Girls in Tech is a social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology. As young women with the capacity to inspire, we made it our personal desire and passion to create and sustain an organization that focuses on the collaboration, promotion, growth and success of women in the technology sector.
Created in February of 2007, ‘Girls in Tech’ (GIT) was founded by Adriana Gascoigne. In September 2008 Jessica Valenzuela and Davina Anthony were encouraged to participate as co-founders to help strengthen the presence of the organization. GIT and was born out of a need to provide a place for women to cultivate ideas around their careers and business concepts involving technology.
Girls in Tech aims to offer a variety of resources and tools for women to supplement and further enhance their professional careers and aspirations in technology. Some of these resources include, educational workshops and lectures, networking functions, round table discussions, conferences, social engagements, and recruitment events.
About the Founder
Adriana F. Gascoigne
Adriana is the Director of Corporate Communications for hi5. Launched in 2003, hi5 is now one of the world’s largest social networks - ranked as a top 20 website globally and the #1 social network in 26 countries across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. According to comScore, more than 56 million individuals every month visit hi5, which is currently available in 26 languages options.
Adriana was most recently Vice President of the 360 Digital Influence Group at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide where she spearheaded operations for social media, word-of-mouth marketing and digital integrations campaigns for clients such as Intel, Wells Fargo, Brocade, ACC, Sun Power, Case Logic, YieldBuild and Naked Juice.
Prior to working at Ogilvy, she served as the Vice President of FutureWorks Media in San Francisco, managing all aspects of operations including business development, digital strategy and account management. Some of her clients included MeeVee, WooMe, Yojo Mobile, DocStoc, Magnify, Fantasy Sports Matrix, Ujogo, StreetAdvisor, Yoono, HeyCosmo, SayHeyHey, GoBig and YourTrumanShow.
A seasoned Web 2.0′er, Adriana is a vlogger for Bubblicious, MeeVee, TheWeakSpot, publishes her own tech lifestyle blog and buzzes around Silicon Valley speaking at industry events such as the Web Video Summit and Tech Innovations Summit. In March 2007, Adriana launched Girls in Tech, an organization focused on touting women’s achievements in tech and beyond.
In December 2008, she will be launching Smitten With Mittens, a non-profit providing warm mittens and clothing to orphans in third world countries during their respective Winter seasons.
Adriana holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Economics from the University of California at Davis, received a certification from El Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico, and was enrolled in Semester at Sea, University of Pittsburgh in 1997. Adriana is also fluent in Spanish and speaks some Japanese and French.
Adriana F. Gascoigne
About the Co-Founders
Jessica Anna Leah Valenzuela
Jessica Anna Leah Valenzuela is the Founder and CEO of next generation interactive media company, Mavin Digital, Inc. Established in October 2007 with partners in Europe, Mavin Digital is recognized and valued by brands and agencies, including Goldmund Media Group, Rogers and Cowan, Colangelo, Forbes.com, Moet Hennessy USA and 911 Pizza France. Jessica intends to expand Mavin Digital’s presence in other markets including, the West Coast, South America and Europe.
Prior to establishing and growing Mavin Digital, Jessica lead cross-functional teams and delivered interactive advertising campaigns as Director of Interactive, Senior Producer and Producer at Dogmatic, Inc, Ogilvy Action, Tribal DDB and Y&R Wunderman. Her clients include US Concepts, Coty, Inc., Schering-Plough, Inc., Astrazeneca, Hewlett Packard and AICPA.
Before engaging in the world of advertising, Jessica was the Online Product Manager at Kaplan, Inc. At a time when non-traditional classroom learning where primarily in print and CD-ROMs, Jessica and a team of first generation online education product managers migrated content, created and developed a sustainable online university platform that catered to financial services and financial planning. While At Kaplan, Inc. she worked with clients including Fidelity, Inc., Mass Mutual, AXA, Edward Jones and Aetna.
Jessica is a passionate Web 2.0 and next generation design and technology enthusiast and community advocate. She is always seeking for the latest improvements and enhancements in technology design and functionality that are connecting communities, changing and improving lives.
In 2008, Jessica intends to launch new ventures and partnerships in the technology sector, in addition to co-founding, leading and growing Girls In Tech.
Jessica hails from the Philippines, with 10 years of residence in Chicago and over 3 years in New York City. She received a Leadership Award while studying Business Administration at the Philippine College of Technological Resources, graduated with recognition and a B.S. in Hospitality Management at the University of the Philippines and completed professional learning programs in Interactive Marketing & Management at DePaul University in Chicago.
When not thinking about her next tech and business idea Jessica enjoys discovering new heights of cuisine de art, fine wine and cheeses, travel, the fashion and arts, music, dance, the outdoors and people.
Jessica Anna Leah Valenzuela
Davina Maree Anthony
Davina Anthony is the Creative and User Experience Director for the NY Daily News, New York’s premier source for news and events in the tristate area. Davina is directly responsible for the online presence and growth of the New York Daily News and in September 2007, she lead the redesign and development of the paper’s interactive version which currently boasts 80+ million page views and 10+ million unique visitors.
Prior to joining the NY Daily News Davina strategically created brand experiences for a variety of interactive advertising campaigns at NBC Universal, Tribal DDB, Hudson Union, Creative Priority, Greater Than One, The Cooper Group, 2nd Nature Studio and AllianceBernstein. Her notable designs are affiliated with multiple brands some of which include, NBC Sports website and media player, Johnson and Johnson Clean and Clear, Phillips Norelco, Chanel, Dannon, Citigroup, Disney, Travel Channel, Cirque Du Solie and American Express.
Besides her day job at NY Daily News Davina is also the Managing Partner at Ceneka. Ceneka is a boutique consultancy multimedia company with offices in New York, San Francisco and Sydney, Australia. Ceneka specializes in web design, search engine optimization, e-commerce and website development. Davina leads the creative and interaction design practice at Ceneka.
A devoted design and technology practitioner Davina also dabbles in the development and customization of useful web tools, including VoIP technology, a variety of widgets and applications. She is an expert in the use of many design and technology tools, including All Adobe products, XHTML, XML, JavaScript, ActionScript, CSS, PHP, AJAX and much more.
A true Aussie, Davina studied Bachelor of Design at the University of New South Wales and has been a New York resident for over 3 years.
Outside of web design and development Davina truly enjoys fine wine and cheeses, cuisine de art, travel, music, dance and the discovery of new things.
Davina Anthony