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Cheryl Platz

A creative voice for the digital generation.

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Category: Women in Technology

Winning at the Starting Line

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Cheryl

Countless articles and books have been written about the gender balance problems that continue to plague the tech industry. I’ve been passionate about outreach at the K-12 level for years, but what of those of us already in the workplace? A recent

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Technology, Women in Technology career, girls-tech, STEM

Crosspost: “What Is UX Design” (Huffington Post)

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Cheryl

I haven’t spoken about it formally here, but I’m honored to be part of one of the featured mentorship pairings in the Huffington Post’s women in STEM mentoring initiative. As part of that relationship, we were asked to provide an intro to

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Design, Technology, Women in Technology

Design for DigiGirlz

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Cheryl

On Wednesday, I had the unique experience of teaching 110 high school girls an intro to interaction design workshop. Officially entitled “Making the World Easier With Interaction Design”, this was a course I built from scratch after offering to teach the subject

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Design, Speaking, Women in Technology, Work career, digigirlz, education, girls-tech, IGNITE, interaction design, Microsoft, STEM, talks

Take Your Kids to Work The Carnival Day

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Cheryl

Last Friday was Take Your Kids to Work Day, formerly Take Your Daughters to Work Day. I participated as a mentor, talking to kids and answering questions about how to combine art and technology in jobs at places like Microsoft. Now, it’s

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Seattle, Technology, Women in Technology, Work education, girls-tech, job shadows, Microsoft, STEM

Company Girl

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Cheryl

There are many valid ways to pursue one’s career aspirations, but most tend to fall into two categories: I most definitely fall into the latter category. I have tremendous respect for those who can weather the storms of uncertainty that plague entrepreneurs,

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Biography, Technology, Women in Technology career, game development, Microsoft 1 Comment

Balancing Work and Life – Without A Net

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Cheryl

While you might not know it by simply looking at my post count, I actually enjoy my day job (as a Senior UX Designer at Microsoft) just as much as I enjoy my evening-and-weekends life as an actress. It’s not just a

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Acting, Biography, Women in Technology

The Magic of Community

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Cheryl

(To my visitors from the Carnegie Mellon homepage, many welcomes! Would love to hear from you if you have questions or comments.) Over the past few years, I’ve had the honor of participating in a unique program at Microsoft in the Server

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Technology, Women in Technology barbie, girls-tech, IGNITE

What Comes After Ever After? (Part 2)

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Cheryl

In Part 1, I matriculated to CMU thanks to a presentation by Randy Pausch, but the promise of CS was about to change drastically. By the time my senior year at CMU rolled around, I had completed a successful internship at Pittsburgh

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Biography, Creativity, Design, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Technology, Women in Technology biography, interaction design, theme parks

A Few Steps towards a Brighter Future

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Cheryl

The IGNITE Brighter Future Walk was a great success today – we raised nearly $5,000 (and will probably surpass that with matching corporate funds) and saw both familiar faces in addition to some new faces – like a large contingent of lovely

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Seattle, Technology, Women in Technology girls-tech, IGNITE, STEM

What Comes After Ever After? (part 1)

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Cheryl

In “Muppets, Technology and Me” part 1 and part 2, I went into my background as a young geek desperately in love with theme parks, computers, and Big Bird, in no particular order. That story was intended as a prologue to this

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Biography, Design, Pittsburgh, Technology, Women in Technology biography, growing up, interaction design, theme parks 1 Comment
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Recent Posts

  • Leveling Up: Microsoft Alumni network Featured Story (11/1/2025) February 24, 2026
  • Cheryl Platz nominated for 2026 “Gamehers ICON” award; voting open now February 17, 2026
  • Latest Feature Release helps all players learn to play January 31, 2026
  • Cheryl Platz attends BAFTA LA Tea Party 2026 January 12, 2026
  • Happy Budew Year! January 8, 2026

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