Events >

#417 How can we accelerate gender equity in Chicago’s tech ecosystem?



Presenters

Sam Letscher, Chicago Associate — GET Cities
Niharika Hanglem, Manager, Research & Partnerships — GET Cities
Casey Koppelson, Program Manager — GET Cities


Over the last decade, representation of women and marginalized genders in tech has remained largely unchanged. Women currently comprise only 26% of jobs in the computing workforce, and among those women, only 12% are Black or Latinx women. We’re working to change that. Gender Equality in Tech (GET) Chicago is an initiative to bring women, trans, non-binary technologists and their allies together to address gender inclusivity in tech as one active ecosystem.

This work is more important now than ever. Unemployment related to COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting women and people of color, particularly in Illinois, but the tech industry is one of few bright spots where we continue to see job growth.

The talk will focus on sharing our findings from researching the problem of gender equality in Chicago’s tech community as well as how we’re starting to build a more inclusive future. One of our first major initiatives will be The GET Fellowship for women, trans, and non-binary technologists in the first five years of their career. If you’re interested in becoming a fellow or a mentor, let us know at http://bit.ly/GETFellows.


ASL This event will not have an American Sign Language interpreter.