I AM STEM: CYDNEY DAVIDSON-BEY
“You don’t have to be intimidated.”
Cydney Davidson-Bey is the founder and CEO of Technology in Color, IT service desk team lead for the Union Home Mortgage Company.
Did you have a mentor?
My first mentor worked at Progressive when I was in school. Her being a black woman in not only a leadership position, but at a really big company and being in STEM, was something that was very rare. And I’ve also had mentors that may have not been on a large scale. But, my high school English teacher instilled things in me, that you can do what you want, you know, all you’ve got to do is focus and be patient. I’ve definitely been blessed enough to have people in my life that are like me. You can do whatever you like.
What would you have wanted to hear about the promise of STEM as a young person?
That it’s OK to not know everything immediately. You don’t have to be intimidated because some people might know more than you, because they’ve been given more opportunities than you were. One thing that happened when I got to college, STEM is a very male dominated field, especially in technology. It’s very male dominated. And I remember sitting in my classes and just thinking, these people know so much more than me because they’ve been doing it forever. And I I definitely wish somebody would have been here to tell me it’s OK that you don’t know everything right at that point.
What advice do you have for kids exploring the world and discovering what they’re interested in?
Just take your time, however, things are presenting right now, [that] doesn’t mean it’s going to be forever. And you don’t know, you don’t have to know every day, you can figure it out along the way. Don’t let things discourage you because life is rough sometimes, but you always end up on the other side, and be positive.
What does STEM mean to you?
STEM means everything. STEM is a part of our everyday life. It’s how we advance events as a society is how we advance as people. To me, STEM means progress. STEM means the difference between education now and maybe 30, 40 years ago. Honestly, STEM is one of the most impressive pieces of society advancement, I would say ever. It’s impressive and it makes me have hope, it makes me see that just because something is right now doesn’t mean it’ll be like that forever?
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