Are we surprised the Grace Hopper Celebration is cancelled?

You shouldn't be.

For the past 4 years I've watched how political sentiment impacts investment in anything meant to serve diverse communities. The fact that it's happening at the same time as there is a hyperfocus on AI should ring alarms for you.

Why wouldn't they want us at the table to contribute to the design and deployment of technology that scales so broadly? How does the widespread adoption of a technology not warrant a more diverse representation of people involved in the creation process? Why just the intense narrative about being consumers and end users or risk being left behind?

And as I said before, this is diverse communities, many with intersectional identities, it isn't just women. This is the majority of people being shut out of discussions via the divestment of spaces and opportunities that allow them to learn, connect, lead and have their work featured. The majority of these events aren't just "events". They are ecosystems where minoritized people are exposed to more possibilities for their career and advancement. It has a direct impact on the economic advancement of these communities. Many communities were already strained with a lack of funding and resources before this shift. Some communities are literally fuelled by volunteers and still not sustainable.

The Grace Hopper Celebration being cancelled this year is another data point that allows us to say the quiet part out loud. This has been happening for years now. Women being laid off from tech disproportionally thus unable to invest in their communities or professional development, companies reducing or suspending sponsorship or even professional development budges for anything related to diverse initiatives. The impact of this is a snowball effect. It's only going to compound. And we can pretend that putting these events and programs together can be low costs or completely free but honestly running these events without sponsorship is fiscally irresponsible. Rarely do attendee tickets cover a conference, it is subsidized by sponsorship and at times the organizers. GHC was brave enough to cancel so close to the event with all the commitments they have and most likely still need to pay out. They did the math and realized they cannot manage the risk and they shouldn't have to. Some may attribute this to one year of being underfunded but I bet if we check, this is a few years of underfunding and them trying to catch up.

I almost sent out the same message a few times but instead have been putting myself in debt to continue operating our conference, Woven (for women in data and AI), that'll be in it's tenth year in May. And could be my last. No one asked me to do this and I'm never looking for pity. I'm just trying to be transparent. The organizers of your communities are hustling right now. I know the cost I've paid physically, financially and mentally to keep this going and I know it cannot continue this way.

When I first noticed the shift in 2022 I started diversifying where our revenue was coming from. I didn't want a new corporate policy, strategic direction, or fear of political retaliation to cancel the community of over 7000+ that I'm responsible for. So I started speaking more, consulting more, starting memberships, group programs, 1:1 coaching. Got real serious about reducing probono work. Optimized our outreach system for new sponsors. Started networking more to get back to my pre-pandemic levels. Yet, I still fall short. It feels like I'm holding onto a branch in a tornado.

The direction of the wind will change, as it always does. In the meantime, we need to decide if our outrage and mobilization to solutions only come after our treasured organizations reduce programming, or go out of business OR if we are actively keeping our communities alive, contributing to the momentum they have, advocating for us year round especially now to closed ears.

Would love your thoughts.

Rooting for you always,

Kishawna 🫶🏾