anita borg Archives - The Grassy Road

Obama meets White Silicon Valley

It's great that President Obama came to silicon valley to meet with the leading tech CEOs. But the lack of diversity in the leadership of the Valley is made even more stark when the President is half African-American.Look a this "iconic" picture as Fortune dubs it. All white men except the President, Carol Bartz (the only one in color) and a blond woman with her back to the camera who does not even warrant a name. If we needed one more reminder of the need to recruit more women into [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:09:46-08:00February 18, 2011|Equality|4 Comments

Diversity helps when you need to recruit the best

Needing to hire the "best and the brightest" is like motherhood and apple pie. No-one can argue with it. And yet it is harder than you'd think for many companies. Great prospective employees can pick and choose and they make their decisions as often on soft issues like who they'd work with/for and what the culture of the company is like as they do on hard issues like project, title and pay.At FirstRain we work hard to create a fun work environment and to be innovative in our culture - [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:14:07-08:00August 12, 2010|Equality|0 Comments

I Am A Technical Woman – Anita Borg Institute

I am at the Grace Hopper Conference today in Tucson Arizona - here as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology. Check out the video the team made last night (and which is at the top of Digg this morning) - it will make you smile and give you sense of the power of this group of young women.The conference is a spectacular success - 1600 attendees - 99% technical women and 50% students. The energy and enthusiasm for technology is [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:16:39-08:00October 2, 2009|Equality|0 Comments

Celebrating Anita Borg on Ada Lovelace Day

I never met Anita Borg while she was alive - but I serve on the board of the non-profit that bears her name and so I am reminded of her legacy frequently.The Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology is about the impact of women on technology and the impact of technology on the world's women. It was originally set up by Anita to bring women together and advance them in technology and when she died it was renamed in her honor -- it's a testimony to Anita that the [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-03T02:44:47-08:00March 24, 2009|Equality|1 Comment