Founder's desk: I'm still here.

Someone in a formal interview asked me today about my biggest achievement, and I thought of some things on my LinkedIn page.

But the ones that I believe to be the most significant—professionally, not personally—are not on there. There are small, tiny, networked one-on-one interactions. There are individuals for whom I know I made a difference and organizations that I had a profound impact on, but who might not care to let me own it or admit it. Marks I made that changed things. Challenges I issued that were denied. Things I did on behalf of other people that they might not even know.

Look at history for the truth: the true change-maker rarely benefits from the changes they make. On the contrary. So looking for outward markers of that success—wealth, status, "achievement"—will frequently be misleading. Those markers occasionally mean the opposite of what they seem to signify.It's the individuals, though, who mean the most to me.

Ordinary, everyday humans. Ordinary as in the origin of the word. Ordinal. Without getting too esoteric or technical, I think everyone here—artist, data scientist, engineer, student, volunteer, laborer, leader, aspirant, or individual contributor—knows that no complex ecosystem can function without the ordinal.I am not ashamed of being ordinary and aligned with the ordinary. It's my biggest pride. I am a first-generation educated, public welfare beneficiary, descendant of smart gifted people struggling against poverty and trauma who weren't born into the right strata at the right time.

When I said all that (or something kind of like it), the person really heard it. But also seemed to need something a little bit different than what I offered. So I said:

If you need something more concrete...My biggest professional achievement is simply this:

I'm still here.

I'm 51, bumping around from male-dominated field to male-dominated field and back again. The average woman in technology caps out at 35. The average woman in academia doesn't survive.

I'm still here

#CarolBurnett was a childhood idol of mine: so while one can argue there are better versions, it's my favorite, and I will die on this hill. (Also her Hannigan, but I digress.) And all you exceptional people who interact with me professionally on this platform, thanks for joining with me in being ORDINAL.That is to say—indispensable. Layoffs, tax returns, and credit scores mean nothing. Indispensable.