Diversity in Tech NL – A Night of Purpose, Power, and Collective Wisdom

I had the joy and honor of facilitating a deeply personal and powerful meetup for the Diversity in Tech NL community. The theme? Purpose, Challenges & Collective Wisdom for Women in Tech. What unfolded was nothing short of transformative - a space of truth, tenderness, and tangible action.

This wasn’t just another networking event. It was a circle of strength. A safe haven where women in tech came together not to perform, but to be real. To be seen. To be heard. To lift each other up with courage, curiosity, and care.

Let me take you on a journey through the heart of what we explored together.

🐉 What Called Us to Tech?

We opened the session by asking a deceptively simple question: Why did you choose tech? But beneath that question lay layers of passion, purpose, and personal history.

Some were drawn by a love of math or the thrill of building systems. Others came from academic curiosity or the dream of shaping a more inclusive digital future. And for many of us, myself included, tech was a path to safety, stability, and self-determination. A way to write our own stories when the world tried to write them for us.

One participant shared how she chose tech over art and psychology because, growing up in poverty, she needed to build a life she could control. Another spoke of combining her anthropological background with tech to bring human-centered thinking into male-dominated spaces. Others lit up at the thought of problem-solving, data, and the joy of never being bored.

In all our stories, one thing was clear: our place in tech wasn’t an accident. It was a decision. A declaration. A dragon’s roar.

🐲 The Boulders We Carry

But oh, the weight we carry.

When we moved into our next reflection, our greatest current challenge, the mood deepened. We spoke openly about what’s been holding us back.

💔 Feeling invisible in meetings while men speak with unshakable (and often unfounded) confidence.

💔 Struggling to communicate strategically without shrinking ourselves or being mislabeled as “difficult.”

💔 The fatigue of constantly needing to prove our worth. Again. And again. And again.

💔 The ache of being the only woman in the room - and the unspoken pressure to represent all women, all the time.

One woman shared how she wrestles with navigating new stakeholder dynamics in a leadership role, trying to be open and authentic while also protecting herself from bias.

Another bravely named the frustration of having to shout to be heard - only to be labeled aggressive, while male counterparts are praised as assertive.

And yes, we talked about confidence. Not because we lack it, but because we’ve been told, overtly or subtly, that we should.

And you know what? We said it all. No sugarcoating. No masks. Just truth.

Finding Our Ikigai: A Purpose-Fueled Life in Tech

In the center of it all, we explored the Japanese concept of ikigai: our reason for being. The spark that keeps us going when tech feels overwhelming or isolating.

Ikigai reminded us that our careers aren’t just about skills or salaries. They’re about impact, alignment, and legacy. We reflected on how we can live at the intersection of what we love, what we’re good at, what the world needs, and what we can be paid for.

For some of us, this was a wake-up call. For others, a re-centering. But for all of us, it was a reminder: we are allowed to pursue tech on our terms. With purpose. With passion. With power.

Breaking Boulders Together

One of the most powerful moments of the evening was our “breaking boulders” activity.

Each participant named a challenge they were facing - and then, together, we chipped away at the weight of it. Not by giving advice, but by offering support, sharing stories, and reflecting back strength.

No one left untouched. No one left unchanged.

💚 A participant who had been struggling to find her place in a new industry walked away with a renewed sense of belonging and clarity.

💚 Another who feared escalating issues at work felt empowered to speak up, no longer shrinking herself to accommodate others.

💚 One woman, overwhelmed by the pressure to always be pleasant, voiced her need to simply be, without performing emotional labor.

Our shared wisdom became a scale-cloak of collective power; one we could wrap around each other when the wind of tech’s inequities howled too loud.

Practical Takeaways for Our Journeys Ahead

By the end of the session, we weren’t just inspired; we were equipped.

🔥Name your purpose, and let it be your compass. 🔥 Don’t shrink your communication style - own it and explain it. Identify who’s in the room and name your stakeholders - but don’t lose your voice trying to appease them all. 🔥 Choose teams and environments that value your whole self - don’t just adapt to survive. 🔥 Speak up. Escalate when needed. Refuse to carry the burden of silence alone.

This Is Just the Beginning

We ended the evening not with a goodbye but with a call to action.

💪🏿 Reach out to women and allies in your networks. Bring them into this space. 💪🏿 Share resources that helped you: workshops, mentors, courses. 💪🏿 Keep showing up. Keep speaking up. Keep lifting each other up.

The dragons of tech are real - bias, burnout, barriers. But so are the dragon riders. And together, we are unstoppable. 🐉❤️‍🔥

If you’re a woman in tech - or someone who believes in equity, inclusion, and shared wisdom- join us next time. Your story matters. Your voice belongs. And this space? It’s for you.

Let’s rise. Together.

Diversity in Tech NL Meetup Group

💚 When we focus on diversity in tech, we stop treating women in tech as a “women’s issue.” Instead, we name it for what it is - a systemic opportunity for all of us to grow.

Because the real power lies not in siloed solutions, but in collective shifts. Neurodivergent professionals, culturally diverse innovators, LGBTQIA+ techies, women and nonbinary folks - we all face exclusion in different forms, but we’re often fighting the same dragons. When we rally around diversity as a whole, we build momentum that lifts everyone. We stop making women do all the emotional labor of inclusion, and start building systems that honor and include all voices from the start. That’s how we create real, lasting change - not through isolated efforts, but through shared wisdom and shared responsibility. 🐲🔥

And this doesn’t happen by accident; it happens when leaders commit to transformation.

When they choose to listen deeply, challenge their own biases, and rebuild their organizations from the inside out. When they champion underrepresented voices not as a checkbox, but as a core strength. The leaders of tomorrow are those who know that diverse teams aren’t just good for business; they’re essential for innovation, resilience, and humanity. 💎💪🏿

So if you're a leader, your role isn't just to "support" inclusion — it's to embody it. Be the one who opens the gates, lights the torches, and makes sure every dragon in your team has room to stretch their wings.

So, yet again, I say, let’s rise - together. 🔥🪽