An Open Letter to the Ela Conf Community
Dear Ela Community Members,
With Ela Conf 2017 taking place this past weekend we feel it’s a crucial moment for us to say a few words reiterating on who we created this space for.
We, the organizers (Joni Trythall, LeeAnn Kinney, Katy DeCorah, Arti, Shanise Barona) want to first and foremost thank you all wholeheartedly for another incredible event. Our community has grown in ways we could have never predicted when we first created this conference, and we’re so grateful for each and every one of you that show up to support and guide each other through our journeys in the tech world.
The Ela Conf mission:
A safe, inclusive tech leadership conference and community for adult (18+) women (cis and trans), trans men, and genderqueer people to connect with and empower one another.
We established Ela for the express purpose of empowering these marginalized groups to become leaders in the workplace and feel genuinely part of a network that supports and truly understands them, creating far reaching benefits:
Leadership skills are crucial to making an impact in the field and creating diversity in the workplace. Companies with greater top-level gender diversity perform better financially, are more empathetic, and more innovative. When marginalized individuals become leaders, the entire tech community benefits.
As a leadership team, our core operating philosophy is that we approach the creation of Ela Conf from a positive space — one where when we lift up each other as organizers, learning and growing together. In doing so we can then lead by example and hopefully see the same support and empowerment happen throughout the community. And we’re so thrilled to say that it absolutely has. Over the three years that Ela Conf has existed we’ve seen members grow in their careers, get the courage to ask for a raise, create their own companies, start blogs and podcasts, and become stronger, more engaged people.
When a stone is thrown into a still pond, the first point of contact becomes a ripple from which other waves are generated. We’ve seen that the foundation of Ela has created a ripple-effect of positivity, support, and encouragement.
This special space has become a source of the energy and strength necessary to recharge and go out into the workplace and push for change. Ela was not created as a way to teach adjacent groups, allies, or even people that need to become our allies, on diversity and inclusion. While this is important and valuable work it is not part of Ela’s mission. We believe that it is absolutely imperative that we keep this space as we originally intended, supporting one another to go out into the world and take action, tackling these issues we face through strong leadership and self-care.
So, to repeat, our mission has and always will be to create a community where women (cis and trans), trans men, and genderqueer people can connect with and empower one another. It is completely possible to find yourself disagreeing with Ela’s mission but also respect the boundaries set and valued by so many here. If this is the case, however, perhaps it’s best to depart and work towards a solution that you feel will better achieve equality for all people in tech.
Ela is a labor of love for us — we do this without pay, while taking time away from our families and lives in order to create this space that we hope will continue to be valued amongst our community.
To our community members: each and every one of you are valued, you are seen, and this is your space. Thank you for growing with us, supporting us, being vulnerable with us, and sharing your stories.
Cheers to an incredible Ela Conf 2017 and we will see you around Slack 🤗
