Women of Color in Tech

CHAPTER 10The Importance and Joy of Giving Back

As you progress through your career, consider devoting time to community service. Your act of kindness, no matter the size, will yield more benefits to you and others than you can imagine.

Why Give Back

Devoting yourself to volunteerism and community service can be one of the most rewarding experiences that you can have. The benefits are plentiful, and honestly, I can think of almost no downsides when doing so.

You Make a Difference

While many nonprofit and charitable organizations exist to bring more women of color into tech, they are often doing so with very minimal resources. Many are dependent on grants and donations, meaning that they must be very careful about how they spend funds. Even if these organizations have hired some staff members, the employees may be working part-time and doing the jobs of two or three people. Simply put, these organizations need extra hands and minds to help fulfill their mission (see Figure 10.1).

Figure 10.1: Leading students through a resume workshop

Helping Others See and Know What's Possible

One of the things I enjoyed about living in Chicago was its lively and growing tech sector. There was no shortage of free or low-cost tech conferences to attend. The limitation was mostly just having the time to attend.

Women in tech-specific conferences were plentiful there too, which was awesome. ...