Diverse and inclusive tech conferences to attend in 2018

If you’re looking for more diverse and inclusive tech conference experiences in 2018, here are some great resources.

While searching for an alternative to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Tech, UX designer and developer Carrie Mah put together a fantastic list of diverse and inclusive tech events that are focused on women and underrepresented groups in tech. Her list is global and includes location and costs — it’s incredibly extensive and detailed. Mah’s list covers events in 2017, but many, if not all, of the events are annual, so it’s a great starting point as you’re planning for 2018.

I’d also like to highlight a few events that I’ve come across (and that I’d love to attend; travel budget willing!). Some have already announced dates and locations for 2018, and some haven’t, so make sure you bookmark these and keep checking back. Some of these are technology specific and some aren’t, but all are focused on amplifying the voices of underrepresented groups in the workplace. Enjoy!

6 diverse and inclusive events for tech professionals

Tech Inclusion Tech Inclusion uses a holistic approach to addressing diversity and inclusion in tech. That means hitting a number of major impact areas, including education, policy, workplace, entrepreneurship and ecosystem. Tech Inclusion offers conferences, startup showcases, forums and career fairs. The first event in 2018 will be in Melbourne, Australia, but two events are planned for the U.S. later in 2018.

Lesbians Who Tech Lesbians Who Tech (LWT) is a group of queer women (and allies) in and around tech whose mission is to increase visibility, strengthen and improve connections, and build community. The organization is now more than 30,000-members strong and has chapters in most major cities in the U.S. The next LWT+Allies Summit will take place in San Francisco in March 2018.

Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit 2018 will mark the fourth year of The TechConnext Summit, an annual conference sponsored by BlackEnterprise.com. The conference includes a hackathon, keynotes and roundtables featuring tech executives and opportunities for black tech professionals from both startup and established companies to network and gain exposure.

AfroTech AfroTech is billed as the largest Black Tech conference in Silicon Valley. There are tracks for entrepreneurs and startup founders, talks and keynotes around combining tech and culture, user design workshops, and growth hacking, according to the website.

2X from The Hustle: An evening of storytelling The Hustle is a daily email newsletter covering business, tech and culture. Though it’s not specifically focused on the tech industry, 2X is an event that’s bringing together inspirational women to deliver stories about pivotal moments in their career and personal journeys. The 2X events will happen in a few cities across the U.S. in 2018.

Get Bullish/BullCon Jennifer Dziura is a writer, humorist and educator who founded Get Bullish to offer a feminist perspective on careers and personal life advice for women. Although not exclusively for the technology industry, BullCon, now in its fifth year, is a “career conference for feminists who want to make the world and the workplace better.”