Women Who Code Network Launches in Vancouver
Diversity in Tech Non-Profit Establishes Local Group to Provide Engineering Community With Leadership Training and Educational Events
VANCOUVER - January 19th, 2017 — Women Who Code (WWCode), the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to supporting female engineers in their professional goals, announces the establishment of a local Network in Vancouver, BC. The inaugural event, taking place January 19th at the Microsoft Lodge, will consist of a conference with speakers discussing JS Robotic Frameworks, and the use of Data Science to address Climate Change. Over 70 people have currently signed up to attend.
Women Who Code Vancouver will be led by Directors Elgin McLaren, Reetu Mutti, Zoe Alexander, and Holly Peck who was recently interviewed by the Vancouver Tech Podcast about her involvement with WWCode. Holly described her motivation to help build this Network, “Women want participation in society and this means building the tools that govern it. I'm thrilled to launch a Women Who Code network in Vancouver to help women excel as technologists and builders.”
Network Director Zoe Alexander talked about the importance of this Network saying, Vancouver is full of talented and intelligent women engineers, data scientists, technologists, and creators who need to be recognised and championed. WWC Vancouver is a much needed platform for these women to continue to develop their skills, network, and build a strong community.
WWCode Vancouver, which already consists of over 250 members, will hold Hack Nights, Training Sessions, Networking Events, and Coding Workshops. Their current programming includes events planned out through the next four months.
WWCode Network Director Elgin McLaren said, “We've had a lot of demand for our events so far - this is clearly something that the community wants! I'm so excited to have the opportunity to bring people together to learn from and inspire one another. I got into tech because I met awesome women who encouraged me, I hope this network enables others to get this same type of support.”
Network Director Reetu Mutti talked about why she felt that launching a Women Who Code Network in her city was important, In 12 years of of being an software engineer, I have met so few senior women engineers, and even fewer who have children. Software engineering has always been a disproportionately male dominated industry, but the further I progress in my career, the worse the imbalance. The tech industry in general, and Vancouver specifically, needs organizations like Women Who Code to help address that imbalance, and to help shift the industry into a place where women lead and excel.
Joey Rosenberg, Women Who Code’s Global Leadership Director spoke about the launch, “Vancouver has been a phenomenal part of our first cohort, excelling at our new launch system, putting together a great team of Directors, and planning some really exciting events over the next few months. There’s already a buzz in the city about them and I can’t wait to see the amazing things that they’ll be able to do for the local community.”
Women Who Code is an international 501c3 that formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011. It has since grown to 80,000 members, with Networks located in 60 cities and 20 countries. They have been responsible for putting on 4,200+ free technical events, and have given away more than 1M in scholarships and conference tickets in the last year.
About Women Who Code
Women Who Code (WWCode) is an international nonprofit dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. WWCode is building a world where women are proportionally representative as technical leaders, executives, founders, VCs, board members and software engineers. The organization has executed more than 4,200 free events around the world, garnered a membership exceeding 80,000, and has a presence in 20 countries. Help empower even more women to advance in tech with the training and community they need to succeed by supporting WWCode. Learn more at womenwhocode.com.