ClickUp engineer Dona Maria Jose expands women-in-tech mentorship work

Dona Maria Jose, a senior backend engineer at ClickUp with experience at Visa, Microsoft, Dropbox and Slack, is being recognized for her technical leadership and mentorship. She also leads Show Your Worth Circles, a leadership program for women that has expanded beyond the U.S. after a successful pilot.

Why it matters: - Dona Maria Jose’s career spans engineering roles at major technology companies and a growing focus on helping more women enter and advance in tech. - Her mentorship work connects technical leadership with leadership development, a combination that can shape both product teams and career pipelines.

What happened: - Dona Maria Jose, a Senior Backend Engineer at ClickUp, was recognized by Influential Women. - Her background includes 10 years of experience in backend and full-stack development, scalable backend architecture, API design and customer-focused technology. - Her career includes roles at Visa, Microsoft, Dropbox and Slack before joining ClickUp. - She is also the creator of Show Your Worth Circles, a leadership development program for women.

The details: - Maria Jose earned a master’s degree in computer science from The University of Texas at Arlington. - She completed her bachelor’s degree in computer science in India and gained early industry experience there. - At Visa, she worked on large-scale systems and enterprise technology. - At Microsoft, she gained end-to-end product development experience by helping build solutions from the ground up. - At Dropbox, she worked on customer-facing product development and helped with early-stage work on Dropbox Replay across backend and frontend systems. - At Slack, she strengthened her work in backend systems and real-time architecture. - At ClickUp, she focuses on scalable APIs, core product infrastructure and user experience improvements. - Show Your Worth Circles runs in cohorts of six to seven participants over 10 weeks. - The program expanded internationally after a successful pilot and has reached participants in the United States, Africa and Bangalore. - Maria Jose also contributes to AnitaB.org and serves as a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador.

Between the lines: - Maria Jose’s story reflects a common theme in tech leadership: technical depth matters, but visibility, confidence and networks often determine who advances. - Her emphasis on speaking up suggests she sees self-advocacy as a practical career skill, not just a personal development theme. - The expansion of Show Your Worth Circles suggests demand for small-group, community-based support among women building careers in technology.

What's next: - Maria Jose is expected to keep balancing backend engineering work with mentorship and community-building. - Show Your Worth Circles appears positioned for continued growth as more participants join across regions. - Her work through women-in-tech organizations may continue to broaden access to leadership development and professional networks.

The bottom line: - Dona Maria Jose is using a senior engineering career at ClickUp to build more than software. She is also building pathways for women to gain confidence, visibility and leadership opportunities in tech.