Cloud Girls is proud to spotlight our founder, Jo Peterson, recipient of the 2025 Visionary Award, for her enduring impact on women in technology. Long before “Women in Tech” became a mainstream movement, Jo recognized the need for a space where women could learn, lead, and thrive in the evolving world of cloud computing. In this conversation, Cloud Girls CEO Rachel Turkus sits down with Jo to reflect on the origins of Cloud Girls, the moment that sparked it all, and how the organization continues to shape the future of women in technology.

Rachel Turkus: Hi, I’m Rachel Turkis, and I am the CEO of Cloud Girls. Today with me, I have Jo Peterson. Jo, would you take a minute to introduce yourself?

Jo Peterson: Hi, I’m Jo Peterson. I am the former CEO of Cloud Girls, and I’m happy to be joining Rachel.

Rachel Turkus: That’s awesome. So, I have 4 quick questions I want to ask you that we are sure that are going to get people interested in a little bit in Cloud Girls, and a little interested in what we do. So, I want to start with that you built Cloud Girls before Women in Tech was a hashtag on LinkedIn that people followed, right?

Rachel Turkus: So, what pissed you off so bad that you started this amazing group?

Jo Peterson: I love this question, first of all. It was spicy. So, here’s the truth. It was early in cloud.
Jo Peterson: And what I mean by early in cloud, it was late 2008, and I was asked to join a cloud association with a goal of learning and staying on top of evolving trends in cloud.

Jo Peterson: And it so happened that I was the only female in a group of about 10 men, and they were all pretty well known in the channel. Y’all know who you are. The phenomenon of being the only female in this room full of tech males wasn’t new to me. I’d been a female engineer for a long time by that point.00:01:19.080 –> 00:01:27.580
Jo Peterson: What was newer was kind of the throwback approach, and what I mean by that is they asked me to take notes for the group.

Jo Peterson: And I paused, and I asked.

Jo Peterson: Well, why would you ask me to do that? Did I seem more organized, more prepared? What exactly was it that kind of prompted you to ask me to take notes? And sheepishly.

Jo Peterson: One of the men said, well, you’re the only woman among us, so we thought you’d be best at note-taking.

Jo Peterson: Girl, that fired me up. I thought, there has to be a group of smart women somewhere who are willing to learn and kind of go on this cloud journey with me, and be forward-thinking, and not just sort of looking in the rearview mirror.

Jo Peterson: And I wasn’t willing, honestly, to step back to 1950 with this group.

Jo Peterson: And there was, luckily for me, there was this amazing group of women that was willing to go on the journey with me. And that’s where we met, right? So, what keeps me fired up, that was the second part of the question, is the stats.

Jo Peterson: And let’s focus on cybersecurity. Look.

Jo Peterson: The takeaway is it’s getting better.

Jo Peterson: But… you know, only 20% of the workforce in cyber is female.

Jo Peterson: And of the global CISOs, only 30% are female. So if you think about the population, and it’s a 50-50 split, why are only 30% of these qualified women CISOs?

Rachel Turkus: You know, it’s interesting, because we just did a philanthropy project for Black Girls Hack, right? And I was doing some of the social media creation for it, and there are literally no stats of how many Black women

Rachel Turkus: are a part of cybersecurity because they’re so small, and the stats are so small, they don’t exist. So nobody’s looked into them. So, when you talk about equal opportunity for all women, when I mean equal opportunity, I mean the opportunity to get somewhere, and the opportunity to speak.

Rachel Turkus: It’s not, and it’s… it’s a struggle.

Jo Peterson: And it’s gotten better. I mean, in 2019, only 17% of CISOs were female. And that jumped up to 24% in 2021. But I think that there’s so much, to your point, more room for equity

Jo Peterson: and inclusion … in this group.

Rachel Turkus: So, to move forward a little bit, talking about when you started, you were the Visionary Award winner this year for Cloud Girls, which is a pretty big title there. What was one belief in your career early on that you really held to, that people thought you were crazy, people thought you were nuts, but it has turned out to be correct?
Jo Peterson: So, first of all, I feel super grateful to have received the award. Thank you so much to yourself and the other ladies, that voted for me.

Jo Peterson: in the, you know, in the committees. It was honestly a surprise to me, and it kind of made me a bit emotional. And the reason it made me emotional is it was this kind of full-circle moment to me.

Jo Peterson: Like, I had this idea to start Cloud Girls so many years ago, it’s been 15 years, right, or more? And…

Jo Peterson: And, like, it kind of was like, wow, I didn’t expect it. But the thing that…0

Jo Peterson: Turned out to be dead right.

Jo Peterson: For me, it was…

Jo Peterson: that it’s okay to have a different voice, and it’s okay to show up in a different human form. And what I learned was my nerdiness was a superpower.

Jo Peterson: And if I kept solutioning for technical problems, someone would find it valuable, and in the end, I would find my tribe, and I kind of have.

Rachel Turkus: I don’t think that you will ever realize the number of women whose lives that you touched, mine including. So, I… I think that award was…

Rachel Turkus: Beyond well-deserved, and something that, that we can’t thank you enough for creating what we have.

Rachel Turkus: But on to the more serious questions, very, very serious questions, very serious.

Rachel Turkus: You get to have a walk-up song on every meeting, right? A walk-up song, and you know what those are, like, in baseball, right? What is the song, and why?
Jo Peterson: Okay, so I’m picking the iconic Journey song, Don’t Stop Believin’.

Jo Peterson: Because it carries this message of hope, perseverance, and the importance of holding on to your dreams, even when faced with adversity. That’s my song, that’s what I’m picking.

Rachel Turkus: It’s a great song. I, I used to work in my younger years in a Journey bar, so, ….

Jo Peterson: I know.

Rachel Turkus: Something to know about me. So, last question, if you could text your old self the day before you start your first text shop, one piece of advice, one line, not like a whole book, which I know you’d want to give one line, what would it be?

Jo Peterson: Tech is about learning, so embrace the learning process, be curious, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to take risks and make mistakes.

Rachel Turkus: Well, that’s actually really good. I was just, you know, talking about moisturizer and drinking more water, so you definitely, you definitely have.

Jo Peterson: I think the most important things, they shouldn’t get overlooked, they’re self-care things.

Rachel Turkus: Thanks, so….

Jo Peterson: All good!

Rachel Turkus: Well, Jo, thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for everything that you’ve done for Cloud Girls, and again, like I said, I don’t think you’ll ever understand the impact you’ve had on several women that I know, and we appreciate you and everything you’ve done.

Jo Peterson: Well, it’s been a lovely journey. Thanks for having me.

Rachel Turkus: Peace. Bye.

Jo Peterson: Bye.