Highlights of Workday at Lesbians Who Tech and Women Transforming Technology Events

Tomorrow, 40 Workday employees will attend theLesbians Who Tech + Allies Summitin San Francisco. This four-day networking event brings together more than 2,200 LGBTQ women and their allies for inspiring talks about the impact of technology, a career fair, hackathon, social events, and more.

Considering this event draws people from around the world, I know many of us here at Workday feel real pride in having such a strong presence. If you’re a member of an underrepresented group such as LGBTQ, it’s so important to be able to participate in events that bring together members of your community, as well as friends, family members, and coworkers who support you. You’re surrounded by your people—they get you, and you can feel comfortable being your authentic self.

That’s an extension of why Workday chose to sponsor Lesbians Who Tech + Allies. We want our employees—and any potential employees at the event—to know we offer a culture at Workday where everyone can be comfortable being who they are.

Then next week, 25 of us from Workday will be headed to theWomen Transforming Technology (WT²)conference, which will bring together 400 attendees at the VMware campus in Palo Alto. Women make up half the global population, yet they’re underrepresented in the world of tech: Women holdonly 26 percentof tech jobs worldwide. Events like WT² and the2017 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computingin October, which Workday is also sponsoring, help women build networks and be able to clearly see there are technology career paths open to them all the way up into executive ranks, by learning from others who have built successful careers.

At WT², our senior vice president of applications development,Lynn Christensen, will join women executives from Dell, Mozilla, and VMware on a panel titled “Breaking Barriers.” WT²’s keynote speakers are Recode’s Kara Swisher and longtime advocate for women’s rights, Gloria Steinem. Not surprisingly, the event is at capacity.

I know many of us here at Workday are grateful to be part of a culture where we cultivate and enhance a sense of belonging, and are excited to attend these events and share our experiences with others. Because only when we all feel comfortable to be our authentic selves are we able to achieve our full potential, whether that’s developing tomorrow’s technologies or leading our businesses successfully into the future.