Rene Capella
HCDE & Ethics @ the University of Washington • Google DSC Lead & Founder • WTM Ambassador • Software Engineer
We talk about the following and other items
Her love of learning
Ethics in tech
Philosophy
Women Tech Makers
Building Community
Rene’s Bio
Originally from Cincinnati, a coal miner's granddaughter. If you've seen or read Hilbilly Eligy, you know the context of my youth.
I studied Philosophy at Miami University for 3 years: not for a career goal (which is probably why I didn't stick around) but because I just loved learning. I couldn't afford my last year there, so I was "auditing" classes (essentially just walking in and listening for free). While there I tutored and was an Assistant Editor on the Journal of Nietzsche studies. It's relevant because it laid the foundation for my focus on ethics in tech now.
On a "where's the most educated city in the U.S." Google, I left Ohio for Seattle in 2011. I putzed around, grew a family, and learned to program while parenting and managing restaurants. in 2017 I did a BootCamp at General Assembly and became a Software Engineer at DispatchBot 3 months after graduation.
I love the empowerment of learning to program. I love the empowerment of engineering generally. It wasn't a skill I knew was available to me for the first 3 decades of my life. So finding it has really been an amazing rush of application and exercise.
After learning the ropes, leading a software team, and earning a certificate in Project Management, I realized I wanted to dedicate my brain and energy to Product Management. Tristan Harris' Center for Humane Technology was a major inspiration. I didn't like just making features on demand: I wanted to build technology that was designed well. So I left my lead role and now I'm attending the University of Washington for HCDE and Ethics.
In the time leading up to being accepted (HCDE is capacity constrained, and I needed a lot of prereqs), I attended North Seattle College. While there I founded the Google Developer Student Club on campus. We were the most active club in all of the U.S. and Canada completing over 150 events. 35 were national or global. The rest catered to our local community of 400+ people, making us the largest student club on campus (and possibly ever).
Rene’s Social Media
Rene’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandarenecapella/
Rene’s Github: https://github.com/renecapella
Rene’s Advice
I think as far as something I want to impart, is not that you just have to let go and understand that what other people think of you does not matter and you need to be empathetic. For other individuals' interests, check in and check in often. But ultimately, you can't control them. It's something we do with social media and with our personal brand. We want to control people's thoughts. But just let go of that.
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