The Diverse Team: Healthy Companies, Progressive Practices

An all genders event!

Rails developer Ashe Dryden helps businesses improve their culture and outreach to create positive change through hiring and community involvement. Come learn from her years of expertise, and from interviewing more than 100 companies.

“You have to make them feel like ‘It’s not out of the ordinary for you to be here. You belong here.’ ”

What will a potential employee learn from looking at your company's About page? Will they see someone who looks like them? Why not?

What are your employees' favorite things about working for your company? How do you communicate that to potential hires?

Recent studies have shown that a team comprised of people from various backgrounds and lifestyles lead to a more diverse set of ideas, out-of-the-box solutions, and products that appeal to a wider segment of the population.

The Diverse Team will aid you in changing your current hiring processes and culture to encourage more diverse applicants, as well as supporting a diverse team. Through a series of narratives gleaned from nearly one hundred interviews with developers, designers, hiring managers, and employers from various backgrounds, we'll discuss practical solutions you can start applying to your business today.

Some of the topics covered include:

What does your marketing say to potential hires?

Is your hiring process turning off talented developers?

Is your culture ready to support diverse employees?

About the speaker:

Ashe Dryden is an indie developer living in Madison, WI. She's been involved with the web in some form or another over the course of the past 12 years. Ashe is known for being outspoken about the need for diversity, inclusiveness, and empathy.

When she isn't discussing technology or speaking at conferences, she's cycling, tweeting, playing board games, debating the social implications of Star Trek episodes, being that awkward girl at the party, and waiting for her next burrito fix.

This event is co-sponsored by Women Who Code & SF Ruby Meetup. RSVP via either group's announcement.