Our Leadership

We’re united by a pioneering spirit to ignite interest and confidence in technology among youth and adults of marginalized genders. Learn more about our Staff, Volunteer Leads, and Board of Directors.

ChickTech Staff

Katie SanFilippo (she/her)

Chief Executive Officer

Katie is focused on empowering girls and women in achieving their full potential and to have the confidence to make changes they wish to see in their lives. She has dedicated herself to building community through volunteerism in order to bring positive change locally and globally. Through her career in the nonprofit field, Katie has developed and supported community-based programs ranging from environmental conservation to youth and leadership development.

Tonya Pieske (she/her)

Director of People and Operations

Tonya is passionate about creating a workplace sanctuary for herself and her team by promoting a culture of respect and positivity. She believes in the power of human connection and approaches her work with empathy and authenticity.

Dani Macuk (she/her)

Senior Brand Manager

Dani is a Portland, OR creative with a passion for accessibility and diversity in design. Her background in nonprofit marketing, graphic design, and UI/front-end website development is informed by consistent education and activism in social justice issues. Outside of work, Dani is a gamer, houseplant enthusiast, and voracious reader. She is thrilled to support the ChickTech team in helping youth and adults of marginalized genders find and follow their passions in tech.

Renee Gonzalez (she/her)

Community and Partnerships Manager

Renee is passionate about connecting ACT-W members with the support, resources, and mentorship they need to pursue their dreams or elevate their career in technology. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from New Mexico State University and an MBA from Loyola University Maryland. As someone who is teaching herself to code, she hopes to meet you in our online community as we work to create a more diverse and inclusive tech industry.

Annalise Servin (they/she)

National Youth Program Manager

Annalise has focused her career on supporting marginalized youth and young adults in personal and professional development by helping them identify their passions, eliminate barriers, and pursue their dream careers. Her background includes program management, coaching, fundraising and volunteer management. They are excited to help girls and enby youth see themselves in STEM with ChickTech’s programs.

Shatoyia Davenport (she/her)

National Events Manager

Shatoyia is a dedicated event management professional whose love language is event planning. She is passionate about curating in-person and virtual events that create opportunities for connection, learning, and elevation. Shatoyia is dedicated to advocating for marginalized communities and ensuring that events foster diversity, inclusion, and accessibility for all guests. Shatoyia is excited to create worthwhile event experiences for the ChickTech Community.

Headshot image of Crystal Ngo

Crystal Ngo (she/her)

People Management Intern

Crystal is passionate about making the work environment a more equitable, uplifting space where a sense of mutual support and community thrives. She has a bachelor’s degree in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Washington and is excited to support ChickTech in helping people of marginalized genders break into the tech industry.

Volunteer Leads

Rima Chakravarty (she/her)

ChickTech: Raleigh-Durham Co-Director

Leader, Product Management | Product Management, Cisco

I believe in empowerment and gender equality for women. Diversity enhances creativity and provokes unique perspectives leading to better decisions, breakthrough innovations and constructive problem solving leading to betterment of societies. Given opportunities and guidance, women can make significant contributions to the tech industry and help in reducing the gender gap.

For the past several years, I have worked in various roles in data, analytics and product management in government, financial, and technology sectors. I have double Masters in Economics, with concentrations in International Trade, Mathematics, and Statistics.

Kelly Curtin (she/her)

ChickTech: Raleigh-Durham Co-Director

My dad wanted me to be a plastics engineer but I refused. I wanted to be a marine biologist because I love the ocean. I discovered biology involved chemistry, which I was really bad at. I changed my major to political science because that was what my sister was studying. Once I realized that political science majors make 16K out of school (it was the 1980’s), I changed my major to MIS. I took my first computer class soon after and was failing. Then one day, a light when on and I got it. I decided to minor in computer science and never look back.

Over 30 years later, I am still writing software and I still love it. I currently am a director of data analysis at Fidelity Investments. I still love the ocean and am an avid scuba diver. My motto is try everything because you never know what you love until you try it.

Board of Directors

Nanci Schimizzi (she/her)

ChickTech Board Chair

Principal Owner, Fair Oaks Strategies, LLC

Nanci Schimizzi is a Senior Technology Executive with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.  As founder and principal at Fair Oaks Strategies, Nanci has served as a Management Consultant at large financial services firms, nonprofits and professional associations.  Nanci has extensive experience in IT strategy, business continuity and resiliency planning, business relationship, program management, and software development.  She is actively engaged in championing programs supporting STEM Initiatives.

Noelle Johnson (she/her)

ChickTech Board DEI Representative

Co-Founder & Learning Development Partner, Johnson Squared Consulting

Noelle Johnson is the Co-Founder. and Learning and Development Partner with Johnson Squared Consulting, an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility consulting group. She has over a decade of experience working in operations and transforming company culture to be more equitable and an overall happier and more inclusive work environment.

In addition to this role, Noelle is the CEO of My Interview Buddy, a career services company. In this position, she manages a team to help job seekers land their dream job and works with organizations on LinkedIn, recruiting efforts, and personal branding workshops for their staff.

Noelle has earned a positive reputation for her expertise and has been quoted in Forbes, Fast Company, Glassdoor, NPR, and more. She has also written for Medium, Cameron Diaz’s Your Body Book, and professional women’s websites like InHerSight and PowerToFly.

Noelle has given speeches and lead workshops to small and large groups, in person and digitally on topics including but not limited to; microaggressions, establishing inclusion effort at work, self-advocacy at work, developing a diverse network, allyship, and addressing unconscious bias.

Jennie Leigh (she/her)

ChickTech Board Secretary

Vice President of Customer Experience & Marketing Operations, Akamai Technologies

Jennie is the VP of Marketing Operations and Customer Experience at Akamai Technologies. Having spent 20 years at the company, she’s performed a variety of roles in that time, from customer-facing sales, services, and support roles, to operations-focused roles in enablement, product readiness, analytics and technology. She most enjoys helping organizations scale up to continually meet customer needs. Jennie became a volunteer for the ChickTech: Bay Area community in 2014, when she was seeking a way to improve the number of women applying for roles at Akamai. She joined the Chicktech board in 2018, and currently serves as the Board Secretary.

Elizabeth Gotto (she/her)

ChickTech Board Member

Vice President – MCE Platform Enablement, Experian

Elizabeth is a results oriented IT professional with 23 years of diverse business experience. She is a Senior Vice President of Technology and the General Manager for Privacy at Ticketmaster. She is responsible for Central Operations including Critical Incident Management, Contact Center Technology and fan privacy. She has a demonstrated history of transforming organizations by building great teams and consistently implementing industry leading technologies. She provides vision and leadership that drive significant cost savings, empower teams with highly available applications that focus on positive customer experiences and implementing programs company-wide.  Elizabeth is passionate about encouraging females to join and stay in the technology industry, she started ChickTech: Denver in 2017. She is a Colorado native, proud mother of two children and enjoys spending time with her family and in the mountains.

Christine Pavalon (she/her)

ChickTech Board Member

Regional Vice President of Sales, RingCentral

Christine has over 20 years of experience in Technology Sales. Her career started off in the early days of Telecom Communication services and has evolved over the years into SAAS Sales. Currently she is a Vice President of Sales for RingCentral. The core business model today is providing Enterprise Voice, Collaboration Tools, and Contact Center solutions to her clients.She came to be introduced to ChickTech in 2018 when she spoke on a panel regarding breaking the Glass Ceiling. Technology Sales is an area that has excited her and open doors to great career advancement which she loves to share and encourage others to consider. Christine resides in the Chicago Suburbs and is the mother to 3 daughters.

Dr. Kimberly Clay, PhD, MPH, MSW (she/her)

ChickTech Board Member

Founder & CEO – Play Like a Girl

Dr. Kim began her career as a public health analyst at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Early in her career, she saw the gender gap in education and health firsthand while working in underserved communities across the South. This led her to establish Play Like a Girl during her doctoral studies in health education. In 2007, she returned to the classroom—this time, as a tenure-track professor—at the University of Georgia where she taught and conducted research exploring long-term cancer survivorship in women.

Dr. Kim enjoys dual residence in Nashville and Dallas with her husband, Mark Clay, MD, their sons, Joshua and Isaac, and their beagle, Brooklyn.

Steve Hufford (he/him)

ChickTech Board Member

CEO, Hufford Services Group

Rebecca Phillips (she/her)

ChickTech Board Member

Senior Manager Product Management, Infineon Technologies

Rebecca has over 20 years of experience in high-tech marketing of hardware and software products. In her career she has held a variety of roles in marketing, product management, and program management. At Infineon Technologies she focuses on the customer journey for microcontrollers. Rebecca joined the ChickTech board of directors in 2023. She has been a volunteer for STEM programs and central Texas high-school robotics teams for over a decade. Rebecca resides in Austin, she enjoys spending time with her family and exploring the lakes of central Texas.

Sloane Miller (she/her)

ChickTech Youth Board Representative

Student, North Carolina A&T State University, 2024

Sloane Miller is a sophomore at North Carolina Agriculture and State University, majoring in Computer Science. As a student member, Sloane has been a part of ChickTech for three years and is happy to serve on the national board. With three internships under her belt and leading the ACM Gaming Sig at her university, Sloane likes to keep herself busy as best as she can. Sloane lives by the phrase “whom much is given, much is expected” closely to her heart and maintained this belief when she founded Kid Tech Express 6 years ago. Kid Tech Express is a nonprofit dedicated to closing the digital divide by providing technology, mentorship, and workshops to lower-income schools and students. She continues to fight for the next generation by giving them every chance to shine and find their passions and talents within STEM while giving them a solid support system like the one ChickTech provided for her.

Govi Pursarla

ChickTech Youth Board Representative

BayArea 2014 High School Kickoff. Photo by David Kuwaye.