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We’re Relaunching our Community! Rise together with us
A little history In 2013, we hosted our very first event as Boston Girl Geek Dinners. Our events were designed to support and connect women+ in tech and tech-adjacent roles. Now, almost ten years later, we’re relaunching our community to be more inclusive, with the same high-quality, safe, and fun-loving atmosphere many of you know us for! In 2017, we expanded beyond events and community, and started facilitating workshops on creating more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplaces. We deliberately chose to focus on the workplace as the way to frame the context for our trainings.
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Why “Resting Bitch Face” is Sexist
I have a very…stoic face. When I’m going about my business, my face in its natural state can be “pretty off-putting” (or so I’ve been told). I’ve even been reprimanded professionally for appearing to be disinterested in meetings and not being welcoming to esteemed guests (read: I didn’t have a smile plastered on my face the whole time). Men constantly make comments at the gas station, the gym, the grocery store, or any place where I’m just minding my own business for me to smile.
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Yet Another Day of Mourning in America: Thoughts on May 2022
As we sit here the morning after the latest news of horrific, senseless, preventable murders, this time of kids (yet again), and on the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, it’s hard to remain optimistic that justice will prevail. When everything you read and see is horrible, but the ‘normal’ world you physically experience day-to-day continues, how can you reconcile the two? How can you continue to function? What’s the point of it all? We’ve been reflecting a lot recently on what having control means in this world of ours.
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5 Ways to Advocate for Climate Justice at Your Company
With so many competing priorities for organizations, it can be hard to prioritize a problem like climate change that seems so far away. Scientists continue to warn us that the devastating effects of climate change are about to be irreversible, and yet we are not hardwired to make it a priority as we would so many of the other more immediately apparent events. It also feels so big. The truth is, climate change is an intersectional issue, and there are great resources to learn more about climate justice or environmental justice.
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Coping with Overwhelm: An Open Letter for March 2022
March is barely underway, but it has most definitely entered like a lion – any actual weather forecasts notwithstanding. As I’ve found myself doing so many times over the past few years, I’m once again checking in with you.
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Working Through Crisis
It seems counterintuitive to be sitting in front of a screen (computer, phone, TV) while people are fighting for their existence, living on the streets with no support system, and struggling through so much uncertainty. My brilliant business partner has talked about how to support yourself and others’ mental health during our continuing crisis. I wrote a piece on setting boundaries. These are all great ways to think about crisis at work.
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Women’s History Month Resource Roundup
In honor of Women’s History Month, our March 8, 2022, Ask Inclusion Geeks on LinkedIn Live explored topics around gender and womanhood in the workplace. We recognize that like many of our social identities, while gender is a social construct, it doesn’t exclude us from having certain privileges or disadvantages due to the socio-cultural and political climate we live in. With that in mind, when we refer to women, we are not talking about biological sex but rather a social status and label many of us identify with (or have accepted) as our identity.
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What Conscious Capitalism Looks Like in 2022
As a Certified B Corp, conscious capitalism has been part of the Inclusion Geeks DNA right from the start. I’ve had a very long history of thinking about what this looks like for me, personally, and as I have more time, resources, and access to information, I think about how my financial choices (even the small ones) may actually matter. HOW I GOT TO CONSCIOUS CAPITALISMIn high school, like perhaps many of you, I cared deeply about ‘issues’.
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Why We Don’t Stream with Spotify Anymore (examining the Joe Rogan/Spotify Controversy)
Have you ever heard the saying, “many a truth hath been spoken in jest”? Or, more simply put, “there is truth in folly” – which essentially means that there are often nuances of truth found in comedy (apparently this quote comes from William Shakespeare’s King Lear. The character of Regan tells her sister Goneril that “jesters do oft prove prophets” as they argue over the affections of Edmund, a man they are both romantically interested in – solid medieval drama!).
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We Are (Not) Family
I’ve always liked the song, “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge (I mean, who doesn’t?) – it’s catchy, upbeat, and REALLY fun to vibe out to when it’s played at the skating rink. The lyrics make sense because Sister Sledge is a group made up of actual siblings. What’s interesting is how we have co-opted this terminology to apply to people who are not actual family members, but co-exist in spaces where they spend a lot of time together (read: work).
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TV Shows that Go Beyond the Bechdel Test
We recently published a post on TV shows that pass the Bechdel test. But that’s just one test we can use to assess our television shows. It’s time we go beyond that. Several years ago (remember 2017?) FiveThirtyEight examined movies that went beyond the Bechdel Test using a variety of criteria.
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4 Ways to Honor Black History Every Day
We’re at that time of year again where many of us are wondering how to honor Black History Month in the workplace. While many of us might be starting a book club, putting together an event, or having intentional conversations, some of us might also be thinking of ways we can maintain the momentum in 2022 and beyond. If you aren’t already doing the following, here are four action steps you can take today to honor Black History Month every day. 1.