Connecting with Women in Tech group leaders (virtual/in person communities)

eileenflambert·Oct 14, 2020

Posted in:Advice Favors Management and Leadership

I lead a Women in Tech group in my city that's grown to just over 900 members and counting (very proud of that) and I've been searching for other womxn who lead similar type groups/online communities for exchanging of experiences, advice, tips a and resources. My immediate need is for a sounding board to discuss a notable decline in engagement within our volunteer base. I held what I felt to be a successful Fall Programming Kickoff a few weeks back with a lot of great discussion/brainstorming but have not had much if any follow-through in terms of people stepping up as leads to drive specific programming initiatives.With the increased overwhelm from COVID and the upcoming elections, I know we're collectively dealing with A LOT and I want to acknowledge and honor that. At the same time, want to harness the energy and enthusiasm the group shared in their desire to connect and do what I can to maintain the momentum. I'm feeling discouraged that we've been unable to move forward after expending significant effort in rallying committees in response to member's requests for more programming.I understand the need to reframe and shift my approach in light of the climate we're currently in-to better support my volunteer team and empower them to embrace leadership roles among our program and advisory committees.I'm open to input/feedback as well as connecting with anyone in a similar leadership position. Additionally, if you know any peer groups I should join, please share them. My initial searches have not turned up a fit.

angelicaliberato·Oct 15, 2020

Hi Elieen, I'm not leading groups but I'm part of groups of Women, some of them are WomenTech Network, The Guild, Women in Cloud, Women Make and Female Founder, there you can attend events, dicussions, courses, have a network of support and connect with wonderful women that can help you. Let me know if you need something.

KylieWoods·Oct 16, 2020

Hey @eileenflambert keep up the good fight! I know what it feels like to be in your shoes - I started a non-profit for women in tech, grew the community to 2,200 and a volunteer team of 50 who were running all our operations, including a 250 person conference. The volunteer team was amazing and would donate thousands of hours to manage our marketing, run events, design programming, etc. We're trying to transition the organization to a more sustainable and revenue-generating model and took the year off to explore (including pausing all volunteer roles). But I'm happy to connect with you and share our process for building a volunteer team, things that worked and didn't, etc. Feel free to DM me.

eileenflambert·Oct 22, 2020

Hello Kylie,Thanks so much for your response -I really appreciate you chiming in!That is a huge achievement to have grown a community of 2,200 and conference of 250! I would love to connect and discuss and learn more about volunteer and community engagement.I spent 7 years of my early career working in environmental and social service non profits, which has been a huge asset in contributing to the skillset I utilize in managing this Facebook group/online community -from marcomm, program management, volunteer management -the whole gamut. I think of the similarities often and the way I approach things definitely stems from my years in fund development and communications -with plenty of community outreach and event planning/program management and online fundraising/awareness campaigns in the early days of social media.I'll send you a DM so we can chat further. Thanks again for reaching out.