When I finished Crushing the IT Gender Bias, I thought I’d sit down and write the next book soon after. I had the stories, but they just didn’t feel good, no matter how much I had the drive. I was able to end the book describing a little bit about the peace I’d discovered at the beginning of my time at Microsoft, but now, eight years later, I’m ready to write the next book.
A lot has happened in over eight years. My time at Microsoft taught me more than I expected about scale, about influence, and about where I wanted to spend my energy. It also taught me how I could drive change, even in a technical area no one thought I could. There was the slow, sometimes surprising work of finding peace in the technical world, and how Microsoft dealt with DEI, from the top down, made a huge difference for me as a woman in tech. That’s not the same as giving up the fight and had more to do with knowing the battle lines changed once I was on more equal standing. I was able to help more people, both men and women, find their own peace and happiness, which brought me deeper satisfaction in my career and life as well.
The time with Women in Technology groups, from Microsoft, (I’m still an organizer for the Data Platform DEI User Group) to my new venture in Portland for Women in Tech, has shaped me as much as any job title. These communities have been where I’ve found the most honest conversations, the most generous people, and the clearest proof that things can get better when people decide to build it together. The bonds I’ve built with the women in the technical world are worth more to me, which is saying a lot from a loner girl who thought she simply didn’t know how to make friends.
PDXWIT
I can’t write about the last few years without talking about Portland Women in Tech (PDXWIT). The revamp of PDXWIT over the past year has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve been part of, and the response from the community has been incredible. In less than a year, we’ve gone from 1600 members to almost 3400 and it’s continuing to grow daily. The out-pouring of support from the Portland community and the power of the women in it’s city reminds me that no matter the generation, women are crafting their own paths in this world and determined to make technology a part of it. It reminded me why this work matters, and it’s a big part of why I feel ready to tell this story now.
What Will Be in the Book
This book is the story of what happens after you name the problem and build a support network framework that actually works. We aren’t afraid to ask those hard questions and figure out the answers together. How do you keep going when life hands you too much? How do you stay technical, stay yourself, and still find joy in the work? How do you turn frustration into community and support? What changes do we need to put in place to have real change in women entering technology, increasing retention and job satisfaction? Those are the questions I’ve been living with since I started in 1997, and they’re the ones I want to answer honestly, not just for myself, but for those around me looking for their own answers.
Stay tuned
I’m going to do something a little different this time. As I work through the storyline, I’ll be sharing excerpts here on the blog. Some will be rough. Some will change before they ever make it into the book. I want you along for the process, and I’d love to hear what resonates, what surprises you, and what you’d want to read more about. So often I’m surprised with what I say that lands with the people around me, and I don’t want to lose those parts of me that I think are just a “me problem” and really are a “we problem”.
If you’ve been part of any of these stories, at Microsoft, in a WIT group, or at a PDXWIT event, thank you. You’re already in this book, whether you know it or not.
More soon.
— Kellyn
