Jossie’s Bio
Jossie Haines has spent 20 years in the tech industry as an engineering leader at the forefront of emerging technology across Silicon Valley, including management roles at Apple, Tile, Zynga and American Express. She is currently VP of Software Engineering at Tile and leads the mobile, backend, web, and platform engineering teams that empower users to find millions of lost items every day. She also heads up the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across Tile, and started the Tile mentoring program. Jossie is on a mission to keep women in tech. She spends her free time speaking about retaining women in tech, empathy in engineering, and effective and fair management practices that reduce bias and empower all team members to thrive. She has given over 40 talks in the last 2 years including at the Grace Hopper, and Empowered Women of the World conferences. She is also an active mentor at the Mentoring Club, Power to Fly, UCSC and Plato.
WITH GROUPS CREATING PROGRAMS TO ENCOURAGE FEMALES TO CONSIDER STEM, WHAT IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO ENTRY THAT IS STILL PREVALENT TODAY?
Without realizing it, companies are turning off female candidates by having horrible recruiting practices filled with bias, lack of clarity, or lack of respect; not including any women in interview panels; or even worse harassment. A 2019 survey conducted by Girls Who Code of over 1000 women applying to tech summer internships found that over half the survey participants either had a negative experience while applying for technical internships or knew another women who had. (Source: https://www.wired.com/story/for-young-female-coders-internship-interviews-can-be-toxic/)
WHAT OR WHO INSPIRES YOU?
I am inspired by my mission to keep women in tech. In early 2018, I almost left the tech industry after feeling burnt out, going through impostor syndrome, and being tired of how women in tech are treated. I realized though that technology is impacting all aspects of our daily lives and yet it doesn’t fully address the needs of women or other underrepresented minorities. If I walked away I’d be walking away from having the ability to impact the future. I decided to come back under my rules this time and wanted to work somewhere that truly valued inclusion. I’ve been back for over 2 years and spend my days both as a VP of Engineering, and also as head of diversity, equity & inclusion strategy and an advocate and active public speaker on retaining women in tech.
WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT/ACCOMPLISHMENT?
My proudest accomplishment is getting the seat at the table and becoming VP of Software Engineering at Tile. I want to make a difference in tech and build inclusive technology teams in which each individual thrives and feels valued, and also deliver amazing products which fulfill the needs of our diverse world.