Claire Tolbert is a Dallas-Fort Worth-based Performance Engineer with Alkami, a fintech software company. She divides her working hours pretty evenly, between .NET development and production fire triaging.

Claire is passionate about education within technology. But not all of her social and educational work is done behind a screen- she has also served as the Dallas Director of Women Who Code (Dallas-Fort Worth), a non-profit organization dedicated to uplifting women who want to pursue successful careers in tech, and create a more inclusive tech industry.

To Claire, inclusion is “the ability to ask a question in a meeting and not feel stupid.” She adds that, “None of us knows everything! Some days, I'm the person answering the questions, others I'm asking them. I think the least I can do to make everyone feel more included is to make everyone feel comfortable asking more questions.”

And when asked what she would share with another woman who is interested in pursuing a career in tech, Claire said that she would tell them, “You can do it. You ARE strong enough. You ARE smart enough. Your compassion, your drive, your skillset, and your fire are all things that are unique to you and make you an asset to any team.”

Not enough time to stop by a Women Who Code DFW event? You might catch Claire out at brunch with her friends- they’ll be the table laughing the loudest (her words, not ours!)- or you could join her for a board or video game!

Want to keep up with what Claire is doing in the coming year? Check her out by searching her Twitter handle, which also happens to sound very much like a 90’s children’s sitcom: @JustAskClaire.