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.
Tara Kendrick - National Expansion Lead
Tara Kendrick was born and raised in a small town in Southern Virginia. She recently relocated to the Northwest Arkansas area, where she currently resides in Bentonville, AR. Tara graduated with a Business Management degree from Virginia Tech, specializing in Consulting and Analysis. She has spent her entire career in technology, holding various roles across multiple industries. Tara is currently serving as AVP, Agile Delivery for Live Oak Bank, a digital, cloud-based bank focusing on serving small business owners. She plans to use her extensive experience in program and project management to develop strategies that will expand the WIT organization into new areas, continuing to drive change and empower women and girls across America. Outside of work, you will find Tara trying new recipes in the kitchen, going on long walks (or playing fetch) with her dog, June, reading all the Kindle Unlimited books, spending time with friends and family, and empowering women through fitness as a Pure Barre instructor.
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.