Moving #40Forward with Google for Entrepreneurs

40Forward

At Startup Grind we’re constantly asked how we face the challenge of the gender gap in our communities and what we're doing to make our events more inclusive of women. Startup houses and co-working spaces want to know how they can create an environment more inviting and appealing to women, attendees ask how we get female entrepreneurs to speak, and so on. There is no easy answer to all of this, but what we do know is incredible female entrepreneurs are everywhere. Still, while women are starting companies at 1.5 times the national average, they are consistently poorly represented in tech, accelerators, co-working spaces and startup events around the world.

Startup Grind was proud to have hosted 40% female speakers on stage at our 2014 global event this past February. We were inspired by the brilliance of Stella & Dot’s Jessica Herrin, Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and GoogleX’s Megan Smith, to name a few. Despite the fact that we were able to recognize a fantastic group of women at this event, there is no denying it’s a constant struggle for Startup Grind chapter directors and their communities around the world to connect with female entrepreneurs. Whether its recruiting women to attend or—even tougher, to speak—it usually requires a lot of hustle.

So, we’re facing that challenge head on. At Startup Grind, we’re fortunate to work with some special partners who are developing programs that are committed to changing the face of our global communities (and entrepreneurial communities in general) around the world. In May of this year, we’re proud to be partnering with Google for Entrepreneurs in a campaign called #40Forward: 40 startup communities rethinking the gender gap, a challenge issued to startup communities to increase participation of women by 25% this year.

We worked toward this goal at our 2014 global event – securing 25% more female speakers on stage than the previous year. Still, we know we’ve got work to do. As part of #40forward and a commitment to implementing change within our brand and community, we’re dedicating the month of May to female entrepreneurs around the world. We’ve challenged over 50 of our chapter directors to host a female entrepreneur from their community as the featured speaker for a fireside chat in May. This is just the start of what we hope becomes a more inclusive movement that attracts more women to speak at and attend Startup Grind events, but overall, creates a shift in the way we think and approach what we do.

Come join us:

San Francisco, CA May 6th: Julia Hartz, Eventbrite

Toronto, Canada May 5th: Annelies Van Den Belt, DC Thomson Family History

Manila, Philippines May 7th: Jessica Mah, Indinero

Lehi, Utah May 8th: Susan Petersen, Freshly Picked

North Bay, CA May 8th: Yoela Palkin, Basket, Inc.

Singapore, May 8th: Audrey Tan, PlayMoolah

Columbus, OH May 12th: Kelly Mooney, Resource

Dallas, TX May 14th : Mandy Ginsberg, Tutor.com (former CEO Match.com)

Tampa, FL May 16th: Ria Persad Carlo, StatWeather

Silicon Valley, CA May 19th: Mary Grove, Google for Entrepreneurs

Cincinatti, OH May 21st: Marissa Hu, Co-Ed Supply