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Women+ in Technology of Southeast Louisiana National Leaders
Tiffany Benitez - National President & Founder
Tiffany grew up in the beautiful islands of Hawaii. She currently lives in Bentonville, AR with her husband and children. She has spent her career in technology, across several industries. She started her career in the finance industry, with 12 years at Bank of America. Tiffany then made a move to the retail industry and took a role in technology at Walmart’s Home Office. She led several transformation and continuous improvement efforts, to progress the Global Data organization to Agile & Product ways of working. She then made a career move to Lowe’s Companies, Inc. and led the strategy, portfolio, Governance, Awareness, and communications areas for cyber-security in technology. With her time at Lowe’s, she led the Women in Technology group and served with the Women Empowered Business Resource Group leadership team. These roles allowed her to use her passion to drive change and advocacy for women across the organization. She is currently serving as a Senior Director in IT Applications for Tyson Foods, Inc. Tiffany is an Author, Speaker and Advocate for women, who uses her strong connection with people to drive change and empowerment.
Women+ in Technology of Southeast Louisiana Chapter Leadersh
Bailey Vathy- Chapter President
Bailey grew up in Covington, LA, a smaller suburb of the Greater New Orleans area. Her career in technology began as a technical recruiter specializing in government contracts, which ignited her passion for helping others. This passion led her to become a board member for the Nola Tech Ladies meetup group, inspired by a military spouse struggling to break into technology.
Knowing that women make up only 32% of the New Orleans technology workforce has fueled Bailey’s dedication to helping women enter the field. Hearing about the struggles and barriers women face in the technology workforce motivated her to strive for change by opening doors for women in New Orleans and the surrounding areas.
Bailey continues to support the military community by working with NextOp, a veteran-owned and operated career development company for veterans. She stays connected with her local TAPS classes and serves as a mentor with Veterati. Currently, Bailey is an IT Consultant with Tekchix in Metairie, a woman-owned boutique recruiting firm in New Orleans.
Melanie Dixon - Chapter Operations Lead
Melanie Dixon serves as the IS Director of Automation Platforms at Ochsner Health, where she leads the strategic and tactical management of the Salesforce, ServiceNow, SharePoint, and UiPath platforms. With a solid foundation in project management, Melanie focuses on fostering growth and innovation. She is committed to identifying opportunities that enable her teams to design, develop, and implement impactful technology solutions across the Ochsner Health system.
Rachael Isle - Treasurer
Rachael Isle began her career in legal affairs and compliance, transitioning more recently into technology with her role as a lead data research analyst for Forbes Advisor. She hopes to use her experience in establishing processes and passion for fostering inclusion to help create an environment where women and girls in technology can thrive.
In addition to her time spent with WIT+, Rachael volunteers with One Book One New Orleans, a local literacy nonprofit that delivers over 6,000 books to the community each year.
Gennipher Ricks - Analytics Lead
Gennipher Ricks joins the Women in Tech SELA Leadership Team as the Metrics and Reporting Lead with over 15 years of data experience. She currently works at WM as Sr Manager of HR Data Architecture where she leads a team of data architects who engineer data models for workforce analytics.
Gennipher graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2004 where her computer science classes averaged 5% female representation. Seeing firsthand such lowly representation of women in technology she has remained passionate about highlighting the gender tech gap and is excited and honored to lead the metrics and reporting for WIT SELA.
Kelly Bourgeois - Events & Logistics Lead
Based in Prairieville, Louisiana, Kelly Bourgeois is a dedicated
professional with 24 years of experience in the Hospitality Industry.
Before her extended sabbatical as a wife to Greg and mother to Kellyn,
she was a Corporate Sales Manager with Hilton Hotels. Her passion for
driving efficiency and fostering collaboration extends through personal
and professional growth. In her spare time she continues to volunteer for her church, community
and schools.
Greg Bourgeois - Events & Logistics Lead
Greg is a seasoned Technology Advisor with over three
decades of experience in the IT industry. Greg serves as the Sr. Account
Executive at SHI International Corp, the nation's largest Woman Minority
owned company, where he helps leaders maximize their IT investments
and implement innovative solutions. His career has been defined by a
consult-first approach, focusing on transforming customer initiatives
across AI, Cloud, Next Generation Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Modern
Workspace, and Client Experiences. He's known for his ability to connect
complex issues, subjects, and data, and thrives on developing innovative
ideas and solutions tailored to his clients' evolving challenges. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time outdoors boating and fishing,
along with DIY projects.
Devan Fendlason - Girls+ in Tech Lead
Devan Fendlason is excited to join the Women in Tech SELA leadership team as the Girls in Tech mentor. With a background in cybersecurity and a passion for empowering the next generation, Devan has experience teaching young adults various cybersecurity tools and best practices. She is eager to help facilitate opportunities for more girls to explore and thrive in the tech industry. Devan's goal is to create an inclusive and supportive environment where young women can develop their skills and confidence in technology.
In her spare time, Devan volunteers with the New Orleans Bulldog Rescue and serves on the Alumni Board for Delgado Community College’s Computer Information and Technology Program.
Abby Sanders - Community Outreach Lead
Abby joins SELA with a background in marketing and UX. She feels she’s found her calling as a UX content designer and is excited to help others in the greater New Orleans area gain confidence, find their niche, and grow their career.
Off the clock, Abby enjoys yoga, Pilates, and rock climbing. She has a rescue dog named Ernie and volunteers at Zeus’ Rescues.
Renee LaCour - Membership Lead
Renee LaCour serves as the Membership lead for WIT+ of SELA and is the Director of Process Improvement & Data Analytics at Reily Foods. Her journey has evolved into a passion for strategy and cross-functional collaboration, particularly evident in her instrumental role in guiding the digital transformation and implementation of D365. Notably, Renee's expertise extends to harnessing the power of tools like Power BI and the Power Platform, enhancing data-driven decision-making across departments. Her dedication to effective solutions and fostering teamwork cultivates an environment of mutual growth and success within the organization.
Whitney Fischer - Secretary
Whitney is a seasoned healthcare IT professional with 14 years in the industry.
She has a background that includes clinical business intelligence, strategic
project management, development of enterprise reporting solutions for
hospital systems, and healthcare technology optimization. Whitney enjoys leading diverse teams, fostering strong relationships within the technology
community, and mentoring junior business intelligence developers to meet their full potential. From an early age, Whitney fell in love with technology, and
taught herself to code in HTML at age 11. She has always wanted to share the
fun of IT with others, and to figure out where she best fits within what has
typically been a male-dominated field. As a mother of two young girls herself,
this is especially in focus. Whitney hopes to further the interests of women in technology, and foster an environment of inclusion.