Collaboration Over Competition
Some of the most powerful conversations don't happen on a stage. They happen between two people who trust each other enough to be honest.
To close out EXPlore Upskill Day 2, Kenya Porter and Nicole Webster are sitting down for exactly that kind of conversation.
Kenya entered tech at 30, went back to school, built a career at Google, and eventually founded EXPlore Pittsburgh Tech Week - now in its third year as one of the region's most anticipated citywide tech events. Nicole came to Pittsburgh from somewhere else, built a nearly 30-year career at Accenture, and became one of the most connected and respected leaders in the city's corporate ecosystem - not by outcompeting anyone, but by showing up for people consistently over time.
Together, they represent two very different definitions of what it looks like to build a life and a career in Pittsburgh tech. What they share is a friendship, a network, and a belief that the most strategic move you can make in this city is to stop treating other people's success like a threat to yours.
This fireside is the exhale at the end of a full day of panels, workshops, and big ideas. Come ready to listen, ask real questions, and leave with something you can actually use.
What they'll get into:
What it means to navigate a tech career without a traditional pathway. How Pittsburgh shapes the way you build - and sustain - a professional network. The difference between a sponsor and a mentor, and why you need both. What "collaboration over competition" looks like when it stops being a catchphrase and starts being a practice. And what they each wish someone had told them earlier.
This event is free and open to all EXPlore Upskill Day 2 attendees