Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship Orlando chapter to launch this month

Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship (WTE) founder Raechel Canipe first met Michelle Moore in March and immediately hit it off.

Moore, who was looking for other local tech women to connect with, learned about the Tampa-based WTE group's monthly happy hours, which Canipe launched last December.

"I had been asking [about women's networking groups] in the tech circles in Orlando, asking, 'Hey, is there any women in tech stuff going on?' I was told by two women, 'There's a great group in Tampa. You should go there and see what they're up to,'" said Moore.

Moore was willing to travel, as she was keen on finding connections.

“Michelle happened to come to one of our early WTE events [in Tampa],” said Canipe, who is also vice president of marketing and sales at Tampa-based cloud technologies company RevStar. "She actually came to our St. Patrick's Day event, and she shared with me that she had just driven on a Friday all the way from Orlando to join this networking event because she had relocated recently from Toronto, and she could not find a community for women in tech and entrepreneurship in Orlando."

Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship, a member-led community of women working in the technology and startups space, is launching its Orlando chapter on May 19 at Full Sail University’s Treehouse at 519 S. Semoran Blvd. in Winter Park from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

The local chapter comes just months after rolling out the dues-free organization in Tampa and St. Petersburg with plans for Tallahassee and Jacksonville chapters in the future.

To be sure, a tech group for women in Orlando isn't a completely new idea. For example, the region had WeVENTURE, a Florida Institute of Technology program that amplified womenpreneurs in Central Florida, but it closed its Orlando doors in 2016. Further, Women in Technology International has an active Orlando chapter.

Meanwhile, Moore, whose tech career has spanned continents and decades, wanted to help launch and lead an Orlando chapter of WTE.

At this early stage, the group doesn't have a formalized membership process yet, nor a website or direct contact, other than Linkedin. Specific growth strategies and membership goals are in development.

Canipe, who wants to keep the experiences and future services free, is bankrolling everything herself, although there will be sponsorship opportunities as WTE takes shape. While the get-togethers primarily are social right now, there are plans for topical discussions and presentations during future events.

As WTE fleshes out its programming and formalizes its membership structure, the group may help attract more women to the technology field. According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), only 25% of workers in the technology sector are women, and just 11% of leadership roles in tech are held by women.

Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship Orlando will offer near-peer mentorship to women who come to its gatherings. Near-peer mentorship is when professionals at similar stages of career development collaborate and share information.

According to both Canipe and Moore, educational opportunities and a support network also will be offered, but what that will look like is not clear yet, as substantive plans are still in the works. Right now, Canipe says the best ways to connect are by going to events and joining WTE's Slack community.

Here, Moore shared talked with Orlando Business Journal about the launch and more:

You first connected with WTE in March, and now it’s only May. Did this unfolded quickly? Yes, and we got Lindse Murphy, the senior director of innovation and technology at Orlando Economic Partnership, to join me as co-chair. I feel that it is so easy to network in Orlando, easier than in Canada, and I have found the community so welcoming.

What kinds of relationships is the WTE Orlando chapter forging? I was at an Orlando Innovation League event and met Louis Garcia [co-founder of Collectiva, a strategy consultant firm for pre-funding tech start-ups]. He followed up with a Zoom call and [told me] ‘I'm going introduce you to Mary Beth Plank, the vice president of Full Sail.’ So that's why we are launching [at Treehouse]. We’ll be at StarterStudio with [StarterStudio CEO/Executive Director] Dawn Haynes in June. Subsequent events are going to be at Ivanhoe Brewing, and Carol Ann Dykes Logue, [director of programs and operations for UCF's Innovation Districts and incubation program], will be hosting at UCF Incubator. We’ll have events at the National Entrepreneur Center in September and October. 

What’s your background? My background is management consulting. I have 15 years in PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst Young and 10 years leading tech-driven change. Now I help teams improve performance with wellbeing, via work design that protects and harnesses attention.

Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship Orlando

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