There has been more and more resources and organizations promoting women in technology and entrepreneurship. Here are some organizations I’ve personally attended past events from and know are active in New York:
Women in Wireless
Women in Wireless promotes and develops female leaders in mobile and digital media by hosting panel events with industry thought leaders, multi-city networking events and a mentoring program that launched in 2011. Women in Wireless have previously partnered with the Mobile Marketing Forum, CTIA, MobileMonday, etc. They have a concept called the “Friday5” which the organization shares the top 5 articles they read and the top 5 jobs they find in mobile during the week. Some advisory board members for Women in Wireless include: Priya Nevrekar of NBCUniversal Digital Distribution, Darcy Frisch of Hearst, and Nihal Mehta of LocalResponse.
Blog: http://womeninwireless.tumblr.com/
Women Innovate Mobile
Women Innovate Mobile (WIM) is a startup accelerator and mentorship-driven program designed for women-founded companies in mobile technology. Their first 3-month mentorship driven accelerator program happened this past March 26 – June 29 in New York City. Startups chosen for the mentorship program receive $18,000 in funding, free office space, product development and design support, mobile-marketing promotions, and access to a network of mentors, funders and advisors.
List of WIM mentors: http://womeninnovatemobile.com/mentors/
WIMLink
WIMLink’s mission is to connect female entrepreneurs and professionals in the media and technology space. I attended a WIMLink “Women Leadership and Negotiation Event” with panelists: Sharon Feder, COO of Mashable ; Laurel Touby , Founder of Mediabistro, startup Investor/Advisor and also host of CBS Interactive “Secrets of Successful Start-ups”; and Tania Lynn, Partner at Deloitte. The panel was moderated by Yao Hui Huang, Founder of The Hatchery. WIMLink often hosts mixer and panel discussions for women who want to advance in both startup and corporate worlds.
Women Inspire Tech
I attended a Women Inspire Tech event a few weeks ago where the guest speaker was Melina Pearson, Manager of Newsroom System Development for NBCUniversal. Tiffany Roesler, host of the event, opened the night by raising discussion topics. One of which was what attendees thought about the women selected in Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list and compared to the Forbes 100 Most Powerful People list, where only 7 were female. Women Inspire Tech is a monthly meetup group in New York.
Other groups I haven’t personally attend events from but have heard good things about:
85Broads: The founding members of 85 Broads were women who worked for Goldman Sachs at 85 Broad Street, the investment banking firm’s former NYC headquarters.
InGoodCompany: The founders created IGC to be both a community for women business owners with learning opportunities and a physical co-working space where women could come to work, meet, and learn.