Vanessa

Today we announced that the 4th Backstage Accelerator city is DETROIT! It joins LA, Philly & London💜 (Honorable mentions: PDX, Atlanta & Texas👊🏾) Apply by Oct 15. There are spots in each Backstage Accelerator city reserved for out of town startups! backstagecapital.com/Accelerator

the ripple effect of having had stellar & generous teachers - on my right, an amazing teacher who taught me (@courteneyervin, did u know u are one of my role models??) on my left, one of MY students who’s done such! great! work! this summer!!! so dang proud, so dang grateful 💖

It finally happened. I'm a grandmentor. 😭 (omg i'm literally fucking crying rn tho)

I was really inspired by the work and approach I saw today at @codecooperative, a program that helps people who've been released from prison learn how to use tech to solve issues in their communities. If your company has laptops or $$$ to donate, please consider helping them.

(I did, fwiw)

I don’t have any actionable takeaways from these observations but if these resonate with you, know that I believe you deserve better than the situation you’re in and I hope you can persist long enough and heal well enough to find it 💜

There are some things you need to improve & there is feedback you need to hear. This is true for all of us; we all have things to improve & we all need to know what they are. But in supportive environments feedback builds you up not tears you down. You deserve that feedback.

The entire time you’ve been being told you shouldn’t be here, in ways that range from subtle to overt. You cannot exist in that without internalizing it somewhat, no matter how hard you try to build your support network and believe in yourself. You should be here, though.

PSA for under-indexed folk in tech: if you are mistreated at work in some way (and we all know the stories are varied), the most effective way for HR to neutralize the lawsuit risk is for them to make you believe you are the problem. It doesn’t mean they are right.

build a bigger support system than just your manager (& you should read this great post by @lara_hogan!! larahogan.me/blog/manager-v…)

The insurance companies are *very responsive and thorough* when a regulator is watching. It’s helped a lot of friends fix incredibly frustrating issues.

These obscure-but-explosively-helpful gov offices take consumer complaints about health insurance (among other insurances). They take complaints from you then make the company explain themselves. If they’ve made a mistake, broken their promise, or a rule, they’ll fix it.

Good morning! If you’re in the US and struggling with your health insurance (they won’t cover something they said they would, overcharged, can’t get a straight answer, etc) there’s super effective, free help. Your state insurance commissioner!

A while back, I realized that the answer to most "How do I X?" questions is "Start doing it, even if you do it badly. Eventually, if you keep at it, you'll learn the techniques and strategies you need to be successful at it."

This is the joy hanging out with my @girldevelopit ladies brings me every time. 💖 #gdisummit18

On. Brand. @saronyitbarek @RobFrelow @DBNess #gdisummit18

Intersectionality is about seeking to be understood and seeking to understand. - @jamieshark_ #gdisummit18 @girldevelopit

@acodeferret is amazing. I love your energy! ❤️ #gdisummit18

#day2vibes #gdisummit18