TechTogether Launches a Non-Profit to Expand Their Impact
TechTogether becomes a national brand, launching chapters in two major US cities.
Boston, MA (January 30, 2019) — TechTogether is announcing its expansion as a non-profit organization to fit the scale of the community it has inspired. What began as a one-time event, is now an organization that equips individuals with the tools and resources necessary to host their own all-female and femme non-binary hackathon.
The stated mission of TechTogether is to end the hacker gender gap in technology. According to recent research conducted by Lady Problems Hackathon, only 20% of hackathon participants in 2018 identified as women. The aim of TechTogether is to increase this percentage by equipping individuals with the resources, funding, and mentorship to host TechTogether hackathons around the globe.
Currently, TechTogether is operating two chapters in New York and Boston, equipping both teams with the tools and resources to host their own TechTogether event. The TechTogether Boston chapter will be holding their second event from March 22–24, 2019 at Boston University, while the TechTogether New York chapter will host its first hackathon later this year.
“It’s been an incredible opportunity to witness the impact of these events firsthand. I’ve had many individuals both men and women come up to me, explaining how TechTogether changed their life. These stories I believe are a catalyst of the type of collaborative spaces we provide, where individuals both students and working professionals are empowered to explore a field of technology that before may have felt off limits to them. ” said Fiona Whittington, Founder of TechTogether.
Eva Lynch, a student at Simmons College and past event-participant, echoed a similar sentiment.
“These events are breeding grounds for curiosity and knowledge,” Lynch said. “The atmosphere alone is incredible, but the resources that these events allow you to tap into and the people you come in contact with that you wouldn’t have otherwise, it’s an invaluable experience.”
Over the course of one year, the TechTogether community has doubled in size. The TechTogether Boston chapter, which started out with 13 members is now operated by over 50 women from around the country.
The decision to structure TechTogether as a non-profit was designed to make organizing female-centric hackathons easier for individuals with limited time and resources. TechTogether provides each of their chapters an annual stipend of 1k in addition to mentorship and event planning resources. TechTogether has partnered with Hack+, an organization that helps thousands of students start their own business and events, to provide these resources.
“Hack+ is extremely excited to work with TechTogether to provide infrastructural support and resources for its chapters. We strongly believe in TechTogether’s mission, and are looking forward to supporting TechTogether as they help students launch a powerful new wave of female-centric events.” said Sanil Chawla, Executive Director at Hack+.
Corporate partners whose sponsorship have been instrumental in the expansion of the TechTogether include Boston University, IBM, Fidelity, Wayfair, PayPal, Bloomberg, and many more. These sponsors offer participants at TechTogether chapter events the opportunity to network with recruiters and learn from industry professionals. Boston University, an early supporter of TechTogether, has partnered with TechTogether to advance research on the topic of hackathons and diversity in the field technology for the next three years.
As a way to celebrate TechTogether’s launch, the organization has begun a campaign entitled “Come as You Are”. The campaign will include a series of photos accompanied by stories that address common fears held by women in technology. As part of the campaign, we also asked individuals to identify one word that described how TechTogether impact their life.
For Kelsey Myton, an organizer for TechTogether Boston 2019, TechTogether made her feel powerful.
“It’s easy to get lost or overwhelmed in the difficulty of computer science classes and feel discouraged,” Myton said. “However, while working with TechTogether, I saw so many strong women collaborating and it made me proud to be a part of something so big and influential.”
To learn more about TechTogether and how you can get involved, visit our website: techtogether.io.
