Belonging is Good Business

DEI initiatives are mere metrics unless they represent genuine belonging. Recruiting and maintaining a diverse workforce requires cultural policies to celebrate uniqueness, manage the moment, fix the broken ladder, and reduce unconscious bias in the workplace. 

Speaker: Adriana Gascoigne

Adriana Gascoigne is the founder and CEO of Girls in Tech (GIT), a Nashville-based non-profit organization devoted to empowering, educating, and engaging women in the tech industry. She is also the author of Tech Boss Lady: How To Start-Up, Disrupt, And Thrive As A Female Founder, and a board member on WAPPP, Harvard Kennedy School's Women in Public Policy Program.

More than a decade ago, Adriana faced discrimination and harassment as the lone female executive in a Silicon Valley startup. From that experience, she was inspired to help other women and thus founded GIT, which today advocates for diversity and inclusion in STEM fields.

GIT boasts 50 chapters throughout the world. It comprises an active, engaged community of more than 130,000 members in 42 countries. Hundreds of events and programs are held throughout the year and are tailored to address the unique needs of local chapters.

Through her leadership at GIT, Adriana has improved diversity in the tech workforce; encouraged policy change at government, corporate, and community levels; inspired women to pursue any career they wish; and, created impact-oriented courses to support women throughout their careers.

No stranger to growing brands and building amazing companies, Adriana has worked with tech companies like hi5, Algentis, Jam City, Indiegogo, Social Gaming Network (SGN), ImpulseFlyer, RxMatch and QwikCart. She has also served in executive roles at Ogilvy & Mather, Interpublic Group of Companies, and SecondMarket.

Adriana holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology with a concentration in Organizational Studies and has a minor in Communications from the University of California at Davis.