Women Who Code Fundraiser and Awards Ceremony
Written by Laura Kirby
Alaina’s Announcement
During a Women Who Code (WWCode) San Francisco leads meeting Alaina announced that we would be having our very first “Women Who Code Fundraiser and Awards Ceremony.” The small conference room quickly filled with chatter as we impatiently waited for Alaina to tell us more.
Volunteers
In case you are unfamiliar with our organization, we are an international group of women who reach out to the community to give free technical trainings to women in, or interested in, technology and, most commonly, coding. There is no compensation and the support received comes predominately from workshop co-leads. San Francisco has the largest number of leads with roughly three women for each of the following: Ruby, Javascript, Python, Mobile Development, Algorithms and Interview Preparation, and Career Development.
In Anticipation
As the ceremony date drew near, we received small updates from Alaina, the venue was Zendesk, there would be a female DJ/coder, and a V.I.P. scotch tasting; however, the award winners were to remain a secret until the night of. The thought of attending the ceremony was especially exciting because we would be celebrating women who joined WWCode and achieved significant success within the tech industry. Additionally, we would be celebrating our role models and mentors. The ceremony presented an opportunity for the local WWCode members to spend time together and celebrate women in technology.
Sold-Out!
6:30 PM
The ceremony began and by 7:00 PM, the basement of Zendesk was buzzing with smiling faces and nerdy conversations about code. One of our honorary speakers, Shannon Burns, tweeted:
Tonight was about celebrating our community and we did just that.
At 7:30 PM, Chief of Staff of WWCode, Neal Brown, hushed the crowd to begin the night’s announcements.
Mikkel Svane followed with a commentary on his excitement and support for the organization. Alaina Percival, Chief Executive Officer of WWCode, followed thereafter and gave a short talk on all the accomplishments our organization has accomplished over the past year.
As the awards were given, I was amazed to hear each woman’s story and how she made it to where she is today. It was an inspiring night.
Collaborative Leadership
I was given the goose bumps as the recipients of the Collaborative Leadership Award gave their acceptance speech. This award is especially meaningful because the title and the work done by the recipients speak to the culture of WWCode and women in technology as a whole. Rachel and Emily who, in addition to their “day jobs” as software developers, work together to create technical presentations and been invited to speak at some of the most prestigious conferences worldwide.
It was an honor.
The celebration came to an end participants headed on their way feeling honored for having had the opportunity to attend the first “Women Who Code Fundraiser and Awards Ceremony.” The evening was a symbol of community, growth, recognition, and strength. I feel confident in saying, I was only one of many who attended the ceremony and went to sleep that night with a smile on my face.
