Iris Otano
Bank of America
New York, NY USA
"Every action you make has a reaction. Put the right energy out there so that it can come back."
Career Roadmap
Iris's work combines: Technology, Engineering, and Accomplishing Goals
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
If you haven’t figured out what your passion is yet, make a point to try a lot of different things to see if any of them really spark your interest. Take note of the things you spend your free time doing and which things you gravitate towards when you’re stressed to try and figure out what you could be happy doing as a career.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Computer Science
Fordham University
Certification
CompTIA A+, Network+
Per Scholas
Certification
Certified Scrum Master
Scrum Alliance
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic with my family when I was 12 years old.
2.
My family had a computer and a Windows program that let me click into other countries—it was very simple but I really enjoyed it and decided I wanted to pursue a degree in computers.
3.
After graduating high school, I went to college at Fordham University for computer science—I was only 16 years old when I started college!
4.
I had a hard time understanding how the concepts I was learning in college applied to life and careers, so I decided to apply to Per Scholas for a more hands-on training experience instead.
5.
The man who interviewed me at Per Scholas encouraged me to finish my college education and then come back to Per Scholas in two years, so I took his advice and graduated.
6.
After graduating college, I went back to Per Scholas to earn my CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications and got my first job at Time Warner Cable.
7.
I spent a year there before getting a job at Bloomberg, where I was encouraged to help create a Latino community to open up more financial opportunities.
8.
I moved up through various management and leadership roles at Bloomberg and now work as a vice president in global technology, engineering, and operations at Bank of America.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Peers:
You will never be successful in technology. You should do diversity inclusion or HR instead.
How I responded:
As a woman in technology, I am often doubted. I've had managers tell me that I'll never succeed in technology and that I should pursue something else instead. These are assumptions based on how I look rather than the work I can do. I've learned to train behind the scenes and connect with other people so that I can come up successful as part of a team in order to beat the discrimination. I make it a point now to use my position to help others who are experiencing similar things.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
As a child, I witnessed the immense stress that my mother had due to her finances. She would even struggle to buy food. I decided to become a career woman and really manage my finances in order to avoid that same stress.
I came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic when I was 12 and didn't take classes in English until I was a junior in high school. I was very uncomfortable with English as a second language and ultimately steered away from majors heavy in it.
I was bullied in school because I didn't look like everyone else. I was an immigrant, overweight, and didn't fit in. I became depressed and wouldn't even go to the lunch room. I eventually decided that I needed to just push through and move forward.
My family are immigrants and I'm the first to go to college. They didn't understand dorms or going away to college, so I had to stay close to home. They also couldn't advise me when I struggled because they didn't know what it was like.
I have faced a lot of doubt and criticism as a female in the technology field. A lot of people assume that women can't be successful in technology. I worked hard to prove them wrong and try my best to help other women facing that discrimination too.