Women over 40 can and are doing phenomenal and awesome things in business and we know it.
I’m happy to be in that sorority of sisters in business and am also looking forward to putting together the next installment of my 185 Black Women in Tech On Twitter To Follow.
The first 185 Black Women in Tech to Follow On Twitter” list was well received. I started it so that editors, conference organizers and journalists would have a reference source with a robust listing of potential profiles, feature subjects, or panelists so they are more diverse and inclusive.I didn’t want people to have the excuse, “I didn’t know they existed.”
Also, it matters to the future generation of women in tech to see that the industry includes faces that are non-traditional to the typical face of tech featured in profiles.
This round, I think I will be a bit more strategic and get the help of an assistant. I am also considering partnering with an online tech-focused publication or brand that is all about tech inclusion so the final product is more interactive, and useful. I did the first list on my own and had/have limited resources and bandwidth to dedicate to the project.
I’ve since identified several models to try to duplicate for the next installment and one came to me in my inbox.
Earlier this summer, the public relations professional promoting the website Forty over Forty contacted me as the site was about to unveil the latest in its 4 year-year old list. I was overwhelmed at the time, but recently got a chance to go back and check out the list and am impressed.
According to the press release, the purpose of the list is similar to my list to “honor women who have reinvented despite the gender and age bias that so many women continue to experience across industries ranging from Wall Street and Silicon Valley to Hollywood and advertising.”
The list also aimed to “inspire 40+ disruptors to continue to reinvent while showing women in their 20s and 30s new possibilities” and show “younger women often believe their career options will narrow with time these women prove the opposite is true.”
Women ages 40 to 70 were honored in a variety of industries including the arts, sports, science, media, business and tech. I love that it was a very culturally-diverse list and the curators included celebrity -level names and less well-known such as:
Anima Patil-Sabale, age 43, is a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center who has worked on NASA’s Kepler Mission and is on her own mission to be an astronaut. Caroline Boudreaux, age 46, left her career in TV advertising sales to found the Miracle Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping orphan children in the developing world realize their full potential. Kyle Ann Stokes is co-founder of Writer’s Lab and Founder of IRIS, a new screenwriter’s lab for women over 40 that was established by New York Women in Film and funded by Meryl Streep to cultivate more content created by women.
Christine Vuleta, Women’s Digital Network VP at Forbes and author of the critically-acclaimed Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work and frequent Harvard Business Journal contributor Whitney Johnson co-founded the list. A staff of three accomplished women staff the project.
I am inspired by this project to perhaps create a website just for the list. I am not certain whether I want to keep it at 185 or expand the list. We’ll keep you posted for sure!
Jay Jay Ghatt is also editor at Techyaya.com, founder of the JayJayGhatt.com and JayJayGhatt.com where she teaches online creators how to navigate digital entrepreneurship and offers Do-It-For-You Blogging Service. She manages her lifestyle sites BellyitchBlog, Jenebaspeaks and JJBraids.com and is the founder of BlackWomenTech.com 200 Black Women in Tech On Twitter. Her biz podcast 10 Minute Podcast is available on iTunes and Player.fm. Follow her on Twitter at @Jenebaspeaks. Buy her templates over at her legal and business templates on Etsy shop!
