Jeehye Pak

Tell us your story.

My interest in tech goes back to when young. My family always had tech around the house; my parents had cell phones when this wasn’t a ‘thing’ and we each had our own computers, which at the time was rare. We even had a Mac before it was ‘cool’. My whole family was interested in tech: me, my parents and even my brother. There was always something to play with tech-wise as a kid. I had a natural affinity for it. In high school I would stay up all night learning HTML for fun and making websites. I always thought of coding and programming as a hobby not a career-which who knows, may change! Regardless, I always wanted this to be a part of my professional life.Now I am very involved in social media and how social media fits into larger communications. At my role as a social media support person with the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) for the United Methodist Church, I see how we can connect with constituents all over the world with social media.

I am interested now in how tech and social media can drive theology-how can we make the world better in terms of mixing culture and religion around the world. At GCORR we always think about reaching younger, diverse and bigger audiences and social media helps us do this. For example, we just did a twitter chat with people who we normally wouldn’t have access to or be as easily able to connect with.

What do you most want other women and young girls to know about being a woman in our digital culture?

One regret I have is that I didn’t major in IT or computer science because I realize I had a natural pull towards it and talent for it. I just didn’t see myself doing it as a career. So my advice to young women is to really think about what you are naturally interested. Just explore it! There is so much support open to you once you realize what it is you want to do. Also know that you can always do what you love-you never are out of time. For me, this means getting myself more involved in technology for fun again. Overall, if you are interested in it just pursue it-don’t hesitate.

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The Women in Tech campaign exists to help redefine what women in technology means in the 21st century. Started independently by a group of professional women who, after many impassioned discussions about women in tech knew we wanted to expand this definition beyond ‘traditional’ technology skills. To us, it includes most every current, emerging or evolving role within an organization. By featuring leaders and emerging leaders across industries who embody this we hope to collectively ‘stand up’, be proud of our place in the digital world and inspire young women or those new to the ‘tech space’ to get involved.

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