About Us

Jenny is a Full Stack Software Engineer at Liberty Mutual Insurance and the founder of Charleston Women Devs. Jenny can't sit still if she isn't actively challenging herself and learning something new. She is full-time Software Engineer at Liberty Mutual Insurance and the Executive Director of Charleston Women in Tech.

Before her hard pivot to software in 2017, Jenny worked 10+ years with various international and local non-profits. During that time she led projects for more than 50 grants which ranged from $10k to over $1 million, coming from agencies such as USAID, UNWomen, US Department of Justice, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, large anonymous foundations and several Canadian agencies. In her new life of software development she brings these honed leadership skills to the table to push ingenuity, team cohesion, and a general excitement about being part of something bigger than one’s self.

Jenny made the switch to software development in 2017 and has never looked back. After attending the local JRS Code School, she has worked for a number of Charleston-based and national companies

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Suzie Rybicki is VP of People & Operations at PhishLabs, a local cyber security company providing digital risk protection through curated threat intelligence and complete mitigation. After joining the PhishLabs’ leadership team in February 2015, her role first focused on developing the Human Resource and Organization Development strategy from scratch. However, as the company grew, her interest in cybercrime provided an expanded role in leading the client operation teams under their Business Email Compromise Centers of Excellence.

Throughout her career, Suzie has enjoyed volunteered her time and expertise in leadership roles with organizations such as Chicago SHRM and Chicago Chamber of Commerce. Since 2015, she has served on the committee of Charleston Open Source (“COS”), which she has chaired for the past two years. In late 2020, she was also honored to join the board of directors of Charleston Women In Tech, where she leads the Programs Committee.

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“Kaity is the program director for both SC Codes and Develop Carolina - two non-profit programs designed to provide access & opportunity for South Carolina residents to pursue a career in tech while simultaneously supporting SC- based tech companies in their search for talent. Kaity has been involved in non-traditional tech education since 2015 and she is dedicated to lowering barriers into tech careers and creating generational change and opportunities for all.”

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Jenifer is a Product Designer at Paylocity, a Fortune ranked company (No. 9) on the annual 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list. Jenifer is thriving in this innovative environment where creative thinking is the norm, but so is caring and supporting one another. She is designing peer to peer recognition software and a suite of communication and collaboration tools for this leading HR software platform. Jenifer is a mentor, designer, UX instructor, and in her free time is a studio artist at Redux Studios in Charleston, SC. She is excited to begin a new adventure as a Board Member of Charleston Women in Tech connecting, preparing, and supporting women with careers in technology.

Jenifer’s educational background includes a BS from NC State College of Design in Art and Design and further study at California College of Art (CCA) San Francisco, School of Visual Arts, NYC and Pratt Institute, NYC.

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Rachel Downing is Senior Director of Software Development for AmplifiedAg, Inc where she leads a team of people performing software development and IT administration. Downing has been with AmplifiedAg, Inc since February 2021. Prior to AmplifiedAg, Inc, she was with Benefitfocus for over 11 years where she led cross-functional teams including engineering, QA automation, platform control, release management, customer support, the benefit service center and most recently professional services implementation teams. Prior to Benefitfocus, she spent 25 years with Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company in several IT positions ultimately as Director of Information Services.

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Jackie is the Director of Operations at Vertical Roots, an indoor hydroponic farm which utilizes our parent companies’ technology to control, integrate, automate, and monitors all aspects of the farming operation. Prior to joining Vertical Roots, Jackie held various positions across the country at Ossur Orthopaedic, Amgen, Nestle and Bevolution Group.
Jackie is a proven manufacturing industry professional. She has more than 15 years of experience in leadership, technical operations, manufacturing, and continuous improvement. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Northwestern Ohio and a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Wright State University. She is excited to begin a new journey as a Board Member of Charleston Women in Tech where her experience meets her passion for inspiring and empowering young women considering a career in STEM.

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Jessica is the Chief of Staff and Controller of in/PACT, a technology company that is on a mission to grow the world’s heart by connecting customers of financial institutions and loyalty providers with their favorite charitable causes.

With over ten years of accounting experience, Jessica has facilitated growth in a wide variety of companies. Her attention to detail has provided fiscal improvements in every company she has worked for. Her experience, post graduate school, started at Crowe Horwath LLP as an auditor, where her clients ranged from construction firms to insurance subsidiaries. Prior to in/PACT she was part of the accounting team at SPARC, which was acquired by Booz Allen Hamilton in 2015. She gained tremendous knowledge from day-to-day accounting to assisting in the acquisition.

Jessica received her undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and a Masters in Accountancy from Belmont University in Nashville.

Traveling is one of her passions and whenever she can, she brings her dog, Merlot, with her. When she is not traveling, her weekends are spent exploring Charleston and volunteering Junior League of Charleston.

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Karan Sorensen is the Director of Academic Technology and Grants and an adjunct professor for Charleston Southern University. She is also President of Sorensen Strategies, a strategic management consulting firm specializing in transforming businesses and organizations, facilitating innovation and technology solutions, and driving profitable growth and operational excellence for corporate and institutional clients.

Karan has over thirty years of experience in executive and general management roles in Fortune 500 companies across multiple industries. A proven leader and technopreneur, she also serves as a board member and advisor for technology start-ups, colleges and universities, business and industry standards organizations, and the Better Business Bureau (Board Chairperson).

Karan formerly served as Chief Information Officer for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, Centocor R&D and Life Technologies. At Johnson & Johnson, she also served as Total Oncology Digital Officer and Vice President of Global Infrastructure Programs. Her earlier career experiences included planning and implementing information technology, manufacturing and engineering solutions for Merck, Jacobs Engineering, General Electric, and DuPont.

Her expertise includes entrepreneurial startups, implementation of innovation and technology solutions, organizational transformation, coordination of mergers and acquisitions, international business collaborations, building Centers of Excellence specializing in Technology, Innovation and Engineering, and implementation of operational excellence programs and solutions. She has assisted several organizations in turn-around revitalizations. Her accomplishments have been acknowledged by CIO magazine and other executive and industry publications and organizations. She has garnered numerous awards including, Bio-IT World Best Practices, CIO magazine and CIO.COM awards including the CIO 100 award and CIO 100+ Competitive Advantage award

Her educational background includes: Educational Leadership EdD program at Liberty University, Technology Management PhD program at Stevens Institute of Technology; MBA, Stevens Institute of Technology; MS, Management of Technology, Stevens Institute of Technology; BSc, Management Information Systems and Business Administration, Charleston Southern University.

Karan is a visionary and strategic thinker with a proven track record that demonstrates the ability to communicate ideas, inspire and engage teams, and deliver next-generation solutions.

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Christina is an entrepreneur, leader, human resources executive, and public speaker with a proven track record of building companies and talent attraction expertise. As CEO of Catch Talent, Christina leads the delivery of technical recruiting services to growing technology, creative, and government contracting companies. Prior to launching Catch, she was a founding member and Vice President of HR and Recruiting at SPARC, where her team hired over 300 Team Members in less than five years. Christina has also held leadership, recruiting, and business development positions at ARAMARK and Aerotek. Christina serves on the boards of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Charleston Women in Tech, Charleston Southern University JRS Coding School, and has spoken at SHRM, DIG South, Pecha Kucha, and the College of Charleston. She mentors fellow entrepreneurs, Mompreneurs and professionals through the Harbor Entrepreneur Center, Women in Tech, and Women’s Entrepreneur Group of Charleston.

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Jessica Brewer is the President & Chief Executive Officer of 3Together, Inc., a software company she co-founded with two others, that is focused on building micro-SaaS applications for the healthcare and finance communities.

Prior to 3Together, Jessica served as Chief Operating Officer of Amplified Ag, a family of companies focused on indoor farming technologies and operations. Their focus is multi-pronged including manufacturing, software, electrical and mechanical engineering, horticulture, farming and food safety/compliance initiatives. Their passion is to revolutionize how communities, grow, distribute and consume food.

Before joining Amplified Ag, Jessica served as a senior executive at Benefitfocus for almost 13 years. In her most recent role, as Senior Vice President of Account Services, Jessica established a new business unit and led the entire lifecycle of the Benefitfocus Account Services practice. She previously served as the Senior Vice President of Engineering and Global Services for over ten years, where she led the company's software engineering, business operations, application deployment teams and implementations. During her career with Benefitfocus Jessica was instrumental in advancing the Benefitfocus Platform through the use of innovative technologies.

Jessica earned a Master of Science in Software Engineering Management from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a Minor in Computer Science from the College of Charleston. She serves as co-chair of the board of directors for the Charleston Women in Tech and also serves on the board of directors for the South Carolina Aquarium. Jessica is also a member of the Tiffany Circle of the American Red Cross.

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As CEO of Call Experts, Abby Leibowitz plans and implements growth and sustainability strategies for the business. Since joining Call Experts, Leibowitz has transformed the company into an international corporation, serving brands all over the world to guide and implement their customer service offerings in the contact center space and human resources management. Her other work includes developing solutions for customer experience mapping in relation to customer digital journeys, focusing on AI and automation.

Leibowitz’s most recent tech project is Abridged Tech, where she serves as Founder and CEO. Abridged Tech specializes in automated and AI driven communication solutions that can easily be implemented for workforce efficiency and business intelligence insights.

Under Leibowitz’s leadership, Call Experts was recognized seven times in the Inc. Magazine 5000 List of America’s fastest growing companies and has won several other growth and workplace excellence recognitions.

Leibowitz’s management philosophy bridges inclusivity, transparency, and constant improvement.

Leibowitz holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Citadel and a Bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College. She is a member of the Canadian Call Management Association (CAM-X) and the Association of Teleservices International (ATSI).

At age 26, Leibowitz was named to the list of “40 Under 40” as recognition of outstanding leadership in the Charleston business community by the Charleston Regional Business Journal and as one of the youngest candidates to ever earn this honor. In 2019, Leibowitz was named by Charleston Business Magazine, Greenville Business Magazine, and Columbia Business Magazine as one of the Top Women in Business for South Carolina for 2019 and as the top producer in the Technology sector and was honored as one the Best & Brightest 35 & Under by Charleston Business Magazine. Leibowitz also currently serves on local non-profit, taking an active role in her community through organizations such as the Charleston Jewish Federation and the American Heart Association. Leibowitz served as the Chairwoman for the 2020 GoRED for Women Campaign in Charleston, SC. She is a native of Charleston, SC.

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Anna Basinger is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science. She currently serves at Benefitfocus in the role of Customer Support Specialist.

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Curtis is a senior engineering and DevOps leader at Amazon Web Services (AWS). He oversees DevOps engineering initiatives for the east coast, as well as, Principal DevOps engineers who focus on global transformational initiatives for a variety of AWS customers. Curtis has over 22 years of experience as a leader in tech, ranging from developer to analyst to project manager, and senior leader. Prior to joining AWS, Curtis was a senior engineering leader at a local Charleston tech firm and also worked in various technology roles at a major insurance company headquartered in Illinois.

Curtis’ most important job is serving as father to his 2 sons and his daughter. In his spare time, Curtis enjoys the local music scene, making music of his own, and recording music in his home recording studio. Additionally, he enjoys fishing, boating, running, and mountain biking throughout the low country. Curtis is also a Veteran of the US Army.

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Jessica is a marketer with 10+ years of marketing and leadership experience in national and international markets. She has leveraged her education and knowledge to develop and provide a first-class marketing experience in creative campaign development, leadership, and strategic campaign execution.

Jessica has developed a deep understanding of campaign risk management including analyzing and resolving unforeseen issues that may impact the success of project planning and execution. Her, high attention to detail, acute organizational skills, and ability to think through stakeholder and audience needs, allows her to produce more precise and effective communications, manage multiple competing priorities simultaneously, and work in a fast-paced environment where continuous innovation is the standard.

Jessica is a team player and is well-versed in relationship building with internal and external stakeholders.

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Strategic CIO bringing the value of IT to business by leading transformational change in the intersection of business and technology. As an accomplished Cloud Software leader, Todd has a proven track record of delivering IT strategy and execution, leading digital transformation, and enabling business outcomes through strong partnerships with all areas of business. He demonstrates consistent ability to modernize, rationalize, and secure enterprise business services. He strategically partners across the globe and leads cross functional teams to envision, architect, implement, and optimize these services; delivering maximum business value throughout the enterprise.

IT Strategy • Digital Transformation • Strategic Partnership • Cyber Security and Risk Management • Cloud Leadership • Business and Systems Architecture • IT Business Management (ITBM) • M&A • Data Privacy • Process Optimization • Risk Management • Organization Design and Staff Development • IT Operations

As Blackbaud's CIO, Todd leverages more than 25 years of IT experience to help Blackbaud power social good with the strategy and implementation of technology, cyber security, and business transformation. As an accomplished leader in technology and business, Lant speaks on technology trends focused on strategic decision making at industry and customer events. He has been a contributing member of regional technology development activities and hosts occasional MBA sessions; as well as an avid support of local non-profits and educational institutions. He currently serves on the board of the Charleston YMCA, Trident United Way, The Citadel’s Department of Engineering Leadership & Program Management program, Charleston Southern University’s Computer Science department, and the Charleston Digital Corridor Foundation. Lant has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a Master’s of Business Administration with an Economic focus from Georgia State University.

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Passionate, driven, problem solver, results-oriented and empathetic. Projects with Kadedra always have clear success metrics and there is little that could stop her from achieving her goals. Kadedra is a strong and thoughtful partner and collaborator which helps create high performing teams.

Kadedra has a special ability to take on any project and somehow see things differently and often uncover opportunities or risks that others overlook. She can see the big picture vividly. She is a true learner and is always looking for data and information that would make her a better leader and drive her initiatives to be overwhelmingly successful.

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Each day presents new opportunities, experiences and adventures...so I never stop learning and loving life! Everyone who meets me know that I'm passionate about providing exceptional customer service, love interacting with others and has a powerful drive for success. The more challenging the work environment, the better. I appreciate working hard to see the success of others, my company and the future.

Geocent has provided me with a career that connects these passions with potential for success for myself and everyone around me.

Networking is my favorite past time and I would be happy to connect!

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