Women in Tech: A Conversation with SPR

Recently, philanthropist Melinda Gates pledged $50 million towards “inclusive tech hubs” through Pivotal Venture’s “Gender Equality in Tech Cities” initiative. The initiative seeks to increase the power and influence of women in tech through greater education and hiring, and the UIC College of Engineering received an initial grant for its computer science program in an effort to eliminate gender disparities in the tech field. In a city where there are numerous efforts in Chicago to drive inclusion and diversity in technology, provide software development training for young women curious about technology, foster professional networking for women in tech, and increase awareness around diversity and inclusion issues (with an upcoming performance for International Rescue on February 14th), we wanted to explore the implications for Chicago’s tech community.

We recently spoke with two representatives from SPR, a Chicago-based firm that has consulted with businesses around technology needs for almost fifty years. We spoke with Executive Director Litha Ramirez, who leads their Experience Strategy and Design Group, as well as Chief Technology Officer Matt Mead, who spearheads company efforts like SPR’s Women’s Q & A series for the company and its partners and the Women in Chicago Tech Happy Hours. Both of them agree that Melinda Gates’ initial effort is a great start towards not only fostering more women in tech but also fostering a greater sense of diversity and inclusion.

A quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. comes to mind: “None of us are free until we are all free”.

Although this investment is a great move to improve the number of women in tech, neither Litha nor Matt believe that this is a cure-all. With two other potential candidate cities to receive funding, Melinda Gates’/Pivotal Ventures’ effort should serve as a motivation towards engagement than a “one-shot” remedy to address gender disparities in the tech field. (With other, smaller organizations working towards driving gender and other inclusion into the tech field, Litha remarked that Chicago has multiple resources and that this funding is like an additional “one inch of icing on the cake”.) Matt described Melinda Gates’/Pivotal Ventures’ action as a “public proclamation”, engaging and mobilizing some organizations towards action and placing pressure on other local organizations to increase their involvement and potential funding. Either way, Melinda Gates’/Pivotal Ventures’ announcement of fostering inclusive tech hubs and greater percentages of women in tech fosters greater attention towards the issue and potentially greater funding and action/activism in Chicago.

Although women comprise slightly more than 30% of tech startup founders, they also have a much higher dropout rate for women in tech than their male counterparts. However, part of this can be alleviated through policy and workplace programs for working mothers and family leave. However, this initiative provides a great opportunity to engage the latest generation of women in the tech field. Setting up

Both Litha and Matt remarked that Chicago has the largest tech scene (and the biggest market) outside of both coasts. With its relatively subdued presence and minimal hype, Chicago is primed to foster more successful startups with greater opportunities for growth and a better sense of balance. (In other words, “the clay hasn’t been put into the kiln”). Chicago also has a more geographically and racially diverse city, with communities that are “hungry” for learning, services, and greater grassroots engagement. The overall idea is that building opportunities to drive collaboration and cooperation can be empowering to many professionals (not just women in tech), and provide stronger teams and more effective solutions.

But the Melinda Gates/Pivotal Ventures initiative to foster women in tech should not be seen as the sole solution but as a critical first step. Just like Netsquared Chicago started a conversation that continues and flourishes around technology for nonprofits (and full disclosure – I am a former Netsquared organizer), this action should be seen as a rallying cry for both the Chicago tech scene and the greater public. Both Litha Ramirez and Matt Mead of SPR emphasized that the Melinda Gates/Pivotal Ventures initiative should serve to kickstart a mix of the right investments to make fostering programs that foster diversity and inclusion both sustainable and profitable.

And fostering the inclusion of women in tech is a key start.

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As always, thanks for reading!

Leonard Nimoy, Diversity and Social Change

Photo by Gage Skidmore

With Leonard Nimoy’s passing, I have found myself reflecting back both personally and professionally. Growing up watching Star Trek, I was strongly influenced both by Nimoy’s performance…but also with the show’s focus on diversity, tolerance, and acceptance. In recent months, I have had some experiences that have me reflecting on those values as they apply to nonprofits, social ventures/social entrepreneurship, and other mission-driven organizations.

There’s been no major incident – just a variety of smaller things that provide some concern. A social entrepreneur once confiding in me that he felt nonprofits were “ineffectual”, and that business was the only answer. Board members of an organization espousing values but acting in a contrary manner. A colleague advising me against any overt criticism of our field, because we’re “too busy tearing each other down”….or words to that effect.

On the one hand, I wonder if any perception of a “split” between social ventures and nonprofits is merely due to a highly charged, more competitive environment in Chicago. Everyone has a role to play, and perhaps the need to tout one over the other may be due to a perception of scarcity of resources rather than the power of collaboration. In addition, I think that many of these experiences speak to key values in the social benefit field: diversity, tolerance, acceptance, and community.

For me, Nimoy’s passing has brought many of these values to the forefront – especially since his primary role helped me develop greater tolerance and wider belief in diversity. In fact, my main underlying principle (which informs this very blog) is that nobody has a monopoly on driving or advocating for social change. Perhaps focusing less on our own “nobility” in driving social change and more on building stronger collaborations with other like-minded individuals and organizations. One particular Star Trek episode proposed the concept of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) which proposes the idea that when different elements interact – and when we come to a common thread – the result are more creative, influential strategies and outcomes.

But one of the building blocks for this is self-exploration: looking at our own innate biases, assumptions, etc. Perhaps this recent video by Jay Smooth, focusing on the Oscars, can explain the process much better than I can:

As professionals in various organizations – nonprofits, social ventures, community agencies, and other mission-driven organizations – we should be focusing as much on being good as on doing good. Making a commitment to checking our own assumptions and biases – regardless of whether we believe we’re on the “right side” of this issue – is a critical first step in driving a much more diverse environment that fosters social change. Many of us do not challenge our own assumptions, or worse – simply assume that we’re automatically “covered” because we’re on the “right side”. But such introspection and self-examination should be as much a part of our personal and professional missions as it is for various Chicago organizations. And with tolerance comes acceptance that despite any difference or disagreement, an organization or community’s strengths comes through handling and resolving such conflicts in a healthy manner, and that greater social ideals can transcend ideologies.

So what does all this have to do with the passing of Leonard Nimoy? Simply this: he portrayed a character struggling with a dual heritage and a dual mindset (logic-based Vulcan vs emotion-based human). Working as part of a greater community, Spock found himself frequently in conflict with others (most notably a man who continually asserted his identity as a doctor) but handled his own outer and inner quest well. Nimoy also served as an ambassador for the very humanistic values that Star Trek dramatized within its stories. But one of Nimoy’s most frequently quoted lines has great relevance and resonance for social change agents in Chicago:

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…or the one….”

Sometimes, it’s less about ourselves and more about our goals. Just something to consider and contemplate.

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