Women of Color New Media/IT Leadership Award winner Lisa Valle is a senior manager in Boeing's IT Service Management – Enterprise Architecture Portfolio Information Technology Infrastructure.

WHAT SHE DOES: “My job is to lead a change initiative in Information Technology–IT Service Management. The Service Catalog is a centralized website providing information on all currently available IT services. This is the first time Boeing IT has had a single storefront for all of their service offerings. The catalog describes the service, sets expectations on what service support looks like, and explains how the user can engage the service. Boeing IT is transitioning from a technology-focused organization to a service-focused organization. Through my efforts, we are now defining our work and evolving our delivery systems. In order to influence the change to the organization, I have employed multiple methods to get the message out, including websites, message boards, newsletters, and IT news articles and videos.

HOW SHE GOT INTO IT: “Every day, I’d drive to work and pass the Boeing El Segundo facility where satellites are developed. On 9/11, I remember the flags at half-staff; that is when I understood the impact it had on the DoD (Department of Defense) community. I’d tell myself I’d work there one day. Two years later, the Boeing Company recruited me. I was one of those little girls programmed to believe that math was not for me, so I embarked on a career on the business side. Once at Boeing and being introduced to engineering and technology, I knew with enough knowledge of the discipline I was in, I could lead anything with the right people to support me.”

CHALLENGES OVERCOME: “When I came to IT…I remember meeting folks on my team, and it was the most fire-hosed I’d ever felt in a new job. My chief architect suggested we go to a conference together so I [could] learn the ‘language’ of this new space. For the first couple of days, I literally went to my room every night and just cried, “Why would you put me in this job to watch me fail?” By day three, I was feeling more at ease. By the end, I started asking questions and building my network. That was five years ago. That network is what shaped the way we are organized today as well as the strategic direction of our initiative. This year, I was asked to speak at that very conference. I spoke to a packed room of about 90 attendees. Talk about full circle. Being able to have leaders who can see the potential in me and give me the ability to shape leaders so they can see their own potential is priceless.

FUN FACT: I have an identical twin sister. She was born eight minutes before me.