Rakia Finley

The question, “What’s it like being a [INSERT TITLE HERE] in the industry” is a question we attempt to answer within the tech ecosystem daily that generates separation among our staff. However, this conversation at times is done to generate change while really creating division and never seems to get to the root of its issue. In this presentation we’ll discuss — the bigger issue within diversity within our development team. When unconscious bias affects how are teams work together and deploy innovations what happens? This session will discuss identifying your unique strengths, allowing your purpose to lead the way, and knowing what concessions you’re willing to make without resentment to relieve technology of bias production.

At some point in your life, someone will probably ask you how your work affects your home life, your marriage, and/or your children. A question that may never be asked of your male counterpart. And as this person calls your entire existence into question, and you will be able to confidently say “My work puts food on the table, puts a roof over our heads, and provides the best possible example of success for my children.” To get to this place, to feel like you have it all together, is tricky. This talk will help identify the main struggles you will face in dating and marriage, entrepreneurship and success, and how to effectively deal with them without compromising your needs or wants.

Designing effective user experiences are essential for applications to be successful. To create a cohesive user experience it requires developing user flows that ensure that the users are achieving the core actions within the application. We’ll walk workshop participants through the process of developing successful user flows and how to test these experiences. We will highlight UX best practices and discuss useful design patterns to factor into their Salesforce applications.

The start of a developer's project usually starts with the question “what are we building it on?”. Unite the Connected will discuss the capabilities and needs of building with all devices in mind to function as one. We’ll investigate how it looks when you build a mobile application, IOT Device and a web application to function under one need for the consumer and founder. We’ll also discuss the workflow changes that take place when building for a trifecta platform, the proper languages to utilize and the does and don’t around its project management.

More than 50% of people now live in urban areas, and by 2050, this proportion will be 70%. Humans now spend more time on screens and indoors learning rather than connecting to nature. In a world that is increasingly becoming more urbanized, less empathetic and less connected, redefining how educators and counselors advise can offer students the freedom to dream problem solve, and mentally connect with their future – ultimately benefiting both education and mental health. These benefits occur through four key areas of interaction with the learning environments: empathic education, effective mock experiences, a space failure space, and community. This keynote hits all four key areas, providing a holistic experience and optimum exposure to the ability to try different things for the betterment of the goal at hand. This keynote is a talk that activates innovation, encourages empathy, and promotes creative problem-solving by using Rakia's personal story and business experiences.