Chasing opportunities and discovering dreams in STEM

Dara Treseder is an award winning leader who has advocated for diversity and inclusion throughout every step of her remarkable and inspiring career. Now the Chief Marketing Officer at Autodesk, a global leader in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, Treseder has continuously demonstrated her passion for bridging the gender gap and empowering underrepresented communities in STEM.

At Autodesk (ADSK), Treseder oversees the company's worldwide marketing, brand & creative, digital e-commerce, communications, global demand generation, and education business teams in 50 countries. No stranger to Fortune 500 companies, she has held high profile positions at Apple, Goldman Sachs, GE and Peloton just to name a few.

Treseder sat down with Yahoo’s Built By Girls while attending the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to discuss her career path and the importance of opening doors for the next generation to follow.

“It's been interesting because I've had the privilege and the honor of working at great companies like Apple (AAPL), Goldman Sachs (GS), Peloton (PTON), GE (GE), and now Autodesk. And, and the one thing that I think is so important is I see the need to continue to invest in making sure that young girls and women know that they can enter these fields, especially in technology. Because when it comes to technology, you don't really see, we don't yet have the gender parity that we really should have. And so it's been kind of a goal of mine throughout my career to make sure that I lift as I climb right. As I'm moving up in my career, how am I making sure that I'm opening the door, creating space for others? And really, I try to live my life out in a little bit more public so that young girls can kind of look and say, Wow, if Dara can do that, I can definitely do that.”

Got to See it to Believe it

Treseder backs up what she says with action. Whether it’s hosting free coding bootcamps for teenage girls or using her immense social platform to highlight the achievements of STEM students around the world, the former Harvard and Stanford graduate has a way of sparking the creativity in those around her.

“I get inspired by impact. I get inspired by connection. I get inspired by stories that cause people to want to leave things better than they found it. Stories that inspire people to do things differently. I think at the end of the day, when we think about the power of creativity, to me it's like pixie dust. It's the thing that makes everything fly - It's the magic. And so inspiration can come from anywhere, but at the heart of it, to me, my inspiration comes from driving impact.”

Impact would be an understatement when discussing Treseder’s track record. Apart from all the good that she does within the community and giving back to STEM programs, she has also received several awards and industry recognition for her work including most recently being ranked #1 on the Forbes World’s Most Influential CMOs list in 2022.

“Growing up, I never imagined I would ever be where I am today. Looking at the C-suite of corporate America. There weren't exactly a lot of black women in those seats. And I remember distinctly, as an adult, seeing Ursula Burns becoming CEO (XRX) and what that meant to me. Her, a black woman, had never been CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Seeing that was so impactful and so inspiring to me. And so throughout my career, my North Star has been ambition with contentment. It's been about driving the most impact and having ambition while enjoying the journey on the way.”

Tips for Success

Leading by example, Treseder has helped pave the way for the next generation of young women who are interested in pursuing their STEM dreams. With that in mind Built By Girls asked Treseder for her three tips that would be the most helpful to those who wish to follow in her footsteps.

“I would say three things. First of all, chase opportunities that create other opportunities. That was the thing for me, it was never about the most money or the coolest job. It was always about how can I be in a role where I can drive impact and a role that could lead to something else, something unexpected. So I think chasing opportunities that can create other opportunities is really, really important.

The second thing is to be curious. Be curious, be a learn-it-all. I wanna be a sponge. I'm so curious about everything, like right now, everything AI, I'm reading it. I wanna know how can we incorporate AI into our marketing to make us drive higher return on investments. Just that curiosity and that desire to be a learner is so important.”

Treseder continued, “The third thing I would say is be present at every moment. I think we are in a world where everything is moving so quickly and so many times we're always so focused on what's next. We forget to kind of take in what is, and actually what's gonna help you to get to what's next is thriving in the present. And so it's really important to be able to be in the present and make the most of every moment.”

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