Ignite Seattle

Zach Cohn knows the slowest gazelle gets eaten by the lion. And he also knows that in the world of cybersecurity, you are probably one of the slowest gazelles. But he shares one thing you can do that will drastically enhance your personal security and safety on the internet.

All you need to do is to have a different, unique password for every single account you’ve ever had on the entire internet. Now that sounds pretty hard to remember. So don’t. Instead, use a piece of software called a software manager.

Sara Sanford was once pulled into a broom closet during a job interview by the male CEO, who asked if she was planning to have children. After that, she knew that gender parity was something she couldn’t ignore. In her talk, Sanford dives deep into what the data of gender bias tells us–and what we can do about it.

We’ve identified over 100 of these cultural levers that can be adjusted to counter the impact of bias by changing environments rather than mindsets. We use this data to help organizations achieve gender parity.

Joel Fariss spent almost two years working for the Seattle Mayor. His is a story of championing creativity, challenging power, questioning his identity, and finding hope in the margins of society.

Trust is critical because the act of creativity is fundamentally about bringing something into existence that doesn’t exist yet.

As a disaster responder, people think Chris Sheach helicopters in to dig out people from collapsed buildings, feed starving children, or evacuate whole cities from an impending storm. This is a myth. His superhero power is dispelling these myths and sharing insight on how anyone can be a hero, by providing aid that really helps those affected by disasters, at the time they need it most.

95% of people after a disaster are rescued by friends and family. These  are the real heroes. A lot of my focus is on mobilizing local disaster response.

Linnea Westerlind had a child and decided she needed to get out of the house. So what did she do? Decided to visit every park in Seattle in a year. OK, it took four years, but she discovered some pretty cool stuff. Like, did you know that some of our parks were built in areas that were previously dangerous? Or that one overlooks an international engineering marvel? Or that one hosts a stolen totem pole?

More than 11% of all the land in Seattle is park. And 96% of Seattleites live within a half mile of a park.

Maryam Hosseini tells the story of Mahmoud, an Iranian immigrant, and his pursuit of the American Dream. The presentation ended with her introducing the audience to her father, who also happens to be Mahmoud, and appreciating his sacrifices that cured the fear of the other.

His life is a symptomatic obstacle, one after another after another. And this man manages to smile, remain resilient, to smile, give back to him community, and encourage his children to foster this incredible relationship with the people they know. Because the America he came for he still believes in.

Lauryl Zenobi explores how the stubborn little Anna’s Hummingbird manages to survive our gloomy Seattle winters, why everyone should turn their backyard into a hummingbird food bank, and what lessons we Seattleites can learn from the resilience of these magical creatures.

Jeri can teach us to remember to care for others and that even those that aren’t from here can find there niche, with just a little bit of help.