Loretta (left) and Elizabeth (right) in Seattle

The Second Hopperx1 Seattle Conference was an impressive two-day event with 92 speakers, including us! We attended talks and events surrounded by a diverse group of 1500 women for two days. Here are some of our big takeaways.

Diversity and Inclusion is a Choice

The conference opened with Brenda Darden Wilkerson reviewing the history of women in technology. She asked why Katherine Johnson, and Hedy Lamarraren’t mentioned more often when talking about who made modern technology possible. Recognizing women’s contributions to technology helps counter harmful narratives that technology isn’t the place for women. This also gives younger technologists access to a larger set of role models.

Sandy Carter continued the D&I focus with a keynote speech on how to build the most innovative products—diverse teams do a much better job! Representing more viewpoints in your development team introduces more perspectives and allows you to craft products for a broader demographic. Elizabeth Viera echoed this point in her speech the next day. She declared that diversity was one of her team’s greatest strengths when building products. Having different backgrounds made for some difficult conversations when people disagreed, but defending a position urged team members to question their assumptions. In the end, their decisions were more thought through. Continue reading “What the Top Minds in Tech Communicated at Hopperx1 Seattle”