Before you meet Keva Schulz, let me just say: you’re about to fall for an engineer with eyeliner, an ecologist with edge, and a trans advocate who could probably fix your Wi-Fi and rewild your backyard in one afternoon. Keva is many things: artist, athlete, environmentalist, engineer, and absolute ERG goddess. She hails from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and Little Wolf, Wisconsin (because one home base simply isn’t enough when your personality contains multitudes). She studied at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, went on to dazzle at IBM as an R&D engineer, and later managed teams at Seagate, until the tech world learned the hard way that a trans woman with a mission and a high EQ is basically their final boss. In 2015, Keva began hormone replacement therapy, switching from testosterone to estrogen, and has been living in glorious “bonus time” ever since. As she puts it, estrogen didn’t just affirm her gender, it cleared the noise in her head, soothed the tension in her muscles, and reminded her that sleep is actually a thing humans are supposed to do. She identifies as pangender, a word that barely begins to capture her beautiful complexity. Think: more masculine than most men, more feminine than most women, all at once. Her style says “soft power,” her presence says “don’t underestimate me,” and her résumé says “seriously, don’t.”
Before retiring in 2019, Keva lit up the corporate DEI world like it was Pride Month every month. She founded Seagate PRIDE!, the company’s first LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group, and soon became the fabulous face of inclusion, organizing events, mentoring employees, launching new ERGs, and helping her company earn a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. And when backlash came (as it often does when someone fabulous rocks the boat), she kept showing up with strength, grace, and just the right amount of sass. Let’s also not forget: Keva’s love for nature goes way back. At age 14, she won a statewide ecology essay contest and even got a letter from Senator Gaylord Nelson (yes, that Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day). Fifty years later, she’s still fighting to protect this planet with the same earnest fire. So buckle up. In the interview ahead, you’ll meet a woman who defies binaries, blends brilliance with boldness, and reminds us all that living your truth, especially in the face of resistance, is the fiercest form of leadership.
Monika: Hello Keva! I’m absolutely thrilled to be talking with you. Honestly, I’m in awe of your many talents and passions. Your personal style radiates “soft power,” your résumé screams “tech boss,” and your heart beats “Earth Day forever.” How would you like to describe yourself?
Keva: Hi Monika! “Soft power” is a very good descriptor. I was a reluctant leader and did so only to fill a void. I practiced collaborative or inclusive leadership and abhorred authoritarian management. It’s a miracle that I endured the corporate world as long as I did.
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| "I believe that being trans is a superpower." |
I’m a super nerd when it comes to nature, technology, history, and art. I’m curious about a wide range of topics and enjoy diving in deep to understand them. I often feel the need to fact-check and deconstruct a subject. My questioning and skepticism sometimes annoy others, particularly my wife.
Some nicknames I have been called: “The Stude” or “The Brain” in high school, “Ozzie” or “The Wizard of Oz” (for shortstop Ozzie Smith) on my softball team, “Calculator” in grad school, and “The Deer Hunter.” I love to experiment and optimize in the kitchen, where I have a few labels: “The Spice and Olive Queen,” “Pie Princess,” and “Sausage Sweetheart.”
Monika: Women, including transgender women, excel as leaders and business professionals, often bringing unique perspectives that surpass traditional norms. In your experience, what qualities do women bring to leadership roles that make them particularly effective? And let’s be honest, did you ever sit in a boardroom, look around at the men in suits, and think, “Wow, if I ran this place, things would actually get done?”
Keva: Right! Engineering is such a male-dominated endeavor. Testosterone permeated the engineering culture from the university through to the corporate world. Men were too often more concerned with posturing and dominance games than getting the job done. They failed to recognize the importance of creating a positive environment of belonging and trust. They destroyed trust by spewing blatant lies.
Talented cis (and trans) women had to adapt to survive in this environment, and I saw far too many drop out at various points in their careers because it wasn’t worth the frustration. I experienced women leaders who were the best because of their superior emotional and social awareness and intelligence. They were driven to achieve and win, and they had nerves of steel. These heroines understood what they were up against, they defied gender expectations, and worked hard to earn respect and trust. They brought an environment of belonging to their teams and inspired by example. On the other hand, I observed a couple of bad women managers who played the toxic masculine leadership game to the hilt; they were the most demanding, uncompassionate, and authoritarian people I’ve encountered.
Monika: So many transgender women have made groundbreaking contributions to the tech world. Take Lynn Conway (1938–2022), who revolutionized microchip design at Xerox PARC with the Mead-Conway method. Or Martine Rothblatt, the founder of Sirius XM and United Therapeutics, and one of the highest-paid female CEOs in the U.S. And there's Ada-Rhodes Short, the Canadian roboticist and trans rights activist behind the award-winning Osé device. As someone standing among these incredible women, do you think this is just a coincidence, or does it reflect something deeper about the brilliance, resilience, and creativity within our community?
Keva: I believe that being trans is a superpower, and I’ve tried to understand why. My transness pushed me toward living a life of both achievement and integrity. Inner transphobia drove intense self-hatred, which motivated me to compensate with acts of heroism. Being called mentally ill, a joke, and an abomination led me to a time of internalized transmisogyny and self-loathing. I compensated with a driving need to prove my worth to humanity, to fulfill a higher purpose, and to attain a noble end.
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| I became a housewife. (2020) |
Trans women often put their lives on the line to save people in burning buildings and take on the riskiest combat missions. They put themselves on the front lines in the fight for social justice. They lead exemplary lives. I believe this is why so many trans folks volunteer for military service.
More broadly, I have noticed that the most brilliant people in my life are somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum. They may be cis-identified, but they display both masculine and feminine attributes. This leads me to wonder if their brains are more integrated and capable. Another possibility is that, as intellectuals, they just shun being limited by gender stereotypes and lead a fuller life.
Monika: Let’s zoom in on you for a moment. You’re clearly a woman of many talents and passions. Were you always this driven and multifaceted, even back when you were a kid?
Keva: [chuckle] Yes. I loved sports, the outdoors, history, science, and tinkering. I was never bored, my mind was always working on something. Growing up in the ’60s and ’70s was exciting; it was a period of cultural change and scientific optimism. I soaked up the environmental movement, the civil rights movement, the Apollo moon landings, second-wave feminism, and creative advancement in folk, rock, and jazz music. I had time for entertainment (it was the TV Age), and I watched my share of Bewitched, Laugh-In, Gilligan’s Island, Star Trek, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Monika: When you look back on your childhood, what kind of memories rise to the surface? Would you say those early years were happy ones?
Keva: I would have said my childhood was idyllic, perfect except for my inner gender turmoil. I tried desperately to keep my life perfect and happy, and it was… except when I couldn’t repress, and then it wasn’t. My father was a physician and surgeon who I deeply admired and loved. My loving mother stayed home to raise the four kids. My older brother set the tone for me as being both an athlete and scholar. My challenge was to match the accomplishments of my older brother and sister. Shawano, Wisconsin (population 6,500) was a safe place to walk or ride our bikes anywhere. We organized neighborhood games of basketball, baseball, and soccer. My younger brother and I walked a couple of blocks away from home to fish for panfish. As a teen, I spent a good share of summers with my grandparents gardening and fishing the river their property was on, where my cabin now stands. I was fortunate to have a family and a life of love.
Monika: How did religion and early role models influence your sense of identity growing up?
Keva: Religion was a key element of my upbringing. I went to a conservative K–8 Lutheran school. We attended church every week, and I sang in the choir.
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| Cabin works. |
The problem? Imagining my life as a girl made me feel right, whole, and transcendent. I started wearing girls’ clothing in private at age 4. These were spiritual experiences that connected me to something inside (the divine); some were even ecstatic. I couldn’t understand them, I just knew they needed to be kept secret. My mom’s 1950s vintage gowns were my glory as an early teen. My makeup skills were honed by age 15. I was quite fortunate not to be discovered; I feared being institutionalized.
Socially, I preferred being with girls because they were more mature, self-controlled, and caring. In kindergarten, my best friend Christie and I were forced to distance because of others teasing us, “boys can’t be friends with girls.” I found it hard to connect with other boys, and I refused to go to their birthday parties.
Monika: Did you ever try to express your true identity openly, even in small ways, during childhood?
Keva: I needed to be seen for who I was, yet this longing filled me with shame. When my mother refused to let me wear a girl’s costume for Halloween at age 7, I smuggled a dress to school in a paper bag. I prayed to become a girl or to die. I thought that God made me this way for a purpose, perhaps to keep me humble, or perhaps it was to call me His home. Suicidal ideation was ever-present.
When I was 10, I had the lead role in a class play, an Old West farce How the West Was Lost, as a cowardly sheriff who crossdresses to escape the dangerous desperado Black Bart, but finds his courage wearing a dress and wig. I relished this role! When my father walked in on play practice at our house, he gave me pointers on feminine walking and speaking for the part. I have wondered since where Dad fell in the gender spectrum. Unfortunately, he died in 1994 before I came out as trans, so we never had that conversation.
I was captain of my 8th-grade basketball team, but that didn’t stop a teammate from harassing me with homophobic slurs. I just smiled in response. One day after practice, he shoved me hard from behind, and I was fortunate to regain my balance to prevent crashing through a glass door. When I turned to confront him, he slapped me hard across the face, and I returned the slap. He left me alone after that; however, the incident left me shaken. I feared bullying. I avoided extracurriculars in high school, choosing to spend my time in the peace of the outdoors, where gender didn’t matter.
Monika: How did your professional journey unfold, was it strategy, serendipity, or a little bit of glamorous chaos?
Keva: Some of each, I suppose. I learned about metallurgical engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from my older brother’s friends at a Sheepshead card party while visiting Madison one summer.
Wisconsin is a leader in iron casting production, and I envisioned a career running an iron foundry and interned at a foundry for a summer. However, there were no foundry jobs available during the economic recession of ’82–’83, but IBM in Endicott, NY was hiring, and I was graduating at the top of the class. At that time, IBM ruled tech, and Endicott was a computer boom town.
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| Speaking at Seagate California PRIDE! Kickoff 2019. |
Once at IBM, I found that a higher degree was required to lead computer hardware development projects, so I returned to UW–Madison for three years to earn a PhD, working on GaAs contact metals under Professor Austin Chang. I was fortunate to have been awarded an Office of Naval Research Fellowship, which gave me additional funding and latitude for choosing my project.
END OF PART 1
All photos: courtesy of Keva Schulz.
© 2025 - Monika Kowalska
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