TheBridge profile: Emily Rasowsky
Name: Emily Rasowsky
Current city: Washington, DC
Current job: CEO/Founder of Women in Tech Campaign & Marketing at Amazon
Past job: Marketing at a startup called Sparkfund; Director of Marketing and Communications for the Washington DC Economic Partnership
Q. Favorite spot for a coffee meeting? Compass Coffee (any of them)
Q. Describe how a skill you learned in a previous job helped you in your current job. I came from the digital agency world and you learn pretty quickly how to build relationships with a lot of different stakeholders to get buy-in on an idea or concept. The ability to build consensus around a new and sometimes 'out there' idea is a skill that I use almost every day. Sometimes that looks like seamlessly bringing a new partner to the table and other times it means standing up to a room of execs and getting them to talk about privilege and inequity.
Q. Job advice in three words? Remember to pause.
Q. How are you (or your company, org, nonprofit) currently bridging the gap between tech, innovation and policymaking? Women in Tech Campaign profiles women in tech across both tech and policy. We then get those folks and their colleagues in the same room for gender-neutral corporate and community workshops. Not only do we get these groups aware of key movers and shakers but also drive connections between both tech leaders and policy drivers.
Q. What can innovators learn from policymakers? To do your research. A lot of innovators move right into action - I am super guilty of this and sometimes it's the exact right thing. Sometimes it's not and we have to take a second to step back and consider the broad implications. Most policymakers I've met are experts at asking 'why' and 'how' and 'who' and all the other deep questions that poke at the issue until it's clearly revealed. I think all innovative people can benefit from a gut check and a deep dive into something they care about every once a while. We are only better for it.
Q. What can policymakers learn from innovators? Think small. The most profound innovations are the simplest. It's easy to get bogged down and in the weeds on issues..or try and take on the whole world at once. What are the simplest, sometimes obvious things we can do to improve an issue or problem? To be fair, I think innovators are still learning this too!
Q. Favorite book/podcast/long-form article you recommend? I love Oprah's Super Soul Sundays. Her interviews always spark creative inspiration for my work and like. They also remind me that we're all, ultimately working towards the same goals and dreams.
Q. What's one piece of advice you are still trying to master? The same one I just gave! "Remember to breath"...or pause or just take a moment to get perspective. The two big things I'm constantly working on: 1. letting go of the need to control all the things and 2. trusting that I have the exact right amount of time to get everything done that I need to.
Q. Last time you were completely unplugged? Every time I do a breathwork session - I also ALWAYS get breakthroughs and new ideas
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