During my sophomore year I founded WiTech a non-profit organization supporting women in STEM. After further reflection, I realized that I couldn’t even name a single woman in tech. This epiphany led to a rabbit hole of research that revealed the gender gap locally and internationally. I read that only 18% of startups here in the Philippines were founded by women (according to the Philippine startup survey). Additionally, Payscale reported that women in tech are paid 18-22% less than their male counterparts. Instead of backing down when faced with these daunting statistics, my younger self knew that I had to do something to help ensure that my generation (and the ones to come) would face a more equal tech industry. Thus, WiTech was born.
Born as a blog, WiTech sheds light on women in tech from around the world and highlights the struggles they faced in their respective facets of tech. Our interviewees give advice as well to young technologists and cite many stories that highlight how wide the gender gap still is.
I’m often asked about how I find the women we feature. My answer is that I simply use the biggest resource available to me: the internet. In the early stages of WiTech, I sent tons of cold messages, introducing myself and WiTech’s mission--to educate, inspire, and empower youth to break gender barriers and use tech to make a difference in society.
As of June 2020, WiTech is a registered Philippine nonprofit that has 70+ members from 3+ countries. We hosted the first women in tech conference for students and by students in the Philippines, as well as taught 100+ students from marginalized communities how to code for the first time. Our overall goal is to build a future where all youth--regardless of their gender or socioeconomic status--have access to tech and the potential to use it for social good. With each conference and workshop that we hold, I know that we get closer to a future that’s more equitable than the one we see today.
To get in touch with me, email me via audrey@witech.org or DM @audreyisabelpe on Instagram!
For more info on WiTech, check out wi-tech.org and @witechorg on Instagram and Twitter.
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