Makeathons and other similar events want to “do good” and “make the world a better place.” The people behind these events need to realize *how* they do them is as important as *why* they are doing them.

Organizations run by primarily white, cis, straight founders train the majority of their focus on alleviating alienation for white cis women in cis male-centric spaces, but do little to dig deeper into other marginalized identities and access needs.

Why do you think you're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars holding hackathons, sprint weeks, and conferences? And how could you be using that time and money better?

Diversity in tech is not only about ending technology empires that employ almost all white men, but about ending the ecosystems around tech companies that benefit primarily white males through a constellation of seemingly “secondary” effects in a far vaster net.

A cautionary tale to individuals and organizations, a call to action to be more proactive against alcohol abuse, and the start of a dialogue within our community.

Wide accessibility must become a part of everything we do in the tech industry, and our events are a critical part of that mission.

We love to talk about diversity and bringing marginalized women into tech. But our biases against sex work are biases against the very marginalized women we wish to include.

I weigh the challenges we face against the spirit of our group. We embrace our blackness, we love black identity, and we are proud to be coders.

The idea that the software industry benefits from an unwritten law of unconditional and mutual respect is an extension of meritocratic thinking: it’s as unrealistic as the meritocracy itself.

Having cisgender white males and venture capitalists creating projects about diversity not only doesn’t make sense, it’s insulting.