Get to Know WAAC Q3 Event Speaker Janice Little, SVP of SheerID

The TAO Women & Allies Community (WAAC) is a group where women in tech (and their allies) can connect, learn and share what it takes to grow and lead in a tech career. As part of our commitment to inspiring female leadership, mentorship, and career growth within the WAAC community, we're excited to shine a spotlight on the incredible speakers joining us for Beyond the Build: The Business of Technical Leadership. Before they take the stage, we wanted you to get to know them — not just as experts in their field, but as people. Their stories of the mentors who opened doors, the lessons learned the hard way, and the moments that shaped their careers are exactly the kind of inspiration we hope to share with our fellow WAAC members. Let’s get to know Janice Little.

Janice is the SVP of Engineering at SheerID, where she leads the teams and processes driving the company’s technical innovation. She joined SheerID in 2017 and rapidly rose to executive leadership, aligning the company’s technology roadmap with its long-term business strategy. A software and data science veteran with 20 years of experience, Janice is an expert in coaching and building high-performing teams.

Janice was recently honored as a Cloud Girls Rising Trailblazer and serves on several computer science advisory boards. She is a dedicated advocate for closing diversity gaps and expanding K-12 digital literacy and technical education.

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Fun facts about Janice

Did Someone in Her Career See Her Potential Before She Did?

When asked about a mentor, teacher or sponsor who saw her potential and opened doors or opportunities for her, Janice responded:

“My CTO, about a decade ago. I was questioning whether I was in the right industry at all — not the job, the whole field. He was certain I was, and he didn't try to talk me into it. He just kept handing me “arranger” things: manage these people, lead this project, go design a process we need. Each one sat a little past what I knew how to do. He wasn't giving me encouragement, he was giving me reps. And my favorite part of the story: he works at SheerID now! A decade later, we're on the same team again.

How Janice Sees Herself and Content She Consumes

Janice describes herself as Direct, Kind, and Curious. When we asked Janice about what content she has enjoyed consuming lately, she shared,

“Who has time for books and TV? The honest answer for a lot of technical leaders right now is that the thing in heavy rotation is AI itself, and we're learning it on top of the day job. So, any spare bandwidth goes to keeping up with the latest — and a lot of late evenings go to actually building things to see what works.”

Someone that Janice Admires

We asked Janice “Who is someone that you look up to and admire greatly?”

“Everyone who has worked with me knows I love John Wooden. The book Wooden on Leadership genuinely impacted my leadership style, how I set expectations for myself and others, and even my parenting. He almost never talked about winning. He defined success as "peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming" — and then spent fifteen years teaching people how to get there, especially the nuances beyond pure work ethic.”

What Wildly Different Career Would Janice Pursue?

What career would Janice pursue if she was not a woman leader in technology? Janice responded, “Honestly? Not at all. I'd do this one all over again. Someone once asked me what I'd do if I won the lottery, and I said I'd manage technology for non-profits. Then they asked whether I'd do the technical work myself or hire a team to do it — and I realized I'd be right back to managing engineers. So, the answer appears to be: same job, expanded mission(s), fewer resource constraints.”

Join us September 30^th for Beyond the Build: The Business of Technical Leadership, happening in partnership with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). And this event is our first time expanding outside of downtown Portland and into the Hillsboro area. Free, thanks to our sponsor First Tech Federal Credit Union. 🙏

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If you're a woman in tech, know one, or you're an ally who wants to support this work — we would love to see you there.

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📅 September 30 | 5:30–7:30 PM | Hillsboro

Exact location shared with registration.

🎟️ Event link: https://lnkd.in/gBS4cDjD

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