How I Started in STEM with Senior VP of Global Programs at Mozilla J. Bob Alotta
J. Bob Alotta is the Senior Vice President of Global Programs at Mozilla. A lifelong activist and accomplished filmmaker, Bob is a vocal advocate of the LGBTQI+ community and works tirelessly to create social change through philanthropic efforts.
How I Started In STEM with J. Bob Alotta
It's funny to think of myself as being in STEM or starting in STEM. I don't know that I ever did start. What I can tell you is that I was always curious and nerdy and interested in the greatest possibility in the future. So that meant whatever kind of technology was in front of me I wanted to touch. And I did that at a very early age, and I'm still doing it now. My doorway into technology or STEM was really through film and photography and then eventually filmmaking. And so my first job, I saved up my money and got a camera. I documented everywhere I went. And I also read computer magazines and tried to, even before having a computer, just trying to imagine what was possible. So I consumed media and I really knew that I wanted to be part of the making of it.
What passion still drives you in STEM?
So I was working really squarely in human rights. I was running a foundation that funds LGBTQI activists and artists around the world, and became very clear that the issues I cared about, whether it was racial justice, economic justice, climate justice, gender justice, that if we followed the narrative path as it's already written, if we leaned into the status quo, we already knew how that story would end. And so I would say that my interest in STEM, or the role technology can play in creating a better world was because I believed it and still believe it's possible to bend time. So, for me, I'm inspired by the possibility of writing a different ending to a story that obfuscates or hordes power, or is motivated by greed. I'm very clear that people need to have power and agency and acceptance for one another. And the best way to do that is to ensure that we're telling our own stories and that we're coming up with solutions that nobody else can think of. So my motivation and my inspiration around technology is actually the imagination and the imagination for all of us to be free.
Best advice you received for your career in STEM
If you're interested in a career in STEM, don't assume that you have to major in computer science, that you have to have even gone to school, that you are an expert in math or, or science for that matter. What makes someone able to do their job is ambition, is curiosity, is knowing about the world, is having a unique perview. If you are excited about it, and you can bring that excitement into the workplace, that's who people wanna be around. If you want a career in STEM, be sunshine.
What is the hardest part about working in STEM?
There are a couple of things that are difficult working in STEM. I think the first thing is, if you're used to being the smartest person in the room, so is everybody else. So I think actually it's also one of the best things that you're surrounded by smart folks and you get incredible input and people have amazing ideas. But if you have a need to, to be singular in that regard, it can be humbling. The other thing is, you know, look, whoever you may be, you might be the only one in the room, whatever that is. You know, you might be the only woman, the only gender nonconforming person, the only trans person, the only queer person, the only person of color, the only person from the global majority. And that's changing and it's getting better. And the more of us in the room, the better. But sometimes there are days when you're gonna feel alone, and that's just real. And it's really important to surround yourself with people who know you and love you and have you back and hope, push you and tell you when you're wrong. And so I think it's really important to have a support system where, frankly, in any role but I think particularly in STEM and the face of STEM is changing, but obviously it's not changing quickly enough. And all of us can help make that happen.
Importance of representation and diversity in STEM
Diversity for diversity's sake is not a real thing. So I just wanna be really clear about that. The reason why we need diverse folks engaged in STEM is because science and technology are where answers are produced. And if you don't even know what the question is, how are you going to answer that? We all come from different places and have different identities and different personal experiences. And the more there are of us with diverse experiences, the more questions we have and the more questions we can answer. So we're able to innovate based on our collective imaginations and our collective body of knowledge. If we limit that body of knowledge, if we limit our imaginations, then we're only going to limit what's possible.
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