For Nina Edwards, a data quality engineer at Clean Power Research, a corporate-hosted Women in STEM event helped land her first tech internship, which ended up being the catalyst for the rest of her career.
“These events have a special place in my heart,” Edwards said.
And now, she gets to pass the baton to the next generation of women talent through a similar event hosted by her employer called “Women in Tech Career Trek,” a networking event for women students from the University of Washington. The idea was to bring together students and working professionals from Clean Power Research to show women the various opportunities in tech that are available to them after graduation.
“We were delighted to have women from all areas and levels of experience representing our company,” Edwards said.
Edwards said events like Women in Tech Career Trek play an important role in combating many women’s imposter syndrome. The reason being, imposter syndrome doesn’t get a chance to creep in if the women are already in the room before they can hear it.
“Studies have shown that women are massively underrepresented in tech fields due in large part to a lack of confidence and imposter syndrome, so events like this are crucial to help women gain a sense of belonging in the workplace and feel qualified to apply for tech roles,” Edwards said. “It was an honor to be involved and to speak with students about my journey from being in their shoes to the role I have today!”
Considering that 75 percent of women executives across industries report experiencing imposter syndrome in their careers, according to a KPMG study, the impact events like Women in Tech Career Trek can have is monumental.
“I feel lucky to work for a company that values diversity in its workforce,” Edwards noted. “Getting to participate in this event made me proud to represent CPR, a company going the extra mile to promote inclusion in the workplace and support women students looking to find their place in the world.”
To give an inside look at what the event was like, Built In asked Edwards to walk us through her day at Women in Tech Career Trek.
Clean Power Research is a B2B cloud software company that supports utilities, energy agencies and industry as they navigate the energy transition toward renewables and a modernized grid.
When: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
What: Clean Power Research hosted a Women in Tech Career Trek, a networking event for women students from the University of Washington.
9:30 a.m.
I arrived at the welcome breakfast at 9:30 a.m. We had a buffet of breakfast foods and a few tables around where we could mingle and start chatting as we ate. I introduced myself to a couple of students and we had some lovely conversations about their studies and upcoming internships as well as my role at CPR and my path to getting here. It was great to see the enthusiasm and interest from the students. I was impressed by the thoughtful questions that the students asked and had a nice time interacting with them in a more casual capacity before the event formally began.
10:30 a.m.
Our HR team led a tour of the office! I was sitting at my desk and a student I had spoken with earlier waved at me as she walked by. It was fun to see that she recognized me and had that moment of connection.
11:10 a.m.
I was on a panel with my coworkers! A student asked specifically about my job. I gave my standard response and then our lead product manager stepped in and gave more context for our product. Her enthusiasm underscored the pride I have in working for Clean Power Research. Seeing the way she communicated inspired me and also made it clear to me why she’s so good at her job communicating with customers.
12:00 p.m.
Just before we showed the students out of our office, our CEO, Jeff Ressler, joined us for a hallway conversation. Jeff answers questions very directly and thoughtfully and it was great that the students got to witness this firsthand.
12:30 p.m.
After the students departed, I had lunch with several of my coworkers who had participated in the event. We represented multiple teams, career levels and role types from CPR and it was a good reminder to me of the strong representation of women in our company.
1:00 p.m.
I departed the event at its conclusion, a little after 12 p.m. Jeff graciously stayed beyond the planned duration of the event to answer every question the students had. I felt energized from being around so many smart and proactive women and full of optimism about the future, having seen that the next wave of students entering the workforce are so driven. I also am consistently quite impressed by our HR team: Lucie Gautier, Hope Smith and Leslie Carlson. As I left the event I reflected on these three incredible, hardworking and friendly women and what an excellent job they had done putting this event together. It was uplifting to be surrounded by so many accomplished women.
