There is no shortage of stories detailing the suffering and emotional turmoil of being a woman in Silicon Valley. But in 2013, Valerie Aurora, Amelia Greenhall, and Liz Henry found a way to help create a safe space for women working on creative projects: They founded a San Francisco feminist hacker/maker space called Double Union.
Double Union grew out of Ada Camp, a two-day unconference focused on women in open technology and culture. Ada Camp introduced a codified anti-harassment policy that uses clear, specific definitions and states that anyone participating in qualifying behavior can be expelled. The policy helped create a safe space that nurtured inclusive, cross-gender conversations and has since spread widely to other technology conferences. Henry was inspired by the great conversations she had at Ada Camp in 2013. “We realized, ‘What if we could make a space where we could have this kind of conversation all the time?’" Ten women started meeting up after the conference and, a few months later, signed a lease on an office. Double Union was born.
One of the main goals of Double Union is to make women’s space in tech that has nothing to do with corporate tech giants. This goes against strong norms of Silicon Valley culture, where companies like Google and Intel often sponsor both tech-centric charitable causes and networking events. “That was a very large battle; a lot of people wanted us to take money from corporations,” said Aurora. Instead, Double Union is funded by and focuses on helping its members start their own projects and companies. “We believe that the only way to have a feminist company is for it to have a majority of feminists as founders. Not just women founders. We want good places for women to work,” said Aurora.
Read more about this awesome hacker/maker space for women on BitchMedia.org.
Photo by Catherine Fryszczyn.
