Community Conversations
Abha Dogra
Hello!
I have been fortunate to serve as Chief Technology and Product Officer in public companies over the years, working across industries such as aerospace and defense, pure tech, manufacturing, and industrial automation. My 25-year journey in tech as a female of color has been filled with challenges, many of which I view as opportunities to excel. However, one recurring hurdle has been the initial skepticism and ignorance from peers in the early stages of my roles—an obstacle I have overcome by proving my contributions over time.
Balancing personal and professional responsibilities has always been a priority, with family coming first. I’ve consciously avoided relocation to maintain stability for my family, and as a team, we share life’s demands. I’ve also found freedom from guilt, a common struggle for working women, by embracing the imperfection of balance. I
believe that as women, we bring a unique focus to our roles, honed through the multitasking demands of being wives, mothers, friends, and professionals, which sharpens our time management skills. To young students, my advice is simple: carve out your own path. Don’t look up to anyone or down on anyone—your journey is uniquely yours.
Aditi Taylor
Hello!
I serve as Executive Vice President and Head of Operations at an investment management firm. My career journey spans over the last 25+ years, a large portion of it working in consulting at a large, global advisory and consulting services firm. There I got the opportunity to work across and experience various industries, companies and cultures.
The challenges I faced as a woman (of color) were somewhat real, somewhat perceived and some most certainly self-imposed. Coming in from India (pre-globalization) certainly required a fair bit of effort to assimilate into corporate American culture at the beginning of my career. That was definitely real! I therefore have to become a completely different person than who I was and believed in was a more perceived challenge. I am glad I didn’t do that in retrospect and stayed true to my authentic self. Hard work was self-imposed as I truly believed that was the only path to success. That I don’t regret however and is still a principle I abide by.
Talent may be in-born, but hard work is an essential acquired trait and always remember that ‘Hard work can beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard!’ If you are committed to something, go all the way at 100%. If not, why bother going at all?
That said, balancing personal and professional life is not a one person job. You cannot do it alone, you have to have a support system, partnership and understanding with your loved ones to make it all work and not for once should you take that or them for granted. That would be my advice to the younger students wanting to follow in these footsteps. And know that you can never know it all, your career is a journey, not a sprint! The best paths are those that are filled with constant learning, reinvention, internalization and adaptation.
Asmita Khanolkar
Hello!
My name is Asmita Khanolkar and I work in the field of Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical Services, specializing in bringing innovative engineering solutions to healthcare. I have a Master’s degree in Engineering and over the past two decades, have had the opportunity to work on a number of new product development projects, including single-use, wearable, implantable devices, biotech and pharma products covering a wide variety of indications such as diabetes, orthopedic, vascular, women’s health, oncology, immunotherapy, inflammatory, chronic, crisis and rare diseases. As a speaker, I present at technical and research conferences and have authored publications. Outside of work, I have enjoyed volunteering as a mentor for robotics and innovation programs, coach for early professionals and a supporter and champion for girls in STEM, Women in Engineering and Women in Entrepreneurship.
Today, we are in an exciting era in medicine with a huge potential for innovation that can impact patients’ lives and bring benefits. As we move towards curative therapies and progress the science in these next generation fields, I feel we can do more to bridge the gaps in the areas of women led research, patents/IP and woman entrepreneurship. The technology advancements of today are best served if they encompass the voice of all for a balanced solution that covers everyone’s perspectives. The best solutions come from diverse creativity represented in technological and scientific developments. In my mind, this starts by planting the seeds of STEM early-on to develop these skills, to think outside of the box, inspire to experiment, engineer to build and lead towards problem solving. With advances in robotics, 3D printing, maker spaces, modeling, apps, research labs, AI, many resources are available and accessible to explore new ideas, scientific thought process and creativity. The message is really to get involved, try it out, STEM can be a lot of fun for everyone.