This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
This is the next segment of our blog series highlighting Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors who achieved the Gold milestone and have recently graduated from university. Each blog in the series features a different student and highlights their accomplishments, their experience with the Student Ambassadors community, and what they’re up to now.
Today we meet Luisa Gonzalez Vasquez who is from Cali, Colombia and recently graduated from Dallas Baptist University in Texas with a Master of Science in Information Technology and Management.
Responses have been edited for clarity and length.
When you joined the Student Ambassador community in 2020, did you have specific goals you wanted to reach?
When I pursued my undergraduate degree in Colombia, my origin country, I hadn’t heard about the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors. If I had known about this fantastic opportunity, I would have loved to participate then, so one of my goals once I joined was to share information about the community. When I joined, there were only 4-5 students from Colombia. Now there are more than 20 students!
I wanted to improve my skills as a developer using Microsoft Cloud Technologies such as Azure, Azure DevOps, and Power Platform. I wanted to grow and share my knowledge with other fellow students and people from Colombia. I wanted to inspire girls to step into technology. As soon as I joined, I created my brand called @mytechxperience, where I aim to inspire other girls to get into technology and follow their dreams no matter how hard it might look. Also, I want to encourage other women to grow and improve their skills in the technology industry by setting an example and sharing all my knowledge and skills learned through the Student Ambassador community and my journey as an international student in the technology field.
Furthermore, I wanted to improve my professional resume and profile to get an internship or job in the technology industry as a developer.
What are the accomplishments that you’re the proudest of and why?
The most significant accomplishment was meeting a lot of people from Latin America who are passionate about sharing their knowledge in technology and helping to empower other students in the region and the world. I made a lot of friends not only from Colombia but also from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, India, the United States, etc. We got together in our Student Ambassadors calls and supported each other in different opportunities and events.
I was also thrilled to have had the opportunity to be a speaker for online events organized by Microsoft, such as the AI student conference in April 2021. I even had the fantastic opportunity to be one of the event hosts in the October 2021 edition. In addition, I am very proud that I had the chance to share my knowledge of Microsoft technologies while I was learning them.
What are you doing now that you’ve graduated?
I have a lot of plans for this year! I will be joining as a full-time software developer at a company called Elevate Credit, Inc located in Dallas, Texas. I plan to improve my profile to apply to the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program. I plan to resume my online blog and my Instagram account and continue participating in multiple community events to help empower people, especially women, to join the technology field.
If you could redo your time as a Student Ambassador, is there anything you would have done differently?
The only thing I would have preferred to be different is getting to know about the community earlier in my life! I think this is a fantastic opportunity to grow and help others succeed not only in technology and tech skills, but also in areas such as organizing an event, planning a presentation, being a speaker, and other needed skills for an impressive professional career.
If you were to describe the community to a student who is interested in joining, what would you say about it to convince him or her to join?
Please do it! Do not think twice about it and do it! Just apply, be yourself, and do not accept “no” as a response. If you do not pass on the first try, keep trying! Life is about failing and trying. Giving up is not an option. Applications are accepted all year long. The people working with the community are amazing! You will have countless opportunities to grow and improve your skills and learn from others. You will get access to learning opportunities, mentorship opportunities, and many things that will help you build your professional career. Also, start completing the free Azure Fundamentals learning path in Microsoft Learn so you are better prepared when the time comes to share your knowledge!
What advice would you give to new Student Ambassadors?
Read about all the different career opportunities using Microsoft technologies and focus on improving your skills in those and sharing your knowledge with everyone. Engage and connect to the weekly calls where many great opportunities are shared!
What is your motto in life, your guiding principle?
Be passionate and persistent about your dreams and goals in life. Nothing is impossible. The sky is the limit.
What is one random fact about you that few people are aware of?
I have a huge passion for art. I played guitar growing up, I used to sign, and I did theater for five years! My biggest dream growing up was to be an actress, artist, writer, among other careers. However, as a software developer, I feel that I can be very creative and build new stuff. That, for me, is art!
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Data is everywhere chief financial officers (CFOs) look these days. Senior finance leaders have more data in front of them than ever beforewith insights to drive financial growth, disrupt sales, and transform customer experiences often hiding in plain sight. All the while, the roles of finance leaders are evolving. Once economic guardians, they’re now being called on to take their data and drive digital transformation across business modelsfinancial, operational, and organizational.
To maximize their data’s value and thrive in the face of change, finance teams need to bring the future into focus. That’s why we’re excited to invite you to Finance Reimagined, a digital event on February 23 for forward-thinking CFOs and senior finance leaders. Register now for the Finance Reimagined event for an inside look at the latest CFO trends transforming finance, with strategic guidance for senior leaders who want to understand the forces shaping their future.
See what’s ahead for finance-first innovation
Finance Reimagined is different than other CFO events, with its exclusive content on financial analysis and reporting, strategy and forecasting, business process automation, and compliance and risk management. You’ll discover the best practices and top priorities that leading CFOs are thinking about and have a chance to ask your questions about the future of finance during the live Q&A chat. We’ve lined up experts from Microsoft, industry changemakers, and sessions from EY, PwC, and Accenture to help you:
Adapt quickly: Business as usual has fundamentally changedat unprecedented speeds. The ability to adapt fast is now a competitive edge and differentiated value to customers. Learn how to build agility into your company’s DNA by understanding the trends defining tomorrowso you’re ready to maintain core financial processes, modify business models, and reinvent experiences as market dynamics shift.
Align teams: Business model transformation requires you to look past your current financial constructs and rethink how you operate. Find out how to automate time-intensive tasks and break down silos around your dataacross financial management, project services, and customer’s experiences.
Accelerate growth: Keeping pace with business change means staying ahead of customer expectations. See how insights and AI continuously help improve financial performanceso you can bring clarity to complex questions, make sense of infinite amounts of data, and deal with increasing risk and regulations.
Think like a futurist with special guest Amy Webb
You’ll also hear from keynote speaker Amy Webb on the strategies senior finance leaders can borrow from the futurist’s toolbox. Drawing lessons from her bestselling book, “The Signals Are Talking,” Webba quantitative futurist and advisor to senior leaders at central banks, intergovernmental organizations, and global brandswill talk about how to rethink risk, embrace disruption, and know when to act. She’ll also share future scenarios of emerging technologies to help you forecast what’s next and start creating a stronger future today.
Embrace reinvention to define your future
Finance leaders like you have shown plenty of tenacity and resilience over the past few years, helping to lead the way for their partners and teams. At Finance Reimagined, you’ll see how Microsoft customers are empowering finance-first innovation with a digital transformation platform that helps them adapt faster, align resources, and accelerate growth. Topics we’ll cover include:
How to lead your modern finance team to pivot fast and focus on new areas.
The ways a subscription economy is changing the way we think about business models.
How to redesign and motivate your team to work with new stakeholders and reporting.
Five essential strategies to optimize financial and operating models.
How to drive outcomes by connecting insights and understanding performance indicators.
Register today to attend Finance Reimagined for your look ahead to the emerging trends and essential insights defining how tomorrow’s businesses will thrive. We hope to see you there.
Finance Reimagined
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 9:00 to 11:30 AM Pacific Time
This article was originally posted by the FTC. See the original article here.
Identity Theft Awareness Week starts next Monday but if you’re an early bird, check out a special free webinar tomorrow and get a jump on the week’s events.
Experts from the Department of Veterans Affairs, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Federal Trade Commission will discuss privacy and identity theft issues important to all of us, and also issues that directly impact veterans and their families. The virtual panel discussion, Evolving Identity Theft Tactics & Protections, is set for Tuesday, January 25, at 1-2 p.m. ET. Join us using this link.
We hope you’ll also join us for Identity Theft Awareness Week, January 31-Februray 4, as the FTC and its partners host free webinars, podcasts, and other events. You’ll learn how to detect identity theft, help protect against it, and recover if identity theft occurs. And every day next week you’ll find a blog post here, covering a trending identity theft topic.
Identity theft can happen to anyone — but tell your friends and family that, next week, they can join the FTC and its partners to spot, avoid, and protect themselves. And if identity theft happens to you, please visit IdentityTheft.gov, the government’s one-stop resource for reporting and recovering from identity theft.
We hope to see you during Identity Theft Awareness Week to share information about how identity thieves operate, and how to lower your risk. Keep up with the events at ftc.gov/idtheftweek and follow along on social media: #idtheftweek.
Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
CISA has published an infographic to emphasize the importance of implementing network segmentation—a physical or virtual architectural approach that divides a network into multiple segments, each acting as its own subnetwork, to provide additional security and control that can help prevent or minimize the impact of a cyberattack.
CISA encourages network architects, defenders, and administrators to review the infographic, Layering Network Security Through Segmentation, and implement its recommendations where possible.
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