6 technologists you can meet at #techInColor’s ‘Speed Mentoring’ event tonight

Carlos Zuniga used to do internet security consulting for clients like MySpace, the NHL and NBC Studios. But after a decade of working in that field, the UCLA grad made the switch to web development. Now he’s a developer at Fishtown web dev firm Yikes, Inc.
He’ll be one of 17 mentors on hand at #techInColor’s Speed Mentoring event tonight at First Round Capital. The meetup group, focused on building and celebrating the community of diverse technologists in Philadelphia, organized the event after polling their members and learning that a “skill building” event was the top choice.
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Here’s a look at some of the mentors for tonight’s event. Their expertise ranges from launching a startup to online marketing to developing technology for the deaf. #techInColor has been sending out short bios for each of the mentors and we’ve reprinted some of them here, with permission. Find a full list of mentors here.

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Carlos Zuniga

• “Ask me anything about WordPress Development, PHP Development, Internet Security.”

Carlos started his career as a Systems Administrator in 1998 supporting a couple of manufacturing companies. He eventually moved on working as Systems Architect and internet security consultant working for a Los Angeles-based tech firm. Throughout the years he has helped in the development of web projects and fell in love with it even though his core competency is Systems Architecture and consulting. However, in 2008 he transitioned into web development. Eventually leaving his old career behind after 10 years to become a Web Developer. Carlos has been at Yikes, Inc. full time for the last three years primarily as a PHP/WordPress developer. He is currently a WordPress core contributor for WordPress v 4.1. He is also a translator and validator for WordPress (Spanish – Mexico).

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Erin Reichenberger

Cricket (Erin) Reichenberger is a few days away from completing her Ph.D. in bioinformatics at Drexel University. Tools necessary for this area include an understanding of biology and computation techniques, programming/statistics (Python, Bash, R, Awk), a familiarity with cloud computing, and a huge amount of patience/tenacity. When not working on research, she can be found streaming cycling (road) races, taking photographs, playing Cribbage/Yahtzee, and partaking in urban exploration.

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Ingrid Geronimo

Ingrid Geronimo has 20+ years in information technology as a Senior Business Analyst. She has served in various roles within the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) including software trainer, software tester, help desk support analyst, project lead/manager. As project lead, she provided guidance to implementation teams and various consultants. In her role as senior business analyst she successfully guided various junior analysts through the requirements elicitation and documentation process for high level, functional and technical requirements. She has experience in the assessment of user needs, requirements analysis, process analysis, development and delivery of user training and user support. As a member of the International Institute of Business Analysis she conducts her analysis based on the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) standards for requirements solicitation, documentation and traceability. She has experience with guiding clients through User Acceptance Testing (UAT) as well as designing and delivering training. Ms. Geronimo’s background spreads across the healthcare, insurance, pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. Areas of professional expertise includes systems applications analysis, process modeling analysis and data and gap analysis.

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Ani Vemprala

Ani Vemprala is CTO & Cofounder of Picwell, a Philly-based startup helping consumers make sense of health insurance. As CTO, Ani leads a team of talented software and data engineers developing Picwell’s recommendation platform. Prior to Picwell, Ani was VP of Media Products & Analytics at Adify, a Silicon-Valley based online advertising startup acquired by Cox Enterprises for $300 million. At Adify, Ani was responsible for growing the company’s nascent analytics team and using the firm’s big data assets to develop new data-driven advertising products. Ani has also held brief engineering and analytics roles at Twitter and Goldman Sachs. He has an MBA from the Wharton School, and a BA in Computer Science from UC Berkeley.

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Colby Tecklin

Colby is a Deaf computer professional who graduated from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. After graduating, he worked in the private sector as a PC support specialist before joining The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD) in Germantown as their systems administrator. At PSD he built a network that provided deaf kids and staff with the tools for communication and future ideas and inspiration. He worked at PSD for about 9 years before starting a video phone company called Snap!VRS which provided deaf people with a videophone and relay services through the Internet. He moved on to become a videophone engineer providing high-level tech support for Fortune 500 companies, the federal government as well as many state and local agencies, private businesses, and non profits in 27 states and the District of Columbia. Today Colby provides IT support and administration in Southeastern Pennsylvania for a private behavioral health company based out of Maryland. He is also a trustee for The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.

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Shanice Graham

• “Ask me a question about Digital Marketing Strategy, Online Marketing, and Analytics.”

Shanice is the Head of Digital Marketing Strategy at 4THPARK. Prior to that she worked Google as an Online Specialist serving small to medium businesses. As the Head of Digital Marketing Strategy at 4THPARK, Shanice oversees web audit, web research, digital marketing strategy and digital marketing campaign. She also manages analytics, tracking and reporting.