Group: Women Who Code SF

Women Who Code is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers by creating a global, connected community of women in technology. The organization tripled in 2013 and has grown to be one of the largest communities of women engineers in the world.

Women Who code is a professional community for women in tech. We provide an avenue for women to pursue a career in technology, help them gain new skills and hone existing skills for professional advancement, and foster environments where networking and mentorship are valued.

Location: Premise Data

Experience: So, I went to a Women Who Code study group way back, about 5 months ago! It was WWCode East Bay’s Programming and Dev study group held at Clef. I had a mixed experience at that event, mostly due to the long commute and lack of structure to the night.

My experience at the Ruby and Web Tuesdays (why don’t they just call it Ruby Tuesdays???) study group was much better, and I can attribute most of that to the fact that we were all there to study Ruby. There were two quick talks to start off the night (an overview of Premise Data, the company who was hosting the study group that night, and a very clear introduction to authentication and authorization), and they were both interesting, but also just the right length. Turnout at this event was stronger, with about 30 people. The women I met were of all skill levels, some a few years into web development, and one woman who had just created her GitHub account the other day! I got a bit of studying done, and managed to help a person or two, but as usual, going to this study group was really more about being around other people.

Verdict: It was a positive experience in a supportive environment. I’m definitely adding it to my regular rotation of meetups, and since it happens every other week, I think that’s sustainable.