The 10 Rules to Guarantee a Promotion to Channel Chief

I decided to have fun with some data over the past week.

I started by downloading the 337 Channel Chiefs from CRN's annual list (2016 version) and ran them all through Linkedin to see what insights I could come up with.

I decided to focus on 10 attributes that could shed light on the road to becoming a Channel Chief. The data had some obvious edge cases, but statistically, it formed a relatively tight bell curve around the averages.


The 10 Attributes I looked at:

1. City where Chief lives

2. Are they still working at the same company (a year later)

3. Gender

4. Age (estimated based on undergrad date and other factors)

5. Attained Masters degree or above

6. Number of companies worked for in career

7. Time spent in current company

8. Time spent in current role

9. Did they have channel roles leading up to Chief role (if not, what?)

10. Size of company, and impact on above attributes

Before we get to the rules, why would anyone ever want to be a Channel Chief?

[begin sarcasm]

The head of indirect channels for an organization is (by far) the best job an individual could hope for! Spending your time traveling the world to glorious destinations, hosting parties and galas for partners, spending millions of dollars in marketing funds, and striving to drive more boondoggles than last year.

All this while not being held accountable to senior management. Perhaps it sounds too good to be true. But wait, it gets better...

What could be easier than dealing with people who are passionate about your products and want to promote them to the world? How hard could it be recruiting this fan base and keeping them motivated by dozens of expensive programs? Oh, and look at that, another industry magazine just put you on the cover!

Sounds good so far, but how do Chiefs get a free pass internally from management?

Easy. Channels tend to be nebulous – not only hard to measure because of their indirect nature, but time-delayed as you are collecting data through a complicated multi-tier supply chain. Sales in, sales out, end user reporting, return on invested capital - these are metrics that confuse even the best CEO.

The VP of Sales gets the brunt of the pressure because direct sales are easy to measure, forecast and build KPI’s around. And most CEO’s out there didn’t rise through indirect channels. In most cases they were engineers, direct sales leaders or financial people.

So, is a Channel Chief is basically a rock star without responsibility or accountability? Not quite.

[end sarcasm]

These common perceptions actually make the job harder. The average tenure of a Chief is only 4.2 years – contrast that to the average CEO at 8.1 years. If the job was that great and liberating – why the short stay?


1. Channels take a very long time to develop. 

Trying to explain to a CEO who is (very publicly) measured quarterly that developing an effective channel takes years is not a very popular conversation.

2. The indirect organization is usually the red-headed stepchild. 

Getting access to top people, technology, resources or investments is last in line behind the sales, marketing and product teams.

3. The Rodney Dangerfield Effect. 

Because it is not understood by other executives, it can be glossed over in senior management and board reviews. While the commitment to channel differs by company, the attention it gets is, in many cases, out of alignment.


The end result is a high pressure job, without adequate support and dubious respect.


A Channel Chief is a part-time sales leader, marketer, finance and operations exec, lawyer, motivator, counselor, trainer, product manager, strategist, economist, support agent and futurist.

If this is the life of a rock star, perhaps it is not as fun and rewarding as we once thought. It truly takes a special individual to step into the above chaos day in and day out and maintain a sense of humor.

So, do you still want to be a Channel Chief? Read on.

Armed with a nice big spreadsheet of data (and a number of strategic VLOOKUPs and COUNTIFs), here are the rules to becoming a Channel Chief:


1. Live in California

More specifically, San Francisco. About a quarter of all Chiefs live in California, with the majority of those (60%) living in the Bay area.


2. Don't get too comfortable

I analyzed the 2016 CRN list on purpose, to see how many of them stayed put after making the list. A year later, upwards of 25% of them are now working for different companies! Even more have been promoted internally into new responsibilities. This is not a "set it and forget it" profession.


3. Unfortunately, the gender gap exists here too

The Channel Chiefs are 77% male on this CRN list. Unfortunately, it gets worse when you narrow down this list to choose only the most senior from each company (248 companies). At this point it jumps up well into the 80's. As an industry we NEED to do better - check out this analysis of the Top 100 Global Women in Technology groups that I compiled recently.

4. Be born before the first moon landing

Specifically 1968. The average channel chief on the list is 49 years old. While there was a wide range of ages, most were clustered tightly around mid 40's to mid 50's.


5. Don't rely on an MBA for career progression

Almost three quarters of the Channel Chiefs do not have a masters or above degree. While college degrees number in the high 90's, most Chiefs relied on career progression to get to where they are. More on that to come.


6. Move companies to achieve higher positions in the Channel

The average number of companies the Chiefs worked previously for was 4.8. Many used company changes to elevate from Rep to Manager, Manager to Director and Director to VP. Larger companies are the exception where some have progressed internally for a few decades to get that coveted title.

7. But don't move companies too often

With only 4.8 company stops on average, the average Chief has spent 8.7 years at their current company. You may not get hired as a Chief right away, but one or two promotions may land you there within 4 years.


8. Prepare your career (and family) to be somewhat transient

The average tenure for a Channel Chief is 4.2 years. If you remove the Fortune 500 sized companies, where the stays are much longer, this drops down to the 2-3 year range. Moving jobs and moving cities is very common in this group of 337 people. Very few are employed in their hometown or college town.

9. Don't be too concerned if you haven't worked in the channel previously

Half of the Chiefs came from different backgrounds including sales (most common at 50%), general management, marketing and product management. While the progression of Channel Account Manager (CAM) to Channel Manager to Channel Director to VP Channel to SVP Global Channel is the most common, it is not the only way. Reference #6 above on how to make those jumps faster.

10. Be careful on size of company you work for

If you are looking to be a Channel Chief at a Fortune 500 company, jumping to smaller companies to get higher titles doesn't seem to work. The better bet is to start in the mailroom and plan for a 20+ year career of linear progression. If you want to be a Chief at a midsize company, multiple jumps as a VP (especially in the same product category) seems to be the best path. I can see a recruiting trend here, where they seem to target the Chief of their competitors.

If you haven't figured out by now, the title of this article was meant as click bait. There are no guarantees in life, or in the channel.

However, if you do know what you want, there are certain tactics you can deploy to elevate your chances of success. Luck plays a role as well - fast growing companies in exploding product categories tend to hire underneath their current employees. This results in rapid career progression. 

At some point in this growth, usually after a sizable round of financing or IPO, the company will hire a senior, recognized Global Channel Chief to play the adult in the room. This person usually comes from a Fortune 100 company.

Well, there it is. For those of us who have spent our careers in the channel know that it is an equally exciting and frustrating place. Under-recognized, under-funded but filled with some of the best people I know. 75% of all world trade goes indirectly, and these are the heros that make it happen.


Good luck on your indirect journey!

Have Channel Sales Executives Forgotten Why We Have a Channel?

Have channel industry sales executives forgotten why we need a channel to build business? Is this even a legitimate question to be asking? Of course, we all know the reason for a channel. It is to expand a vendor’s reach in the market through capable, enabled, and motivated business partners that can generate new customers for our brands.

Partners provide vendors a multiplier effect by cross-selling a vendor’s brand to many of a partner’s current customers. This working relationship is a win for both parties because when a partner sells a vendor’s brand they also can sell additional partner-delivered services. At the same time vendors gain new sales they would not have generated on their own.

So why do so many channel sales executives seem to misunderstand this basic concept of the purpose of a channel? Let’s better define the problem.


Why Channel Sales is Off Track with Their Channel Strategy

The Partner Sales Manager Role - Given the intense pressure of quarter-to-quarter sales targets at public companies, many have transitioned the traditional role of a Channel Account Manager (CAM, PAM, RCM, etc.) to a 90% direct sales role and 10% and fading role of a traditional channel manager. This traditional channel manager role as a business consultant, enabler, trainer, and motivator has morphed into a part-time or even smaller role to make way for a shorter-term focus on closing deals - today, tomorrow, and the next day. More channel executives have turned the focus of their teams on developing and closing deals for their partners vs. the role of activation, enablement and sales-assist of partner developed opportunities.

The pressure of delivering short term channel sales sacrifices the development of enabled and motivated partners that are capable of developing sales opportunities on their own. As a result, partners have become too dependent on the PSM to identify, develop, and close most or all the opportunities within their client portfolio. This process is crippling the multiplier effect of having a channel and reducing the self-reliance of a partner organization to become a competent and motivated seller.

The Channel is More Important Today than Ever Before 

It is important to take a step back. The channel organization’s role in a company has steadily increased in visibility and value over the past ten years. In the past, many channel departments would be buried under layers of sales, marketing, operations or financial management.

With over 75 percent of world trade flowing indirectly across all industries, many CEOs have elevated the role of the channel chief directly into the boardroom as a key member of the management team. One of the consequences of this added exposure is the pressure to drive KPIs that are directly reported to the board in private companies, and publicly in listed companies.


The New, More Complex Role of Channel Managers

The channel organization has a myriad of responsibilities to their partners that include sales, marketing, operations, support, finance, legal and supply chain. In fact, the average channel professional has 75 distinct roles.

The Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org/2016/10/the-sales-role-multinationals-need-in-emerging-markets) recently stated that the most successful channel managers look more like general managers than sales managers. We know that channel managers often don’t have direct control over the sales process of a partner, they use other skills to enable, engage, and drive revenue. This includes:

1. Strategy

Understanding the nuances of a specific territory, including competitive strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, which allow a channel manager to build a strategy with a partner on a deal-by-deal as well as macro level. Sales managers tend to be much more tactical in nature, and most strategic planning is at a customer or deal level.

2. Coaching 

Good channel managers understand that enabling a partner is critically important and so they spend their time ensuring that they are covering the details such as solution creation, logistics and compliance. It is more than just selling a deal, it is ensuring that all the ducks are in a row so that many downstream deals can be closed as well. This is the multiplier effect of having a channel.

3. Finance 

The economics of running a channel territory are much different that running a sales territory. Beyond things like revenue targets, contract profitability, and pricing strategy, channel managers must also focus on areas such as inventory management, partner cash-flow, and distribution terms.

There is a real danger in focusing a channel team too much on revenue and tactical deal flow. While the win rate per opportunity may be higher in the short term, the multiplier effect of self-sufficient channels will hurt long term success. Striking the right balance of a channel team between driving deal revenue and channel enablement, engagement and strategic planning is imperative. It is the classic “teach a person to fish” analogy.

There are a few difficulties in the measurement of this channel role, especially as it is reported to the senior management team. Many of the KPIs are soft by nature, and that doesn’t play well in a boardroom where sales and marketing professionals are managing now to the seventh decimal point. As it is a longer-term investment, it doesn’t play well in the daily/weekly targets that businesses are being driven against.

Another danger in focusing a channel team too much on sales is that they may miss the changing dynamics of the partners they are working with. Channels in all industries are going through a major transformation brought on by multiple factors including digital transformation, demographics, new competitive pressures and economic realities post 2008.

In the IT channel, for example, there has been a roughly 30 percent decline in the number of partners since 2008, with an additional 40 percent of remaining partners looking to retire in the next seven years, according to CompTIA. By the end of that seven year window, over 75 percent of the channel will consist of millennials. An effective channel manager would see these shifts happening and refine programs, incentives, messaging and even coverage to support it.


End Customer Buying Process is Forcing More Changes in the Channel


Another major shift in channels is being driven by changes in the customer buying journey. Ten years ago, the CIO made 90 percent of technology decisions in an organization. Gartner is forecasting a complete reversal by 2020, where 90 percent of those decisions will now be made by business professionals in the lines of business. For example, the VP of Sales or VP of Marketing is now the main buyer of technology solutions – not the IT department.

This new buying journey, once called rogue or shadow IT has generated new areas of influence called the shadow channel. (http://www.jaymcbain.com/2016/10/the-rise-of-shadow-channels-5-new.html). A channel manager will understand that a customer VP of Marketing may not have IT in the room during a technology decision - and there is a good chance their traditional partner won’t be in the room either.

Having a macro level strategic view will guide a channel manager to make sure their organization is in the right customer discussions and exerting the right influence. This could involve getting closer to accountants, digital agencies or legal firms. It could also include diving deeper into other company’s ecosystems, building an independent software vendor (ISV) program, or even participating in the startup arena around the solution areas.

Having a channel manager focused too much on sales will hinder the multiplier effect of channels, drop the satisfaction of current partners who are looking to brand themselves and become more self-sufficient in the marketplace, and miss the ever-changing partner and alliance ecosystem.

[This blog was originally posted with 10K+ views on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/have-channel-sales-executives-forgotten-why-we-gary-morris]

Celebrating US Citizenship at CompTIA AMM 2017

Thank you Annette Taber and the entire team at CompTIA - The Computing Technology Industry Association for celebrating my U.S. Citizenship this week at the Swissôtel in Chicago.

Trip to Australia, Phuket, Bali, Vanuatu and Fiji - February 2017

With 75 countries complete on the World 100 tour with Michelle, we are leaving to check off some more in the Pacific Islands starting on February 6, 2017.

This time, a consulting engagement takes us to Sydney, Australia on Valentine's Day. Looking around the region, there are a number of islands - some hard to get to, some easy (and famous) as honeymoon destinations.

We have all seen images above from places in the Islands - of cottages on stilts on top of amazing turquoise waters. As a kid, I would always hear of places like this and wonder what it was like to explore.


Phuket, Thailand

The trip starts on February 6th out of Newark airport, where Michelle, Brooklyn, Cali and I will embark on a 22 hour journey through Hong Kong to arrive in Phuket on February 7th. We will be staying at the Vijitt Resort:

Bali, Indonesia

Next, we fly over to  on February 9th, routing through Singapore. We will be staying at the Bali Mandira Beach Resort & Spa:

Sydney, Australia

Next, we fly over to Sydney on February 12th, on a direct flight. We will be staying at the Westin Sydney Downtown:

Port Vila, Vanuatu

Next, we fly over to Vanuatu on February 15th, routing through Brisbane. We will be staying at the Holiday Inn Resort Vanuatu:

Nadi, Fiji

Finally, we fly over to Fiji on February 18th, connecting directly. We will be staying at the Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island:

The trip home is interesting as we stay one night in Los Angeles before taking a morning flight back to New Jersey. We were lucky to use up a bunch of different kinds of airline and hotel points on this trip. 

The permutations and combinations of destinations with flights and times was interesting to say the least! 

Here is what the trip looks like on a map:

The goal of hitting 100 countries is firmly in reach. This is the latest map:

My Hockey Story - a Lifelong Passion

As long as I can remember, I have been playing hockey. Over four decades and thousands of games later, I still lace them up a couple times a week, year-round.

I joke with my American friends that it is, by law, that all Canadian children must play hockey. The reality is a bit different. A few years ago, soccer overtook hockey in Canada for those aged 3-17 and youth hockey is losing thousands of players each year.

The reasons for these changes can be attributed to demographic shifts, immigration patterns, cost of equipment and ice-time, right down to the increased dangers of injury of young players. The most recent World Cup of Football (Soccer) achieved similar TV ratings as the Stanley Cup, with 82% of the population watched a part of the coverage.



Some other random facts...

• Last week the Canadian Men's World Junior team lost in a shootout nail-biter with the USA. 
• Last years Stanley Cup playoffs did not have any Canadian teams participating.
• The percentage of Canadian born players in the NHL has steadily declined, most recently to less than half of all players:

An interesting side effect as the professional game has become faster and more skilled, an increased number of Junior eligible players in Canada are electing to wait and play US College hockey (NCAA) instead.

I am not suggesting that hockey will lose its place in Canadian religious lore anytime soon, but perhaps in a generation it will be competing for mindshare.

For me, hockey was a way of life growing up. Another popular story I tell is living in Edmonton and Calgary was a blessing for watching NHL hockey. Either the Oilers or Flames were in the Stanley Cup Final EVERY year from the age of 10 to 17! (Not to mention winning 6 out of those 8 Cup chances)

The memories of such greats as Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Lanny McDonald and many others would shape the way I looked at the game.


My Personal Story

Special thanks to my mom, Gloria, for organizing these pictures into a scrapbook that I cherish.

My first ever memory (probably 3 or 4 years old) of lacing up the skates was on an outdoor rink in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada. Even though the temperatures were frigid, playing would make me sweat and heat up. I would therefore pick up some speed and do a Superman dive face-first along the ice. The cage on the front of the helmet would grind the ice and throw cold chips into my face. It would feel like heaven!

Here is a shot of the Flagstone Park rink in a bit warmer of temperatures:

Organized hockey began at 6 years old with the:

1978-79 St. Albert Warriors

Back: Jay McBain, Chris Osgood, Doug Sadler, Darren Gammon, Ian Gray

Front: Chris Vallevand, Ian McKinley, Sean Chartrand

(By adding names manually throughout this blog hopefully some will get a Google Alert and re-connect! My email is jamesrmcbain@gmail.com or Twitter @jmcbain)

Don't worry, the picture quality improves over the years! This was an old Polaroid that the scanner did a better job on than it really looks.

Hockey fans with a careful eye will see, seated next to me, the 10th all-time winning goalie in NHL history. With 3 Stanley Cups under his belt and one of only 6 goalies to ever score a goal by shooting a puck directly into the opponents goal, Chris Osgood, or "Ozzie" for short, provided some wonderful memories for Detroit Red Wings fans during the 1990's and 2000's. I would play with Chris for a few more years before he strapped on the pads and achieved hockey stardom.

The first few years also had my dad as a coach which was wonderful.

1980-81 St. Albert Legion

Back: Ernie Wilks (Asst.), Bill Sadler (Asst.), Jim McBain (Coach), Jack Talbot (Asst.)

Middle: Jay McBain, Doug Sadler, Doyle Lefebvre, Chris Findlay, Paul Robson, Stevan Betts, Chris Osgood, Chris Talbot

Front: Shelley Sebastianelli, Raymond Der, Ryan Reynolds, Mike Wilks, Bernie Failing, Ian McKinley, Darren Gammon

One of my favorite memories from this team were Shelley's sweater spelling out "SEBASTIANELLI" from elbow to elbow to fit on her small frame. The other was Raymond, who was still learning to skate, with his mom yelling "the other way Raymond" from the stands. He did score a goal later in the season and we celebrated like winning the Stanley Cup.

1982-83 Braeside Hawks (Tiny Mite "BB" - Calgary)

Back: Ed Melville (Player Personnel), Les Payne (Referee), Ernie Panich (Manager)

Middle: Ed Melville, Colin Payne, Ricky Robbins, Al Krawchuk, Michael Jans, Jay McBain, Pat Mallany, Trent Norcross, Brock Hlavsa

Front: Kurt Panich, Teeder Wynne, Fred Wynne (Coach), Alastair King, Hugh Mallany (Asst.), Sean Mallany, Troy Calder

Moving to Calgary in early 1982 was a turning point where hockey became a more serious endeavor. As the story goes, legendary coach Fred Wynne heard that I had just won a major track meet for Braeside Elementary school and he said if I can skate as fast as I could run, I would be all set.

Although we were just 10 years old, we had home and away jerseys, dressed up for games, treated our Hawks jacket with respect and carried ourselves with confidence of playing on a special team. That feeling never left me and Fred was (and still is) the best coach I have ever had outside of my father.

If you ask me about being a team player, I think back to what is was like being a Hawk.

1984-85 South-West Devils (Peewee"B")

Back: Jim McBain (Asst.), Dave Price, (Asst.), Trevor Mirosh, Jason Kaiser, Colin Payne, Jason L'Hirondelle, Jay McBain, Chris Hunt, Sterling Dorish, Cory Hoople (Manager), Anthony Falvi, Les Payne (Coach)

Front: Alastair King, Ed Melville, Roger McDonald, Ken Ruddock, Teeder Wynne, Jason Price, Trent Norcross, Curtis Hoople

A couple of things stand out playing on this Devils team. First, our coaches name was Les Payne. Repeat that a couple of times out loud. Every time we were skating hard in practice we kept thinking less pain...less pain.

Well, the pain must of been worth it because it was the only time in over 4 decades of playing I have even gone through the regular season undefeated. I remember Ed Melville and Teeder Wynne having a magical play behind the net and scoring about a billion goals. I also remember Les Payne between each period saying to "just play our game".

We never knew what "our game" was - but hey, it worked!

1985-86 South-Four Rangers (Major Peewee"BB")

Back: Bruce McDonald (Asst.), Brian Campbell, Rick Robbins, Jeff Jones, Pat Cowen, Jason L'Hirondelle, Jay McBain, Roger McDonald, Kenny Ruddock, Allan Krawchuck, Dave Price (Coach)

Front: Teeder Wynne, Eddie Melville, Curtis Hoople, Trent Norcross, Jason Price, Mitch Earley, Trevor Mirosh, Brock Hlavsa

With our undefeated season behind us, and without the magic of Les Payne's "our game" we returned to earth this year. This was the final year before things got more serious again in hockey - making the big Bantam teams.

1986-87 South West Royals Gold (Minor Bantam"AA")

Back: Dale Hird, Rick Robbins, Matt Rallison, Terry Spink, Troy Henderson, Pierre Mercier, Ivan Eagletale

Middle: Al Chambers (Manager), Rob Prpic, Riley Will, Rob Simpson, Chad Willoughby, Colin Chala, Darcy Simonelli, Jason Kaiser, Monty Mattson (Trainer)

Front: Brad Steed, Mike Moore (Asst.), Jay McBain, Rick Bailey (Coach), Gord Cushing, Chris Sowlak (Asst.), Jason Scullion

Making the "AA" team was the equivalent (4 years before) to making the Hawks. It carried a prestige walking around school in the leather Royals jacket and probably inflated my ego more than it should have.

The competition was now much more fierce around the city and rivalries that would last for years were started. This is also when the scouts became much more involved. At this age, players are starting to mature into potential professionals and the Junior teams in Canada are on the prowl for talent:

1987-88 South West Royals Blue (Major Bantam"AA")

Back: Jason Kaiser, Chad Willoughby, Terry Spink, Mike Jans, Mark Wood

Middle: Jim McBain (Manager), Brad Purdy, Alan Krawchuk, Jason Frizelle, Darin Witt, John Sallis, Gord Cushing

Front: Curtis Hoople, Darcy Simonelli, Gary Woodward (Coach), Jay McBain, John Cameron (Asst.), Matt Rallison, Chris Akins

This was the season that I told my parents that hockey was becoming stressful. Parents were much more involved and boys hormones (combined with ego) are running so high that it wasn't fun anymore. 

The pressure was on to make the 'AAA' hockey team the following year and try to play in the WHL after that. At this point, kids still think they have a shot - which isn't really true. Unless you are already chosen at this age through the above WHL camps, it is tough to become a pro as a late bloomer.

My ego was as high as ever, being captain of the team. Also in 1987 was the first year of high school, and making the football team as well. So, track in the morning, football after school and hockey at night - with chasing girls in-between. Luckily, at the time, our school marks didn't need to start rising until Grade 12 which gave me some breathing room (which I used every breath).

1988-89 South West Royals Gold (Minor Midget"AA")

Back: Rob Simpson, Jason Kaiser, Brad Purdy, Rob Bensen, Matt Rallison, Ricky Robbins Mark Wood

Middle: Angela Young (Trainer), Tyler Komaryk, unsure, unsure, unsure, Jay McBain, Matthew Fell, Mike Jans

Front: Brad Steed, Darcy Simonelli, Bob Metcalfe (Asst.), Chad Willoughby, Mark Frank (Coach), Jason Konoff, Gordon Betts

The next 2 seasons were the most impactful in my life. I was the final cut from the 'AAA' team in 1988 and was sent to "the minors" in Midget AA. It was a humbling experience as the 'AAA' coach mostly avoided our section of the city and took the cuts from other regions. I wondered how he planned to win against other teams using their cuts, but he had a real problem with the cockiness and ego that our team brought to try-outs and decided to teach everyone a lesson.

The hard part is that I was kept on the team for many weeks and I would see each player make it when they started wearing brand new blue and gold pants. I never was given those pants and, even though I thought I was one of the better defencemen, was cut down to AA.

I write more about the this and the other most important moments in my life in the butterfly effect blog. 

I knew then my NHL hockey dream was over - but the news came just in time - allowing me to significantly raise my grades and earn early acceptance into the University of Lethbridge.

Two things happened that capped off my competitive career - one bad and one good.

1. The famous Mac's AAA tournament was played in our hometown of Calgary and somehow we were allowed to participate as a AA team (perhaps there was a no-show). We played the AAA team I was cut from as part of the tournament round-robin. We jumped out to a quick lead and had them on the ropes deep into the third when they came back to beat us with a 4 goal flurry. 

I wasn't around by this time as I was taking all kinds of penalties and playing a revenge game against the coach who cut me months earlier. I was going to show him I thought. My ego got in the way and I was kicked out of the game. If you look closely at the picture above, I am in street clothes and shoes after the game.

2. The good part came the next year when, stocked with a number of good players (because of the coaches cuts in our region) we went on to WIN the Provincial (State) Championships as huge underdogs. I was playing with friends and we were much more relaxed, enjoying hockey again for the first time in a few years. We played younger, more feisty teams but we took the City Championships and then traveled and won the big prize. 

What a way to finish youth hockey and head off to college!

1990-91 Taber Oil Kings (International Junior Hockey League)

An interesting and fun story happened while I was at the University of Lethbridge. I was playing in an intramural game where I scored about 8 goals. The coach of an IJHL - International Junior Hockey League team approached me after and offered me a contract.

I didn't have to practice with the team - just play. Every weekend I loaded up on the bus with the team and we traveled around to different cities in Canada and the U.S. It was something straight out of a movie!

Post-competitive play (AKA: Beer League)

I have been able to play hockey weekly since leaving college and the IJHL. When I joined IBM in 1994, I would travel every year to the Prairies Classic where we competed with other Western Canadian regions of IBM.

When I joined Lenovo in 2005, we had an annual game where we played against IBM for charity. Somehow the little company no one had heard of at the time, won 3 straight years!

In 2009, I moved to the US with Lenovo to work at HQ in Raleigh, N.C. I found a group of Canadian ex-pats (mostly nurses and medical professionals from Newfoundland) and we were able to grab a league championship:

In 2011, I moved up to Albany, NY and was able to play (and win) in the USA Hockey Classic Tournament in Lake Placid - on the same ice as the miracle in 1980!  

Do you believe in miracles?

I played with a team in the Capital District Hockey Association (CDHA) and we also won a league championship in 2016:

In Florida, I play with a great group of guys every week - and yes - another championship in another place!

So, that is my hockey story. I would love to play forever. In fact, there are several examples in Canada of men playing into their 90's. 

That is a lofty goal, but one worth pursuing in my books.

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Read some other stories from A Few Thoughts - Jay McBain:

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My Life Story - Have you ever thought about the impact of big decisions that you made in your life? How about the small ones or the ones made for you? How would have your life turned out if things went the other way?

My Love Story - Michelle and met on October 15, 2010 in a serendipitous way. We were both part of a charity in Raleigh, NC and one night at a dinner struck up a conversation about many things - including our love of travel.

My Housing Story - After 13 moves and stops in three Canadian Provinces and three U.S. States, here is my journey in pictures from the Northwest to the Southeast of North America.

My Car Story - I have the dubious honor of getting speeding tickets on all 6 driveable continents - lucky that there are no cars in Antarctica! Did I ever tell you the time I passed the Polizia in Italy with my mom?

My Travel Story - The story started with a "Rollerblades and Red Bull" journey to 100 countries. It is now expanding in every direction after hitting 7 continents and the 7 wonders of the world (most with kids in tow).

My Nautical Story - I am pretty sure the love of water started in 1972 when I was six weeks old and my grandparents Bob and Dona McBain retired to Shuswap, British Columbia, Canada, and built a log cabin.

My Crazy MBA Story - In the summer of 2017, while climbing Machu Picchu, Peru as part of my wife Michelle’s International MBA from Manhattan College, I thought – why not me?

My Cycling Story - When the Covid-19 pandemic first took hold in March 2020 we responded quickly as a family - including strict stay at home orders and no outside contact until we could get a handle on the risks. My attention now turned to exercise - and biking across North America (virtually).

My Retirement Story - I have no interest in disconnecting fully from the work that makes me so fulfilled. I could never see myself  in bingo-playing retired life. I want to stay curious, engaged, and adding value past the (very specific) date in 2034 that I am aiming for.

My Christmas Story - Whether traveling to see family, or going to Disney or Hawaii, or simply staying home - the season is packed with memories of family and friends.

My Music Story - My favorite music can be best defined as sad / emotional / multi-level slow music. Oddly, it is opposite of my worldview - which is normally overly-positive and optimistic.

My Movie Story - Oddly enough, I think Pretty Woman made me very interested in business. I named my cat Austin Powers - oh, and yes, "Danger" is his middle name. Our current dog is named August Rush (Auggie Doggy). Movies such as Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Forrest Gump, & National Lampoon's Vacation have become soundtracks to my life.

Jay McBain leaving ChannelEyes and looking for next adventure

It was exactly 6 years ago today that I stepped down from my 16 year IBM/Lenovo career to become an entrepreneur. In that final blog, I wrote about the transformational power of cloud computing, including technologies such as mobile, social and big data.

It was an important time of change for Lenovo and I am pleased to say that my ex-colleagues rose to the challenge and became #1 globally in personal computers shortly after.

I was able to follow a dream and be a co-founder in a fast growing software-as-a-service company. ChannelEyes set out to build the channel industry's largest social network, game-changing mobile platform, as well as the first predictive analytics engine to revolutionize how channel account managers drove indirect revenue.

The startup culture lived up to its hype - sleepless nights, company saving pivots, raising money, taking out the garbage, and a million other things done to educate, evangelize and disrupt a new market. The fact that I could keep serving the channel while focusing on future technologies was an amazing experience and one that I am very thankful to Bob Godgart, Dave Geoghegan, Shari Godgart, and the entire ChannelEyes team for sharing with me.

However, it is time for me to pivot once again.

I have written extensively in the past year about changes happening in the global channel. With over 75% of world trade flowing indirectly, there is never been a more important time to be engaged deeply in this industry. From the demographic shifts already underway, to the changing of the guard in who make technology decisions at customers, to the rise of shadow channels, this is another point of inflection that I want to dig much deeper into (not unlike 6 years ago).

I believe that ChannelEyes is well positioned with it's OPTYX and CHANNELCANDY platforms and is actively looking for a new CEO to take the company into the next 5 years. I believe in the product, the team and know they will continue to make an impact.

As for me, I am working on a couple of projects, consulting for a few fast growing companies, and in my spare time, writing a book about the future of partnering.

The Harvard Business Review published an interesting article recently that compared great channel chiefs with great general managers (as opposed to great sales managers). I believe channel chiefs have one of the toughest jobs in any organization, with an increasing pressure to perform and limited resources to do so. A Channel Chief is a part-time sales leader, marketer, finance leader, operations exec, lawyer, motivator, counselor, trainer, product manager, strategist, economist, support agent and futurist. In fact, there are 75 things that a chief is responsible for.

As I am contemplating my next steps, I would love to chat. Drop me a line at jamesrmcbain@gmail.com or give me a call at 919-597-1945. Who knows where it will lead!

Stay tuned...

- Jay

Top 100 Global Women in Technology Organizations

I was recently honored to be nominated to the Executive Council of CompTIA's Advancing Women in Technology community. As an important part of the world's largest technology association, the group looks to empower women with resources and information to positively impact their technology careers as well as inspiration to choose careers in technology.

My beautiful wife, Michelle Ragusa-McBain, is the chair and I was happy she helped me compile this list. I think it is critical to build bridges with other organizations that have similar goals.

This is the most comprehensive listing of Women in Technology groups found anywhere on the internet. 

The research was focused on 8 categories:

1. Professional Organizations
2. Media & Community
3. Empowering Younger Women
4. Regional Groups
5. Coding
6. Education
7. Accelerators / Investors
8. Creative Spaces

Additionally, these Top 100 Women in Technology Organizations can be followed in this Twitter list.

If you are female and thinking about entering the technology field, this is the place to start! Each of these organizations have shown success utilizing innovative methods of encouraging, enabling and empowering women in technology.

Here are the Top 100 Global Women in Technology Organizations:

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS





IEEE Women In Engineering (WIE) 

The mission of IEEE Women In Engineering (WIE) is to facilitate the global inspiration, engagement and advancement of women in technical disciplines. IEEE WIE envisions a vibrant community of IEEE women and men collectively using their diverse talents to innovate for the benefit of humanity.

Contact 1: Takako Hashimoto

Contact 2: Nita Patel

Contact 3: Bozenna Pasik-Duncan

Website: http://www.ieee.org/women

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ieeewomeninengineering/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ieeewie

Scope: International
Employees: 5802



United Nations Women 

All human development and human rights issues have gender dimensions. UN Women focuses on priority areas that are fundamental to women’s equality, and that can unlock progress across the board.

Contact 1: Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka 

Contact 2: Lakshmi Puri 

Contact 3: Yannick Glemarec

Website: http://www.unwomen.org/en 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unwomen 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/UN_Women

Scope: International 

Employees: 1573



CompTIA Advancing Women in Technology 

The Advancing Women in Technology Community works to: Empower women with resources and information to positively impact their technology careers. Inspire women to choose careers in technology. Help technology businesses create cultures that support a diverse workforce

Contact 1: Michelle Ragusa-McBain 

Contact 2: Cristina Greysman 

Contact 3: Cathy Alper 

Website: https://www.comptia.org/communities/advancing-women-in-it 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/advancingITwomen/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CompTIA_AWIT

Scope: International 

Employees: 609



Association for Computing Machinery – Women (ACM-W) 

ACM-W supports, celebrates, and advocates internationally for the full engagement of women in all aspects of the computing field, providing a wide range of programs and services to Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) members and working in the larger community to advance the contributions of technical women.

Contact 1: Valerie Barr 

Contact 2: Jodi TIms 

Contact 3: Yuqing Melanie Wu

Website: http://women.acm.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/11368693644/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACMwomENcourage

Scope: International 

Employees: 286 

AAUW

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) is the nation’s leading voice promoting equity and education for women and girls. Since our founding in 1881, AAUW members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day — educational, social, economic, and political

Contact 1: Mark Hopkins 

Contact 2: Christy Jones 

Contact 3: Cordy Galligan

Website: http://www.aauw.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AAUW.National 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aauw

Scope: International 

Employees: 263



Educause Women in IT Constituent Group 

The Women in IT Constituent Group collects and disseminates effective practices in the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in higher education IT. Through both virtual and face-to-face networking opportunities and by making good use of its affiliation with the National Center for Women & IT, this group provides a venue for addressing a wide range of issues affecting women IT professionals in colleges and universities, including securing high level leadership roles in higher education.

Contact 1: Brenda Spychalla 

Contact 2: Bernadette Williams 

Website: https://www.educause.edu/discuss/women-in-it-constituent-group 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EDUCAUSE 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/educause

Scope: International 

Employees: 127



Society for Info Management (SIM) Women

SIM is an association of over 3500 senior IT executives, prominent academicians, selected consultants, and other IT thought leaders built on the foundation of local chapters, who come together to share and enhance their rich intellectual capital for the benefit of its members and their organizations.

Contact 1: Kristen Lamoreau 

Contact 2: Deborah Decorrevont 

Contact 3: ​​Nanci Schimizzi

Website: http://www.simnet.org/default.asp?page=SIM_Women 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/societyforinformationmanagement/     

Scope: North American 

Employees: 73



Colorado Technology Association

Founded in 1994, the Colorado Technology Association is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the technology industry. Their mission is to foster growth and opportunity for the technology industry

Contact 1: Andrea Young 

Contact 2: Monica Coughlin 

Contact 3: Amy Regnier

Website: http://www.coloradotechnology.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ColoradoTechnologyAssociation 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ColoTechAsn 

Scope: Colorado 

Employees: 62



Women in Technology International

A network of women working in technology fields who provide support to each other through networking meetups, career services, events, and other offerings.

Contact 1: Carolyn Leighton 

Contact 2: David Leighton 

Contact 3: Lisa Flom

Website: http://www.witi.com/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WomeninTech 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/witi

Scope: International 

Employees: 60



TechWomen

TechWomen empowers, connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central and South 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.

Contact 1: Arezoo Riahi 

Contact 2: Jillian Scott 

Contact 3: Joanne Liou

Website: http://www.techwomen.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TechWomen 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techwomen

Scope: International 

Employees: 56



Women in Technology 

A not-for-profit organization that aims to help women advance in technology fields. They provide education in technology and leadership, networking events, mentoring, and awards.

Contact 1: Kathryn Harris 

Contact 2: Lisa Dezzutti 

Contact 3: Trish Barber

Website: http://www.womenintechnology.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WITWomenDC/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WITWomen

Scope: International 

Employees: 53



Society of Women Engineers (SWE) 

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is a non-profit educational and service organization that gives women the tools they need to succeed and advance in the field of engineering, and to be recognized for their contributions as engineers and leaders. SWE provides an array of training and development programs, networking opportunities, scholarships, and outreach and advocacy activities that help make engineering a desirable career choice for women.

Contact 1: Jessica Rannow 

Contact 2: Jonna Gerken 

Contact 3: Karen Horting

Website: http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Society-of-Women-Engineers/29752126120 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/SWETalk

Scope: International 

Employees: 50



National Center for Women & Info Tech (NCWIT) 

The National Center for Women & Information Technology is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization chartered in 2004 by the National Science Foundation. NCWIT is a “collective impact” effort, a community of more than 700 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase girls' and women's participation in technology and computing.

Contact 1: Lucy Sanders 

Contact 2: Terry Morreale 

Contact 3: Dori Farah

Website: https://www.ncwit.org 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ncwit

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NCWIT

Scope: National 

Employees: 50



Google Women TechMakers 

From 2014 to present, Women Techmakers is continually launching global scalable initiatives and piloting new programs to support and empower women in the industry.

Contact 1: Natalie Villalobos 

Website: https://www.womentechmakers.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/womentechmakers

Scope: International 

Employees: 10



Association for Women in Computing 

The Association for Women in Computing is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the advancement of women in computing profession. Our members are a diverse group of professionals in careers that touch every aspect of the computer industry. You’ll discover a camaraderie with our group that you won’t find in other professional organizations.

Contact 1: Cindy Jones 

Contact 2: Katie Bedney 

Contact 3: Jane Sheedy

Website: http://www.awctc.org/

Scope: Twin Cities 

Employees: 10



EdTechWomen

EdTechWomen is a network of educators, technologists, and business experts focused on leadership development for women in education technology. Its mission is to create an inclusive community of women and their supporters from all aspects of the education technology industry in order to build and enhance the leadership capacity of women.

Contact 1: Sehreen Noor Ali 

Contact 2: Margaret Roth

Website: http://edtechwomen.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edtechwomen/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/edtechwomen

Scope: International 

Employees: 7



ITWomen 

ITWomen is a non-profit organization with the mission of increasing the number of girls and women in the fields of technology and engineering and to provide professional development, student education and scholarships through a supportive network.

Contact 1: Claire Marrero 

Contact 2: Patricia Mundarain

Website: http://www.itwomen.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWomen1 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/itwomen

Scope: Florida 

Employees: 5



BPDA 

BDPA is a global member-focused technology organization that delivers programs and services for the professional well-being of its stakeholders. Founded in 1975, BDPA currently has 2400 members and wishes to be a powerful advocate for their stakeholders' interests within the global technology industry.

Contact 1: Earl Pace 

Contact 2: Mike Williams 

Contact 3: Pamela Mathews

Website: http://www.bdpa.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NBDPAConference 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BDPA

Scope: National

Employees: 3



Women's High Tech Coalition 

The Women’s High Tech Coalition (WHTC) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), non-partisan organization that promotes the exchange of ideas among leaders in the public and private sectors whose focus is technology, innovation and the development of public policy related to technology.

Contact 1: Melissa Foxman 

Contact 2: Sarah Akbar

Website: http://www.womenshightech.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Womens-High-Tech-Coalition/351307184947133

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WomensHighTech

Scope: National 

Employees: 2




MEDIA & COMMUNITY

Internet Society - Shine the Light 

Shine The Light is an international campaign that encourages people to boost the profile of incredible women around the world who are pushing boundaries using technology.

Contact 1: Kathryn Brown 

Contact 2: Mark Buell 

Contact 3: Karen Rose

Website: http://www.internetsociety.org/shinethelight 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/InternetSociety 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/internetsociety

Scope: International 

Employees: 270



CRN Women of the Channel 

Women of the Channel Online celebrates and fosters female leadership across the IT channel year-round, continuing and building on the conversations and ideas sparked at our industry-leading Women of the Channel events. This site provides a forum for sharing perspectives on life and work, recognizing the unique contributions of the women shaping today’s channel, and finding the tools and knowledge to grow and advance both personally and professionally.

Contact 1: Lisa McKenzie 

Contact 2: Doris Branscombe 

Contact 3: Robert DeMarzo

Website: http://wotc.crn.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/543952052428055/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WOTChannel

Scope: National 

Employees: 152



Anita Borg Institute 

Organizes conferences for women and awards for influential female leaders. Their goal is to not only help women thrive in technology fields, but make sure technologies are built to help women thrive.

Contact 1: Telle Whitney 

Contact 2: James Beck 

Contact 3: Elizabeth Ames

Website: http://anitaborg.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/anitaborginstitute 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/anitaborg_org

Scope: International 

Employees: 124



Girls in Tech 

An organization with 60 local chapters around the world that host events. Girls in Tech University brings workshops and resources to female college students pursuing a career in technology, and they also have mentorship programs for grade-school students.

Contact 1: Adriana Gascoigne

Website: http://www.girlsintech.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GirlsInTech 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/girlsintech

Scope: International 

Employees: 82

Women in Wireless 

An organization that promotes female leaders in mobile and digital through events in DC, New York, and San Francisco and spotlights on influential women.

Contact 1: Aurelie Guerrieri 

Contact 2: Emily McInerney
Contact 3: Jeni Gridley

Website: http://womeninwireless.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_172175914802 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WomenInWireless

Scope: International 

Employees: 56



Scientista Foundation 

The Scientista Foundation is a national organization that empowers pre-professional women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through content, communities, and conferences. Currently the largest network of campus women across STEM disciplines, Scientista serves to connect all communities of women in STEM at campuses across the nation, giving such important organizations more visibility and resources, and building a strong, cohesive network of women in science that can act as one voice.

Contact 1: Julia Tartaglia 

Contact 2: Christina Tartaglia 

Contact 3: Amanda Applebaum

Website: http://www.scientistafoundation.com/ 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/scientistafoundation 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/scientista_talk 

Scope: National 

Employees: 32



Baptie Women's Leadership Council 

The Women’s Leadership Council is a community of women who join together regularly to learn how to raise the overall success rate of enabling their success and leadership potential. This council share best practices, hear from industry leaders, and form other initiatives that drive successful women in Technology!

Contact 1: Rod Baptie 

Contact 2: Lisa Pavy

Website: http://channelfocuscommunity.net/community-groups/viewgroup/3-the-channel-focus-women-s-leadership-council 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/cfocuscommunity

Scope: National 

Employees: 29



Opportunity@Work 

Based at New America in Washington DC, Opportunity@Work is a civic enterprise whose mission is to re-wire the U.S. labor market to enable more Americans to achieve upward mobility in the job market and workplace, to facilitate actions by U.S. employers to develop the talent they collectively need to succeed and grow, and to scale up innovations that unlock more fully all people’s potential for higher-value, meaningful work as a source of economic opportunity and national competitive advantage.

Contact 1: Byron Auguste 

Contact 2: Karan Chopra 

Contact 3: Tyra Mariani

Website: http://www.opportunityatwork.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/opportunityatwork/

Scope: National 

Employees: 22



Women 2.0

A media organization highlighting female entrepreneurship. Organizers of Founder Friday meetups and the PITCH conferences in Silicon Valley and New York. Their sister organization in Latin America is Ellas 2.0. See our interview with CEO Shaherose Charania.

Contact 1: Kate Brodock 

Contact 2: Elisa Miller-Out 

Contact 3: Shaherose Charania

Website: http://www.women2.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Women2/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/women2

Scope: International 

Employees: 18



Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT) 

For us, a feminist approach to technology is a gendered critique of the design, use and impact of technology, as well as empowering women to participate in its future. We believe that equal participation of women in producing and decision-making regarding technology is important to ensure that widely used technologies do not affect women adversely.

Contact 1: Aakriti Gupta 

Contact 2: Anita Sonawane 

Contact 3: Ankita Rawat

Website: http://www.fat-net.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fatindia/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fattechy

Scope: India 

Employees: 16



#BrainBabe

#brainbabe is a thought leadership platform founded by Deidre Kashou Diamond dedicated to increasing the hiring of women in the Cyber Security and Technology professions, while also supporting those already in the professions with a communication framework that will advance and empower both women and men in the workplace.

Contact 1: Deidra Diamond 

Contact 2: Kyle Kennedy 

Contact 3: Lisa Kendall

Website: http://www.brainbabe.org 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cybersnbrainbabe/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/brain_babe

Scope: National 

Employees: 16



Lesbians Who Tech 

Lesbians Who Tech is a Community of Queer Women in or around tech (and the people who love them).

Contact 1: Leanne Pittsford 

Contact 2: Dom Brassey 

Contact 3: Brianna Boles

Website: http://lesbianswhotech.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesbianswhotech/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lesbiantech

Scope: International 

Employees: 12



Girl Geek Dinners 

A community that holds dinner events for women in STEM and helps them find inspiration and mentorship.

Contact 1: Sarah Lamb

Website: http://girlgeekdinners.com/ 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/girlgeekdinners 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ggdworldwide

Scope: International 

Employees: 11



Wonder Women Tech

Wonder Women Tech (WWT) is a non-profit organization which produces an annual conference and series of educational programming and initiatives that highlights, educates, and celebrates women and diversity in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics) innovation and entrepreneurialism. Our conferences and programming offer a variety of speakers, panel discussions, coding classes, community inclusion activities and other dynamic initiatives geared towards empowering women and diverse demographics.

Contact 1: Lisa Mae Brunson 

Contact 2: Brianna Machado 

Contact 3: Kimberly King

Website: https://wonderwomentech.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderwomentech/

Scope: International 

Employees: 9



Change Catalyst Tech Inclusion 

Change Catalyst empowers diverse, inclusive and sustainable tech innovation – through education, mentorship and funding. Our Tech Inclusion programs explore and develop innovative solutions to tech diversity and inclusion. We partner with the tech community to solve diversity and inclusion together through conferences, career fairs, strategic consulting and training. Our work spans the full tech ecosystem, including: Education, Workplace, Entrepreneurship and Policy.

Contact 1: Melinda Epler 

Contact 2: Wayne Sutton 

Contact 3: Susan Cooney

Website: http://changecatalyst.co/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/changecatalysts/ 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/techinclusionco

Scope: International 

Employees: 8



Femgineer 

We empower Female Engineers and provide courses and workshops to: educate, encourage professionals in the high-tech industry.

Contact 1: Poornima Vijayashanker 

Contact 2: Karen Catlin 

Contact 3: Fernando Garrido Vaz

Website: http://femgineer.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femgineer 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/femgineer

Scope: International 

Employees: 5



STEM for Her

STEM for Her, formerly known as Women in Technology Education Foundation, is a 501(c)(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.

Contact 1: Marian McKee 

Contact 2: Marguerete Luter 

Contact 3: Nanci Schimizzi

Website: http://www.stemforher.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STEMforHer 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/STEMForHer

Scope: National 

Employees: 5



Webgrrls 

A global organization with local chapter events, discussion boards, and job listings. Organizers of TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs, a two-day conference in New York to teach entrepreneurs to communicate with and manage their technical employees.

Contact 1: Kevin Kennedy 

Contact 2: Nelly Yusupov 

Website: http://www.webgrrls.com/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Webgrrls 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Webgrrls

Scope: International 

Employees: 4



Girl Geek Coffees (GGC) 

The sole purpose of Girl Geek Coffees (GGC) is to pursue charitable purposes of advancing the interests of minority females in Information Technology and related Science, Engineering & Mathematics fields, particularly at the development stages of student and early career.

Contact 1: Miriam Hochwald 

Contact 2: Felicity Cunningham 

Contact 3: Mahtab Mirmomeni

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/girlgeekcoffees/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/girlgeekcoffees/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GirlGeekCoffees

Scope: Australia/US 

Employees: 3



Channel Partners Women in the Channel (WIC) 

Women in the Channel connects female leaders in the telecom and IT channels for the purpose of collaborating to grow our businesses, support each other as women and mentor each other.

Contact 1: Hilary Gadda 

Contact 2: Nancy Ridge 

Contact 3: Khali Henderson

Website: https://womeninthechannel.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenInChannel 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WomenInChannel

Scope: National 

Employees: 3



Global Tech Women 

We are Global Tech Women. Our mission is to create a global network of inspired, connected and self-actualized women in tech.

Contact 1: Deanna Kosaraju 

Contact 2: Jerri Barrett 

Contact 3: Lisa C. Kaczmarczyk

Website: http://www.globaltechwomen.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/globaltechwomen/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlobalTechWomen

Scope: International 

Employees: 3



The RAISE Project 

Created by the Society for Women’s Health Research, it helps women find and apply for awards and grants in science, technology, engineering, math, and mathematics.

Contact 1: Stephanie Pincus 

Contact 2: Donna J. Dean 

Contact 3: W. Sue Shafer

Website: http://www.raiseproject.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RaiseProject 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RAISEProject

Scope: International 

Employees: 3



Tech LadyMafia 

Tech LadyMafia supports women who work in and around the internet. We are astrophysicists and developers, writers and digital strategists. We believe in very inclusive definitions of the words “women” and “ladies”. TLM is open is to anyone who identifies as a woman.

Contact 1: Erie Meyer 

Contact 2: Aminatou Sow 

Contact 3: Merici Vinton

Website: http://techladymafia.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tech-LadyMafia/737099386323386

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techladymafia

Scope: International 

Employees: 3



Women Catalysts 

Our events and online community are the place to get motivation, resources, and encouragement to make your dreams a reality. Because you can do it, and you don't have to do it alone.

Contact 1: Kim Hunter 

Contact 2: Lindsay Jean Thomson 

Contact 3: Leo Hunter Thomson

Website: http://www.womencatalysts.com/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/womencatalysts 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WomenCatalysts

Scope: International 

Employees: 3



Blacks in Technology 

The Blacks in Technology mission: Deliver the most relevant and beneficial information and network for African Americans in the technology field or pursuing a career in Technology. Focus on creating a community in which African Americans are comfortable, motivated and inspired to pursue careers in Technology.

Contact 1: Greg Greenlee 

Contact 2: Jennifer Epperson 

Contact 3: Ayori Selassi

Website: http://www.blacksintechnology.net/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blacksintechnology 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blkintechnology

Scope: National 

Employees: 3



TechWorldsHalf 

This is a private group to collaborate on encouraging and keeping half of the total workforce - women - in this amazing industry! Goals: 1. Share best practices to stay in tech. 2. Provide a forum to connect mentors and mentees for women in tech, and connecting them with the right opportunities. 3. Create a group of females in tech who can advocate more programs and services that keep women in the industry.

Contact 1: Janet Schijns 

Contact 2: Quinnie Wong 

Contact 3: Rokeya Jones/Jo Peterson

Website: https://twitter.com/techworldshalf 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/526726030820867/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techworldshalf

Scope: International 

Employees: 3



She's Geeky 

She’s Geeky provides a safe, friendly place for women in STEM to “geek out” and talk about their jobs, their passions, their lives and their hobbies in a supportive, non-competitive environment.

Contact 1: Kaliya Young 

Contact 2: Estee Solomon-Gray 

Contact 3: Shannon Casey

Website: http://www.shesgeeky.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShesGeeky 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@shesgeeky

Scope: International 

Employees: 3



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.

Contact 1: Patty Lopez 

Contact 2: Gilda Garreton 

Website: http://latinasincomputing.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinasincomputing/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LatinasInC

Scope: International 

Employees: 2



Chicago Women Developers 

Chicago Women Developers is run by a group of women from a variety of backgrounds and technical expertise, who are all passionate about coding and women in technology. They want to provide a place where all questions are OK and where everyone can learn in a supportive environment.

Contact 1: Nicole L. 

Website: http://www.meetup.com/WomanDevelopers/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CWDevs

Scope: Chicago 

Employees: 1



Tech Savvy Women 

Tech Savvy Women is an organization that brings Technology focused Women across various industries and disciplines together to create and foster relationships while enhancing their knowledge of technology.

Contact 1: JJ DiGeronimo 

Website: http://www.techsavvywomen.net/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/techsavvywomen 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjdigeronimo

Scope: National 

Employees: 1



EMPOWERING YOUNGER WOMEN



Girls Who Code 

An 8-week summer class teaching programming to high school girls in New York City. The girls take trips to Google,Facebook,Twitter, and Foursquare and work on a final project that tackles a challenge in their community, like recycling.

Contact 1: Reshma Saujani 

Contact 2: Mary Ellen Miller 

Contact 3: Deborah Singer

Website: https://girlswhocode.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GirlsWhoCode 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/girlswhocode

Scope: International 

Employees: 604



npower 

Npower is a national nonprofit organization of 23 members providing IT training and services to nonprofits and young adults. Through programs and service, Npower aims to bring the IT community together to do social good.

Contact 1: Bertina Ceccarelli 

Contact 2: Shannon Gibbons 

Contact 3: Patrick Cohen

Website: http://www.npower.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/NPower/10518342314 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NPowerOrg

Scope: National 

Employees: 253



Robogals 

Inspire, engage and empower young women into engineering and related fields

Contact 1: Emily Heffernan 

Contact 2: Mandy Jor 

Contact 3: Julie Boulton

Website: http://www.robogals.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robogals/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/robogals

Scope: International 

Employees: 68



Iridescent 

A program where high school girls create a prototype for an Android app, write a business plan, and pitch to VCs, while being mentored by women in tech. Created by Iridescent Learning.

Contact 1: Tara Chklovski 

Contact 2: Veronica Cavallaro 

Contact 3: Wallace Louie

Website: http://iridescentlearning.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImagineInventEngineer 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IridescentLA

Scope: International 

Employees: 41



Science Club for Girls 

SCFG fosters excitement, confidence and literacy in STEM for girls from underrepresented communities by providing free, experiential programs and by maximizing meaningful interactions with women mentors in science, technology, engineering & mathematics

Contact 1: Lonsdale Koester 

Contact 2: Kate Pickle 

Contact 3: Corrine Jager

Website: http://www.scienceclubforgirls.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SCFGFan 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/scfg

Scope: Boston 

Employees: 40



Black Girls Code

An organization that helps African-American girls ages 7-17 learn programming and take charge of their future, mainly through workshops across the country.

Contact 1: Kimberly Bryant 

Contact 2: Monique Wingard 

Contact 3: Tecia Garrett Marshall

Website: http://www.blackgirlscode.com/ 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/BlackGirlsCodeOrg 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/blackgirlscode

Scope: National 

Employees: 27



IT-ology 

IT-ology is a non-profit collaboration of businesses, academic institutions and organizations dedicated to growing the IT talent pipeline, fostering economic development and advancing the IT profession.

Contact 1: Tammy Mainwaring 

Contact 2: Rachel Barnett 

Contact 3: Jamesetta James

Website: http://it-ology.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IToLogy

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IT_oLogy

Scope: South Carolina 

Employees: 20



TechGirlz 

TechGirlz is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to reducing the gender gap in technology occupations. We develop fun and educational hands-on workshops, called TechShopz, and an annual Entrepreneur Summer Camp. These efforts aim to get middle-school age girls interested in different kinds of technology and demonstrate the varied options of careers available.

Contact 1: Tracey Welson-Rossman 

Contact 2: Karen Stellabotte 

Contact 3: Sarah Johnson

Website: http://www.techgirlz.org/ 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/techgirlzorg 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/techgirlzorg

Scope: National 

Employees: 18



MentorNet 

MentorNet, a division of Great Minds in STEM, connects STEM students from freshman year through the doctoral level with mentors working in a variety of STEM fields. Any STEM student in an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S. and professionals with STEM degrees may join our new open social network for mentoring at http://www.mentornet.org/join. More than 60% of MentorNet mentees are women and more than 30% are pursuing degrees in computing.

Contact 1: Mary Fernandez 

Contact 2: John Cross
Contact 3: Rebecca Rubenstein

Website: http://www.mentornet.net/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mentornet 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MentorNetTweet

Scope: International 

Employees: 17



AkiraChix 

AkiraChix is a not for profit organisation that aims to inspire and develop a successful force of women in technology who will change Africa’s future.Founded in April 2010, AkiraChix aims to be the leading women’s network impacting technology in Africa.

Contact 1: Angela O. Lungati 

Contact 2: Judith Owigar 

Contact 3: Linda Kamau

Website: http://akirachix.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AkiraChix/173842546011090 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AkiraChix

Scope: Africa 

Employees: 16

ChickTech 

We facilitate hands-on technology-centric events to empower, support, and increase the confidence of women and girls. Through our events, we build community, empower participants to see themselves as leaders, and provide networking and mentoring opportunities in the rapidly growing high tech industry.

Contact 1: Janice Levenhagen 

Contact 2: Sally Deck 

Contact 3: Ashly Alberto

Website: http://chicktech.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChickTech 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chicktechorg

Scope: National 

Employees: 8

DIY Girls 

DIY (“Do-It-Yourself”) Girls’ mission is to increase girls’ interest and success in technology, engineering and making through innovative educational experiences and mentor relationships. We're a supportive community for girls driven by an interest in creating and building with technology.

Contact 1: Luz Rivas 

Contact 2: Evelyn Gomez 

Contact 3: Keyanay Colvin

Website: http://www.diygirls.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/diygirlsLA 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DIYGirls

Scope: Los Angeles 

Employees: 8



Young Rewired State 

Young Rewired State (often stylized as YRS) is an organisation based in the United Kingdom, which run events and schemes for technically gifted young people aged 18 and under. It brings together young developers, designers, and those with other technical skills to build projects (mainly phone and web applications) that attempt to solve real world problems.

Contact 1: Emma Mulqueeny 

Website: http://www.yrs.io/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youngrewired/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/youngrewired

Scope: UK 

Employees: 8



HER Ideas in Motion 

HER Ideas in Motion is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation focused on helping girls achieve in technology and media arts. Through hands-on workshops and tech clubs, girls learn technical and creative skills from professionals, while building their own projects. In addition, HER Ideas in Motion has developed a women-led approach that combines female technical and creative professionals teaching and mentoring girls to provide access to female role models in these fields.

Contact 1: Rachel Wilkins Patel 

Contact 2: Nicole Capuana 

Contact 3: Chrissy Freeman

Website: http://www.herideasinmotion.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HERIdeasinMotion 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HERIdeas

Scope: Ohio 

Employees: 6



CodeEd 

A program that teaches computer science to girls in underserved communities, starting in middle school. They run classes in Boston, New York, and San Francisco.

Contact 1: Carey Tan 

Contact 2: Angie Schiavoni 

Contact 3: Sep Kamvar

Website: http://www.codeed.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/codeedorg 

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/codeedorg

Scope: NYC / San Fran 

Employees: 4



Go Girl, Go for IT 

Go Girl, Go for IT aims to excite and engage female secondary school students by introducing them to the vast range of global, lucrative and varied career options in IT. The event focuses on inspiring students with fantastic role model speakers, showcasing technology of the future and challenging their preconceptions of a career in IT. There will be access to a wealth of information that will assist students in making informed decisions about a career in IT.

Contact 1: Fi Slaven 

Contact 2: Sue Hogg 

Contact 3: Sara Ogston

Website: http://www.gogirl.org.au/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoGirlGo4IT 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoGirlGo4IT

Scope: Australia 

Employees: 3



MIT Women's Initiative

High school girls are taking high level math and science courses-with the exception of physics and engineering-at similar rates as their male peers; however, gender disparities begin to emerge at the undergraduate level, where men outnumber women in many STEM fields. Women receive only 18.2% of bachelor degrees awarded in computer science, 19.1% in physics, and 19.2% in engineering.

Contact 1: Yagnaseni Roy 

Contact 2: Jennifer Switzer 

Contact 3: Aswini Prasad

Website: http://web.mit.edu/wi/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/womensinitiativemit/

Scope: National 

Employees: 3



Girls Programming Network 

The Girls' Programming Network is run by girls for girls. We run workshop every term for high school girls in the Sydney area on programming & awesome IT stuff!

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/girlsprogrammingnetwork/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GirlsProgrammingNetwork 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gpn_sydney

Scope: Australia 

Employees: 0REGIONAL GROUPS



Women & Hi Tech 

Women and Hi Tech is an organization of women and men whose goal is to attract, develop, retain, support and promote women who are interested in technology, through networking, role modeling, education and professional development.

Contact 1: Tiffany White 

Contact 2: Audrey Taylor 

Contact 3: Robin Fleming

Website: http://womenandhitech.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/89845872652/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WomenandHiTech

Scope: Indiana 

Employees: 10



RichTech Women In Technology Forum 

The Rich Tech Women In Technology Forum is designed to provide networking, mentoring and educational opportunities for women involved at all levels of technology centric businesses or organizations. The mission of the forum is to be a catalyst in growing the interest of science, technology, math and engineering among today’s young women. The council organizes an inaugural Women ETC (Education, Technology, Careers) event that provides professional development, education, and collaboration amongst its participants.

Contact 1: Robby Demeria 

Contact 2: Tracy Dickerson 

Contact 3: Margaret Taylor

Website: http://rvatechwomen.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RVAtechwomen/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Women_etc

Scope: Richmond, VA 

Employees: 9



Philly Women in Tech 

A community that connects women in technology fields in Philadelphia to learn from and inspire each other. Host of the 2012 Women in Tech Summit.

Contact 1: Gloria Bell
Contact 2: Tracey Welson-Rossman
Contact 3: Kelly Hoey

Website: http://www.phillywomenintech.com/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WomenInTechSummit 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WomenTechSummit

Scope: Regional 

Employees: 5



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.

Contact 1: Nicole Noll 

Contact 2: Susan Buck 

Website: https://thewcc.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearewcc 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAreWCC

Scope: Boston 

Employees: 4



Chicago Women Developers 

Classes and events in Chicago for female programmers. They are in the middle of their Summer Apps Program, a series of three courses to transform your idea into a web and mobile app. They also host weekly open hack nights on Thursday (#XXHACK), where anyone can show up and get help on coding.

Contact 1: Melissa Pierce 

Contact 2: Alison Stanton 

Contact 3: Chelsea Troy

Website: http://cwdevs.com/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CWDevs

Scope: Chicago 

Employees: 3



DC Web Women 

A 3,000+ member organization of women in web design and development, IT, and other digital careers (such as blogging and marketing).

Contact 1: Sibyl Edwards 

Contact 2: Estela Rueda 

Contact 3: Ashley Holtz

Website: http://dcwebwomen.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DCWebWomen 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dcww

Scope: Washington DC 

Employees: 3



She++ 

A conference held at Stanford University on the opportunities, challenges, and role models for women in technology, to inspire more “femgineers”: female programmers who use their skills for positive change.

Contact 1: Reynis Vazquez-Guzman 

Contact 2: Katherine Van Kirk 

Contact 3: Shreya Shankar

Website: http://sheplusplus.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShePlusPlus/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sheplusplus

Scope: Stanford 

Employees: 3

CODING ORGANIZATIONS



CoderDojo 

CoderDojo is a worldwide movement of free, volunteer-led, community-based programming clubs for young people. Anyone aged seven to seventeen can visit a Dojo where they can learn to code, build a website, create an app or a game, and explore technology in an informal, creative, and social environment.

Contact 1: James Whelton 

Contact 2: Bill Liao 

Contact 3: Giustina Mizzoni

Website: https://coderdojo.com/ 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/coderdojo 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/coderdojo

Scope: International 

Employees: 170



Women Who Code 

Women Who Code is a global non-profit dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. We provide an avenue into tech, empower women with skills needed for professional advancement, and provide environments where networking and mentorship are valued. The organization has executed more than 1,200 free events around the world, garnered a membership exceeding 20,000, and has a presence in 15 countries.

Contact 1: Alaina Percival 

Contact 2: Jennifer TacheffContact 3: Joey Rosenberg

Website: https://www.womenwhocode.com/ 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/womenwhocode 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/womenwhocode

Scope: International 

Employees: 109



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

Contact 1: Melissa Sariffodeen 

Contact 2: Laura Plant 

Contact 3: Nicole Belanger

Website: http://ladieslearningcode.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladieslearningcode 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LLCodeDotCom

Scope: Canadian 

Employees: 92



Ada Development Academy

Ada Developers Academy is a training program located in Seattle, Washington for women who want to become software developers. Ada is tuition-free and is comprised of 6 months of full-time classroom training followed by 5 months in a paid industry internship.

Contact 1: Scott Case 

Contact 2: Elise Worthy 

Website: http://adadevelopersacademy.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adadevelopers 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/adaacademy

Scope: Seattle 

Employees: 63



Ladies that UX 

A friendly, welcoming and collaborative community, with a growing number of local groups based in cities worldwide.

Contact 1: Lizzie Dyson 

Contact 2: Georgie Bottomley 

Website: http://ladiesthatux.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LadiesThatUX 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ladiesthatux

Scope: International 

Employees: 26



Django Girls 

Django Girls is a non-profit organization and a community that empowers and helps women to organize free, one-day programming workshops by providing tools, resources and support. We are a volunteer run organization with hundreds of people contributing to bring more amazing women into the world of technology.

Contact 1: Kaja Milanowska 

Contact 2: Lucie Daeye 

Contact 3: Anubha Maneshwar

Website: https://djangogirls.org/ 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/djangogirls 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/djangogirls

Scope: International 

Employees: 15



Code It Like A Girl 

Code it Like a Girl is a digital media collective that creates content intended to inspire people who self-identify as female to follow their dreams. From technology news and how-to’s to remarkable stories of people all around the world, articles on feminism or just whatever we feel like talking-writing-filming about, we’ll be sharing our POV on anything that can be proven empowering, valuable, informative or entertaining to our audience.

Contact 1: Maria Dermentzi 

Contact 2: Anastasia Siapka 

Contact 3: Vasiliki-Eleni Provopoulou

Website: http://www.codeitlikeagirl.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/codeitlikeagirl 

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/codeitlikeagirl

Scope: Greece 

Employees: 15



Cloud Girls 

Cloud Girls is an open, vendor-neutral, not-for-profit community of female technology advocates dedicated to educating themselves, their organizations and customers about the vast and dynamic cloud ecosystem. By exploring emerging market and technical trends, advocating best practices/reference architectures and building community consensus, Cloud Girls is fostering the next wave of women in technology.

Contact 1: Jo Peterson 

Contact 2: Manon Buettner 

Contact 3: Michelle Hyde

Website: http://cloudgirls.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cloudgirls 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gocloudgirls

Scope: National 

Employees: 10



jduchess 

Duchess is a global organization for women in Java technology, currently with 550 members in over 60 countries. Duchess provides a platform through which women who work with Java can connect with each other and get involved in the greater Java community. It aims to make the role of women and the individual women's contributions visible in the Java community and to teach the benefits of diversity in any team environment - whether corporate or open-source.

Contact 1: Linda van der Pal 

Website: http://www.jduchess.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jduchess.org 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jduchess

Scope: International 

Employees: 8



Railsbridge 

RailsBridge workshops are a free and fun way to get started or level up with Rails, Ruby, and other web technologies. Our events focus on increasing diversity in tech, so that people of all backgrounds can feel welcome and comfortable in our industry.

Contact 1: Kari Bancroft 

Contact 2: Coraline Ada Ehmke 

Contact 3: Rachel Myers

Website: http://www.railsbridge.org 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/railsbridge 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/railsbridge

Scope: International 

Employees: 3



Outreachy 

Outreachy helps people from groups underrepresented in free and open source software get involved. We provide a supportive community for beginning to contribute any time throughout the year and offer focused internship opportunities twice a year with a number of free software organizations.

Contact 1: Marina Zhurakhinskaya 

Contact 2: Christie Koehler 

Contact 3: Sarah Sharp

Website: https://www.gnome.org/outreachy/ 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/outreachy

Scope: National 

Employees: 3



Latina Girls Code 

Formed in 2014, Latina Girls Code is a program created to fill the diversity gap between girls who are interested in technology through education and resources. LGC will provide mentors, access to hardware and digital tools as well as internships through various programs and events throughout the year. It is the endeavor of the organization to provide tangible education to those particularly in disadvantaged areas in hopes to spur interest in the technology.

Contact 1: Antonio Garcia 

Contact 2: Cindy Agustín 

Website: http://latinagirlscode.org/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LatinaGirlsCode/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/latinagirlscode

Scope: Chicago 

Employees: 2



Railsgirls 

Our aim is to give tools and a community for women to understand technology and to build their ideas. We do this by providing a great experience on building things and by making technology more approachable.

Contact 1: Linda Liukas 

Contact 2: Karri Saarinen 

Website: http://www.railsgirls.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/railsgirls 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/railsgirls

Scope: International 

Employees: 2



CodeChix 

CodeChix fosters continuous learning through our chapters’ events and workshops. Offerings include hacking sessions, technical talks, and hands-on, developer-led technical workshops. Sample events include Wikipedia’s Operations Infrastructure, Algorithms and Directed Acyclic Graphs, Mobile/Graphic Design for Engineers Workshop, Toy Robotics: My little Pleo, OpenShift Workshop, and Android Instalfest & App Building 101.

Contact 1: Rupa Dachere 

Contact 2: Sabrina Farmer 

Contact 3: Rebecca Parsons

Website: http://codechix.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/codechix/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/codechix

Scope: International 

Employees: 2



Pyladies 

We are an international mentorship group with a focus on helping more women become active participants and leaders in the Python open-source community. Our mission is to promote, educate and advance a diverse Python community through outreach, education, conferences, events and social gatherings.

Contact 1: Lynn Root 

Website: http://www.pyladies.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pyladies/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pyladies

Scope: International 

Employees: 1
EDUCATION




Girl Develop It 

Technical workshops for female programmers held around the United States, as well as in Canada and Australia. They aim to create a supportive environment where women can join the discussion and show off their skills. Courses are also available online.

Contact 1: Corinne Warnshuis 

Contact 2: Vanessa Hurst 

Contact 3: LaVonna Ricketts

Website: http://girldevelopit.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/girldevelopit 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/girldevelopit

Scope: International 

Employees: 127



Skillcrush

A site targeted at women to help them learn technology, including tech terms, Ask Ada (named after the first programmer), and other articles.

Contact 1: Adda Birnir 

Contact 2: Aisha Souto-Maior 

Contact 3: Ann Cadcarano

Website: http://skillcrush.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Skillcrush 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkillCrush

Scope: International 

Employees: 38



Hackbright Academy 

A 10-week training program for women in San Francisco – half learning, half doing. Applications for the fall program are due in August, and it costs $6,000.

Contact 1: Sharon Wienbar 

Contact 2: Scott Deming 

Contact 3: Angie Chang

Website: https://hackbrightacademy.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HackbrightAcademy 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hackbright

Scope: San Francisco 

Employees: 20


ACCELERATORS / INVESTORS




Golden Seeds 

A firm that invests in early-stage companies with a female founder/CEO or executive. They also offer business training to entrepreneurs and investors.

Contact 1: Jo Ann Corkran 

Contact 2: Loretta McCarthy 

Contact 3: Peggy Wallace

Website: http://goldenseeds.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoldenSeeds

Scope: National 

Employees: 193



Astia 

A not-for-profit organization that offers paid, week-long programs to help female entrepreneurs in technology, life sciences, and clean tech to learn skills for revenue generation, sales, and fundraising. Includes a support network of over 200 investors and 300 startup executives.

Contact 1: Sharon Vosmek 

Contact 2: Victoria Pettibone 

Contact 3: Yuka Nagashima

Website: http://www.astia.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/astiaglobal 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/astiaglobal

Scope: Silicon Valley / Global 

Employees: 145



Springboard 

Their “Forum Program” is an accelerator with two months of coaching for women-led businesses. They also offer pitch practice and educational programs to learn how to fundraise.

Contact 1: Kay Koplovitz 

Contact 2: Amy Millman 

Contact 3: Anna Consani

Website: https://www.springboardenterprises.org/ 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/springboardent

Scope: International 

Employees: 46



Bad Girl Ventures 

A microlending organization started by Candace Kleinthat helps women-owned startups in Ohio. Borrowers also get a nine-week course on business development.

Contact 1: Nancy Aichholz 

Contact 2: Angela Ozar 

Contact 3: Caitlin Saia

Website: http://www.badgirlventures.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BadGirlVentures 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BGV_Cincinnati

Scope: Ohio 

Employees: 17



Women Who Tech 

Organizers of the yearly Women Who Tech TeleSummit, with talks by women in technology, startups, and social media. Creators of the #Women2Follow hashtag onTwitter.

Contact 1: Allyson Kapin 

Contact 2: Lisa Stone 

Contact 3: Amy Sample Ward

Website: http://www.womenwhotech.com/ 

Facebook: http://facebook.com//groups/254758964539368/ 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/womenwhotech

Scope: International 

Employees: 5



FemaleDev 

This year, FemaleDev focuses on producing, mentoring, and nurturing female startup founders in Indonesia’s tech ecosystem.

Contact 1: Alamanda Shantika Santoso 

Contact 2: Aulia Jasmine Oktofan 

Contact 3: Niki Hidayati

Website: http://femaledev.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FemaleDev/ 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/femaledev

Scope: Indonesia 

Employees: 3



NewME Accelerator 

A 12-week mentorship program in Mountain View for startups led by a minority founder (African American, Latino, or female).

Contact 1: Angela Benton 

Contact 2: Eva Ho 

Website: http://www.newmeaccelerator.com/ 

Scope: NationalEmployees: 2


CREATIVE SPACES




digitalundivided 

digitalundivided uses innovation to foster the economic growth and empowerment of Black and Latina women entrepreneurs.

Contact 1: Kathryn Finney 

Contact 2: Darlene Gillard Jones 

Contact 3: Danielle Robinson Bell

Website: http://www.digitalundivided.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalundivided/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/digundiv/

Scope: Atlanta 

Employees: 7



Double Union 

Double Union is a space for your projects - Things women do in this space include sewing, programming, electronics, woodworking, fiber arts of all kinds, and zine making.

Contact 1: Alexsarah Collier 

Contact 2: Tina Coles 

Contact 3: Daniela Arias

Website: https://www.doubleunion.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doubleunion 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoubleUnionSF

Scope: San Francisco 

Employees: 5



Women's Center for Creative Work 

Founded in 2013, the Women’s Center for Creative Work, or WCCW, is a not-for-profit organization that cultivates LA’s feminist creative communities and practices. Combining a co-workspace on the LA river in Frogtown, project incubation facilities, residency programs, a rapidly growing network of over 15,000 followers, and a full calendar of artistic and professional development programming for female creatives, WCCW advocates for female-led creative businesses and projects in Los Angeles.

Contact 1: Sarah Williams 

Contact 2: Kate Johnston 

Contact 3: Emily Walworth

Website: http://womenscenterforcreativework.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/womenscenterforcreativework 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCCWLA

Scope: Los Angeles 

Employees: 3