Five Questions With: Creusa Michelazzo

Creusa Michelazzo was named executive director of the Tech Collective early this spring. She previously served as the organization’s program manager, director of strategic partnerships and as its P-TECH industry liaison. P-TECH stands for Pathways in Technology Early College High School.

PBN: Your LinkedIn profile says, in part, “I am passionately curious.” What things do you find that you are endlessly curious about in terms of the technology field, or business, or collaborating with people? 

MICHELAZZO: Being part of the Tech Collective community allows me to be around some of the best and brightest minds in technology. Working with our data and cybersecurity committees provides me with new ideas and insights. Taking these ideas back to my team and putting together top-notch programming around these topics allows me and our members to take deep dives into topics that we knew nothing about. As technology is ever changing, we have an endless supply of presentations to allow our members to be well-educated.

 

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PBN: What areas do you plan to strengthen or change within the Tech Collective, if any, and why?

MICHELAZZO: Intentional collaboration is an area that we will continue to strengthen. As an IT [information technology] association, we desire to provide our members with the connections that they need to succeed. The Tech Collective uses the tag line: Connect, convene and cultivate. We realize that we cannot be all things to all people, but we can make those connections and introductions for our members. Bringing diversity, inclusion and equity into the entire innovation and technology ecosystem is something that needs to happen.

Citizens Bank recently established a Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Fund for women and members of the BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] community who desire technical training to move into or up in a career in IT. This scholarship can be used on any of Tech Collective’s trainings. We need to change the attitude of “Technology is not for everyone.” It most certainly is!

PBN: Part of your work has involved the Rhode to Resilience program, coordinating Tech Collective members to offer free cybersecurity consulting to small businesses. What has been the biggest challenge associated with that?

MICHELAZZO: Historically, microbusinesses have not been part of Tech Collective’s membership base. They did not know us. We understand that a rising tide lifts all boats. These micro and small businesses need to be secure for the Rhode Island economy to thrive. We partnered with the various chambers to help get the word out to these businesses.

Moving forward, we hope to collaborate with our friends at SupplyRI, SEG [Social Enterprise Greenhouse] and other organizations throughout our state to continue to serve this import portion of our economy.

PBN: What kinds of issues has COVID-19 brought to light, and might they impact future Tech Collective programming?

MICHELAZZO: COVID has shown us just how hungry individuals and organizations are for training and ways to connect with one another. In 2020, Tech Collective hosted nearly 3,000 individuals at almost 100 events! Virtual presentations and trainings were held during the workday, allowing for far greater participation from individuals of all levels.

Using Microsoft Teams allowed for our membership to form connections through the channels that we were able to create. This was especially beneficial for some of our trainings, [such as] ITIL4 and Certified Ethical Hacker. Having a virtual community during a training is a wonderful way for people to connect and share thoughts throughout the training.

PBN: What do you think is Tech Collective’s “best-kept secret” in terms of a member benefit?

MICHELAZZO: I believe that the fact that our organization is member-driven, meaning that we speak with our members and provide them with the training and information that they need, is part of our secret sauce. Everyone wants to feel important, and at Tech Collective we take that very seriously. Our team frequently calls upon membership to update them on programming that they have expressed interest in or to find out what their current needs are.

We also have created meaningful groups for individuals with similar interests or positions. Our CIO Forum group hosts weekly coffees. CIOs [chief information officers] can gather, share ideas, problems, best practices – all in a safe environment. This ability to connect on a social level is something that our members truly value.

Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributing writer.