Today I would like to talk about a woman in computing that inspires me every day, in the spirit of Ada Lovelace — Jennifer Redman.

First, let me say that being in a relationship with someone else who knows tech is really great. She knows how things work, so if I’m having an issue, she can listen and offer helpful technical advice to get me going again. This is very important for me, as someone who works without actual co-workers in close proximity. She is a voracious reader, and not only has opinions, but can argue for them persuasively!

Jen is a fountain of new ideas. She is involved in the Portland tech scene as a mentor for PIE (Portland Incubator Experiment) and threatens me she will found her own tech startup at any moment. 🙂 Her background in infrastructure and management has helped the success of our co-location cooperative, as well.

Jen has done so much work over the past few years to promote women in computing. She has had a significant role in administering the Systers mailing list for technical women for many years. She was instrumental in getting Systers accepted in the Google Summer of Code, and being an administrator and mentor for students participating in that. She also worked hard to establish an Open Source track at the Grace Hopper conference, and this year’s Codeathon for Humanity at GHC, which will introduce two hundred technical women to contributing to worthy F/OSS projects!

Happy Ada Lovelace Day, Jen!