Last week, 20,000 people came together for the largest gathering of women technologists in the world, the Grace Hopper Celebration. Facebook was there to celebrate women in tech and to meet women who want to join our teams.

We had speakers on stage, recruiters on the ground, mentors to learn from, and a new class of scholars - a group of 50 incredible women who we sponsored to attend; to cultivate relationships, empower each other, and to connect with Facebook mentors to prepare for a future in tech. Instead of handing out swag to attendees, we donated to Black Girls CODE, the Malala Fund & SMASH - all organizations committed to building a more diverse and inclusive tech community.

Those we’ve hired from Grace Hopper in the past returned to share knowledge and seasoned technologists shared words of advice – from how to build more diverse and accessible tech to encouraging each other to explore new paths, even when you’re the only person who looks like you.

“Be bold and dream big.” Over and over we heard these words - loudly on stage to crowds of cheers and whispered to students seeking advice. Without a doubt, Grace Hopper provided an inspiring week of impact and a true look at the future of tech.

Here are some of the highlights from the event.

We selected and sponsored 50 women who are excelling in computer science in undergraduate programs globally to attend Grace Hopper with us. The purpose of our scholarship program is to bring these women together to cultivate relationships, empower each other, connect with Facebook mentors, and prepare for a week of interviews at Grace Hopper.

“Find a mentor. You have to know what you want to get out of it and you have to bring it to the table.” - Beatriz D., Engineering Manager

“There will be times when you will see an opportunity that will not totally align with your skill set. Having confidence and courage helps. Push yourself to take on that challenge. The industry needs to be more reflective of the people we aim to protect.” - Aanchal G., Director of Security

“If you're new to computer science, explore every inch of the industry even if it seems intimidating, or if you're the only person who looks like you. There are so many opportunities that exist to align with your passions.” - Amber M., Software Engineer

“Make sure that your passion and interests come across. Being able to share what problems you are excited to tackle shows that you are genuinely interested in our mission and the work we are doing. For those that may not yet have enough experience to be hired, I recommend asking what skills you can work on developing now and recommended avenues of learning those skills that will make you a better candidate in the future.” - Shelly W., Software Engineer

“Have confidence in yourself! It also really helps if you have a good sense of what you're passionate about and what you want to do.” - Bridget P., Software Engineer

“What inspires me to keep going everyday is the potential to create something that will change others’ lives for the better. My dream has always been to make the world a better place using the engineering skills I have and I definitely feel like I’m moving a bit closer to that goal when I work. I also love the challenge working in tech provides.” - Amber M., Software Engineer

“I like working on Messenger because it’s a place where I can tackle hard problems with a huge real world impact. Tech is our future and I want to be there to help make sure we are making the right calls as we navigate uncharted territory. I didn’t think I would be able to make a difference on this scale with my fresh out-of-college skills, but I am very glad to have been wrong.” - Jean S., Software Engineer

“I have 2 daughters, and it was really hard for me to come back to work after my first – it’s such an emotional time. What really pushed me to stay in the industry is the fact that I really wanted to show my daughters that it’s possible to be passionate about your career while still being a great mom. I worked hard before having children to get to where I am, and no woman should have to sacrifice that. As with everything else, my girls are my inspiration, I want them to be proud of me.” - Yoojin I., Software Engineer

“What motivates me at work is being able to apply my software engineering skills to a product that helps others. Volunteering and contributing to my community has always been important to me, and I enjoy building features to connect and unify people around these important causes.” - Kaitlyn L., Software Engineer

“As a software engineer from Care Machine Learning, I’m motivated to come to work everyday building ways to protect our users from harmful contents and doing small things that ships love and care to users so that they don’t get hurt by the malicious comments/photos/videos.” - Laurie Z., Software Engineer

“I work on News Feed Control, whose mission is based entirely on the sentiment of our users and giving them more control over the content they consume. The entire team’s passion and dedication to listening to what the users want is absolutely inspirational in the vast sea of tech-world-metrics.” - Clarisse S., Software Engineer

“Building solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems and lift and inspire the next generation.” - Jean S., Software Engineer

“I think if more women were creators, we would see a world where products and solutions better fit the needs, wants, bodies, and perspectives of the very diverse populations we build for.” - Sin L., Software Engineer

“We can build more relevant, inclusive and better products when #womencreate.” - Deepali A., Software Engineer

“When #womencreate, anything is possible!” - Amber M., Software Engineer