Girls in Tech, Inc.’s Post

Girls in Tech, founded in 2007 by Adriana Gascoigne, has been a pioneering force in striving to eliminate the gender gap in the technology sector. Despite reaching over 250,000 individuals across 35 chapters in 30 countries, the organization faced insurmountable financial challenges, leading to its closure in July 20241. Gascoigne’s personal journey as the lone female executive at a Silicon Valley start-up fuelled her passion to create a supportive environment for women in tech. Girls in Tech offered bootcamps, hackathons, mentorships, and conferences to empower women with the skills needed to thrive in technology. Sadly, Girls in Tech’s closure is not an isolated case. Women Who Code, another prominent organization supporting women in technology, also recently shut down due to similar financial constraints. This highlights a broader issue: securing sustainable funding remains a significant challenge for women-focused tech organizations. Despite growing awareness of gender disparities in tech, funding for women-led initiatives continues to lag. #Tech #DEI #WomenInTech

In my doctoral defense, I noted how the realities of marginalized communities persist as corporate support for DEI wanes. The shuttering of Women Who Code further exacerbates this problem and expands the void. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) can bridge the gap. ERGs are agile and have features compatible with community partnerships. 90% of Fortune 500 companies have ERGs and while no single ERG has the same reach as Women Who Code, ERGs can collectively lessen the difference in the aggregate. Many of the pieces are there so ERGs don't need to start from scratch. As unfortunate as it is to lose organizations like Women Who Code, they do leave behind an operating model that ERGs can reference when designing programming. Partnerships may be found with smaller organizations like Techqueria, a nonprofit led by Joliz Cedeño, that has an outsized and lasting impact. #employeeresourcegroups #erg #tech #nonprofit https://lnkd.in/gfCEaGj5

GlobalGiving UK has launched what it believes is the UK’s first Women in Tech Giving Circle, aimed at facilitating collective giving by women leaders in the tech industry and supporting community causes worldwide. Alex Ritchie, CEO of GlobalGiving UK, said: “When women come together with a shared vision of generosity, compassion, and power, they unleash a ripple effect that resonates far and wide. Philanthropy, like tech, has historically been male-dominated. By contrast, giving circles are often majority women, reflecting their open and welcoming approach to facilitating philanthropy on any scale and any issue.” https://bit.ly/44CwhDe #ReedTechnology #Technology #Tech #WomenInTech #Giving

Women, women of color, and men of color are disproportionally marginalized in the workforce. For systemic reasons, we don't see as many women, women of color, and men of color in stem roles. Some of this is based on poor hiring processes like mandating hires from top Computer Science schools. Many people from historically excluded communities cannot afford an ivy league school. If they are hired, they are often forced to "assimilate" and do things "the way they have always been done." I had a client just yesterday tell me how burnt out she is. "They pay me decently, but I know I am a diversity hire. But they simply don't listen to me." If you are a white male leader, I implore you to become involved. Understand your organization's hiring practices, make suggestions, mentor & sponsor women and people of color, invest in people's professional development and make suggestions on your departments inclusion practices. We simply cannot let the little progress we have made begin to erode. If you are a woman or a person of color and you have recently been laid off or you are not getting what you need out of your career, there is a high probability that I can help. Book a free 15 minute consult with me using the link in the comments.

The drop in support for programs that #Tech companies once touted as a sign of their commitment to adding #Women #Black people and #Hispanic people to their ranks follows a #RightWing campaign to challenge #DiversityInitiatives in court. ✊✊🏿✊🏻✊🏾✊🏼✊🏽🧐💻🇺🇸 #DEI #Diversity #Inclusion #NonProfit #GirlsInTech #SiliconValley #CyberSecurity #Representation #WomenWhoCode #BlacksInCyberSecurity

I tend not to talk about my childhood here because I typically draw a hard line in the sand between personal and professional, but this topic has me mad as hell. When I was seven years old, my birth brother and I were taken by human services and put into the foster care system...each with different families. He stayed in the inner city where we came from and I went out to the suburbs. That very fact changed the trajectory of our lives. What people don't realize that haven't experienced a number of socioeconomic statuses is that the difference isn't the money. It's in the exposure. You don't learn about the arts in the inner city. You don't learn what it is to work in tech. You don't get exposed to as many possibilities for your life. You're 100% in survival mode. I often think about if I would have wound up in tech if the roles were reversed and I stayed in the inner city. I suspect not. That's why I'm so angry that this DEI backlash is hitting groups that help girls and women get exposed to coding and other aspects of the tech industry. Their missions were about training and building the pipeline of QUALIFIED candidates. Did you know that by the 5th grade, girls learn that "math is for boys?" At such a young age, their possibilities and dreams start to become limited -- and that means they won't spend their formative years building towards a future that includes STEM. Please continue to support the remaining groups like Girls Who Code so they can show girls more possibilities for their lives.

'Women Who Code' Shuts Down Unexpectedly: Women Who Code (WWC), a U.S.-based organization of 360,000 people supporting women who work in the tech sector, is shutting down due to a lack of funding. "It is with profound sadness that, today, on April 18, 2024, we are announcing the difficult decision to close Women Who Code, following a vote by the Board of Directors to dissolve the organization," the organization said in a blog post. "This decision has not been made lightly. It only comes after careful consideration of all options and is due to factors that have materially impacted our funding sources -- funds that were critical to continuing our programming and delivering on our mission. We understand that this news will come as a disappointment to many, and we want to express our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who have been a part of our journey." The BBC reports: WWC was started 2011 by engineers who "were seeking connection and support for navigating the tech industry" in San Francisco. It became a nonprofit organization in 2013 and expanded globally. In a post announcing its closure, it said it had held more than 20,000 events and given out $3.5m in scholarships. A month before the closure, WWC had announced a conference for May, which has now been cancelled. A spokesperson for WWC said: "We kept our programming moving forward while exploring all options." They would not comment on questions about the charity's funding. The most recent annual report, for 2022, showed the charity made almost $4m that year, while its expenses were just under $4.2m. WWC said that "while so much has been accomplished," their mission was not complete. It continued: "Our vision of a tech industry where diverse women and historically excluded people thrive at every level is not fulfilled." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

'Women Who Code' Shuts Down Unexpectedly: Women Who Code (WWC), a U.S.-based organization of 360,000 people supporting women who work in the tech sector, is shutting down due to a lack of funding. "It is with profound sadness that, today, on April 18, 2024, we are announcing the difficult decision to close Women Who Code, following a vote by the Board of Directors to dissolve the organization," the organization said in a blog post. "This decision has not been made lightly. It only comes after careful consideration of all options and is due to factors that have materially impacted our funding sources -- funds that were critical to continuing our programming and delivering on our mission. We understand that this news will come as a disappointment to many, and we want to express our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who have been a part of our journey." The BBC reports: WWC was started 2011 by engineers who "were seeking connection and support for navigating the tech industry" in San Francisco. It became a nonprofit organization in 2013 and expanded globally. In a post announcing its closure, it said it had held more than 20,000 events and given out $3.5m in scholarships. A month before the closure, WWC had announced a conference for May, which has now been cancelled. A spokesperson for WWC said: "We kept our programming moving forward while exploring all options." They would not comment on questions about the charity's funding. The most recent annual report, for 2022, showed the charity made almost $4m that year, while its expenses were just under $4.2m. WWC said that "while so much has been accomplished," their mission was not complete. It continued: "Our vision of a tech industry where diverse women and historically excluded people thrive at every level is not fulfilled." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

'Women Who Code' Shuts Down Unexpectedly: Women Who Code (WWC), a U.S.-based organization of 360,000 people supporting women who work in the tech sector, is shutting down due to a lack of funding. "It is with profound sadness that, today, on April 18, 2024, we are announcing the difficult decision to close Women Who Code, following a vote by the Board of Directors to dissolve the organization," the organization said in a blog post. "This decision has not been made lightly. It only comes after careful consideration of all options and is due to factors that have materially impacted our funding sources -- funds that were critical to continuing our programming and delivering on our mission. We understand that this news will come as a disappointment to many, and we want to express our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who have been a part of our journey." The BBC reports: WWC was started 2011 by engineers who "were seeking connection and support for navigating the tech industry" in San Francisco. It became a nonprofit organization in 2013 and expanded globally. In a post announcing its closure, it said it had held more than 20,000 events and given out $3.5m in scholarships. A month before the closure, WWC had announced a conference for May, which has now been cancelled. A spokesperson for WWC said: "We kept our programming moving forward while exploring all options." They would not comment on questions about the charity's funding. The most recent annual report, for 2022, showed the charity made almost $4m that year, while its expenses were just under $4.2m. WWC said that "while so much has been accomplished," their mission was not complete. It continued: "Our vision of a tech industry where diverse women and historically excluded people thrive at every level is not fulfilled." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

News that Women Who Code—a non-profit organization dedicated to building community for women in the tech sector—is shutting its doors, has prompted fears of a backsliding in progress toward gender inequality in an industry still blighted by sexism. Riaz Moola, founder and chief executive officer of HyperionDev, an online coding bootcamp, agreed that the closure deals a blow to efforts to make the sector more inclusive. This situation highlights that getting more women into tech roles remains a systemic issue that requires multi-pronged efforts from organizations, companies, and educational institutions. #womenintech #genderinequality #investinwomenintech #supportwomenintech