Cassandra Faris is passionate about the human side of tech. Her career has focused on supporting technology professionals through community outreach, hiring, mentoring, and employee engagement. She is an international speaker who specializes in teaching tech professionals how to advance their careers and be more effective team members. She is also the President of the Microsoft and open source conference, DogFoodCon, and a Per Scholas Advisory Board member. She has an MBA in Organizational Leadership. When she's not busy with the tech community, she is avid tabletop gamer, runner, and soccer fan who travels as much as possible.