About
‘Girls in Tech’ (GIT) is a social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology. As young women with the capacity to inspire, we made it our personal desire and passion to create and sustain an organization that focuses on the collaboration, promotion, growth and success of women in the technology sector.
Created in February of 2007, Girls in Tech was founded by Adriana Gascoigne. The organization was born out of a need to provide a place for women to cultivate ideas around their careers and business concepts involving technology. Girls in Tech is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and supports over 17,000 members spread between 37 active chapters worldwide.
Girls in Tech aims to offer a variety of resources and tools for women to supplement and further enhance their professional careers and aspirations in technology. Some of these resources include, educational workshops and lectures, networking functions, round table discussions, conferences, social engagements, and recruitment events.
For questions surrounding Girls in Tech, please email info@girlsintech.net
About the CEO and Founder
Adriana F. Gascoigne
Adriana is the founder and CEO of Girls in Tech, a non-profit organization, which she launched in February 2007. As a woman in tech, Adriana’s passion lies in bolstering opportunities around the empowerment, engagement and education of women in tech. Previously, Adriana worked as the Vice President of Marketing at SecondMarket, the global marketplace for alternative investments. She was responsible for SecondMarket’s marketing, branding strategy, event production and digital media efforts. Prior to joining SecondMarket, Adriana worked at a variety of technology start-ups spearheading marketing, communications and analytics. She worked at hi5, SocialGamingNetwork (SGN), Jambool’s SocialGold, GUBA as well as Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide as the Vice President of 360 Digital Influence and Edelman as the Vice President of the Digital Group. She is an “Intel Insider,” serving as a brand and product advisor for Intel. She is an advisor to a variety of start-ups including Involver, Numiyo Technologies, Palindrome Advisors, Charity Blossom, DooChoo, and Change.org. In 2009, Adriana launched SmittenWithMittens, a 501 (c) 3 providing fair trade mittens, clothing, uniforms and resources to orphans in developing countries. Adriana holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Economics from the University of California at Davis, received a degree from El Tecnologico de Monterrey in Aguascalientes, Mexico in 2000, and participated in Semester at Sea, University of Pittsburgh in 1997. Adriana is fluent in Spanish and speaks some Japanese and French.
Girls in Tech Corporate Officers
Kate Brodock, CMO & Director of International Relations
In addition to her position with Girls in Tech, Kate Brodock is Executive Director of Digital & Social Media at Syracuse University, and Founder & Chair of the Other Side Group, a new media marketing and content production firm catering to organizations and high-profile individuals. Prior to graduate school, she was part of two start-ups in technology transfer and Critical Infrastructure, and has been heavily involved in the start-up world from both the player and advisory/mentor role. She’s the the Director of Strategy and Outreach for the Meta-Activism Project, a think tank focusing on digital activism and is interested in how digital technologies can be used for political, social or cultural movements. She’s been involved in research efforts at Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HII) to identify whether new forms of citizen journalism can be used in early crisis warning efforts. Kate holds an MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University, where she focused on Entrepreneurship and Marketing, an MA in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and BAs in History and Political Science from the University of Rochester. When she’s not working, she’s a very non-professional athlete and an equally as non-professional musician.
Ivo Lukas, COO & Director of the GIT Global Mentorship Program & Managing Director, Portland
Ivo Lukas is the Chief Operations Officer & Executive Director of Global Mentorship and Partnership Program at Girls in Tech. She is also the Managing Director for Portland, Ore Chapter. She is the Founder and CEO of 24Notion, a creative digital, brand, marketing, PR and lifestyle shop with special emphasize in giving back to the global communities (CSR). 24Notion is an integrated, cross-functional team of experts who develop and execute innovative solutions in collaboration with client needs. Ivo has over 18 years of experience in combining brand marketing, PR, advertising, innovative creative, and digital solutions for small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, and private and public institutions in a range of industries. Her sector expertise ranges but not limited to mobile, media/arts/entertainment, beauty and cosmetics, banking and financial services, fashion and apparel, academics, technology, consumer goods and services, B2B/B2C, retail, social enterprises, eco and sustainable products, and healthcare. Past and current clients include: Microsoft, AMD, GSK Healthcare, T-mobile, AT&T, Samsung, Nethope, USC, Fender, Polycom, Chevron, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Upromise, TBS superstation and CNN.
Tonia Dinh, Vice President, Marketing
Tonia has over 10 years of marketing experience for various industries, ranging from technology, financial services, and media entertainment. Tonia currently works for one of the top tech companies in Silicon Valley where she leads B2B demand gen and integrated marketing campaigns for enterprise solutions. At KPMG LLP, she held a management position leading the West area marketing team, developing go-to-market marketing campaigns and CRM management. Prior to moving to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, she worked for major media entertainment companies such as NBC Universal, New Line Cinema, and Fox Entertainment within International Marketing and Distribution.
Tonia currently is based in the San Francisco area. She holds a Bachelors degree from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a specialization in Business Economics. Supplemental concentrations include: Media Distribution, Marketing & Finance. When Tonia is not working on strategic marketing initiatives for GIT, she thoroughly enjoys: reading, running, music, food & wine, and exploring the newest technologies and social apps.
Claire Rein-Weston, Editor-in-Chief, Girls in Tech Blog
Claire Rein-Weston is the Editor-in-Chief of the Girls in Tech blog. With a degree in English from Princeton University, Claire contributes as an assistant editor for Narrative Magazine, a nonprofit digital literary magazine. She also works in clinical research at UCSF in the department of Radiology. A fellow west coaster from Seattle, Claire loves the Bay Area and feels a particular fondness for San Francisco. She devotes much of her free time to playing squash, socializing with family and friends, and discovering all that this vibrant city has to offer.
Danielle Wegenstein, Operations Manager
In addition to her position with Girls in Tech, Danielle Wegenstein is a full time MBA student at Hult International Business School class of 2012. Her previous position was Partner Program Manager for InMobi “Sprout (acquired by InMobi Q3 2011)”, a cloud-based visual authoring software that enables advertisers, agencies and publishers to create fully customizable, engaging HTML5 ads. At Sprout her responsibilities included Account Management, Operations, Business Development and Sales. Danielle oversaw project estimations, the development and tracking of integrated project plans, established and maintained processes to manage scope throughout the project lifecycle. She was point person for contract finalization and invoicing for all new Business Development and Services deals, as well as all Human Resource needs and the lead on managing Sprout’s internal Performance Review process for all Sprout employees. On the Business Development end she worked with the various Partners to devise simple and appropriate business strategies and train, engage, and ensure success, including in-person meetings. She graduated with a BA degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder where she enjoyed many weekends of skiing, camping and hiking. When Danielle isn’t coordinating various partner relationships and exploring business opportunities for GIT, she thoroughly enjoys being outdoors, running and hiking in the summer or skiing in the winter, but if you really want to get her smiling just ask her about Switzerland.
Audrey Walker, Managing Director, Detroit & IT Manager
Audrey Walker is a front-end designer/developer and digital strategist with an educational company in Ann Arbor. She has spent over eight years building and designing websites, and other interactive projects, and has a passion for all forms of digital communication. Audrey has won four Adobe Site’s of The Day and was featured in Commarts.com. Most recently Audrey won Chevrolet’s Drive Across America Roadtrip Challenge, as a member of Team Detroit. Audrey is a Michigan State University Alum with a degree in Telecommunications/Digital Media Arts and Technology and a cognate in Fine Arts. She also studied two years in Computer Science. She’s a big time supporter of MSU Football and Basketball, and travels to the Final Four each year MSU is present. When she’s not cheering on her teams, she’s most likely exploring a new region of the world, drinking craft beer, or attending a social media event preserving the “techsocialite” status.
Briana Myricks, Director, Girls in Tech University Program
Briana Myricks has been a Girls in Tech volunteer for the LA chapter since September 2010, where she co-planned and promoted a Social Media Day event in Los Angeles. Briana’s role as Director of Girls in Tech University is to assist and encourage young women to pursue careers in technology. Briana has been a “gadget girl” since she was young and has brought technology to marketing and public relations campaigns to numerous businesses and corporations through her consultancy, Engaged Media.
Allison Strouse, Associate Blogger
Allison currently works for QuinStreet as a Senior Manager of organic media. She is involved in many start-up communities outside of the company including Girls in Tech, Everlane.com, Startup Weekend and Technovation Challenge. Allison’s goal is to one day own my own company and make a long-lasting impact on how we learn, communicate and grow with the use of technology. While completing a degree in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Allison interned at financial firms Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers in the Sales and Trading and Investment Banking departments, respectively. Upon graduation, she joined Lehman Brothers in NYC as an investment banking analyst in the convertible origination group, where she was one of nine team members responsible for closing new-issue deals for core clients, generating approximately $420M in firm fees. Allison later joined a start-up Fund of Funds, Uhuru Capital Management. Uhuru’s investment management platform focused on generating competitive returns for investors and facilitating global economic and social development. The founding team included leaders from both the Finance and Philanthropic arenas. Simultaneously, Allison worked part-time for another start-up company, search fund Trophy Point Capital. Inspired by her start-up experiences, she moved to San Francisco to enter the technology industry and dive into the start-up culture which she believes will shape the future.
Laura Slezinger, Managing Director, San Francisco & Director of Corporate Development
Laura received her J.D. from the University of San Diego, School of Law where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Motions, the law school newspaper, where she began highlighting a lot of tech-related Intellectual Property and Antitrust cases. She was the Fundraising Chair for the Women’s Law Caucus and hosted a charity auction to benefit a local women’s domestic violence shelter. She earned certificates in areas of international law in Florence, Barcelona, and Paris. During and following law school Laura worked in-house, setting up the Intellectual Property protection program for an environmental compliance company based in Carlsbad, California. Laura received her LL.M. from the University of San Francisco, School of Law where she was a staff editor on the Intellectual Property Law Bulletin and comment author. She worked on the Intellectual Property and Internet Justice Clinic where she advocated for students being sued by the RIAA for alleged illegal downloading of music. Currently Laura is a legal editor for LexisNexis and contracts manager for Urban Darling, LLC.
Linh Lanh, Managing Director, New York & Director of Analytics
Linh was inspired to join Girls in Tech by the vision to focus on Women’s Innovative and entrepreneurial achievements in technology. As Director of Analytics, Linh provides web insights to facilitate a powerful network of tech-savy and entrepreneurial individuals. Linh blogs at linhlanh.com and works in the search marketing space with a specialization in e-commerce. She enjoys exchanging new ideas and meeting like-minded people. Linh was born in Vietnam, currently working and living in New York.
Candace Sweigart, Managing Director, Boise
Candace is a Technical Solution Architect for Wirestone, an independent marketing solutions company uniquely ranked on two Advertising Top 50 lists – as both an integrated marketing services agency and an interactive agency. Candace architects software solutions for Fortune 500 companies to accomplish Channel Enablement, Customer Acquisition and Retention, Custom Marketing Applications, and Event Marketing initiatives. Candace brings a unique blend of strong technical leadership and web application aptitude with an ability to communicate with technical and non-technical client contacts at a high level.
Patricia Dao, Managing Director, Los Angeles
Patricia Dao is the Co-founder of VoxBloc.com, a social loyalty and rewards platform that gives businesses a simple way to launch powerful and effective social reward programs to keep their online customers engaged across the social graph. Patricia is a lover of all things digital and formally held business development positions at start-ups such as Flux.com (acquired by Viacom) and Mozes Mobile. Patricia works and lives in Downtown Los Angeles and loves Kid Robot toys. Follow her on Twitter at @pattydao and her company VoxBloc at @voxbloc
Edna De Castro, Managing Director, Dubai
Edna was born and raised in Manila, Philippines with the degree of B.S. Computer Engineering. She has worked in multi-national Technology and Telecom sector including world’s second largest independent software company based in Manila but nearly a year ago, equipped with a vision and loads of dedication she decided to move in Dubai. She is currently working with bit Time International FZE (www.bittime.ae) with a hub in Dubai Silicon Oasis and main headquarters in Rome, Italy and a branch in Milan, bit Time is a dynamic IT company that provides custom software development, open-source integration, mobile apps consultancy and offers a wide range of training courses. Her recent position is to lead, formulate, evaluate, and execute strategy for achieving business growth. Edna is a product of her experiences as an MD for Girls in tech-Dubai with a strong business acumen she takes pride and will keep an effort to deliver high quality services which will contribute to establish Girls in Tech-Dubai as a definitive resource for all business ideas involving Technology, Self-improvement, and Women’s Empowerment .Edna loves to network and exchange ideas to business like minded, career oriented professional people feel free to contact her at edna@girlsintech.net
Zeynep Baktir, Managing Director, Turkey
Zeynep Baktır is the founder of Quatro, an out-of-the box digital agency.Since 2003, she has been actively involved in e-business marketing and social media practices; and cannot wait to see how marketing will evolve as reality gets augmented with everdeveloping digital tools. Zeynep has a diverse set of professional experience in various industries such as management consulting, electronics retail, construction, finance and telecom. She holds an MBA from The University of Texas, Dallas and B.Sc from Bilkent University. She completed an independent study in e-business marketing at the University of Hartford. Zeynep is a member of Toastmasters International and American Marketing Association. She travels, paints and sings in a local choir in her spare time.
Jenny Bai, Managing Director, China & Japan
Jenny is Founder of DoubleMarket Group, a company that is developing a new generation of import/export in the technology, investment and media spaces in China and the U.S. She is also a consultant for companies in Beijing, Shanghai and New York, specializing in product development, UX/UI, social media and the Chinese market. Previously, Jenny founded Girl 2.0 Global Campaign and served as Director of Marketing at the Great Gourmet, as well as Editor-in-Chief of Hanyushijie, a Chinese business and culture magazine published by The Commercial Press, China’s oldest publishing house. She has also been a Board member of the American Chamber of Commerce, Greater Tianjin Branch, as well as Tang Jin Real Estate Group in Tianjin, China. Jenny holds a BA in Communications and Philosophy from Vanderbilt University.
Rosalina Ratih, Managing Director, Singapore
Rosalina Ratih’s introduction to Girls in Tech was in January 2011 when she was serving as an advisor for the Indonesia chapter. She co-planned and promoted a Social Media Day event in Jakarta, Indonesia. Rosalina’s role as Advisor of Girls in Tech Indonesia was to assist and encourage young women to pursue careers in technology. Rosalina has an extreme passion for the technology and straight out of college was able to help introduce new platforms and applications to the banking industry – numerous businesses and corporations through her consultancy, Engaged Media. Having 7+ years work experience in the banking industry, she was responsible for project governance, which included methodology, project and resource data management tools, project community skills assessment and training, managing relationships with vendors who provide project delivery capability tools and services, and IT Financial controlling. Her international work experiences in Dubai, Jakarta and Singapore has added value for one of Girls in Tech’s core tenets – diversity. Currently she works for one of strongest banks in Asia “OCBC” as Assistant Vice President in Technology Solution department.
Michal Minitzer, Managing Director, Israel
Michal has worked on all sides of the high tech industry. Recent positions include leading the VCAG group at Ernst & Young in Israel and Director of Marketing at Kryon Systems, a young start-up company. Her most recent position was Dealflow Manager and Analyst at Sequoia Capital. Michal holds a BSc in Biology from TAU and an MBA from the Technion.
Desiree Michael, Managing Director, Greece
Desiree Michael spends most of her time coaching students in how to profit from their tech skills. She often matches students with area entrepreneurs to create phone apps, do web projects and finds mentors in the world of technology whom they may emulate. When Desiree is not match-making, she is writing comparative commentaries or enjoying the pebble beach shores of Greece.
Anantya Van Bronckhorst, Managing Director, Indonesia
Anantya has worked in the technology industry since 2002. She recently launched a digital agency, [Think.Web], which caters to global brands as well as local Indonesian brands, such as wooz.in, a RFID/NFC based social media extension. She graduated with a MA degree in communications.
Neha Khera, Managing Director, Toronto
Neha Khera holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business. She has had extensive experience working in technology firms, from software through to telecommunications. While working for Scotiabank’s Business Innovations group, Neha conceptualized and introduced innovative technology-based banking solutions that gave the Bank a competitive edge. Currently, Neha works at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, Canada. She helps tech startups better understand their industries, competitors and customers in order to gain a foothold in the market. Neha is also on the advisory board of askthedoctor.com, a free medical-advice website. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, yoga and her latest adventure of dragon boating.
Lucia Mariani-Vena, Managing Director, Toronto
Drawing from 11 years new media experience in the education and health sectors, Lucia is a principal at Feast Interactive Inc and Managing Director at Girls in Tech Toronto. With a Masters Degree in Information Studies from the University of Toronto, Lucia has both the educational background and hands-on experience developing user engagement strategies, information design, content strategy, lead–generation tactics, and has lead website re-development initiatives for University of Toronto. She passionate about leading and connecting with the women in the Toronto tech community, and is interested in culture analysis, content creation and social media.
Ioana Anescu, Managing Director, Romania
I’m a 100% active, enthusiast and optimist online & communication passionate! For 2 years I’ve been involved as Executive Officer in the development of IAB Romania – the association of digital marketing industry in Romania and also designing or coordinating other marketing, communication or entrepreneurial projects and events: Picant Events, Online Business Forum – 2 years, How To Web 2010, How To Web 2011, Arena Ursilor 2011 (last 3 events dedicated to entrepreneurial communities, initiatives and startup support). I have been involved in starting a positive news website: www.stiridebine.ro and coordinating the community of Romanian skiers and boarders – www.hailaschi.ro . Recently, I have developed my own (still) pet-project www.abe-events.com (a calendar and info-site of all must attend events all over the world). I wish to develop and find more ways to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit in Romania and therefore creating communities for knowledge and experience sharing within the local and international business environment. My free time is dedicated to friends, photography, snowboarding and travelling. I do believe that life and work should both be enjoyed with passion and enthusiasm! Want to keep in touch – find me on Twitter (@ianescu_abe) and Linked In (http://www.linkedin.com/in/ioanaabeanescu).
Jacqueline Urick, Managing Director, Minneapolis / St. Paul
Jacqueline Urick is an energetic combination of knowledge, passion and drive: Knowledge from years of technical and business experience, including playing, studying and designing games; passion to increase the power of people, especially women in technology; and the drive to build a business that far exceeds customer expectations. As Co-founder and CEO of SieEnt, a woman-focused game development company, she incorporates state-of-the-art gaming technology, an acute business sense, and a drive to build games that enable players to reach their full potential in real life.
Melissa Thomas, Managing Director
As an art director, designer, and illustrator, Melissa Thomas has devoted her career to visually communicating science through print, film, and digital media. She picked up most of her tricks in her 5 years as a freelance art director at Scientific American magazine. She received her B.A. in Molecular & Cell Biology, with an emphasis in Neurobiology (and minored in Art, for good measure) at UC Berkeley. She then went on to study Science Illustration at UC Santa Cruz’s graduate program to fully develop her artistic abilities and ultimate focus on visual science communication. At Girls in Tech, she hopes to encourage other women to embrace technology as they advance their careers and contribute to the greater community.
Tommy Michelle Jenkins, Advisor
Tommy is focused on enabling each person to be free to pursue her dreams and in turn to have the opportunity to inspire others. To help realize this universal need, she is thrilled to be working with the intelligent leadership and cutting-edge ideas within the Girls in Tech network. Tommy works with the GIT founder and its leaders to communicate and to realize all our strengths through enabling, empowering and engaging in innovative programs, communities and networks. A New York City native, Tommy is inspired by the strength and passion of GIT leaders all over the world. Tommy enjoys supporting innovation that progresses industry and community. She is passionate about the sweet spot between community and social good. With a B.S. education in computer science and visual design, she has further explored the classical liberal arts, marketing, medical and analytical research and writing, and political strategy. She focuses on business and investment.
