Get ready for an evening that’s equal parts inspiring, practical, and fun. Plot Twists & Power Moves is where networking meets storytelling, and where women in tech come together to share real-life lessons, career insights, and the strategies that help us thrive through every twist and turn.

✨ What to Expect

• Networking: Connect with fellow women in tech and expand your circle.
• Learning: Gain insights from stories of resilience, adaptability, and bold career moves.
• Inspiration: Leave with fresh perspectives and renewed motivation.

This event isn’t about picture-perfect career paths—it’s about the unexpected plot twists that shape us, and the power moves that carry us forward.

Let’s kick off fall with curiosity, collaboration, and a few surprises along the way.

Kelsea Schulenberg

PhD Candidate in Human-Centered Computing, Graduate Assistant, Gaming and Mediated Experiences (CUGAME) Lab, Clemson University

Kelsea holds a B.S. in Psychology and an M.A. in Communication, Technology, and Society, also from Clemson University. Schulenberg’s National Science Foundation-funded research with CUGAME Lab has focused on harassment in social Virtual Reality (VR), particularly against marginalized individuals such as women and focusing on user-driven solutions. This work has earned her several awards, including two Best Paper Honorable Mention Awards (Top 3%) at top computing conferences. Her personal research focuses on how the creation and integration of AI into the future workforce intermingles with women’s working lives as both designers and users. Most notably, her work on workplace experiences and design perspectives of women in AI development and research has also been recognized, receiving a Best Paper Nomination Award at a top information systems conference.

Serita Acker

Executive Director, Programs for Education Enrichment and Retention, Clemson University

Serita Acker has over 25 years of experience developing programs that increase the participation of underrepresented students in STEM. She has received numerous awards, including recognition from Diversity Magazine, WEPAN, the National Engineers Week Foundation, and Clemson University’s Board of Trustees.

At Clemson University, she serves as principal investigator for the NSF-funded Louis Stokes-South Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-SCAMP) and directs its Research Abroad program, sending students to Singapore for summer research at Nanyang Technological University. She has advised student groups such as the Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Black Graduate Student Association.

Under her leadership, Clemson ranks twelfth nationally among predominantly White institutions for the number of African American engineering graduates each year.

Jen Bauer

Technical API Consultant at Another Angle Solutions; UpWiSE Executive Director, Tech Educator

Jen Bauer is no stranger to plot twists across her career in tech. Starting with music degrees in performance, composition, and music technology, she landed in the working world around 2008. She entered the video game sound design world just in time for an economic recession. As a fan of Windows and PC gaming, she leveraged her technical skills to pivot from audio into wireless with a career at Verizon, spanning 9 years of teams, roles, and challenges. Those experiences led to later jobs in software development, business analysis, project management, QA engineering, and many informal roles between the lines.

Today, Jen channels her expertise into dual pursuits: she investigates APIs and creates software integration solutions through her business, Another Angle Solutions, while creating community and opportunities for women in technology through Upstate Women in Software Engineering as co-founder and executive director.

The adventure has provided her with lessons learned, successes and failures, and the flexibility to embrace whatever comes next.