The shuttering of Women Techmakers breaks my little green heart.
I've already said a few times that I missed the old Google. But it bears repeating. This week, Google quietly eradicated its Women Techmakers initiative and is transitioning to a more generalized program called Technovation.
Google earlier this month offloaded the key career resource program for supporting women in tech and severed its integration within the company. The decision was communicated to members in a short email with little explanation earlier this month. It left members feeling surprised, upset and sidelined as the company removed years' worth of content and videos they created.
Launched in 2012, Women Techmakers (WTM) was a global program that enabled developers to network with and learn from like-minded people while navigating the exceedingly homogeneous culture of Silicon Valley. The program provided essential resources, such as scholarships, mentorship, and technical workshops, to advance skills, often within Google's ecosystems. It also published YouTube videos on a range of topics and technologies.
The program sometimes felt like a subtle recruiting tool because of its focus on Google-led software and development. But in my experience, its true essence became about creating community. Although I wasn't an active member of the group (I was just a journalist invited to the parties!), I saw what the WTM program did for visibility. It made women feel heard in an industry that systemically undermines and discourages them from taking up space.
It also made Google look good to the outside world. The company was investing in women at a time when you rarely saw them taking the stage at keynote events. "Look!" I would say, proud to be on a platform that valued women enough to showcase them front and center. WTM validated the idea that tech could be feminine and "girly" and have a place among all the brut masculinity displayed in everything from user interfaces to the boardrooms.
I made friends through the Women Techmakers initiative. Even though we came from distinct fields, we bonded over being Android users in a world that labeled us as second-class mobile users. Most of my "in real life" friends use iPhones, so it was nice to have buddies with whom I could squeal over new features in Android and across the Google landscape. The reason I went seeking WTM in the first place was to connect with other women using Android Wear (what it used to be called!) who were wearing the same watches I was, distinctly designed for men. It was exciting to go to meetups and see people decked out in Android gear, especially after spending so much time in a world where that was a rarity.
I never had much to contribute to their conversations since I'm not a developer. But I learned from listening that these women were teeming with creative passion. App development and UX design were their outlets. No matter where they were from, they just wanted support from others who understood the experience of navigating the tech industry as a visible minority.
It signals the sunset of an era when Google decides to shut something down. In this case, the shuttering of Women Techmakers is a tacit admission that the corporations are done performing diversity. Google has decided instead to offload the work to an outside organization that will likely be obligated to list the company as a major donor of its efforts.
In a world where the pace is set by oligarchs and the ten companies that own everything, it's sad to see another entity surrender to a regressive cultural tide. I feel lucky to have had the chance to bear witness to something like Women Techmakers, to see its rise and fall. I can add it to the list of ways Google quietly dismantled its commitments to diversity over the course of a decade.
It's Galaxy XR mania with Jason, Huyen, Mishaal, and Ron.
