We talk to Ruddy Riba about her career as a women in tech, and Pink-IT and what they are doing to help women in tech find a supportive community and grow their networks. Chantal, Kenneth & Len talk to Ruddy about some of the challenges woman in technology face, and what she and her partners in Pink-IT are doing to help get women into tech. Ruddy shares with us the story of growing up far from Johannesburg, getting into university and seeing the immense drop-off rate of young women in just the first few classes at university. Entering her first job as the only female on the team, it became clear to Ruddy that this disparity needs to be addressed. Pink-IT is an organization that strives to connect women in tech with mentors they can look up to as they grow into the industry. She's also helped high-school students, especially girls, realize that software development is a viable career choice when they didn't even know it existed. Right there at high-school level Ruddy is taking actions that will help address the gender difference in our industry. Ruddy gives us a ton of great information and actionable insights on what we all can do to address the gender equality issues in our industry. One very powerful point is that of intentional mentorship, intentionally helping a female developer grow. Support Ruddy and her work with Pink-IT and their related organizations to foster and grow an inclusive environment that we'll all benefit from in the end. Find and follow Ruddy and Pink-IT online: * http://pink-it.co.za/ * https://twitter.com/PinkIT_za * https://twitter.com/RuddyRiba Here are some resources mentioned in the show: * BBD - http://www.bbd.co.za * JCSE - https://www.jcse.org.za/ * Wake Up Shake Up - https://wakeupshakeupsa.com/ * Jozihub - http://jozihub.org/ * Geekulcha - http://geekulcha.com/ * Raeketsetsa - http://raeketsetsa.geekulcha.com/ And finally our picks Ruddy: * Go Programming Language - https://golang.org/ * Pink-IT - http://pink-it.co.za/ Chantal: * Tracy Chou / @triketora - https://twitter.com/triketora * Sailor Mercury / @sailorhg - https://twitter.com/sailorhg Kenneth: * #ILookLikeAnEngineer - https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ILookLikeAnEngineer * Diversify who you follow on Twitter to gain different perspectives! * Wonder Woman (2017) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman_(2017_film) * Amazing Twitter thread on Wonder Woman costumes - https://twitter.com/AWeaverWrites/status/878967719072288768 Thanks for listening! Stay in touch: * Website & newsletter - https://zadevchat.io * Socialize - https://twitter.com/zadevchat & http://facebook.com/ZADevChat/ * Suggestions and feedback - https://github.com/zadevchat/ping * Subscribe and rate in iTunes - http://bit.ly/zadevchat-itunes