Facebook, Pinterest and Box have announced a new initiative called WEST (Women Entering and Staying in Tech) that will provide one-on-one mentorship for women pursuing careers in technology.
Over the past few months, a number of large tech companies, including Facebook and Pinterest, have gone public with the diversity figures for their organizations. The common theme is that firms have admitted that they have work to do in improving their ethnicity and gender ratios.
WEST will start its pilot program in 2015. Woman working in technical roles at the partner companies will act as mentors to other women who are in an earlier stage of their careers. The mentorship will last for a year and include both online, in-person and group interactions. At launch, WEST is available to women in the Bay Area, but the organization hopes to expand to other regions.
WEST isn’t yet taking applications, but interested mentors and mentees can sign up for updates.
➤ WEST
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