Local and out-of-town women working in the technology industry shared their true, unscripted stories at a first-ever event on Friday, January 27, presented by BackFence PDX and Vox Siren, with support from tech stars Puppet Inc, and Elemental, as well as from the Portland Development Commission, Client Joy, Travel Portland, and Wieden+Kennedy.

Part of the evening’s proceeds will go to Black Girls Code, which exposes girls of color ages 7-17 to computer science and technology.

PDC tech industry liaison Jared Wiener offered this take on the importance of women in tech.