TaxBit’s First Grace Hopper Celebration
A retrospective on my experience with the TaxBit team at Grace Hopper 2022
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Recently, I was given the opportunity to attend the annual Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) as a TaxBit representative. For the first time, TaxBit sent team members to AnitaB.org’s GHC in Orlando, Florida, including 12 representatives from Product and Engineering. Created in 1994 and inspired by the legacy of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, the AnitaB.org flagship event Grace Hopper Celebration brings the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront.
We were excited to attend this event as part of our work to build TaxBit’s culture of diversity and inclusion, and it certainly met our high expectations. I learned from leaders across the industry, grew relationships with my TaxBit peers, met awesome women in tech from different companies, and represented TaxBit to all those around me. There was so much value in attending GHC, both as an individual and as a company.
Key Takeaways
Team Building: TaxBit has offices all across the country, and the biggest win I had during the week was being able to get to know other women in tech across the company working in different teams or locations than I do. This was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate each other and lift up other women at TaxBit. Whether at the celebration or exploring Orlando, I’m grateful for the connections created and grown throughout this trip.
Everyone’s a Recruiter: Everyone at a company is a recruiter in that they represent the company on the front line. It was awesome to have such a great representation of women technologists at GHC, and almost all of our attendees were from our Engineering org! We had women from all across tech roles attend (Engineering, Product, Design) which helped create closer connections with those who visited our booth to talk about what TaxBit was like.
Brand Awareness: TaxBit had a booth at GHC which was a great way to increase brand awareness. My biased opinion is that we were giving away some of the best company swag at the booth (belt bags, scrunchies, and stickers!), so lots of attendees came to our booth to ask “What is TaxBit”? This was an awesome opportunity for the TaxBit team to share the company’s story, and engage with the community.
Web3 Networking: I was able to meet and learn from other female leaders at web3 and web3-adjacent companies. Though there were only a handful of companies in attendance in the web3 space, it was still awesome connecting and learning about other companies’ visions in web3. I’m hoping to see more web3 representation in the future at GHC!
Women Representation in Web3: A lot of people inquiring about TaxBit mentioned being intimidated about breaking into a web3/adjacent company because of their more beginner knowledge of the space. I think there’s an opportunity to show that the web3 space is open for all, and create a more inclusive space for those who are crypto-curious. I’d also love to see more web3 companies attend GHC to show female representation in web3 and increase the presence of women in the web3 community!
Conclusion
Attending the Grace Hopper Celebration was a demonstration of one of TaxBit’s core values: Win Together. By having people across different teams at TaxBit collaborate to make this event happen and share our TaxBit experiences at GHC with whoever would listen, we were able to Win Together. At TaxBit, we believe that it is our collective responsibility to cultivate an inclusive environment for the betterment of our people and our business. I look forward to our attendance at next year’s celebration!
