Appendix B
Professional Organizations and Programs Focused on Women of Color and Underrepresentation in Tech
ANITAB.ORG
AnitaB.org supports women in technical fields, as well as the organizations that employ them and the academic institutions training the next generation. A full roster of programs helps women to grow, learn, and develop their highest potential. AnitaB.org provides women in tech with year-round opportunities to connect with and inspire one another, develop their professional skills, find mentors, and gain recognition. The organization’s communities, events, and programs offer the resources women need to build rewarding careers in technology. AnitaB.org is driven by the belief that more can be accomplished together. To address the holistic needs of women and non-binary technologists, the organization created a membership program with resources, opportunities, and connections to support every career level. AnitaB.org works with organizations and individuals to identify and overcome industry challenges, diversify workforces, and foster cultures where women technologists create impactful and lasting careers.
ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE (AWIS)
“AWIS champions the interests of women in science, technology engineering, and mathematics across all disciplines and employment sectors. Working for positive system transformation, AWIS strives to ensure that all women in these fields can achieve their full potential.”
ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS
“The purpose of the Association for Women in Mathematics is to encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity and the equal treatment of women and girls in the mathematical sciences.”
BLACK COMPUTEHER
Black ComputeHer is dedicated to supporting computing+tech education and workforce development for Black women and girls. The organization aims to create rich technical programming, lead empirical research, and disseminate information that addresses the lack of inclusive innovation in tech across education and industry. There is an abundance of literature that examines why women do not pursue computer science (CS), and research that investigates why Black students do not pursue CS. Unfortunately, according to Black ComputerHer, there is not much research that addresses the impact of the intersectionality of gender, race, and other constructs (socioeconomics, regional experiences, educational experiences, etc.) on Black women along the pathway of success in computing. As such the organization is conducting research that contributes to this growing body of knowledge.
BLACK FEMALE FOUNDERS
The mission of Black Female Founders is to provide awareness, promotion, support, and resources for Black women-led tech-based and tech-enabled startups throughout the U.S. and Black Diaspora. The organization’s platform and programs advance women from aspiration to investment. In an effort to increase diversity and inclusion within the global innovation ecosystem, Black Female Founders elevate and empower tech-enabled or tech-based ventures from idea conception to business implementation and toward investment. The organization’s platform is designed to increase exposure of Black female founders and their ventures. Founders receive help with business creation and development via programs, access to investors, and more. The organization’s signature program, the #BFF Labs pre-accelerator, provides critical industry knowledge, mentorship, and business development tools to help fledgling startups succeed. #BFF was created by Black women who are also entrepreneurs with experience in the tech, finance, and investment space.
BLACK WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (BWISE)
BWISE was founded in 2015 with the purpose to support underrepresented women in bridging the leadership gap through networking, mentorship, and career development. The group consists of Black women from middle management
through senior leadership with degrees in the sciences, math, and engineering. The BWISE mission is to empower Black women through career and entrepreneurial development, insight, and training. The BWISE vision is to significantly impact the diversity of the STEM pipeline, both corporate and academic, from beginning to end.
BLACK WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
Black Women in Technology was founded in 2014 in Los Angeles, California and was created to engage Black women to enter tech as a career choice. Black Women in Technology’s mission is to teach tech invention in order to serve our community, engage Black women and women of color to embrace tech innovation and serve one another through positive role models and relationships.
BLACKS IN TECHNOLOGY LLC (BIT)
BIT is the largest community and media organization that focuses on Black people in the technology industry. Through community-focused activities, events and media, Blacks In Technology (BIT) is “Stomping the Divide” by establishing a blueprint of world-class technical excellence and innovation by providing resources, guidance and issuing a challenge to our members to surpass the high mark and establish new standards of global innovation.
BLACK GIRLS CODE
The vision of Black Girls CODE is to increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color ages 7 to 17 to become innovators in STEM fields, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology. The organization works to provide African American youth with the skills to occupy some of the 1.4 million computing job openings expected to be available in the United States by 2020, and to train 1 million girls by 2040. Black Girls CODE introduces computer coding lessons to young girls from underrepresented communities in programming languages such as Scratch or Ruby on Rails.
COMPUTER RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (CRA)
CRA’s Committee on Widening Participation in Computing Research (CRA-WP) has a mission to increase the success and participation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in computing research and education at all levels. CRA-WP programs, people, and materials provide mentoring and support for women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities at every level of the research pipeline: undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and government and industry researchers.
G|CODE
G|Code is a Boston-based non-profit organization that offers young women of color a safe co-living, working, and learning community where they will learn cutting-edge technology skills, gain employment experience, and connect with our world renowned network of mentors, advisors, and enterprise partners. Intro to G|Code is a 10-week program for young women of color, created by young women of color. The program provides opportunity for 16 young women (known as the ChangeMakers) to learn about tech, foster community, practice self-reflection, and prepare for their futures. This program exposes ChangeMakers to software and development fundamentals, as well as personal and professional development that is key to successful careers and general well-being. Following completion of Intro to G|Code, ChangeMakers may go on to participate in further development with allied programs, i.e., Resilient Coders, Year Up, Hack Diversity, Apprenti, and others. G|Code House is 24-month program includes nine months of in-class technical training, six months of an internship/co-op, nine months of specialty training (e.g., cyber security), and mentorship and personal support in a safe, focused home.
GIRLS IN TECH
Founded in 2007 by Adriana Gascoigne, Girls in Tech is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating the gender gap in tech. They have more than 60,000 members in 50+ chapters around the world. Girls in Tech started with an idea: There is a strong, smart, and outspoken girl within all of us. Girls in Tech exists to make sure that girl is heard. Because when every voice, every perspective, every personality is honored and respected, we do better work and live richer lives. Girls in Tech is passionate about inclusivity, because they know that tech today requires people of all skills and backgrounds. They are committed to building the diverse and inclusive tech workforce the world needs. And they aim to see every person accepted, confident, and valued in tech—just as they are.
GREAT MINDS IN STEM (GMIS)
GMiS is the gateway for Hispanics in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Established in 1989, as HENAAC, Great Minds in STEM is a non-profit organization that focuses on STEM educational awareness programs for students from kindergarten to career. Great Minds in STEM provides resources for recognition and recruitment of Hispanics in STEM on a national level, connecting multi-areas of engineering and science arenas to the general population.
LATINAS IN COMPUTING
Latinas in Computing (LiC) is a community created by and for Latinas with a mission of promoting Latina representation and success in computing-related fields. The LiC community was established with the help of AnitaB.org after a Birds of a Feather session at the 2006 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. LiC is part of AnitaB.org Systers Affinity Groups and was established to inspire the community of Latinas in computing, promote opportunities and resources, provide resources and guidance to lead new initiatives, and mentor students, junior faculty, and professionals.
LATINAS IN TECH
Latinas in Tech is a non-profit organization with the aim to connect, support, and empower Latina women working in tech, including (1) to increase the number of Latinas working in the tech industry; (2) to increase representation of Latinas in tech in decision-making positions; (3) to increase the participation of Latina-founded startup in Venture Capital funding of $1M+; and (4) to increase Latinas’ confidence in their own capabilities and skills. They work with top technology companies to create safe spaces for learning, mentorship, and recruitment. They provide networking meetups; webinars around career development and skill building; mentorship program and training; leadership trainings for entry, mid, and executive level Latinas; recruiting events; and an annual summit.
NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN IN COMPUTING (NAWIC)
NAWiC is a community that brings support and inspiration to Indigenous women in technical fields across North and South America. Native women need a safe space to share their work, ideas, experiences, and accomplishments and get recognition for them. There are Native women currently in the tech industry, learning to code. NAWiC is a community to bridge that gap between a new coder and a tech executive, and everything in between. NAWiC is working on reaching out to Native/Indigenous communities to host workshops, meetups, and hackathons.
REBOOT REPRESENTATION TECH COALITION
A coalition of tech companies that have come together to align funding and agendas to address the lack of representation, particularly of women of color, within the technology industry. Pivotal Ventures catalyzed the formation of the coalition through the development of the Rebooting Representation report (coauthored by McKinsey & Co.) and the coalition is housed at the National Center for Women & Information Technology. The goal is to double the number of
Black, Latinx, and Native American women receiving computing degrees by 2025. The coalition does this by (1) pooling corporate dollars in order to make strategic investments in organizations that provide rigorous computer science education for Black, Latinx, and Native American women; (2) raising the profile of the issue of underrepresentation of women of color in computing through frequent communications activities; and (3) bringing companies together to share best practices and lessons learned and to use one unified voice.
WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
Women in Technology (WIT) has the sole aim of advancing women in technology—from the classroom to the boardroom. WIT meets its vision through a variety of leadership development, technology education, networking, and mentoring opportunities for women at all levels of their careers. WIT has over 1000 members in the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia metro region.
