Women 2.0: Or, Where to Find the #WomenInTech

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women 2.0

I have to admit, after this post, I feel a little like a hypocrite writing about the Women 2.0 conference. But, honestly, y’all–THIS is what access and mentorship for women really looks like.

Now, before I get into this, I don’t know the women over at Women 2.0, and I will not be able to attend the conference. This post is based 100% on me flipping through their website and being overwhelmingly impressed with the women they have involved and the things those women are doing at their day jobs.

Got it? Good.

The conference is being held in San Francisco, Feb 13-14. (Yup, Valentine’s Day.)

“Don’t look now, but tech is all grown up,” the website says. “The scrappy, young industry which began in hoodies and mom’s garage, is now re-engineering the American education system for the 21st century, commercializing manned spaceflight and hobnobbing with the President. These are big kid dreams, and they come with big challenges. Are you prepared for the era of BIG Tech?”

And, you know who’s engineering that tech, at least at the Women 2.0 conference? Women!

To be exact:

  • Gwynne Shotwell, President & COO, SpaceX
  • Sarah Friar, CFT & Operations Lead, Square
  • Daphne Koller, Cofounder, Coursera
  • Julia Hartz, Cofounder & President, Eventbrite

And many, many more.

There’s also a PITCH competition. (Oh, we’ve heard about the PITCH competition, right, Dave McClure?)

For the PITCH competition, female led startups from around the country applied to present at the conference. 10 were chosen and are being revealed slowly over at Women 2.0. During the conference, the 10 startups will pitch to the judges panel and, trying to win prizes.

They also have a mentor network packed with successful men and women on hand to help entrepreneurs.

The lineup for the Women 2.0 conference is impressive, no doubt. But I’m not trying to argue that it proves we have plenty of women in tech. Of course we don’t.

What’s great about this conference, though, is that the women behind it are actually bringing together successful women and aspiring female entrepreneurs. There’s no whining about how there aren’t enough women in tech. With this conference, Women 2.0 is attempting (and by the looks of it, doing a great job!) to actually change the momentum.

And, honestly, that’s what is great about being a woman in tech right now. Are all of the issues solved? No, of course not. But there are hundreds of  women AND men attempting to a part of the solution.

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