Inspiring Women: Kendra Mazara

Meet Kendra Mazara, an information technology and communications engineer who manages cybersecurity for the biggest financial institution in the Dominican Republic.

Continuing with our initiative to interview outstanding women in technology, #WomenInpiringPeople, this time we will meet Kendra Mazara. She is an information technology and communications engineer, who graduated from the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in the Dominican Republic.

Meet Kendra Mazara

Her love for technology began at the age of 17, and since then Kendra has dedicated herself to studying and continuing to train in her career—she has a Master of Business Administration in big data from Cerem Business School and a Master of Business Administration and Management from Università degli Studi di Bari.

Kendra has received numerous awards. Among them, she was recognized as one of the three most outstanding women in tech in the Dominican Republic by the Ministerio de la Mujer and was later recognized as one of the #súperjóvenes by the Ministerio de la Juventud of the same country.

Interestingly, her initial job steps were not in the information security area, because at that time there were not so many jobs in that sector. Meanwhile, Kendra began her professional path in a telecommunications company.

But then, in 2015, an opportunity arose to start working in cybersecurity. Kendra accepted this challenge with all her passion and desire to learn. In this experience, she learned to implement robust solutions in perimeter security and to make evaluations of good practices and cybersecurity compliance with national and international regulations.

After all this learning and great growth, today Kendra manages cybersecurity incidents for the biggest financial institution in the Dominican Republic.

She has a trajectory that covers more than 10 years of experience in disciplines of the technology and cybersecurity industry, achieving during this period several international certifications, such as the Network+ and Security+ certifications from CompTIA and Certified Network Defender from EC-Council.

She has represented her country as a speaker in talks, workshops and panels in Spain, Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Also, in order to cultivate interest and continue with the training of professionals, she also co-founded of Mujeres TICs RD, the largest community of women in technology in the Dominican Republic.

In this interview, Kendra shares with us some important tips that could work for you, who are reading this post, to continue being successful!

Kendra, tell us a phrase that describes you as a professional.

“Discipline is everything.”

Define what technology is for you in a word.

“Innovation.”

Tell us some curious information about yourself that you want to share with us.

During my childhood, my biggest dream was to be a doctor. However, when I saw a portable phone for the first time, a great curiosity was awakened in me to know how this device worked, and from that moment I changed my desire to be a doctor to become a systems engineer.

In your tech career, what has been your biggest challenge? Could you share with us a bit?

Despite the prejudices that still persist in the technological field in relation to women, being able to stand out in my career has been my greatest challenge, because in every position in which I have worked, in most cases, I have been accompanied by people of the opposite sex. However, this has not stopped me from achieving my professional and personal development.

What learning did that challenge leave you?

I learned that the phrase, “It cannot be done,” does not fit in my vocabulary and should not exist in the mind of any person. Everything you set out to do, if you put your mind to it and sacrifice for it, you will achieve it.

What would you recommend to a person who is undecided whether or not to start a career in STEM?

Decision, will, sacrifice and persistence—the benefits will be wonderful when you finally achieve your goal. And, something very important, always keep the same desire and set other goals in life. Don’t settle for one achievement and that’s it—each desire must be seen as a goal and you must work hard and constantly to achieve it.

Give us a tip for people who are currently working in STEM.

We must never give up, have confidence in ourselves, convince ourselves once and for all that if we can leave behind the doubt that drills into our bones and mutilates our souls, that is the only way to achieve our ideals.

What advice would you give to a person who wants to have a successful profile like yours?

Anyone can have a better profile than mine—you just have to propose it and try. In my case, it was quite hard to get to where I am and I feel that I have not yet fulfilled my work here on earth. I would like God to grant me the privilege of being an example of improvement and work for someone else. Then and only then I will feel satisfied with what I achieve in life.

Finally, I would like you to give some advice to readers on how you organize your time, especially when you have large projects and with a high profile like yours.

Time is the most valuable thing we have. It is only comparable to life. When it leaves, it does not return. In that sense, we must make the most of it.

If you want to be successful in life, you must respect your time and that of others. To maximize your time, always arrive early, and when many people are spending their time wandering, resting or having fun—stay alert, studying, researching. Do not get tired—the day you leave this earth, you will have plenty of time to rest.

Always try to be one step ahead of the others, of course, in a good fight, without undermining the will of others, without taking advantage of the weaknesses of your companions, but using your strengths, your virtues and your abilities to the maximum.

Make an effort, be honest, show compassion when necessary and justice at the right time, and everything around you will work as you deserve and desire.

Wrapping Up

Did you like the interview? You can follow Kendra on LinkedIn.

Don’t forget these great tips from Kendra. I hope you enjoyed and inspired this interview! See you in the next article! 💚💕