La-Tanya M. Buggs (she/her)

La-Tanya is Director of Field operations at Verizon in New Jersey. Born in Queens, New York, she studied business at the University of Massachusetts and has 19 years of experience in technical operations.

What’s a challenge you’ve faced and how did you get through it?

When I was interested in becoming a manager in technical field operations, I faced many people who advised me it wasn’t the role for me. I was placed in an administrative role, but never gave up on my pursuit to advance in the technology sector. I worked hard and networked constantly until I met a woman executive who helped me achieve my goal.

What’s something you’ve done that you’re really proud of?

Mentoring and developing others is a passion of mine. Recently someone who I’ve mentored for 5 years was hired to a Fortune 500 company in an executive role. She wrote me a heartfelt letter explaining how our sessions helped her achieve success.

Malkia J. Henson (she/her)

Malkia is the Director of Global Network Management at Verizon and currently leads a dynamic team focused on managing large scale core technology infrastructure. The team is focused on driving task automation and ensuring the reliability and availability of the best network across the industry.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Malkia holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Morgan State University, MS in Telecommunications and MBA of Technology Management from Stevens Institute of Technology.

What’s a challenge you’ve faced and how did you get through it?

I recently faced a challenge where one of my female mentees felt discouraged about the opportunities for growth for women in her company. I was able to provide some words of encouragement for her to continue pushing towards the promotion she desired. Recently, she contacted me to share that she had received the promotion. Sometimes, it’s a bit hard to convince people to have faith in the vision when reality shows you something different. We cannot allow the reality of today to distract us from the future of where we are trying to go. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

Abby Knowles (she/her)

Abby is the Vice President of Network and Technology at Verizon, leading a team of engineers that build and operate the wireless network. She was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica and attended University in Trinidad and Baltimore, where she majored in Electrical Engineering.

What’s a challenge you’ve faced and how did you get through it?

I had always dreamed about competing in track and field at the professional level after being a college athlete, but an unplanned pregnancy made me consider other options. After the initial shock, I quickly re-focused on my role as mother and my future career as an engineer. The support of my faith, husband, and family were vital as I found myself embracing a new future. I was truly blessed, not only with my first daughter, but also a second. I raised them with my husband, and they bring us so much joy!

What’s something you’ve done that you’re really proud of?

I’m really proud of helping the teams I’ve led achieve more than they thought possible. Sometimes it was turning results around for the better, or taking already great results and shifting them into high gear. I’ve had many personal accomplishments, but nothing beats seeing others achieve amazing results.