DEARBORN ? The theme for this year?s fourth annual Cisco Women of Impact event was be fearless. The more than 100 attendees were mostly female and included Cisco employees, Channel partners, and customers dedicating time to develop themselves. With the pace of change and innovation in technology accelerating faster than ever, women need to develop ways to approach the changes in how we work, live, play, and learn.

There were three main goals of the event. One was to connect professionals and mentors across functions and ecosystems. The second was to empower the women with knowledge for career and personal development. The third be inspired by hearing from and meeting with role models in the industry.

The Women of Impact Conference is the consolidation of two of Cisco?s premier women?s events: International Women?s Day and the Women in Tech Forum. The event was a full day of speakers, caf� sessions around different technologies, charity give back, and lots of networking.

The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) reports that men over the age 25 held 87 percent of bachelor?s degrees in engineering fields. Only 23 percent of workers in STEM-related jobs are women, yet women make up 48 percent of workers in all occupations. This is why Cisco and many companies spend time developing women to advance in the technology fields.

The day started with the attendees sharing what makes them fearless and a presentation from two charities attending. One was Haven, a non-profit for domestic violence, and the other was Dress for Success. Dress for Success was collecting gently used clothing for disadvantaged women so they have attire for work. Haven was collecting pantry items for the shelter. A fundraiser was held at the cocktail reception with a wine raffle collecting more than $1000 for these charities on top of the donated goods.

Keynotes were streamed over video from Cisco Senior Vice President of Human Resources with her inspirational keynote. One comment that stood out from her message was that ?learning is my currency.? It reminded women and everyone that in the technology space, you can always be learning and improving. She really encouraged the audience to be the best you can be and to make this your time.

There was also a great development conversation from career development coach Sylvia High who reminded the audience to “Choose not to compare and not to compete.”

There was also breakout ?caf�? sessions by topics and women were able to discuss in smaller groups a variety of topics they commonly face including work and life balance, giving back to the community, and the use of social media in business. Autographed copied of Fearless Leadership by Carey Lohrenz was also given to attendees along with gifts from Cisco.

This was just one location of many. This effort was lead by Cisco and their Office of Inclusion and Collaboration and many individual Cisco employees helping this happen all over the world. The conference attendees came away with useful knowledge for their career development and advancement and an expanded network of professional allies.

Stay connected to this annual event on Twitter @Cisco_WOI and throughout the year use the Cisco Empowered Women?s Network Facebook page to connect with other Cisco-minded technical women.

Associate Editor Nicole Johnson leads MITechNews.Com?s efforts to foster STEM education, as well as provides coverage for her fellow women in computing. She also works for Cisco so her comments have been posted to the guest column. If you have a story idea for Nicole, email [email protected] Follow Nicole on Twitter: @tech_nicole