Girls in Tech, an organization focused on the empowerment, engagement and education of women in technology, announces the launch of a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.

Girls in Tech’s goal of raising $25,000 over a 60-day period will assist in launching and expanding programs such GIT360, an integrated entrepreneurial bootcamp for women, The Catalyst Conference, a two-day conference showcasing the women leaders in tech who are delivering keynotes on best practices, leadership skills as well as business concepts, AMPLIFY, a business pitch competition for women and GIT M, Girls in Tech’s mentorship program providing interactive workshops revolving around technology and science for girls K-12.

The Indiegogo crowdfunding platform enables Girls in Tech supporters, evangelists and philanthropists to contribute funds via PayPal or credit card. While collecting contributions is the primary priority in launching a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, Girls in Tech hopes to leverage the campaign to promote its international expansion, new initiatives and partnerships.

“Indiegogo is the optimal crowdfunding platform to assist with Girls in Tech’s global expansion and program development goals,” said Adriana Gascoigne, CEO and Founder of Girls in Tech. “The platform enables us to engage on a deeper level with our loyal supporters and advocates and activate a call-to-action to the general public passionate about promoting the equality of women in technology industry and bridging the technological divide in underdeveloped regions around.”

Launched in 2007, Girls in Tech has organically grown to over 35 active chapters around the world, spanning across six continents including North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In an effort to refine and expand technical programming revolving computer science, development and design as well as offer resources and mentorship to women and girls around the globe, Girls in Tech is calling on friends, family and the general public to get involved in the “Girls in Tech Movement” by investing in a cause that will make an impact on our current and next generation of innovators around the world.

“We have some incredible goals for the coming year, including the expansion into areas where this type of organization can have a real impact. We’ve begun expansion into Latin America as well as Africa, which follows on our most recent Chapter launches in the Middle East. The response we’ve received thus far has been immensely positive, and we’re all very excited about continuing to have that level of influence in new geographies,” said Kate Brodock, President of Girls in Tech.

Tags: Adriana Gascoigne, Crowdfunding, entrepreneurship, girls in tech, IndieGoGo, Kate Brodock, women in tech
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Girls in Tech(GIT) and Girls in Tech Portland chapter(GITPDX) partners up with InnoTech Oregon this year.

Come join us as we are leading a thought provoking candid conversation at 10:30am on May 2nd, 2013 at the Oregon Convention Center

(GIT members receive 20% discount by using disc code: TECH2GRP for 20% off)

Topic: YOU are the Next Generation Leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

Moderator: Ivo Lukas, Chief Innovation Officer & Exec Director of Mentorship of Girls in Tech 

The recent article notes the next generation’s leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Within the next five years, STEM jobs are projected to grow twice as quickly as jobs in other fields according to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics. While all jobs are expected to grow by 10.4 percent, STEM jobs are expected to increase by 21.4 percent. Similarly, 80 percent of jobs in the next decade will require technical skills.
But we have a shortage on the number women graduating with the STEM major. Where are the discrepancies? How do we expose STEM educations to more girls at a very young age? How do we incentivized established leaders to become mentors?

We will dive deeper in a thorough candid discussion by leaders across diversed background, expertise and career aspirations in helping to shape the future. Whether you are GEN M/ GEN X/ GEN Y and the established leaders then you ought to come to this panel discussion to gain new perspective.

Benefits/takeaways:

-How mentorship programs will help your career aspirations

-Benefits and jobs creation for sustaining the future

-Bridging the gap: in the education systems, gen X/Y/millennial leadership style

-Pros and cons on leading the STEM/Technology leaders

-Is Networking really works for good?

-Career Pathing: learn how to make the jump right now

-Past, present and future technology and/or certifications to stay current

Register here  (GIT members receive 20% discount by using disc code: TECH2GRP for 20% off)

Check out GITPDX Group

For more Info contact: ivo.lukas@hotmail.com or tweet @MsSonicFlare

Tags: innotech, irina frumkin, Ivo Lukas, Lakecia gunter, mitzi montoya, oregon, pdx, STEM, technology
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Tags: american express, AMEX, entrepreneurships, Ivo Lukas, women businesses, women executive, women led business
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Original article found in NerdWallet

Happy women’s history month!  Although women now make up a majority of those enrolled in college, women are still underrepresented in some fields, including business and entrepreneurship.  Many successful businesswomen shared their thoughts in our recent compilation of tips from small businesswomen, and they cited a lack of female mentorship and networking opportunities for women as barriers.  Although female entrepreneurs are less common than male entrepreneurs, there are plenty of innovative, inspiring women in the business industry.

NerdWallet examined which cities are the best for women entrepreneurs based on the following questions:

1. Is the city an entrepreneurial one?  We assessed the cities’ entrepreneurial climates by the number of businesses in the city per 100 residents.
2. Are there female entrepreneurs (for networking or mentorship)? We analyzed the percentage of businesses in the city that are women-owned to gauge the level of support women would be able to find as well as how friendly the city is to entrepreneurial women.
3. Does the city have a thriving economy?  We examined the median income and unemployment rate to determine which cities have an economy that is conducive to new businesses and which have strong economic fundamentals.  Cities that ranked higher have a high median income and low unemployment rate.
4. Is it a highly educated city? Education levels correlate with entrepreneurship, and a study found that 92% of tech founders hold a Bachelor’s degree. We assessed the presence of educated workers in the city by the percentage of residents over 25 years old with a Bachelor’s degree.

For more information on how cities vary, check out our Cost of Living Calculator and City Life tool.

1. San Francisco, CA

San Francisco is well-known for its entrepreneurial climate, particularly in the technology industry.  With nearby Silicon Valley and a whopping 13.7 businesses per 100 residents, the city has plenty of fellow entrepreneurs for networking and collaboration opportunities.  The Bay Area is also home to three of the nation’s most famous businesswomen, Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook), Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo) and Meg Whitman (CEO of Hewlett-Packard).

2. Seattle, WA

Seattle is one of the most highly educated cities and has a correspondingly high median income and low unemployment rate.  With 12.5 businesses per 100 residents, the city is highly entrepreneurial, and women own around 4 of those businesses.

Organizations like CHEW organize events and panels to encourage female entrepreneurs to open their businesses in Seattle.  Seattle is also home to one of the world’s most famous and civic-minded businesswomen, Melinda Gates, as well as rising chef and restaurant entrepreneur Renee Erickson.

3. Washington, DC

Over one-third of businesses in DC are owned by women, meaning that women in this city can find plenty of female coworkers and mentors.  The city provides plenty of resources to women as well, such as the Washington, DC Women’s Business Center.  The organization, partially funded by the SBA, offers trainings, classes and one-on-one consultations.

 4. Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis has the dual benefits of having a very low unemployment rate and an educated workforce.  Additionally, women own almost a third of businesses in Minneapolis.  Minnesotan businesswomen can meet each other and network at quarterly events at Women Entrepreneurs of Minnesota.  The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) of Minnesota is very active, providing networking and other events, and nearby twin-city Saint Paul-based WomenVenture offers loans and transitional career services.

 5. Portland, OR

This laid-back West Coast city has it all: plenty of businesses, a good share of which are owned by women, an educated general populace and a low unemployment rate.  Additionally, organizations like Women Entrepreneurs of Oregon hold plenty of events for women.  Intel is Oregon’s largest employer, and the company has six Oregon campuses as well as a female Executive Vice President, Renee James.

 6. Atlanta, GA

Atlanta has plenty of businesses, a third of which are run by women, and an educated population, making it a great city for female entrepreneurs.  Plus, businesswomen can meet at the various networking events and educational programs run by the NAWBO in Atlanta.  The Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection assists women in finding mentors, and the state provides plenty of trainings and networking assistance for women business owners.

 7. Austin, TX

Austin is known for its startups—there are almost 11 businesses for every 100 Austin residents.  Austin has a very low unemployment rate of only 6.2%, which is one reason we rated it as the number one city for job seekers.  With organizations like Austin Women in Technology, businesswomen in Austin will have little trouble finding a supportive and knowledgeable community.

 8. Raleigh, NC

Raleigh’s low unemployment rate and high number of businesses per person make it a great city for female entrepreneurs.  Entrepreneurs can check out organizations like Raleigh Business and Professional Women for resources.  In addition, the City of Raleigh has adopted a Small Disadvantaged Minority and Women Owned Business Program, promising to award 15% of the city’s contracts to minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

 9. Denver, CO

Denver is a highly educated city with plenty of businesses, 30% of which are owned by women.  The Mile High City also has resources for businesswomen through The Entrepreneur Center at the University of Denver, which provides mentorship and networking opportunities.  The city even hosts Denver Startup Week, a week of trainings, office hours, parties, mentorship and networking events. The week was so successful in 2012 that the city has announced a second year of the program.

 10. San Diego, CA

With an educated population, moderately high median income and entrepreneurial atmosphere, San Diego is a great city for women in business.   San Diego female entrepreneurs can access mentors, workshops, networking events and various small business tools through SCORE and the NAWBO.  There are also several startup incubators in the city that help foster entrepreneurs and their ideas, including EvoNexus and the newly launched cybersecurity incubator CyberHive.

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Guest blogger: Priyanka Sharma, Outright’s Product Marketing Manager

Women in technology are slowly but surely turning heads – by their performance.  Who doesn’t want Marissa Mayer or Sheryl Sandberg on their teams?  Naturally, most companies want to capitalize on girl power.  As they set about creating elaborate attraction and retention programs, its important to note that mentorship is what drives female retention.

As a non-technical female in technology, I had some pretty difficult times fitting in.  I was not one but two things different from most other high achievers here – I wasn’t a boy and I wasn’t a programmer.  I started my career at Google and found myself constantly envying the technical teams and how empowered they were.  My team had a healthy gender balance.  But the camaraderie experienced by the men on the team with each other and the management was something I witnessed but was not a part of.  As I searched for my next opportunity, I knew I wanted to try working for the ever-glorious startup.  But I also wanted to fit in.

Most places I spoke with had a healthy devotion to attracting females but the women in their organizations were mostly in support roles.  I wanted to be an integral player.  Then I chanced upon Outright.  Outright was a fantastic startup funded by the best in the industry.  But more than that, Outright had female leadership at its helm.  The CEO Steven Aldrich had done a fantastic job of hiring top-notch women.  Unlike most other interviews, here two of the four people I spoke with were female.  I had a long discussion with Laura Messerschmitt and Laurel Lee, heads of Marketing and Product respectively and at the end of it, I was sold.

I have been at Outright about six months now and it has been everything I hoped for.   The culture retains the edginess of startups with very serious ping-pong tournaments and hackathons but I don’t have to worry about my gender affecting me at work at all.  I am an integral force in the organization with the mentorship of Laura and that is what everyone here cares about.

Till I joined Outright, I considered myself a second-class citizen in the world of tech.  Now with the right guidance, I am a “growth hacker” who brings in the most important piece to the puzzle – the users.

Men and women alike need role models.  Women just have a harder time finding them in their vicinity in Silicon Valley.  If companies are to attract and retain talent, they should focus on hiring top female executives from different industries to build the ecosystem of women learning from women.  After all, we need to see it to believe it that we can have it all – just like our male counterparts

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Women comprise nearly 60 percent of college attendees, but only about 3 in 10 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degrees are awarded to women. Join ASU/CTI on February 28, 2013 for a day dedicated to changing the trends.

 Barbie Dolls & Hand Saws: Making a Future for Women in STEM 
A reception to support scholarships for women in STEM featuring Alice Brooks and Bettina Chen, co-founders of Roominate.

REGISTER HERE

Tickets: $10 (includes appetizers and one drink ticket)

Join CTI for a networking reception of likeminded change-agents committed to imagining and making a future for women in STEM fields. Projects from our daylong high school Make-a-thon will be on display, and brief remarks will be delivered by: 

• Mitzi Montoya, ASU Vice Provost and Dean of the College of Technology & Innovation 
• Alice Brooks and Bettina Chen, Co-Founders of Roominate
 • A select speaker from the ASU Emerge Conference

. A free public lecture featuring keynote speakers Alice and Bettina will precede the reception. The lecture will be held in Picacho Hall (Room 150) from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Join us and be a part of the solution to generate robust pipelines for women in STEM careers.

Register online to purchase your ticket. Complimentary parking will be available to event attendees in Lot 30.

Tags: ASU, CTI, engineerings, girls in tech, girls in tech mentorship, gitm, GITmentorship, Ivo Lukas, mathematics, Science, STEM, technology, women in stem
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WebVisions explores the future of web and mobile design, digital media, UX and technology with an all-star lineup of visionary speakers, including author and media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, Ethan and Malachai Nicolle (creators of AxeCop) Jason Kunesh (Director of UX, Obama for America), Carolyn Chandler (Manifest Digital), Rafa Soto (HerraizSoto Barcelona), and more!

Register for a three day conference pass and receive a free copy of Douglas Rushkoff’s “Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now” and Sara Wachter-Boettcher’s “Content Everywhere”.

“WebVisions is like the medium that spawned it: unique, personal, honest, emotional and eye-opening.”–Jeffrey Zeldman

WEBVISIONS NEW YORK

Feb. 27 – March 1, 2013

Theater for the New City

To receive the conference and workshops discounts, click the link “Enter promotional code” by the Order Now button and enter the code “GIRLSINTECH”. Register online here

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What would happen if you put some of the most innovative, ground-breaking thought leaders from the business world in a room with some of the most creative and influential social change agents of our time for one day?

The Intersection Event is a day-long event on innovation and its effect on the major social issues of our time, held at Google’s HQ this Saturday, January 19, 2013. A line-up of respected innovators will join social change agents to tackle several pressing issues that face us every day.

The goal of the event is to create intersections of attendees from a wide range of backgrounds who can collaborate to uncover innovations with an impact on social change that are beneficial to themselves, their companies and the global community.

This year’s event will also include the first annual Gratitude Awards, which will award a total of $30,000 to three education-focused social enterprise organizations. The inaugural Gratitude Awards will honor non-profits or social entrepreneurs with high potential to move the needle on global social issues through innovations on education.

Speakers include:

• Barry Zito, All-Star & CY Young Recipient Pitcher, San Francisco Giants
• Bill Draper, Managing Partner, Draper Richards
• Evan Williams, Co-Founder of Twitter  and CEO of The Obvious Corporation
• Lorraine Twohill, Vice President Global Marketing, Google
• Sheryl WuDunn, Author, Half the Sky and Senior Managing Director, Mid-Market Securities
• Reid Hoffman, Executive Chairman of LinkedIn and Partner, Greylock Capital
• Nathan Myhrvold, Former CTO of Microsoft and Founder of Intellectual Ventures
• Peter Goldmark, Chairman, Ashoka Changemakers Global Council
• Helene D. Gayle, President and CEO of CARE USA
• Eric Nadelstern, Former Deputy Chancellor of NY City Public School System
• Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson
• Jason Yotopoulos, Executive Vice President Global Research and Business Incubation at SAP
• Frans Johansson, Author, The Medici Effect and The Click Moment
• Marla Olmstead, Artist
• Guru Singh, Teacher, Minister, 3rd Generation Yogi
• Randy Haykin, Chairman, Haykin Capital and The Gratitude Network
• Dr. Chris Pitt, President/CEO, VivaGlobal and Managing Director, Gratitude Global

Proceeds from The Intersection Event are donated to its non-profit 501(c)3 host,The Gratitude Fund , a non-profit social venture fund seeking to empower gifted social entrepreneurs who are embracing innovative products, business models and leadership practices in order to address and defeat social challenges. A selection of social ventures will be “crowd-funded” through The Intersection Event series.

For more information.

Tags: Google, Intersection Event
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As our tech usage shifts dramatically from desktop to mobile, our world of always-connected devices is merging the worlds of business, technology, and design like never before.  In particular, the push of mobile has brought together traditional business leaders and technologists with new-thinking artists and designers who aim to please a much wider audience for technology than ever before. Led by Apple as the industry bar, mobile experiences have to be fast, simple, usable, and loved by the mainstream.

Women, in particular, have become a significant audience and driver of the mobile movement. Connected women are the primary consumers of media and social applications and are the primary audience behind some of the most recent consumer and e-commerce internet successes. They talk and text more than men, 28% and 14% respectively.. Additionally 97% of moms have shopped from their tablets or smartphones and over 51% of them own at least one iOS device in their homes. Melissa Lavigne-Delville, VP of trends and insights at NBC Universal, states that “In Web 3.0, women are poised (to be key) in the humanizing of technology. Streaming, intuitive, collaborative and connected (media) are all very suited to women”.

For women working in mobile or interested in learning more about mobile opportunities, Renaissance is a gathering of the top designers and developers of mobile apps in the Bay Area and is featuring several prominent women innovators:

Brenda Chapman

Director, LucasFilm and Dreamworks

Brenda is the creator and co-director of Pixar’s Brave. She began her career as an animator, and as the director of The Prince of Egypt, Brenda was the first female director of a major animated feature. She was also the first female director at Pixar and brought a new and missing perspective to screens in Brave. Brenda is currently writing and consulting at LucasFilm on an unannounced new project.

Katelyn Gleason

CEO &Co-Founder of Eligible API

Katelyn is the CEO and Co-Founder of Eligible API, a startup that aims to change the future of healthcare information. With a background in healthcare and product development, Katelyn Gleason spends her time at Eligible building connections to various health information sources across the country. She’s also responsible for hiring talented engineers and designers that are interested in re-wiring the US Health Information Network.

Kat Gordon

Mom Marketing Expert and Creative Director of the 3% Conference

Kat is the creator of The 3% Conference, a first-ever event highlighting the business importance of female creative directors. Kat spearheaded this effort as a passion project and quickly realized she struck a nerve: the event sold out in advance of its 9/27/2012 date and drew 200 attendees from dozens of top agencies from all over the country. Kat’s 20-year advertising career spans both coasts: in New York and San Francisco where she worked at Hal Riney, Anderson Lembke, Sports Illustrated, Cosmopolitan and USA TODAY. She has peddled products for every industry: credit cards, wine, cars, jewelry, hotels, software, phone service — and even picked up a Clio and a few ADDYs along the way. Today she runs her own agency, Maternal Instinct, that specializes in connecting brands to the most profitable consumers in the world: mothers. Her agency’s signature product – the MBA Program (Mom Brand Audit) gives companies a roadmap to up the mom-friendliness of their offerings. Kat writes a blog and speaks nationally on the topic of marketing to women, addressing groups at The Haas School of Business, Techweek, the 140 Conference, the Mom 2.0 Summit and many others.

Mar Hershenson

CEO and Founder of Revel Touch

Mar Hershenson is the CEO and Founder of Revel Touch, a Palo Alto company that is creating apps for the retail industry. Previously she was the CEO and Cofounder of Sabio Labs, a design technology company that was purchased by Magma Design Automation in 2007. Mar has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Lan Lin

iOS App Local Marketing Expert

A noted pioneer and leader in app local marketing, Lan Lin brings her years of experience to iPhoneLocalizer.com. She has extensive experience working with developers and bringing their apps to Asia and beyond. Lan and her team led promotions of the apps: “Cut the buttons”, “ProCamera”, “WeddingHappy”, and many others. We asked Lan to introduce us to the Asian app markets and to share some secrets for iOS app success in China and Japan.

Anne Halsall

Product Designer at Quora

Anne Halsall is a Product Designer at Quora with responsibilities that include Quora’s mobile apps. Previously she was User Experience Lead at Inkling, a startup creating interactive textbooks for iPad. Anne has also consulted independently and worked as a webmaster at Google, where she was responsible for web sites for many of Google’s consumer-facing products, including iGoogle, Chrome, and Desktop. Anne has also worked as a design consultant at Lymba Corp and has been responsible for web development at The University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

….and many more!

Use discount code ‘girlsintech‘ for 15% off your event registration with a special discount for Girls in Tech readers.

Renaissance: The App Makers Conference

Mission Bay Conference Center, San Francisco, CA

January 21st – 23rd, 2013

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On December 5^th, 2012 washington post hosted Leading the Way :Women in 2012 conversation via livestreams. Women of high profiled forum highlighted a few controversial topics from politics to arts. We hear about their success, challenges, lessons learned and what keeps them going.

#Womenin2012 is the twitter hashtag if you would like to follow the conversation

Check out their personal story, advice and motivation driven to get to where they are today

Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, says women have to help women out in order to break through the glass ceiling. Watch Video

Marne Levine, VP of Global Public Policy, Facebook, describes her career path – including working at the White House and for Larry Summers. Watch video

Susan Lyne, CEO and Chairman of Gilt Groupe, explains how she made career decisions, saying, “If I could be where change was happening, I would be a happier more challenged person.” Watch Video

Michell Kwan, Olympian figure skater, discusses the discipline and dedication she had when training for the olympics as a teenager. Watch Video

Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano opera singer, recalls the first time she heard opera music, when she was in high school, and thought “I don’t know what this is, but I would love somehow to be part of this.” Watch Video

Watch more videos of Women in 2012 here

Follow me @MsSonicFlare

Tags: ann de parle, girls in tech, GIT Mentorship, gitm, hilda solis, Ivo Lukas, marne levine, mentorship, michelle kwan, susan lyne, washington post, women executives, women in power, womenin2012
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