Tech

Winner: Tekne Exceptional Tech Leadership Award

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Last week was the 26th Tekne awards. Here is the website for it: tekneawards.org. It is Minnesota’s Premier Technology Celebration honoring the leaders and leading organizations who are fueling Minnesota’s tech-driven economy, with 15 Tekne Awards across 3 categories: Business Impact, Community Impact, and Individual Achievement. It is a celebration of the excellence and innovation within Minnesota’s technology ecosystem.

The 2024 Tekne Awards event was nothing short of incredible! Held at the Minneapolis Convention Center and hosted by the amazing Angela Davis radio show host on Minnesota Public Radio, the event was filled with brilliant technology leaders who are shaping Minnesota’s business ecosystem.


I am beyond proud to share that we did it! We brought home the Tekne Award (glass flame) for Exceptional Tech Leadership!!! 🏆

I say “we” because this achievement is not mine alone—it’s a reflection of the support of my wife and family, mentors, the tech community, and all the people who inspire me every day. Together, we’re driving change, sharing knowledge, connecting people, and creating opportunities for those who traditionally haven’t had a seat at the table in tech.

What made the evening even more special was having one of my sons, present me with the award.

I also want to extend a huge shoutout to the other exceptional nominees in this category: Greg Larson, Michael G. Wulf, Ed.D., Yanina Grinberg, Justin Grammens, and Amy Patton. This was a fiercely competitive category, and it’s truly an honor to be recognized alongside such impactful leaders.

Many of you I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with, and I look forward to finding ways to work with the rest of you. Your work is inspiring—let’s keep pushing boundaries and making a difference!

Also a congrats to all the other winners throughout the night! Here is a video with more pics from the award night:


A heartfelt thank you to the Minnesota Technology Association and the incredible team behind the Tekne Awards, including Jeff Tollefson, Ismail Ali, Keegan Carda, Ama Asantewaa, Lonni Ranallo, Piper Cleaveland, and everyone else who makes this event possible. Your dedication to fueling Minnesota’s tech ecosystem and supporting the next generation of technologists is truly commendable.

The future of tech in Minnesota is bright, and I’m excited to continue contributing to this amazing community. Let’s keep the momentum going!

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MN Computer Science Strategic Plan Finished

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📢 Six months ago, a coalition of esteemed technologists and educators united to establish the Minnesota’s Computer Science (CS) Working Group, embarking on a journey to develop a comprehensive Computer Science Education Strategic Plan for all public K-12 and charter schools across the state. 💻 Throughout this six-month journey, we convened for five full-day meetings and workshops, undertaking two rounds of meticulous writing to synthesize our collective insights into the plan. The journey in posts:

#1 Working group started! – https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7119683894882291713

#2 Plan draft done! – https://www.linkedin.com/posts/steveabuchanan_computer-science-working-group-update-activity-7159322360435634177-DglR

#3 Plan finished! – https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7176989951132151808

Here is a summary of the effort:

📝 “Minnesota’s Computer Science (CS) Working Group developed a state strategic plan for computer science, finalized in March, 2024, which describes ten recommendations for long-term and sustained growth of computer science education across all public K-12 and charter schools in Minnesota, as outlined in the Computer Science Education Advancement Act Minn. Stat. 120B.241 [2023]. The recommendations are aligned to the requirements outlined in the legislation, such as licensure, high-quality professional development, continuous improvement, and standards, among others.” 

Kudos to all of the amazing indivuduals in the working group:

  • Andrea Wilson Vazquez, Minnesota Department of Education
  • Wendy Robinson, Office of Higher Education
  • Katherine Anthony-Wigle, Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB)
  • Alexandra Holter, Computer Science Teachers Association – MN Chapter
  • Steve Buchanan Microsoft, representative from the business community employing computer scientists or technologists
  • Greg Larson, Minnesota Technology Association (MnTech)
  • Mahmoud Aliamer, Science Museum of Minnesota, representative from a nonprofit organization working with students and teachers in computer science
  • Anthony Padrnos, Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA)
  • Tabitha Senty, Education Minnesota
  • Cassie Scharber, Minnesota Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (MACTE)
  • Jennifer Rosato, CSforAll MN
  • • Sheri Levasseur, Pequot Lakes Public Schools, licensed library media specialist
  • • Erica Allenburg, Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA)
  • • Vic Dreier, SciMathMN
  • • Zhaawin Gonzalez, Tribal Nations Education Committee (TNEC)
  • • Jesse Kodet, Tribal Nations Education Committee (TNEC)
  • • High School Student, Under 1,000 student school
  • • High School Student, Over 1,000 student school
  • • Andy Olson, Hermantown Community Schools, K–5 teacher
  • • Kirsten Tetzlaff, Minnetonka Public School District, 6–8 teacher
  • • Indrayani LeMaire, Hmong College Prep Academy, 9–12 teacher
  • • Tika Kude, Wayzata Public School District, 9–12 CTE teacher

🙌🏼 It was an honor to contribute to this effort, one that will profoundly impact the youth of Minnesota for years to come. 🎉🎉 Yesterday, we partnered with the Minnesota Tech Association and the Raspberry Pi Foundation to commemorate the successful completion of this plan. Hosted at REM5 Labs in St. Louis Park, the event had great support, with a notable turnout of engaged individuals. Even had the chance to speak on a panel with Philip Colligan the CEO of the Raspberry Pi Foundation! 🌟

📰 The next milestone involves publishing the plan to the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) Legislative Reports page, followed by its journey through the legislative process, with the ultimate aim of committing it into law.

You can download a PDF of the plan here:

Computer Science State Strategic Plan

🏛️This achievement marks just the beginning of the journey. Sustained dedication and the involvement of more volunteers will be essential to realizing the goals outlined in this plan. 💻

Stay tuned for further updates on the progression of our efforts. There’s much more to come around this initiative.

MDE Computer Science page:

https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/ComputerScience/index.htm

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Pluralsight Spotlight: Steve Buchanan on Upskilling, Hybrid and Multi-Cloud, & Impostor Syndrome

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I recently had the honor to film an episode of Spotlight at the Pluralsight headquarters.

It was an awesome experience and fun talking with Adam Gunn.

In the episode, we talked about:

Tech skills you need to master for the future, including hybrid and multi-cloud, Kubernetes, AI, and more. We also touched on how I landed in tech and how to overcome impostor syndrome to become a successful professional.

You can check out the episode here:

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Guest on the 1st episode of Tech/Life Podcast

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A former Microsoft MVP and friend Steve Beaumont started a podcast. I was honored to be a guest on his first episode! The episode was released today. This podcast explores balancing Tech and Life. On the podcast episodes, Steve talks with people within the technology field, discussing both tech and diving into personal lives, stress, learning, and interests.

Steve has a website for the podcast here: www.techvlife.com.

Steve and I had a chance to catch up at MMS 2022 for the episode. We talked about my transition to Microsoft working as a Principal Program Manager in Azure. We also talked about my time practicing Kung Fu, how I stay motivated, make goals, balance tech with hobbies, how tech is one of my hobbies, and balancing that so it does not become another job, Kubernetes, AKS, and more.

Steve already has episodes with many other great folks already. He will be releasing them in the coming weeks. So be sure to subscribe to his podcast. Here are some of the other guests he will have on:


Aria Carley
Justin Chalfant
Ben Whitmore
Mike Danoski
David Segura
Donna Ryan
Mike Marable

You can listen to the 1st episode with me right here:

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