WECode 2017
February 4-5, 2017
Overview
WECode 2017 marked another milestone in its mission to empower women in technology, hosting over 500 attendees for a weekend of collaboration, learning, and inspiration. With 60+ events, including workshops, panels, tech talks, and keynotes, the conference offered attendees a diverse range of opportunities to deepen their technical skills and explore career pathways.
Keynote speakers, such as Lili Cheng, Latanya Sweeney, and Natalie Glance, inspired attendees with insights on leadership and innovation in tech. Interactive workshops covered topics like AI, VR, and design thinking, while panels explored inclusivity, social good, and entrepreneurship. Collaborating with Harvard’s CS50 team, WECode 2017 demonstrated the power of partnerships in advancing its mission.
Proudly sponsored by industry leaders like D.E. Shaw, Capital One, Bloomberg, Bridgewater, Jane Street, and Two Sigma, WECode 2017 continued to drive meaningful dialogue and opportunities for women in the tech industry.
Impact by Numbers
500+ attendees
60+ events
CS50 x WECode Recordings
We are very thankful to CS50 for their support of WECode. With their assistance, we are proud to share recordings of our WECode 2017 keynote presentations. We invite you to watch & enjoy the following videos from WECode 2017.
Conference Schedule of Events
Friday, February 3rd
Welcome Mixer & Ambassador Event
Presented by WECode Board
Saturday, February 4th
Registration & Breakfast
Presented by WECode Board
Welcoming Remarks
Presented by WECode Board
Keynote
Presented by Lili Cheng
Workshops
Learning to Pitch Yourself on Person and Paper
Presented by Jessica Yu
Closing the Pay Gap: Negotiating 101
Presented by Betty Francisco
Build and Deploy a JavaScript Web App
Presented by Marie Chatfield
One-Line Python – An Introduction to Lambda Calculus
Presented by Chelsea Voss
3D Design with OpenSCAD
Presented by Justin Gohde
Tech Talks
How Can Computer Science Cure Cancer?
Presented by Regina Barzilay
Tech in Government, Politics, and Legislation
Presented by James Waldo
Programming for Biology
Presented by Jean Yang
Game Design
Presented by Brianna Wu
The Challenge of Big Data is Not Size, but Speed: Tools are Easier to Optimize Than Our Brains
Presented by Facebook
Evolution of Related Pins at Pinterest
Presented by Jenny Liu
Building Successful Peer-to-peer Exchange Systems: Evidence-Based Social Design
Presented by Haiyi Zhu
Technology Opportunities in Healthcare
Presented by Amna Hashmi
Mentorship Lunch
Keynote
Presented by Latanya Sweeney
Panels
Promoting Inclusivity in the Workplace and Classroom
Featuring Carol Dmello, Saqi Mehta, Grace O'Shea, Aimee Sprung
Coding for Social Good
Featuring Cynthia Hellen, Christine Lytwynec, Emily Wang
A Day in the Life Of—Software Edition
Featuring Natalie Morris, Diane Yang, George Wu, The D. E. Shaw Group
Start @ A Startup
Featuring Mary Glide, Xiaoyu (Suzanne) Fei, Jasmine Greenaway, Melissa Thai
Is Grad School For Me?
Featuring Irene Chen, Ali Muwwakkil, Margo Seltzer, Jenny Li, Helen Hastings
Workshops
Art and Algorithms with Bloomberg
Presented by Rebecca Ely
Code Your Escape
Presented by Goldman Sachs
Artificial Intelligence & Millennial Entrepreneurship
Presented by Erica Lee
Modern Frontend Development with Pagedraw and React
Presented by Jared Pochtar
Panels
Foray into Fintech
Featuring C. Cormier, L. Moores, D. Rajendran, N. Tumma, Jane Street
Designing for Inclusivity
Featuring Cynthia Hellen, Dawn Quaker, Jessica Yu
Exploring Our World from Oceans to Outer Space with Tech
Featuring Sampriti Bhattacharyya, Natalie Morris, Sheri White
How to Start and Scale Up Your Own Company
Featuring Jenny Wang, Tomas Reimers, Elsa Sze, Dorm Room Fund
Workshops
9 Things Every Game Dev Can Do to Be More Inclusive
Presented by Adina Shanholtz
Creating an Alexa Skill for Amazon Echo
Presented by Kathryn Hodge
Design Thinking
Presented by Capital One
How to Get Started In VR
Presented by Camille Ramseur
Acing the Interview
Presented by Quora
Fireside Chats
Improving Team Performance and Managing Conflicts through the Power of Leadership
Presented by Kemi Sorinmade
Allyship
Presented by Jean Yang
Mentorship - How to Build a Mentor Relationship and Why You Need One
Presented by Capital One
Navigating Difficult Workplace Conversations
Presented by Lea Ann Hutter
Being Out and BGLTQ+ in Tech
Presented by Hazel Havard and Meghan Stabler
The Survival Kit: Operating in an Imperfect World
Presented by Cynthia Kim
Keynote
Presented by Natalie Glance
Closing Remarks
Presented by WECode Board
Movie Screening of She Started It and Diversity Chat with Director Nora Poggi
Sunday, February 5th
Empty your Cache! Yoga with Lauren
Presented by Bridgewater
Breakfast
Courtesy of WECode Board
Tech Talks
Finding Hidden Structure in Data
Presented by Tamara Broderick
Future of 3D Design
Presented by Ye Wang
Win a Game to Build a Better World
Presented by Fei Fang
Fireside Chats
How to Build a Better Women in CS Community
Presented by Harvard Women in CS Advocacy Council, Nisha Swarup
Fighting Imposter Syndrome
Presented by Jodi Detjen
Making the Most of Your Internship
Presented by Saqi Mehta
Building Your Network
Presented by Bloomberg
Adventures in Startup Land
Presented by Jen Carlile
Tech Talks
Autopilot: Microsoft’s Secret Cloud Weapon
Presented by Ana-Maria Constantin
How Building Something Great Means a lot of Saying “No”
Presented by Jessica Bradley Sant
Building Conversational Agents
Presented by He He
Lunch
Courtesy of WECode Board
Keynote
Presented by Julie Elberfield
Panels
Applications in Virtual Reality
Featuring G. Busoni, C. Ramseur, S. Trevino, A. Mavroeidi, C. Everett, D. Levac
Paths in Biotech & Healthcare
Featuring Lindsay Willmore, Dahl Winters, athenahealth, Colaberry, OM1
Navigating the Job Hunt
Featuring Jenny Liu, Lydia Barnes, Kiki Lam, Helen Hastings
Disruptive Innovations and Challenges
Featuring Andy Lei, Scott Crouch, Katie Crepps
Education x Tech
Featuring Justin Gohde, Bryanne Leeming, Sarah Rice, Jane Zhang, Anabell Jimenez
Workshops
Own Your Worth - Salary Negotiation
Presented by Ashley Pare
Coding and Designing Applications for Social Robots
Presented by Carolyn Saund
Getting Smart About Your Money with Skylet Campus
Presented by Founder Helen Bui
Code in the Real World: Products, Projects, and People
Presented by Bridgewater
Onshape WebGL: Build a 3D Design Tool in the Browser
Presented by Ye Wang
Closing Remarks & Puzzle Hunt Results
Presented by WECode Board
Opportunities Fair
Sponsors
A huge thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making WECode 2017 possible and accessible.
