DWUK Relaunch: From Missing in Action to Founders in Formation
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
The terrain of diversity in tech entrepreneurship has undoubtedly shifted since 2011, when I began my PhD on how intersectionality affects women digital entrepreneurs. Back then, there was little discussion in the academic literature of digital entrepreneurship in general, let alone from an intersectional perspective like mine, and scant attention in regular media outlets and the broader public conversation about diverse founders working in digital economy ecosystems. By the time I met Joy Francis, founder of Words of Colour and co-founder of Digital Women UK in 2014, I had grown frustrated wi ..read more
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Inspiring young people into tech
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
The laws of the universe state that every action has a reaction, either being grander than the initial action or more trivial. I really believe that this attitude towards life is ever more present in society today, especially among the youth. As a young person myself, I’ve noticed an increasing number of us getting more involved in tech. Technology has always been a topic of discussion among adults, and often hear that ‘tech is the future’. I whole-heartedly believe in that sentiment due to its increasing existence in the world and it rapidly intertwining itself into the every day. In this con ..read more
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Striving for inclusive investment
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
Just over a year ago I wrote this blog post: “I assume that man in your slide deck is your husband”. It was a short, honest piece about my experiences with pitching for investment. I wrote it quickly – and in anger – but it had a large impact: 2.5k people read it and lots of women reached out to me with their own pitching experiences. I also had a lot of negative feedback from women in business, saying I shouldn’t be highlighting these stories. That rather than writing about it I should figure out a way to get over these obstacles. A year later I still believe it was an important piece to writ ..read more
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Gaming for change
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
I was brought up in a house that embraced technology. My father was fascinated by computers. The more buttons and flashing LEDs something had the more he wanted it. He never got past typing with one finger, or losing things in his downloads folder, but he knew that if you could understand computers, the possibilities were endless. As for my mother, when not trying to finish Tetris on level 10, encouraged our interest in games and gaming, and recognised that the most important element was that we were playing these games together. It became the primary way my sister and I spent time together. I ..read more
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Putting feminism into Artificial Intelligence
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
Women Reclaiming AI (Artificial Intelligence) for Activism is a workshop created by Birgitte Aga and Coral Manton, designers and technologists from i-DAT Research & Design Collective, which challenges the lack of gender diversity in AI development, and the current manifestations of female-voiced AI. I attended their inaugural workshop recently at the Knowle West Media Centre in Bristol and found it to be highly educational and radical in its vision for women-led development of a feminist-centred AI. I and a group of women were informed of the harmful gender biases in female-voiced AI devel ..read more
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Young and gifted in tech
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
I want a career in technology. I am 17 years old and currently studying for my A levels in physics, maths, further maths and philosophy and ethics at Townley Grammar School. This is because I believe that these subjects will prepare me for the industry I plan to enter when I am older: the technology industry. I hope to study physics at degree level and beyond, and hope to one day use the knowledge gained to advance the research into space and its capabilities to support life. Technology is heavily dependent on the research behind space travel, so it is vital for me to know how this can be comb ..read more
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Digital Women UK partner heads new tech research
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
Digital Women UK’s academic partner Dr Angela Martinez Dy, an entrepreneurship lecturer at Loughborough University London, will lead a research study project aimed at doubling the number of female and BAME tech business entrepreneurs by 2020. Loughborough University London will be studying the effectiveness of Capital Enterprise’s newly launched Diversity in Tech programme. Supported by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, it aims to double the number of female and BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) founders accessing investment by 2020, particularly women from the capital’s most under-represen ..read more
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Creating an inclusive code
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
23 Code Street is a coding school for all women based in London. We also have a one for one model, where we teach women in the slums of Mumbai digital skills with the profits generated from our courses in the UK. I founded 23 Code Street because while working in technology after leaving college, I realised very quickly that I was often the only woman in a room, or the only woman in the room with any technical understanding. Over time, and thousands of events later, I began to see the true implications of what the tech culture celebrates and epitomises, shown in the lack of women and diversity ..read more
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Amnesty puts Twitter on blast over online abuse of women
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
Violence and abuse against women on Twitter is out of control and Amnesty International is calling for action. Twitter is not doing enough to prevent or respond to the barrage of violence and abuse that women experience daily on its platform. At a watershed moment, where women are using their collective power to amplify their voices on social media (thank you, #MeToo), Twitter is failing in its responsibilities to respect women’s rights and Amnesty is responding. Over a 16-month period, Amnesty conducted both qualitative and quantitative research with female journalists, bloggers, activists, p ..read more
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Putting the self into care
Digital Women UK
by Joy
2y ago
I had the pleasure of celebrating International Women’s Day 2018 with a community of creative and powerful entrepreneurs at Digital Women UK’s Missing in Action II: Tackling the myths of money, self care and the Imposter Syndrome. Every woman present had a unique story to tell and a shared narrative of forging a path for themselves through systemic barriers and undervalued experiences. Digital Women UK co-founder Joy Francis set the tone when she asked: “Who is making us invisible? Because we’re doing the work, yet we’re missing in action.” The day began with forming a framework for self care ..read more
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