Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The fifth annual Knoxville Women in Technology Conference gathered its largest turnout to date on Friday. Women from technology companies across the city and surrounding counties blocked off the day to convene with other women in technology-related careers.

According to WomenHack, as of February 2026, women make up about 26% of the national tech workforce, and about 29% of the c-suite for tech companies has a woman in leadership.

At Friday’s conference, the unanimous sentiment was that these percentages could use some improvement.

We asked conference attendees: Why is it so important to have women in STEM-related fields?

“Representation matters. The way women think, act, and perceive situations is totally different from men. We have a diverse way of thinking!”

“It’s important for women to have a seat at the table for every reason. Perspective is everything. We learn from each other by taking in all perspectives.”

“Women bridge the gap between the business side of things and the emotional side of things. We understand how people feel and what people need, and we can help bring about that compromise in business.”

“Women have the ability to think about things from all angles. Our non-linear way of thinking gives us a natural ability to predict how a decision could produce many possible outcomes. We can use this skill to help better prepare our teams.”

Empowering programming

For women, life and career are intertwined – program highlights included a keynote by Dr. Jermaine Davis, discussing how to energize women’s careers and help them avoid burnout, practical productivity tips, relationship building, leadership strategy, and harnessing the power of AI.

The afternoon keynote, delivered by Vallie Collins, captivated the room. On January 15, 2009, Collins was a passenger aboard US Airways Flight 1549 when it made its emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River, an event the world now knows as the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

The airplane had 155 passengers on board when it ran into a flock of geese, breaking both engines. Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger safely landed the plane, and by a miracle, every person survived.

In Collins’ keynote, she detailed the active role that she played (as a passenger) in helping keep people calm in the midst of the traumatic event. For example, she helped usher people to the wings when the back half of the plane was dipping under the water. Then, she helped safely transfer the young children on the flight into the safety raft.

Collins has been a salesperson her whole career, and in-air travel was a part of her routine. However, this particular flight changed her entire perspective on life, work, and relationships.

“Since that day, I have been asked hundreds of times, ‘So, Vallie, how has your life changed?’ Well, my life hasn’t changed much from the outside. I still live here in beautiful East Tennessee. I’m still married to a great guy, and I have three fantastic all-grown-up adult children now. But my sense of life purpose and life responsibility has definitely changed.”

She said perspective shifts a lot when you live each day like it could be your last.

“When I think about time, I think about taking time to live a little bit every day. Whatever it is to you – running, taking a nap, baking a cake, reading a book, going on a date with your husband, throwing a ball with your child, playing mahjong- just acknowledge your living moment of each day,” Collins said.

She explained how when the birds hit the engines, nobody on the flight was concerned about their unanswered emails, money in their bank account, or whether they made their beds in the morning. Instead, they were concerned about the time they were going to miss with the people that they loved.

It was a good reminder that life and work go hand-in-hand. Collins emphasized balance.

For more information on how you can get involved with Knoxville Women in Tech and the Knoxville Technology Council, click here.

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