The Tech Committee of the Cornell Women’s Network is a group of diverse women of varying backgrounds and ages who have all found a home in tech.

Melissa E. Ferere and Heidi Celeghin are going to be at Cornell leading a discussion on what it means to be a “woman in tech” and providing both undergraduate and graduate women their perspective on entering the field as well as progressing in an often male-dominated industry. They will also be discussing their perspectives on how they see the field changing and how their own careers have evolved over time. This discussion should be conversational in nature and students are encouraged to come with questions and their perspectives. 

Both Melissa and Heidi have had several different roles within the technology industry – ranging from designing thinking and strategy to sals engineering.

Date: Thursday, October 26, 2017
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Location: Cornell University, Gates Hall, G01

Meet our Panelists:

Melissa Ferere completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at Cornell University (B.Sc) and The Darden Graduate School of Business (UVA – MBA), respectively. She has had diverse experiences within Technology Consulting & Investment Banking at many top tier firms including Merrill Lynch / Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Infosys Consulting. Currently, Melissa is a Research & Strategy Lead at MetLife, in their Marketing Sciences Department. She has also contributed to many thought leadership pieces and research on digital / technology trends across several industries including financial services, retail, healthcare, hi–tech, manufacturing and insurance, to ensure her unique perspectives are shared in an otherwise male dominated field.

Heidi Celeghin ’10 is currently a Sales Engineering Manager at Medallia, a privately-owned software company focused on customer experience. Heidi currently covers the US Southeast region and is Acting Sales Director for Brazil. Heidi began her career at Medallia in a more traditional technical role where she helped develop new software as well as architected several client programs. Over the past 4 years at Medallia, Heidi has seen the company grow tenfold – evolving from a startup to a $2B+ unicorn.
In addition to her “day job”, Heidi is in the process of founding a consulting company focused on providing actionable guidance around customer experience and business operations for small to mid-sized startups.