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As they progress in
engineering and IT, many Native Americans benefit from the experience
and advice of those who walked before them. After they find
professional success, the desire to give back to the community creates
a cycle of generosity that binds the tribes together and spurs further
accomplishment.
Navajo Elmer Roanhorse of Intel and AISES: "no obstacles can impede you"
Growing up on a Navajo reservation in Arizona, Elmer Roanhorse spent
three hours each day on a bus riding to and from high school. After
graduation he married, started a family and worked for the county
highway department in Flagstaff, AZ for ten years.
When the kids were a little older, Roanhorse's wife began taking
classes at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, planning to become
a nurse. Roanhorse would sometimes drop in at the campus, and one day
he got into deep conversation with an older gentleman. "I told him how
my work at the highway department got me interested in engineering, and
he told me, 'If you ever want to go back to school, I know some people
who might be able to help you.'"
Roanhorse explained that he had to be a full-time working father
until his wife graduated. "He said he understood how hard it is. But
sometime later I ran into him again and he asked me the same question.
This time I told him I was interested, because my wife was about to
graduate and get a nursing job so I would have help supporting the
family."
Roanhorse's friend gave him the name of a woman in the school's
college of engineering. She helped him prepare for entrance exams, and
his scores qualified him for a scholarship.
So Roanhorse became an interested and happy freshman. "One day I was
walking out of the engineering department with my books, and there was
my friend walking in. He smiled and said, 'I guess things are working
out for you.' I asked, and learned that he was chair of the engineering
department, the big chief."
After his first year of school, Roanhorse did an internship at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (Pasadena, CA). He saw the high-level rocket
engines that would be used for long-distance travel in space, "and that
was just wow!" he remembers with awe.
When he got back to school, Roanhorse changed his major from CE to
ME. Soon after, he moved to Phoenix, AZ, transferred to Arizona State
University-Phoenix and got involved with AISES. Through AISES he met an
Intel rep, who hired him as an intern to help plan AISES conferences.
When he completed his BSME in 1998, Roanhorse became a junior
engineer in Intel's process materials engineering department. Today
he's an electrical and thermal line-yield analysis engineer at Intel's
Chandler, AZ facility. He's also a founding member of the Arizona
professional chapter of AISES.
"I think Native children are just not exposed to the idea of
college," he says. "I don't even remember hearing much about it in high
school. They were probably thinking, 'This group of kids doesn't want
to do it,' and that's why they didn't sit us down and tell us that
college was an option."
Through Intel and AISES, Roanhorse is doing his part to change that
situation. "I talk to the high school kids and tell them that the goal
is reachable," he says. "It's not easy, but if you really want to go to
college, there are no obstacles that can impede you from doing it."
Top priority at Intel
Intel Corp (Santa Clara, CA) was founded in 1968 to build semiconductor
memory products. A couple of years later the company produced the
world's first microprocessor. Since then Intel has expanded its
business to many kinds of chips, boards, systems and software to power
computers, servers and networking and communications products.
It employs more than 85,000 people in 294 locations around the world, reflecting the diverse population its products serve.
"We strive to hire and retain the best talent from an increasingly
global and diverse labor pool," says Paul Otellini, Intel president and
COO. "We believe this will result in a better understanding of our
customers' needs and better products tailored to those needs, and
ultimately advance Intel's global leadership job."
Navajo Tracey Phoenix, Intel IE technician: balancing two worlds
Tracey Phoenix grew up in a traditional Navajo family
on the Fort Defiance, AZ reservation. She didn't know much about the
outside world until she left the reservation to go to boarding school.
"That's when I realized how unique the reservation environment was,"
Phoenix says. "I was taught to respect everything around me, and
sacrifice a lot for my family or friends or the land. But in boarding
school, everybody was 'me, me, me,' fighting for their own
accomplishments. That was the hardest for me to accept."
Despite the culture shock, Phoenix did well in high school and
earned a full scholarship to the University of New Mexico, where she
studied electronics. After she got her associates degree in 1984 she
found a job working on semiconductors at Motorola (Schaumburg, IL).
She liked work much better than school, and felt more able to be
herself on the job. But living so far from the Navajo Nation proved a
constant struggle. After five years she found a job at the Intel plant
in Chandler, AZ as an industrial engineer technician.
Being in Arizona again felt much better. And another turning point
was a class she took based on Stephen Covey's book, The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People. "It really helped me bring my two worlds
together and find my place," Phoenix says. "After that, I felt I was
really involved and starting to advance at Intel."
She also became the chair of the company's Native American affinity
group in Arizona. She began to talk at elementary schools, and, through
AISES, worked with the Indian club at Arizona State University, telling
the kids about Intel internships.
"When we bring in Native American students for internships, we have
one-on-one sessions with them to let them know they're not alone. I
help there, too," Phoenix says.
Frequent trips home refresh her spirit. "It's easy to get lost in
this fast-paced world. When I get off the highway onto reservation
land, the sense of relief is amazing."
Chenega Corp: unique resources for Native shareholders
Chenega Corp (Anchorage, AK) is an Alaska Native Village corporation.
It was incorporated in 1974 under the 1971 federal Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act. The company was formed to serve the needs of the Alaska
Natives who are its shareholders, and puts their interests at the
forefront of its business decisions.
"As an Alaska Native-owned business, Chenega is keenly sensitive to
diversity in our workforce," says Charles W. Totemoff, president and
CEO. "Aside from our Native shareholders, the rest of our workforce is
44 percent minority. Diversity is the key to raising the standard of
living for the disadvantaged."
Chenega Technology Services Corp (CTSC) is a Chenega Corp
subsidiary. Its employees provide services for IS development and
integration, support for military ops, technology research and
technical analysis. CTSC's corporate HQ is in Anchorage, AK, but its
operational HQ is in Alexandria, VA.
Alaska native Jason Totemoff supports IT networks at CTSC
In the 2000 census, the isolated Alaska town of Tatitlek had just 107 people. It can only be reached by sea or air.
Growing up in that remote area, Jason Totemoff knew he needed to
continue his schooling. "I was one of very few who went to college, but
I just felt the need to go. I wanted something new in my life."
He enrolled at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. He used the
computer in his classes, of course, but didn't think much about
technology. Then a summer internship at CTSC showed him the world of IT.
"In my internship I was just doing basic IT, assisting users. But it
got more and more interesting." After three summers, CTSC hired
Totemoff for its IT network at Alexandria HQ. He's continuing to work
on his degree while working full time in Alexandria.
"I'm assisting the company with 700 users and doing a bit of Web
development," he says. "There are so many things to pursue in this
field, and it's always changing. That's the good thing about it."
Of course Totemoff felt out of his element so far from Tatitlek,
where Natives are the majority. "The change when I moved was quite a
culture shock," he says.
But CTST offered plenty of support. "They provided scholarships, tutoring and assistance. They're there to help and create jobs.
"There's so much help out there," Totemoff reflects. "It's amazing
how much assistance you can get from Native organizations. If you take
one step forward, they'll take two."
IBM's long history of valuing diversity
IBM first hired blacks and women in 1899, and brought in its first
employee with a disability in 1914. This history of valuing diversity
in the workplace has helped to create its century-plus of success, the
corporation believes.
In 2004, some 23.4 percent of IBM's 140,000 U.S. employees were
minorities. Of them, 822 classified themselves as Native American.
"Diversity is becoming a key factor in helping define leadership in
today's marketplace," says Ted Childs, VP of global workforce
diversity. "Today, continued diversity leadership at IBM will quench
our insatiable appetite for talent, and enhance our ability to create
new revenue streams, win and retain customers and maintain our
marketplace leadership."
IBM's Kerry Langford works to preserve the Cherokee language
Kerry Langford graduated from the University of
Texas-Arlington with a degree in software engineering in 1988 and went
to work for IBM. He'd been there four years before he learned he was
part Cherokee.
Langford did three co-ops at IBM in college, and continued working
at IBM in Dallas, TX. In 1992 he transferred to the Rochester, MN,
location. That same week his mother died.
"At a time like that, you sit down and talk with relatives about
things you might not have talked about before," Langford says. "I
discovered that both my parents had Cherokee heritage. They never said
anything about it to me. So now it's all about trying to rediscover a
lot of what was lost."
Langford dove into research about his family and the Cherokee
Nation. At the time, he was working on IBM's translation software. When
he learned that the Cherokees' knowledge of their native language is
dying with each generation, he knew what to do.
"I didn't grow up on a reservation system or around Native people,
so the only thing I could give back was my technical knowledge of how
to deal with languages," Langford says.
"Working with the educators and translators of the Cherokee Nation,
I initiated several projects demonstrating the use of Cherokee language
on keyboards and in fonts, and arranged for the donation of translation
software from IBM."
His efforts were applauded at IBM, and an executive suggested that
he look into the Indigenous Language Institute (Santa Fe, NM, www.indigenous-language.org),
which seeks volunteers who know about standards to help produce native
language material for K-12 students. For several years now, Langford
has chaired the institute's technical advisory committee.
"We're not trying to second-guess language programs now in
existence. We just want to help people who have the language in their
heads get it into an electronic form, so it can be easily reproduced
and shared," he says.
At Nokia, Navajo/Filipino Vicki Abadilla tests software
In North America, Nokia (Irving, TX) is best known for
its mobile phones, but it also supplies devices and solutions for
imaging, games, media and business. Nokia is a global organization with
HQ in Finland and dozens of locations around the world. Its workforce
mirrors the diverse customers it serves. "Not only is the world our
marketplace, but also our talent pool," says Jorma Ollila, chair and
CEO.
Nokia's Vicki Abadilla represents some of the diverse cultural
backgrounds Ollila has in mind. Her mother was Navajo, from a New
Mexico reservation. Her father is Filipino, and she grew up in
California.
Her parents emphasized her Filipino background, and Abadilla wasn't
much aware of her Native heritage until she was in high school. Then
she discovered to her delight that she could qualify for a college
scholarship from the Navajo Nation Council.
She graduated from the University of San Diego (San Diego, CA) in
1978 as a liberal arts major, but moved into technology with a job at
Aerospace Corp (El Segundo, CA). "I was in manufacturing," she recalls.
"I would work with the engineers and compile their data, putting it
into databases and creating reports and charts."
After additional training, Abadilla moved to the software side, and
in February 1999 she joined Nokia, working in their San Diego, CA
location. Today, she tests embedded phone software at Nokia, checking
its stability after build teams compile all the development software.
In April 2004, Abadilla was diagnosed with breast cancer. That set
her thinking. "My mom died young, and I thought I should learn more
about our family. Our medical history is important to know, but I also
want to share our history with my children. Maybe there were things on
the Navajo side that were big milestones in our family. I'm grateful
that I'm still in contact with a few Navajo relatives who can tell me."
After surgery and aggressive chemotherapy, Abadilla is on the road
to full recovery. Now she's eager to get out to the reservation. "I
want to make sure my children know their family," she says.
Mohawk Melissa Hill: manufacturing engineer at UTC's P&W
The various business units of United Technologies Corp
(UTC, Hartford, CT) are involved in aerospace, aviation, helicopter
design, climate control, hydrogen fuel cells, even elevator design. The
corporation employs more than 200,000 people in some 180 countries
around the world.
"We remain totally committed to diversity within our workforce and
to opportunities for advancement for all," says George David, chair and
CEO of UTC. He recognizes "strong and committed diversity" as a
business benefit, and "also a personal benefit, because this is how we
learn."
Mohawk Melissa Hill, a manufacturing engineer for the F119 nozzle
liners group at UTC's Pratt & Whitney business unit (P&W, East
Hartford, CT), is part of that rich diversity.
She grew up on the Akwesane Mohawk reservation on New York State's
Canadian border. Not many of her high school friends had their sights
set on college. But Hill was eager to get there. She entered nearby
Clarkson University (Pottsdam, NY) to study ME.
In college she did three co-ops at a local General Motors plant. "I
really enjoyed it and decided to do something in manufacturing," she
says. At a career fair she spoke with a P&W rep and liked what she
heard.
After graduation in 2000 she entered P&W's two-year
manufacturing rotation program. "I got a ton of training during four
six-month assignments," she explains.
Hill's affiliation with AISES helped ease the transition from
reservation life to college, and from college to work. "Where I grew
up, my grandparents were right across the street, my aunt and uncle
next door and my brother three houses down. Not seeing them every day
was a major adjustment for me and I had huge phone bills. But AISES was
really supportive and always there, almost like another family."
As she moves ahead in her career, Hill takes time to share her
experiences with young people in the Native American community. She
recently judged student projects from electromagnetism to homemade soda
at an AISES-sponsored science fair.
Alaska Native Joanne White is a programmer at Edward Jones
Joanne White grew up in Alton, IL, far from her
Athabaskan mother's home in Alaska. But she and her mom made regular
trips to visit Alaska Native relatives. The young White saw and
appreciated the tremendous differences.
"The environment is different. Families are closer. My mom had
thirteen brothers and sisters, so I have cousins after cousins after
cousins, even though they eat different foods and speak a different
language," White says.
Her cousins weren't thinking much about college, but White always
assumed she would attend. She graduated from Southern Illinois
University in 1995 with a degree in business and a specialization in
MIS. When she graduated she worked in the IT department of a gaming
company, then moved to a job as a programmer/analyst at financial
services firm Edward Jones (St. Louis, MO), where she has worked for
nine years.
White still visits her extended family in Alaska. She lives in St.
Louis now, a city with few Native American residents, but no shortage
of people who appreciate her involvement. She has worked with
underprivileged children and battered women, and mentored a "little
sis" in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization.
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