Anita Borg Institute

History

The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology was founded in 1997 by Anita Borg as the Institute for Women in Technology. The institute was preceded by two of its current programs: Systers and the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Systers, the first online community for women in computing, was founded in 1987 by Anita Borg. In 1994, Borg and Telle Whitney organized the first Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Anita Borg served as CEO of the Institute for Women in Technology from 1997 to 2002. In 2002, Whitney became CEO and President, and in 2003, the institute was renamed the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.

Mission

As stated on its website, the mission of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology is to:

Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is the world’s largest gathering of women in computing. Named in honor of Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, the conference is presented by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and the Association for Computing Machinery. The conference features technical sessions and career sessions, including keynote speakers, a poster session, career fair, and awards ceremony. The 2017 conference will be held in Orlando, Florida.

The Technical Executive Forum, held annually at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, brings together high-level technology executives to discuss challenges and solutions for recruiting, retaining, and advancing technical women. A two-day workshop for K-12 computer science teachers is also held at the conference, hosted by the Computer Science Teachers Association and the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.

Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing India

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing India is the largest conference for technical women in India. Established in 2010, the two-day conference is modeled after the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and includes multiple tracks with keynote speakers, panels, social networking sessions, and a poster session.

Grace Hopper Regional Consortium

The Grace Hopper Regional Consortium is an initiative of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, the ACM Council on Women in Computing, and the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT). Two-day regional conferences attract between 50 and 200 attendees and include keynote speakers, poster sessions, panel discussions, professional development workshops, birds of a feather (Twitter) sessions, and research presentations. There have been 17 regional conferences to date, with 12 upcoming conferences planned.

Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Awards

The Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Awards is an annual awards program that honors technical women. Three awards are presented each year, in categories of Innovation, Leadership, and Social Impact, at the annual Women of Vision Awards Banquet. Past Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award winners include: Mary Lou Jepsen, Kristina M. Johnson, Mitchell Baker, Helen Greiner, Susan Landau, Justine Cassell, Deborah Estrin, Leah Jamieson, Duy-Loan Le, Radia Perlman, and Pamela Samuelson.

Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Award

The Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Award recognizes companies for their recruitment, retention, and advancement of technical women. The first Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Award was awarded to IBM in 2011. Subsequent recipients include:

Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Workshop

The Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Workshop provides coverage of best practices for recruiting, retaining, and advancing technical women. Representatives from different companies learn from each other and share practices. Companies participating in the 2011 workshop included CA Technologies, Cisco, Google, IBM, Intel Corporation, Intuit, Microsoft Research, SAP, and Symantec.

Awards

The Anita Borg Institute presents a number of awards annually at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing to recognize technical women and those who support them. These include: Anita Borg Social Impact Award, Anita Borg Technical Leadership Award, Denice Denton Emerging Leader Award, A. Richard Newton Educator Award, Anita Borg Change Agent Awards, and TechWomen Change Agent Awards.

TechWomen

TechWomen is a professional mentorship and exchange program funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program brings 38 technical women, aged 25–42, from the Middle East and North Africa to the United States for a five-week mentoring program at technology companies in Silicon Valley. The initiative is administered by the Institute of International Education, in partnership with the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.

Online Communities

The Anita Borg Institute runs several email lists and online groups that connect technical women. Systers is the largest email community of technical women in computing in the world and predates the Anita Borg Institute, having been founded in 1987 by Anita Borg. Systers provides a private and gender exclusive space for women in computing to ask personal and technical questions.

Research

The Anita Borg Institute publishes research about the state of women in technology. Past reports have focused on mid-level technical women, ethnic minorities in computing, senior technical women, and more.

Corporate Partners

The Anita Borg Institute is supported by corporate partners, from both within and outside of the technology sector. Current partners include: Google, HP, Microsoft, CA Technologies, Cisco, Facebook, First Republic Bank, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Lockheed Martin, National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, NetApp, SAP, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Amazon, Broadcom, Motorola Foundation, Raytheon, Salesforce.com, and Yahoo! .