September 2023 may be the last time Grace Hopper Celebration, a technology conference bringing about 16,000 attendees to Orlando last year, is held in Florida, according to a website announcement posted by the conference’s founding organization, San Mateo, California-based AnitaB.org.
“Recent actions by the Florida Legislature and governor are inflicting harms that override the goodwill of local communities and impose harsh state-mandated restrictions that challenge our mission and hurt our members. Therefore, Grace Hopper Celebration 2023 will conclude our investment in Florida, and we will not return until this legislation is overturned and the state becomes more welcoming to all.”
Grace Hopper Celebration, the world’s largest annual gathering of women technologists, has been in Orlando since 2017, the same year Brenda Darden Wilkerson became president and CEO of AnitaB.org. “Actually, the first day of the 2017 conference was my first day on the job. And Orlando has been a place that has the facilities to allow us to do what we do. We’ve had as many as 400 breakout sessions, and [Orange County Convention Center] can handle that.”
Wilkerson described a warm relationship with the convention center and said she had not noticed any changes in tone or a decrease in receptiveness in her dealings with the center since Senate Bill 1718: Pregnancy and Parenting Support, referred to as the “Heartbeat Protection Act,” and Senate Bill 300: Immigration — two of several bills cited by AnitaB.org in its announcement — were approved by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
When asked for comment, convention center Executive Director Mark Tester said, "We appreciate the partnership we've shared with AnitaB.org and the team of wonderful professionals that produce the Grace Hopper Celebration and we look forward to the event's return in the future."
Prior to 2017, the conference visited cities in Texas, Minnesota and elsewhere, and Wilkerson said while the conference will remain in Orlando in 2023, an announcement is forthcoming about its 2024 location.
Grace Hopper Celebration has seen notable speakers over the years, like Frances Haugen, the data scientist and Facebook whistleblower who by revealing internal documents exposed the company for what she described as the company’s alleged mishandling of political misinformation and hate speech, preferential treatment of certain users, and its communications with investors.
Wilkerson noted that one of the pivotal parts of Haugen's career was "when she was a student and she got to go to Grace Hopper Celebration. In her mind, it cemented that she should be a part of the tech community."
When Haugen was delivering a keynote speech on the Grace Hopper Celebration stage on Sept. 21, 2022, she said, "It is particularly meaningful for me to be here today because the first application I ever wrote to speak at a conference was Grace Hopper Celebration. ... I had been there the year before. I had loved the energy. I loved the magic. And the only way I was going to get to [come] back with my company was if I got a talk accepted."
Computer scientists Anita Borg and Telle Whitney grew weary of the male-dominated tech scene, and along with 12 other women technologists they met in the ladies’ restroom at a conference, started Systers, the precursor to AnitaB.org and a launchpad for Grace Hopper Celebration, a conference whose first year saw 600 attendees. Today, said Wilkerson, Grace Hopper Celebration brings attendees from about 80 countries each year.
Meanwhile, several new Florida laws also may slow down in-migration from other states, according to noted urban researcher Richard Florida, who recently tweeted his concern that there’s a “self-inflicted monkey wrench being thrown into the red state growth machine."
“The monkey wrench is talent attraction, or talent spurring — and by this I mean top knowledge, professional and creative talent being pushed out by a package of reactionary policies toward what I long ago dubbed the 3rd T of economic development — tolerance,” Florida said, alongside talent and technology. “It comes down to tolerance and the political climate.
“The attacks on women’s rights, gay rights, book bans, the nonsense with Disney, elimination of tenure and attacks on universities, guns, I could go on,” Florida said.
“Seems to be that a tipping point is being reached now, as the red states and their governors and legislatures pursue more reactionary social agendas,” Florida said, adding that he’s talking daily to women and gay people who are turning down job offers in red states due to these issues.
Florida said that he recently spoke with three gay male friends who are leaving, or planning to leave Miami, a city they were drawn to for its reputation for openness and tolerance. “The proverbial bloom is off the rose,” he said. “Increasingly, these governors and legislatures appear unhinged.”
Grace Hopper Celebration key stats for 2022 conference
- Attendees: 30,016
- Location: 56% in person, 44% virtual
- Minority attendees: 13% Black, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander; 10% LGBTQIA+
San Francisco Business Times Senior Staff Writer Mark Calvey contributed to this article.
Sign up here for The Beat, Orlando Inno’s free newsletter. And be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
