Speakers Announced for Iowa High School Tech Summit

The Technology Association of Iowa (TAI) is pleased to announce the keynote speakers for the inaugural Iowa High School Tech Summit Presented by Principal Financial Group. The speakers are Eddie Etsey, director of sports and information technology at University of Iowa Athletics, Ben Milne, founder and CEO at Dwolla, and Antoinette Stevens, senior detection and response engineer at Cisco Meraki. They will share their stories, challenge stereotypes, demystify the industry, and inspire the next generation of Iowa’s high-tech workforce.

“This is a dynamic and diverse group of Iowa technology professionals,” said TAI President Brian Waller. “You can’t be what you can’t see. Through the purposeful representation of Iowa’s diverse tech industry, students attending the Iowa High School Tech Summit will learn about technology careers and discover role models in these dynamic speakers.”

The Iowa High School Tech Summit will take place on September 30, 2019, at 8:30 am at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center. This event will connect underserved students to technology companies and careers across Iowa and will introduce them to professionals who come from similar backgrounds and experiences.  

Find more information and register at iowatechsummit.com/studentsummit

Eddie Etsey is the director of information technology at University of Iowa Athletics, where he provides leadership, strategic planning, and operational oversight for all of the university’s athletic programs. Born in Ghana, Eddie moved to Iowa City with his family in the early ’90s and studied computer science at the University of Iowa. His passion for bridging gaps between people and encouraging diversity of thought have not only helped him design more efficient programs but also strengthened his community. Etsey also founded the nonprofit Eddie’s Teddies, which empowers children from all backgrounds to reach their potential.

Ben Milne is the founder and CEO of Dwolla, a new kind of payment network that allows anything connected to the Internet to move money quickly, safely, and at a cost as low as possible. The Des Moines-based company has been named by Fast Company as one of the world’s “50 Most Innovative Companies.” Milne has been recognized by Forbes as a “Disruptor of the Year,” named as one of Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, and honored by MIT Technology Review in its annual “Innovators Under 35” list.

Antoinette Stevens is a Georgia native and has lived in Iowa since 2015. She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Georgia in 2014 and currently works in Des Moines as a senior security detection and response engineer for San Francisco based Cisco Meraki. In 2018, Antoinette was honored to be named as the youngest honoree on the Business Record’s Forty Under 40 list in recognition of her continued passion to create a more tech-savvy Iowa. Antoinette also founded the nonprofit Reboot Iowa, which teaches computer programming and general tech literacy courses to adults.



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