next*

After arriving at Yahoo! last year, I hoped to make myself at home by seeking out the "Women in Technology" group I assumed must exist at such a large company. Nothing turned up. Hmmm, maybe gender really is a non-issue here, I thought, being new to Silicon Valley. With so many geeks, there must be plenty of female geeks as well. After working for three years in compiler development, it was really refreshing to have a few women on my team, so I shrugged off my concern.

To get to know my new colleagues, I followed the weekly "Big Thinker" series featured on Yahoo!'s corporate intranet. For about eight weeks straight I read about guys (nominated by guys) who'd invented, championed, or delivered something awesome at work.Product meetings, tech talks, even the cafeteria definitely skewed male.Come on, I thought, there must be women 'big thinkers' doing awesome tech stuff around here too. How could I find them?

In Oct 2006, a few women scientists had just returned from the Grace Hopper Women in Computing conference. Good timing. After an inspiring conference named for a pioneer programmer, I imagined they'd be primed for my idea – so I organized a meeting to start a women-in-tech initiative at Yahoo!. We met, launched a mailing list, and the community grew. That was just over a year ago.

Fast forward to the final weeks of 2007: Yahoo! Women in Tech is now 250 members strong and includes women from IT, web developers, software engineers, computer scientists, researchers, and tech recruiters. We've partnered with other organizations for women in tech, such as the Society of Women Engineers, FountainBlue, and Women 2.0. We've hosted events focusing on personal and professional development.

In 2007, we also reached out to more than 100 girls, to encourage them to enter science and engineering fields. My particular passion for K-12 outreach goes way back. It was sparked in grad school when I helped IBM run workshops for girls. I loved my work at IBM, but trying to impress kids by describing the thrill of compiler dev was a challenge.

At Yahoo!, we have the perfect environment to inspire the next generation of women to consider careers in computer science and engineering. Yahoo! is fun, colorful and, most important, it's highly visible to kids. After running our first Yahoo! Women in Tech outreach program for high school girls, I knew we were on to something. The reaction was huge: Many of the girls wanted to start work at Yahoo! immediately! Think of it as early-stage recruiting.

I want to send thanks to all the Women in Tech volunteers around the company (guys too!) who've contributed time and energy to forming a network, identifying great role models, and giving back to the community.

She's Geeky polaroids from Liz Henry. Used with permission.

Women in Tech banner photo by Karolina Buchner. Used with permission.

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This morning I had my coffee in my hand and was headed back up to the fourth floor when all of a sudden I hear:"Hi, this is Angela with the San Jose Mercury News!" And I thought to myself, "Steady old man..." because I really shouldn't be hearing such things in an elevator, by myself.

I quickly enough realized that Angela (who kept along merrily extolling the virtues of the Mercury) was speaking to me through the elevator (emergency?) telephone. Just as quickly I realized, "This thing must be on the PSTN!" It's a really high quality speaker phone btw. You could have a meeting in the elevator I think. Food for thought when all the conference rooms are booked.

Angela wound down and asked me if she had reached me at home or at the office. I told her that I was actually in between the two and in the elevator at work. She immediately began to explain how receiving the Mercury at my workplace was a Really Great Idea. I don't think I emphasized she had really called the elevator and not my cell phone.

*Sigh*

I didn't know what to do exactly at that point, so I asked Angela if she wouldn't mind waiting a moment. She cheerfully agreed, the doors opened and I walked out the elevator and to my desk. I figure it's best to combat randomness with more of the same.

Strange way to start the day...

(I should have gotten the number she was calling, what fun!)

Photo from rcrowley.

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