Just before sitting down to write this blog post, a tweet popped up in my stream about a pregnant Marissa Mayer becoming the new CEO of Yahoo. Just last month, Sheryl Sandberg became the first woman to join Facebook’s board of directors. And while it may seem odd that accomplishments such as these come as a surprise, the reality is that in 2012 women still represent a small fraction of the people working in the technology industry, particularly when it comes to technology-based startups.
Cue Girls in Tech. In 2007, Adriana Gascoigne, a bright young woman based in San Francisco, had the idea of developing an organization focused on connecting, empowering and advocating for women and girls in the technology industry. Fast-forward five years, and Girls in Tech is now a global not-for-profit organization with 22 chapters across 10 countries, including chapters in Singapore, France, the United Kingdom and Chile. The organization’s success is a testament to the fact that women and girls are looking for some form of support as they enter and navigate through the technology industry.
The same holds true here, where Girls in Tech Toronto launched last year and has since grown to over 500 members. This success can be attributed to the Toronto team’s Power Hour Socials, a series of events that look to make a lasting impact on women. The inspiration for the socials was drawn from tech-entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa and his response to the questions: “How do we get more women-led startups? Doesn’t this require social re-engineering?”
His response? “No, it requires women supporting women.”
Power Hour Socials
Girls in Tech Toronto’s Power Hour Socials have a simple yet powerful mandate: to recognize and showcase the amazing work being done by women in technology. Held once every couple of months, the socials invite women to talk about the awesome work they are doing in the technology space. Audience members are asked to support the speaker’s work by blogging, tweeting and generally spreading awareness in any way they can. The goal is for women to build a network of peer advocates, resulting in a bigger online footprint and enthusiastic fans.
During last month’s Power Hour Social, MaRS’ very own Helen Kula spoke about her passion for data and her work with the MaRS Regional Strategic Resource Centre (ReSRC) initiative, which is all about using big hairy data to draw insights about the startup ecosystem.
Other speakers included:
Aliza Pulver of Homesav, who walked the audience through her journey of growing and financing a company, which included an appearance on the hit TV show “Dragons’ Den.”
Katherine Hague of ShopLocket, who spoke candidly about her inspiration for becoming an entrepreneur and her journey through an accelerator program.
Cassie McDaniel, who shared her incredibly funny story about accidentally stumbling into development of a Women && Tech mobile app.
Next event
The next Power Hour Social will take place on September 20, 2012, with details released as the day draws closer. The team can’t seem to host the socials fast enough to meet the demand of the women who want to share their stories.
It’s truly inspirational to see women connecting with and supporting one another, all in an effort to raise each other’s profiles. It is this pay-it-forward attitude that will undoubtedly lead to an increased number of women choosing careers in technology, until the day when women in tech becomes status quo.