The Center for American Entrepreneurship (CAE), a nonpartisan research, policy, and advocacy organization, and the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), has released a new analysis by Research Director Ian Hathaway: ''The Ascent of Women-Founded Venture-Backed Startups in the United States.'' The report adds to the relatively limited research in this area by studying patterns of women-founded, venture-backed startups in the United States between 2005 and 2017. While others have tended to look at topline aggregates of venture deals and funding amounts by the gender composition of founding teams, CAE's report focuses on the number of new companies entering the venture-backed pipeline each year by tracking ''first financings'' (initial venture investments). In her own foreword to the report, Lucy Sanders, co-founder and chief executive officer of NCWIT, writes: ''Technology innovation is a creative process; multiple people work on a single product or service, from company startup and front-end requirements generation, through design and development, to product rollout and support. It matters who sits at the design table and in the boardroom working on these innovative efforts. Just as in the creation of great art, inspirational music, or a fine meal, technology creation benefits from diverse life experiences. The Center for American Entrepreneurship commissioned this effort because of our belief that inclusive leaders are informed leaders. That's why, after reading this report, we encourage you to share it with a colleague.''

The Anita Borg Systers Pass It On Awards Program honors Anita Borg’s desire to create a network of women technologists helping each other. The cash award helps fund women in computing or projects that inspire and support girls and women to enter computing. We encourage recipients to ''pass on'' the benefits they gain from the award, creating a movement of women helping women. These awards are funded by generous donations from Systers, our online community founded by Anita Borg in 1987, and other members of the community.

Hopper x 1 Seattle is a two-day locally organized conference modeled after our Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC). This immersive event brings together women technologists at all levels - along with leading companies from industry, academia, and research - to build relationships, learn, and advance their careers.

Are you interested in helping to shape GHC19? Anitha Borg Organisation is looking for committee volunteers for Scholarships, Posters, Tracks, Open Source Day, and Mentoring Circles. Committee members directly impact the program by picking which scholars and speakers attend and reviewing submissions for specific tracks. Each committee member reviews, on average, 15 applications online, and provides ratings and comments to help the committee co-chairs make decisions on applicants. Students are ineligible to be reviewers, but we encourage eligible students to apply for the scholarship.

The Tech Talent Charter - partner of Information Age's Women in IT Awards Series - has done something that few diversity initiatives can claim: bring business competitors together to share data and collaborate for one purpose: to end the gender gap prevalent in the technology sector. In a first-of-its-kind report, the TTC has collated data from across large corporates to start-ups, which provides practical insights - or best practice tips - in helping close the gender gap. Gathered from over 200 signatories representing over half a million employees, the data in the report gives a snapshot of today’s tech industry and an insight into practical ways companies can improve it.

In many ways, 2018 was a groundbreaking year. For women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and girls who hope one day to be changing the world through STEM, it's been a showcase of the power of female-led science and innovation. There have also been challenges and powerful lessons, but 2018 for women in STEM was intriguing, barrier-breaking and full of new and exciting discoveries. Women continue to be on the rise in traditionally male-dominated STEM fields. Business Insider's annual list of the most powerful female engineers in the worldincludes, in 2018, head engineers at Google, Adobe, Lockheed Martin, Apple, SpaceX, and General Motors, who are not only breaking barriers as women in STEM, but also as women from diverse racial backgrounds. That's important in STEM, as data collected in March 2018 indicates that Black, Latinx and other women of color are deeply underrepresented in many STEM fields. Increasingly, the world is recognizing and promoting female STEM pioneers, whether through prizes like the L'Oreal UNESCO and Nature Research Awards or via initiatives to inspire the female scientists of the future; the ''She Can STEM'' videos connecting girls with heroes at game studios and NASA were a highlight of the year. Great science, amazing awards and some massive leaps forward: 2018 marked a watershed year for women in STEM worldwide. Here are five of the best moments.

The Association for Women in Science (AWIS), the leading organization advocating for women in STEM, announced Nobel Laureate Carol Greider, PhD, as its 2019 Pinnacle Award recipient and Mareena Robinson Snowden, PhD, Next Generation Award recipient. Dr. Greider and Dr. Robinson Snowden will receive their respective awards at AWIS’ annual premiere event - Innovation and Inclusion Summit and Awards Dinner -on April 24, 2019, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.

The Request a Woman Scientist platform connects our extensive multidisciplinary network of vetted women in science with anyone who needs to consult a scientist for a news story, invite a keynote speaker or panelist for a conference or workshop, find a woman scientist to collaborate on a project, or serve as a subject matter expert in any capacity. Importantly, 500 Women Scientists is committed to diversity and inclusion, not just in our scientific fields, but in our society as a whole.

When the 116th Congress heads to Washington in January, there will be a record number of women in the ranks - at least 123, according to the news website Axios, including the first Muslim women, the first Somali-American, and the first Native American women. There will be more scientists too. Nine new science-credentialed candidates were elected: one senator and eight members of the House. The members of the current 115th Congress include one physicist, one microbiologist, and one chemist, as well as eight engineers and one mathematician. The medical professions are slightly better represented, with three nurses and 15 doctors.