I have been lucky to get to know Judy Spitz, the founder of Break Through Tech, as I have transitioned into the role of Chicago Director of GET Cities. Judy originally founded the organization as WITNY (Women in Tech New York), which focused on graduating women with computer science degrees from CUNY, and is now expanding the program nationally. Break Through Tech is the educational partner of GET Cities and will be implementing their program in Chicago through the University of Illinois-Chicago.  Elle: Judy, thank you so much for taking this time to talk with me today. First of all,Read More

As the GET Cities Chicago team, we stand firmly in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. While we are made hopeful by the solidarity many in the tech industry have pledged to the Black community, we also know that the tech industry has a long way to go before it is truly inclusive of Black technologists, particularly Black women.  Our mission at GET Cities is to fight for the advancement of women in technology. We have to fight especially hard for Black women in tech because while the current state of women in technology is bleak, the numbers forRead More

Did you know that more than half of the professional occupations in the U.S. are held by women, but we only hold 26% of computing roles? While we continue to make progress in gender equality, the tech industry still lags behind. It’s even more discouraging for women of color. Just 3% of those computing-related jobs are held by African-American women, 7% held by Asian women and 2% by Hispanic women.  This is why I’ve joined GET Cities.  GET (Gender Equality in Tech) Cities is an initiative designed to accelerate the representation and leadership of women in tech to meet theRead More