I spent last weekend at the International Women’s Hackathon in Washington DC. I met some cool girls there who were hacking and making, saw some amazing science, and had a blast!
One of the problems the event is trying to solve is a commonly discussed one: how to get more women involved in development and other STEM fields. Last week another evangelist, David Crook from IndieDevSpot, asked me about some of the women-only groups and resources I know of, so that he can share them with curious women who want to learn development or try hackathons in a supportive environment.
Rane Johnson from Microsoft Research is working on a more comprehensive resources page by region that I will link as soon as it is completed. She also has an official Microsoft-sponsored page here with resources and links that should be a great place to start.
As for me, these are some of the woman-focused groups I’ve worked with or am aware of. There are certainly more (feel free to add in the comments) but these are the ones I know of. Maybe you have an organization in your area!
- Girl Develop It – International – I am in Philadelphia
- Geek Girl Dinners – International – Here’s Philadelphia
- LadyHacks – Philadelphia
- Tech Girlz – Philadelphia-based, but you can run a workshop anywhere!
- International Women’s Hackathon – International – Hack with us next year!
- Rails Girls – International
- PyLadies – International
- Dames Making Games – Toronto
- Code Liberation Foundation – New York
- Ladies Learning Code – Canada
- girlSTEM conference – Upcoming at Delaware Valley College! (I’ll be there!)
Please add anything else I missed in the comments and I can update this list! I know there are tons out there and many regional ones.
Leave a Reply