The EQUALS in TECH AWARDS
Every year, we give awards to people
who are helping girls and women
get equal access, skills and opportunities online and in the tech industry.
2018 EQUALS in Tech Award Finalists
"In India, patriarchy strongly impacts women’s access to, and use of, technology. Positive social change is impossible and incomplete when it leaves out women; hence, we focus strongly on engaging women and girls. We also extensively work on class and caste dimensions of marginalization, with gender as a cross-cutting theme."
"Thanks to Vi Viet, our in-house developed mobile wallet, low-cost digital banking and services are now in women’s reach anytime anywhere. Equal access to formal finance will raise up women’s confidence and their voice in families and society, hence contributing to the country’s overall development."
ACCESS
CATEGORY
Improving women's and girls’ digital technology access, connectivity and security
"Access to accurate information is one of the most important things for women living in difficult circumstances such as being a refugee. Women face unique challenges and by providing them with information that they can act on, they are empowered to make decisions for themselves and their families."
"Daate Inyakh lives in the rural drylands of Kenya with six daughters who frequently go to bed hungry and cannot afford an education. At the BOMA Project, we are motivated by ensuring women’s digital financial inclusion to help mothers like Daate lift themselves and their families out of extreme poverty."
"Sehat Kahani was founded by two female doctors who understood that the gap between health providers and low income communities could only be bridged if women in the medical field were empowered to provide service to those who needed it."
"Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have a huge impact on the way that we live and work. Understanding how AI will be applied in the workplace and how to train, test and supervise AI will be essential tools and gaining these skills a top strategy for avoiding irrelevance.... AI Accelerator is a program to help women get into this field, through free seminars, webinars and workshops."
"Girls and women need mentorship and support to thrive in science to innovate and produce home grown solutions. It is important to instill in the young woman that she is valuable, powerful and deserving of every opportunity in the world so that she may also teach that to the future generation."
Supporting development of science, technology, engineering and math skills of women and girls
SKILLS
CATEGORY
"Women, as men, should be able to achieve their dreams and as simple as this sounds, this is still not possible. The growing digital industry presents enormous opportunities to change this. Because of technology, most occupations will be transformed.... Women with this digital knowledge will bring the talent the industry needs and the diversity that will make it stronger."
"Across the world, from Paris to Pakistan, Cambodia to DR Congo, we see that when girls and women have access to ICT and the chance to acquire digital skills, they can create their own innovative solutions to improve their and their families’ wellbeing and make their communities and the world a better place."
"Through community engagement, I found out about NairoBits Trust where I enrolled for a one year training course in ICT. It was my first time to interact with a computer.... This inspired me to run a program for girls in ICT to ensure girls coming from the informal settlements can access opportunities to pursue ICT skills for employability."
"Women in Tech Africa was founded with the ambition of providing a platform for women of African descent in the technology space where they can peer learn and share experiences. Today WITA is the largest women in tech group on the continent and includes over 30 volunteers globally to push the agenda of the growth of Africa through technology."
"Women of Wearables aims to inspire, support and connect women and diverse groups in wearable tech, fashion tech and IoT industry.... WoW is not just for professional women, but for anyone with an interest in wearable technology and providing women with a platform for growth."
LEADERSHIP I
CATEGORY
Promoting women in decision-making roles within the ICT field
"In the world of work today, millions of women opt out of the work market because of its rigid and inflexible work structure. We are committed to changing that narrative and disrupting the paradigm by combining cutting edge technology to connect the dots between talent, opportunities for women, and a transparent way to work in the digital age."
"The #movethedial team is dedicated to promoting the participation and leadership of all women in tech. By providing a platform for authentic stories to be shared, we are inspiring others and boosting the visibility of accomplished and up-and-coming women in tech."
"Art+Feminism is about making Wikipedia a more complete and representative source of information, but it doesn’t end there for us. It’s about tearing down systems that diminish or entirely erase the histories of marginalized people and communities."
LEADERSHIP II
CATEGORY
Initiatives promoted by tech sector companies to bridge the digital gender divide
"Advancing opportunities for STEM education including digital technologies such as Blockchain can help women and girls to design, shape and benefit from the technological transformations and innovations changing our world. SAP Next-Gen is fostering the next generation of female social entrepreneurs."
"Sheva is a for-purpose organization that teaches girls and women in Latin America how to take advantage of mobile technology to improve their lives exponentially through face-to-face deep training and an educative winning app, so they can be prepared for the 4th Industrial Revolution."
Why We're Great >
UTS Women in Engineering and IT is driven to ensure women are included in the Australian and global economy as it increasingly demands digital literacy and skills.... The team is driven by personal values of human rights, social justice and gender equity which unite us in the pursuit of economic inclusion and empowerment of women.
"Gender still conditions life decisions, career choices and self-perceptions even at very early stages of development, and continues to be a source for inequality. At Disney, we strive to bridge this gender gap by equipping boys and girls equally with the digital literacy tools and resources they need to develop skills that will allow them to thrive in society, and thus have the same opportunity to choose who they want to become.”
RESEARCH
CATEGORY
Initiatives working to expand digital gender divide knowledge in support of evidence-based decision-making
"Powerful forms of STEM knowledge have been overlooked because they reside in under-represented communities and low-income activities. In particular we find that 'heritage algorithms'--iterative patterns in Navajo weaving, fractals in cornrow braids, and so on--are often associated with women's work."
"The gender research by the AfterAccess team is driven by recognition of the lack of robust, nationally representative data sources that can be gender-disaggregated to accurately measure the gender gap in the Global South. Such data is crucial to evidence-based policymaking for women’s digital inclusion."
"For years we have worked on motivating and training adolescent women to be the next generation of innovators in technology. We research and share data because we believe that everyone needs to see the importance of these young women and understand that among them is the next person who will create a solution to some of their problems."
Thank you to our sponsors for making these awards possible. Your support helps reimagine our digital future.
AWARD
SPONSORS
The Judges
The 2018 EQUALS in Tech Award finalists and winners were chosen by former winners, known as the Advisory Group, and experts from the EQUALS Steering Committee, composed of coalition leads, co-founders, and financial contributors.