Day 9: A Strong Message To Women: Turn Your Ideas Into Startups

Photo: Startup Founder Pitching her startup during the Tech Inclusion NY Startup Showcase

100 Solutions to Diversity and Inclusion in tech.

Since the inaugural Tech Inclusion Conference in 2015 we have received and granted over 100+ scholarship applications to attendees. For each scholarship application we ask one simple question “What solutions would you like to see for diversity and inclusion in tech?” Below is a series leading up to the 2016 Tech Inclusion Conference of “100+ Solutions to Diversity and Inclusion in tech”. The Theme for Tech Inclusion 2016 Conference is Inclusive and Sustainable Innovation and will be held October 26th — 27th at the Innovation Hangar in San Francisco. Tech Inclusion Conference is presented by Google for Entrepreneurs. The conference will feature a career fair, a startup showcase and an tech innovation demo hall. Early Bird tickets are on sale now.

Solution: A Strong Message To Women: Turn Your Ideas Into Startups

I’d like to see more women encouraged to take their web app ideas and launch them into startups. Many smart women I know have built or conceived web apps as personal projects that have the potential to scale & receive funding, but it doesn’t seem like founding & funding are seen by women as an option. My male friends, however, are turning un-scalable ideas into successful businesses! Rather than go work for someone else to build their idea, women need to be encouraged to be founders. The conversation about women in tech needs to include a strong message to women that their ideas CAN be brought into the startup space.

I believe the lack of women VCs stems from the lack of female Founders. If we can get more female tech entrepreneurs, we will get more female VCs. If we get more female VCs, we will see more funding go to women-led startups. And, if we get more women leading startups, we will see the gender ratios in hiring change, as people intrinsically tend to hire and promote those who are similar to themselves.

Changing the ratio in all levels of tech will come from giving women the encouragement and support to launch their ideas into the startup scene.

I was encouraged to see that this conference includes many women with titles like “CEO, Founder, Co-Founder, and Director”. The more these titles become normative and prevalent, the more our younger generation of women will see founding & leading as options for their career and ideas.

Diversity and Inclusion In Tech Solution Submitted by Sarah

Interested in sponsoring?

This is a unique chance to meet diverse engineers, entrepreneurs, designers and more! Contact us for more information.

Interested in volunteering?

We need volunteers to help make this an amazing event. Sign up to be a volunteer on our community site: http://community.techinclusion.co/

Interested in a scholarship?

Apply for a scholarship on our community site: http://community.techinclusion.co/

About Change Catalyst:

Change Catalyst empowers diverse, inclusive and sustainable tech innovation — through education, community engagement and mentorship. Change Catalyst is a Certified B Corp, winning the “Best for the World”​ award for community impact in 2014 and “Best in the World”​ overall in 2015.

Tech Inclusion:

Our Tech Inclusion programs explore and develop innovative solutions to tech diversity and inclusion. We partner with the tech community to solve diversity and inclusion together through conferences, career fairs, strategic consulting and training. Our work spans the full tech ecosystem, including: Education, Workplace, Entrepreneurship and Policy.

RSVP For Tech Inclusion 2016 — http://sf16.techinclusion.co

The Change Catalyst Team

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