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University Club of Portland

1225 SW 6th Avenue
Portland, OR 97204, US (map)

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Past events that happened here

  • Wednesday
    Feb 12 2020
    SIM-Portland February Meeting - "IT and Ethics: What does it mean for you and your organization"

    Keynote Speaker: Richard Appleyard, PhD, Deputy CIO, Oregon Secretary of State; President-elect Portland Chapter of SIM

    What are ethics and why are they relevant in the IT field? Why is a code of ethics important to us personally and to our organizations? How do you develop and maintain an ethical code for the use of Information Technology in an organization? These are just some of the questions we will consider at the next SIM Portland meeting. Everyone is familiar with the concept of medical ethics and the Hippocratic Oath, “First do no harm.” Ethics are a set of mutually agreed upon rules that encompass the personal and shared standards of behavior expected by a group of people, typically within a given profession. There are now ethical investments and mutual funds that hold to certain principles when selecting companies to invest in.

    Information Technology is advancing at an ever increasing rate, and is having an increasing impact on our lives. The recent Facebook / Cambridge Analytica scandal demonstrated what can happen in organizations when there is no ethical grounding, and decisions are simply left up to the bottom line, or market forces. Join host, and incoming SIM-Portland President, Richard Appleyard for the February Chapter meeting where he will share his ideas and facilitate discussion around embracing more formal ethical standards with in the IT management profession. Come and be part of the process to discover what this means to you, to your colleagues and how we might develop a Code of Ethics at the SIM Portland chapter.

    Learning Objectives:
    + Review & discuss ethics, its history and relevance to the field of IT
    + Review ethical frameworks and discuss which apply to IT
    + Consider the creation of a SIM-Portland Working Group to develop a Code of Ethics for the Chapter

    Speaker Biography
    Richard is a seasoned Technology Leader in IT Operations, Application Development & Web Management, with a foundation in Informatics Research. He is currently the Deputy CIO and Applications Development Manager at the Oregon Secretary of State. In addition to assisting the CIO, he is responsible for software development team that manages a portfolio of applications for the different SOS divisions; Elections, Corporation, Audits and Archives as well as Business Services. He is the President-elect for the Society of Information Management Portland Chapter and currently planning his agenda for his April 2020-2022 tenure.

    Richard is an emerging Technology Ethicist and IT Futurist with a passion for being more thoughtful with how IT is implemented. He is a proponent of Holistic Technology Management that looks for the potential "butterfly effect,” and the unseen opportunities and unintended consequences of today's technology advances. Richard has a Bachelors in Chemistry from the University of Oxford, a PhD in Biochemistry / Biophysics from Washington State University and completed a Post-doctorate in Medical Informatics (Information and Data Science) at Oregon Health and Science University where he focused on Consumer Health Informatics and the usability of patient information systems.

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:20 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Jan 8 2020
    SIM-Portland January Meeting - "Don’t Adopt the Monkey: Leadership secrets for you, your projects and your team"

    Keynote Speaker: Sarabjeet Waraich, Senior Technology Leader, Globally Recognized Keynote Speaker, Trainer

    How do you develop an ability to lead from any position in an organization? How can you be more adept in influencing those over whom you have little or no authority?  What are the key skills that are needed for a successful leader?  How do you stand out as a successful leader? Knowing how to influence and lead others—often without direct authority—is critical in successfully managing projects. Most of us aren't natural leaders, the good news is that leadership skills can be learned. The best make the journey from manager to leader using their innate talents and through continuous learning and improvement. Don't rely on the school of hard knocks, discover the secrets to exceptional leadership and the mistakes to avoid on your own road to success.

    Learning Objectives:
    + Learn how to leverage influence to lead your project teams
    + Avoid mistakes on your road to success
    + Unlock the power of your personal leadership style

    Speaker Biography
    Energetic … engaging … lively … enthusiastic … inspiring … words that are often used to describe Saby. A speaker with the uncanny ability to look at the normal and see something quite different. Saby shares his life stories and have a fun way to look at life as well as live life. You are guaranteed to learn a thing or two on your journey from his unique perspective. He is a Technology Leader, Angel Investor, Professor, Mentor, Coach, Project & Program Management Expert, Change Leader and Volunteer Leader with a diverse experience of about 20 years in both public and private sector.

    An international recognized speaker, trainer and coach, Saby have assisted multiple diverse clients in their business transformation through project successes, bolstering communications across various departments, and assisted customers in creating effective solutions to complex problems. Saby is currently working as Senior Technology Manager at City of Portland, and as an adjunct Professor at Portland Community of College. He speaks 4 languages, enjoys working with people and brings enthusiasm, inspiration & leadership qualities.

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:20 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Oct 9 2019
    SIM-Portland October Meeting - "The State of the Region's Tech Industry"

    Keynote Speaker: Skip Newberry, CEO, Technology Associations of Oregon (TAO)

    The technology industry is often viewed as a source of innovation and disruption to established institutions and markets, as well as. a driver of economic growth for region's that can support a strong, vibrant tech ecosystem. What are the prospects for Oregon and SW Washington in this race for talent, innovative companies and, ultimately, economic prosperity? In this presentation, TAO President and CEO, Skip Newberry, will delve into the trends, companies and sub-sectors to watch, providing insight into the relative health of the region's tech ecosystem.

    Speaker Biography
    Skip is a frequent speaker on technology trends and topics, economic development, public-private partnerships and civic innovation. Before joining the TAO, Skip served as an economic development policy advisor to Portland Mayor Sam Adams, where he helped create Portland’s first comprehensive economic development strategy in 16 years, recognizing software as a key industry cluster. While at the City of Portland, Skip’s projects included the adoption of the nation’s first open source software procurement policy at the municipal level, an award-winning regional open data initiative and the development of resources to support entrepreneurship, like the Portland Seed Fund. Previously, Skip was a corporate and IP attorney and entrepreneur. Skip is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of TECNA, Technology Councils of North America, which is a global network of technology and entrepreneurship associations, and he serves on the community advisory board for Wells Fargo and several community-based organizations in the Portland area. Skip is also a 2012 recipient of the Portland Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award. When he's not working on behalf of the region's tech industry, Skip enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest with his family.

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:20 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    May 8 2019
    SIM-Portland April Meeting - "IT Transformation at the Oregon Secretary of State"

    The modern CIO is a multifaceted professional who has become adept in a full spectrum of IT, HR and business skills in order to be a truly effective technology change leader. The need for complete IT Modernization within an organization can be an overwhelming challenge that means drawing on everything in this toolkit and as well as industry best practices to transform systems across the entire spectrum of IT services and support. IT Modernization is often challenged by the competing business priorities, the need to deliver new functionality to remain competitive, increase efficiency or improve customer service, and driving effective organizational change.

    Join us for the SIM Portland May 2019 meeting when CIO Roland Rivera will review what is happening with IT Modernization at the Oregon Secretary of State, and share the four step approach that he has used; benchmark assessment, strategic planning, technology road map and implementation initiatives. This has allowed foundational change around IT governance, portfolio management, service desk support and a Network Operations and Security Center. The Agency is now able to leverage Cloud Computing for improved business continuity and resiliency, and securing a path to become an IT center of excellence rivaling many high-tech firms.

    Key topics that will be explored include,
    • Challenges and Best Practices to IT Modernization
    • Four Step Approach to IT Modernization (based on the Federal CIO Playbook)
    • Use of Structured IT Initiatives to deploy different modernizations

    About the Speaker

    Roland Rivera is an accomplished, visionary, and results-oriented IT executive offering 20+ years of Federal, State, and Higher Education experience covering a broad spectrum of IT activities from Concept Development, through Design, Implementation, and Operations, all using ITIL best practices and the Project Management Framework for execution of major projects and programs.

    He is currently the CIO at Oregon Secretary of State where he provides strategic policy recommendations, direction, and proposals to promote the successful execution of the goals and objectives of the Agency’s Information Systems Division. Roland leads a high performance IT environment, grounded in industry standard frameworks and best practices balanced with a healthy dose of common sense. He has lead the deployment of Service Desk management, Network Operations and Security Center, IT asset management, IT Governance and Project Portfolio Management as well as cost-benefit analysis, feasibility studies, budgets and narratives related to IT projects.

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:30 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Apr 10 2019
    SIM-Portland April Meeting - "Blockchain: Getting beyond the hype to real world use cases."

    Blockchain has been around for a while. It is now past the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” and probably more in the “Trough of Disillusionment” on the Technology Adoption Curve. But what are the barriers to realizing this technology? Which companies are having successes and which are having failures? And as we begin on the “Path to Enlightenment,” are there real use cases achieving actual results that we can begin to pin our expectations and planning on?

    Join us for the SIM Portland April 2019 meeting when we will follow one CIO’s process of discovery relating to the component software technology that is Blockchain. Through the eyes of a key information system decision maker, and by querying local experts, we’ll review what is happening with Blockchain. Our experts include developers working hard on developing the business leaders who are creating new blockchain models. Come learn what new opportunities and challenges are here today and on the horizon with the implementation and operational management of this technology.

    Key topics that will be explored include,
    • A CIO’s approach to evaluating blockchain
    • Review of current status Blockchain technology
    • Major adoption areas in Blockchain
    • Examples of Blockchain project successes and failures

    Speakers
    Cian Montgomery, Director of Technology, LO3 Energy
    Benjamin Diggles, VP Business Development, Constellation Labs
    Nathan DeNiro, Cofounder, YouBase
    Aloysius John Keralavakkayil, S. Manager, HCL Technologies
    Jordan Masanga, CIO, PERS
    MODERATOR: Tony Alferez, 2 Worlds Tech Consulting

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:30 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Mar 13 2019
    SIM-Portland March Meeting: "Managing an IoT World: It really needs a paradigm shift!"

    Bikram will provide his insights into what to look out for in IoT and MIoT. The "internet of things" and especially the "internet of medical things” can empower us with new insights and enable remarkable capabilities for managing our lives and health. In most cases, we need to need to rethink how we integrate this into our existing infrastructure and tools, and how to utilize all this novel information to its full potential.

    About the Speaker
    Bikram Day is a Solutions Architect for Capsule Technologies, and focuses on designing medical device data integration solutions and informatics consulting for major Hospitals and IDNs. He is currently part of the pre-sales team at Capsule, but has previously been in roles with product and development at Capsule over the past 13 years.

    He is also affiliate faculty at the Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health and Sciences University.

    Bikram's specialities include clinical device and systems interfacing - Bedside Medical Device Integration (BMDI), systems and network architecture and design - particularly medical informatics systems, network and systems security and HIPAA, and systems provisioning and deployment.

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:30 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Jan 9 2019
    SIM-Portland January Meeting: "Influence, Persuasion and Negotiation"

    Martin gives you stories, studies, humor and data from the stage that teach and inspire attendees to look at influence, persuasion and negotiation in a very different way. He mastered methods for determining objective probabilities with the best strategies for success in transactions and disputes needed in the information economy. But this was not enough. His research then focused on tempering this objective approach with understanding human behavior and brain function. The result: we do well when we know our choices in how we communicate our needs to the world.

    About the Speaker
    Martin Medeiros began his career supporting SABRE Technology Group for American Airlines' flight reservation system. After obtaining his law degree he was recognized by his client, Ryder, with the RISE Award for information systems excellence. As a negotiation leader in thousands of deals and disputes over the last 25 years, information technology remains his passion. Martin authored three books on influence, persuasion, negotiation and technology.

    Speaking and offering workshops to start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, Am Law 100 firms, trade associations, strategic investment associations, universities, non-profits, governments and healthcare providers, Martin also presented to hundreds of attorneys as: a Board Member of the Oregon Law Institute at Lewis and Clark College of Law, a speaker for the Washington State Bar Corporate Counsel Section, and as Chair of the Technology Law Section of the Oregon State Bar. Martin's skill as a keynote speaker and teacher were forged on the anvil of his unique experiences, experiences attendees benefit from by leaving his talks with immediately actionable takeaways.

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:30 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Nov 7 2018
    SIM-Portland November Meeting: "How Workplace Behaviors Build Successful Organizations”

    About the event
    Most organizations want to succeed at what they do, right? And an inclusive workplace is a key aspect of successful organizations. What does an inclusive workplace feel like? What behaviors make people feel like they’re part of the team? These questions must be answered if the goal is to create an environment where everyone can grow and thrive. To build such a culture, there are specific strategies that can be employed in any organization.

    Join us for the SIM Portland November 2018 meeting when we will discuss the concepts of diversity and inclusion, along with the behaviors that make it possible – or impossible – to achieve true workplace inclusion and highly effective organizations.

    Key topics that will be explored include,
    • Key aspects of successful organizations
    • The concepts of diversity and inclusion
    • Strategies that create an inclusive workplace
    • What does this all mean to IT leadership? How can you create an environment where everyone can grow and thrive.

    The Distinguished Panelists
    • Bob Leek, Interim Director and Chief Information Officer, Department of County Assets at Multnomah County, Oregon
    • Kory Murphy, Equity and Inclusion Manager, Department of County Assets, Multnomah County, Oregon

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:30 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Thursday
    Oct 25 2018
    SIM-Women Luncheon: "Bold, Brave, Brazen: Thriving in a Male-Dominated Field," Sierra Modro

    2018 Women in Technology Leadership Speaker Series
    "Bold, Brave, Brazen: Thriving in a Male-Dominated Field"
    by Sierra Modro, CSP, Technology Futurist

    This event is brought to you by Portland SIM Women Committee and is open to both members and non-members, and both men and women.

    Topic
    How often do you look around and wonder why you’re one of the only woman in the room? Do you have to work hard to find and maintain female friends because you rarely see or meet other women? Sierra Modro was a software and hardware engineer at a time when women were rare in the IT industry. Over her 25+ year career, she's done it all – software engineer, hardware engineer, technical marketing, technology evangelism, and tech futurist. Frequently the only woman blazing a new trail, she learned to be bold, brave, and even brazen in getting what she needed to succeed. Learn the lessons from the front line that you can apply to help you to thrive. Join us to discover how a refrigerator magnet completely changed Sierra’s career and life!

    Speaker Biography
    Meet technology futurist Sierra Modro. Sierra helped engineer the first Pentium processor motherboards, the screen technology on your Kindle device and the software that powers streaming music in your home. A former technology evangelist for Intel, Sierra has spoken for the best tech leaders in the world, including Bill Gates, Paul Otellini, Steve Ballmer, and executives from Intel, Microsoft, Samsung, Google, and others.

    Sierra has worked in the area of emerging technology for 15 years. She thinks 3 years in the future today, so you can get ahead of the disruptive technology that will change your business tomorrow.

    This event is organized by Portland SIM Women and sponsored by Propeller, a Management Consulting Company

    AGENDA
    11:15 AM Registration opens
    11:30 AM Lunch
    12:00 PM Keynote
    1:00 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Sep 12 2018
    SIM-Portland September Meeting: "The State of IT in the State”

    About the event
    Please join us for the SIM Portland September 2018 meeting when a panel of experts from the Office of the State CIO will review what is happening in IT in the State of Oregon, and what new opportunities and challenges are being worked on, and how can public and private IT organizations lead and partner to implement these goals.

    Key topics that will be explored include,
    • Review of current State of Oregon IT planning and initiatives, including,
    • State of Oregon Cybersecurity initiative including Cybersecurity Advisory Council and awareness
    • Statewide Broadband initiative and addressing the Digital Divide with OregonFIBER
    • What does this all mean to IT leadership? How can we partner and collaborate? What should we be planning for?

    The Distinguished Panelists
    • Melody Riley Ralphs, Chief Technology Officer, Oregon’s State Chief Information Office
    • Dave McMorries, Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, State of Oregon
    • Jordan Masanga (Panel Chair), CIO, Oregon PERS

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:30 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    May 9 2018
    SIM-Portland May Meeting: "What is so smart about SD-WAN?"

    Over the past 20 years, advances in Information technologies have continuously remade the business world. Think– the Internet, virtualization, cloud, the smartphone to name a few. That has however been one exception – the wide area network (WAN), that is … until now. One of the hottest topics in IT Infrastructure is Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN or SDWAN). It is a specific application of software-defined networking (SDN) technology applied to WAN connections. WAN links are used to connect enterprise networks – including branch offices and data centers – over large geographic distances. SDWAN technologies promise the moon; lower costs, faster performance, business agility to name a few. So, what is real and what is pure marketing?

    Come hear from someone who has been an Oregon pioneer in SD-WAN. John Spiegel from Columbia Sportswear will provide an overview of SD-WAN, relate his first-hand experiences implementing this new technology, the results he has seen and how it has changed John’s approach to the ever-evolving landscape of IT infrastructure (both good and bad).

    John Spiegel is the Sr Manager of Infrastructure at Columbia Sportswear Company. He is a leader with 20 years of experience in Information Technology and Networking. Forward-leading, big thinker with a passion for transformative and cutting-edge technologies such as SD-WAN and Cloud. Believer in the power of sharing and collaborating with other like-minded individuals to evolve the industry. Outside of work, focus and energy is on family, brewing beer, Duck and Packer football and currently planning a trip to Africa with his family.

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:30 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Thursday
    Apr 26 2018
    Luncheon Speaker Series: Strategies and Trends in the Digital Cloud

    Women in Technology Leadership Speaker Series
    "Strategies and Trends in the Digital Cloud"
    This event is the inaugural SIM Portland Women Speaker Series for 2018.
    It is open to both members and non-member, men and women.

    Topic
    The Cloud has blended the lines between business and technology while also providing a kick-start for many companies’ digital transformation.The word digital arouses thoughts about marketing, sales, and customer experience. These areas will dominate investments for many companies over the last few years. The next level of true innovation is transforming customer facing systems with those in the back office. Come hear about the forward leaning trends that build a company’s digital journey on interconnected and automated systems that leverage data and real-time analysis.

    What is the leadership needed to lead these transformation journeys in an ever-increasing agile world that is based on building enterprise systems that are personalized, automated and intelligent? Where do you start?

    Speaker
    Lisa Hager is the Global Head of the Salesforce Practice for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). In this capacity, she is responsible for leading TCS’s rapidly growing Global CX and Salesforce practice including driving sales, delivery, alliance management, and innovative solution development across TCS’ mature and emerging markets. She is responsible for a unit with offices in North America, Europe, Japan, LATM, and 9 Global Delivery Centers. Lisa is a seasoned leader with 20 years of experience in strategy and organizational development, customer experience, digital, and cloud strategy. She is a recognized speaker on technology and business trends with over 20 publications.

    Before joining TCS, Lisa served as a National Director for Slalom Consulting responsible for lead and building their Salesforce Practice. Prior to Slalom, Lisa was a member of NTT Centerstance’s Executive Team. She played a key role during the organization’s growth period resulted in an acquisition by NTT.

    Agenda
    11:30 AM Registration/ Buffet Lunch
    12:00 -1:00 PM Speaker

    Event Sponsor: Propeller

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Apr 11 2018
    SIM-Portland April Meeting: "A Jetsons or Bladerunner future for our metropolitan areas - are we on the brink of a technology sea-change for Smart Cities?"

    Speaker panel: "A Jetsons or Bladerunner future for our metropolitan areas - are we on the brink of a technology sea-change for Smart Cities?"

    Stan Curtis (Urban.Systems),
    Kevin Martin (City of Portland),
    Kristin Tufte (PSU),
    Dave Pelkey (Azimith Communications)
,
    Moderator: Bud Borja (CGI).

    The idea of Smart Cities has been around for a while. It encapsulates how technology is going to transform the way we interact with City government & infrastructure, local businesses and our communities. It is very exciting to consider all the transformational possibilities when cities are digitally enabled, as well as the impact of emerging technology such as self-driving cars on the City administrative model and the local economy. But what are the barriers to realizing this future? Which cities are having successes and which are having failures? How about our own City of Portland and other cities in the metropolitan area?

    
Join us for the SIM Portland April 2018 meeting when we will review what is happening with IT and Smart Cities. We will have a panel of thought leaders speaking on NextGen wired and wireless network, Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors, autonomous vehicles, as well as big data & visualization. Come learn what new opportunities and challenges are here today and on the horizon. 



    Key topics that will be explored include,


    • Review of Smart Cities planning and strategies to date.
    • Major technology areas being tackled by Smart Cities groups and collaborations.
    • Examples of Smart Cities projects successes and failures.
    • What does this all mean to IT leadership? What should IT infrastructure be prepared for?

    Agenda
    5:30 PM Social
    6:30 PM Dinner
    6:50 PM Meeting Start
    7:00 PM Keynote and Q&A
    8:15 PM Close

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Mar 14 2018
    SIM-Portland March Meeting: "Demystifying Micro-services and the impact of the changing DevOps development tools in IT"

    Speaker Panel - "Demystifying Micro-services and the impact of the changing DevOps development tools in IT"

    Phil Taylor, VP of Engineering - Infogroup Northwest)

    Dan Anolik, VP of Engineering - HeathSparq/Cambia)

    Moderator: Richard Appleyard, VP Technology - GB2tech.com

    What are Microservices? Why is this new software development architecture important? How does it compare with the traditional monolithic development style? Where will Microservices be most effective and what impact will it have the service that IT will need to provide?

    Join us for the SIM Portland March 2018 meeting when we will explore what the implications of Microservices are, how a local company is implementing this architecture, and what has been learned from this experience.

    Key topics that will be explored in this talk include,

    • The difference between Monolithic and Microservices development models

    • What are the benefits of Microservices and are they right for your business and technology stack

    • What are the people, process and technology considerations for moving to Microservices

    • Lessons learned from implementing Microservices, including how and why the switch worked, as well as areas for improvement in adoption and implementation.

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Jan 10 2018
    SIM-Portland January Meeting: "IT as a Value Creator - How to get IT out of the Engine Room"

    IT as a Value Creator - How to get IT out of the Engine Room

    Abe Lietz, SVP & CIO - KinderCare Education

    With digital transformation and technology disruption at the top of the agenda in the board room, IT is uniquely positioned to step of out of back office and take the lead in driving value creation. However, IT teams are often buried in technical debt and struggle to just “keep the lights on”. In this talk, Abe will discuss strategies to transformation the people, process and technology of IT to drive growth, create value, gain market share, and delight customers.

    Key topics that will be explored in this talk include,

    • Leadership design principles to support digital transformation

    • Modern architectures to deliver with speed & quality

    • Discuss going “all-in” on public cloud as a key enable

    • Examine “experience first” design principles to delight customer

    • Learn about leveraging the VC community to accelerate innovation

    Abe Lietz is SVP & Chief Information Officer (CIO) for KinderCare Education. In this role, Mr. Lietz leads the Information Technology and Change Management functions for KinderCare and is charged with driving digital transformation to support business growth and managing all key enterprise business systems which includes in-center, family facing, mobile, data analytics and back office applications as well as all supporting infrastructure. Abe is leading a multi-year transformation of KinderCare’s digital capability by reorganizing its people, process and technology to deliver on value creation initiatives through the use of cloud-first architectures (SaaS, IaaS, & PaaS), as well as delivering multiple innovative mobile, web, and data solutions for its customers and staff.

    A recognized industry expert, Abe has received multiple industry awards, including being recognized as San Diego’s Top Technology Executive in 2015. He is a frequent speaker on IT transformation and cloud migration strategies and has been featured in many publications including CIO.com, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and many others.

    Prior to joining KinderCare, Mr. Lietz was CIO & VP, Customer Service Operations for Curves and Jenny Craig where he led a complete transformation of the IT organization, as well as managing the service contact center for both brands to drive a best-in-class service experience for customers, franchise owners and corporate users. Prior to Curves & Jenny Craig, Mr. Lietz was Chief Architect & Head of Divisional IT for Life Technologies (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) where he was responsible for driving technology strategy, new technology incubation, and overall technical architecture for the IT infrastructure and applications footprint, as well as all instrument and software system product lines. Mr. Lietz holds a B.A. in Business & MIS from Washington State University.

    Website
  • Monday
    Nov 19 2012
    PDX Women in IT Happy Hour Networking Event

    Come join an amazing group of ladies! No specific agenda, just network and have fun!

    Triad Technology Group is sponsoring November's event at the University Club of Portland in the Gold Room! This club was originally a men's only secret society club and PDXWiIT is bringing in women's only event!! Join us for refreshments and a great time!

    PDX Women in Information Technology exists to celebrate professional women in the Portland-metro area who work with, manage, lead or have an interest in technology. Whether you are developing event-driven, non-blocking applications in node.js or setting technology strategy for a Fortune 500 company--or anything in between--come join us!

    Follow us on twitter: @PDXWIIT

    Website
  • Tuesday
    Dec 8 2009
    Portland Female Executives Wall of Wine Benefit Gala

    On Tuesday, December 8, plan to mix and mingle with friends, colleagues, and Portland's female business leaders at the historic University Club of Portland for the Portland Female Executives (PDXfX) Wall-of-Wine Benefit Gala & Fundraiser.

    Our annual events are consistent smash hits. Whether you stop by after work in your holiday best or go all out with lots of sparkle and a great black dress or jacket, you'll enjoy delightful holiday cheer, complimentary hors d'oeuvres and wine, and best of all, plenty of fun and the opportunity to go home with some absolutely wonderful bottles of wine.

    Enjoy the surprise – and help women succeed!

    Here's how the wall-of-wine works. Buy by number (all labels will be hidden) at a flat $25 per bottle or $100 for five bottles. Your "lucky number" could yield any number of outstanding local and international wines. Proceeds benefit the Portland affiliate chapter of Girl’s Inc, an organization that inspires girls ages 8 to 18, to be strong, smart, and bold, and PDXfX, a non-profit organization supporting the advancement of women in business.

    Member appreciation

    PDXfX members are invited to enjoy the evening at a reduced rate of $15.00. Guests, spouses, friends, and colleagues are warmly welcomed at $30 per person.

    RSVP & Other Details

    What: PDXfX Member Appreciation & Wall-of-Wine Benefit Gala

    Where: The University Club of Portland (Gold Room)

    When: Tuesday, December 8; 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

    Tickets: $15 for PDXfX members, $30 for all others

    RSVP: Registration Now Open @ www.pdxfx.org The online Registration will close at 3:00 pm day of event. However you can still attend by paying at the door.

    Please note we have a 48 hour cancellation policy prior to events.

    Website