Richelle Anne Craw
Software Engineer at Beta Systems Software
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Richelle Anne Craw is a Software Engineer at Beta Systems Software. She has over 15 years of mainframe experience, including application development in z/OS, business analysis, software consulting, production support, systems operations, software provisioning using z/OSMF, and development for Zowe Explorer. In her current role, she enjoys developing new solutions for modern mainframe developers and advocating for them in her daily work.
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Step Up the Skills Ladder: Continuous Learning for Mainframers
How can mainframers actively grow their skills and see progress step by step? In this session, I’ll share personal experiences and lessons learned from helping newcomers and experienced professionals build skills that transfer across roles and compound over time. We will visualize a structured skills ladder with four levels: Foundational, Professional, Specialization, and Applied Knowledge. Using this framework, we will discuss concrete strategies to practice, track, and apply skills, turning structured learning into a visible journey that demonstrates progress, reinforces confidence, and supports continuous growth.
Modernization is a Human Story
Modernization is often treated as a technical challenge, yet its success is shaped by people. Drawing on conversations from the Mainframe Coven podcast, we'll examine a recurring theme: modernization efforts are weakened when certain voices and experiences are overlooked, particularly those of women and other underrepresented practitioners whose work often sustains critical systems. We’ll share real stories and practical approaches to strengthen knowledge transfer, maintain engagement, and foster environments free from gatekeeping. This session is for anyone seeking to align modernization initiatives with human-centered practices and build resilient, sustainable mainframe teams.
From Mentee to Mentor: Lessons in Mainframe Mentorship
I’ve had the privilege of mentoring newcomers and helping them navigate both traditional systems and modern tools. In this session, I’ll share what works (and what doesn’t) when introducing new tools, the common challenges mentees face, and practical techniques to make learning smoother. We’ll explore how to make mainframe education engaging, relevant, and future-proof. Whether you’re a mentor or looking to learn, this session is about keeping mainframe knowledge alive and thriving.
Zowe DevOps as a Curriculum
Plan, Build, Release, Repeat. What if every stage of the DevOps cycle could become a practical teaching module? This session explores how mentors and mentees can use Zowe and other open-source tools in a hands-on curriculum around the full DevOps lifecycle. Each phase serves as a standalone instructional unit to introduce mainframe concepts and modern tools, while building technical proficiency using DevOps principles.
I’ll share insights gained from teaching both newcomers and experienced professionals how to work with DevOps in a mainframe environment. We will draw practical examples from my personal experience leading these type of workshops, integrating Zowe CLI and APIs into labs and projects, creating a learning experience that prepares students for modern enterprise environments.
Mainframe Coven: Conjuring a Safe Space in Tech
There are parts of the tech story we don’t often hear, even though they shape everything behind the scenes. It's time we talk about it. Mainframe Coven, a 10-part mini-series from the Mainframe Connect podcast platform, part of the Linux Foundation’s Open Mainframe Project, starts the conversation to honor the past, present, and future of women in tech.
In this talk, we’ll conjure a safe space for reflection, connection, and reimagining what it means to exist in this industry as women and marginalized voices.
We’ll explore the cultural gaps we’ve noticed, the power of intentional community, and the kinds of systems and leadership we believe the future of tech urgently needs.
We invite attendees to think critically about the importance of visibility, diversity, and belonging; how inclusion can change lives; and how stories can shape systems and inspire the creation of new ones.
Mainframe Mentorship and Modern Tools
Teaching mainframe skills today isn’t just about JCL and COBOL, it’s about bridging the gap between traditional systems and modern tools. In this session, I’ll share my experience mentoring new mainframers, covering the most effective tools, techniques, and tricks to simplify the learning process and discuss the challenges we’ve faced along the way. Whether you’re a mentor, a learner, or just curious, you’ll walk away with practical insights on how to grow mainframe expertise in today’s tech landscape.
Own Your Origin Story: Embracing Diversity in Mentorship
Mentorship is a symbiotic relationship that benefits the mentor, the mentee, and the community they belong to. But what happens when that community is scattered across different cultural and technological backgrounds?
In this presentation we will explore the challenges and benefits of fostering a learning culture where everyone learns from one another and questions go both ways. We will talk about finding your niche in an apprentice program, where you can prioritize authenticity and empathy without feeling intimidated.
We will also draw practical examples from my personal journey from Asia to Austria and discuss the lessons I learned in navigating diverse workplaces around the world.
Panel Discussion: The Next Generation of Mainframers
For many of the fortune 500 companies the mainframe is and will remain a critical component of the IT infrastructure to run business processes efficiently and process billions of critical transactions safely and securely.
As experienced professionals are gradually retiring, a new generation of professionals are moving up as the "mainframe experts.”
In this session, we'll chat with a few ambassadors and leaders from Open Mainframe Project who are this next generation.
They'll share their experience with mainframes, how they got into the industry and advice for others and will share real-world examples of the new generation of mainframers and the diversity that is quietly building behind the scenes.
Panel Discussion: Women Explorers, What Does the Future of Mainframe Development Look Like?
Meet the women of the Zowe Explorer Squad. In this session, the panelists will share valuable insights on navigating the challenges of modernizing the mainframe developer experience. The session will cover topics such as collaborating in the Zowe Explorer project, building a positive culture across different companies, managing open source commitments with internal priorities, overcoming time zone barriers, embracing the team diversity, and feeling confident in making decisions about the future of the project.
DIY: Zowe Explorer Starter Kit
Do you want to build a mainframe VS Code extension but don't know where to begin? Good news! We have just what you need to get you started. In this session we will talk about building VS Code extensions using Zowe Explorer extensible APIs. We will share code samples, tips and tricks and best practices so that you don't have to start from scratch. We will also discuss what you need to keep in mind while building, in order to be compatible with the Zowe Explorer conformance criteria.
ZoweOut: The Interactive Learning Experience
Have you ever wondered if games and mainframes are compatible? We have! Join this session as we showcase our winning hackathon project about a Zowe Learning Environment that allows you to learn more about Mainframe in a fun way.
Come and hear about how and why we came up with the idea; the technologies we used; and all the fun, learnings, and challenges we experienced during the hackathon. We will discuss how we see this project fits in the modern mainframe movement, including how everyone from beginners to experts in mainframe technology can come together and learn from each other.
All learners are welcome!
COBOL and the Modern Mainframe Movement
In these unprecedented times, COBOL became part of the discussion once again, with some misgivings due to its age. How has COBOL kept up with the modern times? From our humble beginnings as COBOL Programmer Trainees, to our experience as System Developers, and now as part of the DevOps R&D team for the OMP Zowe project, we are first hand witnesses to how COBOL has evolved through the years. Join this session as we talk about how the technology of today can be combined with COBOL. Come to hear first hand experiences and insights of a modern mainframe developer, including how everyone is empowered to innovate and invent different mainframe solutions, and enjoy the benefits from those innovations.
Keeping Up with the Times: Adopting Zowe as a Modern Mainframe Developer
How extending Zowe CLI made us more productive.
From our beginnings as Application Developers and subsequent experience as Operations Engineers, our move to a DevOps role as part of the Zowe project is a natural progression in our career journey. Knowing what we know now, how could we have used Zowe to improve our lives in our previous roles?
Join this session as we show the time-saving benefits of adopting Zowe, specifically via the creation of a Zowe CLI Systems Utilities Plugin. Using what we learned from developing legacy Mainframe applications and performing system administration tasks, extending Zowe CLI was the obvious answer as a way to improve the productivity of teams doing repetitive tasks on the Mainframe even without deep Mainframe knowledge.
Come to hear the first hand experiences and insights of a modern mainframe developer, including how everyone is empowered to extend the capabilities of Zowe CLI for their own individual use cases and automation scripts.
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