Last Day of Beatles Year

The lyrics of “When I’m Sixty-Four” by Paul McCartney of The Beatles start, “When I get older losing my hair, Many years from now, Will you still be sending me a Valentine, Birthday greetings bottle of wine. If I’d been out till quarter to three, Would you lock the door? Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I’m sixty-four?” Tonight, I end my Beatles Year!

I start my new half-decade tomorrow. Such a delightful adventure!

Katy Dickinson 1957

Katy Dickinson 1961

Katy Dickinson 1967

Wade, Eleanor, Mark, Peter, Katy Dickinson, Bachelor of Arts Commencement, University of California at Berkeley, 1979

Katy Dickinson 1980

Wade, Eleanor, Katy Dickinson with baby Jessica 1989

Jessica and Paul, Nut Tree Railroad, 1995

Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, Wedding 2000

Jessica and Matthew wedding 2011

Jessica and Katy, Beirut, Lebanon, 2013

Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, Lalibela, Ethiopia 2014

Katy and Jessica, Sierra Leone 2019

Katy and Jessica, Horseshoe Bend, Arizona 2019

Paul D Goodman and Katy Dickinson, Cielo Lodge, Golfito, Costa Rica, August 2021

Graduate Theological Union, Master of Theology Commencement, 7 May 2022

John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right on Katysblog home). Images Copyright 1957-2022 by Katy Dickinson.

Leading by Example

On Facebook, I have been posting stories which demonstrate leading by example. I disagree with Sharon Keating’s assessment in her Buzzfeed article yesterday, “Stop Sharing Viral Photos Of Cops Kneeling With Protesters”, in which she writes, “This movement is not about individuals.”  Systemic evil like our country’s racism and violence toward people of color was built up one person at a time. I believe this toxic system can only be torn down by each of us honoring each other’s importance as an individual, a valued and loved child of God. A moment of humble solidarity is important, is something we can build on and celebrate. Even though they may not last, I will continue to share those moments of leadership.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer)

Facebook Posts on Leading by Example

• Leading by example – Santa Maria Urban Ministry Food Pantry, open for impoverished families in San Jose during Covid-19 (SMUM website)
• Leading by example – Washington DC Mayor, Muriel Bowser: “D.C. Mayor Bowser has ‘Black Lives Matter’ painted on street leading to White House: The act was intended to honor protesters who had peacefully assembled earlier this week.” (NBC News)
• Leading by example – Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers: “US Church Leader Responds to Donald Trump.” (ABC The Drum)
• Leading by example – Washington National Cathedral Dean, the Very Rev. Randy Hollerith: “Dean Randy Hollerith passed out water and knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the time it took for the life to be taken from George Floyd.” (posted by the National Cathedral on Facebook, 4 June 2020)
• Leading by example – Right Rev. Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury: “Trump brandishing a Bible ‘an act of idolatry,’ says former Archbishop of Canterbury.” (Episcopal News Service)
• Leading by example -“Black Lives Matter protest in Wichita changed to cookout with police” (Kansas City Star, Wichita Eagle)
• Leading by example – “Love in Action” Feeding the hungry (The Rooted Rector blog, Pacific Grove)
• Leading by example – Right Rev. Michael Curry, Episcopal Presiding Bishop, “Episcopal Bishop Cites Christian Gospel In Criticism Of Trump” (Rachel Maddow | MSNBC)
• Leading by example – former President Jimmy Carter: “Dehumanizing People Debases Us All” Jimmy Carter releases statement on George Floyd protests (Axios)
• Leading by example – “Vandalism to art” (video of artist painting over offensive wall graffiti with cupcakes and strawberries)
• Leading by example – “Video of Oakland police officers kneeling with protesters goes viral” (SFGate)
• Leading by example – “Some officers march and kneel with protesters, creating dissonant images on fraught weekend of uprisings” (Washington Post)
• Leading by example – “Police officers are joining protesters for prayers and hugs in several US cities” (CNN)
• Leading by example – “Watch: Boston officers take a knee in response to urging by protesters outside police headquarters” (Boston.com)
• Leading by example – “Protesters and Cleveland officers kneel, pray together during George Floyd demonstration at police station” (Cleveland.com)
• Leading by example – “Tense protest turns emotional as 60 North Carolina police kneel before demonstrators” (Charlotte Observer)
• Leading by example – former President Barak Obama: “Obama condemns violence and calls for change in wake of George Floyd protests” (CNN)
• Leading by example – former President George Bush: “‘End Systemic Racism’: Bush 43 Delivers Rare, Silent Rebuke to Trump – Calls for Law Enforcement to ‘Protect’ Protestors” (NCRM)
• Leading by example – “Tennessee National Guardsmen put down their shields during peaceful rally at state capitol” (MSN)
• Leading by example – Santa Cruz Mayor Justin Cummings and Police Chief Andy Mills: “Santa Cruz Police Chief with no riot gear, no backup, just kneeling with the local community, it’s that simple” (posted by Renata Rollins on Facebook – 30 May 2020)
• Leading by example – “This is how Miami Police met crowds protesting the death of George Floyd and racism in America.” (Pictures of kneeling police officers, posted by Jamie Lee Quickert on Facebook, 31 May 2020)

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right on Katysblog home).

Thanks to the Rev. Peggy Bryan for the “Faith can move mountains…” image!

Christmas 2019

May this blessed Christmas season bring you and your family joy! It has been a busy Christmas, starting even before I turned in my last (16 and 18 page) term papers at the Graduate Theological Union. So far, our adventures have included:

• Reading Charles Dickens‘ “A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” aloud with my Shakespeare Reading Group
• Hosting the Silicon Valley Lines and John‘s train club lunch group’s annual holiday party
• Dinner with my Education for Ministry class, after the Bethlehem pageant at Santa Clara First Baptist Church
• Lunch with the Interfaith Speakers of the Islamic Networks Group
• Shopping in Chinatown, San Francisco, with Sally Hambridge and Paul
• Receiving my certificate of appreciation from the US State Department for being a TechWomen 2019 mentor for Team Algeria (my 10th year as a citizen diplomat with TechWomen!)
• Dickens Christmas Fair day of music, high tea, and shopping with Jessica and Paul (including buying an amazing Christmas candle)
• Seeing the new Star Wars movie with John, Matthew, Jessica, and Paul
• Cheering on Paul for finishing the many Christmas orders for his reclaimed hardwood cutting boards
• Sitting with John and his teen video crew recording the Christmas Eve service at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
• Bringing services to two Elmwood jail dorms with John on Christmas Day (on behalf of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy)
• Enjoying family, food, and gifts with John, Jessica, Matthew, and Paul at home on Christmas Day!

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right).
Images Copyright 2019 by Katy Dickinson.

Best Mentoring Practices

Yesterday, I moderated a mentoring panel for the TechWomen Mentor Kickoff event (hosted by SurveyMonkey in San Francisco). The experienced and inspiring panelists were:

• Mentorship Advice: Katy Dickinson, Mentoring Standard
• Professional Mentor: Roojuta Lalani, Salesforce
• Impact Coach: Kiko Smith, Twitter
• Cultural Mentor: Jennifer Gieber, Glassdoor

Some of our advice:

• Katy: Look for long term success, this is a personal relationship in a professional setting
• Roojuta: Be flexible, make introductions, find people to help
• Jennifer: Create handouts for events, give good directions with pictures, be flexible, reach out to other mentors
• Kiko: Provide resources, help the group find value in each other, encourage teamwork, stay focused, show up and listen

I also offered my five best questions:

1. What problem are you solving? (define the challenge)
2. How do you know when you are done? (success/completion metrics)
3. Who is your customer? (target audience)
4. What is your data? (quantification)
5. What difference will it make? (impact)

These are on my Mentoring Standard website

I was proud to attend this event with my Co-Mentor and daughter, Jessica Dickinson Goodman. She is a Country Coach for Palestine and I am a Country Coach for Algeria this year.

Just for fun – some of my collection of magnets from the 22 TechWomen countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia:

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right).
Images Copyright 2019 by Katy Dickinson – with thanks to Jessica Dickinson Goodman.

Extra Gear? Gifts for Sierra Leone

My daughter Jessica and I will be visiting Families Without Borders in Sierra Leone next week with Terri Khonsari. If you have any extra laptops or smart phones we can bring – no matter how old or dead – the students will be delighted with your donation. Please contact me soon!

I have visited the inspiring and fascinating continent of Africa at least once a year since 2010. With TechWomen Delegations, I have been to Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa, plus participating in Delegations to Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and South Africa below the Sahara. With People to People, John and I visited Ethiopia. My only actual vacation in Africa was to Egypt in 2010 – a much longer trip than planned since our family was stranded there by the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano.  This will be my first trip to West Africa.

I bring gifts on each trip for our generous hosts and for new friends and colleagues. For my first TechWomen Delegations, I had custom pencils made but more recently, I have brought San Francisco keychains and geeky pens and toys given away at events like the Grace Hopper Conference.  For this trip, I bought keychains, the Willow Glen Wells Fargo Bank branch gave me a big bag of red pens, and I am also bringing packages of stickers for the children.

However, the best present for the students in Sierra Leone would be empowerment and greater connection to the wider world.  Your outdated computer gear can help them.  I hope to hear from you!

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right).
Image Copyright 2017 by Katy Dickinson

TechWomen Community Cycle

The TechWomen mentoring program has been since 2010 a big part of my annual planning. 90 Emerging Leaders from 19 countries in Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East will arrive in the San Francisco Bay Area in about ten days to start working at local STEM companies.  I am already working with the 6 ELs from Tunisia as one of their 3 Impact Advisors. Our Impact Advisory group has been meeting remotely every Friday – I look forward to meeting the Tunisia ladies in person soon.  The 2016 Emerging Leaders will be in the USA until mid-October, returning home after a visit to Washington DC.

I am also enjoying supporting one of my 2014 mentees, TechWomen Fellow and Fulbright Fellow Mai Temraz from Gaza, who will be starting her MBA at Cal State San Bernardino next month.  Several of us visited Mai and her family in Gaza City earlier this year.  The Temraz family is staying with us in San Jose while Mai goes through orientation at UC Davis.  Last weekend, my daughter Jessica, Mai, and I did a road trip to help find an apartment in San Bernardino and to see the Cal State campus.  In a few weeks, the Temraz family will move to Southern California.

TechWomen is more than an Initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, it has become a beloved community and extended family for many of its participants.

Walaa, Mai, and Yazan Temraz in San Jose, California, August 2016

TechWomen Erin Keeley, Eileen Brewer, Mai Temraz, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, Katy Dickinson, and Aliya Janjua in Gaza City, February 2016

TechWomen Seham Al-Jaafreh, Mai Temraz, and Katy Dickinson, San Bruno Park, California, October 2014

TechWomen in Tunisia, with Impact Advisors in California, August 2016

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right).

Images Copyright 2014-2016 by Katy Dickinson

Technovation World Pitch Summit 2016

Last week, I enjoyed attending the Technovation World Pitch Summit 2016 hosted by the University of San Francisco. Technovation was the single most popular formal mentoring program mentioned by the Mentoring Standard Certified Mentors (see the “First Mentors – What We Learned” report), so I have heard about its excellence from many sources.  Technovation was founded in 2009 to offer girls the opportunity to learn how to start a company and become high-tech entrepreneurs.  It is now a global competition reaching thousands of girls.  This year’s winners were:

• First Place, High School: Team A, “OOL” from Mexico
• First Place, Middle School: California Coders, “Loc8Don8” from the United States

The pitch videos from all of the finalists are well worth watching.  In addition to the awards given to the girls’ teams, TechWomen‘s own Dr. Amel Gouila (Bioinformatician at the Institut Pasteur de Tunis) from Tunisia was honored as The Technovation Regional Ambassador of the year.  In advance of the awards, there were inspiring speeches by:

• Andy Cunningham – (who said she was fired 5 times by Steve Jobs at Apple, NeXT, and Pixar), Founder and President, Cunningham Collective
• Debbie Sterling, Founder & CEO, GoldieBlox
• Tara Chklovski, CEO Iridescent

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right).

Images Copyright 2016 by Katy Dickinson