May 4th, 2015

Global

SheSays at the White House

Our Boulder chapter was selected from 30,000 tech meetups to speak at the first-ever White House Tech Meetup!

It isn’t every day that you get to speak at The White House, but on Friday, April 17th that’s exactly what happened for SheSays Boulder.  In a special event, Meetup partnered directly with the White House to create the first-ever White House Tech Meetup. They reviewed 30,000 tech-focused Meetups and selected SheSays Boulder as one of 50 groups to join 100 government officials and technology thought leaders.

The event was designed to highlight the White House’s commitment to an “Innovation Nation” and power of community to bring positive change and opportunity to the tech industry.

“At first, I thought it was spam mail…I couldn’t believe it was real. Once that passed, I didn’t have to think about it. Sharing SheSays’ mission, what we’re building in Boulder, and in sister cities around the world was an amazing honor.” Said Mandaline Godown, who has co-chaired the group with Kecia Benvenutofor 3 years.

Just going to the White House is a pretty big deal, so we were thrilled to hear that Mandaline was also among 24 leaders asked to present at the event. SheSays story and efforts were featured (and streamed live) in a “Skillsharing & Learning Communities” Session.

A common theme throughout the day? Diversity and inclusivity. “Every organization was doing amazing work. What sets us apart at SheSays, is our specific effort to change the ratio and get more women in leadership roles. We don’t focus on coding, we inspire and inform women working in digital and build powerful networks to help them level-up faster.” Mandaline went on to say, “Bottom line – whether you’re a startup or fortune 500 company, having women in top positions creates better companies.”

The WH Tech Meetup also featured a few industry heavyweights, including Megan Smith, the U.S. Chief Technology Officer – previously the VP of GoogleX – who gave a rousing speech. (If you don’t know her, look her up. She’s awesome.) Mrs. Smith had this to say, “Our goals in gathering are to support America’s innovators, to better bridge digital divides, to interconnect us on common topics…because at the end of the day, everything happens in place. It happens locally. It happens in our communities.”

Thanks, Megan. We couldn’t say it better. We are proud to be part of the change in digital and help to usher in a better tomorrow for ourselves and the women who follow in our footsteps.

–MORE INFO–

Back to news