Financial management services and life insurance company Northwestern Mutual is taking a new approach to attract more women technologists.
In December, the company held its inaugural Women in Technology conference, which was done virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The conference featured more than 50 speakers representing 25 companies, among them Hilton, Verizon Media, Hewlett-Packard Co., Major League Baseball and Capital One.
Over 96% of the speakers were women, including former boxer and fitness expert Laila Ali, the daughter of boxing great Muhammad Ali, "which is unique if you go to industry conferences," said Sangeetha Rai, vice president of technology and customer success at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee.
Topics included leadership, career moves, cloud computing and using technology to improve humanity.
Company leaders are hoping the conference will help build a tech talent pipeline, not only for the company, but for metropolitan Milwaukee.
"The more we can connect our women in tech community in Milwaukee and beyond, and the greater awareness we can create about this awesome tech career opportunity, will help to build that talent pipeline," Rai said.
More than 2,500 professionals registered for the event, Rai said. Those who participated logged in from various locations across the U.S., including San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, Dallas, Portland, Philadelphia and Boston. Northwestern Mutual donated $19,500 in proceeds to various organizations serving women in tech, including Black Girls Code, a California organization that provides tech education for young Black girls.
Northwestern Mutual leaders created the idea for the conference last summer and are exploring in-person and virtual options for future Women in Technology conferences, Rai said.
"As we saw more and more conferences turn to a virtual format, we had this idea to create our own conference to give back, and to really engage, inspire and connect women in tech, within and outside of our company, in a new way," Rai said.
According to a 2020 SmartAsset report, women make up about 26% of the nation's tech workforce, but on average, are paid only 83% of what men are paid in the industry. In surveying U.S. cities that had at least 200,000 residents, SmartAsset found Milwaukee ranked 46th out of 59 cities for best places for women to work in tech. In Milwaukee, 29.3% of tech jobs are filled by women, who earn 82% ($41,212 on average after housing costs) of what men are paid.
Rai said Northwestern Mutual is ahead of the industry average for tech roles filled by women, "but we recognize there is more work to do and it is the priority for the company, in terms of the conference and other developmental things I am personally involved in, to help the advancement of women."
