Her Story
About Aissatou
I've been in the workforce since 2013, when I completed my first undergrad degree. I have a background in healthcare and IT, and I've always been in healthcare throughout my career. Currently, I'm a Senior Principal Consultant at Oracle, working on-site in Arlington, Virginia. I'm more on the telehealth side of things now, assisting with EHR systems for the government. My typical day is pretty busy - I go into the office, speak to a lot of our stakeholders, both internal and external. I'm currently supporting the Department of Veteran Affairs, so we communicate with them often. We're in meetings, we create deliverables, we create PowerPoints, just moving the initiative forward. I'm pretty much overseeing multi-million dollar contracts. Before joining Oracle, I supervised at a nursing home during COVID, where I was able to keep COVID rates down within the senior level of assisted living and keep people from injuries or falls. COVID was actually what inspired me to get deeper into IT - we had to learn how to do COVID tracking, reading COVID data, and that's what got me into IT. Now I'm on the healthcare side, but I do a little bit of cybersecurity, cloud, so I know multiple different platforms. My goal is to be an impactful person, regardless of the field I'm in, still focusing on healthcare and helping others.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Aissatou
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a lot of it comes from family, being first generation. And sacrifices that my family has made. You know, my family's from West Africa, they're from Guinea, so I'm first generation, so a lot of it comes from learning, trial and error. My family came from Guinea in West Africa, and being the first generation here means everything I've accomplished has been built on the sacrifices they made for me. There wasn't a roadmap handed to me - it's been about learning as I go, making mistakes, getting back up, and pushing forward. That foundation they gave me, combined with my willingness to learn from every experience, is what's driven my success.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
In entering my industry today, always be willing to learn. Be patient. Patience is the number one key. You don't come in into anything knowing everything, no matter how much education or experience you may have, every organization is different. Life is different for different folks. So always be patient, be a great listener. Be someone that is easily approachable. That's the advice that I would give. No matter how prepared you think you are, every workplace has its own culture, its own way of doing things, and you have to be humble enough to listen and adapt. Being approachable and patient will open more doors for you than any degree or certification alone.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges in my field right now are budget cuts, layoffs, and contracts being cut. These are the biggest issues we're facing. The uncertainty around funding and job security is something that affects everyone in the industry, and it's something you have to navigate carefully while still trying to deliver value and maintain the quality of work.
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