UPDATED 14:30 EDT / JUNE 22 2018

WOMEN IN TECH

Fast-growing Girls in Tech group drives cultural revolution in identifying talent

In 2005, GoDaddy Inc. burst onto the scene with a Super Bowl commercial so racy it lost its second time slot. While the infamous ad was clearly intended as parody, it also served as an unfortunate illustration of a woman’s place in the world of business and technology.

Only 18 percent of all tech roles are held by women, a number that drops to 10 percent at the executive level. The industry’s diversity issue goes far deeper than a few questionable commercials, which is why organizations like Girls in Tech Inc. are working to inspire and support women and create actionable diversity and inclusion strategies for businesses.

Considering the reversal GoDaddy has since made in an effort to distance itself from its early reputation, it appears the industry may finally be ready to accept the change Girls in Tech hopes to achieve.

“We have over a hundred thousand active members … [and] a list of over 160 people who want to start chapters in their city, which is really telling about what people think about Girls in Tech, how our programs are impacting these tech communities, [and] how we’re empowering women to have a voice,” said Adriana Gascoigne (pictured), founder and chief executive officer of Girls in Tech.

Gascoigne recently sat down with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference in San Francisco. (* Disclosure below.)

With the help of sponsors and board membership from Laura Messerschmitt, vice president of global customer experience at GoDaddy; Wendy Howell, chief of staff of services product management at Cisco Systems Inc.; and Wendy M. Pfeiffer, chief information officer of Nutanix Inc., Girls in Tech has grown into 60 cities over six continents in just 11 years. As the many benefits to recruiting and retaining diverse talent are increasingly realized by the industry at large, the organization is continuing to expand its mission of helping women and businesses thrive through greater inclusion.

This week, theCUBE spotlights Adriana Gascoigne, Wendy Pfeiffer, Laura Messerschmitt and Wendy Howell in our Women in Tech feature.

Watch the complete video interview with Adriana Gascoigne below:

‘Making our own playing field’

Gascoigne founded Girls in Tech in 2007 to provide a community for women struggling to advance in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, careers. Despite a slow start due to lack of funding, Gascoigne’s tenacity drove the Girls in Tech mission and attracted the attention of companies eager to participate in and support the growing inclusion movement.

“We’re a diverse board. … She has brought together people who are leaders in the technology space, but also folks who are passionate about building a healthy nonprofit organization; one that’s global, one that can scale,” Pfeiffer said.

With the initial backing of GoDaddy, the organization’s first sponsor, Girls in Tech was able to begin hosting the Catalyst Conference, which brings women together to learn, network and connect. Support from Cisco, Nutanix and others soon followed, enabling the organization to expand its reach through programs like its Bootcamp training and Amplify Women’s Pitch Night, a competition that allows female entrepreneurs to pitch their early-stage startups to a panel of tech leaders.

“Adriana’s had this big vision for a really long time. Really focused on educating women, helping them to understand the potential of careers in tech, and technology knowledge. … More than just creating a level playing field, I think we’re making our own playing field,” Pfeiffer said.

Watch the complete video interview with Wendy M. Pfeiffer below:

Not just a buzzword

Beyond nurturing a supportive community of female professionals, Girls in Tech is shifting business priorities throughout the industry. With a number of noteworthy commercial partners, the organization’s influence is creating an inclusion ripple effect.

“What we learn at conferences like this is that there are enough women candidates, but we don’t necessarily recognize those women, and we don’t know where to find them,” Pfeiffer said. “And so we’re sort of trying to change how we speak and think. … It’s a cultural revolution in terms of identifying talent where it sits.”

Motivated by the work being done by the Catalyst Conferences, Howell returned to Cisco with a diversity plan that included more than just a monetary investment in the org. “We’re being a little more thoughtful, and we really want to continue to show the return on investment for our organization. So we’re really focusing more on the recruiting aspect,” she said.

The company is now looking to recruit from the pool of Girls in Tech participants in an effort to more directly shift the cultural paradigm toward inclusion.

While this direct focus on diversity is clearly a necessary culture shift for the industry, companies implementing conscious recruiting strategies are also seeing the business advantages to a diverse team. “Every large organization right now, over the last three years, has come to that realization. This diversity is not just a buzzword, it’s a thing. We know that there are greater ideas that come out of it, more diverse ideas,” Howell said.

Watch the complete video interview with Wendy Howell below:

With guidance from Girls in Tech, GoDaddy carried out a top-down rebrand that resulted in an increase of women hires from 14 percent to 40 percent in one year. The company’s strategy included writing more gender neutral job ads and implementing a diversity quota in its interview process.

“We required each hiring manager to have at least one diverse candidate when they interviewed. What we found is that when the hiring managers would go out to find diverse candidates … they’d find not one, but five. … A lot of times, women were the ones getting hired because they were the best candidate,” Messerschmitt said.

The shift enabled greater insight into the company’s 60-percent female customer base and encouraged GoDaddy to spread the inclusion mission throughout the industry.

Diversity-enabled innovation

Even outside the reach of Girls in Tech, the advantages to a diverse team have been proven time and again. Not only does inclusion have a positive impact on company culture and productivity, diverse businesses see economic benefits as well. Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity have been shown to be 15 percent more likely to earn above average financial returns.

“If you have a more diverse and innovative workforce, you’re able to create products and services that are more diverse, more comprehensive. You have more opportunities to problem solve in a creative way … in addition to creating a company culture that’s more conducive to creating safety and comfortable work environments for all employees,” Gascoigne said.

Firmly aligned with the Girls in Tech mission, GoDaddy has enjoyed significant benefits after prioritizing inclusion.

“Previous to this change, a lot of the technical people were all men,” Messerschmitt said. “I started to see women being hired into these other functions, and it opened up a world of possibility. The company’s better off because of it, [and] our financial results have been great.”

Watch the complete video interview with Laura Messerschmitt below:

These moves toward greater overall industry diversity are promising, but only the beginning for Girls in Tech. By 2020, the organization plans to expand into 75 chapters worldwide. As the program scales, Gascoigne maintains the Girls in Tech mission of encouraging women to excel in their tech careers.

“We want people to find their passion and purpose in life and achieve that. … If you do what you love, you can be way more productive and happier. And at the end of the day, isn’t that our goal?” Gascoigne concluded.

Be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference. Neither Girls in Tech, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE

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