Perspectives

The numbers don’t tell a great story about women’s representation in the tech world. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations in the United States have grown 79% in the last 30 years and are projected to increase further by the end of this decade. However, according to data from the Women in Tech Network, women account for only 18% of new computer science degrees. As of 2022, women hold only 28% of computing and mathematical roles in the country, and the ratio of women to men in tech roles has declined in the last few decades.  

The numbers don’t improve when you look at tech startups. According to data from Forbes, only about 14% of startups are founded solely by women. A lot of that may come down to funding. According to data from Forbes in 2023, only 2% of all VC funding goes to women-led startups. Perhaps part of the problem is that only 16% of decision-makers at VC firms are women—95.5% of VC firms in the United States report having majority male decision-makers.  

Underrepresented as they may be, women in tech are making significant contributions across technology and policy. This Women’s History Month, Trilligent is pleased to highlight a few women who are pushing the boundaries of innovation, leading in their fields and making space for diverse voices at the bleeding edge of innovation and policy.  

• Daniela Amodei – Amodei is the co-founder and president of Anthropic, a generative artificial intelligence company that has created a family of large language models (Claude) and published research and is a leading voice in discussions on AI. Earlier this month they announced the Claude family, three state-of-the-art models that the company claims best OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4.  
• Eowyn Chen – Chen is the CEO of Trust Wallet, one of the largest multi-chain, non-custodial crypto wallets. She’s dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Web3 by making it easier to use, improving its security and protecting the identity and privacy of crypto users.  
• Dr. Rumman Chowdhury – Dr. Chowdhury has dedicated her career to the responsible use of emerging technologies, especially AI. Her resume and accumulated accolades are seriously impressive (no really, go read her bio). As she said at the U.S. Senate’s first AI Insight Forum in September 2023, “diverse issues with large-scale [AI] models are best solved by having more diverse people contributing to the solutions.” 
• Claire Fernandez – Fernandez is a human rights activist and the executive director at European Digital Rights, a network in Europe that defends rights and freedoms online. 
• Eva Paunova – Paunova is a Member of the European Parliament from Bulgaria who has put priority on policies related to innovation and the use of new technologies. She has played a critical role as the lead rapporteur in the industry committee for the AI ACT and is the rapporteur on the Chips Joint undertaking, a planned public-private partnership in the EU for microchips. 
• Sneha Revanur – At 20, she is the youngest person recognized on the Time100 Most Influential People in AI list in 2023. Revanur founded Encode Justice, a youth-led civil society organization focused on AI policy advocacy. This past summer, she helped to organize a letter that was sent to Congress and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to urge them to include more young people on AI oversight and advisory boards. 
  

At Trilligent, we help disruptive clients bring big ideas to life. We value the inclusion of voices that challenge us and push us forward. We look forward to more opportunities to work with women in tech to amplify their work and help them excel.