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Pending Testimonial Sylke

Testimonial: Sylke (Pending)

Status: Requested 3/17, she said she'd get me something

Name: Sylke
Title: Senior UX Designer
Company: Microsoft (formerly same company as O.J.)
Relationship: Former colleague, co-founded Women's Code and Coffee meetup
LinkedIn: —
Image: —

Options Drafted (back pocket)

Option A (cross-functional collaboration):

"O.J. and I worked in completely different departments but when I wanted to start a Women's Code and Coffee meetup, she was the first person to say yes. She didn't just show up, she built an entire workshop called Perusing Python that took participants from zero programming knowledge to building a machine learning chatbot in three days. She brings that same energy to everything she does."

Option B (teaching and accessibility):

"I watched O.J. take a room full of non-engineers and teach them to build a machine learning chatbot from scratch in three days, back in 2018 before AI was a mainstream conversation. She has a gift for making complex technical concepts feel approachable and she genuinely cares about making sure everyone in the room keeps up."

Option C (initiative and character):

"When I pitched the idea for a Women's Code and Coffee meetup, O.J. jumped in immediately and became our first presenter. She built a Python workshop that was so well received we got CIO sponsorship and a real budget behind it. She's the kind of person who doesn't just support good ideas, she makes them happen."

Context

  • Different departments (Sylke is UX/UI, O.J. is engineering) but same company.
  • Sylke coordinated the Women's Code and Coffee weekend meetup and got the CIO (Curtis) involved for budget and sponsorship.
  • O.J. was the first presenter with "Perusing Python" (Sylke named it), a 3-day workshop: day 1 zero programming knowledge, day 3 building a machine learning chatbot. This was 2018, years before ChatGPT brought AI mainstream.

Notes

  • Requested Monday 3/17 and she agreed to write something herself.
  • Options drafted as backup in case she stalls or asks for drafts to work from.
  • Can send proactively with "no pressure, but here are some drafts if it makes it easier."

Final Quote

Pending