Allie Nimmons of WP Buffs and Michelle Ames from GiveWP have built Underrepresented in Tech, a tool intended to highlight underrepresented people‘s skills and specialties first and foremost as a hiring or recruiting factor.
Explaining how this project got started, Allie said:
Michelle and I have both been outspoken advocates for diversity. I am a person of color and a member of the LGBTQ community. Michelle is disabled and older than someone you would normally see in the tech space. We have a really tight friendship, and the tool came out of just wanting better for each other and for our other friends. We got a generous sponsorship from Gravity View + Gravity Forms and built the database ourselves using their software.
We have people like Maddy Osman, Chris Lema, and Joe Howard in the database already, and it’s growing every day. Adding a profile or searching the database are the main ways people can help. We take in-kind sponsorships, but at this point, getting the word out and growing the database is most important.
Underrepresented in Tech looks like it will be a valuable tool for meetup organizers, WordCamp speaker organizers, and anyone who wants to add more diversity to their event. I highly recommend you check this out and spread the word.
We wish every success to Allie and Michelle, and no doubt we’ll see the site grow. 🙌
