“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” – Wayne Dyer
My name is Elaine, and I am the founder of 5xminority, a company and social media brand dedicated to empowering women and minorities, especially in tech. I am also the Assistant Vice President and CIO for Information Technology at The Graduate Center, CUNY, a Forbes Technology Council member and contributor, a TEDx Speaker, and an AMA Women’s Leadership Center presenter. I am an accomplished senior executive with two decades as an IT leader in higher education. I am skilled in Educational Technology, IT Strategy, Management, System Deployment, and Project Portfolio Management. I’ve been recognized for staff professional development, change leadership, and talent for communicating with diverse groups of people.
In general, you may think that belonging to one minority group can make things difficult for you in life. I belong to multiple minority groups, and society has tried to put me into so many different boxes that it is hard to keep track at this point. I will share ways I’ve discovered to get myself out of those boxes and demonstrate that there are no other limits other than the ones we impose on ourselves. I am a female, Latina, lesbian, who works in the male-dominated IT world, and enjoys life with no children (not by choice), but I enjoy it nonetheless, and I’m here to help others reach their full potential.
My mission with this platform is to demonstrate how businesses can be powerful platforms for social change. All companies must create workplaces that reflect the communities they are serving, and the voices of each employee need to be supported and celebrated daily. I am passionate about promoting the value of inclusive workplaces and promoting the importance of inclusion across age, religion, gender, identity, and race.
I speak dozens of times a year, to groups as small as eight and as large as 1000+ to raise awareness and put it front and center, and you can find more information here. I am also a proud contributing author to the very first edition of The Hispanic Star book “Hispanic Stars Rising: A New Face of Power.” This amazing book showcases more than 90 stories of Hispanics with diverse backgrounds, experiences, challenges, and the ongoing contributions being made by this strong and resilient community in the U.S.
On the fun side, my hobbies include traveling, photography, dancing, spending time with my family, and being outdoors and close to nature.
– Elaine Montilla, Founder