ChickTech was founded in 2012 to engage women and non-binary people of all ages in the technology industry while working to create a better technology culture for all. ChickTech has directly impacted tens of thousands of participants, bringing community and support to people of all genders. Our programs include ChickTech: High School – free STEM workshops and mentorship for high school students of marginalized genders; and ACT-W (Advancing the Careers of Technical Women) – conferences, events, and an online community for technologists of all genders. And wherever possible, we partner with companies and community organizations to expand our impact.
ChickTech is dedicated to advancing diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by increasing retention and building the pipeline of underrepresented technologists, with a focus on women, girls, and non-binary people of all ages.
ChickTech envisions a future where all people—regardless of gender expression, racial identity, disability, age, or amount of experience in tech—feel welcome and empowered in an inclusive STEM community.
ChickTech works to improve both the pipeline (K-12) and retention of women and non-binary people in tech. This means that volunteers aren’t just giving their time and energy to our K-12 program but are also getting what they need to stay in the tech industry.
ChickTech: High School, one of our signature programs, is targeted towards girls and non-binary youth who don’t think of themselves as technical but who have the aptitude to do well in it. The high school program is also a yearlong series of opportunities, which builds a sense of community and belonging while allowing our students to connect with many informal mentors throughout the year.
We find the students who aren’t opting into other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs and we change their idea of who they can be and who a technologist is. Most of our high school students have never coded or created a tech project before… but 2/3 of them go on to other tech opportunities after they’re part of ChickTech!
We believe all people—regardless of how technical they are—are valuable members of the tech community. If you’re in marketing, HR, legal, management, etc, we want you to be part of our community as both volunteers and attendees!
We are an open organization, which means we make as few top-down decisions as we can! All people, whether paid or not, are viewed as community members who should have a say in how our community runs.
When ChickTech was founded, we chose ‘chick’ to reclaim the word, with the belief that women have the right to call themselves by whatever label they choose and that traditionally feminine women belong in tech.
Today, ChickTech continues to stand by our belief that all people, regardless of gender presentation or identity, have value and deserve respect. However, we understand and acknowledge that the word ‘chick’ does not represent all those we aim to serve.
As an organization whose mission is to empower women, girls, and non-binary people of all ages in STEM, we prioritize the continuous evolution of our brand, including our name, to ensure ChickTech is an empowering brand that reflects our diverse community and the greater technology industry.
Do you have suggestions for how we can continue to improve in regards to diversity, equity and inclusion? We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us at [email protected] or through the Contact Us page of our website.
Another question that we are often asked is around the color pink. We are often told that girls don’t have to like pink, which we absolutely agree on! However, we feel it’s also okay when girls *do* like pink. In our society, things that are traditionally feminine have often been viewed as “less than”–whether that’s enjoying makeup and dressing up, playing with dolls, or choosing a “helping” profession such as nursing.
PSU 2016 High School Kickoff. Photo by Wojtek Rajski.
