The Most Influential Women in Technology

We inadvertently ignited a firestorm late last year when we posted a story on fastcompany.com called “The Most Influential Women in Web 2.0.” The post became the subject of heated debate on the user-recommendation site Digg, as well as on our own site. While some com-ments focused on the accom-plishments of the women chosen, or suggested others we might have named, many were graphic, sexist, and nasty. Two dozen of the post-ers were eventually thrown off of Digg by the site’s administrators.

It wasn’t exactly the conver-sation about women in tech-nology we’d hoped for. But it wasn’t just a flamefest, either. Among the arguments put for-ward was that a women-only list was in itself sexist. We certainly wish the need for

such a list had long passed, but women in tech remain at a distinct disadvantage by any metric: average salary, top-management representation, board memberships. Silicon Valley, in particular, remains largely a boys’ club. In May 2007, Women in Technology International published a sur-vey of 2,000 working women, about half of whom reported gender-based workplace inequality or said their opin-ions were less respected or sought out than those of male counterparts. There are now dozens of “women in tech” organizations and Web sites. All sexist?

The fact is, women who have succeeded in technology deserve recognition; they are an inspiration for everyone, male or female, demonstrating what can be achieved through

creativity and hard work. And so we present this expanded list: “The Most Influential Women in Tech.” We candidly acknowledge it is subjective and incomplete. Among other shortcuts, we focused on only a few sectors (we left off medi-cal researchers and pure aca-demics, for instance). We also favored established firms over early-phase startups.

Even within those con-straints, we no doubt have left off deserving women. So, as always, we invite you to visit fastcompany.com and add your reactions—or Digg the story and post your com-ments there. Or Tweet us. Or visit our page on Facebook. We’re optimists, so we hope the conversation will be more fruitful this time around. These successful business-people have certainly earned that measure of respect.

By Lynne d Johnson,Ellen McGirt, and Sherri Smith

February 2009 Fast company 7372 Fast company February 2009

_ Gina Bianchini cofounder and ceo

NingThis custom social-network maker made a splash on our May 2008 cover, and not just because she knew what a viral expansion loop was. With 500,000-plus networks now running on Ning, the company has had its share of developer challenges but remains cashed up and growing.

_ Caterina Fakecofounder

FlickrFake not only cofounded photo-sharing behemoth Flickr but also sold it to Yahoo for a reported $35 million. Now everyone is buzzing about her next project, something called Hunch, which is in stealth mode.

_ Eileen Gittinsceo

BlurbGittins’s book self-publish-ing platform is lean and green and has unleashed

_Paulina BozekDevelopment Director AtariAfter a six-year tenure at Sony run-ning the 15-million-copy SingStar fran-chise, Bozek was tapped in September to revitalize Atari.

_Lucy BradshawExecutive Producer Electronic ArtsBradshaw, who headed production for some of the mega-selling Sims iterations, led the 100-person produc-tion team for Spore, game designer Will Wright’s latest smash hit.

_Sara de FreitasDirector of Research Serious Games InstituteDe Freitas sits at the epicenter of the serious-gaming movement: U.K.-based SGI aims to use gaming technol-ogy and techniques for nonentertain-ment purposes, from education to health care to defense.

_Denise FultonStudio Head Midway GamesFulton oversees 100-plus program-mers, designers, writers, and artists at the Austin out-post of the legend-ary company that brought us Space Invaders and Mortal Kombat. (At press time, Midway was staving off bank-ruptcy.)

_ Morgan RomineTeam CaptainFrag DollsUntil recently, she was a crack mar-keter at Ubisoft, helping turn titles like Assassin’s Creed into hits. But her superhero status derives from her role as captain of the Frag Dolls, the first all-female team to win a profes-sional gaming tour-nament. In that role, she travels the world proving that women are gamers too—and kick-ass ones at that.

the insta-author (and book retailer) in everyone from amateur photogra-phers to big brands like Lexus. With a million-plus books created, Blurb is also—ahem—profitable.

_ Sandy Jen and Elaine Wherrycofounders

MeeboOft cited as the Web’s fastest growing IM tool, this third startup for Jen and Wherry (and fellow cofounder Seth Stern-berg) is on a cacopho-nous track. It lets some 40 million users yap over any IM network and in a variety of settings; new partnerships with Hearst and Universal Music point to an even chattier future.

_ Mary Lou Jepsenfounder and ceo

Pixel QiAs CTO of One Laptop Per Child, Jepsen led design and development of the least expensive and most energy efficient laptop ever made. She founded Pixel Qi in 2008 to commercialize the groundbreaking OLPC screen technology she invented.

_ Alicia Morgaceo Consorte MediaUsing science (not cultural hype) to match brand advertisers with Hispanic-American consumers on the Web, Morga’s marketing firm had 100% growth last year. And she’s hiring.

_ Kim Polese ceo

SpikeSource Polese was part of the early Java team at Sun Microsystems and cofounded Marimba (now part of BMC). Her new business—which boasts a partnership with Intel—

helps companies test the security and quality of open-source software.

_ Tina Sharkeypresident

BabyCenterSharkey’s site reaches nearly 80% of new moms online in the U.S. and some 6 million visitors a month internationally. With the 2007 acquisition of MayasMom.com, a social-networking site, Sharkey’s parental domination is nearly complete.

_ Rashmi Sinhacofounder and ceo

SlideShareThe psychology PhD turned Web designer and community expert has created a vibrant social hub around—of all things—the Power-Point deck. Launched with less than $50,000, SlideShare now has a million registered users, plus a partnership with LinkedIn.

_ Mena Trottcofounder and president

Six ApartWith cofounding husband, Ben, Trott created tools such as Movable Type and TypePad that enabled the blogosphere to bloom. Her firm recently snapped up social network Pownce, too, adding that site’s cofounder Leah Culver, another woman we admire, to the team.

_ Louise Wannierceo

MyShapeMatching tech with fashion, MyShape has created an online bazaar with more than 400,000 members. What else would you expect from a serial entrepreneur with degrees in textile design and business administration?

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ThE MOST InFLUEnTIAL Women in technology

_ Genevieve BellDirector, User Experience Group intel

_ Sandy CarterVP, Service-Oriented Architecture & Web-Sphere Marketing iBm

_ Safra CatzPresident Oracle

_ Susan DeckerPresident Yahoo

_ Andrea JungBoard Member apple (and CEO, Avon)

_ Julie Larson-GreenCorporate VP, Windows Experience microsoft

_ Ann LivermoreEVP, Technology Solutions Group Hp

_ Marissa MayerVP, Search Products and User Experience google

_ Sheryl SandbergCOO Facebook

_ Linda SanfordSVP, Enterprise on Demand Transformation & Information Technology iBm

_ Megan SmithVP, new Business Development google

_ Stephanie TileniusGM, north America eBay

_ Sophie Vandebroek CTO; President of Xerox Innovation Group xerox

_ Padmasree Warrior CTO cisco

February 2009 Fast company 7574 Fast company February 2009

Danah Boyd of microsoft Research new EnglandDanah Boyd of microsoft Research new England

_Mitchell Bakerchairwoman

Mozilla Foundation

Baker, a part-time trapeze artist, is a full-time advocate for open-source software and an Internet that functions as a public resource.

_Danah Boydethnographer and

social-media expert

Microsoft research New england

Boyd understands better than anyone how (and why) teenagers use the Internet as an alternative social space. Early this year, she joined Micro-soft’s new pure research lab in Boston.

_ Heather Armstrong DooceBest known for getting fired for blogging about her work life, Armstrong coined the term for the experience: “dooce.” Now she’s the model for mommy blogging, writing with humor and candor about her battles with depression, being a former Mormon, and, yes, the rugrats. Apparently, honesty puts food on the table too.

_ Elisa Camahort Page, JoryDes Jardins, and Lisa StoneBlogHerOnce, all bloggers seemed to be white men. BlogHer’s directory of 2,200 (and counting) female bloggers has proved otherwise. It’s also a community, the prime mover behind the first big conference for women bloggers, and developer of an ad network of targeted blog affiliates.

_ Shai Coggins b5mediaCo-owner of one of the largest blog networks, she is an influential blogger in her own right.

_ Justine Ezarik iJustineSome 20 million viewers watched her invent lifecasting, in real time, in 2007. Now one-half of the duo of the AT&T promotional series “Lost in America,” she has become more than just an Internet celebrity—she’s a branding expert.

_ Anastasia Goodstein ypulseMarketers flock to Ypulse, the most comprehensive daily read on

youth and pop culture, to better target gen Y. Offline assets: a hot book (totally wired: what teens and tweens Are really Doing online) and annual conferences in Boston and San Francisco.

_ Arianna Huffingtonthe Huffington PostThe political wonk’s news site has more than 2,000 bloggers contributing to it.

_ Xeni Jardin Boing BoingA cross between Marilyn Monroe and a pocket-protector geek, Jardin has driven the eclectic blog about everything cool on the Web to 11 million page views a month.

_ Helen Philpot andMargaret SchmechtmanMargaret and HelenBest friends for 60 years, Philpot and Schmechtman started blogging to keep in touch after retiring to different parts of the country. Then, during the election campaign, their authentic observations on life,

love, and Sarah Palin went viral, earning a quarter-million fans and the adoration of virtually the entire political blogosphere.

_ Corvida Raven SheGeeksThe 21-year-old communications major employed tools like Twitter to garner the attention of the technorati—and land a gig at the industry Standard.

_ Aliza Shermanweb worker DailyIn 1995, Sherman started Webgrrls International, the first woman-owned, full-service Web company. These days, she writes for Web Worker Daily and has three popular blogs of her own.

_ Gina Trapani lifehacker She went from writing code to writing one of the highest- trafficked (25 million monthly visit ors) technology blogs ever. The go-to online manual for geeks, Life hacker is now a book, subtitled “88 Tech Tricks to Turbo-charge Your Day.”

_Yvette J. alberdingk thijm EXECUTIVE DIrECTOr Witness A member of Witness’s board of directors since 2005, Alberdingk Thijm joined the nonprofit human-rights video community full time in 2008. _ Dana Bourland SEnIOr DIrECTOr Enterprise Community Partners’ Green Communities Bourland’s carbon-offset fund backs design and construction choices that yield the cleanest, most energy-efficient houses. It raises money for affordable homes and saves the environ ment in the process. _ Beth Kanter COnSULTAnT BethKanter.org The master of social-media fund-raising, Kanter (who shares her techniques widely) recently brought in $200,000 for Cambodian orphans using Twitter and other social-media tools. _ Darlene Liebman COFOUnDEr howcast Media In partnership with Facebook, Google, YouTube, and others, Liebman’s Howcast teaches people worldwide to use the social Web to organize grassroots political movements. _ Ellen miller COFOUnDEr AnD EXECUTIVE DIrECTOr Sunlight Foundation Nobody has done more than Miller to use technology to bring transparency to Washington. For three years, her foundation has been churning out Web sites, databases, and online tools that open congressional doings to common folk.

_ vice admiral nancy Brown Adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff In the future, technology will be both the means of waging war and the key to keeping peace. Brown has literally written the book: her Joint Net-Centric Operations Campaign Plan is the strategy to “better integrate and synchronize joint community transformation and maximize joint warfighting capabilities.” Sit up straight when you read that, soldier. _ Helen grenier irobot Grenier has done more than anyone to bring the power of robots to the U.S. military. Though she resigned as chair in October, Grenier remains on the board of irobot, whose stair-climbing, video-shooting PackBot has already made our soldiers safer and more effective. _ susan Landau Sun Microsystems When she isn’t talking about number theory and computational algebra (and who isn’t these days?), Lan-dau is a leading researcher and expert on wiretapping, computer encryption, and security issues. _ Esther takeuchi University at Buffalo Takeuchi holds more patents than any other American woman. After 23 years at Greatbatch—where, among other feats, she invented the battery used in the implantable defibrillator—she now runs an academic research program. _ Jill tarter SETI Institute Sure, the Jodie Foster role in Contact was based on her, but Tarter’s current adventure is operating the new Allen Telescope Array, a mas-sive intergalactic search tool that will speed innovation in communi-cations, GPS technology, weather, and defense. And maybe find E.T.

the activists

the EvangELists

the BLOggErs

the Brainiacs

_Red Burnsfounder

New york university’s interactive telecommunica-tions Program

The godmother of Silicon Alley. Burns’s pioneering work in alternative media begat the “Harvard of interactive,” as News-week once called NYU’s program. Decades later, she’s still shaping young minds.

_Susan Crawfordlaw professor

university of Michigan

This Net-neutrality advocate—who speaks widely about the impera-tive that ISPs not have the power to control what people do and say online—co-led Obama’s FCC transition team.

_Esther Dyson investor

eDventure Holdings

Dyson epitomized the digerati back in the 1990s and still blogs and writes regularly. But she

now exerts influence through investments in, and board seats at, companies such as Boxbe, Meetup, and 23andMe.

_Kaliya Hamlincoproducer

internet identity workshop, identity Commons

Who we are and what we choose to share about ourselves online are part of the complex of “digital identity” issues that Hamlin—aka Identity Woman—wrestles with as the most prominent advo-cate for OpenID and other standards on the Web.

_Tara Huntcofounder

Citizen Agency

Hunt is known for leading online grassroots communities—such as BarCamp, the user- generated conference—and teaching companies how to foster their own Web followings. Her upcoming book, The Whuffie Factor, takes her message to the masses.

_Charlene Lifounder Altimeter Group

As a social-media analyst at Forrester Research, Li was an indispensible resource. Her best-selling book Groundswell (coauthored with Josh Bernoff) helped demystify the social Web. Now, she has struck out on her own with Altimeter Group, where she Tweets, blogs, speaks, and consults.

_Mary Meekerinternet analyst

Morgan Stanley

Meeker deserved the brutal downgrade she got for failing to anticipate the dotcom bust. But she has done more than survive the backlash: Meeker 2.0 is again an essential voice, offering hype-free insight and—gasp!—actual financial analysis.

ThE MOST InFLUEnTIAL Women in technology

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