A Note to New Graduates: Your Career Was Never Meant to Be a Straight Line
The Fake Map We Hand New Graduates The best career advice for new graduates is rarely the advice we hear at graduation. Normally, in the days between receiving your diploma…
Elaine Montilla
96 posts
Elaine Montilla is a powerhouse at the intersection of technology, equity, and heart. As a C-suite leader, TEDx speaker, and founder of 5xMinority, she brings a uniquely human approach to conversations about innovation, leadership, and inclusion. She’s not just breaking glass ceilings, she’s building ladders for others to climb, especially women, LGBTQ+ professionals, and people of color in tech.
AI Is Looking Backward. You Are Looking Forward.
The Sentence I Keep Hearing There’s a sentence I keep hearing lately, at dinners, on panels, and in private messages from women I admire who are quietly worried about their…
Women in AI: 5 Reasons We Cannot Sit This One Out
I have been in tech for over twenty years, and I keep noticing the same pattern playing out at the start of every cycle. The AI era is still early. Here are five reasons we cannot afford to sit this one out.
Why Ethical AI Fails Without Brave Leadership
We have no shortage of ethical AI frameworks. Every major tech company has published principles. Academia produces white papers. Consultancies sell audits. Conferences dedicate entire tracks to “responsible innovation.” We’ve…
The Hidden Cost of Code Switching: Identity, Belonging, and Bias
I mentor many young people, but one in particular has been on my mind lately. Let’s call her Sophia. Her story reflects the complicated dance of code-switching and identity that…
Hispanic Heritage Month 2025: Why We’re Prouder Than Ever
This year, as we mark Hispanic Heritage Month, there’s a different kind of energy in the air. The 2025 theme, “Collective Heritage: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future,” captures the…
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome in Tech: Strategies Every Woman Needs to Thrive
The statistics are staggering, but the solution may not be what you think. Sarah stared at her laptop screen, paralyzed. She’d been coding for eight years, led successful product launches,…
From Overwhelmed to Outstanding: Leadership Skills for New Managers
Stepping into leadership often feels like being tossed into the deep end without a life jacket. One minute you’re expected to motivate a team, the next you’re handling deadlines, difficult…
Beyond Balance: Why Work-Life Harmony Is the Future We Should Be Building
For most of my career, I chased something called work-life balance. Like many women in tech, I believed that if I just organized my time well enough, blocked my calendar…
You’ve Been Laid Off. Now What?Navigate a Layoff: How to Manage Grief, Find Stability, and Move Forward
If you’ve recently been laid off, take a breath. This is a painful and disorienting moment, and it’s okay to feel everything that’s coming up: shock, fear, sadness, anger, confusion.…