Taking Care of Business Conference

Dr. Tarika Barrett

Dr. Tarika Barrett is the COO at Girls Who Code, an international nonprofit working to close the gender gap in technology. In this role, she oversees the organization's free summer immersion program and after-school clubs program. The programs have reached 90,000 girls across the United States.

Barrett also serves on the board of CSforALL, an organization committed to making high-quality computer science an integral part of the educational experience of all K-12 students and teachers and to support student pathways to college and career success. She also sits on the board of Eskolta, a nonprofit dedicated to helping urban public schools re-engage at-risk teenagers.

Barrett lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Phil Jasper

Phil Jasper is president, Mission Systems at Collins Aerospace, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is responsible for delivering military, government and civil solutions to help customers worldwide safely and successfully complete their most complex missions.

A 26-year veteran of the industry, Phil is committed to developing innovations that fully leverage commercial avionics technology into the military market. Working with Congress and the U.S. Department of Defense, Jasper serves as a lead advocate to help streamline how the United States procures commercial items and to protect intellectual property rights—both critical issues for aerospace and defense companies.

Jasper is a native of Lamont, Iowa, and attended Iowa State University.

Joan Higginbotham

Joan Higginbotham is a retired NASA astronaut. To date, she is the third of only three African-American women to travel into space.

As a rocket scientist, Higginbotham participated in 53 space shuttle launches during her nine years at Kennedy Space Center. After being selected as an astronaut candidate in April 1996, she reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996 for training.

In 2006, she flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. On that mission, her primary task was to operate the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (the robotic arm). She logged over 300 hours in space.

In November 2007, Higginbotham retired after 20 years of distinguished service to NASA to pursue a career in the private sector. She is currently the director of human exploration primes at Collins Aerospace.

Higginbotham resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and two bonus daughters.