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Bullish: Reg Braithwaite On How Tech Can Help Women, Minorities, And Any Non-Schmoozers

April 30, 2012


Reg Braithwaite

Last week, I pointed readers towards a piece called A Woman’s Story, by Reg Braithwaite. The piece tells the story of Reg’s mother, Arlene Gwendolyn Lee née Barzey, finagling her way into being able to take a qualifying exam for a job as a computer programmer, back in the Mad Men days.

Gwen went on to have a long and fascinating career – Reg writes in a followup piece about uprooting the whole family to Nigeria in 1968 to write software for a new IBM computer that had been sold to a Nigerian university – and is now retired. When asked about the difficulties she faced, she responded, “I had it easy. The computer didn’t care that I was a woman or that I was black. Most women had it much harder.”

Like many people, I found this story compelling, so much so that I contacted Reg Braithwaite and asked him a few questions. More »

Posted by jen | Filed Under Jen says 

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