Lesbians Who Tech + Allies best moments of 2017

The year is ending, and what a year it’s been! We’ve seen a million and one cabinet changes, daily presidential scandals, more than 1 million people show up for the Women’s March protests in all major US cities and across the world, natural disasters take out entire cities, a year of gender in the spotlight, covfefe, and pussy grabs back. It’s enough to defeat anyone, and in the spirit of going out with bang (and only good memories), we’re sharing our top Lesbians Who Tech & Allies moments from 2017. Go ahead and grab the popcorn, these are pure entertainment (and a nice departure from the aforementioned occurrences).

1. Patrisse Cullors and the power of intersectionality brought us to tears, San Francisco Summit 2017

More than a hashtag, black lives do matter and it’s this passion that keeps us all going.

2. Megan Smith, 3rd CTO of the US under Obama, interviewed by Kara Swisher, cofounder of Recode, #notawkward, San Francisco Summit 2017

Nothing like being interviewed by your ex of 16 years. On stage. In front of thousands.

3. From the New York stage, we got to send all the love to Edie in her final days

Losing Edie was a shock our community is still feeling. As a global community of queer women and trans/nonbinary people in tech, Lesbians Who Tech and Allies has held Edie close to our hearts as a leader and a celebrated figure in our movement. She blessed us by attending many of our annual summits in person, and we honored her by creating the Lesbians Who Tech Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship for Queer Women. We sent her this video during Summit. Her wife Judith sent us the following message, “That video of Lesbians Who Tech you sent the other day brought her so much joy. She showed all the nurses & doctors. Please tell your community in lieu of flowers, please donate to the Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship.” Leanne wrote a heartfelt letter paying tribute to her legacy and we created this tribute video.

4. The #LWTSQUAD graced Vogue

Bringing queer tech to the masses, and in style. You can read all about it here: vogue.com/projects/13532898/pride-2017-kara-swisher-lesbians-in-tech-essay/

5. #LWTSQUAD Takeover of GHC17

Who you gonna call? Lesbians

6. Sheryl freaking Sandberg said yes to keynoting #LWTSUMMIT 2018

Along with badasses Bozoma Saint John, Kara Swisher, and Tegan and Sara

7. Leader of our ship, hustle embodied, and all around magic-maker Leanne Pittsford took the stage at TED, Maker’s, and won $15K at a pitch competition for our family’s newest product, Include.io

#NBD, Just crushin’ it.

8. The #LWTSQUAD got bigger (and better)!

9. Lesbians Who Tech + Allies hit the road with the Tech Jobs Tour.

Portland. New York. Seattle. Birmingham. Baltimore. Memphis. Cleveland. San Francisco. Charleston. Louisville. Paintsville. Milwaukee. Boston. Orlando. Indianapolis. Columbus. St. Louis. Detroit. Denver. Chicago. Cheyenne. Austin. Atlanta. Oakland. #diversityWins. Always.

10. Pearl Means, Luvvie Ajayi, Jenna Wortham, Lydia Polgreen, and Stacey Abrams rocked our New York Summit

Speak up. Stand up. Show up. Don’t be afraid to fight. And always speak your truth.

11. Go international or go home. We hosted our 1st Lesbians Who Tech + Allies London Summit + returned to Paris and Mexico City.

#VivaLesbiansEverywhere

12. Leanne got married!

Yes, Leanne loves high fives so much she even did them at her wedding.

13. The Worm, Andrea Minkow, Main Stage, New York Summit 2017

We can’t compete.

14. Twilio.org offered a $150,000 Matching Grant for our Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship Fund

We need queer people building our products and we’re committed to changing the face of technology.

15. Leanne and Lesbians Who Tech advisor cartwheeled into a cannonball to make a splash at #GHC17

If that’s not how to start a party then we’ve been doing it all wrong.

16. We brought back rollerblades

(and we’re probably/definitely going to do it again, cough SF summit)

17. Tegan and Sara making lesbian, non-binary + LGBTQ dreams come true

TEGAN & SARA will be joining us in San Francisco at the 5th Annual Lesbians Who Tech + Allies Summit, March 1st — 3rd. T&S LOCKED IN THEIR CAT SITTER. DID YOU? lesbianswhotech.org/sanfrancisco2018

State of the world aside, it’s been a great year for the #LWTSQUAD and our ever-expanding community. We hustled, you hustled. Thanks for showing up with us. We’re looking forward to connecting in the new year and tackling more of these challenges together. In solidarity, we’ll see you in 2018!

💛️ Your Lesbians Who Tech + Allies Team

p.s. Show us some summit love. Share with your peeps.
https://www.facebook.com/lesbianswhotech/videos/1936193473060695/

Lesbians Who Tech + Allies is a global community of over 30,000 LGBTQ women (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) and gender nonconforming people in tech. Lesbians Who Tech promotes the visibility, leadership, and education of our community. Join us at Lesbianswhotech.org/signup

Got a favorite Lesbians Who Tech & Allies moment from 2017? Tweet us @lesbiantech