Kelly Thibault

Kelly Thibault (she/her/hers) is an accomplished operations and program leader spending the last 15+ years empowering teams, leading new initiatives, and building and fixing departments and programs. Her non-linear career path has allowed her to work in many different departments, gaining knowledge and seeing how companies work from a multitude of perspectives. She thrives when wearing a general contractor hat - filling in gaps, solving problems, and working cross-functionally. Her superpowers are learning quickly and taking complex topics and simplifying them for others. She demonstrated her generalist abilities by working for a decade in higher education where she had the opportunity to work with nearly every function at the university, always wearing multiple hats and learning the many different facets that enable an organization to run. She holds degrees in psychology (BS), counseling (MA), & business (MBA), with research during her MBA focusing on soft skills in entry-level software engineers. To further her knowledge, she earned the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), has gone through Title IX certification (similar to Title VII), and has participated in a product management bootcamp.

Kelly is passionate about creating well-run, organized, inclusive, and welcoming workplaces where diversity is celebrated and integral to the company values and decision-making. She is curious about how things work and is always looking to learn something new. Outside of work, she volunteers as the Chapter Head for the Out In Tech San Francisco Chapter and loves public speaking. In her free time, you can find her spending time with her wife and dog in the San Francisco Bay Area, hanging out with family and friends, cooking & baking, reading the news, playing the piano, or watching Netflix.

About

My Story…

I have loved technology since I was a child. However, I never saw myself in a computer programming role because my assumption was that I would be stuck at a desk working alone all day. This extroverted, relationship-building, people person could not envision that as a happy career. So, in graduate school, I was pulled into higher education administration with fantasies of daily task variety, people interaction, problem-solving, event planning, and so much more.  And for a long time, I loved it. I did get to plan events, do recruiting and training, manage teams, facilitate workshops, oversee projects, and create opportunities for equity and inclusion. Yet, this desire to work in and with technology never left, and I sought every opportunity I could to implement digital ways of managing documents and processes. This included getting involved with any software onboard that I could. Around 2010, I started to feel pulled to work with employee development and external customers/vendors versus students, so I pursued positions that allowed to manage full-time professionals.

To fulfill my passion, I have found ways to implement change, work with software and technology, and develop other employees. In 2017 - 2018, I had a job that gave me program development, project management, event planning, and software management. It sounded like it had all the right things, but it was another university job. Life outside of work brought me back to the SF Bay Area, and I knew the return was a good move because of all the job opportunities in Tech. The job in New York - what I loved and what I dreaded - reconfirmed my desire to transition careers and to fully realize my calling of working within people operations and organizations - HR,  Learning & Development, Diversity & Inclusion, Project/Program Management, or Customer Success.  What drew me to education was helping people learn, grow, and find their awesome. This passion has not changed; it has simply been redirected away from the non-profit education world to supporting employees and customers in the for-profit world. In 2019, I landed a job in tech working in Learning & Development. But as I focused on onboarding and hiring slowed and eventually stopped, my position was eliminated during a COVID-related RIF. My next steps took me to a property management role where I learned about accrual accounting and managed over $1M in revenue and expenses. I knew tech was my calling which is what brought me to a non-profit focused on diversity in cybersecurity. Starting as a contractor and becoming full-time has allowed me to do any and all functions. While not the founder, I work as the only employee and thus manage nearly every aspect of the organization. My journey has reaffirmed for me several pieces of who I am and what brings me joy.

• I like working and cross-functionally but not managing all the functions.

• Building, solving problems, and learning are essential to me.

• I love technology. I want to be challenged intellectually and have technical conversations. I don’t mind reading code, but I don’t want to write code all day.

• Benefits and compensation matter - a lot. It’s much easier to show up to work excited and engaged when business at home is managed.

• Leading people - through influence or role-related management - is so rewarding and worth all the work.

• My ideal roles as of 2023 are Chief of Staff, senior-level program management (including leading a PMO), or senior-level people team positions.

My Education

I love learning and have pursued academic interests throughout most of my jobs. Three of these endeavors have resulted in the degrees below.

Master of Business Administration

Golden Gate University, 2018

Private, non-profit, graduate-level focused

Master of Arts:Counselor Education

W. Michigan University, 2006

Public, 4-year, research-focused

Bachelor of Science: Psychology

Grace College, 2004

Private, non-profit, religiously-affiliated

Additional Coursework