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    • Aug 11, 2020
    • 9 min read

August 11: Women in Tech Weekly Issue 71

Women are amazing! Let this issue be another reminder of the fact, we have so many awesome celebrations and resources as always 🥰

If you’d like to submit anything for next week’s issue, please do so using the submission form at the bottom of this post.

New Project 🌟

Community has been at the centre of everything I do for years now ❤️ I think that notion of belonging, support and sisterhood is the best way to raise everyone’s level. It’s the best way to generate ideas, solve problems and create better, more inclusive products and services. It raises everyone’s level!

I’ve been itching to create a community for women in STEM for years now and it’s time to do that. I feel like it’s now or never! Watch this space for upcoming updates 🥰 If you’d like to be the first to know when it launches, please express your interest by filling out the form below!

I’m pausing Featured posts as I’m focusing more of my energy on building this. I hope that the result will help you find and connect with even more strong, inspiring, like-minded, stereotype-breaking women in STEM!

Celebrations 🥂🎉

Alenna successfully concluded one of the challenges she organized at her organization’s hackathon!

In her own words:

“From being the first remote hire to the Digital Innovation team of ADB, I led the first ever virtual hackathon using our open innovation platform to crowdsource ideas and

solutions. The specific challenge that just concluded is under the energy department which is my background! I never could have imagined that I would be able to merge all my skillset and passion in one place. For me, that’s a big breakthrough! “

Alenna’s profile is private, so I’m not able to embed her post 🙂

Natasha gave a talk to the Google AI residents!

In her own words:

“I gave a talk to the Google AI residents about predicting breast cancer using AI. This work was published in the beginning of the year in Nature.”




A post shared by @ blonde_ai on May 22, 2019 at 11:20am PDT

Maya celebrated her birthday!

Happy Birthday, you beautiful sunshine of a human! I hope you’ve had a wonderful day ❤️ may this year bring you love, joy and a ton of fulfillment!




A post shared by Maya – Software Engineer (@maya_loves_code) on Aug 7, 2020 at 10:31am PDT

Natalie celebrated 5 years of her company!

Congratulations, Natalie! This is such an exciting milestone and an awesome time to reflect what you’ve achieved. And you’ve achieved incredible things, building an international community 🥰 so grateful to have discovered it myself!




We are celebrating 5 YEARS of @risingtidesociety today! 😭🥰🎉 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m hard at work in my office this morning—tropical storm raging outside, hair in a messy braid, wearing yoga pants for the 100th day in a row—focused on cultivating community in a season when small business owners need it most. And in home offices all over the world are other RTS leaders, moderators, and team members doing precisely the same thing… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Waking up and striving to make this world a little better than how we found it. Separated by distance, but united by a shared vision and values that keep us pushing forward. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thank you to every single person who makes our community great… You inspire me! Cheers to FIVE YEARS of raising the tide and championing community over competition all around the world. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this amazing group! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎉PS: Who have YOU met through RTS? I want to know in the comments below. Tag friends you’ve connected with or a business owner you’ve discovered through this community. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ These connections are what it is all about. 🙌🏼 The friendships forged and livelihoods empowered are a legacy that we will forever be proud of. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #risingtidesociety #honeybook #tuesdaystogether #annapolis #communityovercompetition

A post shared by Natalie Franke (@nataliefranke) on Aug 4, 2020 at 8:32am PDT

Sonia got accepted into a Master’s Program at Oregon State!

You go girl, congratulations!! That’s such an exciting new step, can’t wait to follow your journey throughout it 😍




Exciting news!! I’ve been accepted into the Oregon State engineering accelerated masters program🎓🥳! As my senior year approaches I am excited to be able to apply some of my credits towards my masters degree! ⁣ ⁣ Last year at Oregon State less than 2% of Hispanic women graduated with a graduate degree in engineering. I am excited to help change the statistic and continue to share my story as an underrepresented minority in stem in the hopes to encourage more students to pursue higher education! ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ #computersciencegirls #girlinc #math #computerscience #computer #girls #girlsinstem #stem #coding #girlsthatcode #devgirls #girl #interview #network #networking #pdx #coder #coding #girllife #cs #girllifestyle #collegestudent #google #studentlife #studying #study #ladycona #devgirls #devgirl ⁣

A post shared by 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐎 🇲🇽 (@sonia_macho) on Aug 3, 2020 at 8:00am PDT

Lauren celebrated 3 years since she started her coding journey!

What an incredible date, congratulations, Lauren! I bet you are so proud of that decision and your growth in the meantime 🥰 thank you for sharing your journey and creating so much value and knowledge!




3. Years. Ago. Today. Holy smokes. I began my journey to learn to code exactly three years ago. This was my “First Day of [Coding] School Picture” & was off to attend @adadevacademy I had just quit my teaching job at @seattleacademy, a job I absolutely LOVED, and was embarking on such an unknown. I remember feeling every possible emotion that day: Nervousness. Excitement. Self-doubt. Shock that I had gotten into Ada in the first place. Humbled by the opportunity. Fearful that I wasn’t smart enough. Terror over taking such an incredible leap of faith. I had NO clue what was in store for me. I could never have imagined how hard that year would be. But I also had no way of knowing what opportunities this journey would ultimately have in store. It is WILD to think about how much has changed in those three years. Reflecting now, from a zoomed-out perspective, it feels all the more incomprehensible. Over those 3 years I: Learned 3 different coding languages and built countless apps Worked at 3 different tech companies Spoke at 7 conferences Learned the art of negotiation, got an incredible promotion, and tripled my salary since leaving teaching Launched the #WeBelongHere podcast & interviewed so many incredible individuals to help amplify and celebrate their unique journeys to tech Got married Bought a house Adopted 🐶Cubbie Got divorced Uprooted my life and moved from Seattle to Miami Traveled all over the world Learned to live & embrace the uncomfortable and the unknown Learning to code set me off onto an adventure unlike one I’d ever experienced. Some days, I still feel like the dumbest person in the room when I can’t figure out the bugs in my code. But on others, I remember that I took a massive risk on myself, consciously chose to switch from teacher to student, and I remind myself that I actually now know how to code! (I mean seriously, how cool is that?!) I'm beyond grateful for where this journey has led me. The ride was just as exciting as the destination & it truly has only just begun! This 📸, as cheesy as this may sound, is my reminder to believe in yourself & take that leap of faith. I promise you won't regret it!

A post shared by Lauren Lee (@lolocoding) on Aug 7, 2020 at 2:47pm PDT

Linda celebrated her birthday!

Happy Birthday, Linda! Stay the incredible badass that you are, keep inspiring us everyday ❤️ may this year bring you wonderful experiences and moments with your loved ones!




A post shared by Linda Vivah | לינדה (@lindavivah) on Aug 4, 2020 at 3:47pm PDT

We all struggle with self-doubt, the need for external validation and that inner critic that never seems to chill and let us be.

But I want you to remember that you are wonderful, unique and are bringing so much value in this world. Sometimes it just takes intentional work to recognise that – and we should all have habits in place that remind us of our own self-worth. Click here to download my list of Self-Worth Strengthening Affirmations and Gratitude Prompts!

Resources 👩‍💻

Jessica says:

“Talking about the uncertainty and intimidation that many of us women face when deciding to pursue a career in technology and how I was able to find inspiration to fuel my passion in coding.⁣”




Hi everyone, meet @itsjessicahua, a full-stack software engineer. Her coding journey began when she would stay up most nights designing her Myspace profile layout. Although she enjoyed coding, she bounced around multiple majors before committing to computer science. Due to the field being heavily dominated by men and lacking women role models, she couldn't envision her future in the tech industry. Luckily her passion for technology outweighed her uncertainty. She met multiple women in tech with similar interests and hobbies in her first software engineering job. There would've been less intimidation and hesitation to pursue engineering if she had met more like-minded women early in college. Based on this realization, she started highlighting her engineering lifestyle on Instagram and started a blog at jessicahua.com, in hopes to inspire other women to fuel their passion for technology. Unfortunately, this story is not unique to just Jessica. Many women share uncertainty, hesitation, and intimidation starting their career in technology and engineering. Only 26% of computing-related jobs are held by women. As technology advances, it is absolutely imperative for more women to be part of it. "Girls who code, write the future" and the future will be much better when we have an equal contribution from all genders.

A post shared by 120 Seconds Advice (@120secondsadvice) on Aug 1, 2020 at 12:18pm PDT

Alenna says:

“We are crowdsourcing innovation from global problem solvers: startups, companies, universities, research organizations, and industry players.

Selected ideas and solutions will be provided with access to resources for further prototype development and pilot launch.”

Kayla says:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed societal and industrial vulnerabilities and diverse perspectives are vital to address these unique challenges.

Women Who Tech, the largest organization combating the severe lack of funding for women-led tech startups, opened applications for a new grants program built to fund women-led ventures focused on solving the biggest health, education, employment, civic engagement, and financial issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. “

How To Find A Job You Love In Times Of Covid – created and shared by me

We are living in unprecedented times. A lot of industries have turned upside down, people have lost their jobs and human interaction has changed drastically. So how does one approach job searching these days? And it is possible to find a role that you love, that will be the right career move and one that will fulfill you?

As long as you’re using your voice, creating content and expressing your opinions, you will find people who disagree with you. And if you are doing all of that online, you’re probably going to receive hateful comments. How can you deal with those? How can you stop those negative comments on your social media from getting to you and hurting you? Let’s talk about that today.


Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you’d like to share something for next week’s issue, here’s the submission form!! Bookmark that and add anything you’d like to share in there 🙂

</Coding Blonde>

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