Reflections from SheTO Summit: Why Community Still Matters 💛

Attending SheTO Summit reminded me just how rare it is to walk into a tech conference and see so many women in the room. 💛

Over the past few years, DEI programs have come under massive political and legal pressure. Some nonprofits that centered women in tech have shut their doors because funding dried up. Corporations are quietly scaling back equity commitments. And new executive orders are dismantling DEI programs in federal spaces, chilling what groups feel safe to support or promote. 😐

When these communities lose funding, fewer women get platforms, mentorship, or even encouragement. The spaces shrink, the visibility shrinks, and the narrative gets skewed toward “this is just how tech is.” 🤷🏽‍♀️

But here’s what I believe: we can always reshape the status quo.

The fact that I was able to attend this summit because of Slack and sit beside other women in engineering like Bhavana, Divya, and Joy — that still matters. It’s proof that investment, intention, and community can crack open the space even when forces push to close it. 💪🏽