Sweden’s Gender Equality Champions in Tech, Part 2
Welcome to the second edition of the Gender Equality in Tech Blog! We’ve received so many nominations from #GETBlog readers, and our list of Sweden’s Gender Equality Champions in Tech has grown and grown. We’ve also received a ton of positive feedback, and we’re very glad that this blog has resonated with our readers. It feels like the beginning of a fantastic community!
I’d also like to introduce Serge Lachapelle, who is co-creating this blog with me. He’s been supporting gender equality in tech from behind the scenes for years now in Stockholm on behalf of Google. He’s helped Google co-sponsor Women in Tech and has helped host other events such as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. He also came up with the idea for this blog. He and I are going to be brainstorming ideas together for great topics for this blog. I’m writing, and he’s editing. We’re excited, not only because we make a great team, but also because we think that it’s important to have gender balance on the team that’s writing this blog. (Not to say that female-centered approaches do not have their place in gender equality work, as many of the highly successful initiatives below show. More on that next week).
Great things are coming! Don’t forget to let us know if you have any questions, ideas or suggestions that you’d like us to discuss on the blog. We’ve enabled comments on the upper right hand of the blog, we’re on Twitter using the hashtag #GETBlog, and you can always email me at alice@equalityinc.org.
Speaking of great things, I am blown away by the amount of fantastic initiatives for gender equality in tech in Sweden right now. The below list was only going to be around 10, but after all the nominations from #GETBlog readers, it’s expanded to 20! That means that we’re nominating 30 total champions of gender equality in tech in Sweden. Please keep in mind that this list is in no particular order — we couldn’t bear the thought of ranking these amazing initiatives against each other. This isn’t a competition — it’s a celebration of all of our very hard work for equality in tech. Congratulations to all our Champions!
11. Vibeke Tengroth, Vanja Tufvesson, Tone Pedersen, Founders of Pink Programming
Pink Programming was founded by developers Vibeke, Vanja and Tone, who wanted more female colleagues. They encourage and support women who are interested in programming by hosting camps and meetups that focus on hands-on coding and inspirational talks from women currently working in the industry. So far, they’ve been coding with 250 women. The first event, held in Ystad, spanned 4 days in August 2015. Participants went through the basics of Java programming, combined with social activities and outings. The next event is in Malmö in February — check the Facebook page for dates. Women of all ages are welcome, no prerequisites are required.
12. Therese Sinter, Chair of the Board, and all Board members, WinIT
WinIT is an initiative started by Sogeti, but which all women currently working in tech in Sweden can join for free. WinIT is the biggest network in Sweden for women working in tech, with over 3500 members in 14 cities in Sweden. I gave a lecture with a colleague at one of the WinITs in Northern Sweden several years ago and it was fantastic to see so many powerful women in tech in one room. There are two events coming up at the beginning of February, one in Luleå and one in Gävle.
13. TjejHack
TjejHack is an initiative that is for girls of all ages who love gaming. They arrange clubs, workshops and gaming jams for girls and women in different age groups, create networks, and participate in different organizations promoting equality in gaming. Their volunteers are all women who love gaming, many of whom work with tech, gaming and IT, or study tech-related programs. TjejHack has an event coming up from January 29–31, called Global Game Jam. No experience required and there’s no age limit. Best of all, the event is free due to DICE’s sponsorship!
14. Malvina KTH
Malvina KTH is the women’s network at Sweden’s Royal Insitute of Technology. It has over 1000 members, and is a network of both alumni and current students. Malvina organizes student-run activities like lunches, lectures (like one I gave there) and workshops, many of which help students get in touch with companies. Many Malvina members are already holding leadership roles in tech and gaming companies in Sweden. Malvina also helps organize the Royal Institute of Technology’s Gender Equality Week, featured below.
15. VOSTOK and The Code Pub, Netlight
VOSTOK, inspired by the first woman in space, is the name under which all of Netlight’s gender equality work falls (including TechEq from post #1). The Code Pub (TCP), started in 2013, is a meet-up for women who want to learn about IT and coding. During every session, beginners and experienced coders test a new technique in a fun, easy to follow way. The group currently has 789 hackers in Stockholm, but the network includes over 1400 members in four countries. They hosted monthly meetups throughout the fall, and will continue doing so in 2016. Full disclosure — I’ve held a lecture at Netlight.
16. The 50/50 Club
The 50/50 Club is a network for women in the IT and Telecom industries. (Linkedin link here). Their goal is to achieve 50% women and 50% men in all positions in IT and Telecom. They hold events to network and increase the recruitment of women in IT overall, in management positions, and on boards. Their goal is also to discourage exclusive, and promote inclusive, company cultures. Finally, they also want to increase knowledge about gender equality in the industry.
17. PyLadies Stockholm Meetup Group
PyLadies is an international mentorship group with a focus on helping more women become active participants and leaders in the Python open-source community. The organization promotes, educates and advances a diverse Python community through outreach, education, conferences, events, and social gatherings. PyLadies Stockholm was founded in 2013, has over 300 members, and has so far had 25 meetups. Their most recent meetup was a Halloween Hackathon in October 2015.
18. Edit Wallin, Founder, the Board of Pepp, and key contributors: Liva Lager, Donna Hanafi, Mariah Strengnell, Isabella Arningsmark, Katarina Larsson, Emma Olofsson
Pepp, which has the most nominations of any initiative on this blog, is a mentor program for girls in high school who are curious about the tech world or would like to learn more about engineering studies. The mentee is paired with a female mentor from either KTH, Chalmer’s or Umeå University (more universities will be added). The mentee can come from any background and doesn’t have to have any prerequisites. The program runs for one year and includes meetups with inspirational speakers and an introduction to a broad network of students and companies. Since its start in 2013, Pepp has engaged over 200 people in Stockholm and Gothenburg. In 2016, Pepp will expand to Umeå as well.
19. Tjejer Kodar (“Girls Code”)
Tjejer kodar was founded six months ago in Stockholm. To feel less handicapped at work, the founders wanted to teach themselves how to code. They had a vague idea of leaving town to focus, bringing a few friends and hiring a teacher to help. They posted the idea online and in less than 12 hours, more than a hundred people had signed up. Today, 40 people have been to their code camps, but several thousand have engaged in the initiative. They’re currently planning a one-week coding trip to Barcelona for 100 women.
20. Sofie Lindblom, Global Innovation Manager at Spotify and board member at Womengineer and Silicon Vikings
Sofie was awarded “IT girl of the year 2014” by Microsoft and gave the TEDx talk “IT girls are the new it girls” in 2015. In a previous role at Spotify, she co-hosted the event Diversify, a hackathon with the goal to be more inclusive and have 50% female attendees. The event was a success and has served as an inspiration for events across the globe. Sofie’s blog post about Diversify was the most read post on the Spotify Labs blog. After posting it, they had universities such as Brown and companies such as Facebook contacting them for advice for their events. Sofie has also been giving talks at high schools about why one should care about math courses and the opportunities you have if you do. She has made changing the stereotype of who is an engineer and what an engineer does her mission in life. Because she doesn’t want women to miss out on any more opportunities just because they think engineers are only middle aged white men in yellow helmets.
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