MEET THE

TEAM!

Executive Team

Cyndi has over 10 years of professional experience in multiple industries fostering her skills in advocacy, leadership, strategy, and commitment to change. As a young mom, Cyndi is actively passionate about creating and building platforms that provide resources to underserved and overlooked communities in addition to finding more ways to engage in discussions around efficiently promoting inclusion, diversity, and belonging in the tech industry. Cyndi found CYD through her involvement with the Women Building Change program by mentoring a rising woman in tech living in Burundi and has since enjoyed volunteering and promoting CYD at various local events.

Bri is the Founder and Executive Director at Code Your Dreams. She is a former Data Scientist in the technology sector, and she earned her degree from the University of Chicago, where she returned as the Program Director for Careers in Computer Science. She is passionate about giving every student the inspiration and empowerment to create the change they wish to see in the world.

Board of Directors

Director of Operations at CS4IL
Midwesterner who grew up in Indiana, went to college at the University of Michigan, and a Chicagoan for the last 30 years. I'm also a parent of two public school educated kids. During that time, I have advocated for education innovation and technology access for underserved populations, whether that was running a computer lab for a tutoring program, teaching computer skills to unhoused individuals, or serving on a school committee. I hope to continue and scale that work as part of the CYD board.

VP of Membership Experience at ISACA
Liz Pisney has worked in education technology for over fifteen years, focusing on software-as-a-service-development, program development, and service design. She currently leads the Member Experience team for ISACA Global, which is dedicated to ensuring ISACA members can meet their professional goals through learning and community engagement. Throughout her career, Liz has worked in the education space, spanning K-12 to adult learning, particularly with vulnerable populations and untapped talent. Liz has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She currently resides in Chicago with her husband and dedicates her personal volunteer time to supporting Code Your Dreams, teaching Mental Health First Aid, and fostering felines for PAWS Chicago.

Associate Board

I am a dedicated education/career training professional specializing in assisting adult learners transition into technology careers. Currently, I proudly hold the position of Director of the part-time full-stack developer bootcamp program at Tech Elevator. Prior to joining Tech Elevator, I spent many years contributing to university career services, and during that time, I also pursued an MBA at Kaplan University. In the early stages of my career, I gained invaluable experience in education, non-profits, and NGOs, having served with AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan, and the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative in Tajikistan. For more than a decade, I have called the Chicago area my home, and I currently reside in Oak Park. I'm so excited to bring my perspective to CYD, and collaborate with the Associate Board!

I am Cattalyya Nuengsigkapian, a Software Engineer on the computer vision team, AR Semantic Perception, at Google. Before this, I pursued my Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My expertise lies at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction, which was my focus during my Master's degree, and Computer Vision. I first became associated with Code Your Dream as a judge on the panel for the Accessibility Ideathon in Chicago.

I have a background in psychology and applied behavior analysis. After over a decade of clinical work, I transitioned into a non-profit tech company, Aspiritech, that employs adults on the autism spectrum. I am now the Accessibility Program Manager at Aspiritech, where I oversee accessibility testing projects, focus on growing the service line, and manage a neurodiverse team of testers.

My name is Ornella MUREKERISONI, I am Burundian, I live in BURUNDI precisely in BUJUMBURA NGAGARA Q7. I did social service and community development at the University of Hope in Africa. I worked in GIRIYUJA as a Psychosocial Assistant for 5 years old. I was helping unaccompanied children by reintegration them into school and work. For the moment I am in charge of human ressources at Kithub.

I'm a courageous and self reflective person who loves board games, food, cats, and East Asian entertainment. I from Wisconsin and got my two bachelor's there in Web Design and Marketing. I've been a software engineer for over a decade and currently work as a Software Architect. I found about CYD at a Chicago Women Impact Tech conference booth.

I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018 and worked in the legal sector for four years. In 2022, I decided to pivot to the technology sector. In the last year, I gained experience working with a Chicagoland startup developing an artificial intelligence model by working closely with the data team. Through networking opportunities at TechNexus, I met Brianne Caplan, the Founder of Code Your Dreams. From there, we stayed connected, and I am honored to serve as a new Associate Board Member.

In her day job, Tay Nishimura works on high performance transaction systems at Datadog, a cloud observability company. A believer that individualized mentorship plays an essential role in leveling the playing field for high-income careers. Tay has over a decade of experience founding enduring grassroots organizations, currently serving as the Executive Director of Project Reclass, a nonprofit offering free vocational programs to individuals with criminal records.