Mentoring, for a start. Perhaps an awards program. The mission of the new Women in Tech group is to support women in technology fields but the details of how that will be done are still being decided.
That discussion will take place at the initial meeting of the Women in Tech group, sponsored by the
Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, an Annapolis-based membership group. The meeting will be held Wed. April 25 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the headquarters of IntelliGenesis, in Columbia.
IntelliGenesis is a defense contractor whose president and CEO, Angie Lienert, a Chesapeake Regional Tech Council board member, is spearheading the new group.
Technology is a predominantly male field. There are a lot of women but they’re surrounded by men, says Kris Valerio, executive director of the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council.
“We want to nurture the women. We want to have female mentors, and we want to inspire young women to pursue technology as a career,” Valerio says. “This is about supporting colleagues and creating positive messages.”
The Women in Tech group is modeled after a pilot program the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council conducted a few years ago. Lienert took the initiative of moving the pilot into a formal program, Valerio says.
Valerio expects about 40 people to attend the meeting, judging from the number who have already registered and the inquiries she is getting. Although the council is a membership organization, non-members can attend the initial Women in Tech meeting.
“We don’t have an agenda yet” for the group, Valerio says. “At the introductory meeting, we will outline our goals and see what interests arise.
Source: Kris Valerio, executive director, The Chesapeake Regional Tech Council
Writer: Barbara Pash