Last week, 50+ female executives from leading ad tech and media companies got together to empower each other at the first ever TechBae, a new community for women in media. The event brought executives from Charter, Disney, Fox, NBCU, Operative, Railroad19, Turner, Viacom, and more. The goal of the event was to foster mentoring through camaraderie and fun. Funded by silent sponsors, the event was hosted by Brenda Salce-Garcia, Heather McCrea, Seema Patel, Christina Barlowe, Sarah Foss, and Pamela Goldberg. Their goal was to act as ambassadors of the evening to re-ignite old connections while fostering new ones. Everyone left the room feeling an uplifting mix of encouragement, excitement, inspiration, and motivation to chase their dreams.
So, what is TechBae?
TechBae is a community for females in the industry for support, empowerment, and encouragement. According to Forbes, close to 52 percent of professional jobs are held by women, but we are substantially underrepresented in leadership roles. Only 14.6 percent of executive officers, 8.1 percent of top earners, and 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. At this rate, it’s estimated that women won’t achieve leadership party status until 2085. In order to change those numbers, we need to create forums where advancement is championed through support and advocacy for one another. Techbae offers the opportunity to connect with peers and a way for female executives to “pay-it-forward” through informal mentoring of rising junior stars. By fostering connections and open dialogue, senior leaders can help influence the environment that young women are entering today.
How did this idea become a reality?
It all started as an idea over drinks. Our hosts got together for an off the cuff “therapy” session. The name of the meeting invite for the night was “TechBaes.” After exchanging hilarious stories about life and workplace drama, they all left feeling recharged and rebooted. Over the years, they realized how valuable their relationships with each other had become; what began as business acquaintance turned into true friendship. They remarked how it would be great to have other like-minded women join them to empower one another, including younger generations given all the challenges they faced growing up in this ever changing business. Thus, TechBae was born!
The idea was born and quickly transitioned into execution. A well balanced mix of respected leaders and talented, rising stars were invited to join the first event this past Wednesday. They waited with bated breath and hoped the message and vision would resonate. The responses were overwhelmingly positive and encouraging.
TechBae Mission Statement
“To connect women who are technology professionals working in advertising, ad tech, and media industries for networking, mentoring and development opportunities.”
TechBae Objectives
- To create an informal network of women to promote empowerment and advocacy
- To provide a mechanism for seasoned women professional to “pay-it-forward,” to those entering our field
- To create social events for camaraderie & fun for those of us entrenched in advertising and media technology
What’s coming next?
The TechBae leaders are continuing to build the community with new events, online social groups, buddy systems, and more. If you’re interested in joining the TechBae community, please reach out to adtechbae@gmail.com.
To conclude this blogpost, here’s the Sisterhood Code from Ylonda Rosenthal-Greene, awaketomysoul.com, that the TechBae gal’s will abide by:
I will combat negative stereotypes of women.
I will cheer the successes of other women.
I will stick up for other women.
I will look for ways to promote other women’s careers.
I will trade favors with other women.
I will value other women’s work.
I will measure my success in part by how well I help other women to succeed.
I will value myself, my talents, and my contributions.
I will guard against my own anti-women thoughts and behaviors with vigilance.
Women won’t achieve equality without the help and support of our men. But we can start by ensuring that we are helping and supporting each other.
#AdTechBae