Ira Dearing
Ira Dearing has gathered more than 20 years of experience in university relations, campus recruiting and transition coaching in conjunction with her career as a software engineer and technical manager at IBM. She received corporate recognition for her work in university relations, campus recruiting and diversity enablement. She was the leader of the IBM San Jose Workforce Diversity Council when the core team was recognized by Forbes Magazine for outstanding leadership in diversity. She has served as the Director of Diversity on the Board of Western Association of Colleges and Employers and was a workshop presenter to Mountain Pacific Association of Colleges and Employers. She has been featured or quoted in various minority publications.
As a campus recruiter, she worked with people in various stages of career transition from students entering college and people making career changes. She helped develop a program to aide students' transition to college. She worked with college placement staff to council returning students on career transitions. Her skills in this area were recognized when she asked to serve as the Workforce Diversity Program Manager for IBM in San Jose where she advised management on diversity and employment concerns. She has presented workshops on career transition and change management topics to National Action Council on Minority in Engineering, National Associaton of Minority Engineer Program Administrators, American Indian Science and Engineer Society, Mexican American Engineers Society, Society of Women Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and National Society of Black Engineers. She also has provided workshops on mentoring. She currently serves as a mentor to some members of National Society of Black Engineers Alumni Extension.
Ira received a BA in Mathematics from California State University at Chico. She has taken numerous courses on change management and critical thinking.