2023
2022
Alicia Marques
Alicia Marques is a network engineer with over ten years of experience in the field. Currently, she works for the Virginia Community College System in the unique role of Shared Network Engineer, where she supports the networks at three community colleges in the greater Richmond area: John Tyler (becoming Brightpoint), Reynolds, and Rappahannock. In this role she manages everything from wireless and switches to edge routers and firewalls. Prior to joining the VCCS, she worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, where she cut her teeth in IT as a Help Desk Agent, before being promoted to the Network Services team. She holds an Associates of Applied Science degree in Computer Networking from ECPI College of Technology and was drawn to work in IT because she enjoys solving problems and helping others. In her spare time, she is an avid knitter and enjoys spending time outdoors with her family. She resides in beautiful Williamsburg, Virginia with her husband Bill and a cat named Matilda.
Angela Diahkah
Angela is from the Pueblo of Jemez, a Native American community located 45 minutes Northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was born and raised on the reservation and is rooted in her culture and traditions. She is a native speaker of “Towa” Jemez Pueblo’s native language. She is a proud alumna of the Santa Fe Indian School, an all Native American Indian boarding high school. In 1998 she received her bachelor’s degree at ITT Technical Institute in Electronics Engineering Technology. Angela always had an interest in electronics / computer technology. Her career started with phone pc support and then recruited by US Government. In 1999 she moved to Washington DC as telecommunications systems officer supporting secure diplomatic telecommunications for American Embassies abroad. Angela describes her career as “Jack of all trades” she has obtained a lot of knowledge to enhance her career. She has a solid grasp of many concepts and proficient in multiple skill sets which allows her to be flexible to adapt in her career. She also served as IT field tech before landing her position with the Jemez Pueblo Tribal Network.
Angela currently is the Network Operations Supervisor for the Jemez Pueblo Tribal Network (JPTN). JPTN is a newly established tribally chartered corporation who owns a new fiber optic network. Angela manages a team of 6 technicians who are also members of the Pueblo of Jemez and native Towa speakers. Speaking the language is a huge benefit for the language barrier that still exists in Native American communities, this allows them to communicate with elders and to those who need clarification of today’s fast pace technology. JPTN has installed about 500 brand new broadband wireless home networks to all of its community. They currently are maintaining the live network and looking forward to the next big project which is fiber to the home.
Kimberly Schjang
Kimberly Schjang is an Associate Network Engineer at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, which is also her alma mater. Her IT career began to take shape during college as a Student Help Desk Technician. After graduating from UNLV with Bachelor’s degrees in Liberal Arts and Fine Arts, she continued to work in the IT field with her main focus being hardware, software and A/V support. In January of 2019, Kim returned to work for UNLV in the Network Development & Engineering department as an Associate Network Engineer.
Karen Lopez
Born and raised in Mexico, I graduated from Arizona State University in 2017 and now live in Denver, CO where I work for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as a network automation engineer. I moved to Colorado at the beginning of the pandemic and have just started exploring the city, but I live with a miniature schnauzer and we love to go explore the mountains and being in nature. I’ve been in the automation field for a few years now and quickly realized it’s my passion as I love putting all the pieces together in order to make something better.
The next step in my career is starting a master’s program at the Colorado School of Mines this fall pursuing IT management, the program will take a year and I’m really looking forward to learning a different aspect of IT. Another passion of mine is to empower people, specifically women, to pursue a career in IT, I’m hoping with a management position I’ll be able to hire and mentor more women starting their careers.