Enjoy this podcast replay:
This week's guest is Alaina Percival, the CEO and Board Member of Women Who Code - an international nonprofit focused on creating opportunities for women to excel in tech careers. Alaina sees the lack of women in tech as a global issue and is passionate about finding modern-day solutions to help solve it. She founded Women Who Code with these ideas in mind and has continued to grow the organization's reach by expanding into new communities every day.
In today's episode, we talk about Alaina's career journey and how she took a non-traditional path to tech. Alaina started coding and chose a path that helped her realize her potential and grow in the tech industry. Our discussion evolved into talking about her passion for increasing women's presence in tech and how this eventually led her to found Women Who Code. Listen to today's episode to learn more about Alaina and her incredible story.
You can learn more about Women Who Code here: https://www.womenwhocode.com/
We hope Alaina's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career.
Career Update:
As a CEO, Board Member, and angel investor focused on advancing women’s careers, I am passionate about helping diverse professionals increase their wealth and influence across the globe. There is no bigger opportunity for professional women than in the technology space, where we are underrepresented at all levels. Recognizing this, I co-founded Women Who Code (WWCode), an international 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers in 2013. Since that time, the organization has orchestrated thousands of free events, attracted a quarter-million members, and expanded to 147 countries.
Over the course of my career, I was a business leader for a variety of companies (e.g. Puma) – and with that, I have learned to value results over well-intentioned activity. Fortunately, WWCode has produced both measurable and anecdotal successes. A member in Mexico City, for example, increased her salary 200%, while another member from Toronto accelerated her technology career two levels within a year. There is also now evidence that being affiliated with WWCode advantages women seeking interviews, such as a member who was told by SpaceX that one of the reasons they wanted to speak with her was because of her relationship with WWCode.
While the lack of women in technology is a top-of-mind discussion in the U.S., it is a global issue. As someone who has EU citizenship and worked/lived in over 80 countries, I have seen this first-hand. I am proud to say that WWCode has a global reach and is expanding every day to give diverse women the skills and community we need to grow our impact in tech.
I am active on community boards and plan to add corporate board work to my portfolio.
