Diversity in Tech — the comprehensive list

You do not have to look too far and wide to find a post highlighting the diversity problem in technology, so I’m not here to quote you the scary stats or horror stories. Instead I am here to highlight the fantastic organisations that are doing stuff right now to help change things for the better.

Whilst there is great work going on, the diversity issue is a challenge for all of us in the tech sector to try and overcome together. I’d encourage you to think about how you can get involved to help make the tech sector a better place to work and live.

At the School of Code it is our aim to diversify technology — to get more and different types of people in to coding. We believe collaborative learning is a key tool in achieving this, by engaging learners through a social learning journey the experience is much more engaging and appealing to a wider audience (we are social beings after all!). We’ll go in to more details on the benefits of social learning in a later post.

The School of Code is keen to work with more of the inspiring organisations below. We already have a close relationship with the wonderful Stemettes (see what Head Stemette Anne-Marie has to say about the SoC on our Kickstarter page), but if anyone else is interested in the School of Code and has ideas on how we can collaborate then please e-mail us at hello@schoolofcode.co.uk.

So far we have partnered with Crisis to deliver a homeless coding class, and we are also excited to announce that we are teaming up with Code Your Future to provide our platform as a tool for helping teach refugees in London how to code. If you’re interested in helping us carry on delivering coding education alongside these great organisations then please back our Kickstarter and spread the word :)

Finally, a shout-out to the School of Code’s Digital Mum, Lucy Walker, you can check out her post about her experiences as a Digital Mum here.

If I have missed any groups or any details are incorrect then please leave a comment and I will update

Tech Diversity groups

• Achieving Diversity in Tech — A monthly meetup to discuss improving diversity in the technology industry
• Ada’s List — Ada’s List is a WOMEN-ONLY group consisting of women who, broadly speaking, work in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
• Anita Borg — Women in technology are at the heart of ABI’s mission. We are on a quest to accelerate the pace of global innovation by working to ensure that the creators of technology mirror the people and societies who use it.
• Black Girls Code — “Black Girls CODE is devoted to showing the world that black girls can code, and do so much more.”
• Black Women in Computing — Black Women in Computing (BWiC) is a community created to provide support and resources focused on increasing the number of black women and other underrepresented groups in computing related fields.
• CODE2040 — CODE2040 creates access, awareness, and opportunities for top Black and Latino/a engineering talent to ensure their leadership in the innovation economy.
• codebar.io — Our goal is to enable underrepresented groups to learn programming in a safe and collaborative environment and expand their career opportunities. To achieve this, we run free weekly workshops, regular events and try to create opportunities for our students making technology and coding more accessible.
• CodeDoc — Documentary about ‘debugging’ the gender gap
• Code First: Girls — Why aren’t there more women in tech and entrepreneurship? It’s a complex issue, but here at Code First: Girls we do believe one thing — tech shouldn’t just be a boys club.
• Code Liberation — The Code Liberation Foundation offers free development workshops in order to facilitate the creation of video game titles by women.
• code like a GIRL — Welcome to Code Like A Girl, a space that celebrates breaking down society’s perceptions of how women are viewed in technology.
• CodeChix — CodeChix is a non-profit organization dedicated to the Education, Advocacy and Mentoring, of women engineers in industry and academia. We aim to increase the number of women engineers in industry through our technical and mentoring/networking programs.
• Code Your Future — We are a non-profit organisation supporting refugees with the dream of becoming developers. In their journey of interrupted lives, unfinished studies and integration challenges, many asylum seekers and refugees yearn to update their tech skills, but lack learning opportunities. We want to change this.
• /dev/color — /dev/color is a non-profit organization on a mission to advance the careers of black software engineers. We are a community helping one another achieve ambitious career goals. This includes engineers working full time, as well as students and professionals who aspire to be engineers.
• Develop Her — We are a non-profit community dedicated to bringing women together to drive opportunities, develop confidence and create a network of support through events, networking and learning.
• Digital Mums — We turn mums into the best social media managers on the market
• DiverseGeeks — Diverse Geeks was set up as a DigiEnable project in the middle of 2014. DigiEnable founder Liz Hardwick, or as she’s more commonly known online @Tech_Geek_Girl, started the group to promote the idea that everyone is a geek about something and there was a space needed to share those passions with other.
• Diversity UK Technology — Diversity newsfeed specifically for technology
• EngageCSEdu — The goal of EngageCSEdu is to help grow a more diverse computing workforce by supporting the retention of women and other underrepresented groups in undergraduate computing education. Many things influence whether a student chooses to study computing but having a great experience in introductory courses is key.
• Geekettes — We’re a community of women dedicated to helping aspiring and established female tech innovators. We believe that the more women get involved with tech design, development and leadership, the more successful and diverse our companies and products will be in the future.
• GoldieBlox — At GoldieBlox, our goal is to get girls building. We’re here to help level the playing field in every sense of the phrase. By tapping into girls’ strong verbal skills, our story + construction set bolsters confidence in spatial skills while giving young inventors the tools they need to build and create amazing things.
• Girl Develop It — Girl Develop It is a nonprofit organization that exists to provide affordable and judgment-free opportunities for women interested in learning web and software development. Through in-person classes and community support, Girl Develop It helps women of diverse backgrounds achieve their technology goals and build confidence in their careers and their every day lives.
• Girl Geeks — Girl Geeks aims to support and develop the talents of females in STEM.
• Girl Geek Meetup — We are the GeekGirls. A group of passionate women working in tech, design and startups. We like to meetup.
• Girls in Tech — Girls in Tech (GIT) is a global non-profit focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of girls and women who are passionate about technology. Our aim is to accelerate the growth of innovative women who are entering into the high-tech industry and building successful startups.
• Girls Who Code (twitter) (My Code video series)- Girls Who Code programs work to inspire, educate, and equip girls with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities.
• Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing — The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the world’s largest gathering of women in computing
• Hack Your Future — We teach refugees web-development in our 6-month program. We teach our students front- and backend development for the web, making them full-stack developers as they finish our course.
• Kode with Klossy — Kode With Klossy is working to expand opportunities for women and girls to take hands-on computer science courses, join a community of passionate coders, and connect with opportunities outside of the classroom.
• Laboratoria (twitter) — We started as a tech agency in NYC and moved to Peru to establish Laboratoria, a tech social enterprise that empowers young women by giving them access to education and work in the digital sector.
• Ladies that UX — Ladies that UX is a monthly meet up that creates a welcoming, transparent community of women that work in UX, who positively promote and teach each other.
• Lady Geek — To inspire young women to become tech pioneers — we want the next Mark Zuckerberg to be female.
• Latinas in Computing — A community created by and for the Latinas in computing with a mission of promoting their representation and success in computing-related fields.
• Latinas in STEM (twitter)— Our mission is to inspire and empower Latinas to pursue, thrive and advance in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) fields.
• Ladies Learning Code — We are a not-for-profit organization with the mission to be the leading resource for women and youth to become passionate builders — not just consumers — of technology by learning technical skills in a hands-on, social, and collaborative way
• Ladies of Code — We are an international community of professional women developers. Through our series of global meetups, scholarships and conferences we support the technology leaders of today and tomorrow.
• Ladies Who Code (Manchester, UK) — We meet monthly to hear talks from leaders in the field and hack whilst developing our code-fu in the process.
• League of Women Coders — League of Women Coders (formerly Ladies Who Code, est. June 2011) is a grassroots collective that focusses on coding, hacking, and learning together.
• Liverpool Girl Geeks — We are on a mission to decrease the gender imbalance within the tech industry and do this by hosting a series of events and workshops to inspire women and girls of all ages, as well as celebrate and showcase role models within the sector
• Made With Code — Less than 1% of girls study Computer Science. Let’s change that.
• Moss Code (Manchester, UK) — Moss Code is a digital education startup in the heart of the historic Black community of Moss Side
• Minorities in Tech (twitter) — Minorities in Tech is a Monthly meetup that hosts Tech & Digital Media Professionals from New York City and surrounding regions.
• National Center for Women and Information Technology — NCWIT works to correct the imbalance of gender diversity in technology and computing because gender diversity positively correlates with a larger workforce, better innovation, and increased business performance. Increasing the number of women in technology and computing also has the potential to improve the design of products and services to better serve a more diverse population, and increase economic and social well-being by providing more women with stable and lucrative careers.
• Operation Code — At Operation Code, we believe every Veteran and their families deserve access to 21st century software development education and mentorship. We believe Veterans equipped with programming knowledge will create web products and services that improve and move the United States forward and make a better world.
• Project Include — Project Include is an open community working toward providing meaningful diversity and inclusion solutions for tech companies.
• Rails Girls — Rails Girls aims to open up technology and make it more approachable for girls and women.
• Rosalind Franklin Appathon — This national app competition is funded by the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award, won by UCL Professor Rachel McKendry. The Award, supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), is made to support the promotion of women in STEM and is in memory of the British biophysicist Rosalind Franklin who pioneered research into DNA, viruses, coal and graphite.
• {she’s} coding — We are community driven. We educate and empower. We are closing the gender gap in tech.
• STEM for Her — STEM for Her, formerly known as Women in Technology Education Foundation, is a 501©(3) non-profit foundation, based in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. area that promotes education to create awareness, excitement, and opportunities among girls and young women to pursue successful STEM-related careers.
• Systers —Systers is a forum for all women involved in the technical aspects of computing. The community has over 6,000 members from at least 60 countries around the world.
• Tapestry Workshop — The goals of the workshop are to share strategies, research-based practices, and field-tested good ideas for teaching computer science in a way that reaches all students regardless of sex or ethnicity.
• Techfugees — Techfugees is a social enterprise coordinating the international tech community’s response to the needs of Refugees.
• Tech Girlz — We are a 501©3 nonprofit dedicated to reducing — and, we hope, ultimately eliminating — the gender gap in technology occupations. We hold workshops and an annual entrepreneurial summer camp aimed at giving middle-school girls hands-on experience with different kinds of technology and enable them to interact with women who have carved out successful careers in technology fields.
• TechnoloChicas — TECHNOLOchicas is a collaborative project of the National Center for Women & IT (NCWIT) and Televisa Foundation designed to raise awareness among young Latinas and their families about opportunities and careers in technology
• Tech Mums — #techmums is all about giving mums the chance to take part in the digital revolution. Through a series of workshops and online support our mission is to give mums the confidence, skills and understanding they need to ensure they and their children can make the most of the wealth of opportunities technology offers.
• Technology Women — Women in Technology: the challenges, the solutions, the ideas.
• TechWomen — TechWomen empowers, connects, and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East by providing them the access and opportunity needed to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and inspire women and girls in their communities.
• Trans*Code — Trans*code aims to help draw attention to transgender issues through a topic focused hackday while introductory programming workshops allow for participation from community members not currently working in technology. Participants from all skill levels are welcome.
• VC Foundation/StopTalkingStartDoing (Manchester, UK) — Changing the conversation around diversity in technology through #StopTalkingStartDoing events
• Wogrammer — Telling stories of what its like to be a woman in tech.
• Women’s Coding Collective — The WCC is a web development community with a mission to narrow the gender gap in technology. We cultivate supportive, no-stupid-questions environments where women can learn, build, and code together
• Women’s Engineering Society — The Women’s Engineering Society is a professional, not-for-profit network of women engineers, scientists and technologists offering inspiration, support and professional development. Working in partnership, we campaign to encourage women to participate and achieve as engineers, scientists and as leaders.
• Women in Science, Technology and Engineering — WISE inspires girls and women to study and build careers using science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). We advise organisations on how to create environments where those women can do their best work and thrive.
  Our mission is to get 1 million more women in the UK STEM workforce.
• Women Who Code — Women Who Code (WWCode) is a U.S. based 501©(3) non-profit dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. We connect amazing women with other like minded amazing women around the globe who unite under one simple notion — the world of technology is much better with women in it.
• Women 2.0 — Our mission is to strengthen technology businesses by connecting, inspiring and educating the next generation of technology leaders. Women 2.0 lives in the future, today — we see no barriers, we see no boundaries, we only see a meritocratic business landscape.
• Women in Technology (UK) — Women in Technology is a commercial organisation committed to assisting suitably qualified and experienced women in their search for career opportunities in information technology. We are a stand-alone division of McGregor Boyall Associates, a leading UK recruitment consultancy with a twenty-five year track record of delivering recruitment and resourcing solutions to a wide range of national and international clients.
• Women in Technology (US) — Advance women in technology from the classroom to the boardroom by providing advocacy, leadership development, networking, mentoring and technology education.
• Women Invent — Silicon Republic’s campaign to champion the role of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. It has been running since March 2013, and is kindly supported by Intel, Open Eir (formerly Eircom Wholesale), Fidelity Investments, Accenture and CoderDojo.
• Women Techmakers (twitter) — Google’s Women Techmakers program provides visibility, community, and resources for women in technology.
• WriteSpeakCode — Write/Speak/Code is on a mission to empower women software developers to become thought leaders, conference speakers, and open source contributors. We run conferences and events across the US.
• #iLookLikeAnEngineer — so far just a sign up page with no information.