Leah McGowen-Hare

Tell us your story.

When I was 13 my dad purchased a Commodore PET. I learned how to program basic.Even though my dad was not a programmer, he inspired me to challenge myself and learn something that was not common back then, programming.

What do you most want other women and young girls to know about being a woman in our digital culture?

Get your "Dev Cred". I coined this phrase several years back because I notice once I proved to the developers that I was training that I knew what I was talking about and that I too was a developer, there was level of respect gained. I encourage anyone in the digital space to build, debug, learn, code, buildup your developer credibility aka "Dev Cred", because developers know if you really know. :)

Pass it on!

So many people have inspire me!! From my family to colleagues who are super smart and always learning, to women mentors who are not in the digital space but leadership roles, to young minds creating and innovating. I get inspiration from so many sources! Some of the names include: Nellie Borrero, Robin Washington, Chris Barry, Don Robins,Pat Patterson, Samantha Ready, Wogrammer, the young ladies of Black Girls Code, Girls Who Code and Technovation.

The Women in Tech campaign exists to help redefine what women in technology means in the 21st century. Started independently by a group of professional women who, after many impassioned discussions about women in tech knew we wanted to expand this definition beyond 'traditional' technology skills. To us, it includes most every current, emerging or evolving role within an organization. By featuring leaders and emerging leaders across industries who embody this we hope to collectively 'stand up', be proud of our place in the digital world and inspire young women or those new to the 'tech space' to get involved.