September 4, 2024 – Girl Geek X: ELEVATE Conference and Career Fair for mid-to-senior women in tech hosted over a thousand women & allies globally, with 89% attendees interested in hearing about jobs, over two dozen speakers, 2 resume workshops & recruiting at virtual 18C Booth. Help a girl geek land her next job in tech!

Here are the most-watched 15 sessions from ELEVATE 2024 Conference & Career Fair! Videos are publicly shared to Girl Geek X’s YouTube channel – see our Fall playlist:

1. From Developer to CTO – Leadership Lessons to Accelerate Your Career – Rachel Laycock (Thoughtworks Chief Technology Officer)
2. Harnessing the Power of Generative AI for Career Growth and Innovation – Jayeeta Putatunda (Fitch Ratings Senior Data Scientist, Emerging Technology)
3. Traits of a Successful and Effective Leader – Haibei “Happy” Wang (AuditBoard Chief Technology Officer)
4. Resume Review for Mid-To-Senior Women in Tech – Tal Flanchraych (ApplyAll Chief Executive Officer & Founder)
5. From Chaos to Clarity: Building My Ultimate Productivity Framework – Thamara Andrade (Cadence Principal Software Engineer)
6. Influencing as an Individual Contributor – Roojuta Lalani (Slack Staff Backend Software Engineer)
7. Leveraging AI Tech for Effective Job Search – Nirmayee “Nemo” Dighe (Delaware Life Senior Analyst, Data & Strategy)
8. Navigating the Career Lattice: Building Your Path to Success – Florence René (State Farm IT Product Owner)
9. Career Fair Kickoff – 18C Intro – Danielle McLaughlin (18C Chief Executive Officer & Founder)
10. Self-Confidence in the Face of Failure – Magda Miu (Adobe Senior Engineering Manager)
11. Building Bridges: How Data Engineering Powers Up Analytics at Scale – Sreyashi Das (Netflix Senior Data Engineer)
12. So You Want To Be a Leader BUT Are You a Good Follower? – Kenya Simmons (Gilead Sciences Senior Manager, IT Project Mgmt)
13. Resume Review for Early Career Women in Tech – Jenée Smith (Microsoft Software Engineer)
14. Mid-Career Transitions: From Program Manager to Product in Trust and Safety – Ruby Yuen (Career Coach)
15. From Balance to Burnoutt: Prioritizing Mental Health in the Workplace – Bhavana Ramachandra (Yelp Staff Machine Learning Engineer) 

About Our Partner: 18C is a boutique engineering search firm specializing in connecting exceptional technical women leaders with transformational opportunities. By blending strategic executive recruitment with passionate advocacy, we’re creating more equitable environments at the top companies in tech. Watch 18C’s Intro for insights on product, teams, hiring process, open remote & hybrid jobs!

18C IS HIRING – REMOTE, NYC & SF!

Check out open jobs at 18C!

If your company is looking to recruit more women this year, please don’t let them miss out on our next ELEVATE Virtual Conference & Career Fair sponsorship opportunity on December 4, 2024. We also partner monthly with companies on Girl Geek Dinners in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, booking now for 2024 and 2025. Please email us sponsors@girlgeek.io and we’ll be in touch! Thank you in advance, Angie Chang, Sukrutha Bhadouria, and the team at Girl Geek X

OUR PARTNERS ARE ACTIVELY HIRING!

Check out these featured career opportunities from our mission-aligned partners, and visit our open jobs page to view even more opportunities!

Feel free to list “Girl Geek X” as your referral. Forward this to a friend — Help a fellow girl geek land her next job in tech!

Since the pandemic, Girl Geek X community volunteers have served the public school educators and students in East Oakland.

Our goal began with supporting students at our “adopted” school Coliseum College Prep Academy in Oakland, California teaching grades 6-12 with a computer science pathway. We providing access to volunteers and role models from the professional community for students in partnership with the nonprofit Oakland Education Fund, which coordinates volunteer activities with public schools in Oakland and clears volunteers for entry into the schools.

CCPA has the highest college-going rate in the district despite being located in one of Oakland’s highest poverty neighborhoods. 

Last year, we kicked off volunteering in August with Back-To-School Campus Prep – supporting Back-To-School prep with CCPA teachers on Friday, August 4, 2023 (1pm-4pm) in East Oakland!

Girl Geek X Community volunteers helped teachers with classroom projects to prepare their rooms and hallways for students return to campus for the new school year. More photos are on Facebook here.

LATINE/X READ-IN AT THORNHILL ELEMENTARY IN OAKLAND

The nonprofit Oakland Education Fund expanded access to students in Oakland elementary schools, starting with volunteering with Latine/x Read-in (Monday, October 2, 2023, 1pm – 2:30pm). Volunteers read books by Latine/x and Hispanic authors to students at Thornhill Elementary.

Girl Geek X volunteers at Latine/x Read-In (pictured from left: Thornhill Elementary School Librarian Marie Fox, Girl Geek X Founder Angie Chang, Customer Success Leader Haana Rafiq, Playground Global Principal People Operations Sylvia Donohoe, Technical Operations Leader Belisa Mandarano, Flexport Software Engineers Bryanna Valdivia and Rachel Colby, and Syntiant Director of HR Jenny Garcia).

Volunteers read aloud books to 2-3 elementary school classes that celebrate Latine/x culture in the 90-minute volunteer shift. Books and sample questions to guide conversations were provided by the Oakland Education Fund. More photos are on Facebook here. ❤️

FIRST-GEN COLLEGE & CAREER PANEL AT CCPA IN OAKLAND

The Girl Geek X CCPA career panel (Wednesday, October 4, 2pm-4pm), moderated by Vanessa Magaña with An Nguyen, Molly Dubow, Bryanna Valdivia, and Elizabeth Orpina shared advice from first-generation students now working in the technology industry. Read about the takeaways from the panel. ❤️

HELPING STUDENTS WITH CSU AND UC APPLICATIONS IN OAKLAND NOVEMBER 3 AND / OR NOVEMBER 17

Volunteers supported seniors’s college applications, providing crucial feedback on grammar, flow, and clarity of writing during “College Crunch Days” – these are dedicated school days for high school seniors to work on their UC admissions applications.

Note: a writing/comms background is NOT required to participate! Any experience writing in an academic/professional setting will be sufficient to participate in this event.

Volunteer shifts are 8:30am-12:30pm on Friday, November 3, 2023 and/or Friday, November 17, 2023 at CCPA’s College & Career Day office. More photos are on Facebook here.

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Join the launch of the virtual mentorship program at CCPA with TechLink to connect volunteers with students this spring!

How to volunteer virtually with Girl Geek X CCPA via TechLink:

1. Apply to Mentor with TechLink by January 18, 2024.
2. Complete your Live Scan fingerprinting as required by Oakland Unified School District and Oakland Education Fund policy for virtual volunteer clearance for California.

Questions? Email rafael@oaklandedfund.org

We are looking for TechLink VOLUNTEERS to meet virtually with CCPA sophomores and juniors during the Spring 2024 semester!

Volunteer Mentors will meet on Fridays for ~11 sessions virtually from February thru April 2024.

While TechLink is a virtual mentorship program, Mentors are welcome to volunteer IRL and have lunch with their Mentees at the East Oakland school.

Thank you so much for supporting Oakland public schools and students!

STUDENT PROJECT FEEDBACK (WINTER EXPO NIGHT IS JANUARY 25, 2024)

Girl Geek X volunteers support public school students and educators at Coliseum College Prep Academy (CCPA) in East Oakland. The school entrance is on the corner of 66th Ave and International Blvd. (map)

On Thursday, January 25, 2024 (5:30pm-7pm), CCPA educators and students will be joined by Girl Geek X community volunteers to receive feedback on Senior Capstone Projects.

Sign up to volunteer with us on January 25!

AFRICAN-AMERICAN READ-IN AT BELLA VISTA ELEMENTARY IN OAKLAND ON FEBRUARY 14, 2024

VOLUNTEER ON FEB 14 – READ BOOKS TO BELLA VISTA ELEMENTARY STUDENTS!

Bella Vista Elementary is located by Oakland’s Highland Hospital.

On Wednesday, February 14, 2023 (9:30am-11:00am), Girl Geek X Community Volunteers will read books to 2-3 elementary school classes that celebrate African-American culture in the 90-minute volunteer shift. Books and sample questions to guide conversations are provided by the Oakland Education Fund.

Volunteers do not need to identify as African-American to participate, and those who do identify as such are encouraged to participate and share about their culture with students.

SIGN UP FOR VOLUNTEERING AT THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN READ-IN ON OCTOBER 2!

Don’t forget to spread the word and invite your coworkers & friends to join you in volunteering! Volunteering together not only strengthens our impact, but also provides a chance to bond.

This event is organized in partnership with the nonprofit Oakland Public Education Fund, which connects groups with schools to make a positive impact on school culture and student achievement through relevant and meaningful volunteer projects.

Our partnership goal is to support students in East Oakland, CA by partnering on a variety of volunteer activities throughout the school year — from volunteering on-campus to field trips to tech companies.