The Powerful Women in Tech community was created in 2015 when a few members of an internal Facebook group known as Women in Infrastructure (Wii) wanted to see their efforts of supporting women in tech spread to an external audience. The community has grown to include a series of events for women around the globe to come together to share challenges they face, celebrate achievements, and talk industry insights.

To date, Powerful Women in Tech has organized nearly 30 events that cover topics including career growth, finding and expressing your voice, and social impact and leadership. Attendees come from a variety of tech backgrounds, such as software engineering, infrastructure, DevOps and more. From intimate brunch gatherings of 30 inspiring women to large groups of over 200 leaders and allies, the Powerful Women in Tech Series has grown into a strong community of women who challenge one another and lift each other up. Join us as we take a look back on some of our favorite past events!

The first Powerful Women in Tech event of 2018 was hosted in early April - a fireside chat in Palo Alto, California, where panelists shared stories of taking risks and jumping into the unknown. Facebook managers and leaders shared these personal stories to empower others to take on new challenges with confidence, particularly when navigating uncharted territory. They spoke about changing positions (and even industries), the people who support and motivate them, and learning from failure.

Over in Asia Pacific (APAC) the Infrastructure, Enterprise Engineering, and Security teams (IES) in Facebook's APAC offices hosted an event centered on “Community” where women talked about how they are using technology to build community in three exciting segments:

In August 2018, Facebook brought the Powerful Women in Tech Series community together to celebrate the cultural breakthrough of the wildly popular movie, Crazy Rich Asians! Fun fact: Crazy Rich Asians is the first major Hollywood production that isn’t a period piece to have an all-Asian cast in 25 years.

The screening brought together over 200 guests, making it the highest-attended event in the series’ history! Attendees heard from Mae C., Director of Technical Program Managing, and Michelle F., Platform Policy & Integrity Team Lead, on their own experiences breaking barriers both personally and professionally. Overall, it was an exciting opportunity for women to connect with one another on their own personal stories and find inspiration from one of this year’s biggest films.

The Women in Ops (operations) group hosted three networking events across the Bay Area and Seattle, bringing together over 80 guests. The events focused on a range of topics, from sharing technical wins and challenges and exploring the importance of mentors and allies in our careers to defining personal leadership styles. In early November, the team organized a brunch in Palo Alto where Production Engineering leaders and managers hosted an intimate open Q&A and panel discussion. The speakers touched on why, as people in leadership positions, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of everything they do and shared stories of career growth, transitions, and challenges they've encountered along the way.

Facebook's Security team hosted a networking reception & panel discussion with the theme “A Look Ahead,” which focused on the future of the security industry. Panelists shared stories and experiences of how they found mentors throughout their careers, and how they made their way into security from non-traditional backgrounds.

In late November 2018, Facebook EMEA hosted its inaugural Powerful Women in Tech Series event, a series of lightning talks followed by a panel chat. Three women from IES teams shared stories inspired by the theme of the evening: “What would you do if you weren't afraid?” Each talk was very different in its content, but equally compelling and engaging to the attendees, and the panel chat afterwards focused on answering questions from the audience.

Over the past years, Powerful Women in Tech has grown into a thriving community of women from all walks of life and all over the globe. Moving forward, we’re excited to be growing this community of female leaders and allies, and creating more opportunities for women to gather and share their stories with one another.