Beyond The Blue Badge

Collaboration and unlocking the power of data Kimberly Mathisen was recently the GM of Microsoft Norway. Today, she’s following her passion as the CEO of HUB Ocean, a nonprofit foundation that is developing a groundbreaking data platform and tools to “change the fate of the ocean by unleashing the power of data, technology and collaboration.” In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, she speaks with host Peter Proud about her move to the nonprofit sector, the big audacious problems that our oceans face and how data can help save the seas.

Sharing stories for generations to come For 26 years, Tom Ikeda has been using digital storytelling to preserve history at Densho, a nonprofit organization that he co-founded in 1996 to preserve and document the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during WWII. In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, Tom sits down with host Paul Shoemaker to discuss his family’s own experiences during WWII, why he started Densho, why it’s crucial to preserve history correctly and how we all need to speak up to spark change on the issues we care about.

How to become a differentiator in your career Before joining Seattle startup Skytap in 2017, Neil Holloway spent nearly his entire career at Microsoft. During those 26 years, he held various roles including managing director of the UK and president of Microsoft EMEA. Throughout this career he has had to constantly evolve and learn, while showing up as a leader. In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, Neil talks with host Peter Proud about leaving his comfort zone, navigating his career at Microsoft, staying relevant, and how to become a differentiator.

Discover the framework to achieve gender equity Allies are essential for creating change and achieving gender equity. Gavriella Schuster is working to teach more people how they can become inclusive allies. During her more than 25 years at Microsoft, most recently as Channel Chief, Gavriella was a change agent for gender equity at the company and beyond to the channel ecosystem. She left in 2021 to focus on helping others become allies within their own ecosystems. Her e-book “BeCOME ALLIES” shares framework for great allyship and gives practical ways for people to get started. In this Beyond the Blue Badge episode, Gavriella sits down with host Ali Spain to discuss her experience as woman leading at Microsoft, how being the “only” in the room propelled her into this work, six actions you can take to become a supportive ally and why it’s crucial for change.

Creating new industry categories, trials and tribulations and advice for desired outcomes Robert Wahbe co-founded Seattle-based Highspot, a company that defined a new market category. Now, the sales enablement platform is valued at nearly $4 billion. During this Beyond the Blue Badge episode, Host T.A. McCann sits down with the Microsoft alum to discuss the ideation of Highspot, the trials and triumphs that came with breaking into a new industry space, how to achieve desirable business outcomes and advice for other startup leaders.

Smart interviewing to level up on representation Mohit “Mo” Bhende is determined to bring more diversity into engineering roles. After six years at Microsoft, Mo co-founded Seattle-based Karat, which provides the first interviewing cloud to help companies find engineers in an equitable way. In this episode, host Eddie Pate and Mo discuss how Karat is raising the bar on representation, its flagship Brilliant Black Minds program and partnership with Serena Williams, closing the interview access gap, and why he always puts people first.

Navigating the entrepreneurial ecosystem for startup success   It’s no secret that many Microsoft alumni dive into the startup world after leaving the company. After eight years at Microsoft as venture capital and emerging business lead in United Kingdom, Bindi Karia did just that and has since spent her career helping fuel innovation as a tech industry guru, advisor, speaker and venture partner. In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, host Peter Proud sits down with Bindi to discuss the stages of launching a startup, the six characteristics she notices of a successful entrepreneur, the importance of utilizing your network in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and how she’s investing in the innovation of today.

Using corporate experiences to fuel the nonprofit sector and change lives Microsoft alumni have the opportunity to use their unique experiences to supercharge change in the nonprofit sector. In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, host Paul Shoemaker sits down with alum Alonda Williams, author, speaker and current chief executive officer at Big Brothers Big Sister of Puget Sound, which is provides mentorship to thousands of children. Alonda discusses how she uses her Microsoft and life experiences to lead in the nonprofit sector, why she’s passionate about building confidence in young black girls, and how mentorship can transform our communities and youth.

Finding the right balance for a remote workforce  Microsoft alum Joe Levy is CEO and co-founder of Uplevel, a Seattle-based software company that helps engineering teams measure and manage their time and productivity. Like many companies in the early days of the pandemic, Uplevel went 100% remote and Joe has used their own software to pivot and tweak the way his own team operates, including experimenting with a four-day work week. He sat down with Beyond the Blue Badge host Ali Spain to discuss leading during the pandemic, managing a remote workforce and keeping startup culture strong.  

How to cultivate and maintain rich partnerships In 2000, tech giants Microsoft and Accenture came together to found Avanade. The founding partnership has evolved into a global leader that digitally transforms businesses using Microsoft ecosystems. Microsoft alumnus Adam Warby was a founding employee at Avanade and was named CEO in 2008 where he stayed for 11 years. In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, Adam sits down with host Peter Proud to discuss navigating a company with two large corporate parents, crucial decision points to Avanade’s success, advice for how to be a good partner and how he’s empowering the next generation of business leaders.

Building a company culture where both your people and business thrive Company culture can make or break a business. Growing that culture can be difficult, but it can also be the key to success. When your people thrive, so does your business. That’s exactly what our new Beyond the Blue Badge podcast will dive into. Host, T.A. McCann, sits down with Anoop Gupta, co-founder and CEO at SeekOut, an AI-powered talent optimization platform aiming to help companies recruit and retain talent. Recently named CEO of the Year by GeekWire, Anoop discusses what he learned as Bill Gate’s technology assistant, the pivotal decisions that led to SeekOut’s success and why being kind remains a foundational principle of his company.

How to win the pursuit of diverse talent A diverse workforce is key to a healthy, vibrant, successful and innovative organization, yet many companies claim they can’t find the talent or don’t have access to it. In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, our host Eddie Pate sits down with diversity talent acquisition expert Cody Horton to discuss how you can fish for diverse talent to fill the pipeline, what your company may be doing wrong and practical tips for an inclusive hiring and onboarding process. Cody is a veteran of the United States Navy where he was a Lieutenant Commander. He did multiple stints at Microsoft first in enterprise support before focusing on staffing. In 2016, Cody founded Diverse Recruiting Experts to help employers attract and retain a diverse workforce.

With the climate crisis looming, more people are examining how they invest their money and what impact that has on the planet — both good and bad. Sustainable investing that benefits all stakeholders is becoming more prevalent. In this Beyond the Blue Badge episode, host Peter Proud talks with fellow alum Richard Peers about nature’s role in finance. Richard spent 23 years at Microsoft, at the intersection of finance and technology. After leaving in 2019, he founded Responsible Risk, which consults financial services and technology companies on sustainable finance.

How to start saving the planet for generations to come Climate change is at the forefront of our world’s issues, and it’s going to take all of us to move the needle. Kathleen Hebert has dedicated her post-Microsoft career to fighting climate change, an issue she’s made her purpose. Her multi-pronged approach to change includes volunteering, investing, learning and making changes in everyday life that can have lasting impact. In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Paul Shoemaker sits down with Kathleen to discuss why and how she’s tackling climate change, the environmental responsibilities that different organizations and businesses have, what the future of climate change looks like for all of us and how we can contribute. Kathleen was a corporate vice president at Microsoft from 1989 to 2003. After leaving the company, she spent 19 years at Social Venture Partners, deep diving into the world of philanthropy. She’s now a venture partner, board member and investor at E8 Ventures, which is investing in c

Pursuing social impact at work and tapping connections to spark greater change. In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, Microsoft Alumni Network Executive Director Ali Spain sits down with fellow alum Susan Koehler to discuss how everyone can pursue a social impact-focused career, the evolving sustainability industry and how partnering with connections can spark larger impact. Susan held multiple roles at Microsoft over ten years, including working on social initiatives related to child safety and trustworthy computing. Susan transitioned to sustainability when she took a role as chief marketing officer at Footprint before recently joining Persefoni, a climate disclosure and carbon management solution where she can combine her passions for tech and sustainability.

Leadership in turbulent times, navigating a complex industry and taking care of employees and customers  John Mangelaars is chief executive officer at Skyscanner. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, Skyscanner is a travel search engine which sees near 100 million visits per month. At Microsoft, John spent time as general manager of the Netherlands and led advertising and online in Microsoft Europe. After 23 years at the company, John left to become CEO of Travix International and then joined Skyscanner in 2021 — mid pandemic.  In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, John sits down with host Peter Proud to discuss leadership during crisis, the importance of taking care of people and customers and why he never lets himself get too comfortable.

Dan Lewis is CEO and founder at Convoy, a transportation logistics company based in Seattle which is now valued at nearly $4 billion. Dan worked at Microsoft for three years in product management and marketing for Hotmail and Windows, but he was always interested in startup life. By tapping his network and taking advantage of opportunities, he was able to launch Convoy in 2015, which quickly took off and now has 75,000 trucking companies on the platform. In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, host T.A. McCann and Dan discuss his startup journey, including disrupting an industry, building confidence and trust, securing investors, taking risks, make-or-break decision points, and adapting to change.

Allie Attenwoode loves data. As a diversity data guru, she’s on a mission to empower others to utilize diversity data to inspire change at their companies. Allie joined Microsoft right after college and started in university recruiting before moving to senior recruiting operations coordinator. After Microsoft, she became a senior business intelligence engineer of inclusion and diversity analytics at Amazon. Now, she’s CEO and Co-founder of Tenty Diversity Analytics and an entrepreneur in residence at Neowork Ventures. In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, host Eddie Pate sits down with Allie to discuss why diversity data matters, how to collect and analyze it to pinpoint problems and some of the biggest mistakes that companies are making today.

Eugenio Pace is founder and CEO of Auth0, a company that builds identity management solutions. Eugenio started as a consultant at Microsoft in his native Argentina before relocating to the Redmond headquarters as an FTE. He stayed for 10 more years before exiting to start Auth0, which gained unicorn status before being acquired by Okta for $6.5 billion in May 2021. In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, host T.A. McCann talks with Eugenio about how he built his company from the ground up, Microsoft’s influence on Auth0, and his advice for others wanting to launch their own company.

In honor of Microsoft Give Month, we’re re-releasing our inspiring conversation with Microsoft Alumni Network Integral Fellow and TAF Executive Director Trish Millines Dziko. In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, Paul Shoemaker talks with Trish Millines Dziko how promoting diversity during her tenure at Microsoft became her fulltime job when founded Technology Access Foundation. Learn how her upbringing influenced her passion for preparing children of color for a career in technology, her new book and what’s next for TAF.