Today, I'd love to recognize the efforts of all the women in PreSales. The field of sales, technology sales in particular has massive issues with diversity and inclusion and for so many businesses, they just keep hiring people "like" them, and this continues the problem.
I've had the fortune to work with, and for women in the industry, and have found their influence to be among the strongest of all people in presales. Among them have been leaders, great presenters, strong technicians and some of the sharpest business analysts I've seen.
One thing I've been doing lately in an attempt to level the field and ensure there is an open opportunity for women, is by ensuring that job descriptions I post are more open. They don't depend on male dominated degree programs (such as computer science) or stress a large number of different "requirements" that are things that could be learned on the job. I will always try to take the best person for the job, but you need to make sure you don't stop that person from applying.
Finally, I'd love to see my daughter and my son both have the best opportunities in life, and not hold themselves back based on what skills other people think they should have. I would love to see either of them follow my footsteps, or even better find their own path in this world, unfettered by people's conceptions of what women can do.