The goal of the Millennials/GenZ Member Resource Group is to increase awareness and inspire innovation among the future digital builders of this world, while giving them safe spaces to ask questions and grow their knowledge.
Objectives
- To educate the industry on better ways to interact with the youth and future data center professionals.
- Design programs around education and mentorship for young people to get more interested in the technology field.
- Help all members and community organizations diversify their employee base with young people and people of diversity.
- Remove barriers to entry for younger people wanting to enter the industry.
- Support and further STEM (STEAM) programs around the country to facilitate more thinkers and innovators in the technology space.
- Provide a safe and anchoring space for Millennials and Gen Z members who wish to further their career in the tech space.
Activities, Duties, and Responsibilities
The Infrastructure Millennial-GenZ Committee will have several duties as part of the larger iMasons organization. This includes:
- Recruit new members and bring candidates to the board for review.
- Develop new programs for companies, schools, and local communities to help further young people in the tech space. This includes scholarship opportunities, speaking engagements, event leadership, and so on.
- Be an active participant in all iMasons events and meetings.
- Be an active resource to all iMasons members and leaders.
- Develop a platform for young people to interact with industry leaders.
- Develop a forum for open communication between established technology leaders and young people coming into the industry.
- Develop a new stream of candidates for member organizations to help fuel diversity in our industry.
Millennial-GenZ Chair
Bill Kleyman brings more than 15 years of experience to his role as Executive Vice President of Digital Solutions at Switch. Using the latest innovations, such as AI, machine learning, data center design, DevOps, cloud and advanced technologies, Mr. Kleyman delivers solutions to customers that help them achieve their business goals and remain competitive in their market. An active member in the technology industry, he was ranked #16 globally in the Onalytica study that reviewed the top 100 most influential individuals in the cloud landscape; and #4 in another Onalytica study that reviewed the industry’s top Data Security Experts.
Mr. Kleyman enjoys writing, blogging and educating colleagues about everything related to technology. His work can be seen within thousands of articles, blogs, chapters in various books, white papers, journals, and more. His published and referenced work can be found on WindowsITPro, Data Center Frontier, Data Center Knowledge, InformationWeek, NetworkComputing, AFCOM, TechTarget, DarkReading, Forbes, CBS Interactive, Slashdot and others. Mr. Kleyman is a regular featured keynote presenter and speaker at major industry events including Oracle Cloud Day, Oracle OpenWorld, Interop, AFCOM Data Center World, DCD, Channel Partner Expo, ITProToday, Citrix Synergy/Summit, VMware VMworld, Cisco Live, Google Partner Days, and many others.
Millennial-GenZ Co-Chair
Kacey Armstrong is a Senior Project Manager with Vertiv, where she manages the complete project lifecycle for fully loaded and integrated Data Center Solutions. Kacey also provides support to Sales for large projects and key accounts. She brings 15 plus years of project management and construction experience to lead successful Prefabricated Modular Data Center projects globally.
She works closely with Solution Architects and engineering teams throughout the project, including design, review of technical specifications and drawings for constructability, involvement with Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), procurement, delivery, construction, and commissioning. Kacey manages estimating, scheduling, and other project controls and serves as the liaison between global customers, vendors, and independent contractors for negotiations, monitoring, and change management. Kacey is also co-chair of Infrastructure Millennials-GenZ , a group dedicated to providing resources and a community for millennials and GenZ professionals looking for careers and new options around data centers, infrastructure ecosystems, and the cloud.
Prior to her work in data center solutions, Kacey helped build and manage the international PMO for an IoT and Smart Infrastructure start-up in the Silicon Valley. She began her career in commercial general contracting where she managed projects for the large technology companies throughout the Bay Area.
How to Participate
Participation starts with a simple ‘hello.’ Our digital industry needs young people to lead the future. But, it’s sometimes hard to get started. So, to participate and have your voice be heard, simply start by visiting the iMasons webpage and navigate to the Millennial/GenZ MRG page. From there, just reach out, and we can find a way for you to become a more significant part of this industry. Your participation can include:
- Contributions to major industry blogs
- Become a member of the iMasons organization and gaining access to the leaders of the digital world
- Speaking opportunities in front of industry leaders and peers
- Networking opportunities and a chance to expand your knowledge
- An opportunity to become heard as a young part of our industry
- Help shape and shift policies and procedures to help more young people join the industry
- Become a technology leader and help others in your age group to understand the impacts of a digital society