A group of women who get together monthly and talk about technology. We discuss where it has been, where it is going, and where it is now as well as issues arising from it and what problems it can resolve. We help the ladies of Jacksonville get more in touch with technology, and all it can encompass.
We started getting together in 2010 and founded the group in 2011 as Women in Information Technology. We became a social group that met at a restaurant bimonthly. In 2016, we started the peer to peer mentor-ship group as well as the college outreach and mentor-ship programs. With the membership we had, we were able to connect with the University of North Florida, Florida State College of Jacksonville, Jacksonville University, and Keiser University. Keiser University went a step further and offered us a meeting place and facilities for our group.
Because of this, Women in IT shifted from being a social group to a formal meeting group with presentations. With a more formal layout, we were able to start assisting one another in developing the necessary skills for both personal and professional growth.
In 2017, we started doing all-female IT panels at area conferences. We did a Women in IT panel for Jacksonville SQL Saturday Conference (Tampa, Atlanta, and Orlando as well), Jacksonville BSides, Jacksonville Microsoft Developers Tour, Code on the Beach, Jacksonville IT Pro Camp, Women and Minorities in IT Conference, Code Impact, and more.
In addition, we also started doing presentation series in the meetings to develop members’ soft skills, technical skills, and skills needed to start your own business. We had terrific local speakers come and teach us branding, communication, marketing, social media, speech skills, job search skills, resume building, website creating, coding/developer skills, and more, with the goal to help as many women as we could in our community that were interested in technology to learn and grow.
Many got the mentor-ship and assistance they needed to start their own companies, IT, or other STEM-related careers, seek out promotions, and move up and on from where they were when they started.
In 2018, the group voted to change the name from Women in Information Technology to Women in Technology because many of the members in the group were in industries outside of IT. Members came to learn about technology projects or how they could transition into technology-based careers. Because of this, we became Women in Technology.
In the fall of 2018, we also decided to open up the group to men. The idea being that it would be nice to have supportive men in the group, as well as to have more men and women together, working side by side in STEM careers. This idea spread rapidly with the help of our sponsors Eagle Wings Enterprises, Inc., Checkpoint, and Uniti Fiber. We were finally able to have enough members to start our High School STEM mentorship program at The Foundation Academy. As we continue to grow, we hope to help more people in this community grow and reach their goals as well as get more involved in STEM-related careers and activities.
