I am very proud to serve the DAA’s Women in Analytics community and greatly admire the contributions the members of this community have made.
Recently we conducted a survey of members inviting input on the future direction of WiA, with the goal of reinvigorating the community while focusing on a few key initiatives. Results of the survey were presented at the April Quarterly call, followed by a discussion of next steps.
Key themes that arose (not necessarily in order):
- "No lifestyle stuff” - loud and clear!
- Navigating your career, including identifying supportive employers (and red flags)
- Create safe/private/supportive forums for knowledge exchange
- Office Hours for Q&A with female-led SMEs
- Proactive advocacy addressing institutional barriers to women
What Next: This is our community, your community, and we need volunteers to take on the challenge of keeping the WiA community relevant and vibrant. I propose the creation of task forces of at least three volunteers to head up initiatives themed on:
- Mentoring: both one on one and groups of 3-6 or topic-led groups
- Advocacy for women in digital data: from tactical to policy-driven
- Should each Chapter be called upon to ensure one event per quarter explicitly addresses gender inequality?
- Book clubs
- DAA WiA policy, starting with a review of our mission statement
- Education: Identify speakers, subject matter experts, and thought leaders from within and around the community to equip WiA members with skills to succeed
Each task force would provide an update on their progress at each quarterly meeting and also lead one quarterly meeting per year. What’s the time commitment, you ask? I would estimate about 1-3 hours a week. Or perhaps you have way better ideas, which is fantastic as clearly we need help here!
If any of the above task forces appeal to you, please reach out to myself or
@Erin Lambertz and/or comment below.
If you have an opinion, you are qualified to volunteer, step up, and have your voice be heard. This is a safe place to flex those leadership muscles.
If I can do it, anyone can. Now reach out and let’s drive WiA forward.
#WomeninAnalytics#Volunteer