STACK Americas’ event nearly doubled in size while STACK EMEA hosted its first summit, empowering women in the data center industry around the globe
Denver, COLORADO — May 23, 2023 — STACK Infrastructure (“STACK”), the digital infrastructure partner to the world’s most innovative companies and a leading global developer and operator of data centers, and IPI Partners, a global investment platform, augmented their annual Women’s Leadership Summit, now in its second year. This year, the event expanded globally, with the STACK Americas gathering held in Chicago on May 16-17 and an inaugural STACK EMEA launch held in Milan on May 10. Women from STACK, IPI Partners, and their affiliates across different regions, backgrounds, and roles participated in the summit, which featured sessions on empowerment, professional development, leadership, industry trends, and networking.
“Our vision for the Women’s Leadership Summit was to continue to build momentum and expand our reach after last year’s success,” said Heather Paduck, Chief Financial Officer of STACK Americas. “We are thrilled that the Americas’ attendance flourished from 50 women in 2022 to approximately 100 people in 2023 and is a testament to our commitment to grow the women on our teams. It is equally exciting that STACK EMEA has taken on this initiative and held its inaugural launch. We are thrilled to continue to build on this event, which presents a great opportunity for STACK and IPI to further engage with women leaders across our clients and investors.”
“Last year’s gathering was a great roadmap for this second edition, where we had the opportunity to further refine content and networking objectives appropriate for women of all levels and positions,” said Lauren Sullivan, Director at IPI Partners. “We are proud to be growing this initiative and have raised the bar on what we strive to accomplish next year.”
In Chicago, the summit began at one of STACK’s flagship data centers, followed by panel discussions, interactive team-building exercises, and a keynote speech from research psychologist and award-winning professor Alison Fragale on challenges and strategies for women in negotiation. Milan’s event featured keynote speaker Anne Foster, Senior Director and Global Head of ESG at Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, alongside sessions and activities focused on fostering professional development, momentum, and frameworks for work-life balance.
“It was inspiring to witness the excitement of the first Women’s Leadership Summit in our region,” said John Eland, Chief Executive Officer of STACK EMEA. “Providing the tools and connections that enable personal and professional success are foundational components of our continued commitment to supporting the equity, inclusion, and empowerment of women in their data center careers.”
STACK and IPI Partners are committed to ongoing DE&I initiatives that elevate women and diverse perspectives in the industry. Both STACK and IPI have Women in Data Center groups focused on recruiting, developing, and advancing women in their professional careers as well as mentorship programs to support employees from underrepresented groups at all levels of the organizations. Other approaches include an enhanced recruitment referral program for female hires and a year-long, full-time, paid apprenticeship that targets candidates of all backgrounds with little to no data center experience to train as Critical Operations Technicians with the opportunity to be placed in a permanent role upon completion of the apprenticeship. The Women’s Leadership Summit is another example of STACK and IPI’s commitment to promoting diversity within the data center industry.
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STACK provides digital infrastructure to scale the world’s most innovative companies. With a client-first approach, STACK delivers a comprehensive suite of campus, build-to-suit, colocation, and powered shell solutions in the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions. With robust existing and flexible expansion capacity in the leading availability zones, STACK offers the scale and geographic reach that rapidly growing hyperscale and enterprise companies need. The world runs on data. And data runs on STACK. For more information about STACK, please visit: www.stackinfra.com.
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