BRAID Affiliates are institutions that have committed to increasing the diversity of their computing departments, but do not receive funding through the BRAID initiative. Institutions selected to be BRAID Affiliates are invited to participate in BRAID for one year. Affiliates learn best practices from our BRAID schools, and participate in the annual BRAID Summit, which gathers together all the BRAID stakeholders for two and a half days of discussion, ideation, and inspiration.

The only conference dedicated to all the diverse groups that comprise our engineering and computing workforce. The vision of the CoNECD (pronounced, ''connected'') Conference is to provide a forum for exploring current research and practices to enhance diversity and inclusion of all underrepresented populations in the engineering and computing professions including gender identity and expression, race and ethnicity, disability, veterans, LGBTQ+, 1st generation and socio-economic status.

ChickTech is a nonprofit organization dedicated to retaining women in the technology workforce and increasing the number of women and girls pursuing technology-based careers. ChickTech envisions a safe, inclusive, and innovative technology future that includes equal pay, participation, and treatment of women. All proceeds from the ACT-W National Conference go towards providing local high school girls with STEM education programs and spreading ChickTech's reach to create a culture of inclusion for all!

A little over two yeas ago, Glamour asked Melinda Gates, cofounder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, what kind of headline she'd write to sum up progress for women over the past 25 years. Her answer? ''Amazing Progress and Also Still Some Gaps.'' Since then, she's been pushing hard to fill those gaps, pledging to get 225 million women access to birth control by 2020, advocating for paid family leave, and trying to change the bro-topia culture of Silicon Valley. Today she and husband Bill released their Tenth Annual Letter, a sort of update on their work at the Gates Foundation and always a glance at their pure optimism about the world. This year's letter focuses on the toughest questions they've been asked over the years. Glamour editor-in-chief Samantha Barry added a few more to the list - and she opened up about how she discusses -MeToo with her own family, and why she'll never stop pushing for reproductive rights for women.

A new database is fighting the poor visibility of women in STEM by offering female professionals as speakers, panelists, experts, course leaders and advocates for diversity and equity. Women from across the world continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In the U.S.- where women make up nearly half of the workforce - they were merely 26 percent of the STEM workforce in 2011 according to the United States Census Bureau. President Obama's White House worked hard to expand the participation of women, girls and minorities in STEM fields by encouraging mentoring; initiating Let Girls Learn, a program to ensure that adolescent girls worldwide reach secondary school; and retaining women in science careers by investing in affordable childcare. Following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a grassroots organization called 500 Women Scientists was established to help propel and maintain the momentum of such efforts. Its founders and members pledged to speak up for science and for women. They would do this by boosting scientific literacy through public engagement, strengthening the role of science in society, and changing the face of what a scientist looks like. More than 20,000 people, mostly women but also a couple thousand men, signed the pledge.

By several measures, the tech world is stagnating or even moving backwards when it comes to achieving greater equity for women and people of color. According to LinkedIn's research, only 28% of software engineers are women, and that number has only gone up 3% over 15 years. Even worse, women in leadership roles has risen a measly 2.3%. The numbers are even more bleak in the funding world: Between 1999 and 2013, there was a 40% drop in female VCs, according to Babson's. Furthermore, only 3% of VC funds have black and Latinx people on their teams. In 2017, women-led companies made up 4.4% of all VC deals, a 2% increase in 10 years, according to Pitchbook. For women of color, the numbers are utterly dismal: Only 0.2% of venture capital went to startups founded by black women, according to ProjectDiane. The nonprofit, Women Who Tech, aims to change the ratio in tech. Through our Women Startup Challenges and other work, they've worked with 1,700-plus women-led ventures, numerous investors, and engineers. One big lesson that's emerged is that the tech culture has relied on pattern recognition for too long.

The Student of Vision Abie Award honors young women dedicated to creating a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for which they build. Undergraduate or graduate students may self-nominate for the Student of Vision Abie Award. All submitting participants must be 18 years or older on September 26, 2018. Recipients are honored by the technical women's community at the Grace Hopper Celebration. The award includes a prize of $7,000.

If you are interested in speaking at the 2018 Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC 18) in September, at GHC, they make sure the voices of community are heard. Don't miss the chance to learn more about your field, network with new people, and discover how you can further your career. Check out our tracks, speaking formats, and requirements to learn more.

Maryland Center for Women in Computing is pleased to present the Diversity in Computing Summit, a one-day workshop designed for all advocates of underrepresented groups in computing fields. Through informative workshops and dynamic speakers, we will emphasize inclusive computing - efforts that address the positive impact that underrepresented groups have and will continue to have on the future of technology.

The new book from John D. Couch, Apple's first vice president of education, details the company's vision for the role of technology. The book provides an inside look at the company's vision for the role technology has played in education, and the opportunities and obstacles that lie ahead.