. >> Hey, hey. >> It's great to be here. >> ESG is a very popular topic. >> Yes. >> It's one thing to talk about another thing to actually have a plan, have a strategy, have those 20, 30 moonshot goals and implement. Talk to us about what ESG means for Dell Technologies and some of these great things, that you have going on. >> Absolutely. So you said it, I mean it can be acronym soup. When you think about, is it social impact? Is it corporate social responsibility? Is it ESG and the beauty of having an environmental social governance strategy is we now are bringing ESG much closer to the corporate strategy and how we meet the needs of all of our stakeholders. So I'd love to just back it up for a minute and think about the purpose of Dell Technologies is to create technologies that advance human potential. Our vision is to be the most essential technology company for the data era. The way we do that is we're growing and modernizing our core businesses like PC servers and storage while we're building the technology ecosystem of the future. Well guess what? ESG is embedded in all of that because the future is more sustainable, built by people that represent our customer base with a workforce that is more diverse and a workplace that is more inclusive. We put human rights and the needs of people at the center of what we do as well as the needs of the planet. And when I get to put together purpose planet and profit and bring that strategy together in partnership with so many leaders of across the company and meeting the demands of our customers. ESG is just a part of the way we do business now >> It's part of the DNA. >> Yeah. >> Talk to us about some of the key priorities from a climate perspective, for example. >> Sure. >> What are some of Dell's key focus areas where that's concerned? >> So when we think about our ESG priorities as a whole there are four climate, circular, economy, diverse workplace and digital inclusion. And so within our sustainability pillar of our strategy or the E, we are committed to being net zero across scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2050. We are revamping our product energy goal right now to relaunch that. When we think about our customers 95% of our big customer RFPs ask about sustainability and our commitment and what we'll be doing to help them because they're going to be reliant on technology to meet their own sustainability and climate goals, whether it's green IT or IT for green and they're going to really be looking to us to help them. >> You know, I love this purpose planet profit. >> Yeah. >> You and I have talked about this a little bit. It's actually good business. Explain why ESG is good business? >> Well, I mean, used to social impact kind of sat off to the side. We might have been called do gooders or people that are passionate about things that maybe don't align to the corporate strategy. And now when you think about business round table and Michael Dell as a member and they came out with their purpose of a company statement it'll be three years in August to really redefine the purpose of a company to meet the needs of all stakeholders from employees, to customers, to shareholders as well. And so we know that new hires and new buyers demand more of their employer and of the companies they buy from. They want their own personal values to align with that of the company they work for or buy from. And so now we need to the needs of our business commitments, but also if companies don't take a leadership role, we're screwed, we're not going to be able to reverse the negative impacts. So climate change and technology plays a big role. >> Yeah. "The earth gets the last at bat," as they say. >> Yeah. >> From an accountability perspective that you mentioned 95% of RFPs are coming in and customers are looking for- >> Yes. >> Dell Technologies's commitment to ESG. Talk about the accountability to your customers to all customers where ESG is concerned and how is it measured? >> Sure. So we've been spending a lot of time over the last year, year and a half on the G of ESG the governance. And so we have been doing this for a couple decades really moving the needle on social impact. Michael talked about it in his key note, that this is in our DNA like you said. But now we have to be able to really measure. You can't manage what you can't measure. We have put a lot of governance around, what do we disclose and why Michael Dell is an active participant in the world economic forum, common metrics project because, you know, there's too many metrics and frameworks to know what companies need to be measuring and how we hold ourselves accountable and what we ultimately report to our shareholders. And so there's a lot of work to get more clarity there. You're seeing the SEC put out new rules around climate and human rights. And so when you start to get regulated that changes the game in terms of how transparent you need to be. And then what are the third party assurances that you need to have to validate the data that you're reporting on? We do have an annual ESG report that comes out every June where we report across several moonshot goals across sustainability, inclusive culture, transforming lives and ethics and privacy. Then we have sub goals. There's probably about 25 in total. And we're going to tell you our stakeholders every year how we're doing against our 20, 30 commitment. And I think it's that level of transparency and measurement that we have to hold ourselves accountable to and our customers do as well. >> Can you share a little bit about where you are on the 2030 moonshot that was announced about a couple years ago at the beginning of 20, yeah, towards the beginning of 2020. Where is Dell on the that, what's your moonscape look like? >> Yeah, sure. So we are announcing our update from calendar year 21 in June. So I'm not going to get the numbers exactly right. But if you take sustainability so one of our moonshot goals is around 100% of our packaging by 2030 will be made of recycled or renewable content. We're over 90% now. So we're going to probably restate that goal and evolve it or meet it early and set a new one. In terms of product contents. We have a goal that is 50% of our product contents will be from recycled over renewable materials. That's a little harder, plastic is easy, steel is hard. And so we're still working through how across the main components that go into our machines. How does that become more renewed and sustainable? If you think about 50% women in our workforce 25% African American or Hispanic in our US workforce we're making really good progress. And we have scaled programs that are helping us deliver on those commitments. >> Yeah. I think I'm quoting JJ Davis, correct me if I'm wrong but, "ESG marries who we are with what we do." What do you mean by that? >> So when you think about what we do, we build technology that delivers or advances human progress. We help our customers solve their biggest problems but really who we are. We are a founder-led company and Michael Dell was a purpose led driven CEO before that was even a term. And so he always wanted to have an ethical company that just did business above and beyond what the law required. And we'd been recycling PC for more than 20 years. And so we are an inclusive culture where we can bring our full selves to work and we are entrepreneurial. And, you know, if we have an idea and you raise that idea or a problem, you see then oftentimes the management will say, "Okay you go fix that." And so I think just what we do, we build technology. Who we are, is we're problem solvers for our customers. And that is good for business and good for the environment and what it is society really expects of us. And we're empowered to make a difference. Feels good. >> One of, I'm curious to get your perspective on , you know, the events of the last two years. One of the things that's happened is the great resignation. I think we all all know multiple people who have decided they're moving forward, lots of opportunity but where is Dell's ESG strategy as a differentiator for people going, I get it, I support that, that's the kind of company I want to work for? >> Our Chief Human Resources Officer Jen Saavedra calls it, "The great reshuffle." I think that's maybe a more positive way to look at it. And, you know, I've had people actually join my team because they are really positive on our mission and not just our proactive strategy around ESG but how we have handled our response to social issues. >> Yeah. >> I mean, who knew that company CEOs would be expected to speak out on voter access or LGBTQ rights and, you know. So a lot of people are coming to work for us because we are very measured in where we weigh in and what we stand for, how we speak out. But they're also really buying into our ESG strategy. I would also say our flexible work commitment. It's a big part of our DNI strategy as well and helps us attract and retain diverse talent. You can live and work wherever you want to proximity the headquarters is no longer criteria for advancement. And that's going to be a really big differentiator companies that get this right will win the talent war. And that means they'll better serve their customers. >> When you took over this role, I'm guessing you kind of did a scan to see who else was out there, what others were doing, not just in Tech. >> Sure. >> Not just in North America, but globally. What did you find? Where do you get your inspiration? Are there any organizations out there that are really models that you get inspiration from? Or is it so new? You are the model. Can you just talk about that? >> Well I mean, I think we're doing a really good job and we're pretty advanced, but nobody has this figured out and frankly, we need to do it together. This is a space where you don't actually want to compete. >> Right. >> You want to partner. And so we have our own sustainability advisory aboard and companies like Boeing or on that. I serve on a sustain the advisory board from McLaren and Unilever's chief sustainability officers there. That is a company that is really inspirational to us. And so partners like Intel, they're very involved in 50. So the next 50% that needs to get connected to the internet and participate in the digital economy. We're big partner, as you know we're their largest customer. And so there's a lot going on across our competition our customers and our partners. And we're all inspiring each other and figuring it out together. Cause it's evolving so fast. Nobody has all the answers. >> But that's a great point. The evolution is happening so quickly and every day you turn on the news and there's something else that needs to be responded to. >> Yeah. >> I mean, think that from a strategic perspective from that overall vision perspective, it sounds like what and there's been some announcements this week. >> Yeah. >> That respect to issue. What's been some of the feedback from the part of ecosystem, from customers, from investors on this laser focused vision that Dell has with respect to sustainability and ESG? >> So Cassandra Garber, our head of ESG just finished out of cycle road show with investors and had really good conversations. They're asking a lot of questions about our strategy. They're asking questions about executive compensation tied to ESG as an example. Our customers are very positive and responding. They're looking for technology solutions. As I mentioned to meet their own climate commitments. And from our channel partners they really want to partner on our initiatives and really go do good and make an impact together. And we're getting really good feedback. >> So carrot or stick, it's probably not 100% that the channel partners or even suppliers, you know, some just don't have the resource possibly or maybe they don't share your values. >> Right. >> So how do you approach that? Is it through inspiration? Is it through a little tap in the head or a little headlock? How do you deal with that? >> It's both. I mean, our suppliers have to adhere to the contract and the RSA code of conduct that they have to sign on to uphold. And so we very much hold them accountable just like we do our ourselves. And so that is more compliance driven but we do have partners like Western's Green in our supply chain who we're really involved with us in some early work around recycled gold and partners that are involved with us in setting up the ocean plastic supply chain. And so we have great partnership but there are things they have to do from a human rights perspective or commitment to the environment that are required. From a channel partner perspective, you know, we want to incent them. We want to make money together. We are for profit businesses after all. And ESG can be a part of that. And if you don't have the resources to drive your own take back initiative, then we can do that in partnership through our asset recovery services which partners can sell and then use our infrastructure to take back and recycle old equipment. >> I mean, I feel like a lot of my questions are two-way but you feel as though you're in influencing public policy or a public policy is influencing you? >> Both. I mean, early on when the SEC was looking at the climate rules that they just put out, there was, I think we submitted a six page response to their, you know, ask for inquiry and response. And so that's good. We're able to talk to each other and have conversations and shape things, but ultimately we'll be regulated in these areas and that's fine. We just got to make sure that we're ready. >> Great. >> It's always good to have that push and pull it's like with the pandemic all the silver linings that have come out of the acceleration, we talk about that all the time on this show. The acceleration of digital transformation, we were talking about the acceleration of retail in the intelligence store. >> Right. >> And as consumers, we expect that, but that push and pull sometimes those forcing functions are necessary to be able to drive forward. >> For sure. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> My last question for you is Dell just came off it's most successful year. >> Yes. >> First time hitting north of 100 billion. >> Yes. >> In the company's history. What are some of the things that we think is the moonshot goals, we're only in 2020. >> I know. >> But as time is going by so quickly, what are some of the things that you are personally looking forward to from a corporate affairs ESG perspective say the next like three to five years? >> Well, I'm really excited about some of the groundwork we've laid in digital inclusion. We just made some new hires there. We're connecting the dots, you know, and we have a lot of initiatives that can really if we can scale them, make a big impact. So we have student tech crew, it's where high school students serve as the technical support in their local high school and get certified. So they are job ready the minute they graduate. If they don't want to go to community college or university they can go right into the workforce. How do we marry that up with other skill building initiatives that we have? And if you add 1 plus 1 it equals 3. And I think this year will be a really big accelerator for us in the area of digital inclusion and how we bring connectivity, community services and support and digital skills together. Because that's what, you know, those that aren't participating in the digital economy we need to partner and really deliver on the promise of what it means to be in technology and at least have the skills to compete >> Right. Start eliminating that digital divide. JJ, thank you for joining David and me today talking about ESG- >> Thank you. >> corporate affairs, such an interesting focused efforts that Dell is really wrapped around. And it sounds like there's that push pull from the customers, from policy, but ultimately going in a great direction that can be measured. Thank you for your insights and your time. >> Thank you. >> For JJ and Dave Vellante I'm Lisa Martin. You've been watching The Cube live from Las Vegas. This is the end of day 2 of our coverage of Dell Technologies World. We thank you for watching. You can find all of our content on replay on theCUBE.net. And of course, we will be here tomorrow with John Farrier and Dave Nicholson as well. Have a great night. We'll see you tomorrow. (upbeat music)

>>Overnight 2020 forced us to get digital video, right? For the first 90 days, it was pretty awkward to say the least, but as people became more comfortable with home setups and lighting and just the weirdness of being locked down and shut in the frequency, the quality, and I think the watch ability of virtual conversations improved quite dramatically welcome to the cube. My name is Dave Vellante. And with me to talk about what we learned and can take away from producing video content during the isolation economy is event expert conference facilitator and MC extraordinary Sam Allen, Sam, come inside the cube. Welcome. >>Thank you so much for having me really lovely to be here with you. >>Pleasure. So I gotta ask you, you know, am I right? Do we actually have more watchable video online or now, or are we all sort of zoom fatigued out? >>I think if people watch the cube, I think you've got some incredible content online. You guys are the pros. I think we are still in this change format right now. Uh, we've got people who are doing it well, who started really early, tried failed, pick themselves back up, try it again, and are producing some really good pieces of content looking outside of perhaps the norm to create some great visual, some great conferences and events. I think on the whole, sadly, I think we still have a way to go, which is great for the likes of us in terms of helping those professionals become more professional and just trying to differentiate between what's just a zoom meeting. And actually what's an experience for communications for our audiences. >>I want to get into some of the best practice and maybe some of the do's and don'ts, but, but let's roll back a little bit. Tell us about yourself and how you got into this business. >>I'd love to say I've been a virtual event designer and MC moderator for years, but as we know, the world has turned itself on its head in the past 14, 15 months. Prior to that, I've been in the event and conference industry for about 20 years. Most recently, traveling the world, uh, onstage presenting moderating, hosting conferences, across various different industries from pharmaceuticals to finance, through to industry associations, telecoms, et cetera. Um, my world fell apart just about February 23rd, 2020, as many people did. I was excitingly booked to work with a lot of clients through Nova, uh, through to November, 2020. That didn't happen. And we have a couple of choices as an entrepreneur, uh, pick ourselves up or stay down on the ground. So I chose that first option. I studied online event design. I was a meeting and event designer already, but there are big nuances. When we work in the world of online, I've picked myself up, started studying online event design. I was fortunate. My clients trusted me. So we managed to pivot, uh, several of their events early on during the pandemic into the world of virtual. We've had some incredible feedback from our participants and we have gone from strength to strength. I now work with several other associate MCs experienced in this digital field, working with new and existing clients in terms of designing a better experience for those who are watching us on our screens. Now >>That's awesome. I love the reinvention story. I, Sam, I didn't know. You could take a class in this stuff. So tell me about that. And what was that like? >>I think one of the things when, you know, when we are in, and I'm sure many of our viewers today have said in the wonderful conference theaters and we'll be back in those rooms soon, uh, everything is done with experienced a V and technical and event producers and venue people. Whereas in the online world, I'm here, uh, in sunny London on my own, making sure that I have the right sound, the right connectivity, the rights, uh, visuals, all of these things are things that we just didn't have to do. And we have to do that for every single content contributors. So studying an online event design course back at the very beginning of lockdown really helped me understand the checklist that we need to have for our clients, the things that we need to assume. And most importantly, the things that can go wrong so that we can pick up on those as quickly as we can and try and create these seamless and engaging experiences for our audiences. So I would say to anyone, who's sort of looking into this and really don't know where to start. It's probably good to go and have a look at an online event design course. >>Thank you for that. So, so tell me what, what were some of the things as you look back on 2020, and you think about the work that you did with your clients and maybe even observing some, some of your non-clients, what were the, some of the, some of the mistakes that people made and we can get into some of the best practice. >>Well, as all good people who are being interviewed say, well, you're going to have to wait for my book to be published later on in the year with all the things that have gone wrong and all the ways we've rectified it. But I think one of the major things that we've we've had is obviously this world of distraction, we've all seen it with the cat lawyer. We've seen it with the kids coming in and we've humanized. I think the world of events, which I think is a really positive experience for us all, we are all humans and events are about bringing humans together, human connection. So I think there's a positive side to that, but equally by the same token, we we've seen people, maybe not really getting under the skin of, you know, what's the difference between a zoom meeting and an event experience in terms of what people have been wearing. >>Um, I've had an awkward conversation when we've taken a zoom background away from a speaker and you don't want to know what was hanging on the door. We also had a situation where we lost, um, we've, we've lost speakers and we've had to jump in due to connectivity issues that, you know, we've tested them, but then they've ended up broadcasting from somewhere else. So I think some of that seamless technology, and I would say to anyone, uh, to try and not suffer those challenges, I would say, test, test, rehearse, test, and rehearse again, and make sure you've got that team of people around you. I think a lot of people think that it's very easy to do this, Dave, as I know you and your team will know it is not a, you wouldn't just because I happen to like flying. You wouldn't want me to fly your aircraft. And I think there's the same analogy in terms of running your online event, um, and digital communication experiences. >>Oh, you think, I mean, I w I think we found it that running virtual events is, is harder because there's, first of all, there's so much unknown. You can't really call a late, late stage audible. I mean, things are locked in when you're doing a simulive. I presume you found the same thing and your clients have, have learned a lot in that regard. >>I think it's, um, a lot more work. I think there's a lot more work pre event. Pre-conference pre-meeting that, um, people are still trying to get their, their minds around when we hosted an event in person where you'll get there the day or two before during set-up, we then have a very, very long two, three, four days, depending on how long that event is, where we've got our speakers of the same room, they've all flown in. We know that they've arrived. We know they've checked into the hotel. What we don't have are any of those variables in this world. So we need to make sure that we're working with all of those content providers. And if like me, you work in the association world where you can have up to 90 or a hundred different speakers over a course of a Congress, we've got to fit in the time to make sure that we've tech checked. >>We've worked with panels so that we can make sure that they're dynamic and we've got people looking as well as sounding good. So I think one of those things is that is exceptionally, uh, huge amounts of pre-planning that people need to factor in. I think the second thing is people need to not underestimate how exhausting it is when you don't have the vibe of a live audience. Uh, especially as they'd be considerate of your keynote speakers, especially if they're not professionals, they haven't been doing this. They're not comfortable with a green light. It is tiring, um, trying to visualize 1,004 and a half thousand 25 people, one person in the same room as you would be quite nice. And we haven't had that for the past 12 months. So I think we've learned a lot from that. And we've got some good tips and tricks now that we can, we can use, but, um, I'm pretty sure a lot of our content providers and speakers are looking forward to seeing people back in a really, yeah, fantastic. Well, >>That brings me to my next question. Let's make this the last one, just as we begin to get a little bit more comfortable with, with virtual now we're getting vaccinated. People are, there's huge up demand for face to face. So now we have this new thing of hybrid, uh, which is going to be really interesting to see how that plays out. What are you seeing? What's your expectation for that sort of new abnormal? >>That's an incredibly good question. And we have to start with the new C word is the H word, which is hybrid. I think we have a lot of people getting worried about what hybrid looks like, but I think if, if you think with a design thinking mind, when you're looking at event planning, the virtual or the in-person audience adjust another stakeholder. So if you're spending that time to plan out your meeting or event, the way you should be, then you can factor those people in. I am excited about this world. I think it becomes so much more inclusive for organizations moving forward. And DNI is something that has often been forgotten in the world of conferences and events. And I think the hybrid role gives us all the opportunity to, to have that choice. I think people especially event organizers because it's their job believe that everybody wants to be in a room and not everybody does and not everybody can. And now this is a really, really exciting opportunity to do things differently, to do things, to become more inclusive. And of course, to be more sustainable. >>Sam, you're really an inspiration. I mean, a lot of people out there have to reinvent themselves. You've, you've done it. You retrained you, you started a new type of business that drew on your existing passion, but it's really fantastic to have you on. Thanks for sharing your expertise best of luck in the future. It's great having you. >>Thanks, Dave. >>All right. Thanks for watching everybody. This is Dave Volante for the cube. We'll see you next time.

>>Live from Orlando, Florida. It's the cube covering Microsoft ignite brought to you by Cohesity. >>Welcome back everyone to the cubes live coverage of Microsoft ignite here in Orlando. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight, alongside of my co host Stu Miniman. We are joined by Lonnie Phillips. She is the vice president us channel sales at Microsoft. Thank you so much for coming on the cube. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to have this conversation. You are a cube newbie, so this is going to be great. It's going to be great. So why don't you start by telling our viewers a little bit about what you do at Microsoft. You're, you've been there for 23 years, which is not, we can hardly believe it, but tell us about your, your job. I know I have been with Microsoft for a very long time, but currently I am responsible for driving our digital transformation in partnership with all of our partners. For example, Cohesity is one of those partners where we actually take that to the customer and makes sure that we ensure their success. >>We also have the co-selling partnership with all of our partners. We make sure that we can work on joint pursuits together to ensure that we ultimately meet our customer's goals together. So you are in charge of Microsoft's own digital transformation as it is helping other customers with their digital transformation where we're doing all of it. So how are you taking what you're learning, the, the, the successes and the mistakes along the way to make sure that you're putting together the best practices? I think the biggest thing that we were trying to do is just make sure that we create forums to make sure we bring our partners together and bring our people together and make sure that we have those sessions where we can talk about what we're learning along the way. And it's not just us as a leadership team, but it says collectively, uh, one of the things that I, I enjoy hosting is I actually bring together a group of our partners and we talk about what's actually happening in the marketplace and they kind of share the best practices that we're learning as we go out. And we talked to different customers. So it's really nice. >>Alright. I love that. And when you talk to customers, they're going through that transformation. It's really about getting the data inside that environment. That's what differentiates between before you've been transforming after is you can drive that environment. Um, you know, how does data and being customer obsessed, uh, play into your role? >>Oh my gosh. So talking about customer obsession, 22 years I've been with the company. I want you to know of all those 22 years I've always been customer facing or I led the teams that were customer facing. So I have a tremendous amount of passion for it. You know, the thing I tell most people is there's actually a Forester research study that says, when you have so much digital disruption, the one competitive advantage you can have as a company is to really deeply understand your customers, what's important to them, build those connections with them, understand what problems they're, and be a part of that solution. I actually wrote on this recently and I talked about four key areas. One. As you think about customer obsession is really about engaging with your customers to understand their industry and their business deeply and what problems they're trying to solve and then it's really about advocating for those customers and making sure that whatever problems they're trying to solve, that you bring together the right solutions to solve that problem. >>Sometimes that's going to be part, partly Microsoft. Other times it's going to be partly our partners coming together to solve their problems from end to end zone. I think it is so important once you bring the solution to them, you're really empowering them. You're empowering your customer to really be able to meet the needs of their customers. Right and then last but not least, you have to listen. We have to listen to our customers to make sure we're learning from them and I think that is going to be a competitive advantage for anyone that really focuses on what does it really mean to be customer obsessed. >> One of the things that we heard on the main stage this morning was trust and trust. How important trust is, and this is at a time where there is a lot of mistrust of big technology companies, a lot of uh, some bad actors, some in real and perceived, uh, problems in the industry at large. >>What, how do you make sure that you are transparent and that you are perceived to be this trustworthy partner with four customers as they embark on this digital transformation? Thank you for that question. And I agree with you. I think it's one of those things where as you start to practice the four things that I talked about, you do find yourself being seen as a trusted advisor at that point, right? So they invite you to the table. But I think part of what you have to do to build that trust with your customers is you have to have a level of integrity and you've got to be able to be forthright with being able to say what you can do and what you can do right? Or if you see them making a mistake in a respectful way, offer them that feedback. I have found time and time again. Our customers really appreciate that transparency and that clarity around what we can do and what we can't do. And when you practice, that I think is so important because what happens is the customer becomes, they find themselves valuing that. And then what it allows you to do is to be a part of conversations where they share their articulated needs. But then it also allows you, I love when Satya says the unarticulated need to really understand what problems they're solving and how we might come together to solve it. >>Well, one of the real interesting things to watch in this transformation journey has been the channel. And you know, in the past it was I'm selling you licenses. I have a certain infrastructure piece that I'm going to help you with. But you know, today, uh, you know, I, I need a Microsoft practice. I need to help you understand, uh, you know, how to take, enable, uh, the, the, the cloud phrase inside a little bit of what's been changing in your organization, how you're helping your partners move along this journey. >>I think the biggest thing that in the coast selling part of things is we're trying to do a better job of making sure that we include partners from, as we identify opportunities within our customers, bringing them in earlier in the sales cycle so they can participate on the entire journey with us. I think it is so important for them to be able to really understand what the customer's trying to solve for and be at the table with Microsoft earlier. I think it's also important to make sure that we are listening to our partners as well. They're spending a lot of time with our customers that we don't actually have time with the, we don't actually sit at the table with them and it's important that we create an environment where we're both sitting at the table and we're sharing with one another how things are going and when we start running into issues, let's see what we can do to start removing those blockers to ensure our customer's success. >>So we're just trying to include them into the fabric of everything we do internally. We refer to it as hard wiring partners and say every aspect of everything we do because we can't be successful without them. >> Another hot button, hot button issue in the technology industry is diversity or the lack of it. We know that there is a dearth of women leaders, a dearth of people of color, a dearth of people of different sexualities, LGBTQ. How are, how are you tackling these issues at Microsoft? And can you talk about, uh, inclusion initiatives within Microsoft and at its, at its partner ecosystem? Absolutely. So another topic near and dear to my high for obvious reasons and haven't been here for a 22 years, I can tell you that it is an area that I can personally say at Microsoft, we've gotten so much better, but we are definitely not at end of job. >>This is just, this is going to be a journey and we still have a lot more to learn. But I would say to you, the biggest thing that I think we've done is we've declared that this is going to be a foundation of everything that we do and we're now holding one another accountable. Some of the initiatives that we're doing. I love the fact that we did training around unconscious and conscious bias that started a conversation that wasn't happening before and it caused us all to kind of pause and assess and all of this is rooted in, you've heard about the growth mindset to make sure we're constantly learning from one another, but the biggest thing that I've really come to appreciate in the famous quote we hear everybody talk about is diversity is being invited to the party, right? Inclusion is being asked to dance and then there's another element of that which is even deeper and it's belonging and belonging is like dancing like nobody's watching. >>And I would tell you that some of the initiatives that we're trying to drive on the inclusion front is to make sure that we create a space as leaders to make sure all voices are heard and to create that forum for that. Also to make sure that we are just being intentional about connecting with people, understanding what their needs are and doing everything we can to incorporate it. Everybody's doing something a little bit different. We have big initiatives, but we're all held accountable. And I equally am just so excited about the changes. And then the belonging aspect, which is so important to me in my organization is making people feel like they're valued for being here. And we have to create opportunities to really allow them to be able to shape our direction and make them feel like they really belong and they're valued. And how is it being built to the employees? >>Is it this is something that will impact the products and services that we as Microsoft deliver to our customers and our customers are diverse or is it something else? I mean, how would you, is it sort of this is the right thing to do? How would you describe how it's talked about? I would tell you that it's talked about in a couple of different ways and it's all of the above. Um, I would tell you that when it comes to, is it the right thing to do for business? Does it drive business outcomes and profitability? Absolutely. I think there's a lot of studies out there that support it. Is it the right thing to do because you have all of these diverse people in the workplace? Absolutely. But we're also saying that as you think about the future of technology, it's going to be so important as you start to think about some of those native behaviors that are going to be built into AI. And we think about the foundation of trust. We got to be very sensitive to those biases that will come out. So we have to make sure that we're always being mindful of diversity and inclusion there. So we talk about all of the above. >>Just curious with your role in the channel, did they look to Microsoft for guidance in this space? Is there education, you talked about some of the bias training, the likes that technology and channel partners can leverage and learn from what Microsoft is doing out there? >>Absolutely, absolutely they can learn from us. So one of the things that we have done is we kind of have like a little bit of a culture committee at the global level where they are actually working with our partners around DNI. And then in the U S I actually signed up to kind of support that initiative here in the U S and we're just getting started. But we are trying to make some of the things we're doing. Um, make sure it's available to the channel so they can leverage it. But you know what I would say we don't have all the answers. So our partners, believe it or not, some of them are extremely progressive in this area as well. And we want to make sure that we're learning from them as well. So we're going to start to do more blogs, we're going to make sure we can do some form of videos and we're going to start sharing two ways. >>We want to make sure we can make with what resources we have available to them, but we also want to learn from them as well. I mean, so much of this interview has focused learning and the collaboration that goes on between Microsoft and its customers and its partners at collaborating. So how when you're here at ignite, yeah. And this is not your first ignite. So wow. What describe the community for us here and what goes on here at this conference for our viewers who don't have the luxury of being here in Orlando. Oh my gosh, there's so much that goes on here. I think one, it allows us to really add ignite to really connect with more of the TDM and the technical audience within our customer base. But it also allows us to connect with our partners and it allows us to really get embedded with our partners around the solutions that they have to offer our customers. >>And we make sure that we create a forum that brings those two together. It's also an opportunity for you to understand where we're trying to go from a technology direction, from a vision, like everyone's talking about the buzz around Saatchi as keynote. I think that's really another reason why you come here. When you think about the amount of money that our customers invest in our solutions, it's important to understand that that's a good investment. And you're not just thinking short term, but you're thinking long term. So it's an opportunity to come here and learn a lot. >>Yeah. So, so Lani, just with your experience out there, I it sometimes people have a hard time understanding that the company that you see today is different than the past, so you know, I, you know, I think back in the early days and you think Microsoft and it was the Microsoft that is, you're going to use my O S and my business apps and and it's all Microsoft. Talk a little bit about, especially as you're going to the channel, how Microsoft its ecosystem and its ISV partners, how those all interplay. >>Oh my gosh, there's so much to tell you about that. I would tell you that when we think about how we're going to be successful today is we're the platform company and we've got all of these technology companies, our partners that sit on top of that. Let me give you an example of that. When I think about Cohesity, right? Cohesity is actually this modern cloud first architecture, right? That has Azure running natively, so our customers have the ability to really be able to run their data. Workloads in Azure is seamlessly with Cohesity. That is what it means when it says customer obsession, customers centric. They keep the customer at the center and make it seamless for them to transition. It's because of those partnerships that Microsoft's going to continue to be successful, and that's where we're going to continue to invest. We want to make sure that we leverage our partner ecosystem to meet our customer's needs from Anta, and so it's limitless the opportunity that's out there for us. Excellent. Lalani, thank you so much for coming on the cube. It was great having you on. Thank you for having me. I enjoyed it. I'm Rebecca knife for Stu Miniman. Stay tuned for more of the cubes live coverage of Microsoft ignite.

>> Announcer: From San Francisco it's theCUBE. Covering Red Hat Summit 2018. Brought to you by Red Hat. >> Welcome back, everyone. We are here live in San Francisco, the Moscone West for the Red Hat Summit and we're covering three days of wall-to-wall coverage. I'm John Furrier with my co-host John Troyer. Our next guest is Jennifer Cloer, creator and executive producer of The Chasing Grace Project, formerly CUBE alumni, was on at the CloudNOW awards at Google. Great to see you. >> Great to see you, thanks for having me. >> So obvioulsy Open Source has been amazing growth, okay, and it has kind of democratized software. >> Right. >> You've got a project in my opinion that I think is democratizing, getting the word out on the tech issues around women in tech and more importantly, it's inspirational, but it's also informational. Take a minute and explain what is the project Chasing Grace? Obviously Grace, Grace Hopper. >> Right. Right, The Chasing Grace Project is a documentary series of six episodes about women in tech. The name does lend itself to Grace. We named it after Grace Hopper because she really exemplifies the grit and the excellence that we're all chasing all the time. It's also this idea that we're chasing the idea of grace in the face of adversity. It's not always easy but the women who we've interviewed and talked to exhibit amazing grace and are super inspiring. So the series doesn't shy away from adversity but it certainly focuses on stories of resilience. >> And when did you start the project and is there episodes? Is it on Netflix? >> Yes. >> Is it on DVD? >> (laughs) Let's hope. We hope so. We started the project, excuse me, about a year and a half ago. I put a call for stories out in a number of women in tech forums I belong to, was inundated with responses. Women are ready to share their stories. Spent every Friday for about four or five months on back-to-back calls with women, produced the trailer last May, a year ago, released it in September, and since then it's been a whirlwind. Lots of interest. Lots of men and women wanting to share their stories, as well as people wanting to underwrite the work, which is fabulous because it relies on sponsors. So yeah, we're about a year and a half in. We just finished episode one and screened it. We've got four or five more to go so we're early. We're early, but it's happening. >> And share some stories because I saw the trailer, it's phenomenal. There's women in tech and the culture of the bro culture, people talk about that all the time. It's male-dominated and you're seeing here with Red Hat Summit, there's women here but it's still dominated by men. >> Right. >> The culture has to evolve and I think a lot of men are smart and see it. Some aren't and some are learning. I would call learning a bigger (laughs) percentage. >> Sure. >> What are you finding that women who are really driving the change has been the big trend line? And how's the men reacting? Because the men have to be involved, too because they also have to take responsibility for the change. >> Absolutely, absolutely. I would say that by women sharing their stories we are starting to change culture. I'm actually keynoting today at the Women's Leadership lunch at Red Hat Summit. I'm going to talk about that, the impact of story on cultural change because there's a lot of reasons cited for the decline of women in tech, because we've gone backwards. There's actually fewer than ever before. But many things are cited. So the pipeline issue, poor education, but the biggest thing cited is the culture and the culture has changed over the course of the last decade in particular. So the women we've talked to, their stories of resilience are starting to change that culture. When people talk and share experiences and stories, there's empathy that comes from both men and women who hear those stories and I think that that starts to change culture. It's starting to happen. I think we are pivoting, it's happening. But there's still a lot of work to do. >> John Troyer: Jennifer, at the keynote, or at the luncheon here, the Women's Leadership luncheon, anything else that you'll be bringing up? That sounds like part of your message here that you're going to be bringing today and you want to share right before you go up? >> Yeah, sure. So like I said, I'll talk about the impact of story on culture. I'll talk about the stories of resilience. I'm going to share a few stories from women who we've actually interviewed and featured in episode one. Because you can't see episode one online because we're in discussions with distributors, I'm going to share those stories with this audience. And I think folks can, like I said, learn from those and gain empathy and walk away hopefully with action. >> That seems great. The storytelling of course is key, right? We're in an interesting place in our culture today and I think social media, the 10 or 20 years of social media that we've had is part of that. I know my feed is filled with incredible women leaders in tech and frankly it's much better for it. But you know, you do sense a sense of almost weariness in some folks because this is one, they get shit on, can I say that? >> Hey, it's digital TV, there's no censorship. >> But also you'd like to eventually, if you're a woman in tech, you'd like to be able to talk about tech, not just being a woman in tech. >> Right, right. >> I guess, is that just at the part, is that just where we are in society right now? >> I think so and you know, it's a marathon, not a sprint, right? It's going to take a long time. It took a long time to get us to this place, it's going to take a long time to move us forward. But yeah, women do want to build tech and not have to advocate for themselves. Hopefully projects like The Chasing Grace Project and other work that's happening out there, there's a lot of initiatives that have sprung up in the last few years, are helping to do that so that the women who are building can build. >> What's your big takeaway from the work you've done so far? It could be something that didn't surprise you that you knew was pretty obvious and what surprised you? What's some of the things that's come out of it that's personal learnings for you? >> I think the power that comes from giving women a platform to be seen and heard for their experiences. Almost every woman I've talked to says I feel so alone. They're in an office with mostly men. There might be another woman but they feel so alone and when they share their stories and they see other women sharing their stories, they know they're not alone. There may be few of them but the stories are very similar. I think that men learn a lot when they see women sharing their stories, too because they don't know. The experiences that we all have are very different. We're walking through the same industry but our day-to-day experiences are quite different. Learning what that's like, both for women, for men, there are men that are going to be featured in this series, and women of other women. Just the power in that. Most women tell me I don't really have a story. Well, you both know that when you dig a little bit, >> They all have stories. >> everybody has a story. Everybody has a story, multiple stories. So, yeah. >> So let me as you a question. This has come up in some of my interviews on women in tech and that is is that it kind of comes up subtlety, it's not really put out there, like you said, aggressively. But they say there's also a women women pressure. So how have you found that come up? Because it's not just women and men. I've heard women say there's pressure, there's other pressures from other women. Do more or do less and it's kind of an individual thing but it's also kind of code, as well to stick together. At the same time, there's a women and women dynamic. >> Yeah. >> What have you found on that? >> Mostly I've found, I think there's a shift happening, mostly I've found that women are forming community and supporting each other. Everyone has a different definition of feminism or womenism (laughs) as some women have called it, but I think there are some women who have told me, usually the older generations who have told me there's only room for one woman at the table. One woman makes it to leadership and she's very protective of that space. But we're seeing that less and less. >> I don't want to turn this into, you hate to turn this into a versus scenario, right? Especially online I see a lot of interaction of men coming up and saying, either trying to explain to women what their problem is or, but also saying educate me, like take your time to educate me because I can't be bothered to figure it out myself. Or also trying to stand up themselves and lead the charge. So one of my personal things I do, I sit back and let the women talk and listen to them about what they want to do. >> Right. >> Any particular advice you have for folks who are listening and who might want to, you know, what do you do? I guess sit down and pay attention. >> Yeah, I'd say listen to the stories. Listen to what women need and want out of their male allies and advocates. And listen to the women who you already are friends and colleagues with. What do they need from you? Start there. And then build your way out. I remember when I first started The Chasing Grace Project, I was actually advised by people, well don't feature men at all because they can't speak for women and that's very true but I've decided that we will feature both men and women because we're all part of the industry, right? When I talk about the future is being built by all of us. We need more women in leadership. We don't need just women in leadership, we need men and women. So I think though, right now at this moment in time men should listen and ask their, like I said, their inside circle of women that are friends and colleagues, what can I do? What do you need in terms of my support? >> And it's inclusion, too. There's a time to have certain, all women and then men, as well. >> Right. >> Kind of the right balance. >> Right. >> Well, I have to ask you obvioulsy, Red Hat is an Open Source world. Community is huge. Obviously tech has a community and some will argue how robust it is (laughs) >> Right. (laughs) >> and fair it is. And communities have their own personality, but the role of the community becomes super critical. Can you just share your thoughts and views of how the role of the community can up its game a bit on inclusion and diversity? And I put inclusion first because inclusion and diversity, that seems to be the trend in my interviews, diversity and inclusion, and now it's inclusion and diversity. But the community has some self-policing mechanisms. There's kind of a self-governance dynamic of communities. So it's an opportunity. >> It is an opportunity. >> So what's your view? >> There are a lot of things that are talked about within the Open Source community in terms of how to advance inclusion in a positive way. One is enforcement. So at events like this, there's a code of conduct. They've become very popular. Everybody has one, for good reason, but everybody's doing them now. I worked at The Linux Foundation for 12 years. When you have an incident at an event, if you don't enforce your code of conduct, it doesn't mean anything. So I think that's one very tangible example of something you can do. We certainly tried at The Linux Foundation, but I remember it was a challenge. If something happened, what was the level of issue and how would we enforce that and address it? So I think the community can do that. I think start there, yeah. >> What's your take on The Linux Foundation, since you brought it up? Lots going on there. >> Right. >> You've got CNCF is exploding in growth. >> Jennifer: Right. >> Part of that, Jim Zemlin is doing a great job. As you look at The Linux Foundation since you have the history, >> Yeah. >> where it's come from and where it's going, what's your view of that? >> My goodness. I was part of The Linux Foundation before it was called The Linux Foundation. It was called Open Source Development Labs, way, way, back. But you know, always impressed with what The Linux Foundation is doing. CNCF in particular is on fire. I watched my social media feeds last week about KubeCon in Copenhagen, a lot of friends there. You know, Open Source is the underpinning of society. If the world we live in is a digital one and we're building that digital existence for tomorrow, the infrastructure is Open Source. So it's just going to become more and more relevant. >> And they're doing a great job. And it's an opportunity with the community again to change things. >> Yeah. >> There's a good mindset in the Open Source community with Linux Foundation. Very growth-oriented, growth mindset. Love the vibe there. They've got good vibes. >> Yeah. >> They're very open and inclusive. >> There's some projects that are really prioritizing. DNI, one of which is Cloud Foundry Foundation. Abby Kearns is doing an amazing job there. The Node.js community I think is pretty progressive. So yeah, it's encouraging. >> Abby was on theCUBE. We were there in Copenhagen. >> Right, right. >> Thanks for coming on. >> My pleasure. >> What's next for you? Your life's a whirlwind. Take a quick minute. >> Yeah, I'm in Chicago next week for a shoot. We're shooting episode two which is focused on women in leadership roles. There's only 11% of executive positions in Silicon Valley are held by women. So it's a provocative topic because a lot of women haven't experienced that so we want more to do that. >> Well, if you need any men for the next show, John and I will happily volunteer. >> Okay, wonderful. >> To be stand-ins and backdrops. >> Fantastic, thank you. >> Thanks for coming on. It's theCUBE coverage here live, Moscone West in San Francisco for Red Hat Summit 2018. We'll be back with more coverage after this short break.

(upbeat music) >> Announcer: Live from Orlando, Florida It's theCUBE, covering Grace Hopper's celebration of women in computing. Brought to you by SiliconANGLE Media. >> Welcome back to theCUBE's coverage of the Grace Hopper conference here in Orlando, Florida. I am your host Rebecca Knight. I'm joined by Lybra Clemons. She is the global head of diversity and inclusion at PayPal. Thanks so much for joining us, Lybra. >> Thanks for having me. >> So this is your first time on theCUBE. >> First time on theCUBE, first time at Grace Hopper, first month of PayPal so it's great. >> A newbie, well we are thrilled to have you. >> Thank you. >> And you're actually, frankly, quite new at PayPal, so-- >> Very new. >> You're a month in, so tell us, what does the Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion do? >> I think they do everything, because somehow, someway my calendar is full. It's a combination of things. You know, DNI, Diversity Inclusion, is so important to the CEO, and to the company. So, not only am I involved in all kinds of business meetings, but we're a function of human resources, so there's a recruiting piece of it. There's also the talent management, the development of our diverse talent, as well as engagement. So I'm hitting every single part of kind of your HR employee life cycle, as well as all of these amazing opportunities, like coming to Grace Hopper, partnering with a lot of our smaller organizations and nonprofits who are working on ensuring that there is STEM and tech for young women and girls. As well as, looking into different affinity groups in LGBT, our veterans, just so many opportunities, so I'm constantly like, but it's so fantastic because there's such enthusiasm. Our CEO is really top notch. I mean, Dan Schulman, not only does he talk about diversity, but he is really committed to it. So, I'm telling you, I feel like almost a celebrity, and it's just like, usually the diversity person, they're like, yeah he's our diversity person. But then like, I got introduced the first week, and my email is blowing up, and people were just excited about it, in a good positive way. >> So, let's back up actually, and talk about, you know, one of the things our keynotes were talking about this morning is what do women look for in an employer. What do they want? What do women want Lybra? >> What do people want? >> So when you were looking for your next move in your career, what stood out to you about PayPal, and what made you think, "This is the place". >> That is such a good question. One thing I did, the first thing I did actually, was go to their website, and I looked at their board to see who was on their board from a diversity perspective. And I have to tell you, PayPal's Board of Directors 45% diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity. I don't know another company, or tech company, that's achieving that at that point, so that was completely impressive. I also go to the leadership, and I look to see how many levels down you have to go, to find a woman or a person of color. I didn't have to go that many levels down, and it was an abundance of it. So, for me, that's critical, and I think a lot of woman and even underrepresented minorities, they look for that. If you can't see yourself in the senior ranks, then you just question whether there is a life for you there, and a trajectory for you. So, for me, that was important. Also, just a great, cool culture. I get to wear jeans to work you know. >> But Lybra, how did you find out about the culture? What kind of homework did you do? >> You know, that's a good question. I actually knew someone that worked at PayPal, but it's a far cry from my life in New York, which is wonderful, and there are a lot of companies that actually are casual, but beyond just your attire, there is something about it, every time I met someone at PayPal I didn't hear this, "Oh, I work at PayPal". There's enthusiasm, there's authenticity, which is critical, people are who they are, who they are. They don't come to work and they don't shed whatever it is, they can be whoever they want. That, to me, is so important, because I have a personality, I also have an idea, I have a vision. >> Rebecca: I have no idea, Lybra. >> Yeah, no personality, but that's so important to me. So, there was a place where people can feel like they can bring themselves to work, and I know it's a cliche, but you really can. And I think there's also a piece where people actually care about what other people think. I think there's like not a lot of group think, which, a lot of companies are like, "Get along, "go along to get along," that's not there. So, for me, it was so important that I can show up, and be myself, and in the interviews I was all Lybra, and if you can take all Lybra, then, you know, I'm in there, but I think a lot of woman and just people in general want to see themselves at work, and feel like they don't have to try to be someone else. >> And see their aspirational selves, as you said. >> Their aspirations, their goals, people that look like them, but an opportunity to influence, and be creative, and be entrepreneurial, and that is what I needed and wanted, and I think a lot of people are looking for that these days. >> So, earlier in your career you worked in Nicaragua, with the One Laptop per Child Organization. Tell us a little bit about that, and then also connect it to what you're doing today. >> It's so interesting, it is like, first of all I left American Express, moved to Nicaragua and ran a laptop program. I have no tech background. I had never been to Nicaragua, but it was such an amazing opportunity, and it was an opportunity for me to not only to introduce the concept of using laptops to various schools and teachers, but to also get kids to really understand how to use technology to solve problems. This was in 2009, right? But was also just full circle, and it's funny because I talked about this in my interview, was living in Nicaragua, I had a cellphone at the time, but I would have to walk blocks and blocks and blocks in the heat, to the ATM, which may or may not work, to get cash, to go walk a few more blocks to pay for my cellphone to add minutes. And I just thought in my mind, how much easier it would be, like literally just so, >> Rebecca: (laughing) Yes. >> How much easier would it be if I didn't have to do that. So, one of the things I learned was understanding how important tech is, introducing it at young ages, ensuring that people understand, not just the children understand the use of technology, but also we were training teachers who didn't understand technology. That's a huge gap a lot of people miss. But also, the function of how to operate when the infrastructures aren't there. Fast forward to 2017, interviewing at a company like PayPal that actually opens up opportunities for people who wouldn't have that. >> And here in the US we can be very Western centric. >> That's right. >> But to think about how tech is this great equalizer for developing countries, helping, making person to person payments easier, more seamless. >> Financial inclusion, that's what this company is about. So not only did I go to the website to look at who was on the board, who were the leaders, you know, Dan Schulman, following him, but also really being behind the vision and the mission of a company, and there's not a person at PayPal that does not agree with what we're doing. And it's so fantastic, and it's everything I thought about during my time at American Express, also at One Laptop per Child, but it all just is full circle, and it's just everything that I've always wanted. So you feel like you're in the right place, you know? >> So, you're one month in. >> Lybra: One month in. >> I want to know what you want the future to hold for PayPal, so when we're sitting down next year Lybra, at the next Grace Hopper conference. >> Lybra: Yes. >> What do you want to look back as the accomplishments of PayPal, both in terms of recruiting more women, retaining more women, and also the programs keep them happy in their roles. >> Yes, yeah. I mean, you know what, in one year, I would love to see more people of color here. I mean, I definitely think that, even as just looking around the room, I definitely see diversity within Grace Hopper, but I definitely see that we're missing the Black and Latino population. And that part is very critical, as we look at the numbers and we look at diversity within the women's movement. So that part, I would love for PayPal to be able to contribute to that. But how do we bring more women of color into these conversations and having a seat at the table so I would love for that. Grace Hopper, more men, we have men here. Our Chief Technology Officer is here. >> Rebecca: (laughing) It's a secret. >> We've got probably two to three men that are with us, and I definitely want to bring more. I think the only way to have a conversation is to bring everyone to be part of it. And so, I know we can do that next year, and I just have a feeling that the way that global diversity is looking at DNI as it relates to women. We can look at women, but we're looking at everyone. And we want to create those opportunities. And there's a lot of focus on recruiting, but for us we really want to talk about retention and culture. Because we can bring them in the door, we need you to stay. We need you to stay, we need you to build, we need you to be entrepreneurs, and we need you to ascend through the ranks. So anything that our team can do to ensure that, that's where the dirty work is. This is all fun and exciting, but it's like getting back to PayPal offices, ensuring that not only do we have the women at PayPal, but they see themselves in leadership opportunities, and they have those opportunities. So that's exciting for us too. >> You talked about the numbers, and the numbers are bleak right now. >> Yes. >> So, it's 25%, women represent 25% of workers in the tech industry, 15% of leaders, and the numbers are even more abysmal for Black and Latino women. >> Lybra: Yes absolutely. >> So if you could talk to the young Lybra out there >> Lybra: Oh my God. >> The person who aspires to have a rewarding and rich career in technology. What would you say to her? >> Here is what I love though. I have to say this. This is my first tech job to be honest. What I'm hearing about are all these organizations, and even Melinda Gates talked about this. There are so many organizations that are going into the schools to ensure that a lot of these young women from all walks of life have access to technology. Computer Science. To really understand the value of using technlogy to solve problems. So, what I would love to do is continue those partnerships, and be very, very targeted and specific about it. Because, there's a lot of that's happening, but we need to pull through all the way. Like, do they stop at the fifth grade, what happens in Middle School, what happens in High School? Do they go to certain schools that don't have these programs. So there has to be kind of of a pull through affect. I think if you're interested, there are opportunities. But you have to stay involved, and I think that's the hard part because there's that drop off that I was just talking about. I think there's a lot of commitment in the schools, but then you may drop off after that, so what do we do to kind of bridge that gap. I would love for companies to think more of this middle to high school bridge program. Where, not only do you learn at the young age, but also you're starting to invent and be more thoughtful and be entrepreneurs, because that's what we need more of. Hopefully, we'll be able to tackle that at some point, we'll see, but the sky's the limit I think. >> Do you have any also advice for, I know you're an expert in public-private partnerships. >> Lybra: Yes yes. >> Do you have any advice for companies as well as organizations that want to team up and work on this problem. >> Yeah, you know what though, I think there's a lot of these organizations as I said earlier, but I think that if companies take one particular school, or one particular idea and just go full throttle, I think that helps. >> Rebecca: And use it as a test case or? >> It's a pilot, and see what else happens. But I think when there's a more specific and targeted goal with one particular entity it helps to build a momentum. You're constantly involved and engaged, and you don't lose anything as a result of kind of hopping around. Public-private partnerships are so hard, you know there's political, there's the politics behind it, there are people that leave, so you don't get the continuity as much, but you try. >> So, I think that's exciting to note, the experiment, you see what works, and then you are able to take those best practices and scale them up. >> Absolutely absolutely. >> Great. Well, Lybra Clemons, thanks so much it's been really fun talking to you. >> Thank you I had a wonderful time. >> Good luck and thank you. >> Thanks. >> I'm Rebecca Knight, we'll have more from the Grace Hopper conference here in Orlando, Florida, just after this. (upbeat music)

>> Hey, welcome back everybody, Jeff Frick here with theCUBE. We're in downtown San Francisco at the Professional BusinessWomen of California Conference. It's the 28th year, Jackie Speier started it a long time ago and now it's grown to 6,000 people. It's a pretty amazing conference, it crosses all indrustries and actually a lot more than California as well. And we're excited to actually have somebody to come talk to us about the conference itself. It's Deepti Srivastava, she's a Project Manager of Google Cloud from Google. Great to see you again, last we saw you, I looked it up was 2014 >> I know. >> at Topcoder Open. >> Indeed. >> And you were doing great work then, you were on a panel with a bunch of high school girls. I remember they'd bust in a couple of busloads of high school girls and you and a couple other mainly young professional women talkin' to 'em about the life of an engineer. So you're still doin' good things. >> I hope so. (laughs) >> Absolutely. >> I hope so, yeah, it's a passion of mine and I'm really happy to bring it to something like PBWC where I'm on the board. And we do a bunch of work across industries and across all levels. PBWC's mission is to work for gender equity and equal pay for women across all industries and in all professional settings. >> Right. >> That includes young professionals, as well as the pipeline of professionals coming in. >> That's terrific. So we could talk about your day job all day long. (Deepti laughs) Google Cloud's kickin' tail, you guys had your big conference a couple weeks back-- >> Here in fact. (chuckles) >> Here in Moscone West, right? >> Yeah. >> But in terms of what you're doing here with PBWC, give us a little bit of the history. So we know it was started by Jackie Speier, I think you said 1988. >> Yeah. >> That's just amazing. >> I know. >> Obviously it's much more than California. >> Yeah. >> But what is the top-level mission and how has the conference evolved over the last several years? >> So Professional BusinessWomen of California, as you said was started by Congresswoman Jackie Speier and Judy Bloom, who's a co-founder. And we still exist and we've been doing this for so long and we really care about our mission, which is to work for basically gender equity and equal pay as I said, for all professional settings for women. And in this particular case, this conference we are talking about inclusion. And we chose this theme because we really think it's pertinent to what's going on right now in the world and in our country. And we, PBWC, believe that the things that unite us, the potentials and aspirations that unite us are greater than our differences and things like that. So we want to make a statement and really address the inclusion work that we do, and the inclusion work that's required for all of us to really move forward as a country and as a people. And if you look at our lineup of speakers today, we really do walk the talk that we're talking about. We have amazing speakers today with Rosario Dawson to Taraji P. Henson and all the way to Secretary Clinton who's closing out our day today, we are so excited to have her. And there's nobody better to represent breaking the glass ceiling than she has so we're very excited to hear. >> And what a get, I think I heard that it's her first public speaking engagement post the election. >> Yeah, I know. And it's very exciting because again, I think we're all about coming together and rallying and being a force for good. The conferences, that's our aim ultimately as an organization. And having her here to give her speech, first public appearance after the election last year, very exciting I think. >> Right, right. >> And we're very excited to hear from her. I'm already inspired by the thought that she's going to be here. >> And really a big part of the theme was kind of the strategy work is done, everybody knows it's good. Now it's really time for the rubber to hit the road. It's about execution and about taking steps and measuring. And a lot of the real concrete, nuts-and-bolts activities that need to happen to really move this thing down the road. >> You mean like gender equity and-- >> Yeah, yeah. >> Yeah, absolutely. I think it's been a topic for awhile and I think, exactly, we need to have the rubber hit the road, we have to get together, we have to have actionable plans and that's what a bunch of our seminars today talk about. How to address those things in your, we really want to empower women and actually people of all backgrounds and ages and all sorts of people to take charge of their own lives. And especially, we are a professional women conference so that's kind of where we focus our messaging. But really we want women to take control of their own lives and we want to give them the tools, the networking opportunities, the inspirations to meet their aspirations in those fields. And so we want them to take charge and move forward by themselves, take away from here and go back to your job, to your work, to your home, to really bring your messaging forward. Take inspiration from here and bring it back to your life. >> Right, and I think Bev Crair, in the keynotes said, "Fill your well today." >> Yeah. >> 'Cause as soon as you leave here it's back to the grind and you're going to need that energy. So while you're here surrounded by this energy and your peers, take it all in and load up. >> Absolutely. And I also want to say that we started out as a conference, an annual conference, and that's definitely our marquee thing that we do every year. But we actually have a lot more offerings that people can continue to engage over the year. So we have webinars and seminars that people can attend, there's community events that happen here. And you can go to the PBWC website and see what all offerings we have. But we want people to engage and we want to be able to provide them with the means to engage throughout the year, not just here but take this, everything you get today and then take it along the rest of the year and recharge yourself. >> It's kind of this whole 365 concept which we talk about on theCUBE a lot too, 'cause we go to so many shows. And there's a huge investment of time and energy and money on those two or three days, but how do you extend that out beyond the show? How do you build the excitement leading into the show so it's not just a one time kind of a shot, then everything goes back to normal? >> Yeah exactly, I think that's exactly the point, that this is not just a one day, you go there, you get inspired and then what next, right? >> Right. >> There's something you can go back to with our various offerings and continue your learning journey if that's what you want, or networking journey if that's what you want to do. Wherever you are in your career, we actually have a Young Women's Professional Summit that I have the honor of chairing, that we have every year and it's meant to help young professional women navigate their way from being in college and high school and those entering a professional life so as I said, we want to cater to all levels and all ages and all sorts of challenges that people face as they're going through their professional careers. >> So that's a separate event? >> It is, it is an annual conference. >> And when is that? Give a plug. Or do you have a date? (Deepti chuckles) >> Yeah, we don't have a date yet but it's going to be in the summer. >> In the summer, okay great. Well I think when we met last, I thought that was such an important piece of that Topcoder Open because it wasn't the Sheryl Sandbergs or the Hillary Clintons or these super mega top-of-the-pyramid people. It was a bunch of young professionals, one of the gals was still in school, hadn't finished graduating, to make it so much real for those high schoolers. They didn't have to look so far to say, "I could see myself, I kind of look like that person, "I kind of see things touch." >> And I think that's very important, Jeff. Exactly. It's very important and that's what we try to do here at PBWC as well. We want to go from catering to the Millennials and how we interact with them and all the way up to C-suite, we had a Senior Leadership Summit yesterday leading up to the conference today where we have a bunch of C-suites and CDOs, Chief Diversity Officers, come together and talk about trending topics and how to solve them. So we really are trying to move the needle forward on many fronts here, but our aim is all of that to culminate into moving women and people of all backgrounds forward. >> Right. And then there's this whole entrepreneurial bit which you can't see behind the camera, but there's booths all over for Intel and LinkedIn and Microsoft and the names that you would expect, Google of course, but there's also all the little boutiques, clothing stores and jewelry stores and crafty things. There's even of course women-focused snacks with the Luna Bars and I forget the other one. (chuckles) So it's kind of a cool entrepreneurial spirit kind of on top of everything else. >> Absolutely. And you know Jackie Speier, Congresswoman, started this conference to help women who were in the SMB, sort of SME market, basically women who ran small businesses. And we want to continue to do that as well but now of course the world is changing and we have a much more of a corporate presence and we want to help there too. But yeah, we pay homage to that by having women who are women entrepreneurs running women-focused businesses, and we have them here in the expo area if you can get a shot of that later. >> Right. >> The energy is palpable, the excitement is there and it's so great to be here and harness that, and take it back, I mean the first time I was here many years ago when I was not even on the board, I was just like, oh my gosh, there's so many women here who are like me or who are, they're people I could look up to all the way up to the C-suite who are making their presence felt here. And also all the people around me and like-minded, like me. So it's a really inspiring event. And I've been here for many years but I'm still inspired by it. So I'm so excited that we do this and continue to do this. >> So, little harder to question. So, and you've been doing this for awhile, what surprises you on the negative that still you know, you're still fighting that battle that you wouldn't have expected to still be doing? And then conversely what has surprised you on the positive, in terms of what's moved maybe further than you might've thought or faster than you might've thought? >> That's a good question. I think you already nailed it, right. The fact that we are still here talking about this is interesting to me, and as I got more involved in this kind of work I realized that people have been doing this for a long time. Congresswoman herself has been doing this for so long and a fearless advocate for women's rights and equal pay and diversity and inclusion. And the fact that we are still here, it is indicative of the fact that we need to have a groundswell movement in order to change policy. We can talk about it all we want but unless there's actionable things you can take away and really have that grassroots-level work to push the envelope forward, it's not going to happen. I think the positive is, as I've seen this conference over the years, it's grown. And it's gotten a lot more young people involved and it's not just the senior leadership that is trying to pull people forward, it's the people starting out early in their careers or mid-level in their careers that are looking at taking charge of their own destiny and pushing their agenda forward in this sense. They want, they're asking for equal pay. They're really engaged and aware. And conferences like PBWC actually help with that, getting those minds together and making things move forward. So I think from a positive side I'm really excited to see so many more people engaged in this fight. And the more people we have, the more we can actually make real progress and real inroads. >> And if you look back, as someone who's never been here and then they see this interview and they say, "This looks awesome, I'm going to sign up," what do you think the biggest surprise when they come for the first-timer? >> I'll tell you what I was surprised by, is seeing so many women together across industries, across ages, across backgrounds. Everybody together, really wanting to move forward. They're really wanting to engage, to connect with each other and to actually make a difference. People are here to make a difference, right? >> Right, right. >> And that's, to say that 6,000 people come together and really all of them have that same sort of mentality of like yes, I'm empowered to make a difference, is electrifying. >> Deepti, I love the energy. >> (laughs) Thank you. >> I love the energy, absolutely. >> It's all these people. >> It is. >> Trust me, I'm sleep deprived (Jeff laughs) with my very young son. So yeah, this is all the energy that I need to feed off of. >> No, it's good. And there is something special here. >> Mm-hmm. >> And you can feel it. 'Cause we go to a lot of shows, you go to a lot of shows. And again, it's not an exclusive tech show which is kind of nice 'cause we cross a lot of industries. But there's definitely, there's an energy, there's a vibe that comes from the little entrepreneurial outlets, it just comes from the, that room was packed. The keynote room was... >> I know. >> Was not fire marshal friendly. (Deepti laughs) Hopefully the fire marshal was not close by-- >> Yes, we had some discussion on that too. But to your point, this is one of the conferences that I've seen where we really, perhaps the only conference I've seen where we really cut across all industries. Because there's tech-focused, there's business-focused, there's all sorts of focused conferences trying to do either their professional work on technology or whatnot, or they're trying to solve the problem on the gender and diversity and inclusion piece in their own silos. And we try to cut across so that we can actually have a coming together of all of these various industries and their leaders, thought leaders, sharing ideas and sharing best practices so that we can actually all move forward together, I think that's again our Senior Leadership Summit which happened last night and the VIP reception which happened last night is all about getting those thought leaders together and getting them to share their best practices and ideas so that again, they can take it back to their companies and really move forward with DNI initiatives. >> It's action right, it's all about the action. >> Absolutely. >> So I promise next time that we talk, we'll talk about Google Cloud. >> Oh, sure. >> 'Cause that's hoppin'. (Deepti laughs) But it was great to see you and congratulations on all your work with the board and with your event >> Thank you. >> in the summer. People should go to the website, keep an eye out. >> Absolutely. >> It'll be comin' out. >> Yeah. >> So thank you. >> Thank you so much, it was great to see you too, Jeff. >> Absolutely. Alright she's Deepti, I'm Jeff, you're watching theCUBE. We're at the Professional BusinessWomen of California Conference. The 28th year, pretty amazing, 6,000 people. Here at Moscone West, thanks for watchin'. (upbeat techno music)