Techies Project Highlights Women, Minorities, LBGT in ‘Tech’

Picture a techie.

Did you picture a skinny white dude who is bad at social conduct, wearing a t-shirt and trying to balance a hula hoop in Dolores Park?

I know. I did, too.

Those guys exist. We know they do. We aren’t totally sure what they do at work (or give a shit, honestly), but they’re definitely around. You can feel it in your rent checks every month.  But as with most things in life, the situation is not so simple or so easily mocked.

On April 4th, the Techies Project launched. Helena Price started the project with some great people and the idea that the tech industry was and is still being built on the work of some fine people, cool people even. Maybe, just maybe these are hard-working, interesting people with bigger agendas than their personal investment accounts and buying $7 toast as a mid-day snack.

Images courtesy of techiesproject.com

It’s time to stop complaining about the tech industry, y’all. Sure, there are some real shitheads out there doing annoying and society-crumbling things. Please, be my guest to hate them like…so goddamn much.

But it’s time to acknowledge women who are creating foundations that support other women in technology, single parents who learned how to code, and LGBTQ engineers who do not have time for you to ban them from using whatever bathroom they think is appropriate (and also, what the shit?).

This portrait series is part of an ongoing conversation we should be having about what techies do and who techies are and how techies can build rather than take.

Learn about the Techies Project here.