Meet The Team
Founder & CXO
Melissa Jurkoic
Melissa has worked in the tech industry for over 25 years in roles ranging from Junior Software Engineer to her current role as the Chief Experience Officer at Thynk.Cloud.
She holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the University of New Hampshire and an executive certificate in Management and Leadership from MIT.
Always driven by her passion to have a positive impact on the decline of women in STEM education and careers, she has volunteered with organizations globally including ChickTech, Everwise, WITI, NH Tech Alliance, Microsoft DigiGirlz, wiseHer, Girl Scouts, and AnitaB.org.
She continues to pursue opportunities every day to advocate, educate and encourage women and girls to pursue careers in technology. Her passion for diversity and inclusion led her to co-found Diversify Thinking, an initiative focused on moving inclusion from conversation to action.
Along with her team, Melissa organizes mentoring programs and creates opportunities for collaboration among diverse thinkers.
Melissa also believes in the power of story telling and connection through her writing and launched her blog at www.melissable.com in January 2019.
She has always lived in the Northeast and now makes her home in Newmarket, New Hampshire with her family.
Founder & COO
Candice Benson
Candice Benson, CEO of Benson Consulting Inc., is a certified Change Manager, Project Management Professional and Process Improvement Specialist. Her 20+ years of experience in project management and people change management has spanned multiple fields including Academia, Technology, Utilities, Finance, Life Sciences, Manufacturing and Non-Profits.
Candice has been instrumental in successfully leading companies at all levels to greater project success and increased employee adaption of change. She has led highly complex workflow, process, and back-end optimization projects, including several major M&A transactions along with customer facing implementations. Her clients have taken her
across the United States and to London, Malaysia, Sydney and Hong Kong to oversee proper implementation of their transformations.
Candice, a true Change Agent, is certified in Change Intelligence (CQ®) and as a Prosci Change Practitioner and Trainer. She is an experienced PMO Director, Portfolio Manager, Program Manager, and Project Manager. She has been certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP®) from the Project Management Institute and is a Six Sigma/Lean certified leader, mentor, Project Management coach.
A huge believer in the power of inclusivity, Candice co-founded Diversify Thinking, a community focused on broadening conversations and actions around the issues facing organizations and the people who run them. She earned her bachelor’s degree, with a double major, from Rutgers University. A mother of three daughters, Candice makes her home in Bedford, New Hampshire.
OUR STORY
In 2015, Melissa and Candice met charged with a passion to create a community focused on empowering girls and women to pursue education and careers in STEM.
After years of successful programs and events across multiple organizations and state boundaries, it was clear that despite all their effort and that of others over the course of 30 years, things weren't really changing.
The creation of this exclusive space for women to connect was equally important and necessary, but it was just the first step. The initiatives that were fueled by their passion were not enough to truly solve the problem because no one was moving to the second step of bringing everyone back together to create a solution. It was clear that the level of action did not match the level of conversation around inclusion. They shared the same desire to be the catalyst for change, not just participate in conversations about it.
True change demands the creation of an inclusive community that supports and encourages diversity of thought, but such a community and programs to help it thrive doesn't exist.
Being true believers that if you want something and it doesn't exist then you should go create it yourself, they began this new journey.
Welcome to a community of action-takers, diverse thinkers and change agents.
Welcome to Diversify Thinking.