Meet the Speaker — Monica Flores
Monica Flores is a Technical Project Manager at Lullabot. She is leading a Hands-on Workshop at the WITS Fall Virtual Summit on “Setting up Drupal on Pantheon — Launch a Basic Content Management System”.
Why is speaking at WITS important to you?
Speaking at WITS is important to me because I believe that those of us with an interest and an ability in using technology, have a huge opportunity and responsibility to consistently seek ways to be more effective. As we increase our capacity to serve, we are able to better use tech to implement our highest and best purpose, so I think it’s important for each of us to continue to learn, share and grow, together. WITS is so great because we’re all building a sharing environment where we may all practice, learn, and gain more experience, in an inclusive and helpful network with others.
With our current challenges in food security, the climate emergency, political and civic involvement, mental health, science and technology education, economic policy, children’s needs, health and wellness, the housing crisis, and so much more, I see the raw needs of our families, communities, and schools being so massive. I also see that technology might be a way to help make a change for the better.
I urge anyone with an interest in a specific idea to help identify the problem, propose your solutions, and work with others in your community to determine how to make measurable positive change.
Our shared future is our kuleana (a Hawaiian word meaning “responsibility”), so I am sending all my focused, directed attention into utilizing all my talents and applying them to the current situation in which we find ourselves, and I challenge you to do so, too.
What or who inspires you?
I’m currently so inspired and moved by Arlan Hamilton. Founder and managing partner at Backstage Capital, she has shared her personal journey online. She’s pushed through many challenges, and now, through her company, she makes massive multiple investments into emerging founders, industries, and technologies. She exudes wit and wisdom, and in terms of investing strategy, I think she’s at least 3 years ahead of her competition. By investing in companies that she cares about, she is helping build that shared future I mention. From what I see in her portfolio, I believe that future will be inclusive, caring, and equitable.
When you were a kid what was your dream job?
I was very interested in being an author when I was young. In my adult life I have published three trade publications related to my field. Now, as part of my work, I speak and write about the knowledge I’ve gleaned through my technical experience with a wider audience. It makes me happy to be able to share, for example with our WITS conference participants.
Tell us something about your session
I’ll be walking through how to set up a Drupal instance on the Pantheon platform. The Drupal content management system is open source and is a fantastic way to create your own publishing platform: you can create, edit, and publish your chosen type of content, and display “views,” or reports, of your desired information. For example, I’ve published before about creating a system of “requests” that can be “fulfilled” through a mutual aid network. Pantheon is a hosting platform that allows users to spin up a Drupal site fairly easily: it takes care of the back-end tasks like database and connection strings, and allows you as the administrator to create a robust website with many add-on options. I’m excited to share how to do this so that you too, can create a back-end system that can power your own ideas and ideals.
What other sessions or speakers are you most excited to see?
I’m excited to learn about The Role of AI in Autonomous Cars because I think this is a huge upcoming issue that has ramifications for all levels of society, as well as the workshop on Inclusive Design: A Design Thinking and Digital Prototyping Workshop because I think it’s important for all thinkers to have inclusive design thinking as part of their toolkit.
